Salem
Features: crafting/building focus, perma-death, open PvP, set in colonial New England (aka The New World), free 2 play, "generations"
The developers have been very clear that this game is about freedom. They are removing the "grindy" parts of MMOs to get the players to the "end game". Players logging in on day one are in the "end game" and participating in the community.
With freedom comes consequence. A prime example is the idea that there will be forests in the game that players can clear. Clear an entire forest and waste the wood on something, players are out of wood in that area. This fits right in with the focus of the game's narrative: the New World. Players will be focused on building and expanding in the new territory and that will open all kinds of avenues for teamwork and competitive play.
The discussion of freedom extends further when you start talking about open PvP and the fact the game will feature perma death. A player's character can be murdered, never to be seen again, but only if the "murdering" player consciously makes that decision. Incidental murder will not be possible and being flagged a murderer will be a very troubling position to be in when you are caught.
This all sounds a bit out there, but the developers have experience in the perma-death, crafting/building MMO realm. They already run Haven and Hearth, Salem's predecessor that has executed and learned from most of these ideas.
Lastly, Salem is going to be free 2 play (F2P) which should allow for anyone curious to get their feet wet.
Dominus
UPDATE: Apparently I missed the fact that as of Monday, Dominus has shut down due to lack of funding. This was completely out of the blue for a game that was charging ahead towards a beta and eventual release.
Features: three-faction "realm vs realm" (though legally they cannot call it that), SWG-style gathering
If Star Wars Galaxies and Dark Age of Camelot (DAoC) had a love child, it would be Dominus (formerly Prime Online: The Battle for Dominus).
Dominus, based in a SciFi setting, will feature three-faction warfare along with an in depth crafting and exploration system where resources will be unique to an area and be finite (in the fact they could be gathered into extinction).
The game is also being geared towards PvP combat with the three factions battling it out for control of zones and areas similar to DAoC frontiers. There will also be a bounty system where players can hunt individual targets or live with one foot in the grave by carrying a large bounty on their head.
Dominus also marks the return of Sanya Thomas (now Sanya Weathers), of DAoC fame, back to the MMO community manager standpoint. If you haven't followed MMOs for a long time, you may have missed the fact she pretty much invented how modern day community management is done for an MMO.
Otherlands
Features: based on Otherlands book series by Tad Williams, SciFi and Fantasy combined (or really any sort of world they want to add as Otherlands is really a metaverse capable of any idea that can be thought up), eDNA system, free 2 play
While Dominus and Salem have received a bit of press and a small mentioning in some notable blogs, Otherlands on the other hand has received almost no attention. And that's a damn shame because the Otherlands books by Tad Williams are a superb read. Not to mention the game is shaping up to be an excellent free 2 play MMO experience.
The Otherlands is a meta-verse in which users log in and have experiences in various worlds. Everything from World War I to swords and sorcery fantasy is covered. The areas in the game will be varied from the main meta-verse hub to a fantasy world that grew out of a chess board and features a giant floating game of chess happening in the sky (and that description doesn't even come close to doing the area in question justice. Watch this video to learn more about the chess board zone.)
The important thing to understand is that the zones in the game are "simulations" and therefore are not meant to simulate a "real" world. Things can be serious or exaggerated and it all fits into the game's lore. Rules in the simulations can be bent and broken, changed, or given context. Its really a perfect fit for an MMO.
Another neat feature is non-static NPCs. NPCs will be on life cycles where they actually travel and have things to do. A fisherman will go to fish, a baker will go to buy flour, etc.
However, the coolest thing going for Otherlands is the idea of eDNA and the MyLand feature. The basic premise is players will be able to find something in a simulation (aka zone) and take a copy of it's eDNA which can then be brought back to their MyLand zone to transplant a copy. Its MMO housing on steroids and this is one MMO where instanced housing zones make complete and logical sense.
If there is any MMO that I'm excited about these days it is Otherlands.
