Session 1

What will I like / dislike about it?

As someone who has been playing games like League of Legends and the Chinese MOBA Honor of Kings for nearly a decade, I can say that I will enjoy the fast-paced gameplay and the ability to work collaboratively with other players in a game like Wild Rift. I especially look forward to faster games, while 1 league game can take 40 minutes to an hour, a Wild Rift game can finish in as little as 15 minutes (they're usually around 25 minutes). For Wild Rift, I also appreciate the variety of champions and their unique abilities, which allow for strategic thinking and planning. The champions are also nostalgic from my League of Legends days.

On the other hand, one thing I think I will dislike about the game is the occasional toxicity of some players, which can lead to a negative gaming experience. Sometimes players curse, act irrationally and make it hard to win for our own team. Additionally, I am scared that the game's matchmaking system can sabotage the player to never rank up.

What will I find interesting about it/boring or tedious about it?

Wild Rift requires players to think strategically and make quick decisions in order to achieve their objectives. This can help develop their critical thinking skills and learn how to approach problems from different angles. The game is also designed for players to work together as a team, which can help foster collaboration and teamwork skills. What makes the game most interesting, however, is how every game is different. The game is determined by the actions of 10 different people playing the game.

The game can be quite time-consuming, which can be a barrier for some players, particularly those who have other commitments like work or school. This is because it takes a long time to rank up, and even longer to master the game. Another factor I find tedious is toxicity: As I mentioned earlier, the toxic behavior of some players can make the game less enjoyable.

What will I need to do in it?

There are 5 main things I need to do in the game:

1. Choose a champion: Before each game, I need to choose a champion from a roster of over 60 characters, each with their own unique abilities and play styles.

2. Work with my team: Wild Rift is a team-based game, so I need to work collaboratively with my teammates to achieve our objectives. This involves communicating effectively, coordinating our strategies, and supporting each other as needed.

3. Achieve objectives: The objectives of each game mode can vary, but typically involve destroying the enemy team's Nexus (a structure located in their base) or securing objectives like turrets or dragons. Achieving these objectives requires skillful play, strategic thinking, and teamwork.

4. Level up and gain gold: As I play, I need to level up my champion and gain gold by killing minions, monsters, and enemy players. This allows me to buy items that enhance my champion's abilities and make them more powerful.

5. Manage resources: In Wild Rift, I need to manage several resources like health, mana, and cooldowns on my abilities. Effective resource management is key to success in the game, as it allows me to stay in fights longer and use my abilities more effectively.

What will I need to learn within it?

I can think of 6 things that I am still learning as I play Wild Rift:

1. Champion mechanics: Each champion in Wild Rift has their own unique set of abilities and play style. Learning how to use these abilities effectively, when to use them, and how to combo them with other abilities is crucial to success.

2. Map awareness: The game takes place on a map with various objectives and lanes. Knowing how to navigate the map, where to ward, and how to position oneself is crucial to success.

3. Teamwork and communication: As a team-based game, Wild Rift requires effective communication and teamwork to succeed. Learning how to communicate with teammates and coordinate strategies is essential.

4. Itemization: There are a variety of items in Wild Rift that can enhance a champion's abilities or provide other benefits. Learning which items to buy and when to buy them is key to success.

5. Objective control: Wild Rift involves a variety of objectives like turrets, dragons, and the Baron Nashor. Learning how to control these objectives and use them to gain an advantage is important.

6. Meta knowledge: The game's meta (i.e., the most popular champions, strategies, and item builds) can change over time. Staying up to date with the current meta and adapting one's play style accordingly can help a player stay competitive.

What will it be like / similar to (other games I have played)?

The two most impressionable games I’ve played in the recent past include Assassin’s Creed and World of Warcraft. While Wild Rift is quite different from these games, there are still some similarities:

1. Skill-based gameplay: Like Assassin's Creed and World of Warcraft, Wild Rift requires skillful play to be successful. Players need to learn how to use their champion's abilities effectively, manage resources, and outmaneuver opponents.

2. Quests and objectives: All three games have objectives that players need to complete to progress. In Wild Rift, these objectives may involve destroying turrets or securing objectives like dragons, while in Assassin's Creed and World of Warcraft, players complete quests to progress the story and gain rewards.

