There are things with the Chinese government, and since they don't seem to care that much about games that would be on steam there's not much reason for steam to be big there.
I've seen numbers up to 5 million quoted for WDC, the big dota 1 tournament in China, but I have no way of backing those up. The real problem is that, unlike South Korea, China is insular and closed off, which makes scrutiny difficult. And while dota hasn't reached a point of cultural popularity that puts it completely on par with Starcraft in South Korea, the fact is that dota is still ridiculously popular there. Matches are not just streamed, but broadcast on cable TV, just like Starcraft in South Korea. Except that China is way bigger than South Korea, so all the numbers are bigger as well.
The game is currently being rolled out in China. There are more Chinese pro players with the beta now and more show matches going on. And more Chinese heroes being added. The next step for dota 2 will be establishing that foothold in the game's most important market.
Sorry to bother you. I'm quite an avid fan of LoL and have experience in HoN though none in Dota.
I get the impression Dota is a lot more brutal and I'd really like to give it a whirl.
If anyone has a spare Beta invite I would be eternally grateful if they could send me it, I;d happily pay for it as well. Love this type of game and Dota 2 seems to be the natural progression.
Thanks in advance, no worries if no1 has any though!
Peace!
0
Options
Dac VinS-s-screw you! I only listen to DOUBLE MUSIC!Registered Userregular
IF YOU FEEL LIKE HAVING A GOOD TIME IN DOTA THE SECOND THEN PLAY SKELETON KING IN CHARACTER, THE ENEMIES ARE TRAITORS AND PEASANTS AND YOUR FRIENDS ARE YOUR FAITHFUL SERVANTS.
DOUBLE POINTS IF THERE'S A QUEEN OF PAIN ON YOUR TEAM FOR HOT SKELETON ON SUCCUBUS ROMANCE. YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO PLAY WITH SAND KING THOUGH, HE IS A FALSE KING.
Just to add on to what Page wrote, Dota 2 is actually gaining some ground here in South Korea. AOS games are all the rage here and the Korean version of DotA, (DotA Chaos for Warcraft 3) is FAR more popular than Starcraft for the last 2-3 years. Starcraft 2 pretty much bombed and it doesn't even break the top 10 games here. League of Legends is extremely popular, and within the 3 months since it launched here (December 2011), it has dethroned Starcraft, Warcraft 3, and WoW, and a lot of Korean games to take the #3 spot. Only AION and the FPS Shooter Sudden Attack have higher user numbers than LoL. LoL actually beat out the game that I work on as a developer to take that #3 spot.
Unfortunately, due to government regulations, non-Korean games have a disadvantage here and Steam is not as popular as it should be. Still, I have a lot of native Korean friends that play Dota 2 and talk about it. HoN will open here within the next few months (under NCSoft who purchased Ntreev which licensed the game from S2 Games) and even that game has considerable buzz.
I've also worked on launching a couple games in China, and that market is a totally different beast. China is home to LAN Cafe's that can host several hundreds to thousands of computers. They don't usually use Garena because a single LAN is basically it's own ecosystem. Also, the two major ISPs in China aren't very nice to each other and there can be considerable network issues even within the country. However, regardless of their crazy network problems, the sheer number of users in China is unbelievable and we always joke here in Korea that for anything that applies to China, we should just add a 'zero' to end of the numbers that we expect. It's kind of crazy because the largest Chinese game companies dwarf a lot of the established game companies in the US. The biggest game publisher in China is Tencent, which has a market cap of $50 billion USD while the largest 3rd party publisher in the US is Activision/Blizzard at $14.25B USD. The #1 game in China currently (Crossfire developed by the Korean company Smilegate and published by Tencent) which brings in over $100M USD per month in revenue. If Valve can get even 1% of the Chinese market which is a fairly easy goal for them, I'm sure they'll be extremely happy.
The main issue on launching games in China is that you have to have every game approved by their government agency (GAPP approval) which can take several months to even several years. Getting approval from the agency is pretty much a gamble and you have to fix the game to meet their stringent policies. There is a good chance that heroes like SK and Clinks would have to be changed in the Chinese version of Dota 2 because of restrictions on displaying skeletons in any Chinese games. Anyways, Valve have extremely savvy developers and they'll probably have contingency plans upon contingency plans on breaking the market there. I'm actually extremely excited to see more Western games become successful here in the East.
