DOTA 2 insight and SWTOR replayability

A mixed bag of stuff tonight.

DOTA 2

I’ve been having some great games today in DOTA 2.  I played a couple solo, some with Graev, and some with 3 other guys from the community.  I’m getting better — I can actually tell that my skill is increasing for the first time in a while.  I remember being terrible with certain heroes from the Warcraft 3 days of DOTA… and some things never change.  Valve added Naix (Lifestealer) to the game yesterday, and no matter how hard I try it feels like I’m never as good with him as others are when I face Naix.

A few lessons for anyone thinking about getting into DOTA 2.

  • Have confidence because you never know what your team can accomplish if you work together without fear.  Slink back or not move as one, and your opponents will surround you like sharks.
  • Keep the offensive momentum.
  • Don’t give up -too- early.  Don’t get me wrong, there are times when it’s over, but tonight reminded me why it’s important to keep trying.  I was playing Earthshaker and couldn’t get any gold early on — I thought we should give up.  We were facing two pairs of Chinese friends and couldn’t get early momentum.  We persevered, despite my despair, and a couple of us got blink daggers + our ults, roam ganked together, and it was a solid victory.

SWTOR Beta

I made a new Imperial Agent last night and he’s now approximately level 8.  I have a few videos you can watch.  The newest patch (or two, now) definitely increased my performance.  I was getting some sluggish play a few weeks ago but each patch has made it much more tolerable.  In fact, today I had zero complaints.  An interesting point I want to get across is SWTOR’s replayability.  I’ve played Hutta a few times now and each time I try to go about it differently.  I still enjoyed the story and the quests, despite having played them several times already.  I still recommend people give SWTOR a chance if they’re on the fence.

  • As someone who had totally written off TOR as more of the same and wasnt the least bit interested in it, I tried last weekends beta as I had nothing better to do. While I was pretty much right in my assumptions, I was surprised in that I had an absolute blast and ended up pre-ordering. I mainly did PvP from level 10 up to just below 20. Sure, there is nothing really different about it apart from the story focus (which imo isnt a huge step forward but it helps) and some things like companions, but at the same time, its simply fun and thats all I ask from an MMO these days.

    I doubt it will have much longevity for me and Im expecting all the usual problems with MMO’s will rear their heads (gear meaning everything in PvP, stat inflation etc.), but as a month or two worth of fun, definitely worth it imo.

  • Yeah I think a problematic part of the SWTOR reviews are people’s expectations. If you want a fun game it is all here, just don’t expect it to be something revolutionary (perhaps we can save that honor for GW2?). How can running around Force choking people and whacking them with a lightsaber not be fun?

  • It feels like an evolution in the mmo genre more than a revolution. I just hope Blizzard pays attention and makes more use of the same tools Bioware takes advantage of such as voice actors and individual class stories.

    Blizzard has used some excellent voice over work before but I noticed in the latest trailer video they didn´t even do voice over for the 4.3 trailer 😉

  • I’m afraid ppl are gonna be so disapointed in GW2, seems every1 have such high expectations for it.

  • …so it is excitement generated by their seemingly novel approach and not just an IP (I didn’t care for GW1)

  • It is funny but I had the same reaction as Sebnak. I assumed it would be like Rift which after playing the beta I wasn’t hooked at all. Yet when I played SWTOR for a weekend I definitely am looking forward to playing more and did a pre-order.

    As for Guild Wars 2 I think the hype is worth it after playing it for hours at PAX in both PvE and PvP. Although we will have to see if it has something like raiding for all the people I know who still play WoW for that reason.

  • I think people have WAY higher expectations for GW2 than they have for SW:TOR.

    We all know what SW:TOR will be like almost since the day it was announced, and beta confirmed that’s exactly what it is. A heavily story driven theme park. Bioware NEVER pretended it was something else, even though we got some surprising features added, like the entire PvP planet and the FFA area.

    To the opposite, GW2 promises a sort of revolution, and builds the hype on that. We all know here what promises are worth in MMO land. Yet you have many, even MMO vets who should know much better, who give in to the hype like blinded newbie fanbois about that game. Darkfail, Mortal, Conan… all those promised that famous revolution… sandbox! revolutionary combat! Don’t make me laugh. Look where they are now.

    I’m playing MMOs since UO beta, and I’ve learned to trust only what I can see myself, and a few select people whose opinion I trust. But definitely not the hype or promises of a developer.

  • Some people, for whatever reason didn’t relate to Guild Wars 1. But, having spent many hours in it I have some confidence that Arenanet really do know what they are doing and that Guild Wars 2 will justify at least some of the hype.

    One of the kickers for me is the attention to detail Anet are putting in to solving social problems that have plagued other MMOs – ninja looting, kill stealing, resource nodes, need/greed quarelling etc… In comparion, Rift and SWTOR seem somewhat lazy/risk averse in taking the design of a 2004 game as a gospel of design, without even appearing to notice the obvious defects. I wonder if the designers ever played MMOs or perhaps they are just under firm constraints from the suits not to deviate too far from the succesful formula – when you don’t know exactly what part of a formula does what it doesn’t pay to mess with it.

    Still, think SWTOR sounds fun though, at least as long as the stories last.

  • It seems like more than hype given their detailed identification of common MMO problems and explanations on how they are planning to avoid them, even showing in game video of the implementation. Sure I will remain skeptical and wait and see if they pull it off, but certainly they are trying something new.

    Generally the words “newbie” and “fanboi” has a negative effect on convincing me that the reviewer has a well thought out POV…