Thursday, May 03, 2012
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
DOTA 2 will be Free 2 Play
“It’s going to be free-to-play — it’ll have some twists, but that’s the easiest way for people to think about it,” he revealed.
“The issue that we’re struggling with quite a bit is something I’ve kind of talked about before, which is how do you properly value people’s contributions to a community?,” he mentioned when asked about what kind of “twist ” players can expect from the game.
“We’re trying to figure out ways so that people who are more valuable to everybody else [are] recognized and accommodated.
“We all know people where if they’re playing we want to play, and there are other people where if they’re playing we would be on the other side of the planet.
“It’s just a question of coming up with mechanisms that recognize and reward people who are doing things that are valuable to other groups of people,” he added.
He said that the free-to-play model Valve has in mind for DOTA 2 is completely unique and hasn’t been done before.
“When you start thinking about the different games that people play and you try to think about how people can create value or a service in one game and benefit somebody in a different game, you can start to see how the different games sort knit together,” Newell said.
“[You can see] how somebody who really likes Team Fortress 2 (TF2) can still be creating value for somebody who is playing DOTA 2 or Skyrim, or if somebody is a creator in one space how it can translate into another.
“In a sense, think of individual games as instance dungeons of a larger experience, if that makes sense as a concept.”
Thursday, March 29, 2012
DOTA 2 key available
Congrats to aruw3n on winning the prize.
Sorry I don't have one to give out to everyone because I would love to!
Sorry I don't have one to give out to everyone because I would love to!
Sunday, March 11, 2012
The problem with modern MMO PvP
Every ounce of my MMO playing body wants to return to the “golden era” (1998 to 2000) where no one was safe, impact was real, and some of the greatest MMO PvP in history took place in Ultima Online. However, my experience with today’s MMO PvP systems tells me there is no going back. The problem with modern MMO PvP isn’t one of design, but one of choice and era.
When Ultima Online launched in 1997, any player looking to play a graphical MMO had very few choices. UO stood alone for the most part until 1999 when Everquest and Asheron’s Call launched. The choice of game ultimately came down to one of two games: Everquest or Ultima Online. Everquest, offering 3D graphics, required specific hardware to run and it was also a very “game” MMO which focused on killing monsters and obtaining better loot. Ultima Online with a 2D isometric view ran on plenty of mid-range PCs of the day and offered a much more robust offering of features: player housing, crafting, and live events to name a few.
The “golden era” player base, as with today’s players, consisted of every Bartle player-type: killer, achiever, explorer, socializer. While every player is not defined by a single category -- primary killers are still achievers and explorers – those primarily inclined towards one type were going to wind up in a one of the two games. This meant that some of each type were going to mix together in their respective games.
Everquest’s design dictated that it attracted achievers and killers. While exploration was possible and there were chat channels, Everquest lacked the keys to providing an environment for great socialization. So, achievers and killers flocked to Everquest and for the most part anyone playing Everquest could be assumed to be primarily an achiever or killer. Yes, there were still socializers (mostly role players), but by far and large Everquest catered to the achiever or killer mindset.
Ultima Online on the other hand catered almost perfectly to the socializer at the same time offering achievers, killers, and explorers a fulfilling experience. Players in UO were never forced to pick up a weapon and fight. Many UO players made a life for themselves without ever slaying a single beast. I personally know a player that existed within UO without ever once leaving the town of Britain and having almost never picked up a weapon to fight, instead spending his days at the forge talking with players and plying his blacksmithing trade. He was the prime example of how UO allowed primary socializers to exist in an online game. At the time, socializers really had nowhere else to go to find game play that met their needs. UO provided the pen-ultimate socialization experience of it’s day.
Of course, UO also catered to what I like to call the achiever killers: the reds, the player killers, the murderers as some others would have called them. Achiever killers thrive on their destructive ways creating power over their enemies and there is no greater enemy to have than that of a human opponent. Mix this with a tangible feeling of ownership with player housing and eventual player-created cities and the achiever killers found a perfect storm in UO.
