User blog:Dan Swanson/Contest Submission for August 7th, 2011

Hi, my name is Dan Swanson! About 4 months ago I was introduced to this game by some of my friends. The first time I heard of it, was when I was on my XBOX. I had joined a party with some of my buddies. They were all playing League of Legends in a Player versus Player match. Listening to them talk to each other through the microphone; I was first expecting to hear that it was going to be another simple computer MMORPG game. Instead, I heard the constant real-time struggles of my friends through this game they had played. It reminded me of playing Modern Warfare 2 or Call of Duty: Black Ops when somebody kills you with the grenade launcher and you instantly would cry out “NOOB TUBE!” I loved those kinds of games. Just through my headset, I could hear and comprehend all of the emotion and thought being put into that game. Not to soon later I realized that the more and more I listened to them, the more I became attached to it. Not even realizing that I had yet to even play the game!

Back when that happened, I only had an old Windows XP computer with no 3D graphics card, which meant that I couldn’t play League of Legends. So I decided that it was my top priority that the next time that I were to go to my grandparents’ house, that I would have to download that game. My grandparent’s had one the best computer in our entire family. It was one of the fastest computers I had ever used. One weekend my parents went on a trip to Frankenmuth, Michigan. My brother wasn’t home at the time. Instead, he was at college studying up to take his exams to be one step closer to becoming an Aerospace Engineer. Since it would’ve been a little bit longer than normal at my house for me to be alone, they told me that I would have to stay at my grandparent’s house for the whole weekend. As soon as I heard them say those words, oh how unbelievably excited I was to go over there.

With the guidance of one of my best friends, I found where to download the game and enter one of the most anticipated games I’ve ever come across in my entire life. It was not a long process. With my grandparent’s 25mbps internet I downloaded the game in only a matter of 20 minutes. With the amount of anticipation in my body, it felt like an eternity! Finally, after it was done installing onto the computer I started it up and finally entered the world of League of Legends! There was no telling what was going to happen next. But I soon realized that I was getting myself into something great.

About two months later, after my first look at League of Legends, I had decided it was time to get a new computer. In my house, it is very difficult to come across a chance to get something as expensive as a computer. So I did the best I could and coming up with the best arguments for my want of a new computer. I presented them to my parents. After a long week of constant argument, we finally came to an agreement of getting a new computer. One of the reasons I presented this upon them was to gain a higher knowledge in school knowing that I would have a computer that would not break down and that would not cause frustration when working on school related projects and assignments. But most importantly, one of the reasons I kept secret from them was that I wanted to have a computer that would play League of Legends! In doing so, as I’m typing on this computer, I do not, and will never ever regret that I had stumbled across this amazing unbelievably astonishing game known as League of Legends.

In later experiences, I have played with a lot of champions. But my favorite champion that I have ever come across was my very first one, Blitzcrank! When I saw him in the champion selection screen, his steam engine themed personality that he was made from let me know that he would’ve been a very fun character to play as. He looked very formidable and strong to be in a game with. Not to soon later, I had decided to get my first set of Riot Points from GameStop. I got $35 worth and spent all of them in a matter of minutes, but the first thing that I ever bought was his Piltover Customs Blitzcrank skin! Since I liked cars and racing games along with the first-person shooters, I thought it would’ve been fitting if I got this skin for him. It was, as still is one of the most memorable experiences I’ve ever had. When I first activated his overdrive ability, I heard him play the victory horn; I knew he would be my favorite character forever.

̶ Dan Swanson