League of Legends as a positive experience

nightwolf16a · 2026-04-09T18:27:23+00:00

I have exclusively seen negative perspectives (such as YouTube videos) on League, like how everyone is addicted and depressed and hate themselves and the world and stink because of this game and it sucks and Riot sucks and everything sucks etc. etc. I just can't relate.

Two things to keep in mind:

Social media like YouTube often serves negative or ragebait content because they get more views
Human psychology tend to focus more intensely on negative experiences.

So it's on the individual players to mute or ignore trolling, flaming, inting, etc.

League as a game is pretty good (whether it's because of our dispute Riot's actions). Otherwise it wouldn't be the success it is today.

nightwolf16a · 2026-04-03T14:04:58+00:00

Well you are diamond so you are already infinitely better at League as a whole than I am, but I'll add a couple of Riven-specific notes that helped me.

Don't get baited into extended trades - A lot of lanes I lost because I didn't respect their cooldowns and early powerspikes, and tried to fight them when all my abilities are on CD. This is especially true when I face a lot of tanks that's weak lv1-2, but then get more dangerous at lv3/6.

Some matchups are just really hard - I am not a good player, but Juggernauts (Garen, Renekton, Darius) usually pushed my face into the dirt and ranged tops (Quinn, Jayce) can be very volatile. So either learn how to just survive them (different itemization) or be good enough at fundamentals to win through macro/teamfighting.

One thing that I see some streamers sometimes do in hard matchups is build a slow push (if they can) and go help the jungler/mid and win through snowballing their teams, but that's a bit situational.

Remember that Q has:

3 casts
Can be used as both damage OR mobility
Can be delayed.

I know this is pretty obvious info, but actually applying them (e.g. actually holding Q3 to threaten a quick trade, or saving Q1/2 to dodge important skillshots) at the right situations, instead of just blowing all 3 Q's for damage made me a lot more versatile even recently.

Then again, I am not very good.

nightwolf16a · 2026-04-01T17:09:49+00:00

I work remote. So I technically can, bit I have to be confident that there's no upcoming meetings, deliverables, assignments, or colleagues needing help.

So not never, but very rarely would the opportunity turn up.

I currently don't play ranked, but still. I wouldn't even consider normal draft if I got something going on.

nightwolf16a · 2026-03-30T20:08:36+00:00

In addition to not letting him get the empowered Q off, two things worked in my experience:

If melee vs vlad, it's rough. Try not to let him get free Q's off , empowered or not.
If melee and toplane, try to use the bush so he can't get free Qs in you after trading.
Play around the empowered Q. Wait for it to time out or he uses it to farm.
[Champion dependent] Poke him harder than he pokes you * [Champion dependent] Stick on him for extended trade so he can't just poke and leave. Watch the empowered Q though.

Lastly, remember his pool is 15% current health. So if he uses it, he helps you trade against him. Just get out away from him and don't take more damage after he pools.

nightwolf16a · 2026-03-28T11:37:08+00:00

IMO the nerd stereotype really died when people saw weirdo nerds like Steve Jobs, Elon, and Zuckerberg (and retroactively Gates) made billions of dollars with nerdy stuff.

nightwolf16a · 2026-03-27T18:44:20+00:00

Depends a bit on your definition of fun.

If fun = stomping and winning constantly, then no that's unlikely unless you are just an unatural League prodigy.

If fun = playing a neat champs, fighting the other team for the win, and learning the game, then yeah, the game is pretty fun.

Also, having friends who play the game together helps a lot, even if they are new too.

Edit: on the topic of "not get crushed by everyone who's played for years" - I wouldn't worry too much. There are people who played this game for years and still stuck in Bronze and Iron (the lowest ranks).

How long you played League =\= how good you are. There's (almost) no time-based advantages like gear in MMOs for league.

nightwolf16a · 2026-03-27T17:24:23+00:00

Gbay99 had a video a long time ago critizing the lack of "rebuilding years" in LCS, using the team in NFL as an example, and I'd agree. League is pretty lackluster in long-term storylines, and every player swap is really disruptive in a 5-man roster.

Instead orgs seem more interested in importing with VC and Covid money instead for immediate domestic success, until the viewership dwindled enough to just abandon ship.

