Hello. My name is Yannick, and I have a problem. It’s called spending money in League of Legends.
It started out innocently enough a few weeks back. I wanted to purchase Shyvana, a tanky fighter I’d grown accustomed to using when she was on League’s free champion rotation the week prior.
Unlocking her as a champion I could use whenever I wanted to would either cost me a few hundred Riot Points (RP), or several thousand Influence Points (IP). You amass IP at a relatively rapid rate just by playing League of Legends, whereas RP only comes in exchange for real-world money. Problem was, I’d just spent a few hundred IP to acquire another champion, Teemo. I didn’t know much about Teemo yet, but he was too cute not to buy. Can you blame me?
Actually, a Teemo that cute would have run me extra, since the panda suit makes it a special skin — something that’s only available to purchase at a premium with RP. I had to settle for this Teemo if I didn’t want to get my wallet out:
After I got Teemo and promptly realised I’d just screwed myself out of a Shyvana purpose, I went over to Riot’s in-game League of Legends store. Specifically, I went to the “purchase RP” menu. I saw that unlocking Shyvana would only cost me five bucks.
Five bucks? I remember thinking. That’s not so bad. Plus, people keep telling me I should mostly spend IP anyways. This’ll just be a one time thing.
It was not a one time thing. Once I saw how easy it suddenly was to check the “own Shyvana” box off my monstrously large list of things to still do in League of Legends, I wanted more. And what’s $US50 in the grand scheme of things? I still wouldn’t be spending as much as a full retail release for the PS4 or Xbox One today. Suckers.
I held out until the middle of March before I dipped into my wallet again. March 12th, to be exact. What pushed me over the edge, you ask? Well, I’d just been playing a lot of games as Urgot, and found myself feeling attached to the oft-maligned champion. And once again, I hadn’t saved up my IP like I should have.
Well… I thought to myself. Starting a sentence in your own head off with, “Well…” is never a good sign, I’ve learned.
Well…if I’m already going to spend money, why don’t I just get the biggest bargain — you know, like buying in bulk?
That’s how this happened.
A week later, and I find myself on Sunday night once again itching to play as someone who just went off the free rotation.
Ok…another hundred has got to get me everything…right?
I don’t bother trying to do the maths.
Several minutes of frantic clicking later, and I still don’t own everything in League of Legends. Hell, I’m not even close.
Now here we are, just a few weeks later and 250 more dollars down the virtual drain. Bear in mind that I’ve also a) received 10,000 additional Riot Points from League of Legends developer and publisher Riot Games and b) played roughly 100 games (102 to be exact) since January, accruing plenty of IP and unlocking champs with that currency along the way.
What do I have to show for all this time and money invested into League of Legends so far — ownership-wise, at least? Here’s what I’ve got.
Everything I Now Own In League
Here is what I’ve managed to acquire with $US255 converted into Riot Points, plus everything else I just mentioned:
Champions:
- Aatrox
- Ahri
- Akali
- Alistar
- Amumu
- Anivia
- Annie
- Ashe
- Azir
- Bard
- Blitzcrank
- Brand
- Braum
- Caitlyn
- Cho’Gath
- Corki
- Darius
- Diana
- Dr. Mundo
- Draven
- Elise
- Evelynn
- Ezreal
- Fiddlesticks
- Fiora
- Fizz
- Galio
- Gangplank
- Garen
- Gnar
- Gragas
- Graves
- Hecarim
- Heimerdinger
- Irelia
- Janna
- Jarvan IV
- Jax
- Jayce
- Jinx
- Karma
- Karthus
- Kassadin
- Katarina
- Kayle
- Kha’Zix
- Kog’Maw
- LeBlanc
- Lee Sin
- Leona
- Malphite
- Maokai
- Master Yi
- Miss Fortune
- Morgana
- Nasus
- Nidalee
- Nocturne
- Nunu
- Olaf
- Quinn
- Rammus
- Rengar
- Ryze
- Sejuani
- Shaco
- Shyvana
- Singed
- Sion
- Sivir
- Sona
- Soraka
- Taric
- Teemo
- Tristana
- Tryndamere
- Twisted Fate
- Twitch
- Udyr
- Urgot
- Veigar
- Warwick
- Ziggs
- Zilean
Special Skins:
- DJ Sona
- Dino Gnar
Let’s summarize quickly. For $US255 plus a lot of extra stuff, I got 84 in-game champions and two special skins.
