League of Legends

[aka958]

http://www.leagueoflegends.com/

League of Legends is a free multiplayer game.
It plays out with there being two bases, and 3 seperate roads to these bases as well as zones inbetween those roads known as "the jungle". The bases has turrets set out on each road, guarding against any incoming enemy units as well as each base are spawning a group of minions on each road with even intervals.
It plays mainly out in a 5v5 group, where the players choose 1 of a huge list of champions to control, the player will only control this one champion through the match.
They spawn at each base, together with the rest of their team.

The main objective is to "push" and destroy the turrets of the opposing base all the way in it and then destroy their core, called the "Nexus". But it's a little more complicated than that.

The champions at the start of the game are at level 1, and have a set amount of gold. With each kill around you, you gain exp. With each last hit on anything, you gain gold.
Each champion has 4 abilities to be taught and 1 passive which makes them unique. Each level is a stat boost as well as you can learn or upgrade an ability.
The gold is for buying potions, or equipment for your heroes which boosts their stats or have unique traits. Such as slowing an enemy for a short while everytime you hit them with an ability.
Killing an enemy champion yields more gold and experience than killing minions. Also, if you didn't get the last hit on an enemy champion you'll still get some gold for assisting if you did so.

The game seems easy since it's all about microing your single champion, leveling it up and get some gold. But the same thing applies to your enemies so it becomes an intense game of teamwork and microing.

It's really hard to explain all the gimmicks of the game, but if you are interested then there it is.

For those who are interested though, I've got to tell you that all the champions won't be available for you at the beginning. After each match you gain IP. With that IP you can buy champions as well as other things.

 

[Angelo Credo]

Well explained, it's a game well worth your time, mainly because it's a hell of a lot of fun and can be remarkably addictive, especially when you're on a winning streak.

On the champions, there's a free rotation of different champions every week, basically lets you give certain champs a try for a week, it's a great opportunity to try and find a champion that sits with your play style well, then, with any luck, you can win a few games with that champion and rack up the IP to buy them so you can keep them after the week's up.

But yeah, definitely worth playing if you're in to games based around heavy team work.

 

[Subject 64432B]

I don't like this new server split...I'll be stuck in East -.-

 

[aka958]

I don't like this new server split...I'll be stuck in East -.-

You get one free switch.

___

And that too... the EU servers are kinda full at the moment so you have to wait quite a long time before coming in, however they are going to split the servers so people can log in without a huge queue.

 

[Subject 64432B]

You get one free switch.

___

And that too... the EU servers are kinda full at the moment so you have to wait quite a long time before coming in, however they are going to split the servers so people can log in without a huge queue.

I guess I'll have to use it, I think that Croatia should be in west.....
7 minute queue right now...

 

[Elton John]

I don't mind the server split in terms of competition. There will always be better players than you unless you're a member of Fnatic or aAa. What I do mind is the fact i won't be able to play with western people anymore. It's fun meeting people from multiple countries. But I guess it worths it since there won't be long queues anymore. :/

While I do like meeting people online, sometimes the community really gets on my nerves! Seriously I can't stand being n1 when we win and a complete retard/noob when we lose. The more competitive the game becomes the more raging people exist. And I don't even play ranked! I'd really like to see what those people say when they are the ones that feed. Most likely they'll blame their teammates or claim it is luck.. Idiots..

 

[aka958]

I don't mind the server split in terms of competition. There will always be better players than you unless you're a member of Fnatic or aAa. What I do mind is the fact i won't be able to play with western people anymore. It's fun meeting people from multiple countries. But I guess it worths it since there won't be long queues anymore. :/

While I do like meeting people online, sometimes the community really gets on my nerves! Seriously I can't stand being n1 when we win and a complete retard/noob when we lose. The more competitive the game becomes the more raging people exist. And I don't even play ranked! I'd really like to see what those people say when they are the ones that feed. Most likely they'll blame their teammates or claim it is luck.. Idiots..

The community in LoL is alot more nice than HoN, that's for sure. <.<

 

[Nessy]

however the variety, mechanics, frequent updates and far better game balance of HoN make it a much better game (IMO), however HoN does cost 10 USD so that's a setback.

The games are both based on a free amateur MOD for Warcraft 3 called DOTA (Defense of the ancients) originally created by Icyfrog and a few other devs.

DOTA is thought to be the third most played game of all time behind the CS series and WoW

Icyfrog is currently working on DOTA2 with valve (I think, or steam or something) and it is supposed to be a better competitive game than hon, with game balance closer to dota, and with less of the retarded heros in it. I think it's due for release Q4 this year.

 

[aka958]

however the variety, mechanics, frequent updates and far better game balance of HoN make it a much better game (IMO), however HoN does cost 10 USD so that's a setback.

The games are both based on a free amateur MOD for Warcraft 3 called DOTA (Defense of the ancients) originally created by Icyfrog and a few other devs.

DOTA is thought to be the third most played game of all time behind the CS series and WoW

Icyfrog is currently working on DOTA2 with valve (I think, or steam or something) and it is supposed to be a better competitive game than hon, with game balance closer to dota, and with less of the retarded heros in it. I think it's due for release Q4 this year.

