Chapter 298: Experience Store Player Feedback
Jia Peng was very happy.
Although he felt this game was nowhere near as difficult as *Warcraft*, he was having a blast killing enemies, and that was enough for him.
He was playing very relaxed.
Killing felt great.
And he could show off in front of his friends.
It was simply perfect!
Wen Lingwei glanced at him: "Alright, stop basking in your own glory. Let’s start another round. I was a bit confused last time, and you took all the kills."
"Sure thing." Jia Peng invited them both again and queued up for another bot match.
Chang Xiuya still felt a bit instinctively timid, thinking she wasn’t good at this game. But seeing how skilled Jia Peng was, she figured it didn’t matter if she played poorly—at least she could just coast along.
The feeling of being carried to victory was pretty great.
As for Jia Peng, he was even more excited, eager to experience the thrill of Yi the Master’s insane killing spree again.
They entered the game selection screen once more.
This time, everyone chose different champions than before.
Jia Peng’s decision paralysis kicked in again, and he turned to Chen Mo: "Store owner, which champion here is strong?"
Chen Mo said calmly, "They’re all strong."
Jia Peng didn’t believe him: "Store owner, don’t fool me. How can they all be strong? There must be some that are strong and some that aren’t."
Chen Mo rolled his eyes: "I feel like you’re doubting my numerical balance skills. These champions really are all strong; they just have different roles and responsibilities."
"Alright." Jia Peng thought for a moment and rephrased his question, "Then, is there a champion similar to the Sword Saint?"
Chen Mo thought about it.
Since this was the first version, there weren’t many flashy assassin champions yet. The wildly popular "Child’s Zed" and "Toddler’s Yasuo" hadn’t even been put on the development schedule.
"You could try Tryndamere, or Shaco," Chen Mo said.
Jia Peng looked around. Someone had already locked in Teemo instantly, leaving him with the jungle role again.
"Then I’ll pick this clown for the jungle." As he spoke, Jia Peng chose the Demon Jester, Shaco.
From the champion’s appearance, it was a very cool-looking character, reminiscent of certain psychopathic killers from American TV shows, like a nightmare for kids.
Jia Peng looked through Shaco’s abilities one by one: "Store owner, how do you play this champion?"
From the skill descriptions, Shaco, like the Sword Saint, was an assassin-type champion. His Q ability was a dash plus stealth, W placed boxes on the ground, E was a slow, and his ultimate R created a clone.
But just reading the skill descriptions, Jia Peng still couldn’t figure out a good combo.
Chen Mo explained: "The boxes can be used for jungling or placed in bushes to ambush enemies. To gank, start with Q to dash through walls while stealthed, get close, then use E to slow. The ultimate can be used to escape or add damage."
Jia Peng: "...Got it. Store owner, your teaching is very clear."
This was another advantage of *League of Legends*’ simplified mechanics: teaching between players became very easy.
Take the Demon Jester, for example. He was supposed to be a relatively difficult champion, but his basic playstyle and combos could still be explained in just a few dozen simple words.
Especially since Jia Peng had already played Master Yi and basically understood the standard playstyle of assassin-type champions, it was even easier for him to grasp Shaco’s characteristics.
The second bot match encountered a slight hiccup, mainly because the top-lane Teemo was feeding too aggressively, giving away four kills in less than ten minutes.
Fortunately, Jia Peng carried hard, ganking the top-lane bots several times to avoid losing the bot match.
"Phew, that scared me. Losing that would’ve been so embarrassing. So the biggest threat in this game comes from teammates, huh?" Jia Peng wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and complained.
Chen Mo couldn’t help but laugh. That was a pretty honest statement.
After all, "It’s not the godlike opponent you fear, but the piglike teammate."
Chen Mo patted Jia Peng on the shoulder: "You guys keep playing. I’ll go check on the others."
In the entire PC experience area of the store, over eighty percent of the players were playing *League of Legends*.
However, a small number of players didn’t like this kind of competitive game, or couldn’t quite grasp it, so they tried it and then closed the game.
Chen Mo wasn’t surprised. This type of competitive game only revealed its true fun when players really got into it, and it was best played with good friends.
Right now, most people were still stuck in the bot match phase. The true charm of *League of Legends* hadn’t fully revealed itself yet.
Everyone was playing a bit confused. The bright, slightly cartoonish art style and simple gameplay made it hard for people to realize how dominant a PC game it would become.
From time to time, players asked Chen Mo questions.
"Store owner, how do you play this champion? Can you take a look for me?"
"Store owner, what level do I need to be to fight real people? I’m bored of playing against bots!"
"Store owner, I got a pentakill! Look, am I naturally talented?"
"Store owner, how do you play Teemo? Teach me, please!"
...
Chen Mo walked around, giving a few tips whenever a player asked, and also gauging everyone’s feedback on the game.
So far, players didn’t have any major complaints about the game, but they weren’t raving about it either.
Many thought it was just an ordinary competitive game. Those who hadn’t played *Warcraft*’s competitive RPG maps found the game mode a bit too simple and monotonous, while those who had played them found the gameplay too simplistic.
After all, core *Warcraft* players were used to forming control groups, but this game didn’t even have that feature, which made them very uncomfortable.
Moreover, the mixed art styles of the various champions gave many veteran players a sense that the game wasn’t serious, with poor immersion.
Games like *Warcraft* and *Diablo* had perfected their game environments, with art styles, sound effects, and atmospheres that drew players in, perfectly catering to hardcore players.
But *League of Legends* gave these players a sense of unreality, like playing a child’s game.
The game featured cute champions like Teemo, Annie, and Lulu, and the overall art style was cartoonish.
The turret designs, attack effects, the Nexus, minions... all these map elements felt unreal, like toys.
The minion designs were too simple, with almost no sound effects, like rows of ants that didn’t even scream when they died.
And in the game, dying as a champion didn’t bring much frustration. You just fell, screamed, and the screen turned black and white. But after waiting just over ten seconds, you revived and could bounce back to the front lines.
For these hardcore players, they felt Chen Mo’s new game was far inferior to *Warcraft* and *Diablo*.
Of course, they didn’t dare say it outright. Instead, they subtly suggested to Chen Mo whether he could make the battlefield more realistic, at least to enhance the players’ immersion.
Chen Mo smiled but said nothing.