SteamOS Devices Drop 2014, Beta Testers Get 'Em Early

So...SteamOS. I was a little confused about the system early on, but now we've got a few new details about the set up. Starting in 2014, different manufacturers will drop devices with SteamOS on shelves, with a range to choose from.

Additionally, Valve is also pushing beta devices for a select 300 gamers. On the Steam Machines page, they write:

"While these products are still in development, we need your help. As always, we believe the best way to ensure that the right products are getting made is to let people try them out and then make changes as we go. We have designed a high-performance prototype that’s optimized for gaming, for the living room, and for Steam. Of course, it’s also completely upgradable and open."

We've been doing how-to's here in the Journalism lab, so here's another one to get signed up to the Beta, straight from Valve.

Before October 25, log in to Steam and then visit your quest page to track your current status towards beta test eligibility:

1.  Join the Steam Universe Community Group
2. Agree to the Steam Hardware Beta Terms and Conditions
3. Make 10 Steam Friends (if you haven't already)
4. Create a public Steam Community profile (if you haven't already)
5. Play a game using a gamepad in Big Picture mode.

Good luck. 

-- Valve via VG247

YES! - South Park: The Stick of Truth Arrives this December

Aw, yeah. After wading through a bankrupt publisher, staff layoffs, and a new publisher that seemed to be remiss in its existence for a while, we now have a solid release date for South Park: The Stick of Truth.

Ubisoft has posted a December 10th release date for the title, and also announced a special edition (because of course they did). Snark aside, The Grand Wizard Edition actually looks pretty boss - it comes with a six-inch Wizard Cartman figure from Kidrobot, a physical map of South Park, and the Ultimate Fellowship Pack that's free with a pre-order of either version of the game. All of this is priced at $79.99, which is a steal as far as Kidrobot prices are concerned. The UFP comes with Elf, Necromancer, Sorcerer, Necromancer, Rouge Assassin and Ranger costumes for the main character, each with their own abilities.

This is sweet. Everything I've seen of the game looks brilliant, and the heavy influence of the show's creators makes it even more worth it. Definitely hyped to see this finally drop.

-- Destructoid

$1 Billion in Sales Makes GTA V the Fastest Selling Game Ever

Consider this - when Call of Duty: Black Ops II came out last year, it hit a billion in sales within the first 15 days of it's release. Not bad, not bad...

Grand Theft Auto V did it in three.

In a press release dropped last week, GTA publishers Take-Two Interactive said that the game raked in $1 billion in sales worldwide within the three days it was released. To be precise, that is 16.5 million units moved during that timeframe.

"We believe that this marks the fastest that any entertainment property, including video games and feature films, has reached this significant milestone," Take-Two said in the release. Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and CEO of the publisher said that the game, "is a cultural phenomenon (ahem), and Rockstar Games continues to redefine what can be achieved in interactive entertainment."

Just...wow. I can kinda agree with the sentiment on the whole "fastest selling entertainment property," bit as well, as I haven't found anything to the contrary as far as games or movies go. My brother picked the game up the other day, and so far I'm having a blast. Definitely renewed my faith in the series after the thing that was GTA IV.

The only credible threat to the title of "fastest selling" is Call of Duty: Ghosts. Gamestop has said that it's "the most pre-ordered game of the year." We'll see what happens when that hits shelves, but in the meantime: Bravo, Rockstar. Bravo.

-- Engadget, Forbes, Joystiq

Valve Announces New SteamOS For Living Room PC

In the first of a trifecta of announcements, Valve loosed the covers on "SteamOS," an operating system based around Linux for living rooms. The system is designed to stream game libraries from the Steam client on one computer to a living room based PC or device connected to a television.

On the SteamOS website, Valve writes that with the "openness" of the operating system, hardware developers can, "iterate in the living room at a much faster pace than they've been able to."

"Content creators can connect directly to their customers. Users can alter or replace any part of the software or hardware they want. Gamers are empowered to join in the creation of the games they love. SteamOS will continue to evolve, but will remain an environment designed to foster these kinds of innovation."

Valve also stated that they already have "hundreds" of games running on the software, with triple-A titles to be announced in the coming weeks. The 3000-plus titles already on the client will be streamable to the OS, including Mac-based games. 