Again, players of the golden era had limited choices on what games to play. It is also important to note that these players wanted to play online games. While no one was holding a gun to their head and forcing them to play UO or EQ, there was still a feeling that players were forced to play one of the two most popular MMOs of the time. This lead to player types mixing and competing within game worlds for their own slice of the proverbial pie. Conflict resulted between player types and this was no more evident than what was pre-Trammel UO (aka UO before a safe mirror of the world was created).
The achiever killers in UO loved this. Instead of having to compete against other achiever killers, they could prey on the socializers, explorers, and regular old achievers who inhabited the unforgiving world. Outside of towns, anyone could kill anyone in UO. Upon death, everything the player was carrying at the time could be looted by another player (or sometimes an NPC would swipe an item). UO focused on being a virtual world instead of being a “game that was played online” and there was real risk and reward to the golden era PvP in UO.
While the socializers and non-killer achievers didn’t “love” the fact that they were the sheep that the killer wolf pack fed upon, they couldn’t deny that UO had all the features they wanted. Housing, live events, non-combat oriented game play that meant something to the world; all of these things separated UO from Everquest (and eventually Asheron’s Call). The socializers and achievers of UO were, in a word, stuck like sheep in a field surrounded by wolves. They had to suffer the achiever killers and many left the game because of it.
However, suffer is a bit of a strong word and there were plenty of other factors pushing players away from UO. Also the presence of the “sheep” lead to the rise of what I call the “shepherd”, or better known as the anti-playerkiller (APK). The APKs formed together to defend those that wished to avoid combat and seek justice on those that preyed upon the weak. There wasn’t an ounce of game design or coding put in to make this dynamic system a reality. Players were actually living in a virtual world that featured the full gambit of Bartle player archetypes. Consequence was the true feature of UO and is what made it’s early PvP so unforgettable.
Fast forward to today’s market and I cannot even begin to name all of the AAA titles on the market, let alone all of the underlying B-rate MMOs. However, what I can tell you is that there is a game for every type of player out there. Yet, there is not a single one that recaptures the experience of “golden era” UO.
And therein lays the problem: there is a game for every type of player. No longer are the socializers mixing with the achievers. No longer are the explorers chatting with the killers. The player base is fragmented. It is, so to say, Humpty Dumpty and once it fell down, there was no putting it back together.
Games such as Darkfall and Mortal Online, or server emulation projects such as UO WTF, that promise to bring back that “golden era” are doing nothing more than throwing the achiever killer wolves in a field without any sheep. The wolves turn on each other and quickly realize how boring it gets to fight on equal footing. The dynamic is lost and even the best virtual world fails to bring it back. Before long only the true killers remain and while it certainly can be an enjoyable experience, it is not the magical experience that was to be had in the golden era.
Thus no amount of game design or coding wizardry can bring the magic back. The problem is that the golden era is long gone, yet game developers keep trying to make games that will appeal to every type of player while trying to add a “PvP system” on top of it. This doesn’t work. It can’t work. The market is filled with choice and if a game doesn’t cater directly to the crowd it’s built for, it becomes a generic mess.
I’m still waiting for a true, next generation MMOG to come along; one that focuses on being a virtual world more than just a “game that is played online”. The rest should take care of itself.
When Ultima Online launched in 1997, any player looking to play a graphical MMO had very few choices. UO stood alone for the most part until 1999 when Everquest and Asheron’s Call launched. The choice of game ultimately came down to one of two games: Everquest or Ultima Online. Everquest, offering 3D graphics, required specific hardware to run and it was also a very “game” MMO which focused on killing monsters and obtaining better loot. Ultima Online with a 2D isometric view ran on plenty of mid-range PCs of the day and offered a much more robust offering of features: player housing, crafting, and live events to name a few.
