There are some games that gain massive popularity due to how excellently they were crafted, the vast worlds they create, and the characters that define them. League of Legends is not one of these games. It is over-hyped in the same way that Call of Duty was for years, despite it being the lesser game within it's own genre. The main reason for this game's popularity boils down to several things. The first is that it is free. This is a huge draw to the gamer population, but more importantly, to kids since they do not have much money. Unfortunately for the rest of us, this means that the majority of the game is populated by pre-teens, which is always an unpleasant experience in any game. The second is it's simplicity. League of Legends is probably one of the most linear online games on the market since the objective is always the same, as is the map. The level design makes the map look pretty, but it is just a series of 3 funnels in which champions charge into one another until one side gains a little ground. Rinse and repeat. The last reason for the success of this game (and also the reason it is a mediocre game) is that it is essentially a glorified Facebook game. Let's think about it for a minute, Facebook games focus on getting you to perform monotonous and repetitive activities online with friends with the illusion of variation. They make power grabs for your wallet with cosmetic items and give little to no actual progression in the game. This is exactly how League of Legends plays out and it is very frustrating.
The saving grace of this game is the large variation in characters and unlocking them and test driving them is the only real joy in the game. Unfortunately unlocking characters takes an insanely long time and really is not worth the grind of playing on the same chess board hundreds of times. Advocates of the game claim it is exciting due to its strategic element and I think that should be seriously addressed. Strategy games require careful management of game elements by the player, multiple options for HOW the player goes about winning, and if it is an online game, intricate planning through communication with teammates. League of Legends has none of these things except the last one, and that only after grinding for hundreds of hours with teammates who refuse to coordinate or form any kind of strategy. This really should not be surprising though since, as I mentioned before, the game is comprised mainly of pre-teens, who generally think they are God's gift to humanity and only their ideas have any merit. I got onto a couple games where the teams actually played around with some real strategy and I was extremely underwhelmed. Basically the team that tried to have intricate tactics always lost to the team that had the simplest and well established strategy, essentially proving that in anywhere other than league play, strategy is pointless.
League of Legends is not the worst game in the world or anything, it is fairly well built for what it is actually. The severs are strong and there really aren't any game glitches. It is a decent game for a pick-up game here and there. Unfortunately, the only way to get anywhere in the game is to basically play 24/7. It disguises itself as a casual game, but really requires your soul in terms of commitment, and it really does not give you anything to show for your time other than a couple pictures of champions that only you can see when they aren't in use.