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Let's talk about MOBA's: The dead, the surviving ones and the "unknown fated ones"

Played a bit of Smite on the PS4 until my TV died out. Found it an interesting "spin", even though it's essentially 3rd person LoL with gods.

Since the TV DID die out, it inspired me to do a bit of LoL after almost 2 years. The toxic community is still cancer, simple as that. Serves me right for playing Nordic&East, I guess. Everything aside from that I actually find engaging. I really like the art style and champ design in this game. I like the fun of trying out and practicing new folks. Also makes me sad that some of the most enjoyable games are against bots since everyone is pretty much relaxed and go "eh, don't worry about it". I have a feeling if I had 5 friends or people I knew that wanted to play and we formed to play together, it would increase the enjoyment tenfold.

This seems to be an unpopular opinion but I actually can't wait to try Arena of Fate. Not only do the art style and design agree with me (also the fact that the characters are from history/folklore) it's also the fact snowballing is almost non-existant. The game has a 20 minute time limit and the team who gets most points wins. Since there are a lot of ways to get points and the games don't last forever it sounds really engaging.
 

Nokterian

Member
Add Magicka Wizard Wars to the soon to be dead list.

http://www.pcgamer.com/magicka-wizard-wars-is-closing-in-july/

But so far the MOBA scene is too crowded only a few stand out even Paragon i get e-mails on a almost daily basis on how far they are making the game and that is pretty good. Heroes of the storm is also doing nicely but you cannot get to the top on how dota 2,LoL or Smite are doing.

Oh yeah forgot about the crytek one..and i think it will be dead in the water since when they announced it vanished without a trace.
 
Not at all

HOTS is like DOTA or LOL if it was actually designed instead of just being modded and having things piled on top of each other. Some of the guys who worked on DOTA said a lot of the stuff HOTS does to make it more game like is what they wanted to impliment but because the community was so rabid and so used to the sprawling mess of DOTA they couldn't.

HOTS is a really wonderful piece of economic game design in my opinion. Some of the surrounding stuff sucks but at its core it makes winning the game be about in game decisions which I like, it removes part of the game that is mostly dull (laning and last hitting), removes a role that is mostly dull (ward placer) etc etc

"I am 20 minutes in right now. As one of the designers on the original dota, I actually agree on all points. A lot of the things mentioned on DotA were not changed due to fears about breaking the game or causing an uproar in the player base. I was one of those who wanted to simplify mechanics, remove denying, replace last hitting with a different laning mechanic, simplify the item system, and removing complex rule exceptions and glitches that were cherished because one was more likely to win for being aware of them." - Christopher Macker

from Sirlin.net HOTS Podcast
 

killatopak

Gold Member
What's that MOBA game where you were all demigods and you can play literally as a tower? Not a Tower that shoots stuff while stationary. Like moving fortress.
 
There are a bunch of mobile ones that I couldn't be arsed to tell if people still play them or not. Heroes of Order and Chaos, that weird Witcher one, Call of Champions, and a couple others. I think Vainglory has the mobile moba scene on lock though, it's a pretty fun game too.

That said I only really play Smite and occasionally lol/hots. Never got into DOTA, didn't enjoy it.
 

undu

Member
HOTS is like DOTA or LOL if it was actually designed instead of just being modded and having things piled on top of each other. Some of the guys who worked on DOTA said a lot of the stuff HOTS does to make it more game like is what they wanted to impliment but because the community was so rabid and so used to the sprawling mess of DOTA they couldn't.

HOTS is a really wonderful piece of economic game design in my opinion. Some of the surrounding stuff sucks but at its core it makes winning the game be about in game decisions which I like, it removes part of the game that is mostly dull (laning and last hitting), removes a role that is mostly dull (ward placer) etc etc

"I am 20 minutes in right now. As one of the designers on the original dota, I actually agree on all points. A lot of the things mentioned on DotA were not changed due to fears about breaking the game or causing an uproar in the player base. I was one of those who wanted to simplify mechanics, remove denying, replace last hitting with a different laning mechanic, simplify the item system, and removing complex rule exceptions and glitches that were cherished because one was more likely to win for being aware of them." - Christopher Macker

from Sirlin.net HOTS Podcast

I don't understand your critique against LoL, what you're saying only seems to apply to Dota 2.