Hello! My name is Inigo Montoya! You killed my father prepare to die!
Looking for a Hardcore Fantasy Extraction Shooter? - Dark and Darker
0
Options
Euphemonitsudemo sagashiteiruyodokka ni kimi no sugata woRegistered Userregular
There are things with the Chinese government, and since they don't seem to care that much about games that would be on steam there's not much reason for steam to be big there.
I've seen numbers up to 5 million quoted for WDC, the big dota 1 tournament in China, but I have no way of backing those up. The real problem is that, unlike South Korea, China is insular and closed off, which makes scrutiny difficult. And while dota hasn't reached a point of cultural popularity that puts it completely on par with Starcraft in South Korea, the fact is that dota is still ridiculously popular there. Matches are not just streamed, but broadcast on cable TV, just like Starcraft in South Korea. Except that China is way bigger than South Korea, so all the numbers are bigger as well.
The game is currently being rolled out in China. There are more Chinese pro players with the beta now and more show matches going on. And more Chinese heroes being added. The next step for dota 2 will be establishing that foothold in the game's most important market.
There are a number of problems Valve have to grapple with for DotA2 in China. First and foremost, they need to partner with a Chinese company that actually does all the work of marketing and distributing the game, as well as another pay model for the Chinese. Right now I believe there's still a bidding war for it, among the Chinese companies, though I think it's down to 3 at this point.
After that, DotA2 needs to have significant changes to some of the animations and models. For example, the Chinese don't allow for the use of human skeletons and pandas in games, so SK pretty much needs a completely new model.
And then, they need to grapple with LoL in China, which is HUGE, and is Chinese owned, and thus favored by the government. LoL is very much a more Chinese game than DotA. Microtransactions, free to play, cartoony graphics, and very light on the computer requirements. Not to mention, LoL already has a massive foothold in the country and a well established pay model.
So basically, the road for DotA2 into China is a very long, rocky, uphill climb. It's possible, but unlikely that DotA2 will enjoy the same popularity that DotA had in China. The question now is: does the Western scene require the Chinese? Obviously it would be ideal, but with the strength of the competitive gaming scene in NA and especially EU, DotA2 could thrive as just a foreign game.
EDIT:
Adding onto what @krapst78 said: Tencent pretty much owns Riot games, the developers for LoL. That's mostly how it gained so much ground so quickly in China.
As for the Korean scene, OGN has started broadcasting tournaments and shows for LoL, and studio attendance is huge. League is massive in Korea now (#3 played in Korea is a big fucking deal, and a lot of hours played).
It just seems incredibly unlikely that DotA2 will be able to hit it off in the Eastern scene in general at this point. They'll do pretty well, for sure, but it won't be the new DotA (so to speak). I feel like LoL is going to be the popular A-RTS/MOBA/DotA-like in the future, while DotA2 will be more of a niche, both in the Western and Eastern scene. Which is a travesty, really, but there's no accounting for bad taste. LoL's foothold is just too solid, and the numbers it gets in China/Korea is mindboggling. I really don't see how Valve can compete.
They don't allow pandas...... what about mists of pandaria, that isn't gonna go down well lol
0
Options
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
One minor correction. LoL is not Chinese owned. It's owned by Riot, which is an American company. It's distributed in China by Tencent, but it's not owned by them.
One minor correction. LoL is not Chinese owned. It's owned by Riot, which is an American company. It's distributed in China by Tencent, but it's not owned by them.
CorriganX on Steam and just about everywhere else.
0
Options
Euphemonitsudemo sagashiteiruyodokka ni kimi no sugata woRegistered Userregular
It took even Wrath of the Lich King 2 years to cross approval. Surely Blizzard has been working with their partner, so they probably have some plan or another to sort it out. If pandas (and China, really) are portrayed in a really positive light, then the approval might go through regardless, but yeah, Pandaria is going to be a clusterfuck.