3. Character customization: In all three games, players can customize their characters to suit their play style. In Wild Rift, this involves choosing a champion with abilities that fit one's play style and building items that enhance those abilities. In Assassin's Creed and World of Warcraft, players can choose their equipment and skill trees to tailor their character to their liking.

4. Online multiplayer: Both World of Warcraft and Wild Rift are online multiplayer games that require players to work with others to achieve objectives. While Assassin's Creed is primarily a single-player game, some of its iterations have multiplayer modes that allow players to compete against each other.

My expectation of Wild Rift is that it will be an engaging and challenging game that requires skill, focus and strategy to succeed, based on my prior experience with competitive online games in general.

Session 2

Descriptive Notes

• During the early game, I focused on poking the enemy bot lane with Yuumi's Q ability while staying close to my ally ADC to provide protection.
• I am partnered with a Vayne, a late game hard-carry because of her ability to deal true damage and heal in sustained fights. This is why I chose Yuumi, a support that can increase Vayne’s damage and help Vayne crowd control enemies
• Vayne is a weak champion early game, so she lets the enemy push the lane so she can farm safely under tower; avoiding fights unless she can absolutely win
• We don’t refer to players by their user ID, but by their chosen champions
• The enemy support is a Rakan, a tank support with high engage potential because of a knockup CC, but is a support that is less tanky then other engage supports.
• Yuumi is extremely not tanky, the solo laner on our team picked Mundo in response to my Yuumi pick. Mundo is one of the tankiest champions in the game.
• 0:11 ADC wards the first lane bush
• 1:52 successful solo lane gank by our jungler
• 2:27 Our solo laner over stays and gets counter ganked by enemy jungler and dies
• 2:57 I ward river tri bush because I expect a gank coming after the enemy jungler ganks solo lane – I use my ultimate defensively afterwards

-4:00 ADCs trade kills, we would have won the fight if I had my ultimate

-5:00 I ward river tri bush again and see the enemy jungler come as a result, we survive the gank

• 6:20 enemy Rakan engages and tries to start fight, our Vayne dodges his crowd control, he jumped over a wall and is separated from his ADC, our midlaner comes to gank; I kill the Rakan and the midlaner kills the ADC
• 7:39 ADC kills enemy ADC (we are ahead) but dies because it was a tower dive and enemy support came to help in the end
• 9:30 midlaner comes to gank and we kill both members of their Bot lane’ river bush wasn’t warded so enemy thought it was a 2v2; we get their tower after killing them
• 10:21 enemy Rakan gets a 3 man knockup and we lose a teamfight 2 for 4 as a result. Enemy team gets rift herald as a result; we win a 2 for 1 teamfight at rift herald and get dragon in response
• 12:04, our jungler overstays pushing a lane and dies
• 12:54 I ult the enemy rammus, root him, and he dies to our midlaner. Without their tank, the enemy runs away but our Vayne has high chase potential and we win a 4v5 teamfight, acing their entire team; this was a defining teamfight that pulled our team way ahead of the enemy team; as a result, we take their entire jungle and ward their jungle
• 13:29, recognizing we’re ahead, I decide to go for an item that adds to my damage while neglecting defenses in hopes of snowballing our lead
• 15:00 enemy team engages onto our jungler, but I get a 3 man ult off and the enemy misses their abilities; we end up killing their entire team in another teamfight
• Early game kills are very important because the power differential from a gold difference is much higher in the early game
• 15:30 we get two towers on their high ground and our Mundo starts disrespecting their team by flashing emotes in their base and not helping push the wave (irrational); we end up overstaying and our whole team dies as a result; the enemy team gets baron and resets; we lost the fight because the enemy team got to reset and come back with full health
• 17:36 we try to get dragon while the enemy team resets but there isn’t enough time; our dragon is stolen and we lose a teamfight 1 for 3 because the enemy team has baron buff
• 18:53 the enemy isn’t able to use their baron buff to push because they have two high ground towers down
• 19:55 2v3 teamfight in enemy jungle; we get enemy top second tower
• 20:53 enemy steals elder dragon; we have a teamfight and it is 3 for 3
• 22:00 surviving members of our team push lane into their base and win the game; in retrospect, the fight could have been a 3 for 1, the jungler and I should’ve gone and pushed mid with the other two members of the team

Analytical Notes

What problems did it present me with?