The “golden era” player base, as with today’s players, consisted of every Bartle player-type: killer, achiever, explorer, socializer. While every player is not defined by a single category -- primary killers are still achievers and explorers – those primarily inclined towards one type were going to wind up in a one of the two games. This meant that some of each type were going to mix together in their respective games.
Everquest’s design dictated that it attracted achievers and killers. While exploration was possible and there were chat channels, Everquest lacked the keys to providing an environment for great socialization. So, achievers and killers flocked to Everquest and for the most part anyone playing Everquest could be assumed to be primarily an achiever or killer. Yes, there were still socializers (mostly role players), but by far and large Everquest catered to the achiever or killer mindset.
Ultima Online on the other hand catered almost perfectly to the socializer at the same time offering achievers, killers, and explorers a fulfilling experience. Players in UO were never forced to pick up a weapon and fight. Many UO players made a life for themselves without ever slaying a single beast. I personally know a player that existed within UO without ever once leaving the town of Britain and having almost never picked up a weapon to fight, instead spending his days at the forge talking with players and plying his blacksmithing trade. He was the prime example of how UO allowed primary socializers to exist in an online game. At the time, socializers really had nowhere else to go to find game play that met their needs. UO provided the pen-ultimate socialization experience of it’s day.
Of course, UO also catered to what I like to call the achiever killers: the reds, the player killers, the murderers as some others would have called them. Achiever killers thrive on their destructive ways creating power over their enemies and there is no greater enemy to have than that of a human opponent. Mix this with a tangible feeling of ownership with player housing and eventual player-created cities and the achiever killers found a perfect storm in UO.
Again, players of the golden era had limited choices on what games to play. It is also important to note that these players wanted to play online games. While no one was holding a gun to their head and forcing them to play UO or EQ, there was still a feeling that players were forced to play one of the two most popular MMOs of the time. This lead to player types mixing and competing within game worlds for their own slice of the proverbial pie. Conflict resulted between player types and this was no more evident than what was pre-Trammel UO (aka UO before a safe mirror of the world was created).
The achiever killers in UO loved this. Instead of having to compete against other achiever killers, they could prey on the socializers, explorers, and regular old achievers who inhabited the unforgiving world. Outside of towns, anyone could kill anyone in UO. Upon death, everything the player was carrying at the time could be looted by another player (or sometimes an NPC would swipe an item). UO focused on being a virtual world instead of being a “game that was played online” and there was real risk and reward to the golden era PvP in UO.
While the socializers and non-killer achievers didn’t “love” the fact that they were the sheep that the killer wolf pack fed upon, they couldn’t deny that UO had all the features they wanted. Housing, live events, non-combat oriented game play that meant something to the world; all of these things separated UO from Everquest (and eventually Asheron’s Call). The socializers and achievers of UO were, in a word, stuck like sheep in a field surrounded by wolves. They had to suffer the achiever killers and many left the game because of it.
However, suffer is a bit of a strong word and there were plenty of other factors pushing players away from UO. Also the presence of the “sheep” lead to the rise of what I call the “shepherd”, or better known as the anti-playerkiller (APK). The APKs formed together to defend those that wished to avoid combat and seek justice on those that preyed upon the weak. There wasn’t an ounce of game design or coding put in to make this dynamic system a reality. Players were actually living in a virtual world that featured the full gambit of Bartle player archetypes. Consequence was the true feature of UO and is what made it’s early PvP so unforgettable.
Fast forward to today’s market and I cannot even begin to name all of the AAA titles on the market, let alone all of the underlying B-rate MMOs. However, what I can tell you is that there is a game for every type of player out there. Yet, there is not a single one that recaptures the experience of “golden era” UO.
And therein lays the problem: there is a game for every type of player. No longer are the socializers mixing with the achievers. No longer are the explorers chatting with the killers. The player base is fragmented. It is, so to say, Humpty Dumpty and once it fell down, there was no putting it back together.