HoN's game balance is something to be discussed.
The variety as well.

Frequent updates are the same as LoL.
LoL has more mechanics than HoN.

I could say HoN is a GREAT game. However, it's so shallow in their hero builds and creativity in comparison to LoL. Too many no-skill stuns, too many OP items, OP characters, and a really... TOO HUGE rift between who is in the lead and who is not. HoN is a great experience, really really great imo.
But it lacks depth and has a bad community, which makes me not want to play it as much. If I had friends in there who played I would've played it more often, but not as near as often as LoL.

Love HoN's hero design though. <.< Epic **** is epic. LoL has a cartoon feel to it whilst HoN has this more epic feel to it. Wish they were better with creative names though. <.<

 

[Nessy]

I can't see anything shallow about hons hero builds, I definitely would say they are more balanced than lols which is the general consensus across both communities. In fact, I have played both and the only real reason I play HoN over LoL is that it takes more skill.

LoL is way more casual, leaving it important mechanics like creep denying, I don't think LoL even has stacking.

http://www.justin.tv/angrytestie

There is a public SK players (he also plays SC2) stream for public hon, I would of posted a LoL or dota one but I don't play either of those games atm so am not quite upto date.

But yeah, I think that most players that have played all would agree that skillwise Dota>HoN>LoL

LoL is obviously the easiest to learn etc, but I think as far as casual games go, hon is about as far as im willing to go lol (except single player games like dmc i guess )

Oh yeah, I don't know how often lol gets new heros, but hon gets a new one about twice or thrice monthly. Not saying it's a good thing...just saying.

 

[aka958]

I don't see how creep denying adds more to it. At all. It's such a simple no brain thing to do that it shouldn't even count as a skill.

What makes HoN harder is that things happen in an instant, from ganks to pretty much anything, leaving you with little response time. That doesn't take more skill, the ones with the no-skill stuns and Portal Key have map crontrol with some OP champions such as Devourer or Predator and stunners like Pestilence or Keeper of the Forest.

LoL do have stacking. You don't even know both games you talk about.

LoL also has a way to make your characters yours with alot more variety in builds with runes and masteries. It gives you more than just stats after each game and rewards you more after each game.

I'll give you this, HoN is more refined, it's better in many areas but pro gaming isn't fast reaction as much as it is deep thinking.
LoL has a slower pace, but that slower pace counts for EVERYONE that is playing, giving much more time to think and gives alot better responses from the enemy players as well as your team rather than a sudden "WTF!?" then dying almost- or in an instant.

 

[Nessy]

It shows how little you know about the game if you think pred is op...or that keeper has a stun. Kind of ironic that you say I don't know about both the games I talk about and you hurt yourself with your own arrogance.

In my last post I didn't say that it didn't have stacking, I said I dont think it does.

Just saying, it's not only me that thinks this, it's pretty widely known that lol is the casual version.

The fact that stuff is carried between games makes it a lesser game...not a better one.

 

[aka958]

It shows how little you know about the game if you think pred is op...or that keeper has a stun. Kind of ironic that you say I don't know about both the games I talk about and you hurt yourself with your own arrogance.

In my last post I didn't say that it didn't have stacking, I said I dont think it does.

Just saying, it's not only me that thinks this, it's pretty widely known that lol is the casual version.

The fact that stuff is carried between games makes it a lesser game...not a better one.

Casual in what way?

The fact that stuff is carried between games makes it a deeper game. I have no idea how it makes it a lesser game due to the fact that it has more to it than the selectable heroes in the way of customisation.

How can any multiplayer game be "casual"? Since, nothing in HoN is practically harder other than the speed difference. That and the frickin' raw community that loves to spit on everyone and insult everything.
What makes HoN so much less casual then?
What makes DotA so much less casual? Oh yeah, I know that already, clumpsy controls since it's from WC3. That's why SC2 is casual in comparison to the original, too. User-friendly interface = casual gameplay?

In HoN, first time I looked at the shop, I couldn't find anything. It was frickin' hell to find anything. In LoL, it wasn't.
HoN relies alot more deeper on auto attack, making the damage dealing abilities and spells pretty much useless during end-game unless they have some kind of CC.

 

[Nessy]

in hon different characters are of different levels of usefulness throughout the game, some characters normal attack become very powerful, some characters are better early game and rely on their magic abilities.

From a competitive gaming aspect, carrying stuff between games is OBVIOUSLY more casual. It makes it fun for a lot of people, maybe many people think it's a good thing. I am not saying it's not. But for competition, how does that in anyway aid gameplay? Also nukers are useful at the end of the game still lol, I don't know where you are getting that idea from.

SC2 vs SC? How about smart fire tanks? How about a far less balanced game? How about the fact that you need about 0.01% of the micro in starcraft 2, units react basically perfectly with you just selecting them all and right clicking towards the enemy. in sc1 even the workers were not completely efficient unless you manually patched them out.

It may be annoying and harder, but these difficulties are what are able to spread the good players from the bad.