• Difficulty communicating with other players who refuse to cooperate.
• The need to adapt to the playstyle of my team and coordinate my actions with theirs （If my jungler is trying to get dragon at the wrong time, it is still in my best interest to help）
• Frustration with losing and making mistakes that can cost the game.

What options did it give me (to address those problems)?

• The game provides a chat system with a variety of pre-written messages to facilitate communication with teammates.
• The game also includes a ping system that allows players to quickly signal their intentions and alert teammates to potential dangers.
• Players can select from a range of champions with different abilities and playstyles to better fit the needs of their team (most games are won at champion select by selecting champions that counter the opposing team)
• Players can also adjust their playstyle and strategy throughout the game in response to the actions of their opponents and the progress of their team.

When and how does the game invoke gender, class, race, violence in ways that might be problematic?

• The game does not overtly invoke gender, class, or race in problematic ways, but certain champions and their skins may reinforce harmful stereotypes or cultural appropriation.
• The game does involve violence, as players engage in battles with opposing teams to destroy their nexus, which may not be suitable for all players.

What about learning? Does anything stand out as a ‘defining’ or ‘unique’ feature of the game?

• Wild Rift has a steep learning curve, as players must learn the mechanics and strategies of each champion and how to effectively work with their team.
• The game provides extensive resources and tutorials to aid in learning, including interactive tutorials, practice modes, and champion-specific guides.
• One unique feature of the game is the inclusion of the "Wild Pass" system, which rewards players for completing certain tasks and objectives throughout the game, encouraging continued learning and engagement.
• Another unique feature is the reputation system exclusive to China that affects how much one can play. There are rewards for good reputation. This is a China only feature likely because we have to authenticate with real identity information and phone numbers to play the Chinese version, whereas the global version only requires a google account

Affective Notes

I would say I was pretty engaged the whole game. There were quite a few moments when I felt accomplished, especially when I was the one who saved a teammate, or engaged a teamfight successfully. There were moments when I felt irritated as well, because the mistakes I made should not have been made. I’ve noted the moments below: Near the end of the game in our last 3 for 3 teamfight, I felt bad after dying because I could’ve saved the jungler. I also ended up tunnel visioning and did not even see the rest of my team pushing mid.

Irritated/angry

• 7:39 ADC kills enemy ADC (we are ahead) but dies because it was a tower dive and enemy support came to help in the end – this made me feel irritated because if I had given my ADC a shield earlier, she probably wouldn’t have died
•  10:21 enemy Rakan gets a 3 man knockup and we lose a teamfight 2 for 4 as a result. -it was my fault, I should’ve warded river as soon as my ADC arrived at mid.
•  15:30 we get two towers on their high ground and our Mundo starts disrespecting their team by flashing emotes in their base and not helping push the wave (irrational); we end up overstaying and our whole team dies as a result; the enemy team gets baron and resets; we lost the fight because the enemy team got to reset and come back with full health – I was probably the most irritated here because we could’ve just gotten the two towers and reset if the Mundo helped, and we probably would’ve won much earlier
•  17:36 we try to get dragon while the enemy team resets but there isn’t enough time; our dragon is stolen and we lose a teamfight 1 for 3 because the enemy team has baron buff – this was frustrating because we had a real chance of getting the dragon and not getting it was a misplay by our jungler

Succeeding in Wild Rift requires a combination of game knowledge, mechanical skill, strategic decision making, team work, and a bit of luck.