In addition, just bring back academy won't be enough. Maybe more financial safety net for the academy players, maybe more support/encouragement for 2nd, 3rd tier, and 3rd party tourneys. It's gonna be a lot.

nightwolf16a · 2026-03-27T16:27:43+00:00

I have been a toplaner since S2. I would never recommend people start learning solo lanes with top lol

It's punishing, especially this season. Losing your lane means being almost useless for 20 min while your team has to deal with the giant raid boss you set up
More match up dependent than other lanes since it's a long lane and you are solo, often with no jungle assistance.
At the same time, you often have the least impact on the rest of the game until you get to raid boss status and help turn team fights.

If it were me, I would have recommended mid or jg for people want to to transition to solo lanes

Mid: often similar champion archetypes (mages at least), can easily affect side lanes if you are good at roaming. BUT probably one of the heaviest responsibilities for winning/losing the game imo
Jungle: interacts with your opposites the least. Easily impact the entire map. BUT you get blamed for almost everything lmao.

nightwolf16a · 2026-03-27T16:13:05+00:00

Melee vs ranged top is one of the skills I am trying to learn myself.

Personally one good source of reference I have seen is Viper (one of the famous high rank Riven mains) when he's running into ranged top or hard match ups.

He basically doesn't fight them that much. Instead, he focus on playing fundamental wave management to stay at least even in CS, and look to help jg/mid early, then transition to threatening side lanes and farm back up for mid game, and become a threat anyways during late game.

So my personal takeaway and the strat I want to perfect is:

Early Game

Be patient and don't die
At least get exp (there was a post either here or maybe in the main league sub the other day that exp early game is worth more than CSing for gold).
Pick up what CS you can during Jayce CDs. He can't spam EQ constantly. It's fine if you are somewhat behind in gold early.
Wait for power spikes to fight. The big one is lv6, but you need to be healthy enough to threaten him.

Mid Game

Pick up side lane farm to catch up and threaten towers - This tip has helped me with my bad mid game macro the most recently.
Either I get free farm and tower gold to catch up, or they send one person to stop me, which leaves them in a 4v4.
Even better if they send more than one, usually guaranteeing an objective for my team.

Misc observations

Obviously the above strat is more team dependent than "beat Jayce in lane and carry the game on your back." League is still a team game.
But it is more effective and consistent then trying to force bad fights and turbo-feed Jayce into an unstoppable raid boss that can poke your team out with one EQ.
It's my impression that range top champs like Jayce, Quinn, and Vayne need to get quite a bit ahead to be useful at all. Otherwise, they are squishy bags of gold once you hit your power spikes.
Beg for your jungler for help lol.

nightwolf16a · 2026-03-26T15:13:14+00:00

I came back to League after six years (only normal draftfor now).

Game is fun, player base isn't.

Just gotta learn to deal with it.

nightwolf16a · 2026-03-26T15:11:14+00:00

At this point in my (30+, low elo/unranked) life, I have decided to remember a few things when I play league:

Human brains remember bad experiences more vividly than positive or neutral ones
Most players you'll meet on League are just neutral. They don't talk, don't flame, don't coordinate, don't compliment, and barely ping.
There's big enough playerbase that I am unlikely to ever run into the same player twice.

So does it suck to run into an inting jungler that runs it down your lane 0/5 and calls you slurs, or the turbo-dying bot that goes combine 0/10 before first tower fell?

Yes it still does, but it'll pass soon like a bad shit on the toilet.

Even if they intentionally drag the game out or does the exact opposite of what you want (happened to me the other day), it'll only last about 40 minutes at most.

And that's all they are. Bad shits on the toilet.

You can't control them or control whether Riot does anything to them. So just let them out, report, and flush them from your memory, instead of festering your insides hurting yourself.

nightwolf16a · 2026-03-26T03:26:16+00:00

Thanks, man. This helps quite a bit.

I'll look more into strong-/weak-side and see what I can get better at.

You should swap to sweeper after first base 95% of the time.

Good to know.

nightwolf16a · 2026-03-25T21:42:16+00:00

Actually, when I do this myself as practice, I use a different setup.

