Heroes of Newerth-DOTA pro

[psychosyd]

So, for those who don't know, S2 games is a company that is working on making DOTA, the WC3 custom game everyone plays, legit. The only thing that they really have right now for non-beta players is a website and a facebook group Heroes of Newerth - S2 Games.

So, be informed, its out there. I got invited to the beta by a friend and have played a few games. It is kind of nice to see a company taking DOTA to a more upgradeable level, while it is still in beta right now its quite fun. So, im just opening this thread to the DOTA fans out there, letting you know this is available. When I say its DOTA... I mean it, new names for everything but heros are just transposed over with some changes plus new heroes from S2 games. They also made the Savage series, and I think this is a tie into that.

So, you a fan of DOTA/HoN? If so, do you play and who are your favorite heroes? Just curious.

Also... another link to check out...

Pendragon, the original creator of DOTA, has founded a company with other co-creators as far as I understand it, and they are making their own game. League of Legends - Clash of Fates It looks like its the DOTA genre, but not a copy of it. This one isnt in beta yet but is taking registration

Syd...

[nix]

I never understood how DOTA ever took off, i played it years ago and some of my old CSS friends are big into it now. But i didnt find it that fun, maybe because it was largely imbalanced when i played it.

In my eyes its just a poor mans WoW

[Rocky]

It always seems imbalanced, especially when new heros come out, (i.e. Invoker, ****ing Batrider, Tauren, etc) but things always get worked on. Besides, when you play on a real league like NIHL or IHCS, the games played are only on the "stable" map update, plus a lot of times teams go back and forth banning heroes that one may think are rigged (Necrolyte for example) Honestly, I'm more excited for the Intercollegiate Starleague picking up DotA, which means I will be playing a videogame for my university against others via garena, which will be siiiick. Hopefully Icefrog is still in charge of everything, otherwise I'd hate to see my DotA get ruined.

[psychosyd]

The hypothetical nice thing about a private company doing the game now is they have more freedom to control what they want/can. They are not limited to map restrictions like WC3 custom maps.

Though part of the problem with imbalance is the elite guys who play to much getting their grubby hands on a hero they are good at and then playing a newbie game and destroying the competition. Makes IMBA hard to judge.

[Rocky]

The hypothetical nice thing about a private company doing the game now is they have more freedom to control what they want/can. They are not limited to map restrictions like WC3 custom maps.

Though part of the problem with imbalance is the elite guys who play to much getting their grubby hands on a hero they are good at and then playing a newbie game and destroying the competition. Makes IMBA hard to judge.

I don't see your point. A lot of elite players spend time playing other elite players, and because of that certain characters are frequently banned during banpicks in tournaments. The only characters that are ever truly imbalanced are the new ones, then Icefrog has to go in and patch things up, like I am sure he will do (with tauren especially). At the higher levels of play, it's not about certain characters per se, its how the team ends up playing in a general sense. If the main carry isn't doing his job and getting fed then the game is likely to go sour because he won't be able to make money and get the good items for himself. If the lategame character only has 2 bashers and 1 bkb in 45 minutes well then we all obviously knows what happens next, that team is going to lose as well lol. All the characters have their places and their jobs, and even powerful characters like Necro or PL can get double/triple/etc ganked multiple times which will cause their whole team to lose especially if those characters are trying to side carry or whatnot.

My point is, it's all about teamwork. I'm assuming you must be judging DotA play strictly by battle.net, which is a bad judgment call imo. The people that play there all try to do stupid stuff like get six bashers on Lucifer and other laughable strategies that don't work in a real game because they're simply playing on easy mode. All people do is pick main carrys/str characters, push their lane super hard and act like super tryhards when they go 5/3 with 0 assists at the end of the game.

I haven't lost a 5v5 battle.net game in over a year now lol.

[psychosyd]

I fully admit my experience with DOTA has been limited. I only really play with friends once in a while until this beta. I think I have played more now than I have the past 4 or so years.

I must admit it would be interesting to actually see a more serious understanding of roles and how to play DOTA, but I dont ahve the time or true interest to get that involved. I like my pick up games

So what is your attraction? Why is DOTA so fun?

[Rocky]

I fully admit my experience with DOTA has been limited. I only really play with friends once in a while until this beta. I think I have played more now than I have the past 4 or so years.

I must admit it would be interesting to actually see a more serious understanding of roles and how to play DOTA, but I dont ahve the time or true interest to get that involved. I like my pick up games

So what is your attraction? Why is DOTA so fun?

I've always been attracted to the competition and the thrill of playing against other people with a multitude of different games. I was a well-known battlecraft (starcraft mod) player for a long time, then I found success playing in online tournaments for halo2 and later on halo3. In the meantime, between halo2 and school I began to play DOTA through some battlecraft friends, and eventually we made a battle.net clan that rolled pretty much everyone. I was a complete noob though, and by some random chance I ended up 1v1ing some Canadian pro on EnE at the time who saw that I had talent but needed to know how to play. I ended up getting in games with him and got into some leagues where only the best players from all over the world play, so thats kind of how I ended up getting into it competitively.

As for why I find the game fun? I like how balanced everything is, and how no two games ever have the same outcome. I like how much individual skill the game takes, and how ultimately at the same time, teamwork is what wins games, from being able to 5 man gank their strongest player to take him out for awhile all the way to doing crazy things that few people even think of, let alone try do to, like double/triple creep pullings through jungle, or using a level 7 beastmaster to solo Rosh. I guess I'm a big fan of being able to pull of sick plays and run routes that seem out of control, and with dota, the individual skill allows you to do that but like I said before, what ends up winning games is how well the team plays the characters they picked to their potential.