0
Options
Euphemonitsudemo sagashiteiruyodokka ni kimi no sugata woRegistered Userregular
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. A lot of the really popular streaming sites are banned in China. That makes stream distribution to China an annoying task for foreign tournaments. They basically have to partner with Chinese companies for that as well (notice a trend?). For example, IPL4 which is about to start, partnered with 163.com, a massive Chinese site, to distribute their streams. However, that pretty much cuts off any small tournaments, or tournaments that can't find a partner.
I was under the impression the reason they've gone down that panda route was primarily for China. Haha wow what a mistake.
Anyway aside from wow I've signed up on these boards to get some more info on Dota 2. Couple of questions...
How far away realistically is it from release? I watched the tournament a while back but clearly that wasn't a final build. Are most heroes implemented? Also I wasn't keen on HoN in as much as as soon as you started playing you were playing with total pros. At least on LoL when you started leveling up there were plenty of other noobs.
There is an incentive to hit end lvl for your summoner on LoL to play ranked but HoN new accounts could sometimes benefit because you can get a neutral rating and work up if you'd absolutely ruined your rating previously.
This meant as a new starter it was difficult to play with people with a similar knowledge of the champs. I understoof the majortiy of mechanics from LoL and had already done my reading on denials jungling and loss of gold on death. The other nice thing about LoL is at those low levels people have a limited access to the number of champs to play based on weekly rotation which means you get a chance to learn set champs and how to counter them. On HoN you could play any of them so every game was diff. A Very steep learning curve indeed.
How does Dota compare, and also what is the community like so far?
0
Options
Euphemonitsudemo sagashiteiruyodokka ni kimi no sugata woRegistered Userregular
I haven't really looking up the numbers, but I'd say maybe 50% of the heroes are implemented? They're going at a fairly steady pace, release is probably going to be fall of this year I'd assume.
Matchmaking is working fairly well atm, I'd say. Also, Valve is boasting of a lot of new systems to help new players. None of them are implemented, so it's hard to say if they'll work or not, but Valve is smart. They'll figure something out for sure.
No one knows what the pay model for DotA2 will be yet, so it's hard to say if every hero will be unlocked on release or not. However, DotA has the most heroes out of the 3, so the curve will be just as steep.
The community is easily the best out of the 3 as well, but that's because it's in closed beta. I don't doubt that it'll revert to the baseline awfulness that characterizes the MOBA genre.
0
Options
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
I wonder when Valve is going to start implementing the "new player" systems like the mentor stuff and tutorials. I guess a logical time would be a couple of months before release, as they are really opening the beta up to a wider audience.
So, I have just recently started participating in the beta for Dota 2, and I had a few questions, if you ladies and gentlemen wouldn't mind.
(1) I am terrible at MOBAs, and this game is no exception. I like to think that this may be attributed to a lack of experience. Is there a particular hero out there that is newb friendly? I am hesitant to play a carry, as I understand that a team usually only needs one, and I don't want to bring the whole team down with me.
(2) I played with bots last night to get the hang of things. Am I correct in assuming that they are more or less retarded?
Thank you for the videos in the OP, by the way. Very helpful.
Steam: arsenic_canary
0
Options
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Actually the bots at harder difficulties will eat your cake if you aren't careful. They actually do semi-smart things like setup ganks and use their CC to lock you down and burst you. No, they aren't as good as players, but for new players, hard level bots will be frustrating.
Honestly, starting bots are a much harder opponent than starting players. In the beginning, against equally new players, you'll have a MUCH easier time since they're just as uncoordinated as you are. The bots will coordinate to whoop your ass at every possible chance and punish you for making mistakes. Once you start playing against really competent players though, the bots will be a fond memory.
CorriganX on Steam and just about everywhere else.
Speaking of characteristically awful players where attitudes are concerned, I really hope retail will see a friendlier, more mature playerbase than what currently plagues HoN. And sadly, it's almost as if S2 promotes the terrible behavior. Yeah, they have the RAP system, but when their own employees are caught time and again being complete fucktards in-game (the racist Maliken debacle still comes up from time to time) it really doesn't help much.
Speaking of characteristically awful players where attitudes are concerned, I really hope retail will see a friendlier, more mature playerbase than what currently plagues HoN. And sadly, it's almost as if S2 promotes the terrible behavior. Yeah, they have the RAP system, but when their own employees are caught time and again being complete fucktards in-game (the racist Maliken debacle still comes up from time to time) it really doesn't help much.
