People's fascination with MOBA games

[Wildmoon]

Seeing people arguing about X-arts is harder Y-arts is quite wierd to me. I have played original Dota,LoL and HoN for little bit and I haven't notice any different in difficulty mechanic wise. They are all fundamentally the same for me in mechanical skill.

[Grable]

I've tried both and went with Dota2. It's just personal preference. Let's try to refrain from Dota2 vs LoL flamefest because it's unproductive. They're pretty different gameplay wise, I chose Dota2 because I prefer it's combat gameplay style.

[theburned]

Seeing people arguing about X-arts is harder Y-arts is quite wierd to me. I have played original Dota,LoL and HoN for little bit and I haven't notice any different in difficulty mechanic wise. They are all fundamentally the same for me in mechanical skill.

The main difference comes from stuff like where to posistion your lane, something which you can't really control in LoL, then there is also stacking and runes, Dota 2 also has the upside of ward avoidance with smoke, and buyback timing. While in LoL you can just flash away with every single champion, in HoN and Dota 2 posistioning is more important, not saying it isn't in LoL, but it is easier to get away in LoL when caught out of posistion

[Keren]

the skill-sets and itemization are greatly different in HoN & DotA and LoL. Abilities in HoN & DotA are not improveable through items (discounting Agha here). In LoL each skill scales with AP and / or MP - thus improving the characteristics of the heroes. In DotA and HoN items are used to push stats and to get access to more activ and passiv abilities (Dagger, Vladmir).

@op: to watch a stream of good MOBA players is nearly always understandable and does teach the viewer things withpout actually playing.
Games like Quake, CS could be watched to, but dont have a benefit for players skills dicounting map positioning.
Games like WC3 & SC are sets of correctly executed build patterns, little scouting and to make decision for an army - than fighting.

MOBA games erased actual build patterns and lets you start from minute one with mirco managament of fighting - team vs team.

[Deleted]

Abilities in HoN & DotA are not improveable through items

Return, Arcane Bolt, Ball Lightning, Sanity's Eclipse, Adaptive Strike.
m8 pls.

[Keren]

Return, Arcane Bolt, Ball Lightning, Sanity's Eclipse, Adaptive Strike.
m8 pls.

its just not the norm when you compare that tiny list...*shrug*

[Skorpionss]

I found this little gem called Prime World and I'm hooked on it it's pretty different from any current moba and I am loving it.

[Arlon]

Dota 2 is objectivily a good game in a sense that it does what it set out to do. What i personally don´t like about it is the art and the fact that to get the full experience you need a team of players that will communicate and apply strategies. It just seems like such a hassle for me for a game that is so simple on an individual level, yet i can´t have satisfaction from it if someone keeps fucking up. I also don´t like the fact that it has only one map, i don´t care about balance outside of preventing scenarios where someone will become ridiculously overpowered.(And honestly, with a game with so many heroes, i just role my eyes when someone wants balance anyway)

I have no idea why the game or the genre is so popular. Perhaps it´s simplicity allows for a wider appeal.

[Deleted]

Because they are one of the best time killers ever!

[Tekkommo]

I don't understand it either, I gave them a go and was pretty disappointed as to how they were. Found them pretty basic, easy and boring. Maybe the easy bit is why they are popular, being free helps as well, plus the low computer requirements.

I don't want to diss it that much, as it may help a great deal if you play with friends, I tried to get mine to try it with me, but none of them were interested.

[Deleted]

The one thing that is clear out of all the LoL vs Dota2 debates in this thread is that none of the people who debated over them have any idea whatsoever of what is like to play either game in a high skill level environment.

It's 2 different games. You get to choose one to your preference, there is no better game. Stop criticising other people's choices just because you are ignorant of them and think it's too casual or too hardcore, as if that even MATTERS in the first place. Being more casual with a game doesn't make you a worse player and being more hardcore and playing every day doesn't make you a better one.

