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Heroes of Newerth (HoN), League of Legends (LoL), DotA, Demigod - videos, facts, discussion

Heroes of Newerth (HoN), League of Legends (LoL), DotA, Demigod - videos, facts, discussion

Heroes of Newerth:


(That's an older youtube vid I found. I'm not allowed to publish new material from the beta.)


A beta-leak video review of HoN (German). Shows you much of the lobby interface and other features.

 

League of Legends:


Gametrailers preview of LoL.

 


An official trailer for LoL.


A video review of LoL (english). Not sure if leaked or sanctioned.

 

DotA (Defense of the Ancients)

 


Some DotA video. I honestly couldn't find ANY good gameplay video for Dota. Most vids are simply my-dick-is-BIG demonstrations accompanied by some shitty trash metal soundtrack or something bombastic (like, US-marine corp recruitment orchestrals or Carmina Burana). Sorry. If you can recommend a good DotA video I'll put it up.

 

 

Demigod:


Demigod showcase video featuring Lord Erebus.

Demigod showcase video featuring Queen of Thorns. Probably not office safe.
:blush:

 

For those that don't know what HoN or LoL are: Both are DotA clones. If you don't know what DotA is then google it.

First HoN impressions:

  • Graphics
    Looks like Warcraft 3 (i.e. old, cheap, candy colored comic look). Seems much smoother, though. Less jerky scrolling. Any comparison to Demigod would be unfair. It's like comparing Superman to Batman - both are great in their environment but if you'd match them up against each other Superman would wipe the floor with Batmans ass from two cities away.
    Has a limited zoom (i.e. you can zoom in a bit and back, but not out) and a functional minimap.
  • Interface
    Just like DotA, i'd say. Bottom quarter of the screen is occupied by artwork, skills, hero stats and the minimap. I'd call it functional but totally ripped of from Warcraft (which isn't necessarily bad). Very small icons and text. Hard to read and the tooltips have much text. Demigod is downright minimalistic in comparison.
  • Heroes
    A large selection of heroes ... too many to grasp the gist of them in the short time I played it. Not all heroes were implemented yet but it looks like they planned for a 60 heroes cast. Each hero seems to have four different skills you can improve as you gain levels, plus the ability to simply improve your attributes. The skills are either passive or active and have a cooldown timer similar to DG. But since some heroes can have several passive skills out of a set of four, that can mean that you are left with a meager single one active skill, like the tosser I picked (Magebane or something). Kinda like Oooze UB without foul grasp.
    However the skills some heroes have do things that are not seen in Demigod. Some manipulate the map (by planting obstacles(walls) and some move the enemy against their will. Some passive skills trigger a damage effect everytime you use an active skill.
  • Maps
    Think Warcraft again. Mazes with trees and rocks marking the boundary. Or think Demigod maps with boring graphics. They ain't really that different from the DG mazes ... just more "realistic" and much larger.
  • Players
    Lot's of open games in the lobby. Some fairly large ones, too (I think 5v5 is max). If you've played DotA before then you'll have no problems finding friends. If you only played Demigod before, then you'll think the HoN community is a bag of arseholes because you'll likely be taking your first stumbling steps with dota veterant that are not exactly renowned for their forgiving attitude towards noobs. Luckily there's a fuck-filter in the chat.
  • Economy
    Killing stuff earns you XP and gold. You can buy equipment in shops. No base building, but your base starts with several buildings that don't offer any interaction, though. Creeps spawn in certain buildings and run on lanes to the enemy base, which should sound familiar.
  • Death & Dying
    You get automatically resurrected after some time. You can, however, shorten the wait time by paying a moderate amount of gold, which is actually an interesting feature. Similar to DG, there's a Healing Crystal equivalent, something that had to be pointed out to me in the Demigod forum (thanks, dude).
  • Gameplay
    Weeeeeeeeell .... I sucked in my first game and got promptly verbaly punished for being a noob. This doesn't help endear you to the game, so my perceptions may be flawed. But my first impression was: I can't zoom out (I swear, after playing Demigod I think it's impossible to enjoy RTS games without a God-Eye-Zoom)!
    In addition to the fixed camera height you have a considerably larger map and a faster movement speed than experienced in Demigod and you can't help feeling confused and disoriented. The creeps are stronger in comparison to DG creeps (but then those puny heroes are no half-gods). There is no health crystal. I think the only way to heal up is to buy potions. At least you can buy more than three per slot.
    The game is fast paced but not so fast that you'll experience instant death right from the start. You'll have plenty of time to decide that a battle is a lost cause and run for the towers.
    And your job? Easy, kill and destroy. No flags, no warscore (although there are other gamemodes that might have something similar). The only thing you can do is find creeps or heroes and kill them. And find enemy buildings and destroy them. That's it.
  • Game Modes
    There are only custom games. No skirmish or pantheon. No single player mode and (currently) no bots to solo against. Many possible options to setup a custom game. And the features the lobby offers are something to be seen. Feels like a database browser (i.e. comfortable and powerful).
  • Replays
    They work. Take that, Demigod!
  • Community
    It's a new game so you'd expect the community to be new also. But it's not. It's mostly DotA veterans that got a bit frustrated with the aged Warcraft 3 engine and wanted something, er, newish. Someone in the HoN forums summed it up pretty much: "I'm actually pretty surprised by this community. So far it's been very hard to find nice people. Most players - particularly those with Dota experience are incredibly rude to all players."
    The Demigod community certainly has it's share of unfriendlies, but as a whole it's quite amiable. Maybe this will change with the rise of competetive play.