It likely won't. These games naturally attract the most obvious shit cocks in the world. LoL is much tighter about that stuff than HoN is, and it's still there.
I haven't really looking up the numbers, but I'd say maybe 50% of the heroes are implemented? They're going at a fairly steady pace, release is probably going to be fall of this year I'd assume.
Yeah Riot Games is wholly owned by Tencent now, but from what I've heard, they are pretty hand off for international releases. Although, this is all hearsay coming from a friend that works as a manager for Riot Games on an international version. Not so sure how it's handled in China. Still, AOS games are hot stuff right now in Asia and most of the markets here. I've pitched to several Korean publishers in the last 6 months, and everyone here has an AOS type game in the works in hopes of riding on the coattails of LoL and Dota 2.
krapst78 on
Hello! My name is Inigo Montoya! You killed my father prepare to die!
Looking for a Hardcore Fantasy Extraction Shooter? - Dark and Darker
(2) I played with bots last night to get the hang of things. Am I correct in assuming that they are more or less retarded?
Play co-op vs bots. Don't play with the bots on your team, they'll get on your nerves.
Yeah, I noticed that. The enemy bots seemed pretty damned coordinated. My teammates, on the other hand, spent most of their time twirling in circles, or would run across halfway across the map only to turn around and run back for no reason. Weird.
Has anyone had any luck playing this on older systems? Or, I guess what I'm asking is, does anyone have recommendations for which settings I can change that have a decent impact on performance without making the game look like complete ass? Playing on my desktop is fine, but my laptop is showing it's age. I'm also happy to play around with it on my own, just curious if there are any universally tried and true tricks.
The Wrath of the Lich King had problems getting approval in China because Blizzards encountered a lot of issues when changing over from The9 to Netease and then encountering the in-fighting between the GAPP agency and the Ministry of Culture. It's kind of unfortunate because I had several Chinese friends who wanted to play the expansion and couldn't do so until 2010. As someone who's gone through the GAPP approval process, it's no joke and partnering with an established Chinese company is definitely a necessity.
Hello! My name is Inigo Montoya! You killed my father prepare to die!
Looking for a Hardcore Fantasy Extraction Shooter? - Dark and Darker
After that, DotA2 needs to have significant changes to some of the animations and models. For example, the Chinese don't allow for the use of human skeletons and pandas in games, so SK pretty much needs a completely new model.
Instant brainfart: Just make him a wandering suit of armor. He can collapse and clank around when he dies just like he does right now.
0
Options
reVerseAttack and Dethrone GodRegistered Userregular
I'm pretty sure the Chinese not allowing pandas in games is just a myth. They had problems with the pandaren because they wore samurai gear and China considers that defacing their national icon (panda) with imagery of their enemy.
After that, DotA2 needs to have significant changes to some of the animations and models. For example, the Chinese don't allow for the use of human skeletons and pandas in games, so SK pretty much needs a completely new model.
Instant brainfart: Just make him a wandering suit of armor. He can collapse and clank around when he dies just like he does right now.
Wouldn't mind if the hero were renamed and that was made standard. I'd prefer Vhailor to the Saturday morning cartoon character Skeleton King is now.
I haven't really looking up the numbers, but I'd say maybe 50% of the heroes are implemented? They're going at a fairly steady pace, release is probably going to be fall of this year I'd assume.
Just over two-thirds of the heroes are in Dota 2 with 73 out of 108.
I've heard of some of the stuff with China and Korea before and I think all of it sounds crazy and completely foreign from what I know.
The only thing Valve really needs for dota 2 to work in China is for it to supplant dota 1, which is already huge. Obviously they're different platforms, but it's not like they need new markets, just for everyone to agree to make the switch. Kind of like what happened in Europe. Except it's much more important for them because China is the biggest dota market around. But there are more top Chinese players playing the game now, which helps.
And unless they're using some client-side mods I really question the SK and Panda stuff since both of those heroes have been in dota 1 for years and Panda has even been a top Chinese hero for a long time. I can find unlimited amounts of footage and replays of top Chinese teams in top Chinese tournaments playing Panda without any issues.