I'm certainly interested as to seeing this work, I'm just confused as to how. Valve does mention living room PC, so I'm wondering: Are we talking about another PC connected to a television opposite a person's main comp? Smart TV's or a Linux rig? Or (cue AH-HA! style voice) the Steam Box. There are two more announcements to come from the company, so we'll see what goes down in the coming days. At the very least, they may announce Half-Life 3 (doubt it).

-- SteamOS

Nintendo Legend Hiroshi Yamauchi Passes Away at 85

The man who took Nintendo from card games to video games has passed away. Former Nintendo head Hiroshi Yamauchi died of pneumonia today at the age of 85.

Yamauchi steered the company into the realm of video game with the NES, and was responsible for the SNES, Nintendo 64, and the GameCube. Handheld games were also brought to gamers through the GameBoy under his eye. He vacated his post as president in 2002, but stayed on as an executive advisor.

Without this man, Nintendo and gaming would not be what it is today. Shigeru Miyamoto wouldn't have happened to Nintendo without Yamauchi, and we would not have some of the best games ever in our hands. So thanks, Yamauchi. Thanks.

-- Reuters via Joystiq

Egads, Man: Grand Theft Auto 5 Rakes in $800 Mil in One Day

Of course it did, but it's still no small feat.

Take-Two Interactive announced that Grand Theft Auto V has brought in a cool $800 million in worldwide sales on launch day. Cultural phenomenon, people. Cul-tur-al phen-om-en-on.

This is the biggest launch day sale for the GTA series, and also the biggest in Take-Two's publishing history. What's even more impressive is that GTAV beat out Call of Duty: Black Ops II's previous record of $500 million in first-day sales.

Congrats to Rockstar and Take-Two, honestly. Although the series fizzled out for me after Vice City, it's always a sight to see something like this. I kinda feel like checking the game out, myself.

Oh, hello Redbox text alert, telling me I have one free game rental today. Time to go hunting.

-- VG247

Meet the new CEO of Electronic Arts

EA decided to reach from within, and picked up Andrew Wilson to be their new CEO. Wilson will vacate his post as executive Vice President of EA Sports to take the chair left by John Riccitiello back in March. He was also the head of Origin, the company's digital distribution service.

In a statement, Wilson said, "I envision EA as the World's Greatest Games Company."

"This is not about what we are aiming for or what we will become. Rather, it is about an unfaltering commitment to what we will be every day. This is an attitude that must drive our culture as one team.

"I also believe EA's strategy is sound. Our focus on our talent, our brands and our platform together with our investment in next-generation consoles, mobile and PC free-to-play, as part of our ongoing transition to digital, is right. But we have plenty of work ahead to ensure our collective success."

Wilson also said that he will continue to follow the company's current business plan for this fiscal year, and said that he would focus on, "delivering amazing games and services across platforms."

So in a nutshell, it'll still be business as usual. With the orange blob that is Origin, and the whole "games as services" thing with mountains of DLC and content cut from games to be repackaged as DLC. I'd love to be optimistic about this and hope changes will be made, but...nope. 

Ah well, at least we have Mirror's Edge 2 to look forward to. 

Oh wait, it's just Mirror's Edge, the reboot. Riiiight.

-- Games Industry

Blizzard to Shut Down Diablo III Auction Houses Next Year

...yeap.

In a post on the Diablo III website, Production Director John Hight said that while the main objective  of the Gold and Real Money Auction Houses, "was to provide a convenient and secure system for trades," it went against what the core of the game was supposed to be: kill demons, get paid. Or loot. You know what I mean.

"When we initially designed and implemented the auction houses, the driving goal was to provide a convenient and secure system for trades. But as we've mentioned on different occasions, it became increasingly clear that despite the benefits of the AH system and the fact that many players around the world use it, it ultimately undermines Diablo's core game play: kill monsters to get cool loot. With that in mind, we want to let everyone know that we've decided to remove the gold and real-money auction house system from Diablo III."

                          - John Hight

There you have it. Not much more needs to be said, but good on Blizzard to listen to the fans. Interesting is that the shutdown is scheduled to occur on March 18th of next year, which is when the new Reaper of Souls expansion is rumored to hit the game. Additionally, the Loot 2.0 patch is coming, which is said to improve drop quality. The studio has said that they'll keep gamers informed throughout the process of removing the auction houses.

-- Blizzard via Destructoid

Don't Install that Second GTA V 360 Disc

Getting Grand Theft Auto V on the Xbox 360? Sweet. Don't install the second disc.

