Arena, the newest game mode added to League of Legends last month, is undoubtedly the best large-scale addition Riot Games has brought to the MOBA in years. The fresh game mode is somewhere in the middle of traditional League and its highly acclaimed spin-off Teamfight Tactics—except with far more agency and experimental value. And League fans agree the mode should stick around beyond its current, expected expiration date.
In its first weeks on the live servers, Arena mode has been welcomed by the community with open arms. And at this point, it would be a borderline criminal offense to see it ripped out of our hands. When I first caught wind of Arena mode, I was very much under the impression that this would be a permanent mainstay in the League ecosystem. Imagine my (and the community’s) surprise when the notion of it being removed after the Soul Fighter event came across the table.
After just a few weeks, Arena has ingrained itself fluidly into League as a whole—so much so that it would be shocking on Riot’s part to remove it.
Related: LoL Arena end date: When does Arena mode end?
The game mode feels easy enough to get into; perfect for new League players and casuals. And of course, since it’s League of Legends at its core, there’s still a competitive edge to Arena that can keep even the most top-driven players coming back for more and consistently looking to improve their rank.
When I play Arena, I feel as though all of the risk involved with queuing up for League is removed—similarly to the way I feel when I queue up for a game of ARAM with friends. Except this time, I get to pick my champion and how I’m going to experiment (int) with them in a game with a unique twist on what it means to actually have fun in a game of League.
One of the first questions I asked my friends when I launched Arena for the first time last month was whether we could all play together. There were about four of us hanging out online at the same time, and when I found out that we all had to pair up and head off into separate games, I was pretty disappointed. So is the League community, though, at least.
In a thread posted to the League subreddit earlier today, the community gave their opinions as to why Arena should stick around, as well as how it could be fixed. You don’t have to look far to see my complaint listed above, as the top two comments in the thread both mention how it would yield a better experience if more than two people could play together, especially in a non-ranked version of the game mode. Currently, the only way to play Arena is by putting your rank on the line.
While Arena rank is something that in no way even comes close to the value that your rank on Summoner’s Rift holds, it still means something to a certain group of players. Plus, some League players get understandable cases of “ranked anxiety” no matter what the game mode looks like, so a no-stakes Arena mode would serve as a solution to that, too.
Related: LoL Arena champion tier list: The best champs for 2v2v2v2 mode
Other suggestions regarding Arena that the community had in mind pertained to champion balancing. One comment called a big chunk of champions “unplayable and weak,” and if you were to spend just one afternoon queueing up for the game mode, you’d start to find trends in the meta. Seeing the same busted champions over and over again is brutal in a “for-fun” game mode, so if there were as many balancing changes to Arena as there are for Summoner’s Rift, it could bring a stronger sense of legitimacy to the mode.
Currently, LoL Arena is slated to hit the shelves on Aug. 28. But it’s possible that with enough community support, the game mode could become a permanent fixture in the client. For the sake of the countless players who came back to League just to try out the fresh experience (and stuck around for extra helpings), there aren’t many other sensible options other than to keep it in the mix permanently.
Published: Aug 9, 2023 04:56 pm