I'm sure people notice the trend that's been going on in the gaming world for a few years now. MOBA's (Massive Online Battle Arena) have been getting huge!

I got hooked on Dota 2 first before everything. This years The International Tournament 2014 is well on its way to raising 10 Million for the prize pool that's done by spectators paying $10 for a chance to spectate in game and gain items done as incentives for donating to the prize pool. An insane feat for a gaming competition.

I gotta admit I started on Dota 2 but am completely hooked on League of Legends now. I find myself thinking about strats and item builds at work and can't wait to get home to try them.

Seems like everyone is getting their hands in this trend. Blizzard released a pretty cool one called Heroes of the Storm which is in beta now.

Do you play? Interested but scared to try? Want to team up?
lets talk about some damn MOBA's up in here!

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Official Okay-Super Villainâ„¢

I only play the games that I win at -
Gamertag: Innovator
PSN: DurtyGambino
Steam: Durty Gambino
Twitch.tv/durtygambino

what made you stop playing dota? how do you think LoL compares to dota?

No idea why I stopped playing. Think I got busy with other games honestly. Was talking to a friend and he's into LoL in a major way. Got me interested in playing, tried it out before dota but thought dota was better so I just played that.

Went back and played LoL again and fell in love with it. Do I think dota is more complicated? Hell yeah, in a good way. I wouldn't say LoL is checkers to Dota's chess though. If anything LoL is like playing chess with some friends while Dota is playing chess against Bobby Fischer.

I honestly just like the feel of it. It does make me want to come back to dota 2 though and I think it has made me a better player of MOBA's in general.

If you wanna get into checkers though, Heroes of the Storm is fun and simple enough that you can get into a game and have it only really last 20 mins at the most. I recommend that to anyone who doesn't want to invest as much time as the other two big ones require.

=================
Official Okay-Super Villainâ„¢

I only play the games that I win at -
Gamertag: Innovator
PSN: DurtyGambino
Steam: Durty Gambino
Twitch.tv/durtygambino

seemed novel but I had to make room for other games on my HDD eventually. my iMac can't run DOTA 2, so it stopped there.


I'm vaguely interested but since it's still a PC thing I don't sweat it too hard, and I have to admit it's not that interesting to watch the way a lot of people seem to think it is. I'd still rather watch an actual sports game, a fighting game or an RTS in that respect.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

>seemed novel but I had to make room for other games on my HDD
>eventually. my iMac can't run DOTA 2, so it stopped there.
>
>
>I'm vaguely interested but since it's still a PC thing I don't
>sweat it too hard, and I have to admit it's not that
>interesting to watch the way a lot of people seem to think it
>is. I'd still rather watch an actual sports game, a fighting
>game or an RTS in that respect.

there is definitely a barrier to entry even in watching dota matches. it's only interesting if you understand all the mechanics. otherwise it just looks like a bunch of things happening semi-randomly. but if you do have a good understanding of how the game works, you start to realize how much of a high speed chess match the games are. there are dozens of things that any particular player in a match needs to be actively aware of at any given point in a match, and those things are constantly changing due to the complex way the characters can interact with each other. no two matches are the same because there are over 100 characters that can be selected, and there are 10 characters active in every match. each character has at least 4 unique abilities that can be used, each of those abilities has at least 3 (usually 4) variations, and every character has access to 60+ unique items, each having an ability and sometimes more than one ability. all of this stuff interacts with all the other stuff and with the characters. the variety of different things that can happen in a match is staggering. it's really an amazing game but its one big failing is that the time investment it takes to get into it is massive

But back in March I stopped. I found myself being pissed off after games.

The community in MOBAs are the fucking plague. I hate them. Yes you can mute and ignore but I would love to cummunicate with my team. Instead, I have to sit there and listen to people botch or fight every match. It is usually one person but damn if it doesn't take the fun out. LoL is by far worse than DOTA but they are both pretty terrible

On top of that games taking forever without being able to pause(league specific) are a deterrent

__________________________________

*Note to self: Add Sig*

Competitive strategy games always eat my soul (hello Hearthstone).

I've considered playing DOTA on numerous occasions when I'm bored, but I already get little enough sleep as-is.

It's not just the time spent playing the game that scares me, it's what I'm doing when I'm not playing the game. And with games like this, I always fall down the rabbit hole doing an inordinate amount of research to step my game up.













With that said, I'm strongly considering jumping into Heroes of the Storm when it launches so the meta is relatively fresh.

Fuck.

all you really need to know is what abilities you need. There are no items at all and the games are over way quicker than your average League and Dota2 games.