Rockstar's Support twitter is asking players not to install the data on the second disc, for "optimal performance." Disc one is a mandatory 8 GB installation in order to use the second 'play' disc that has an optional install. It's a big file, but the pro is that if you're rocking an original white console, it won't sound like Air Force One getting set for takeoff.

"For optimal performance, we recommend not installing that second disc," tweeted Rockstar to a customer. "We'll have more info on our Support Site at launch."

I'm curious as to know what happened with that second disc, but it sounds like something that could be fixed with a patch. Time will tell, but in the meantime, the game is getting rave reviews as usual for the series. GTA V hits stores tomorrow for the 360 and Playstation 3.

Source [@RockstarSupport]

No U-nification Yet: Nintendo 'aware' People Want 3DS, Wii U Unified Accounts

Yes, the title. I know. The first bit. Don't start.

Gamers (and people in general) love a bit of convenience. We enjoy linked email accounts on our phones. We love the classic drive-thru, even when the voice box sounds like they gave Azmodan's voice actor the headset for the day. Sony and Microsoft have also set up linked accounts across their platforms: I didn't have to enter in any new info on my new Windows phone (because Xbox) which was nice.

With Nintendo's platforms? Ehhh...they're getting there.

Speaking with Destructoid's Tony Ponce, Nintendo of America's head of business development Dan Adelman (also known as the Indie Guy) spoke on any possibility of adding unified accounts between the 3DS and Wii U.

"We don't have anything new to announce, unfortunately, other than we've definitely heard that feedback many times from both inside and outside the company," he said. "It's definitely something that we're very much aware of. All development for the infrastructure really happens out of Japan, so we've kind of communicated this need in the market, and they're very much aware of it and working towards just really improving the eShop."

You could take this as a seemingly small complaint from gamers, in the vein of adversity to entering new (or repeated) information on a new system. But it goes deeper. For the two consoles, games are tied to the devices themselves, not the accounts tied to them.

So for example, if the console breaks, you'll need to go through Nintendo for repairs. Getting a new console would mean losing all of your games on the old device. It's DRM and it's archaic. That said, there is a big update coming in the Fall for the Wii U, so...fingers crossed for a change?

Sources [Destructoid via Joystiq]

Pyroar Introduced to Pokemon X/Y

Nintendo dropped the curtain on a brand-new Pokemon today, set to make its debut in the upcoming Pokemon X/Y games. Pyroar (get it? get it?! Read the name)  is an interesting Normal/Fire type with the abilities Rivalry and Unnerve. It's the  the evolved form of Litleo, which was unveiled back on June 14th, and looks like what would happen if Lion-O was an ACTUAL LION. Go figure.

The new monster can learn the Normal-type move "Echoed Voice," which according to the Pokemon Company, makes him a team player as it, "...makes its power grow with every turn. Its power will increase even if other Pokémon use it, so try Echoed Voice out with your allies in Double Battles and Triple Battles to experience its real value.”

Sounds neat. Use Lion-O, I mean, Pyroar in X/Y on the 3DS October 12th.


Source [IGN]

A Steep Slope: Silver III and At the Point of Rage

So this past weekend I was able to reach the halfway point of my journey, the Silver III league. Once again my first attempt at promotion failed but the second proved more fruitful.

But it is that first attempt that I want to talk about briefly, because it brought me closer to raging at League of Legends then I have in months. First what is raging, for me the urge to mash in ALL CAPS at my team about the smallest and largest mistakes, the ability to argue the smallest disagreements of the team. And to be truly angry, angry at a video game, see where I am going with this yet?