Games such as Darkfall and Mortal Online, or server emulation projects such as UO WTF, that promise to bring back that “golden era” are doing nothing more than throwing the achiever killer wolves in a field without any sheep. The wolves turn on each other and quickly realize how boring it gets to fight on equal footing. The dynamic is lost and even the best virtual world fails to bring it back. Before long only the true killers remain and while it certainly can be an enjoyable experience, it is not the magical experience that was to be had in the golden era.
Thus no amount of game design or coding wizardry can bring the magic back. The problem is that the golden era is long gone, yet game developers keep trying to make games that will appeal to every type of player while trying to add a “PvP system” on top of it. This doesn’t work. It can’t work. The market is filled with choice and if a game doesn’t cater directly to the crowd it’s built for, it becomes a generic mess.
I’m still waiting for a true, next generation MMOG to come along; one that focuses on being a virtual world more than just a “game that is played online”. The rest should take care of itself.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Yuck, DCUO PvP
It took me all of about an hour to be bored with DCUO's PvP server. Within the first few minutes of the journeying through the open world I was being repeatedly ganked by level 20+ characters, with no chance of survival or escape. After finally getting to the first quest location, I was then repeatedly ganked again.
Yuck.
SOE, 1999 called, they want their PvP system back.
I will have to re-roll on the PvE server to see if the experience is better. I like the mechanics of the game so far and being able to run at super speed from the moment I set foot into the open world is an amazing feeling. However, I see myself becoming quickly bored with the "Kill 10 Rats" quest types. Hopefully the "dungeons" are better.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Fix: DCUO gets stuck at "FixTimestamps.exe" on Steam install
I just did battle with and slew the dreaded "FixTimestamps.exe" error when installing the recently crowned MMO of the year, DC Universe Online (DCUO), on Steam. The steps are as follows:
Step 1:
Cancel the screen that is open in Steam trying to run the FixTimestamps.exe
Step 2:
Navigate to your steamapps folder in the main Steam folder and then open the "dc universe online" folder.
Example path on Windows 7 x64: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\dc universe online
Step 3:
Open the LaunchPad.exe file and sign into your Station account (register for a new one if you don't have one, it's FREE).
Once logged in, this will launch the DCUO launcher, download any missing updates, and get you ready to play. Once the updates are applied, simply click PLAY. Launching from within Steam next time will work.
Cause of error:
I am not 100% sure on the cause of the error, but I suspect it has something to do with the recent updates not being applied to the Steam version. Bypassing the Steam launch let's the client get the updates and finish the install.
Step 1:
Cancel the screen that is open in Steam trying to run the FixTimestamps.exe
Step 2:
Navigate to your steamapps folder in the main Steam folder and then open the "dc universe online" folder.
Example path on Windows 7 x64: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\dc universe online
Step 3:
Open the LaunchPad.exe file and sign into your Station account (register for a new one if you don't have one, it's FREE).
Once logged in, this will launch the DCUO launcher, download any missing updates, and get you ready to play. Once the updates are applied, simply click PLAY. Launching from within Steam next time will work.
Cause of error:
I am not 100% sure on the cause of the error, but I suspect it has something to do with the recent updates not being applied to the Steam version. Bypassing the Steam launch let's the client get the updates and finish the install.
Two Phrases: Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning
I'm a Jim Rossignol fan. He writes some seriously poetic shit in the form of game reviews and news articles. A perfect example is his Wot I Think piece for Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning. While the entire post is an excellent read, there are really two phrases that distill the essence of what KoAR is:
The key ingredient, however, and the one that overpowers the other flavours, is the industry-bestriding garlic of World Of Warcraft....and...
You can sense of the results of committee conclusions in almost all areas of the game.These really sum up my experiences with the demo and why I didn't pursue buying the game. 38 Studios, let me know when the Amalur MMOG is ready.
Saturday, February 04, 2012
DOTA 2: Steam's killer App? Killer FREE App?
