Why Students Are Selling Their League of Legends Accounts Before Exams

Students are often a leading indicator of technology use, being open to innovations and well-positioned to adopt an online lifestyle. From smart mobile devices to handheld consoles and personal computers, youth these days have a much larger range of digital entertainment options to choose from compared to their predecessors.

Legendary Pursuits

The last few decades have seen remarkable growth in the student gaming population, where online computer games have become part of everyday life. In many instances, gaming is integrated into the day as leisure time, taking over the ubiquitous television that dominated the lives of previous generations. Gaming is also no longer a singular pursuit, with online gaming with friends a popular social activity. Whether players are gaming with people they know or forming new friendships online, gaming has become a way for youth to extend their social circle via the Internet.

Launched in 2009, League of Legends—also lovingly known as LoL—is a MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) strategy game, inspired by Warcraft III’s Defense of the Ancients mechanics, where opposing teams of five players fight to destroy the enemy’s base. Since its release, LoL has grown to become the world’s largest esport, with a thriving domestic and international competition landscape. The annual League of Legends World Championship in 2020 was one of the biggest esport events ever, peaking at an astounding 45.95 million viewers concurrently watching the live stream of the final battle.

Even with the game hitting the international stage, the average age of LoL players is notably young, with the average age of competitors a fresh 21.2 years old. In fact, the first player to rank as Challenger in the 2021 ranked season was 16-year-old Jean Mago from the Brazilian server. Although many of these competitors are of school-going age, they are often supported by esport scholarships that help them to get through college or university while devoting a substantial amount of time honing their gaming skills. However, for the majority of players who have to balance study and gaming, the hours required to become an LoL champion can be too hard to handle.

Here Comes a New Challenger

Despite LoL being a fun and recreational game, its ranking mechanics remain extremely competitive. There are nine ranks from Iron to Challenger and players have to reach a minimum of level 30 and own at least 20 champions to be eligible for ranking. Only a minute percentage of the game’s one hundred million players make it to the fifth rank of Platinum, which is estimated to require between 1,000 to 1,500 hours of gameplay to attain. Aside from actual gaming time, players also need to put effort into learning all the champions, keeping up with game updates, and fine-tuning their strategies and spell use in order to get ahead.

For students who are facing exams and end-of-term assignments, the pressure of keeping up with the demands of LoL can cause unnecessary stress and worry. According to this site, many students are now selling their LoL accounts before their exams to force themselves to concentrate on their studies without distraction. As LoL is a tight-knit team game, sometimes entire teams of students will hang up their boots and put their accounts up for sale instead of trying to find a replacement player and having to build rapport from scratch.

Another kind of account that is often put up for sale is the smurf. Another throwback to the Warcraft gaming community, smurfs refer to elite gaming individuals who create new accounts so that they can play incognito with lesser skilled players. Smurfs are a way for ranked players to step out of the pressures of the competition and simply enjoy a casual game with their friends. Smurfs are also a great method for seasoned players to test out different champions and practice alternative strategies without risking the ranking of their main account. For some students, who simply want to enjoy the game and destress from school, smurf accounts enable them to play with complete newbies without worrying about rank.

Finally, leveling a character to level 30 is no mean feat in itself. It usually takes approximately a hundred hours of gameplay and sometimes even paying for XP boosts to get to this level. For students who have invested time and money in building their smurfs, selling their LoL accounts can be a way to receive a tangible reward for their effort. This, in turn, helps other buyers who wish to immediately begin playing ranking games instead of participating in the tedious precious of getting an account to level 30.

As the exams approach, more and more students are putting up their LoL accounts for sale. For these students, this is a veritable way to monetize their gaming hours while prioritizing their studies. For people looking to enter the game, buying an LoL account is a shortcut to start playing the game seriously. As League of Legends continues its reign of popularity, we can perhaps expect to see these students creating brand new accounts after their exams!