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I don't "get" MOBAs, enlighten me...
Hrimnir
Member RarePosts: 2,415
Ok, so just some history. I am a longtime RTS fan. I've probably logged more hours playing AoEII, Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, Warcraft II, starcraft, etc etc etc than any MMO. I competed in the ladder in the original release year of Starcraft I as a protoss player.
I say all this so you understand i get RTS games, and i love them, etc.
I just can't wrap my head around MOBAs. I dont understand why they're so insanely popular. I looked into them, watched over an hours worth of gameplay videos from LoL and DOTA2 and i seriously just don't get it. To me it seems like one of those mods to starcraft i would of dicked around with for 2 or 3 weeks and then gotten SERIOUSLY bored with.
Anyone that can maybe tell me something about it that maybe im missing?
"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Comments
Funny that you say that because it's were they evolved from. As to why you don't get it...what would you tell someone that doesn't get why you like RTS games ?.....that's your answer to this.
You're misunderstanding me. What i mean when i say i dont get it, is like saying a divide by 0. It doesnt compute to me why they're popular.
For example. i can't stand justin bieber and his "music". But i GET why its popular, i understand why tween girls and stuff go nutsoid over that.
Another example of things i dont "GET" as in, divide by 0, is why Harry Potter is so popular with adults. I used to work near a mall and i remember on release nights seeing a bunch of 25-30 year old men huddling outside barnes and nobles at midnight the day before a new harry potter novel getting released in the middle of a snowstorm so they could get the copy that soon after release. I can't wrap my head around it, it just doesnt compute.
"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Sandbox means open world, non-linear gaming PERIOD!
Subscription Gaming, especially MMO gaming is a Cash grab bigger then the most P2W cash shop!
Bring Back Exploration and lengthy progression times. RPG's have always been about the Journey not the destination!!!
As this person stated it's f2p. We live in an age where it does not have to be good, just free...
Are you implying lol isn't a good game and ppl only play because it's free ?
In my opinion the fun in MOBA´s starts when you gather 4 friends and create a team. When tactics, builds and cooperation starts to work and you win more than lose, you can pretty fast get addicted to it.
Its like MMORPG´s, just because you can play solo or with random player´s, does not mean that you will get the most fun out of it. Unlike RTS where its 1v1 laddering and you are totally on your own.
I don't get harry potter either but I don't get a lot of things people do. I don't get why some guys think bathing in cologne is a good thing
.....They do them because they're just different than I am I guess.
LoL is casual friendly pvp that's pretty well balanced and doesn't take much organization to get a battle going. It's the same reason CS is still one of the more popular FPS games or why WoT is so huge. They're all simple games but if it's the type of action you're looking for in a game it really works.
I didn't love lol but it was fun for a bit. WoT was far more my style. I couldn't tell you why I liked one better than the other though. I just did.
I believe I can provide the type of answer you are looking for, though it is just my opinion. LoL is the game I know the best so I will use that as an example. As it is right now, I think there are over 100 champs each with 4 moves and a passive. In order to be good at this game on a higher level, you must understand every one of these abilities and how they affect specific other characters. Each team has 5 members that have a role specific to them, and though some would debate, i say they are equally important. Playing as a team will destroy individual talent every time unless the skill gap is huge. It is almost easy for 1 person to ruin a game, but almost impossible for 1 person to win a game.
Even before the match, planning is crucial. In high level play, you will pick in a draft order and picking champions that "counter" what your opponent picked is looked down upon if not done. Rightly so in many cases. The game is super competitive by nature. This game causes you to make critical decisions on the fly, based on a huge amount of knowledge of the game that you have to study outside of the game. Top that with the highest level players are paid 6-7 figure salaries.
My point is this: When these things click. When you know your stuff. When your team knows his/her stuff. Magic can happen. There is a level of immersion of going to ALL OUT WAR with your comrades that hasn't been matched in any other game. Charging into battle with the real possibility of high level real life rewards for some, or just the magic of gaming for others.