Session 3

I decided to watch Broken Support play Yuumi. He’s a grandmaster support player on Wild Rift with a YouTube channel

Descriptive Notes

•  Laning against Soraka, plans to get tear, anti heal, then luden’s orb and rabadon’s; full AP build seems to have more value
• He notes that Yuumi is the best pick if your ADC is good
•  0:33 wards second push and notices no one is there, camps for level 1 trade
•  0:40 Wards tri bush on enemy side
•  1:26 First blood on enemy Soraka; Broken helps with 2 auto attacks
•  1:45 Kills enemy ADC under tower after being poked out – level advantage
•  2:20 Gets two plates and pushes wave, then resets
•  2:44 Lv5 all in from Lv advantage – kills enemy Soraka
•  3:49 wards enemy Tribush after poking the enemy so hard they have to reset
•  4:09 gets first tower and pushes wave because enemy has resetted
•  5:14 Lane swaps to mid lane after recalling due to no mana, prepares for Dragon
•  Broken always uses all gold when home
•  7:10 wins teamfight and aces their team
•  8:50 overstays toplane and dies
•  9:00-12:53 constantly sieging tower until half the team dies from overstaying and constant enemy resets
•  14:12 2 towers and 4 enemy down, team pushes and wins game
•  When solo queuing, play supports that don’t require a carry
•   Get both procs of Nami W at Lv1 and harass like crazy
•  Place wards at spots where you can pop their vision plant

Analytic Notes

•  He takes advantage of even the smallest power differences to start winnable fights; from level difference, ult difference  to surprise attacks
•  He’s always protecting the ADC and stays with the ADC as much as possible
•  He’s not afraid of poking the enemy under tower
•  He wards the tri bush as often as possible
•  He focused on playing the game and did not make any comments on race, gender, class and violence
•  Violence is a part of the game and no longer a surprise
•  He makes some pretty great itemization differences, opting for Tear for sustain and anti heal. Tear is something I would never have thought of even though I knew Yuumi had mana issues
•  Broken encountered a player that died because she went too deep and ended up blaming Broken. That player then pinged broken the whole game until she got muted
•  You don’t always have to ult into enemies, you can ult for objective control
•  Compared to when I played, Broken puts a lot more thought into his plays, while I feel like I am playing a bit on autopilot, there is intention in the action broken takes; every game is truly different
• Broken really knows a lot about how to maximize each champion’s abilities; these abilities details are public information, but to have these details influence his decision-making in the game shows that he thought deeply about each champion

Affective Notes

•  Broken subtitles his videos with his thoughts and feelings as the game is played and this shows how insightful of a player he is
•  There were times when broken felt frustrated at his teammates for not knowing how to play but he played it off pretty cooly and stayed rational throughout
• The main issues that irritated Broken that were evident were when a teammate did not know how to build their champion against the enemy team, , teammates that die on their own and then blame others, and teammates that were disrespectful with communication
• Broken is an extremely patient player. As a support, he is self-reliant, and he is able to dish out as much damage as an ADC; his reasoning is that if his ADC doesn’t know how to play, then he becomes the ADC
• He picks champions like Nami, and Thresh who have high carry potential; he picks champions depending on the enemy team composition
• Broken focuses on not picking fights unless they are winnable, objective control, and building against the enemy team
• Broken’s focuses were different from my focuses; I was focused on mechanically outplaying the enemy team; Broken focused on a much more conservative (but better) approach by not engaging in fights unless there was an advantage, which actually allowed him to make more mistakes and still win
• I was surprised that mechanically, Broken isn’t that different from me, but his game knowledge exceeds mine, and his ability to think on the spot requires a deep understanding of the details of the game
• When I felt irritated, sometimes I would make irrational decisions (start disadvantageous fights, roam aimlessly etc.), but Broken always remained rational, there was never a moment of idleness, and it felt like he always knew how to make a difference in the game

At high level play, everyone is mechanically refined, it’s using game knowledge to influence your in-game decision making that maximizes your chances of winning each game

Final Bridge

Introduction

The main capture objective of Wild Rift is to destroy the enemy team's Nexus, which is located in their base while defending your own Nexus. This is achieved by gaining gold and experience by killing enemy minions, neutral monsters, and enemy champions, which allows your character to become stronger and buy better items. The ultimate goal is to coordinate with your team to push through the enemy's defenses, defeat their champions, and ultimately destroy their Nexus before they can destroy yours.

Formal Game Elements

According to Fullerton’s views on game interaction patterns, Wild Rift is a team competition game (2019). The objective of the game is characterized as capture.

