.....
This is an interesting video about the current situation of MOBA genre in 2016
It does raise up this question: It looks like Vain Glory is rising up as one of the would-be juggernauts, and Heroes Of Newerth is... um... dying, only pulling its last breaths. So should we have Vain Glory as one of the Cream of the Crop and demote HON to the 'fledging' or somewhere else? Or just have Vain Glory move up to the Cream of the Crop, because regardless, HON has made several E-Sport scenes until it was overshadowed?
.....
I'm starting to think that the MOBA genre overall has some sort of 'stock character' or 'stock skill' that could warrant a 'page' like the Bioware characters page. I could name a few, let's see if this warrants a new page:
- The 'Stealth' Character: Heavily reliant on stealth that can be activated on skill. If the game has a stealth detection, then it could spell their doom. Examples: Gondar, Clinkz, Nyx Assassin, Twitch, Loki, Ao Kuang. Akali is an odd example because she can get into stealth, but only in a certain area, not because she activated a skill and poof, temporary stealth.
- An upgraded version of this is the 'Permanent Stealth' Character. They can go on stealth when even idling. Examples: Riki, Evelynn, Zeratul, Nova
- 'Spin To Win' Skill: The skill where the character spins around for damage over time on those who came close to them. The skill has to be repeated swings. Example of characters having this: Juggernaut (Blade Fury), Garen (Judgment), Thor (Berserker Barrage), Sonya (Whirlwind)
- The 'Get Over Here' Skill: A skillshot that if you get hit with it, you get dragged to the caster. Usually those possessing this skill will be a dreaded skill in pub games. Examples: Pudge, Blitzcrank, Sylvanus (and pre-rework Arachne), Stitches.
- The 'Sniper': Usually a ranged hero that mainly deals damage through normal attacks, known for their long range and an ultimate which is a targetted and delayed strike, but deals very massive damage, though mostly can be bodyblocked. Examples: Sniper (though his ult cannot be bodyblocked), Caitlyn, Neith, Nova
- The 'Hooded Archer': Usually a carry and depicted as a female archer who wears hood. Mostly deals with an enchanted arrow (usually ice elemental). Examples: Drow Ranger, Ashe, Sylvanas
- The 'Global-Hit-Everyone-Ult': Mostly mages, but they have an ability to reveal everyone in the map, and dealing massive damage over it via their ult. Nowhere is safe from these people. Examples: Zeus (Dota), Karthus, Nu Wa post-rework, Diablo
- The 'Gets More Dangerous At Low Health' hero: Exactly how it says it. This hero gains a lot of advantages the closer they are to death, so a lot of their gameplays revolve around getting them close enough to death and then turning the tables while still on low health. Examples: Huskar, Tryndamere and Olaf, Hercules
What do you think, warrant a page to list reoccurring elements of a MOBA game?
Edited by ChrisX Hide / Show Replies
Might be worth putting in YKTTW. It may make a trope or an analysis.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Should the roles list be overhauled? It kind of starts off like it's describing character classes, while instead, roles are, like the name suggests, your role within the team.
A rundown:
The wording for carry is kind of loose. It's not about what hero you play, but HOW you play him. The carry is the one, who has the highest priority to get farm and experience in the team. He can be a tank, he can be a physical damage dealer, he can be a caster. All that matters is, that he has the ability to carry the team to victory. Notable examples are Spectre from Dota 2, who is anything but a glass canon and Tinker(fell out of favor as a pure carry. Usually more of a number 2 nowadays) from the same game, who will just start throwing spells left and right once he gets rolling.
The list lacks the initiator, which is rather important. It is an actual ROLE for once. The initiator is the first one to jump in. It doesn't matter, how suited you actually are, it's a role, someone needs to pick up. Be the first one to jump in, hit the opponent with some sort of ability which makes it easy for your allies to come in and clean up. Sometimes a tank, sometimes not.
