Which MOBA is Right for You? DOTA 2!

Welcome back! After looking at League of Legends I felt it was only fair to look at its number one competitor, DOTA 2.

DOTA 2 is touted as the "true sequel" to the Warcraft 3 mod Defense of the Ancients that League of Legends is also based on. And to keep that identity it has kept a key mechanic that League of Legends decided to do away with. In DOTA 2 you have the option of executing your own minions to keep opposing players from obtaining gold. This concept of "denying" is but one of the many features that helps DOTA 2 carve out its own identity when compared to the ever popular LoL. That's not to say that DOTA 2 isn't popular though. The International Championship was just shown on ESPN recently and it had one of the largest prize pools in the history of competitive gaming.

Just like League of Legends DOTA 2 can have games that can average roughly 40 minutes. But unlike League of Legends you cannot surrender and must play every game through until the end, unless another player leaves the game due to connection issues or frustration. At that point you may leave the game without penalty. Some take issue with this while others argue that no game of DOTA 2 is every truly over until a player sees 'Victory' on their screen. What side of the fence you fall on can only be determined after playing a few (hundred) games.

So you might be asking: Why should (or shouldn't you) play DOTA 2?

You Should Play DOTA 2 If:

You are a MOBA veteran!

I'll spell it out plain and simple here: DOTA 2 can be a really hard game to pick up. This may be why many people choose to avoid it. Every character is available from the start, there's tons of items that only truly become valuable when you activate them in the midst of combat and you will lose the Gold that you use to acquire these items if a player kills you. Death has a real weight in DOTA 2 and some players even feel punished for dying. Because of these factors I would not recommend DOTA 2 to a new MOBA player. However, there's a lot for veteran players to love. The heavy reliance on activated items really sets apart the truly skilled players from the others. Those that know how their items work and when to use them will win fights more often than not. The deny system also rewards players for paying attention to their minions and towers and for knowing when a particular thing is beyond hope. There's also no way to teleport back to base without buying an item like in other titles. Instead you need to have a Courier (that can be killed) bring you items. So veterans that know how to sustain themselves well throughout the game will be rewarded while those that rush in foolishly will most likely be punished,

You want a large cast of varied and unique characters!

One complaint I hear a lot about League of Legends is that characters aren't varied enough. While I can't attest to whether or not that's true I can tell you that is definitely not the case with DOTA 2. The whole cast is rich and varied, not only in design but in abilities as well. Would you like to play as Juggernaut and slash your way through large groups of enemies while being invincible? Would you like to be Necrophos and have your very presence hurt your enemies before you execute them? There's tons of possibilities! And there's tons of ways to play them too. Every character has guides written by other players and you can filter them in-game to know the best items to buy and the best order to get your skills in. It's great!

You want a friendlier* community!

*Now the community in DOTA 2 isn't great by any means. But out of every MOBA I'll be listing it is the one that had the most enjoyable community. There will be plenty of occasions where you're insulted and where you'll meet players that will intentionally die. No worries there. But DOTA 2's addition of in-game voice chat has opened up a ton of opportunities. The second I speak into a mic other players will speak up and a sort of camaraderie is formed. We coordinate better, we laugh, we even give advice that is constructive and not hateful. I can easily say that the games where I have spoken up have all been far more enjoyable than those where I haven't. So if you hop into a game of DOTA 2 then speak up. Chances are you'll find a new friend.

You Shouldn't Play DOTA 2 If:

You know when it's over and actually want to do something about it.

The lack of a surrender button is a cause for concern. There have been plenty of games I've played where we were losing terribly either because our team was playing poorly or someone on our team was intentionally trying to make us lose. Sometimes the enemy team simply won't want to end the game. And there's nothing you can do about it. You just have to wait. Some people are fine with this but there is a concern when fun stops being a factor and you just want the game to end so you can hopefully have fun next game.

You want players to actually finish the game.

DOTA 2 is also the game where that I saw had the highest volume of players to leave games. Players would usually leave if our team was doing poorly. Now you can safely leave the game without penalty if someone else has left. But that takes 5 minutes of them being out of the game or them actually hitting the button that disconnects them from the match entirely. Now most leavers will just leave and after five minutes you can leave as well with no penalty. But if they have a bad connection and keep dropping in and out then you can't leave until a full 5 minutes of them actually being disconnected elapses. This can be rough and has annoyed me on more than a few occasions. I wish I could think of a better system for them to implement but I honestly can't.