Steam, as a platform, benefits from having as many users as possible. Every user is a potential game sale or series of sales. Valve, the developers of Steam, have come up with many, many ways to get users to buy into the platform. First, Steam is free to install. Second, they have great sales. And over the last year they have moved into the free 2 play realm bringing F2P MMOs to Steam and even releasing their own Team Fortress 2 as F2P. However, even with Team Fortress 2 being popular, I can't help but feel that Steam is missing a killer app that defines it. Steam needs a completely free app that will drive a massive rush of new blood to it's shores. The more I think about it, the more DOTA 2 is shaping up to be that killer app.
At first I felt that it would be crazy for Valve to not follow the successful model that LoL has laid down. I didn't (and still don't) think DOTA 2 can be as successful as it can be if there is a front-end price tag attached. DOTA 2 needs to be free 2 play. However, the game play of DOTA 2 does not feel suited for the LoL model. DOTA 2 shines by having all the heroes available for every player for every match. DOTA 2 will not work with a rotating pool of free heroes each week.
So how does DOTA 2 go the free 2 play route? Simple. DOTA 2 will be just that: free 2 play. I mean 100%, unobstructed free 2 play. Outside of mailing Valve a wad of cash with a funny note for Gaben, there would be no way for player's to spend cash on the game.
Sound crazy? Maybe, but I think Valve can justify the costs associated by the sheer volume of players it could bring onto Steam. Each Steam user is a couple clicks away from becoming another statistic on Valve's already impressive sales charts.
There is more to it than just bringing new users to Steam. Because not only would this move promote Steam, but it would promote Steamworks -- Valve's game developer tool set -- which further ties games and gamers into the Steam platform. Oh and Steamworks is 100% free for developers to use. If DOTA 2 turns into a smashing, world-wide sensation (it clearly has the potential) with Steamworks doing all the heavy lifting, it will further propel Steamworks into the game development limelight.
The stage is set for Valve to shake things up with DOTA 2. Does this mean a completely free 2 play DOTA 2? I believe so.
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
DOTA 2 isn't a game; it's an interactive experience!
Ever hate a game before even trying it, only to try it and then realize you may be in love with it? That is exactly where I am at with DOTA 2.
Since starting to get involved with League of Legends I have spent a lot of time learning about the history of DOTA and the MOBA genre. Defense of the Ancients, henceforth DOTA, was a mod to Warcraft III that featured teams of five players battling it out with NPCs and towers before destroying the opponents "Ancient". From those simple beginnings, DOTA grew to become massively popular. It's probably responsible for more Warcraft III sales (you need a copy to play the mod) than the actual RTS itself.
When I first started looking into DOTA there was a bit of misconception on my part (and most of the Internet apparently) about how popular it was. The numbers are highly disputed and even harder to nail down. Due to it being a mod, not officially supported by Blizzard (though they like to think it's their property), there is no press releases announcing its player numbers. However, through the playdota.com website, the DOTA lead developer Icefrog noted that approximately 7-10 million players have grabbed the game. And as that's not tracking China, there is speculation the real number is somewhere nearer 20 million. Originally I had come to the conclusion that there was about a million DOTA players worldwide.
So I suppose there is no time like now to admit I was wrong about DOTA's popularity considering I was invited to participate in the beta for Valve's DOTA 2. I may also need to retract my statements where I said DOTA 2 wouldn't be very popular. After playing the beta I'm absolutely floored at how smooth of an experience DOTA 2 is. It's one of the best beta tests I've ever participated in and there is so much more going on than just the game itself. The game is great, but the entire package it's wrapped in is what sells the title.
Before we get too far, let me back track. A lot of people assume my hate of DOTA 2 was coming from my long-standing support for League of Legends. I like League of Legends (LoL). LoL has taken the DOTA formula and made many improvements to it. LoL has done many, many things right and like DOTA2 it spent a lot of time on delivering the "complete package" rather than just the game play. LoL is a resounding success (to the tune of 30+ million accounts). LoL is also free 2 play, which makes it even more amazing as anyone can give it a try.