If I get more betas I'll shoot you guys some

=================
Official Okay-Super Villainâ„¢

I only play the games that I win at -
Gamertag: Innovator
PSN: DurtyGambino
Steam: Durty Gambino
Twitch.tv/durtygambino

It's Blizzard so I'm pretty comfortable that whatever they put out is golden (really impressed with the D3 reboot; they do listen to the community).

I've dug what little I've read up on the game, and I've always been a micro nerd dating back to my Starcraft days. I know MOBA's will scratch an itch I haven't touched in a long time, so I'm looking forward to trying a game that doesn't already have a deep and established meta.

But yeah... if you get any extra beta invites... I would be quite appreciative!

Its objective based to so its more than just take over the other teams base you also have things you should do during the match that will greatly help your teams chances at winning.

Its like checkers to LoL and Dota's chess. Faster game and a lot easier for people to pick up and play. Granted those already deep into mobas will excel but with no items to build its pretty much you just knowing what skills to pick to help your team the most.

If I get more keys I'll send one to you and bearfield defiantly

=================
Official Okay-Super Villainâ„¢

I only play the games that I win at -
Gamertag: Innovator
PSN: DurtyGambino
Steam: Durty Gambino
Twitch.tv/durtygambino

Been playing with a real life buddy of mine for a long time now. Now granted I'm not a pro player by any means and I understand I'm not gonna win every game I play, I'm cool with that.

This dude though, he hasn't really improved one bit from our time playing together while I feel like I've shown some big improvements and understanding of the game. He still rushes in with squishy champions. He runs away when the rest of the team engages in team fights. He keeps the camera locked on his character only instead of having the mouse control the camera and doesn't seem like he wants to change. Yet I feel like I can't tell him I don't really want to play with him because I do want to win at least some games.

Add that to the fact that in LoL you can't go invisible to friends.
You got friends that you play mobas or any other games with that are absolutely the worst?

=================
Official Okay-Super Villainâ„¢

I only play the games that I win at -
Gamertag: Innovator
PSN: DurtyGambino
Steam: Durty Gambino
Twitch.tv/durtygambino

we play a game, they're terrible at it and I'm not, and then it never comes up again.



~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

and how it's affecting the games you play with him. if he doesn't understand or care that he's not playing correctly/well, then tell him you can't play with him all the time

i know i've responded best to *constructive* criticism when someone is teaching me the finer points of dota. as long as you don't couch it in snark or negativity and he's not some overly sensitive sociopath you should be ok

http://www.twitch.tv/dota2ti_noob

this "noob" stream is such a good idea. it's aimed directly at people who don't know exactly what dota is. the casters will focus on conveying the basics so people can learn the game as they watch

there
I said it

=================
Official Okay-Super Villainâ„¢

I only play the games that I win at -
Gamertag: Innovator
PSN: DurtyGambino
Steam: Durty Gambino
Twitch.tv/durtygambino

holy shit

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/07/espn-dips-its-cleats-into-the-e-sports-pool-with-dota-2-partnership/

On Thursday, this weekend's The International, the fourth annual Dota 2 gaming tournament hosted by the game's creators at Valve, received a giant mainstream shot in the arm in the form of an ESPN partnership.
According to a Valve Software statement sent to Ars, the USA's largest cable sports network will air "all the matches, interviews, and analysis happening over the course of the four-day event on ESPN3," the company's Internet-only streaming service. More importantly, the network cable station ESPN2 will air a half-hour preview of the tournament's final match this Sunday at 8:30pm PST, which will include gameplay highlights, analysis, and an interview with Valve co-founder Gabe Newell.

American TV networks, sports and otherwise, have rarely dabbled in airing e-sports, with the major exception of a Sunday-morning MLG series that aired on the USA cable network in the mid-2000s. CBS Interactive inked its own MLG deal in 2012, but that move only brought e-sports to online properties such as Gamespot. ESPN's half-hour "preview" special, while outside the "live finals" coverage fans might hope for, will still enjoy a remarkably visible spot in ESPN2's Sunday evening lineup.

ESPN's e-sports interest has rarely fallen outside the world of EA Sports' Madden NFL games, including the reality TV series Madden Nation, but The International may have gotten through to ESPN thanks to its $10 million prize pool this year, a number that has soundly exceeded many other mainstream sports competitions.

According to Valve, ESPN3's streaming coverage will mirror the streams hosted on Valve's site "in full throughout the weekend." As of press time, WatchESPN.com has not updated its listings to include Dota 2 coverage.

You pick a role and what lane you want, it matches you with a group that needs that role and lane filled. Only thing is now it encourages you to play all roles to get a good feel on how they work. You get a summoners icon when you play a specific role five times. I currently have 3, support and assassin are all that's left.

