Moba balance comparison, please comment

[Wingflier]

Oh oh me please. I have a friend who desperately wants to play with me but can't due to the slow speed in which they're handing out keys at the moment.

I would owe you one.

[Misery]

Sent.

[Misery]

Well, interesting game so far, at least from what I've seen up to this point.  Only done the tutorial and the bot match, so still much to learn.  Used the super cat, because super cat.  His moveset entertains me.

Game mechanics overall seem pretty basic and easy to understand, combat is fun, the last-hitting-from-anybody mechanic is bloody brilliant;  I so badly wish the other mobas would do this, but only Dawngate has done something similar (which is just as brilliant), the others all seem content to just copy Dota or League's way of doing it.  Which is annoying.  Personal couriers are a happy thing.  I dont yet understand the funky crafting mechanic done outside of matches.

Overall, a very positive experience so far.  Next up is to see how easy or not it is to get a match during the middle of the night.

[Wingflier]

In my experience the matches happen almost instantly. The MM system is actually really awesome, letting you choose your character before the game even begins and putting you into the game within seconds.

Though I guess League has recently added something like this as well, and kudos to them for it.

Thank you for the key, sorry it took me a bit to respond. Life has been so freaking hectic with finals and such.

If you like the game, let me know. We'll add each other and play sometime.

[Misery]

So, getting back into some multiplayer stuffs lately, after the "ZOMG GOTTA TEST TLF!!! MUST....STOP....BUGS!!!" frenzy is now over.  Though, maybe not the best time to focus on this, with the #)%&-ing weather not choosing a damn theme and sticking with it (agh the pain).

But, started messing around with Strife some more.... just bot matches for now, I prefer to know alot more than I do before I jump into normal matches, not to mention try a bunch of different characters.   I'd like to not be a TOTAL liability to teams that I end up on, after all.

Ahh, this one really is fun so far though.  I love the combat, it's chaotic and exciting. Definitely no qualms there.  Most things are easy enough to understand, even if I havent the foggiest clue what most of the items do... gonna take awhile for me to get any of that memorized, always does in any sort of game, really.

The lack of last-hitting obsession definitely helps alot.  I find myself still ending up doing plenty of it, way more than I do in Dawngate, but it's not hyper-aggravating in this one, and I can use spells to help it along.... the fact that Dota doesnt really let me do that is one of the things that bugged me the most.   Laning phase is good too, alot of back-and-forth harassment going on, I always like that aspect.

I also notice that the bots will, you know, DO stuff.  As opposed to clumping into a big permanent heap, and just wandering randomly that way, which seems to be a common theme in bot practice modes for this genre.  Even just doing the bot matches for now is fun and challenging, so that helps alot.  Granted, there was one moment where the team was concentrating on taking down that boss thing to summon Gigantor or whatever his name is, and then they all suddenly decided "OK, DONE NOW" and left me there (I finished the damn thing off with like ONE health point left), but other than that nothing overly derpy has occurred yet in practice, so I'm not yelling at the screen as much as I usually do when dealing with bot practice in a multiplayer game.

Much to learn yet of course, but it's good.  Definitely good.


Though there is the ever-persistent problem of having to really watch how much time I spend using the blasted mouse, lest my arm flare up, which is at it's worst during this season (argh).  But it's proving very enjoyable either way.

Here's hoping people will actually be willing to TRY this one first, instead of just bashing it because it's "dumbed down", or some gibberish like that.   I think it's really got all of the necessary bits of moba-ness working well and has enough complexity in it's own right.

I'm guessing it's still gonna be awhile before release though, but I look forward to seeing how this one evolves.

[Wingflier]

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/dota-2-players-now-outnumber-world-of-warcraft-subscribers/1100-6419431/

[Misery]

Feh, somehow that doesnt surprise me.

Now if only they had less of a huge percentage of that group being absolute jerks.  I'm doubting THAT will happen though.

[Wingflier]

Feh, somehow that doesnt surprise me.

Now if only they had less of a huge percentage of that group being absolute jerks.  I'm doubting THAT will happen though.

Nope.

[Wingflier]

http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/05/13/dota-2s-compendium-helps-the-international-2014-prize-pool-break-4-million/

Each Compendium (price $10) adds $2.50 to the prize pool of The International 4. The prize pool for the players starts out at an impressive 1.6 million. Last year, the pool was raised to a sizeable 2.8 million, not a bad price increase using 2 dollar and 50 cent increments. That was after about ~3 months of selling Compendiums.

Now, Valve has introduced stretch goals, and within 4 days, the prize pool has reached 4 million...That's in FOUR DAYS.

The biggest prize happens at 6 million. When I first saw that number, I was kind of amazed that Valve would even shoot so high (even if it was just wishful thinking). After the first night the new Compendium was released, I asked the players in my games whether anyone thought it would actually make it there. Everyone kind of scoffed, nobody thought it would.

Now, it's almost guaranteed to hit 6 million, and correct me if I'm wrong, but that will make it the biggest, most financially rewarding E-Sports event ever.

[Wingflier]

In less than 2 weeks, The International 4 Tournament prize pool has been increased to over 5.9 million. With over 2 months left before the International even occurs and with the 6 million dollar stretch goal about to become an imminent reality, who knows how high it can go?

All I know is, this is going to be an EPIC tournament and even the 3-4th place winners are going home practically rich.

[Misery]

In less than 2 weeks, The International 4 Tournament prize pool has been increased to over 5.9 million. With over 2 months left before the International even occurs and with the 6 million dollar stretch goal about to become an imminent reality, who knows how high it can go?

All I know is, this is going to be an EPIC tournament and even the 3-4th place winners are going home practically rich.

Waaaaayyyyyyyyyyy too much money.


While the skill of players like that in this genre is very impressive, the thing that gets me even more is that they can tolerate the stress.  I'd have gone insane by now, were it me doing that.  Couldnt handle the pressure with that, definitely not. 

Not sure wether I'm gonna follow any of the tournament or not, but yeah, it's probably quite the spectacle to see.

[Wingflier]

http://www.dota2.com/international/compendium/

The stretch goals have been increased to the 10 million dollar mark. With 3 months left to go, why the hell not? Apparently the sky is the limit.

[Misery]

What exactly does this compendium thing even do?  I dont understand it's purpose.

[Wingflier]

Well for one thing, by buying a compendium, you get access to all these stretch goals, which are some awesome in-game things like HUDs, couriers, and even a new music soundtrack with much more to come.

Secondly, there are all kinds of cosmetic benefits that player gets by owning the compendium such as a custom fountain healing animation, custom teleport animation, custom blink animation, and so on. In addition to that, the player gets all kinds of items basically just for owning one, but by "leveling it up" can get even more. They also added a new feature which more or less allows you to "trade in" old items that you don't want anymore (that you may have won from battles or whatnot) which will allow you to receive new and better items and other bonuses in return.

By trading in a ton of old items that I've had for years which I was never going to use, I received a mythical set for Rubick that I sold for about $15 on the Steam market. In other words, before the vast majority of the prizes have even been handed out, I've already profited off of having the thing.

At its core though, just ignoring all the awesome features and gadgets that go along with it, the Compendium is just an advanced guide to The International 4 tournament. It has a list of all the teams, the players, pictures of the players, the roles they play, the heroes they play, and so on. It gives detailed information about dates, brackets, tournament standings, and so on.

[Misery]

Wow.

I gotta hand it to Valve:  Those guys have absolutely mastered the art of hyping things.... usually things that deserve it in their case.... and more importantly the art of sales and advertising, which is something I tend to know alot about, so that makes me respect them even more.