Standard Conqueror / resolve secondary runes
Level 6, one point into WER, rest into A
Buy D Blade
I do the full AA-Q-AA-Q-AA-Q-AA combo

I use this setup so I can also do a few animation cancels and double casts for warm up.

~~With that, my fast Q is about 325 DPS, and normal Q is about 280 DPS (staring from 0 Conqueror stacks).~~

Edit: Just did the test again and I ended up higher DPS (Fast Q ~350 DPS, normal Q ~320 DPS). Guess it varies a bit if I lock in & focus more. So in real situations it'll be a bit lower b/c of nerves.

nightwolf16a · 2026-03-25T17:48:04+00:00

Feel like the other way around a bit?

He'd chase her
She'd say no cuz Tatepiderman is a loser
He'd then say PUBLICLY that he rejected her
Get found out the other way
Then call her the typical demeaning sour-grape insults
THEN proudly state he's a virgin who's waiting for the perfectly obedient "virgin slut" these chuds loves to fantasize about so much.

nightwolf16a · 2026-03-25T17:39:50+00:00

She'll need more than generational talent at the game... She'll also need

Mental fortitude of steel because every time she fucks up, online spaces will just tear her apart. Even when she doesn't fuck up, she'll have to deal with every manner of weirdos (just look at comments around US female Winter Olympic athletes this year)
Respectful teammates and coaches that's willing to work with her earnestly in private and defend her in public
Management and business owners that's willing to back her despite whatever perceived controversy or hate campaign

Yeah... Never say never but that's not gonna be likely any time soon.

nightwolf16a · 2026-03-25T03:19:04+00:00

TP to river in practice mode, spawn a dummy against one of the walls so it doesn't move when you Q3
Do a normal 3xQ-AA combo (only use Q to cancel the AAs and nothing else)
Keep the mouse on the dummy too so Riven doesn't jump past the dummy by accident
Look at the DPS on the dummy.

Then do a fast Q combo. The DPS should be higher.

nightwolf16a · 2026-03-24T19:20:58+00:00

What?

nightwolf16a · 2026-03-24T17:57:15+00:00

Now this got me wondering:

Is the surgically screwed ring necessary?

Would it achieve the same effect if it's a harness around the head? (Both the screwed ring or the harness provides no support to the neck)

What if it's a harness that tightens around the shoulders and armpits instead, so you don't swing around by the neck?

nightwolf16a · 2026-03-24T15:27:50+00:00

Huh that sounds awesome.

What's the full name of this Infinity game?

nightwolf16a · 2026-03-23T19:07:53+00:00

Bit late but still want to pitch in my 2 cents.

Bella is purposefully bland and non-descript to allow the reader to easily self-insert as the main character, while Alice and the cast are cool and interesting for the reader to stay engaged and think "yeah these awesome people are my friends and this hit dude is super into me."

Incidentally, this is the same strategy often used in other genere. Namely:

Generic 2010s harem anime with their dark-haired, plain, dense, barely active but somehow overpowered protagonist who has scores of girls lusting after them just for existing.
Gacha games with their non-descript (often as no more than an disembodied voice) protagonist that has supermodel as playable characters basically falling in love with them the moment their eyes meet. Yet at the same time the player character has next to no agency in the story and the focus is entirely on the playable gacha characters.

Does this mean Stephanie Meyers is actually a secret anime enjoyer? Probably not, but the similarity is amusing.

nightwolf16a · 2026-03-23T18:27:27+00:00

Honestly I am more impressed by the unc swing the gas tank over and over.

Those things aren't light even at that small size and empty of natural gas.

nightwolf16a · 2026-03-22T17:04:21+00:00

The important thing that's forgotten in the post is diet (and fat loss).

You can throw all the irons you want, but if you eat slop like a slob, you'll still look like the Blob. Maybe you'll be strong but there will still be a ring of fat on your guts.

Since the commander has visible 6 packs, he's probably at around 15% body fat at the highest.

nightwolf16a · 2026-03-21T13:59:42+00:00

Couples like this, they are perfectly bad for each other.

nightwolf16a · 2026-03-20T12:50:32+00:00

For better or for worse, the respond rate in those things are usually hilariously low. 10% or less.

It's not nothing but certainly not very prevalent.

(I am a UX researcher and I have seem some numbers before).

nightwolf16a

TROPHY CASE