Bottom line: Graphically it's definetly a step down when compared to Demigod. But noticably better than DotA. It's really really running smooooooothly. If you consider the small DG roster Demigod's biggest drawback, then HoN might seem attractive. The complexity and detail of each hero is lower than that of any one Demigod. It's also extremely beginner unfriendly. And even though Demigod didn't have any kind of tutorial either, you grasp the gist of DG way faster than that of HoN. HoN is clearly aimed at DotA players. It looks so similar to DotA that fanboys might as well stay there.

It's still in beta so many things will change. The strongest point of HoN is it's large hero rooster. Apart from that I don't think the Demigod has much to fear.

But since it's an early test phase, I'll certainly give it another try. I can endure the "F*CKING _NOOB" for a time, hehehehe.

 

577,378 views 214 replies
Reply #126 Top

But my first impression was: I can't zoom out (I swear, after playing Demigod I think it's impossible to enjoy RTS games without a God-Eye-Zoom)!

Agree with you. But SC2 is not going to have zoom either, last I heard.

Reply #127 Top

Quoting soultaker, reply 25

Quoting Aroddo, reply 21Some heroes actually only have one active skill, which limits complexity and depth severely for each hero.
That's not true. Find me 1 hero in HoN w/ 1 active skill...

Well, since they're directly ripped off of DotA, I doubt any of them have only 1 skill, but many of them only have 2 or 3.

Reply #128 Top

Quoting pseudomelon, reply 2

Quoting soultaker, reply 25

Well, since they're directly ripped off of DotA, I doubt any of them have only 1 skill, but many of them only have 2 or 3.

 

I could be misunderstanding you but I was under the impression that each hero had 4 skills. Unless you mean some of those skills are passive and don't count. If so, do you not count the passive skills of the demigods as skills?

I will say this, after spending weeks (possibly months) with HoN, I really do wish that there was more of a skill tree ala Demigod. Seems like the last few games I've played I hit l've hit lv 25 maxing all of my skills and even tho I haven't played every hero, I would like to play the same hero with a different spec. I guess that's where the items come into play... oh well :P

Reply #129 Top

Quoting pseudomelon, reply 2



Quoting soultaker,
reply 25

Quoting Aroddo, reply 21Some heroes actually only have one active skill, which limits complexity and depth severely for each hero.
That's not true. Find me 1 hero in HoN w/ 1 active skill...


Well, since they're directly ripped off of DotA, I doubt any of them have only 1 skill, but many of them only have 2 or 3.

Most of them are recreated DotA heroes, but they also have 10 brand new ones with more on the way.

Reply #130 Top

Quoting Bloodsoda, reply 3



Quoting pseudomelon,
reply 2

Quoting soultaker, reply 25

Well, since they're directly ripped off of DotA, I doubt any of them have only 1 skill, but many of them only have 2 or 3.


 

I could be misunderstanding you but I was under the impression that each hero had 4 skills. Unless you mean some of those skills are passive and don't count. If so, do you not count the passive skills of the demigods as skills?

Well the earlier posts clarify that a bit more and speak about active skills. So yes, passive skills are not counted in this regard.
Why not? Because you can't really 'use' them and do not need to take them in consideration much, let alone decide in the heat of battle if you should 'use' spell x or spell y, because if spell y is passive then you, as mentioned before, cannot use it at all. Why is this bad? Because it takes away depth from gameplay. There is quite a big stretch from chosing which skill to use, minding your mana pool and his capabilities and countering them appropriately and just spamming the one active spell you have whenever you can. You very much become a one trick pony.