You don't like some overly complicated characters.

DOTA 2 has some characters that seem needlessly complicated for a MOBA. The most common one that is complained about is Invoker, a character that requires you to combine elements via specific button combinations in-game in order to cast his spells. DOTA 2 also has a lot of characters that only seem suitable for facing certain teams. Anti-Mage and Silencer are great if your enemy team has mages but they don't really perform as well if the enemy team doesn't meet that requirement. DOTA 2 definitely has more characters that are designed to fill certain niches. That isn't to say all of its characters are like this. But if a player accidentally picks one of these heroes when the conditions for them to perform well aren't met then it's likely that that player will not do well or enjoy themselves.

And That's a Wrap!

Well guys that's my look at DOTA 2. I apologize that I haven't gotten every article out within a week but this has taken far longer than I expected. I hope you'll keep coming back to find out which MOBA is right for you!

Which MOBA is Right for You?

Sorry about the lack of activity recently. But a lot of it has to do with this post!

It's no secret that the MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena if you were curious) is one of the hottest genres of gaming out there right now. This has obviously led to a huge amount of MOBAs being produced in recent years. There are so many that it's hard to know where to begin!

While it is very important to play games that your friends also play we won't be taking that into account with this next series of posts. Over the course of the next week I'll be taking a look at four of the most popular MOBAs out there. Strengths, weaknesses, communities, styles of gameplay, etc. I'll be touching on everything I can about them. Hopefully, by the end of this series you readers will be able to use this little guide to find a MOBA you truly enjoy. Maybe it's the game you already play. Maybe it'll be a new MOBA I've touched on that you'll try and fall in love with. Or maybe it won't be any of them at all. Regardless I hope this series helps you all to find the MOBAs that are, or aren't, for you!

Competition is Healthy! Competition is Unhealthy? Well Which is It!?

JUGGERNAUUUUUUUUUUT!

Over the last few weeks I've been playing DOTA 2 and have really enjoyed it. To me it has effectively rid itself of almost all of the issues I've had with League of Legends. I've asked plenty of people to join me (so I can get more multi-kills) but some people haven't been so keen on it. And for some of these people the reason is very clear: They're just not that into player vs. player video games. Something about them just doesn't click. So I thought I'd take today to look at some of the pros and cons of competitive games based on my own personal experiences. I may reaffirm some beliefs or I may change some minds. But let's dive right in.

Pros

Competition Promotes Friendship

"Don't worry man, that scrub won't get away with this."

I know this isn't going to sound right at all after I have spoken of the toxic community of League of Legends but even there I have had friendships foster purely through our mutual desire to defeat our opponents. "Hey man, nice job there." "Don't worry, we'll end that guys kill streak on you." "You guys get out of here. I can afford this death." There have just been so many instances of friends and even strangers on teams banding together to beat the odds in front of them that I can't help but think that this is truly what competition is about. It's about a group of people working together to surmount the odds before them.

Competing Teaches You How to Talk to People

This has almost nothing to do with the obscenities you may scream during a session of Street Fighter.

I'm aware this doesn't seem like the case, especially after all I've said about the toxic community of League of Legends but I'm sure we all actually learned this over the course of the competitive games we've played. Whether or not you choose to or not to practice this with the people you meet online is a different matter entirely. Let's think about it, what option would most likely lead your team to victory?

A) "Wow kid you're so bad. Everyone knows you're supposed to do X with character Y. You should probably quit this game and then stick your head in the oven for an extended period of time."

or

B) "Hey man I see you're not doing so hot. It might help if you do X with character Y. I've seen a lot of people do it and it generally works out in their favor. Give it a shot."

Option B seems pretty nice in comparison right? Now, whether or not that person will listen to you is another matter entirely but it's clear that generally the teams that work well together and win in games don't talk angrily or spout obscenities at each other. The highest success rate comes from being kind and courteous. And this doesn't just apply to cooperative competitive games. Even when it's just use versus one other human being learning how to lose gracefully is a valuable life skill that quite a few people lack. Don't be that guy that rages or gets angry at losing and storm off. Be the man that helps your team. And if you lose be the man that doesn't throw a hissy fit and has their day ruined by it.