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
So there is nothing like AP in this game, right? AP = Ability Power in LoL...it's like scaling damage for casters.
I started playing Zeus last night, and I really enjoy him (first hero so far that's clicked with me), but having no AP equivalent has left me at a loss on how to build him. So far it's been mana/mana regen/the sceptre thing for his ulti/arcane boots...
Damage does nothing for spells right? Just auto-attacks?
Spell damage doesn't scale. Casters are designed to be strong early and into the mid game, then taper off so that carries can take over.
The biggest casters still have things that let them contribute and scale anyway. Zeus has his static field, which means that as long as he's casting something in a fight he's always doing a lot of damage. And as time goes on he has more mana to cast with. Even late in the game it adds up: when a fight starts he casts all 3 of his spells and he's not only done the damage they do, but also ~25% of every hero's hp even if they weren't hit. Of course, once carries get bkbs he's still food, but if he stays in the back he can contribute a lot.
Most other casters just build utility items and sheep sticks. The important thing to remember is that when a hero is hexed the lose all their passive buffs like evasion and damage block. You can take out anyone if you hex them at the right time and then focus fire.
CreamstoutWhat you think I program for, to push a fuckin' quad-core?Registered Userregular
Damage does nothing for spells, just your auto-attacks. Veil of Discord can be used to make them more susceptible to your magic damage.
The best way is to get a Scepter like you did, which will increase his potency. Static Field scales well into late game but that is about it.
I would stay away from anything that adds damage or intellect just for the sake of it. Try focusing on items that give you extra abilities like Sheep Stick, Mekansm, Shiva's Guard.
Intellect nukers like Zeus are best suited by ending the game before the late game heroes get too powerful, this means pushing in their T1 towers and ganking them hard.
Posts
steam isn't that popular in china as i understand, so i guess this gives valve a big foothold there
I've seen numbers up to 5 million quoted for WDC, the big dota 1 tournament in China, but I have no way of backing those up. The real problem is that, unlike South Korea, China is insular and closed off, which makes scrutiny difficult. And while dota hasn't reached a point of cultural popularity that puts it completely on par with Starcraft in South Korea, the fact is that dota is still ridiculously popular there. Matches are not just streamed, but broadcast on cable TV, just like Starcraft in South Korea. Except that China is way bigger than South Korea, so all the numbers are bigger as well.
The game is currently being rolled out in China. There are more Chinese pro players with the beta now and more show matches going on. And more Chinese heroes being added. The next step for dota 2 will be establishing that foothold in the game's most important market.
Anyone want to beta read a paranormal mystery novella? Here's your chance.
stream
Sorry to bother you. I'm quite an avid fan of LoL and have experience in HoN though none in Dota.
I get the impression Dota is a lot more brutal and I'd really like to give it a whirl.
If anyone has a spare Beta invite I would be eternally grateful if they could send me it, I;d happily pay for it as well. Love this type of game and Dota 2 seems to be the natural progression.
Thanks in advance, no worries if no1 has any though!
Peace!
DOUBLE POINTS IF THERE'S A QUEEN OF PAIN ON YOUR TEAM FOR HOT SKELETON ON SUCCUBUS ROMANCE. YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO PLAY WITH SAND KING THOUGH, HE IS A FALSE KING.
Unfortunately, due to government regulations, non-Korean games have a disadvantage here and Steam is not as popular as it should be. Still, I have a lot of native Korean friends that play Dota 2 and talk about it. HoN will open here within the next few months (under NCSoft who purchased Ntreev which licensed the game from S2 Games) and even that game has considerable buzz.
I've also worked on launching a couple games in China, and that market is a totally different beast. China is home to LAN Cafe's that can host several hundreds to thousands of computers. They don't usually use Garena because a single LAN is basically it's own ecosystem. Also, the two major ISPs in China aren't very nice to each other and there can be considerable network issues even within the country. However, regardless of their crazy network problems, the sheer number of users in China is unbelievable and we always joke here in Korea that for anything that applies to China, we should just add a 'zero' to end of the numbers that we expect. It's kind of crazy because the largest Chinese game companies dwarf a lot of the established game companies in the US. The biggest game publisher in China is Tencent, which has a market cap of $50 billion USD while the largest 3rd party publisher in the US is Activision/Blizzard at $14.25B USD. The #1 game in China currently (Crossfire developed by the Korean company Smilegate and published by Tencent) which brings in over $100M USD per month in revenue. If Valve can get even 1% of the Chinese market which is a fairly easy goal for them, I'm sure they'll be extremely happy.