Speaking of tank, that's more of a characteristic of a hero than an actual role. It's not like player aggro is managed as easily as scripted mob aggro. This is no RPG. If you pose no threat, you will be ignored. If you are tanky and build yourself up to survive as many hits as possible, you are either the initiator or the carry or The Load.
Is caster a role? Or is it more of a class? Your role in battle is to cast spells? So anybody else is not allowed to cast spells or how is this supposed to work? "Okay guys, I am the caster this game, so you better not cast any spells."
The jungler then states, that unlike the previous ones, this one somehow overlaps with other roles. All the roles can and will overlap. Yes. Even support and carry, if the stars align. A Silencer(again Dota) can start as a support, end up getting cash and transition into a carry build. Again, the roles loosely define, what your job within the team is. It's not some rigid formula, you have to stick to.
Edited by naphack
Needs a better name. "MOBA" literally says nothing about the game, pretty much any FPS is a "multiplayer online battle arena".
Hide / Show Replies
Well, that is the traditional and established name of the genre. The name "fantasy" doesn't give away much about the genre either, but it's established.
Mm. If you excuse me, I must go set my own city on fire. Count Selvan, Radiant Historia
Competitive RPG.
You are a party of heroes competing against another party to grind experience and gold from respawning mobs and heroes to unlock abilities, increase stats, and purchase items in order to become strong enough to overwhelm the "boss" towers guarding the routes to the opponent's stronghold (and commonly optional NPC encounters off the critical path).
This rules out games like Bloodline Champions and Wrath of Heroes, but as mentioned in the article they're not closely related to the other games in the list.
Edited by 1esu
IMHO it's more a team RTS with RPG elements. Because other than items and stats this is nothing like an RPG.
MOBA is the name Riot (the developers of Lo L) gave the genre. Everyone else calls it dota-like or dota-clone. Understandably, Riot didn't want their ripoff of Dot A be that obvious. Calling MOBA traditional or established is going a bit too far.
A certain Video Game [[Imageboard]] seem to have already cited an appropriate name:
[[Fun with Acronym] Aeon of Strife Styled Fortress Assault Game Going Over Two Side]
Pika pi~?
@Skgoa
It's really not an RTS game type though. Sure, it has its roots in Warcraft 3, but it's an entire game built around the one aspect of the game that wasn't an RTS element. By their very nature, RT Ss have some level of macromanagement, army strategy, and economy. No such aspects exist in MOB As.
Honestly, they're more like a competitive arena version of isometric ARP Gs like Diablo and Torchlight.
And if Dot A having its roots in Warcraft 3 makes it an RTS, then surely Devil May Cry is survival horror (having been originally developed as Resident Evil 4, after all)
MOBA is indeed entirely meaningless as it could be used to describe virtually any competitive online game ever made. ARTS(action real-time strategy) does not describe all games that are now in this genre because of games like Super Monday Night Combat, Smite and Awesomenauts which are not RTS at all.
The only decently descriptive acronym that I've encountered on teh interwebz is LPG, which is short for Lane Pushing Game. That is literally the only thing that all of the Aeon of Strife derivatives have in common: you push the lanes to get the enemy base.
Edited by 70.33.253.43
Would Brutal Legend qualify? Seriously I haven't played so I don't know
Hide / Show Replies_(upload).bmp)
A bit of a late reply, but no. Brütal Legend is an Action RTS (yes, I know that's a term some people use for MOB As, but it doesn't explain games like Awesomenauts or Super Monday Night Combat). BL is part of the same genre as Sacrifice, and arguably Pikmin, Overlord, Battalion Wars, Darwinia, and Carrier Command: Gaea Mission. (Also AirMech, but that one actually is a MOBA.)
Edited by SCAL37
S'cuse me, but with this info about Vainglory Community Edition
, should we put Vainglory in the same section as Heroes of Newerth and Heroes of the Storm? It should be noted that:
Based on the situation so far, what do you think?
Edited by ChrisX