Competition Teaches You to Set Goals and Reach Them

If your goal was to master Frank West and you succeeded then my hat is off to you.

We've all been there in at least one game. An object seems insurmountable. A boss can't be beaten. It seems like it's unfair. But with the rise of the online scene in gaming players have been met with a new dilemma. No longer do players sometimes just get trounced by their friends (though that is still a concern.) Sometimes you just keep running into people online and they keep just pushing you down. Some would just quit but for those that choose to continue onward they find they have something to work for. They find they have a goal. Maybe it's researching that perfect item build. Maybe it's finally nailing that combo. Maybe it's finally figuring out what trick your buddy's been using to take you down. But no matter what it is if you've accomplished any of those things then congratulations. You set a goal and you met it. And that's a beautiful thing. There's so many people that would just give up when the going gets tough but competition stirs something in a person. Being able to surmount a computer is cool. But being able to surmount another person is just fulfilling in an entirely different manner. And in setting that goal and achieving it you have learned a valuable life skill. Quitting when the going gets tough is easy. But realizing where you fail, taking steps to correct it AND succeeding at it? That's an awesome thing.

Cons

The Drive to Win Can Bring Out the Worst in People

Goddamn invaders.

Now competition can have those positive effects on people. That is true. but in some individuals it can bring out a darker side. Sometimes the drive to win is so much that this leads to people developing tactics that some would tend to see as....well as unfair. Beating an opponent when on a fairly equal playing field is one thing. But competition in games has brought up some tactics such as spawn camping. Now it's technically not against the rules in any capacity, but to a lot of players, myself included, it can seem a bit underhanded to just lock a player into a situation where they can't do anything and defeating another player just for the satisfaction of it. Sometimes players will needlessly prolong the game just so they can make these other players feel worse. Sometimes players will target the same individual over and over again, hoping to get them as angry as possible. Regardless there is in fact plenty of scenarios where a competitor could be achieving victory not for the satisfaction of victory, but for the satisfaction of making another person feel bad by doing it.

A Focus on Competition Can Lead to Winning Being the Only Satisfaction

"If my KDR goes below 8.0 I'm breaking this disc in half."

Winning is definitely the primary objective when you compete in any capacity. But competition can foster the unhealthy feeling that winning is everything. I've experienced this issue myself in a number of online shooters. I've asked to play with players who will outright refuse to play with me if my Losses outweigh my Wins. There's no guarantee that all of those losses are my fault but those players will not risk another person staining their perfect record. But the thing that got me ruled out of the most games was KDR. KDR stands for Kill-Death Ratio. It determines you average kills versus deaths. If my KDR is 2.0 then that means that I usually average two kills before I die in a game. To some players KDR means everything and this is a problem. This can lead to instances mentioned above where players intentionally target others with a low KDR seeing them as easier targets. But I have also experienced players refusing to party with me because of a low KDR, seeing this as a liability. This even mattered to them in games where the objective was not to get kills but to capture an objective of some sort. In the end KDR was the magic number that determined a person's fate. If you had a low KDR then other players saw that you weren't likely to win and would avoid you, either choosing not to help you or targeting you, reducing this magic number that was supposed to determine your skill level.

Do you fight to win or simply fight to prove you're better?

 If winning is all that matters then how will new players to be expected to learn? If a player can't take another under their wing to teach them the ropes because they're so worried about a potential loss then I have to ask: What's the point of community in these games anyways other than just a group of targets to pick from? If winning is the only satisfaction then regardless of the experience would a person really say they had a good time losing? This is not a healthy mindset, be it in gaming or in the real world. Losing gracefully is important but sometimes competition can just foster the exact opposite.

Well there you have it. I have tried to be as fair as possible and consider many angles but in the end I think competition is a good thing. Being able to have fun with or against your peers when trying to reach a goal is healthy. it's not something a person is going to escape in the real world, whether it be competing with co-workers to give the best presentation, trying to become the employee of the month or just a simple bike race with friends. So why fight it? Embrace the competitive spirit within you in a healthy fashion and I promise you will not disappoint yourself.

WHat do you guys think? is competition good or bad in games? Is there anything I missed? Let me know in the comments and I'll see you all next week.

Those Guys I Play With. They're Pretty Cool.

