Heroes of the Storm

wut? it's an awesome game, and I don't even play it ... all of those listed games are really good, unless personal taste comes into it

LoL is not the most played, at least not if these stats are valid. I think if you just count the top two private wc3 dota server programs in china (theres many many more than that, but two will suffice), you get more played hours per month than LoL.

And now that dota 2 is finally released in china, Riot is getting a real challenger. I wouldn't count on Heroes of the storm just yet because its not out and we right now I'm not even sure if it will be this or the next year.

Don't care, because it looks awesome and actually interesting, rather than the same generic formula of every other moba.

Quote from FrieChamp

Quote

On July 12, 2013, Business Insider named Riot Games #4 on its list of the top 25 technology companies to work for in 2013

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riot_Games

Yep, definitely a niche and I'm sure they're trembling...

The most played videogame in the world changes a lot throughout the years. I don't foresee LoL being number one forever...

and when I say niche, I think I meant genre more. Remember when the FPS genre was on top? I think the novelty of the MOBAs will wear off to some degree, although it is probably a more casual friendly genre than shooter games.

Quote from FMPONE

Quote

On July 12, 2013, Business Insider named Riot Games #4 on its list of the top 25 technology companies to work for in 2013

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riot_Games

Yep, definitely a niche and I'm sure they're trembling...

The most played videogame in the world changes a lot throughout the years. I don't foresee LoL being number one forever...

and when I say niche, I think I meant genre more. Remember when the FPS genre was on top? I think the novelty of the MOBAs will wear off to some degree, although it is probably a more casual friendly genre than shooter games.

But Heroes is also a MOBA...Maybe LoL is a little less hardcore than Dota 2, but if I compare the learning curve to a shooter, I'm not sure if I can agree with your statement. Back then all I had to figure out was how to point my gun at a dude. Now I need to google vocabulary like "bot", "missing", "jungler" and read a guide/watch videos on how to play a champion before standing a chance.

Quote from FrieChamp

Quote

On July 12, 2013, Business Insider named Riot Games #4 on its list of the top 25 technology companies to work for in 2013

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riot_Games

Yep, definitely a niche and I'm sure they're trembling...

The most played videogame in the world changes a lot throughout the years. I don't foresee LoL being number one forever...

and when I say niche, I think I meant genre more. Remember when the FPS genre was on top? I think the novelty of the MOBAs will wear off to some degree, although it is probably a more casual friendly genre than shooter games.

But Heroes is also a MOBA...Maybe LoL is a little less hardcore than Dota 2, but if I compare the learning curve to a shooter, I'm not sure if I can agree with your statement. Back then all I had to figure out was how to point my gun at a dude. Now I need to google vocabulary like "bot", "missing", "jungler" and read a guide/watch videos on how to play a champion before standing a chance.

My point is that with this game, the MOBA genre is getting more crowded, leading a company like Riot imo to be facing increased competition from companies like Valve and Blizzard, which would concern me if I were in Riot's shoes, considering they really only have one (albeit huge) franchise.

As far as what I said about MOBAs being more casual, I should have said "family-friendly". I see a lot more women, girls, and young people playing MOBAs than I ever did shooter games, probably because shooter games are just so inherently testosterone-y, graphic and violent. For instance, my neighbor and his wife play LoL and actually encouraged me to start playing it (this was probably when I first realized how enormous LoL had gotten)... I just don't see that happening with a violent shooter game. Neither genre is inherently more easy to play, as the skill ceiling in both shooter games and MOBAs can be crazy high.

Quote from Minos

Some of the heroes and skins:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ETowT2Rhr8

Wonderful art.

There's not much chance LoL is going to die overnight and Riot have announced they are working towards other, e-sports (and no-doubt pay to win*) titles. It's certainly true a lot of HotS players will be in the venn diagram of Blizzard fans and LoL players but it's going to stay successful.

Although, regarding the graphic, Riot do massage their data a lot. I liked it when they were reporting their total view count for the world finals, opposed to the peak unique views, and you could literally click 90% of the client and accidentally launch the stream.

* Taylor, it's totally not play to win because you only have to pay for skins and you can unlock everything else like champions, runes and rune pages by playing the game. And just because you got out a nerdy fucking spreadsheet and worked out even at three games a day with no losses this would take over four years doesn't matter. You can prove anything with facts. Besides you only need two rune pages, even though you clearly need at least three but I'm going to pretend supports don't need GP5, and the boost is like really tiny so it doesn't count.

FMPONE, I guess we can agree that the MOBA genre is getting pretty crowded. I only disagree that this is a problem for the established players (Riot) as opposed to new entrants (even if that is Blizzard we're talking about). In the end I'm sure all 3 of them will find their place in that genre though.

The problem with MOBA's is they have so many moving parts that they are insanely difficult to balance -> DotA proved this by evolving in such tiny steps over such a large amount of time. Any entrant to the MOBA genre which differs heavily from DotA's formula is at risk of needing a large timeframe to iteratively balance the game to the point it's as finely tuned as DotA-likes are.

I would also agree that MOBA games like DotA/LoL/HoN are far more complicated to learn how to play than FPS games. And this is coming from a guy who played counter-strike at world cyber games...

They don't require as much raw reaction time though. CS/Q3/Starcraft I/II are far more demanding on just an input level than dota. There's just that initial knowledge base that throws up that wall and I guess if you aren't familiar with War3 mechanics it's even steeper. I'd say they're more approachable than a shooter, since they're a balance of input/knowledge/strategy, with the latter 2 being the heaviest. I consider my self pretty good at the video games and counter strike/Quake 3 scares the living shit out of me far more than any dota-like game ever has.

So, what are the AoS games crowding this space? DotA, DotA2, LoL, HoN, HotS is five and one of those isn't released yet.

I'm not sure I'd count things like Bloodline Champions or Smite because they play a lot differently. It seems like for a "crowded genre" it's nowhere near the numbers of first person shooters and fighting game franchises out there. I can name single fighting game franchises that have had more than five releases since LoL appeared.

I guess for a genre that's only been recognized outside of mods for just a few years it's had its share of games announced since then. The impression you get is that every one and their sister is trying to get one out there. And what's it only been, 4 years since League came out?

I certainly can't mistake anyone for thinking it's crowded but when you look at what's actually there it's relatively sparse.

I guess you could add Dawngate to that list as well, it seems more in line than something like Smite. Which I played the tutorial of and feel my conclusion of 'yep that's dota in third person and it's as awkward as you would expect' was pretty accurate. Pro game developer mentality right here. I might even watch a youtube of it to further develop my opinion

I'm not saying it's crowded yet, but when people see what LoL is doing, yeah it's going in that direction.

I was at blizzcon and was able to line up with 9 other people and play 2 games of in house 5v5. The big differences from the other mobas are as follows: XP is team shared - everyone is the same level on a team. There are no items - everything is based around the skill build you choose. At certain levels (1,3,6? I cant remember) you get the option to choose 1 of 3 upgrades. For example, you may be able to choose to have 15% stronger heals or 15% stronger damage. The entire game is based around 5v5 team fights and map objectives. No one is off fucking around with neutral creep mobs in the jungle. Its a refreshing look at the genre.

No itamz? wat

must play. must test. must.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXm1AximXa8

Super duper excited tbh. Different maps is by far the most interesting thing about this.