I've played both games and I'm going to stick with LoL because I like the champions and graphics more, not because I think it's a more challenging game. I own in any game that I play, my E-peen is already bigger than any of yours, and from this position I can clearly see how pointless these game vs game arguments are.

[May90]

MOBA is basically Warcraft 3 in which you don't control anything except your hero. It is a stupidly dumb game, but, I guess, people today love dumb games... Look at WoW's popularity, or CoD's popularity, and you will see what I'm talking about.

[Nerevar]

There is not fascination with MOBA games. This thread looks as silly as the possible "People's fascination with FPS/RPG/Racing etc games"

[ldev]

For quite some time I've been trying to understand what is up with the popularity of MOBA games and why are they so popular and mostly, how did this become the most played/popular genre for eSports.

I've even been forcing myself to play Dota2 for the past few days, trying to get a good view at how this became so popular... And yet I still do not see it or understand it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's a bad game or something, or that it can't be fun but this popular? I can't imagine how - the slow pace, one game session is way too long and the first half of it is basically getting the last shot on the creeps (speaking Dota2 here), which imo is extremely boring. Then there's PvP, sure, that can be fun, but again it mostly boils down to who grinded the most last shots, bought the best gear and learned the abilities of others. As for the actual combat.. not very appealing due to slow pace and click to move - strategy type of game - movement.

I know everyone has their own taste in games and I'm one of the people that try A LOT of games and I'm really really not picky - so I thought I'm sure I'll be able to notice at least what others see in MOBA games... but I didn't.

Neither do I understand how this genre became a standard for "pro gaming", looking at what used to be the standard (Quake 3, CS, etc). Sure it takes some skill to play, but it's mostly knowledge. It's knowing the ability of your hero and the abilities of your enemies. But that is knowledge, not skill (I count hand motorics, reflexes, etc as skill) - IMO.

I was always able to notice what made games popular, even if I didn't find the game good myself. But this time I'm giving up, I do not understand how MOBA is so popular. I'm going to just put my MOBA popularity theory as "casualization", due to the way MOBAs are played in the sense that they require more knowing and less skilling.

Good day

I have no idea why people enjoy them either.

Just wait for Heroes of the Storm. I hope I will be able to jump MOBA ship with quality product from blizzard.

[Repefe]

MOBA is basically Warcraft 3 in which you don't control anything except your hero. It is a stupidly dumb game, but, I guess, people today love dumb games... Look at WoW's popularity, or CoD's popularity, and you will see what I'm talking about.

What game is difficlut ? Chess ? Go ?

[Ausr]

What game is difficlut ? Chess ? Go ?

Candy Crush most likely. Some hardcore plays he pulls off.

[May90]

What game is difficlut ? Chess ? Go ?

Chess is even easier. You just have to stare at your figures and move one of them ones a few minutes.

Seriously, though, pretty much any RTS is zillion times more complex than MOBA.

[Repefe]

Chess is even easier. You just have to stare at your figures and move one of them ones a few minutes.

Seriously, though, pretty much any RTS is zillion times more complex than MOBA.

And rl work is zillion times more complex than RTS. But I guess people today love dumb games like RTS or MOBA.

[Grable]

Chess is even easier. You just have to stare at your figures and move one of them ones a few minutes.

Seriously, though, pretty much any RTS is zillion times more complex than MOBA.

You're wrong. It's just different types of skill/complexity. It wouldn't be played competitively so much if MOBAs were simple games. "Chess is even easier" - lol, so what chess ELO do you have to have the right to say such a thing?

[May90]

And rl work is zillion times more complex than RTS. But I guess people today love dumb games like RTS or MOBA.

That's the spirit!

You're wrong. It's just different types of skill/complexity. It wouldn't be played competitively so much if MOBAs were simple games. "Chess is even easier" - lol, so what chess ELO do you have to have the right to say such a thing?

My ELO at my best days was something like 2260, I think, don't remember exactly; right now (and for offline chess) it is a bit above 2100.
And it is sad you didn't get the joke.