Even then Dota 2's subsystems have been simplified progressively over the years, for example the damage types have been harmonized, the ranges of the abilities don't depend on their level anymore or abilities don't use a RNG: it has been replaced by a more consistent PRNG or the abilities themselves have been reworked; or the game gives a lot more information when placing the wards, and many more that I'm forgetting.
 
Would you guys say marketing, or better off said the lack of, played a major role in the demise of many of the now dead mobas?

Marketing can get people try your game, but not stick with it. PC gaming market isn't one to jump on a FOTM game. If you want to make people play your shiny new game instead of the already established ones you need to make a game that's better than them, just like if you want people to play a new round-based shooter you need to make a better one than Counter-Strike. Good luck with that.
 
HoN was awesome. Monkey King is GOAT. Solstice is probably the most awesome troll worthy character ever. Aluma snipes from across the map? And freaking Swagmus? Good times. Spell shards was GOAT item.
 

ShdwDrake

Banned
My dad watched the Ohio vs Michigan game on BTN (uLoL) and was surprised by how much he enjoyed watching it. Hes not a gamer by any means but he just loves watching sports and now sees why I like to watch LCS.

League is going to be around for a long time.
 

Joco

Member
I've pretty much settled on League as my go to MOBA as of right now. I've had Dota 2 installed on my PC for a while but everytime I try to get into it there's a lot of things I like about League more which makes me end up going back to it.

It pretty much goes without saying that playing any MOBA is a major time sink. I played the Battleborn beta (yeah, maybe not a true MOBA but there's elements there) for about 10 minutes before I said screw it, I don't have the time to learn all these different characters and abilities in another game. I think a lot of people feel the same, which is why you only see the three or four established mobas thriving while everything else dies out.
 
Did a little update on the list one year later.

Moved HOTS to the top
Paragon to surviving
Supernova to Dead
Arena of Fate to dead
Added Gigantic to unknown fate
Added Master x Master to unknown fate.

Let's see how things shake up next year

Demigod_Cover.jpg


DEAD.
BURIED.
SIX FEET UNDER.
TURNED TO DUST AT THIS POINT.

RIP Demigod, you were awful.

One year later, you're still so wrong. Demigod was great, really wish it was still kicking today
 

mas8705

Member
Awesomenauts is still surviving?! That's fantastic to hear!

Mind you it isn't as mind blowing as the other top MOBAs, but it is still nice to know that the slight reimagining of a MOBA in a 2D perspective is still alive and kicking.
 

El Odio

Banned
Awesomenauts is still surviving?! That's fantastic to hear!

Mind you it isn't as mind blowing as the other top MOBAs, but it is still nice to know that the slight reimagining of a MOBA in a 2D perspective is still alive and kicking.
The switch to f2p a few months ago helped breath a bit of new life into the game but it seems like it's been on a slow decline back down to earlier numbers. As a regular player the constant unnecessary changes the devs make each patch make it really hard to stick with it consistently.
 
I've only played Paragon on PS4 and only recently gotten into but I find it quite enjoyable after having research a lot of what many would consider basic game mechanics. Like, the game is solid but to someone brand new to it and MOBAs, my first few games felt like running into a brick wall since the tutorial was so shit.
 
[Paragon] doesn't have enough elements to justify it's different perspective. If you changed the camera to an overhead view it would literally just be a worse Dota.

Honestly surprised that Paragon is still a going thing. It didn't seem like anything special to me when I tried it, but maybe it offers something for the console crowd that they can't get on that platform.

Anyone play it? What's the appeal for you?
 

ryseing

Member
Honestly surprised that Paragon is still a going thing. It didn't seem like anything special to me when I tried it, but maybe it offers something for the console crowd that they can't get on that platform.

Anyone play it? What's the appeal for you?

I played a ton of it last summer and am considering getting back in after the August update. It plays really well on a controller and I liked the hero variety.
 
Gigantic is the best by far I've played, so I hope it survives. The last update, even before official launch seems to have done wonders about the population on Xbox One/Win Store. Matchmaking is really quick these days.
 
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