So let’s look at the situation, game one of promotion I decide to take to the jungle with one of my favorite tanks, Nautilus. His ability to stick to the enemy while being an ignorable nuisance is something I find invaluable to the teams I like to play in. So suffice to say I was confident with my ability to help lead my time with this champion. So the game starts off with my successful gank of top and bottom securing a kill in each for myself and one for the AD Carry bot lane. Before I can go mid however, our Vladimir player dies 1v1 to the opponent, an Annie. So I proceed with my set forward plan try and help mid as much as possible and get top fed, as bottom was doing fine. Before I know it Vladimir has died three more times, twice to the enemy jungler Lee Sin (once during a counter gank in which he was unable to escape) and once more to Annie 1v1. After the second gank I noticed that he had not bought wards yet to help him defend against Lee who was sitting him. So I decide to try and encourage him while letting him know he needs some vision, “Sight vlad, you need some. Come on man !” Before I can type the next message asking if he wanted me to pick up some wards for him since he was behind, vlad responds with “Enjoy your 4v5” and AFK’s (AFK meaning away from keyboard) from the game leaving us to fend for ourselves down a player with a Fed Annie. To say the least I was angry, just a tad. It seems that everyone else on the team understood what I meant so I couldn’t make sense of my apparent mistake, and that only angered me more as the game went further and further downhill but because he didn’t disconnect from the game surrendering was impossible because our support player thinks “Surrendering is Dumb”, which in some cases I can agree as surrendering can make you miss out on a potential upset comeback. But Trust me folks, this game was beyond saving. So to say the least I was angry but was able to accept my defeat without making a fool of myself in the team chat too badly.

The Second game however, went much too similarly for me to keep my composure. When almost the same exact thing happened in the second game, I lost my proverbial “shit”. My caps lock may as well have been glued down, my play became erratic and worse as time went on, and well, I was definitely being the type of person that I have reported other people for plenty of times.

Suffice to say I didn’t play for the rest of that night a took a long look at league and remembered a promise that I made myself way back in league, that if league become something stressful and not fun I needed to stop playing. So the next day, I did not uninstall (HAH! Tricked you !) I jumped back into ranked and well I was just generally more polite, accepting and I took it as serious as I should have the day before. It’s a game, sure a game that is competitive and I want to succeed in, but overall a game and games are meant to be fun.

The moral of the story is, ranked doesn't give you more or less of an excuse to be an ass to your team, despite what happens or what they do, you can only control your own play. And when you can control yourself to that point, even 4v5 victories are possible.

See you next time !

Gonna be a While Before Kingdom Hearts III

You guys know that Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix came out today? Nice little thing there - comes with the Final Mix version of KH 1, RE: Chain of Memories (ew), and the cutscenes from 365/2 Days all wrapped up in a beautiful HD remaster.

Yeah, play that for a while if you're waiting for Kingdom Hearts III. As in stretch it out for as long as possible.

In an interview with IGN, Kingdom Hearts series producer Shinji Hashimoto said that because Square Enix stalwart Tetsuya Nomura is directing both the newly christened Final Fantasy XV (read: Final Fantasy Versus XIII), and the finale to the KH trilogy, it may be a while before we see the latter game.

"Both have Tetsuya Nomura as their director, so we can’t create these two big games at the same time...It’s a difficult job, as we want each game to be perfect in terms of quality."

I can understand all that, but fellas: You talked up Final Fantasy Versus XIII way back in 2004 before the renaming. For the love of all that is holy, PLEASE don't let this turn into a Last Guardian situation. We keep seeing rereleases and sequels and spin offs...just DO IT. Finish the games. I know it takes time, but as far as I've seen, that "time" gets eaten up by other items in the pipeline. No distractions after Lighting Returns, just clean out KH III and FF XV. Seriously.

Source [IGN]

Here's a Roundup of the Sony Japan Press Conference

So, I messed up. Slept in. Didn't know. Didn't know that Sony Japan was even having a press conference (although signs point to it being "mysterious" so go figure). My journalizms have failed you folks.

No, seriously: I feel bad. What you should be seeing is individual posts on the big news that happened during the conference (and there are some big ones), and yet the best I can do for you is a hopefully nice roundup of the what was announced at the show. Sorry about that. But take a look at the links below - anything thrilling?

No Fun: PlayStation 4 releases later in Japan: February 22nd, 2014

New slim Vita announced, screen switches from OLED to LCD (?)

Lily Bergamo is the latest game from Suda51 (EEEE!!), PS4 exclusive [Trailer]

PS Vita TV is announced, let's you play Vita games on your TV. Yup. [Trailer]

Deep Down, the Panta Rhei-powered Capcom game showed off at the PS4 announcement show, takes place in...New York?

Final Fantasy XIV Beta available for PS4 at launch, is free for the PS3 folks.

Yakuza Ishin is Yakuza Restoration in the states, launches with the PS4 in Japan [Trailer]

Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends drops on Japan PS4 launch [EXTREEEEME Trailer]

New Strategy Role-Playing title, Natural Doctrine, on the way to all Sony consoles.