The main issue on launching games in China is that you have to have every game approved by their government agency (GAPP approval) which can take several months to even several years. Getting approval from the agency is pretty much a gamble and you have to fix the game to meet their stringent policies. There is a good chance that heroes like SK and Clinks would have to be changed in the Chinese version of Dota 2 because of restrictions on displaying skeletons in any Chinese games. Anyways, Valve have extremely savvy developers and they'll probably have contingency plans upon contingency plans on breaking the market there. I'm actually extremely excited to see more Western games become successful here in the East.
Looking for a Hardcore Fantasy Extraction Shooter? - Dark and Darker
There are a number of problems Valve have to grapple with for DotA2 in China. First and foremost, they need to partner with a Chinese company that actually does all the work of marketing and distributing the game, as well as another pay model for the Chinese. Right now I believe there's still a bidding war for it, among the Chinese companies, though I think it's down to 3 at this point.
After that, DotA2 needs to have significant changes to some of the animations and models. For example, the Chinese don't allow for the use of human skeletons and pandas in games, so SK pretty much needs a completely new model.
And then, they need to grapple with LoL in China, which is HUGE, and is Chinese owned, and thus favored by the government. LoL is very much a more Chinese game than DotA. Microtransactions, free to play, cartoony graphics, and very light on the computer requirements. Not to mention, LoL already has a massive foothold in the country and a well established pay model.
So basically, the road for DotA2 into China is a very long, rocky, uphill climb. It's possible, but unlikely that DotA2 will enjoy the same popularity that DotA had in China. The question now is: does the Western scene require the Chinese? Obviously it would be ideal, but with the strength of the competitive gaming scene in NA and especially EU, DotA2 could thrive as just a foreign game.
EDIT:
Adding onto what @krapst78 said: Tencent pretty much owns Riot games, the developers for LoL. That's mostly how it gained so much ground so quickly in China.
As for the Korean scene, OGN has started broadcasting tournaments and shows for LoL, and studio attendance is huge. League is massive in Korea now (#3 played in Korea is a big fucking deal, and a lot of hours played).
It just seems incredibly unlikely that DotA2 will be able to hit it off in the Eastern scene in general at this point. They'll do pretty well, for sure, but it won't be the new DotA (so to speak). I feel like LoL is going to be the popular A-RTS/MOBA/DotA-like in the future, while DotA2 will be more of a niche, both in the Western and Eastern scene. Which is a travesty, really, but there's no accounting for bad taste. LoL's foothold is just too solid, and the numbers it gets in China/Korea is mindboggling. I really don't see how Valve can compete.
http://allthingsd.com/20110204/chinas-tencent-buys-riot-games-for-400-million/
Tencent owns riot.
CorriganX on Steam and just about everywhere else.
Anyway aside from wow I've signed up on these boards to get some more info on Dota 2. Couple of questions...
How far away realistically is it from release? I watched the tournament a while back but clearly that wasn't a final build. Are most heroes implemented? Also I wasn't keen on HoN in as much as as soon as you started playing you were playing with total pros. At least on LoL when you started leveling up there were plenty of other noobs.
There is an incentive to hit end lvl for your summoner on LoL to play ranked but HoN new accounts could sometimes benefit because you can get a neutral rating and work up if you'd absolutely ruined your rating previously.
This meant as a new starter it was difficult to play with people with a similar knowledge of the champs. I understoof the majortiy of mechanics from LoL and had already done my reading on denials jungling and loss of gold on death. The other nice thing about LoL is at those low levels people have a limited access to the number of champs to play based on weekly rotation which means you get a chance to learn set champs and how to counter them. On HoN you could play any of them so every game was diff. A Very steep learning curve indeed.
How does Dota compare, and also what is the community like so far?