The basic procedures of the game include navigation on the left side of the mobile phone and using abilities and attacking by pressing in specific areas on the right side of the phone. Below are the basic rules for a ranked game in Wild Rift:

1. A ranked game can only be played by players who have reached level 10 or higher.
2. Players must choose a champion to play as and select a role (such as jungler, marksman, or support).
3. Players are placed in a draft pick phase where they take turns banning and selecting champions for their team.
4. Once the draft pick phase is complete, players are placed on a team with four other players and matched against a team of five opponents.
5. The objective of the game is to destroy the enemy team's nexus, which is located in their base.
6. Players must work together to take down enemy turrets, inhibitors, and other objectives to reach the enemy nexus.
7. Along the way, players must also defeat enemy champions and gain gold and experience to become stronger.
8. The game is won when the enemy nexus is destroyed or when the enemy team surrenders.
9. In a ranked game, players earn or lose ranked marks based on whether they win or lose the game, with the ultimate goal of climbing the ranked ladder to reach higher ranks and divisions.

The main resource of Wild Rift is gold, which can be used to purchase items, health which dictates how easy it is for the player to die, and mana, which is for using abilities, as well as neutral jungle camps that give both gold and power-ups. Time is also used by the player as a resource because each ability has cooldowns, and almost all champions can interact with the terrain to their advantage. The player is constantly in conflict with the opposing team, as well as the minions and turrets of the opposing team. The game boundaries consist of a main menu where the player can make micro-transactions, collect rewards and check statistics, as well as the actual game where the player competes with the opposing team, called the “rift”. The outcome of each game on the rift contributes to the player’s overall rank, which acts as a more final outcome.

Dramatic Game Elements

Wild Rift makes use of several dramatic elements to move the game forward. Challenge and play are inherent in Wild Rift, evident because each champion’s abilities are different, and they have different interactions with other champions, which is challenging to master and takes time to learn. Players are constantly being matched with other players of similar skill levels. This will help optimize the player for a state of flow. The goal of each game, destroying the enemy Nexus, is clear, with progression milestones such as objective control and team fights in between. Indeed, the game is set up for the player to “stop being aware of themselves as separate from the actions they are performing” (as cited in Fullerton, 2019, p. 99). To approach from the perspective of Bartle, the game definitely appeals to the “competitor” (Fullerton, 2019).

The character aspect of Wild Rift is especially interesting. With all sorts of character models, abilities, and lore for each character, players are free to choose the characters they resonate the most with to play the game. Each character has a lore that gives them a personality for players who are interested, and a play style that is compatible with their backstory. Despite this, the story element is indeed lacking in Wild Rift.

Dynamic Game Elements

Wild Rift has many dynamic elements, most evident in each champion’s interaction with other champion abilities. The fact that players have “direct control” over the movement of characters and their skill use makes Wild Rift engaging (Fullerton, 2019).

Issues

Wild Rift, while not graphically gory, is still a game that asks the player to kill other players. The game is inherently violent. Some character models, like the one below, are overtly sexualized. Female characters are often in revealing clothing, while male characters are often portrayed with an unrealistic build.

Comparison

Compared to Broken, I was pretty surprised that our mechanical skill isn’t that different. I was impressed when I witnessed his game knowledge in action. His understanding of the interactions between characters, the game’s system, and rules far exceed mine. For example, he can intentionally pick a long-range support character to harass short-range ADCs. Meanwhile, I just picked the champion I felt the most comfortable with. He knows which ADCs are strong at which times, which informs him on when he can start fights. Meanwhile, I used gold difference as the only factor for whether or not our team was ahead.

Conclusion

Wild Rift is an incredibly complex game. I think that in order to improve, I actually need to critically analyze the game even more, and understand the strengths and weaknesses of each champion, so I can better draft champions and build items that give me an advantage within the game. While the game has issues around sexualization, and violence, it is still a commercially successful game because it makes a good application of dramatic, formal, and dynamic game elements to engage the player.

References

Fullerton, T. (2019). Game design workshop: A playcentric approach to creating  innovative games. Taylor & Francis.