Oh and to answer your first question, how can a multiplayer game be casual. It depends what you mean. I mean that the game takes a lot less skill. Like a game like quake 4 would be a lot less casual a game than say...world of warcraft. Both may be great games but most of the players that play wow are casual, most of q4 players are hardcore...wow is easy to learn etc, q4 is incredibly difficult to learn.

 

[aka958]

Was talking about PVP, my bad. .-.
It's all about the players you play against, no?
Quake is easy to learn. -_- FPS games in general are easy to learn. .-.

SC2 was upgraded, it was making it alot more user friendly so that you don't have to keep doing unneccessary things and focus on all the other things. Minor micro such as moving drones and such is no more than annoying and taking that away let's the player focus on other things than tedious tasks. That still counts for everyone so the great awesome players can do more stuff instead of moving workers all day.
Well SC is easy too, imo. Why not Warcraft 2? I mean, having control groups is frickin' stupid, making SC a casual game fer sure.

 

[Nessy]

the warcraft game series balance and general lack of need for any sort of real macro/micro is what makes them crappier competitive games. The hero thing is good but outside of that, what really is there?

Those little nitpicky things like moving drones or NOT HAVING TANKS THAT ARE SMART ENOUGH TO START THEIR AOE ON THE BEST UNIT (Calculated by aoe spread and the hp of nearby units).

And you think quake is easy? you think fps is easy? you think sc is easy? You have clearly never played any of these games to a decent level, because I can tell you right now that they are not easy. Quake is the only fps game with that kind of balance, speed, skill and that has been going around for that length of time and still has people getting noticeably better at the top level all the time. RTS is much easier to learn than fps. I say that having played a few FPS and a few RTS to a reasonable level, and can see why games like quake (even quake live) are considered to be the hardest to master.

I am assuming that the wc2 thing was you just taking the ****, which is always the easiest thing to be able to decipher from chat...see what I did there?

 

[aka958]

Taking what?

Nope, I'm just saying that RTS has developed to be more user friendly through the years. I don't know why things are more casual because they are better. It's like using an old phone with old school dialing instead of a new one because you are a "pro gamer" and isn't "casual".

 

[Nessy]

better? in what way? everything is easier to do lol. It takes skill to manage 4 bases at once with 24 drones in each...whether you find it boring is irrelevant.

better for the masses = less skill in almost every situation, that's why near skilless games like cod have 100x more players than quake

 

[aka958]

better? in what way? everything is easier to do lol. It takes skill to manage 4 bases at once with 24 drones in each...whether you find it boring is irrelevant.

better for the masses = less skill in almost every situation, that's why near skilless games like cod have 100x more players than quake

If those epic players switched from SC to SC2 then they would pwn ****, no? Since the pro's in SC2 is used to the simpler style whilst the old schools are still used to the beaten up and old style of the original they should be able to alot easier outmacro and outmicro them, right?

It's like giving DMC bad controls because it had too easy controls before. <.<
Give good controls, then the masterminds can show their skills. Instead of it being "skill" practice by learning mechanics that pretty much anyone can do then put it in with a thread of many of those mechanics.

You haven't backed up any of your statements, please do.

 

[Nessy]

If those epic players switched from SC to SC2 then they would pwn ****, no? Since the pro's in SC2 is used to the simpler style whilst the old schools are still used to the beaten up and old style of the original they should be able to alot easier outmacro and outmicro them, right?

It's like giving DMC bad controls because it had too easy controls before. <.<
Give good controls, then the masterminds can show their skills. Instead of it being "skill" practice by learning mechanics that pretty much anyone can do then put it in with a thread of many of those mechanics.

You haven't backed up any of your statements, please do.

What have I not backed up? I mean, I don't think there is anything that you have backed up what so ever. The only thing you have corrected of me is me not being sure about a LoL mechanic, you criticising my knowledge and then you being COMPLETELY WRONG about a hon mechanic (keepers ulti...also devourer is not a competitive pick).

Apart from the blatent that every starcraft 2 player knows that sc2 is far less skillful than sc1, how about this:

The highest win % on the EU sc2 server (last time i checked) was a pro player called demuslim at only 69%. This is bad. This means that the skill gap between the best players and lesser players isn't as much as it should be. I remember an IEM tournament earlier this year where idra (seeded and ranked 1st in sc2 at the time) was beaten by Morrow (a completely unseeded player that only got into IEM because another player was unable to attend). Morrow beat idra in the finals 3 maps to 1 (best of 5) even though everyone knew that idra was a vastly better player...since the game is less skillful the crappier players will win more often than they should against better players. This kind of difference in skill would never have allowed a morrow level player to beat an idra level player on 3 MAPS on sc1.

Is that enough of an argument for you?

If you compare something like quake 4 where toxjq basically won every single tournament over 4 years against something like cod4 where the finalists one year failed to get into the quarter finals the next, you can see the reason in this spontaneous random jump in achievement is clearly not through ability, but through the fact the games have too much luck, not enough skill and thus the better players can't ALWAYS win.

Also I would just like to say that I feel that you are treating me as though I am very biased, apart from sc1 all of the games that I have listed I have played competitively, and have no reason to be biased against any of them. Making certain things in certain games simpler is good, however a lot of games skill often thrives on difficulty in every area.