Matchmaking is working fairly well atm, I'd say. Also, Valve is boasting of a lot of new systems to help new players. None of them are implemented, so it's hard to say if they'll work or not, but Valve is smart. They'll figure something out for sure.
No one knows what the pay model for DotA2 will be yet, so it's hard to say if every hero will be unlocked on release or not. However, DotA has the most heroes out of the 3, so the curve will be just as steep.
The community is easily the best out of the 3 as well, but that's because it's in closed beta. I don't doubt that it'll revert to the baseline awfulness that characterizes the MOBA genre.
(1) I am terrible at MOBAs, and this game is no exception. I like to think that this may be attributed to a lack of experience. Is there a particular hero out there that is newb friendly? I am hesitant to play a carry, as I understand that a team usually only needs one, and I don't want to bring the whole team down with me.
(2) I played with bots last night to get the hang of things. Am I correct in assuming that they are more or less retarded?
Thank you for the videos in the OP, by the way. Very helpful.
CorriganX on Steam and just about everywhere else.
XBL: InvaderJims
Bnet: Pudgestomp#11153
It likely won't. These games naturally attract the most obvious shit cocks in the world. LoL is much tighter about that stuff than HoN is, and it's still there.
Play co-op vs bots. Don't play with the bots on your team, they'll get on your nerves.
http://www.dota2wiki.com/wiki/Unreleased_Content
35 left by my count.
Don't assume bad intentions over neglect and misunderstanding.
Looking for a Hardcore Fantasy Extraction Shooter? - Dark and Darker
Yeah, I noticed that. The enemy bots seemed pretty damned coordinated. My teammates, on the other hand, spent most of their time twirling in circles, or would run across halfway across the map only to turn around and run back for no reason. Weird.
XBL: InvaderJims
Bnet: Pudgestomp#11153
Looking for a Hardcore Fantasy Extraction Shooter? - Dark and Darker
Nope, you just have to wait
Instant brainfart: Just make him a wandering suit of armor. He can collapse and clank around when he dies just like he does right now.
THE GRAVE WON'T LONG HOLD ME!
Just over two-thirds of the heroes are in Dota 2 with 73 out of 108.
I've heard of some of the stuff with China and Korea before and I think all of it sounds crazy and completely foreign from what I know.
Then you go and insult Skeleton King like that, and I have to question EVERYTHING.
And unless they're using some client-side mods I really question the SK and Panda stuff since both of those heroes have been in dota 1 for years and Panda has even been a top Chinese hero for a long time. I can find unlimited amounts of footage and replays of top Chinese teams in top Chinese tournaments playing Panda without any issues.
Anyone want to beta read a paranormal mystery novella? Here's your chance.
stream
I started playing Zeus last night, and I really enjoy him (first hero so far that's clicked with me), but having no AP equivalent has left me at a loss on how to build him. So far it's been mana/mana regen/the sceptre thing for his ulti/arcane boots...
Damage does nothing for spells right? Just auto-attacks?
The biggest casters still have things that let them contribute and scale anyway. Zeus has his static field, which means that as long as he's casting something in a fight he's always doing a lot of damage. And as time goes on he has more mana to cast with. Even late in the game it adds up: when a fight starts he casts all 3 of his spells and he's not only done the damage they do, but also ~25% of every hero's hp even if they weren't hit. Of course, once carries get bkbs he's still food, but if he stays in the back he can contribute a lot.
Most other casters just build utility items and sheep sticks. The important thing to remember is that when a hero is hexed the lose all their passive buffs like evasion and damage block. You can take out anyone if you hex them at the right time and then focus fire.
Anyone want to beta read a paranormal mystery novella? Here's your chance.
stream
Veil of Discord can be used to make them more susceptible to your magic damage.
The best way is to get a Scepter like you did, which will increase his potency. Static Field scales well into late game but that is about it.
I would stay away from anything that adds damage or intellect just for the sake of it. Try focusing on items that give you extra abilities like Sheep Stick, Mekansm, Shiva's Guard.
Intellect nukers like Zeus are best suited by ending the game before the late game heroes get too powerful, this means pushing in their T1 towers and ganking them hard.
I'm dead serious."