Have you ever asked someone why they play a video game and had their response be "Well all my friends play it," "The community is really fun" or anything of that sort? Of course you have. A great deal of us have. Some of us will even go as far as saying "Well this part of the game is lame but whatever, my buddies play it." Why is that so? Why are some of us willing to overlook a game's flaws just because our friends play it? Why will people play a game that they're unskilled at just because the community is good? Well honestly, a great community is a gameplay feature and can often be just as important, if not more, than even things such as balanced classes and great mechanics in some titles.

I've played plenty of online titles with my two mainstays right now being Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn and League of Legends. The first game is one I continue playing and enjoy a lot. League is another story however. A big part of they I continue playing Final Fantasy as well as why I've stopped playing League stems from the community.

Here's Costello. He's a Monk on the Brynhildr server. Still not perfect until I become a giant green Roegadyn though.........

I've talked a lot about Final Fantasy XIV. But one of the main reason I've stuck around is because my friends and the community are just great. Things have gotten a little worse with the launch of the PS4 version (more tanks dropping out of dungeons, I actually run into random people insulting me, etc.) but for the most part everything is still great. My guildmates, who consist of both real life friends and people I have met over the game, are all very friendly, helpful and just generally fun to be around. The interactions I have with them are a integral part of the gameplay experience. When the player encounters people that are generally rude, unhelpful and just plain terrible to be around their gameplay experience is usually not as enjoyable because odds are that this person was encountered to help them finish content and they are making tackling that challenge more frustrating than it should be. In games that are single-player this is no issue but when surmounting a challenge is so heavily dependent on everyone working together it's truly best if all of the players can get along.

Plus friends make enjoyable things like Ghost Beach Parties happen. If you can't see the enjoyment to be found in a Ghost Beach Party then we're probably not friends. Credit to my friend Pumpkin Spice for this picture by the way.

Now let's look at the game that I have stopped playing and that I'm really not sure I'll ever open again without a friend asking me to.

League of Legends on its own is honestly a pretty enjoyable game. I came from DOTA back on Warcraft III and it was pretty easy for me to hop in. The champions are pretty unique and most of them are fun to play. The graphics are pretty good, music is good, and the gameplay on its own is pretty awesome. But the defining factor that is keeping me from returning of my own volition is the community.

You cannot expect to enter a League of Legends game without someone getting angry and taking it out on the team. You cannot expect to enter a League of Legends game and not see one player insulting another. You cannot enter a League of Legends game and honestly expect at least half of your team to be people you would ever consider playing with again. This is League's main issue.

League is a pretty enjoyable game on its own merits or with your friends. But the second internet anonymity is introduced that all goes downhill really quick. League is a competitive environment. one team must win. One team must lose. And it is something about this environment that tends to bring out the worst in people. Losing can lead to frustration. But so many people on league take it to new heights that it is almost unreal. And this hyper-competitive nature is leading to an incredibly toxic environment. I have tried many different ways to facilitate a better environment for my teammates personally.

This includes, but is not limited to:

• Giving a fellow player advice when they are doing poorly
• Not intentionally attempting to antagonize the other team
• Not intentionally attempting to antagonize my fellow teammates
• Always trying to have a positive attitude
• Always trying to be the one who facilitates teamwork between my teammates

Unfortunately, most of the time none of this works. A player may spurn the advice and see it as someone talking down to them. A player may be antagonistic anyways and catch one of your teammates in his attempt to make them angry. A player may just feel so badly about their performance that there is no way to bring them out of their funk regardless of how hard you try. The list goes on. Riot has tried many ways to facilitate better player interaction such as using a system to punish/ban toxic players and an honor system to help reward players that aren't hurting the community. These are nice attempts but unless every player makes a conscious effort to do so it's not actually going to work. 

But why the difference? From what I can surmise there is a big distinguishing factor between Final Fantasy and League. Final Fantasy is for the most part a cooperative game while League is a competitive one. It may be that the competitive nature of League simply ends up frustrating players more than Final Fantasy when a fail state is reached because they know they haven't lost to a computer, they've lost to another person. This fact that another person has bested them tends to get under a lot of people's skin.

So what do you guys think? Is the competitive nature the cause of the communities of these games being like night and day? Or is it something else? Let me know in the comments and I'll see you all next week.