You know its sad when you sit at work all day and look up builds. Hell, I even remote into my PC at home and set up item builds and runes to already be waiting for me when I get off.

Still want to get back into dota2 more but LoL has me hooked and once you invest that much time into characters its hard to pick something else back up, although I'd highly suggest taking a crack at dota2. There is a little bit more to it, but I think playing that first is what lead to me being very good at LoL.

Dunno if any of you guys play or not but add me if you want to do some games. I can't get enough

IGN: Tatsuno Kun

=================
Official Okay-Super Villainâ„¢

I only play the games that I win at -
Gamertag: Innovator
PSN: DurtyGambino
Steam: Durty Gambino
Twitch.tv/durtygambino

Crazy win streak followed by an awful losing stream because people kept quitting in middle of the match. Had 3 team mates drop leaving just me and one other. Crazy thing is we still held it down for as long as we could.

Anyone else still play?
Bearfield, I need to you get this asap!

=================
Official Okay-Super Villainâ„¢

I only play the games that I win at -
Gamertag: Innovator
PSN: DurtyGambino
Steam: Durty Gambino
Twitch.tv/durtygambino

I don't get the match making. I'm doing pretty well but get matched with the worst people ever. Had to take a break it got so bad. I honestly hate playing with randoms at this point.

=================
Official Okay-Super Villainâ„¢

I only play the games that I win at -
Gamertag: Innovator
PSN: DurtyGambino
Steam: Durty Gambino
Twitch.tv/durtygambino

yes, playing with randoms still sucks. i don't know how to go about finding a group of people to play with. i occasionally queue up with some giantbomb guild folks but that's essentially playing with randoms too. maybe there is a way to find a group of like-minded people on the LoL forums or /r/leagueoflegends

side note: how has your moba experience been with regards to casual racism? every now and again i will solo queue into a disgusting group of people (generally white americans) that throw out racial epithets like no one is watching or listening. i can mute and report but the flippant way they toss out those words is disconcerting to say the least. i don't it's going to change anytime soon either

i never really considered the class/race disparity of pc games until someone (i think it was chris g) pointed out the racial divide in competitive gaming (rich whites and asians on pc, poor blacks in the fighting game community). i can't find the post i'm thinking of but this polygon article approximates what he was saying: http://www.polygon.com/features/2014/2/6/5361004/fighting-game-diversity

Honestly I've seen a lot less racism on LoL than I did in dota. I think maybe because LoL has no voice chat in game so you can only be awful in chat and the logs will get you banned big time. I have however run into more idiots than Dota as far as afks go.

What you say makes sense though. I've bee called racist names in these competitive games that draw more whites and Asians and I've seen a lot of black folks be assholes in fighting games. Never really thought about it until you mentioned that.

I'm at the point where I can only carry a team so much. Match making in any of these games feels jacked because I get placed with less skilled players. Playing draft hurts my soul because there isa. Pick order and if someone has to play a role they don't like they tend to get shitty.

Had this happen today and dude just straight up refused to play at the start. We still won 4v5 which is good because he prob would have fed anyway.

http://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/NA1/1531104419/201263883

I'm Tatsuno Kun

I don't do bad at all. Kinda thinking about starting to play dota as well to switch it up a bit when I go on these losing streaks.

=================
Official Okay-Super Villainâ„¢

I only play the games that I win at -
Gamertag: Innovator
PSN: DurtyGambino
Steam: Durty Gambino
Twitch.tv/durtygambino

>side note: how has your moba experience been with regards to
>casual racism? every now and again i will solo queue into a
>disgusting group of people (generally white americans) that
>throw out racial epithets like no one is watching or
>listening. i can mute and report but the flippant way they
>toss out those words is disconcerting to say the least. i
>don't it's going to change anytime soon either

This genre of game is really starting to mess me up over this type of stuff. I feel like its either over privileged or white trash that hide behind a screen name on these type of games or take it far too seriously.

Hit max level and to be honest had more fun in lower level games. There is no room for error, you make one mistake and the entire team is on your back often find yourself riddled with more racial comments despite them not knowing what race you really are.

At this point I'd like to see an online type licence that links you to everything you do that way people can be held accountable for their actions. No more hiding behind a screen name with some serious consequences.

Starting to hate the online experience in general, prob because I feel I could physically destroy most of these kids offline. It's made me quite grumpy lately and I've been enjoying co-op games more.

=================
Official Okay-Super Villainâ„¢

I only play the games that I win at -
Gamertag: Innovator
PSN: DurtyGambino
Steam: Durty Gambino
Twitch.tv/durtygambino

First three inboxers can have them.

GT: SoulGatherer

I never played a MOBA until I played this.
I enjoy it. I'm looking for one for PS4, I'm out of the PC Game for a while.

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