Gran Turismo 6 PS3 bundle announced, hopefully tides people over 'till the PS4

Soul Sacrifice Delta set to hit the PlayStation Vita, is "more than an update" to the original

Phantasy Star Nova drops on the Vita as well for 2014, carries up to four players

One more for the Vita: Final Fantasy X/X-2 bundle coming for the Vita, has a limited edition handheld

BONUS ROUND: God Eater 2 and Gundam Breakers also get LE Vitas, look MILES better than the Final Fantasy one.

ONE MORE THING: Here's a cheesy yet neat video showing off some of the new tech announced today:

League Of Legends NA Regionals at PAX Seattle

The NA team roster for the League of Legends World Finals was decided this weekend at PAX in Seattle. in the group stage Team Solo Mid, Counter Logic Gaming, Dignitas and Curse Gaming went head to head to enter the semifinals where Teams Cloud9 and Vulcan were waiting due to their buys after the Season.

In day one the TSM vs CLG games came down the several close games that were decided at the Baron pit, but with their LAN Faces on TSM pulled the rug out from under CLG with a 2-1 win. With TSM advancing to the semi finals the last open spot was between Dignitas and Curse. After a decisive first win for Curse, Dignitas came back with a one two punch in the last two games of the series eliminating curse and setting them on a collision course with Vulcan in the Semifinals.

Day two saw the fifth place match between CLG and Curse. The winner of this match would earn their spot in next seasons series while the losing team would have to go back through the grueling promotion tournaments to re-enter the season. With CLG's Doublelift dominating the first game and CLG bringing the team together the second game, Curse was sent home packing with CLG securing the season 4 spring LCS spot. The first semifinal series was between the Fan Favorite TSM and the hot streak Vulcan team. TSM's captain Reginald brought the pressure for his team all game keeping Vulcan on their heels until they gathered as a team to deliver a deathblow at 25 minutes. In the second game Vulcan showed that they would not go down without a fight with their smart plays and daring Baron grabs, but TSM took advantage of Top laner Dyrus and used a perfect fight to decimate Vulcan and secure a spot in the NA finals. The Next Semifinal match-up was between the front running Cloud9 and the 5th place Dignitas. Dignitas came out strong the at the start of the first match earning an early lead over Cloud9. But after a few key plays by AD Carry Sneaky, Cloud9 bounced back and took game one by storm. Once again showing that their early game is their only weakness Cloud9 gave gidnitas a few free early kills. But it didn't last long for Dignitas as a tower dive bottom lane would gain Cloud9 the kills back and then some. Cloud9 would continue on the rampage to definitively claim the finals spot versus TSM.

Day three began with the third ticket to worlds representing North America being desperately fought over by Teams Dignitas and Vulcan. Vulcan rushed Dignitas for an early lead in game one, and their relentless assault took game one is a quick and effective fashion. Dignitas' desperation showed in several early mistakes in game two leading to a very large lead for Vulcan. Vulcan similarly took game two and securing their place in worlds and sending Dignitas home. The Final match-up of the tournament  was between reigning NA champions and the new kids on the block Cloud9. Cloud9 quickly established their intent by taking TSM in the first game quickly after 20 minutes in a forceful manner. Game two leaned in TSM's favor in the beginning but Cloud9 soon brought their lead back in a destructive team fight at baron where TSM was aced. The Third game quickly spun out of control for the reigning champs as Cloud9 rode their momentum straight into the TSM base for another quick victory despite TSM's baron buff.

In the end PAX Prime Seattle ended with Cloud9 reigning as the new North American champs and TSM and Vulcan going with them to world championships carrying the hopes of the North American circuit with them.

Train Your Vehicle Skillz in Battlefield 4's Test Range.

Yes, that's a 'z' in "skillz"

No, I'm not changing it.

In a Q&A with IGN, DICE Creative Director Lars Gustavsson spoke on player's fears of flying and driving the vehicles in previous Battlefield games, and said he and the team know about their hesitation with the heavy machinery. That said, they've put together a test range in the upcoming Battlefield 4 so future pilots and tank drivers can get used to the vehicles without crashing them into their own squadron accidentally on purpose.

"We've definitely heard that people are afraid of getting in there [and using vehicles like helicopters] and that's not our intent, so what we've done is, we've added a test range, which allows you to try out all the hardware ahead of time so that if you want to learn to fly a helicopter you can get in there and you can find the settings that work best for you."

