Leagues of fans, Online gaming attracts students to virtual worlds

University of South Dakota first-years Garrett Bankston, Seth Pierce and Spencer Lawrence live double lives.

The three are gamers, known in the League of Legends universe as savourn94, Sam And Carolina and Fuliam. Between the three of them, they spend about 80 hours a week playing in the online world.

“It’s a really social thing,” Bankston said. “I probably wouldn’t play if I wasn’t playing directly with a lot of friends.”

League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena game developed in 2009. In the game, players play as a character, referred to a hero, in a team of three to five players.

Two teams start the game on opposite sides of a map, in a location called the Nexus. To win the game, a team must take over the other team’s Nexus.

Heroes must destroy enemies created by the other team, buy items and level up on the way to the Nexus.

The game has grown rapidly since its initial launch. The Season 2 World Championship was watched live by 8.2 million fans and about 32 million users, including local player Bankston, watched the Season 3 World Championship in November.

Bankston said he is drawn to the game because of the necessary teamwork and an ever changing game climate.

“It’s easy to pick up, but hard to master,” Bankston said. “As soon as you think you’ve mastered a character, someone shuts you down.”

Lawrence said he also enjoys the variety the game provides users.

“I like the versatility,” Lawrence said. “It’s never the same.”

Although he spends about 40 hours a week playing online slots and other games, Bankston said his grades have not suffered.

“I have class schedules that allow me to sleep through the day,” Bankston said.

Bankston usually stops playing the game around 2 a.m., around the same time as his other gamer friends.

“Our sleeping schedule is awful,” Pierce said.

Lawrence, who plays League of Legends the least of the three, said how much he plays varies on how much homework he has.

“It’s more of a leisure thing,” Lawrence said. “I don’t put it before school.”

However, Lawrence said there have been times when the gamers overindulged themselves by playing the game.

“We’ve all gone overboard at one point or another,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence said the group puts the most time into the game on weekends, when they’ll often play the game all night.

In addition to playing the game, Lawrence said he watches other League of Legends games to observe strategy.

“It’s such a complex game,” Lawrence said. “It’s a big advantage.”

Due to the game’s frequent changes, the team is always adjusting its strategy.

“It always has a new twist,” Lawrence said. “It’s not something where you can do the same thing over and over.”

Pierce started playing the game two years ago. When he plays with Pierce and Lawrence, he plays a character referred to as a glass cannon, a hero who deals out a lot of damage, but is designed to die within 15 seconds of being attacked.

“My favorite part is probably getting awesome kills,” Pierce said.

Bankston said the game has helped him connect with other students at the USD.

“It’s something a lot of people can connect with,” Bankston said. “It’s easy to make friends with, unless you throw your mouse at them when they mess up.”

Follow Braley Dodson on Twitter @BraleyDodson

Read the latest blog from The Volante’s resident gamer Charlie Dalldorf here.