MOBA stands for ‘Multiplayer Online Battle Arena’ and describes a genre of game where two teams of players use various characters to compete for resources in battle, with the goal of taking over the enemy team’s base. In the few years I’ve played one of the most popular MOBAs, League of Legends, I’ve learned quite a bit from the experience.

1. Reaction Time

Often, playing a MOBA requires twitch reflexes to dodge incoming attacks or land your own. While I’m still not going to be stepping anywhere near a dodgeball court and expecting to do particularly well, I have noticed my ability to quickly respond to stimuli improving over time.

2. Strategic Planning

Possibly more important than the ability to react in a MOBA, however, is the ability to play proactively, and to think ahead. Knowing which items to buy and where to be in various situations is huge, and I’ve steadily improved with this as well.

3. True Colors

I’ve met many good people over the net, but I’ve also been put up against and on teams with a lot of nasty trolls. People who refuse to cooperate or communicate, who insult others and who can’t accept responsibility for their own mistakes are not rare, and learning to deal with that is a skill that carries over to real life, perhaps a little too often.

4. Humility

That being said, I haven’t been antagonistic at any point, but I have made my own share of gameplay mistakes, and in a team MOBA it is important to be able to accept accountability for that in order to move forward and get better. Learning to see where I’ve messed up has been just as enlightening as being able to highlight my strengths as a player, and in a lot of ways growing as a person is the same way.

5. Having Fun

When things work out well, this is easy. It can be more difficult, however, when things don't go your team's way. Something I've found is that the game is a lot more fun when you can keep a good attitude about it, and enjoy playing for the sake of playing even in situations like that. Otherwise, you're in for a miserable 45 minutes or more, and nobody wants to sit through that.