League of Legends - Adventures in Silver Division V

A few weeks back I started my trek into League of Legends ranked play and I have to say it's been quite an up and down ride.  Getting out of Bronze Division I was easy enough (only took 15 games I think?) but I'm having a hell of a time climbing Silver Division V.  Currently I've played some 20+ games in the new division and I haven't gotten anywhere.  Seems like I win one or two games but then lose 3 or 4 right after.

What bugs me is that the opponents I'm facing are no different than those I faced in Bronze Division I and I had a way easier time against them when I was in Bronze Division I.  Even more frustrating is that I haven't really run into a lot of ragers/afkers/toxic folk so the games are actually decent (except for the losing part).  One thing I did consider is that I'm not playing my favourite/best role as a jungler in a lot of my recent games.  Getting used to a new role takes a bit of learning and my first few games as an ADC (attack damage carry) was not the greatest.  I'm getting better though especially after I decided to practice some of the basic skills (like last-hitting and positioning) in normal games.

Gonna try and rank up some more and hope to hit Gold by the end of Season 3 (I want that shiny gold name plate!).  In between ranked games though I've been playing with my friends in duo or trio queues.  One of them picked up Blitzcrank and the cool iBlitzcrank skin and I got the brilliant idea to convince everyone to get a champion with a cool futuristic/mechanical/space like skin.  Each of us thankfully has a favourite role so it just came down to finding a champ that fit each role.  As such our proposed team is going to be composed of the following champions

• Top lane Galactic Renekton
• Jungler (me) Galactice Nasus or Full Metal Jayce
• Mid-Lane undecided so far.  He might end up playing Full Metal Jayce mid.
• ADC Pulsefire Ezrael
• Support iBlitzcrank

We've yet to actually all get together as a full team but it's quite fun even duo-queueing with themed skins.

Outlaw Shizzle - The Story so far (episodes 4-6 recap)

Been a bit behind with the story of Outlaw Shizzle.  Lots of stuff going so what I present here is just a quick recap of what occured in the last 3 episodes.

Episode 4 - The Fall of the Fox
The group manages to fight their way through the Fox's undead minions and his magical traps and eventually confront the Fox in his lair.  A vicious fight ensues with the elite undead guards of the Fox and the Fox himself.  The adventurers use every technique in their arsenal and manage to bring the Fox down.
Looting his lair, they learn that the Rage's family has been sending food stuffs and other supplies to the denizens of the Northern Reaches, a mountain chain east and north of Babel Gilga.  In return, necromantic reagents are being smuggled into the city.

League of Legends - Ranking up

With the price increases by GW and the general lack of anyone playing Warhammer in the area (either fantasy or 40k) I've been spending more and more of my free time playing League of Legends.  I've even started watching some of the more prominant streamers as I want to improve my game play.  That last bit baffled my wife as she didn't quite understand why I would want to watch someone else play.  At which point I told her it's just like a sport (the only real difference is LoL is played on a computer and most other sports are played in a larger arena).  To be honest, after watching some of this weekend's European LCS, you'll think League of Legends was a major sporting event.

Anyways, the most interesting aspect I find about competitive LoL is their impressive ranked play system which I never did participate in when it was first introduced about 3 years ago.  Since I'm currently on my spring break it was only natural I spend some time gaming and I managed to grind out enough in-game points to get enough champions so I could start playing ranked matches.

Oddly enough ranked matches are really no different than normal matches and I actually really like the draft format of the ranked matches (reminds me of drafting MTG which I don't do enough of either).  After my 10 placement matches I managed to land in Tier 1 of the Bronze Division which in layman's terms is basically the best of newly ranked players (see my profile here).  Will I play enough to get higher?  I dunno, but I do want to try and hit Gold division (at that point I think my nameplate becomes a cool golden colour).

So begins my journey through all the ragers, haters, leavers, afkers and feeders to try and reach Gold division.  For anyone interested my summoner name is Deathwing40k and I like to jungle (though I have played every role now and it has dawned on me that I need to get a few champions for each role)

League of Legends - Returning to the League

So as mentioned in my last post, I have recently gotten back into League of Legends (otherwise known as LoL).  Not entirely sure how or why to be honest.  One of my friends just asked if I played and I said yes and he invited me to a game.  I kinda felt bad though as I have a lv30 account and he just started so the skill disparity was quite obvious (even if I had not played in about two years I stopped just before season 1 started).

Outlaw Shizzle - Episode 3 - How they found the Fox

Alright, so it's been a while since I wrote about Outlaw Shizzle mostly because it's been a while since we all got together.  To give an idea of our group, we're all old gamers around our 30s (maybe not as old as some gamers and definately not as young as some) so we've got obligations outside of gaming.  Being a teacher, I tend to have a bunch of stuff to mark or plan (and this planning isn't about what monster or insane dungeon to throw at the party) so some weekends just don't work for me.  Others in the group have out of town jobs or kids or work late or whatever.

We're all still gamers at heart so we try to get together as often as our schedule permits to game out.  If we can't get together, well there's a lot of online games we play (lately the group has been playing a lot of League of Legends).  Speaking of League of Legends (or LoL as it's come to be known as), I've been playing the game since it got out of beta off and on and I am amazed at how popular it has become as well as the plethora of champions available (I remember when Udyr, the first non-beta champion, came out). Currently I've been playing as a jungler with Xin Zhao or Jarvan IV mostly because of their way awesome Warring Kingdoms skins.

Anyways on to a recap of Outlaw Shizzle Episode 3 - How they found the Fox.

Outlaw Shizzle - Episode 2 - How they got the Silver

This week's adventure was interesting considering the last adventure kind of ended on a sour note with the Fox getting the better of the group.  It was the first time I think I ended a session where the PCs thought they had the victory but it turned out it was what the villain wanted.

When last we left Outlaw Shizzle they had finished burning down The Red Herron in the southern district of Babel Gilga.  However, from the ashes of the burning tavern the group saw the dead patrons rising up from the inferno as zombies with the Fox taunting them in the background.

Now the group had not only the Fox to deal with, but a newly arisen army of the dead....

Sometimes I HATE Games Workshop

The Dark Angels up for advance order on the Games Workshop page and with it the realization that I will probably no longer support the company that produces them with the same gusto as I have before.  Now I won't go out and say that I won't buy any of their overpriced goods (those Deathwing models are too awesome looking to not buy at least one box, just not sure when) but their prices have really driven me to consider where I spend my hobby money a lot more carefully.

When I was in high school my mom always said that my money was spent long before I actually earn it (and back in those days any money I made was hobby money) and even now after being married for almost a decade my wife says the same thing (and even though I make more money now than in high school, my disposable hobby money is about the same if not slightly higher due to other expenses).  One of the worst parts of being older is that my hobby time is a lot more valuable and as such my hobby money too.  I can't just spend it willy-nilly on a $70 box set of 5 figures when I could put that money to good use elsewhere for a lot more value.