That being said what bring this game to an amazing level of fun, can be also its worst enemy. Until you make into the upper ranks, you very well may get alot of teammates who would rather throw the game than be a teammate. Trolls. Akfers. People that demand certain positions or afk. It's a double edged sword, because most people suck.
Hope I answered your question.
Meh, I wouldn't attempt to understand them, as it is quite clearly something you don't really have an interest in. As for why they are popular, well why is anything popular? The most popular things are typically the most accessible things as well.
Pop music is popular because pretty much no matter where you are at, there is a pop radio station. It's typically also the most advertised music, and appeals to the younger audience who has time to waste listening to music.
Harry Potter and The Hunger Games are excellent examples of teen books that are popular amongst adults as well. The plots are simple enough where they move quickly, but not so simplistic that you can't suspend your disbelief. Far too much adult fantasy gets bogged down in massive details and interwoven sub-plots. I personally love that style of writing, but many people want something they can pick up and put down in smaller increments and not feel lost if they need to leave the book for a few days.
MOBAs are popular, well because they are accessible. LoL is especially popular because it's heavily supported by MLG, and there is some real cash to be made for the upper 1% of those gamers. Anyone can pick it up and play it, but they can take time to really master. Since they stemmed from Defense of the Ancients which was a modified map of WarCraft III. Which is why they have the RTS style gameplay.
That's my stab at it. I personally cannot stand MOBAs, so my understanding of them is fairly limited as well.
Maybe it's that they aren't that complicated and they're free(not saying this is a bad thing btw).
I would like to hear what game you play that is more complicated than Dota. Look up this guy . 1 Champ alone I think has somewhere in the 1000nd range for spell combo possibilities.
http://www.dota2wiki.com/wiki/Invoker
Im with the OP on this one, and I have asked around myself and cannont get an answer, the only MOBA that really rocked was Demigod
At least in Demigod you had not only the ablity to upgrade your hero, but could also upgrade income rate, upgrade defence towers, Upgrade creeps armor and weapons, as well as buying new creeps, larger and more powerful ones to add as the spawn. You could also capture the creep spawn points from enemy.
They're not complicated to learn. They are to master.
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Let's play Fallen Earth (blind, 300 episodes)
Let's play Guild Wars 2 (blind, 45 episodes)
instant play with friends at any time always.
99% of mmos now require your friends to be max level and max ilvl and enchants and whatever the hell else is new before you can raid this months new boss monster.
played a million mmo's
^^ Should be the goal of every MMO, (Emphasis Added)
1. MOBA's are easier to pick up for the average person.
2. MOBA's are 'team oriented'.
3. MOBA's are F2P.
Lets compare that to the standard RTS game.
1. RTS/FPS games are generally very difficult to pick up and even more difficult to master.
2. RTS/FPS games are generally 'not' team oriented. Most of the famous Esports prior to MOBA's were single player oriented RTS/FPS games.
3. RTS/FPS games are generally B2P.
__________________________________________
My personal opinion -
MOBA's came along during a perfect time in the development of the games/internet. You could say that the fault lies with the current production of RTS/FPS games that have taken drastic steps to 'try' and kill the community feeling that was associated with these games. For anyone playing all of these games, you know what I am talking about.
MOBA's did it right. They embraced community. They embraced team play. They understood where the market was and took advantage of it.
Less investment is sometimes attractive. This is escapism, after all.
More complex is sometimes attractive too.
The only way this could be considered a flaw is if you buy into "there can be only One", at the same time. When you include consoles and MOBAs and ARPGs and Peggle...the gaming market is really freakin enormous; how many people still devote all of their time to a single title?
Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.
Actually Damon isn't misunderstanding you. His example is perfectly spot on. From what you have written, its clear you lack empathy. The best cure for that is to develop relationships with people from all walks of life (and I guess gamers from all....games of life)
The most deepest and most skill-requiring games are often very easy to learn. Take chess or go. Both games are much simpler than MMOs, but have a tremendous skill cap. That's why MMOs moving on from the "10 hotbars and a bazillion of skills" philosophy is good. Complexity isn't depth.
MOBAs are quite deep, even though they're not complex.