Now I could spend a lot of time detailing the differences between LoL and DOTA2, but I won't. The important thing to know is that LoL sought to create an update and refreshed version of DOTA while DOTA2 has only sought to recreate DOTA in a new graphics engine (Source) and tie it to a unified platform (Steam). When I had first heard this, I was very disappointed.
DOTA has many frustrating mechanics imposed on it due to the fact it was restricted by the Warcraft III engine. And as DOTA2 is a clone of DOTA being put into a new graphics engine, all of these mechanics were going to be copied over. As DOTA2 has progressed in development it has been very clear that DOTA and DOTA2 are aimed at being the same game. In fact, Valve hired on the lead DOTA developer, Icefrog.
To me that didn't make sense (and even now doesn't make much sense). Why free this game from the shackles of the WC3 engine only to keep the ball and chain? LoL was a smashing success because it dared to be different enough from DOTA while maintaining the classic game play everyone loved. Valve seems to have no interest in improving the experience of the DOTA game play. To them, why fix what isn't broke? While I'd argue that it may not be "technically" broke, some things are just kind of stupid from a design perspective.
But don't let me get off on tangents here. I was hating on DOTA2 because of Valve's seemingly unwillingness to improve on the DOTA experience which I had classified as the game itself. I was being ignorant to the fact that the game play of DOTA was only half the package. The exterior features were just as important and OH MY GOD did Valve hit a home run here.
The first time I logged into DOTA2 I was blown away at how slick the interface was. To my left showed me active users broken down by geographical area. A news feed scrolled the center. And most amazingly, live games that I could log into and spectate were on the right. A click later and I was watching a scrimmage match between some of the best known DOTA2 players in the world along with 200 watchers.
While there are live streams from top players for League of Legends and DOTA, there is nothing that compares to what Valve has put together. The spectator in DOTA 2 is actually in the game, clicking around, directing the camera, pulling up the scoreboard when they want to see it, and they are having a wonderful interactive experience. The difference is that of watching TV (streams) vs playing a video game (DOTA 2 observer mode). I've never enjoyed being a spectator of a video game until I spectated a match of DOTA2.
And in reality that is the point I'm trying to get at: DOTA 2 isn't a game, it's an interactive experience. It's true digital content for the digital consumer. League of Legends is to a degree the same, but it's not built-in (yet!) the way DOTA2 is. If and when LoL is able to build in some of the "digital consumer" features that DOTA2 features it will be equally as stunning (and IMHO LoL is an easier game to understand and spectate than the sometimes overly complex DOTA2).
DOTA 2 isn't perfect. It still has a long way to go to get all of the DOTA heroes added and kinks worked out (and by kinks I mean high skill level type stuff that 99% of the playerbase doesn't notice). The underlying tech is there and the game is solid as it is for the general populace. Yes, some annoying mechanics are going to exist in DOTA2 and that may or may not change with Valve at the helm (as I doubt 2 is going to diverge from the original anytime soon). The only real questions for DOTA2: when is it releasing and will it be free 2 play?
Since starting to get involved with League of Legends I have spent a lot of time learning about the history of DOTA and the MOBA genre. Defense of the Ancients, henceforth DOTA, was a mod to Warcraft III that featured teams of five players battling it out with NPCs and towers before destroying the opponents "Ancient". From those simple beginnings, DOTA grew to become massively popular. It's probably responsible for more Warcraft III sales (you need a copy to play the mod) than the actual RTS itself.
When I first started looking into DOTA there was a bit of misconception on my part (and most of the Internet apparently) about how popular it was. The numbers are highly disputed and even harder to nail down. Due to it being a mod, not officially supported by Blizzard (though they like to think it's their property), there is no press releases announcing its player numbers. However, through the playdota.com website, the DOTA lead developer Icefrog noted that approximately 7-10 million players have grabbed the game. And as that's not tracking China, there is speculation the real number is somewhere nearer 20 million. Originally I had come to the conclusion that there was about a million DOTA players worldwide.