Gustavsson even suggested that players, "...start doing some stunt flights just to feel safe..." before carrying fellow squadmembers into battle. Neat. I never got the chance to drive one, but the things did look complicated. Might have been the reason why you never actually flew in the campaign (as far as I know). 

Source [IGN Battlefield 4 Q&A]

Nostalgia! Use the Original Starters in Pokemon X/Y

In today's Pokemon-flavored Nintendo Direct, the company announced that players can choose from either the new starter monsters in the upcoming Pokemon X/Y, or pick from the original trio from Red and Blue. The original trio will have the new Mega-Pokemon ability, which boosts their abilities farther than their final evolution during battle.The mega designs for the Red/Blue trio range from cool, (Charizard and Blastoise) to little more than slapping a flower on a head (Venusaur).

The new evolution is tied to the trainers' mega bracelet, the new mega stone item held by a Pokemon, and the connection between trainer and creature.

The Direct also announced a pair of swank 3DS XL X/Y devices as well, one red and one blue. These are not bundled with the game though, and won't be coming out to coincide with the games' October 12th release date. They'll be shipping out instead on September 27th.

Additionally, a new cloud storage feature was also announced, dubbed the Pokemon Bank. It's a paid app (with subscription) that allows for 100 boxes of storage for X/Y, Black/White and Black/White 2. The Black/White games will need the extra Poke Transporter app to move the critters around.

Here's the Direct in full.

Xbox One to Drop November 22nd

After news of "late November" and speculation on a before or after the PlayStation 4 launch, we've finally got something concrete from Microsoft about the Xbox One.

The company announced a release date of November 22nd, exactly seven days (cue The Ring) after Sony's console is set to hit shelves here in the states. It will hit North America and 12 other countries, a reduction from the original 21. Those remaining locales will have to hang on until next year.

The price of the One is still at $499 bones, despite a few people (myself including) hoping that they'd ship a version of the console out without the Kinect bundled. Because, you know, some people just want to play games and not have anything to do with having full control of their home theater (although that is an awesome thing to do).

The console blood wars begin in November people! Going to be interesting to see who comes out on top.

Source [Destructoid]

Eh? - Xbox One Supports Eight Controllers At Once

Image from Geek.com

Not just one, not only five, but eight - count 'em, EIGHT controllers at once, people!

The Brit folks over at CVG took a gander at the Xbox One product page, only to discover that players will be able to play with eight controllers on a single console. Wow. Additionally, the controllers will have a 30 foot range.

There isn't any word on any games that will use the eight controllers but, I can't help but be...kind of interested in this. Party games aside, there are a lot of possibilities that could stem from a lot of controllers. If confusion could be put aside (and 8-player splitscreen), coupled with some smart designs, this could be fun. I'm excited to see what could come from an 8-player same room game.

Sources [CVG via Destructoid]

A Steep Slope: Another step taken, and Understanding the difference between Leading and Carrying.

Well here we are at the first actual step of the path. I have made my way out of the Silver V division. A few clutch games earned me the necessary 100 LP(league Points)  to enter my promotion series. Well that didn't go to great. After three very close games I had failed my best of three series and reentered Silver V with 89 LP. So the next day after a good talk with an experienced platinum player friend of mine, I jumped into

a ranked que yet again. The Nautilus game I played was not only one of my best Nautilus games to date, but it was the most fun I've had in the ranked system in a while.  I then went on to my promotion series again, the Nautilus game having earned me my 100 LP, with my new outlook intact and proceeded to play great Anivia and Xerath games promoting me to Silver IV.

Now you may be wondering what is this talk I had with my friend and what is this new outlook. Well he shared with me that getting through ranked especially getting out of the bronze silver and gold divisions isn't about carrying your team by pure skill and determination (or try harding for those league players out there) as I thought it was before. It's more about playing a champion who can lead your team, you don't have to be a leader but you have to make sure that your champion can blaze a path and leave a sign that says "Let's Go TEAM !" behind that is impossible to ignore. Because in the end League of Legends is a team game, and you can't get anywhere without the other four members of your team. But even then league can be a bit bland jsut grinding on your own, so do what I do every now and then! Duo with a friend with similar mmr to yours and enjoy having someone to actually communicate and joke around with during the game.

Friend was a platinum player, Squisheeball.