Everything I Still Somehow Do Not Own
Champions:
- Cassiopeia
- Kalista
- Kennen
- Lissandra
- Lucian
- Lulu
- Lux
- Malzahar
- Mordekaiser
- Nami
- Nautilus
- Orianna
- Pantheon
- Poppy
- Rek’Sai
- Renekton
- Riven
- Rumble
- Shen
- Skarner
- Swain
- Syndra
- Talon
- Thresh
- Trundle
- Varus
- Vayne
- Vel’Koz
- Vi
- Viktor
- Vladimir
- Volibear
- Wukong
- Xerath
- Xin Zhao
- Yasuo
- Yorick
- Zac
- Zed
- Zyra
Plus numerous additional special skins. And that’s not even considering stuff like Runes.
There are a few things that are worth noting here. First and foremost, I haven’t been playing or spending money in League of Legends in what I’d consider the “recommended” way. Most experienced League players I’ve heard from have told me that it’s common practice to unlock champions (i.e., pretty much all of them) over time by playing and amassing IP. You then save real-money spending for special skins — the really good stuff that you don’t necessarily need but still really want after you’ve fallen in love with a particular character. Secondly, I still haven’t played with an overwhelming majority of the champions I do currently own. The main reason I purchased so many up-front is because I want to have the option to play with as many different League characters as possible at any given moment.
I also can’t help but consider the fact that Dota 2 makes every single one of its champions free at the outset. Can’t help but consider because people now seem to love reminding me about that.
Comments
19 responses to “Welp, I’ve Spent More Than $250 On League Of Legends”
Scrub. I spent over $1500 on LoL in a year. Now I am in a mental institute. Don’t regret it though, I had THOUSANDS of hours of play time. KEKEKE report
Please stop proving microtransactions work. It’s an addiction!
For a free-to-play game, you’re doing it very, very wrong. I don’t think I’ve ever purchased a champ through RP and I only have about half a dozen skins which is more than enough for me.
old game: $100… all the content, own the catridge, swappable
todays games: $2000: you dont own anything, you have a licence to play half the content…. and you cant let your friend borrow the content otherwise your banned or deleted.
The main difference between this, and other modern games, is that LoL came out 6 years ago, and is still getting many many free updates. I don’t know many old games that got new content 6 years on
Team Fortress.
Crates, keys and hats
If you’re enjoying it, who cares? There are many hobbies that you can spend thousands on but no-one will bat an eyelid, but when it’s a game it’s wrong?
It’s cool if you buy a thousand hours worth of content.
Trust me, $250 is not that much. BUT if you’d been playing it since it was released then you may well have more than you currently do and not have spent a single cent. Totes jelly of your DJ Sona skin :S
You Should Play Smite, it’s only $29 USD for all current and future release gods… it’s a bargain if you ask me and the I found the gameplay of smite is a lot better than LoL or Dota 2 for that matter. I could never get into the top down view and with smite I prefer the 3rd person perspective and every attack is a skill shot.
Dunno why you spent your Money on champs all in one go.. I only buy if on sale or with ip, I own all but 5 atm lol… Also I own all the pax skins plus a hand full of limited skins loooooool
Some of that probably comes from only recently starting to play though, Been playing for years now, spent 1000s of dollars myself during this time on a great many things but it is daunting looking at a list of over 100 champs and knowing that, unless you spend some cash you are not likely to see them all rock up in the rotation for the better part of a year. I’d be tempted to spend too.
That’s what I was thinking. Such a large champ pool for an inexperienced player..if they focussed on champs they own instead of buying more you wouldn’t spend nearly as much.
Hell, he owns more champs than I do and I’ve been playing a while. atleast I know I can play every single champ I own efficiently.
But people get upset when they have to pay for SUB model @$15/month. But I guess, each to their own.
its people like you that that ruin gaming for everyone else. developers just make unfinished games and then make all the dlc premium $$$.
maybe you should have spent that money on paying an instructor to get better at the game first. looks like you could use some help – http://www.lolking.net/summoner/na/65231253#matches
I wish I had excessive money to waste on dlc.
He really should have bought the champion bundles instead of individual champion unlocks. You get some bonus skins thrown in too!