So I suppose there is no time like now to admit I was wrong about DOTA's popularity considering I was invited to participate in the beta for Valve's DOTA 2. I may also need to retract my statements where I said DOTA 2 wouldn't be very popular. After playing the beta I'm absolutely floored at how smooth of an experience DOTA 2 is. It's one of the best beta tests I've ever participated in and there is so much more going on than just the game itself. The game is great, but the entire package it's wrapped in is what sells the title.
Before we get too far, let me back track. A lot of people assume my hate of DOTA 2 was coming from my long-standing support for League of Legends. I like League of Legends (LoL). LoL has taken the DOTA formula and made many improvements to it. LoL has done many, many things right and like DOTA2 it spent a lot of time on delivering the "complete package" rather than just the game play. LoL is a resounding success (to the tune of 30+ million accounts). LoL is also free 2 play, which makes it even more amazing as anyone can give it a try.
Now I could spend a lot of time detailing the differences between LoL and DOTA2, but I won't. The important thing to know is that LoL sought to create an update and refreshed version of DOTA while DOTA2 has only sought to recreate DOTA in a new graphics engine (Source) and tie it to a unified platform (Steam). When I had first heard this, I was very disappointed.
DOTA has many frustrating mechanics imposed on it due to the fact it was restricted by the Warcraft III engine. And as DOTA2 is a clone of DOTA being put into a new graphics engine, all of these mechanics were going to be copied over. As DOTA2 has progressed in development it has been very clear that DOTA and DOTA2 are aimed at being the same game. In fact, Valve hired on the lead DOTA developer, Icefrog.
To me that didn't make sense (and even now doesn't make much sense). Why free this game from the shackles of the WC3 engine only to keep the ball and chain? LoL was a smashing success because it dared to be different enough from DOTA while maintaining the classic game play everyone loved. Valve seems to have no interest in improving the experience of the DOTA game play. To them, why fix what isn't broke? While I'd argue that it may not be "technically" broke, some things are just kind of stupid from a design perspective.
But don't let me get off on tangents here. I was hating on DOTA2 because of Valve's seemingly unwillingness to improve on the DOTA experience which I had classified as the game itself. I was being ignorant to the fact that the game play of DOTA was only half the package. The exterior features were just as important and OH MY GOD did Valve hit a home run here.
The first time I logged into DOTA2 I was blown away at how slick the interface was. To my left showed me active users broken down by geographical area. A news feed scrolled the center. And most amazingly, live games that I could log into and spectate were on the right. A click later and I was watching a scrimmage match between some of the best known DOTA2 players in the world along with 200 watchers.
While there are live streams from top players for League of Legends and DOTA, there is nothing that compares to what Valve has put together. The spectator in DOTA 2 is actually in the game, clicking around, directing the camera, pulling up the scoreboard when they want to see it, and they are having a wonderful interactive experience. The difference is that of watching TV (streams) vs playing a video game (DOTA 2 observer mode). I've never enjoyed being a spectator of a video game until I spectated a match of DOTA2.
And in reality that is the point I'm trying to get at: DOTA 2 isn't a game, it's an interactive experience. It's true digital content for the digital consumer. League of Legends is to a degree the same, but it's not built-in (yet!) the way DOTA2 is. If and when LoL is able to build in some of the "digital consumer" features that DOTA2 features it will be equally as stunning (and IMHO LoL is an easier game to understand and spectate than the sometimes overly complex DOTA2).
DOTA 2 isn't perfect. It still has a long way to go to get all of the DOTA heroes added and kinks worked out (and by kinks I mean high skill level type stuff that 99% of the playerbase doesn't notice). The underlying tech is there and the game is solid as it is for the general populace. Yes, some annoying mechanics are going to exist in DOTA2 and that may or may not change with Valve at the helm (as I doubt 2 is going to diverge from the original anytime soon). The only real questions for DOTA2: when is it releasing and will it be free 2 play?
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