I played a game of DOTA again after I bought demigod and was very much disappointed by the narrow choices you had once you've picked your hero. You are stuck with the same spells for the rest of the game, which at level 25 you will have all maxed out anyway. It's just a matter of which spell you upgrade first. The biggest downside for me about this is that the enemy also knows which skills you have. When I encounter an enemy demigod I have no idea what skills the enemy has, and even if I find out by getting massacred, his build might have taken a different path later in the game. That, to me, is a lot more fun than "Oh, he picked that hero, so he has skill x and y and he's going to <insert only working strategy for that hero here>"

Reply #131 Top

Quoting twifightDG, reply 5


Quoting pseudomelon,
reply 2

I played a game of DOTA again after I bought demigod and was very much disappointed by the narrow choices you had once you've picked your hero. You are stuck with the same spells for the rest of the game, which at level 25 you will have all maxed out anyway. It's just a matter of which spell you upgrade first. The biggest downside for me about this is that the enemy also knows which skills you have.

Thanks, this is exactly what I was trying to say in my 2nd paragraph. I agree 100%. This is something I do miss with Demigod. As stated before, I'm guessing it boils down to which items you buy your hero, but I know this really isn't the same. I don't feel this makes the game shallow entirely, because there really only 3 ways to spec most demigods (Way 1, Way 2 and the Wrong Way) and tbh while you may not know how someone is going to spec in the 1st encounter, you get a sense after a few short levels.

 

...I was being semi facetious with the 3 way spec, don't yall jump down my throat.

Reply #132 Top

Quoting Bloodsoda, reply 6

Quoting twifightDG, reply 5

Quoting pseudomelon,
reply 2
I played a game of DOTA again after I bought demigod and was very much disappointed by the narrow choices you had once you've picked your hero. You are stuck with the same spells for the rest of the game, which at level 25 you will have all maxed out anyway. It's just a matter of which spell you upgrade first. The biggest downside for me about this is that the enemy also knows which skills you have.

Thanks, this is exactly what I was trying to say in my 2nd paragraph. I agree 100%. This is something I do miss with Demigod. As stated before, I'm guessing it boils down to which items you buy your hero, but I know this really isn't the same. I don't feel this makes the game shallow entirely, because there really only 3 ways to spec most demigods (Way 1, Way 2 and the Wrong Way) and tbh while you may not know how someone is going to spec in the 1st encounter, you get a sense after a few short levels.

 

...I was being semi facetious with the 3 way spec, don't yall jump down my throat.

 

wait wait..there are tons of active items in HoN/Dota, in demigod yes you get to select new abiltities every level, but most of the time you just rank up the same stuff you already have, so your still just as limited, the bar still has 4 buttons on it just like in dota/hon

demigod really is a noob game in comparison, you have ALOT less to learn, its nowhere near as complex, its slower gameplay, i honestly eat food and watch tv while i play demigod cause of how slow paced it is

you play HoN/Dota, you gotta be on your toes, you gotta know what 60 heroes can do, and what all those items can do as they also add more active skills as well

I guess demigods better for casual fans of this type of gameplay, who want an easier game...i know that all the casual gamers i know dont go near anythin like dota

Reply #133 Top

Quoting Neoauld, reply 7



wait wait..there are tons of active items in HoN/Dota, in demigod yes you get to select new abiltities every level, but most of the time you just rank up the same stuff you already have, so your still just as limited, the bar still has 4 buttons on it just like in dota/hon

demigod really is a noob game in comparison, you have ALOT less to learn, its nowhere near as complex, its slower gameplay, i honestly eat food and watch tv while i play demigod cause of how slow paced it is

you play HoN/Dota, you gotta be on your toes, you gotta know what 60 heroes can do, and what all those items can do as they also add more active skills as well

I guess demigods better for casual fans of this type of gameplay, who want an easier game...i know that all the casual gamers i know dont go near anythin like dota


Perhaps you could explain to me why every other game hosted in HoN is Noobs Only? o0

In the same breath I could fling insults at HoN; that it's a simple stun-stacking game, that the large selection of heroes tends to feature different combinations of the same couple skills, that it has serious balance issues, and rant on and on for a year.

But I won't, because goddamn it, HoN is a good game. Demigod is a good game. They're both GOOD GAMES. Rather than let this debate deteriorate into a "my game can beat up your game" contest, the winner of which happens to only be the person who does not take part in the debate, I want to say this. If you like DotA more than Demigod, play HoN. If you like Demigod over DotA, play Demigod.

Reply #134 Top

Quoting Neoauld, reply 7

demigod really is a noob game in comparison, you have ALOT less to learn, its nowhere near as complex, its slower gameplay, ...
I guess demigods better for casual fans of this type of gameplay, who want an easier game...i know that all the casual gamers i know dont go near anythin like dota

that's nowhere near to being correct. dota is muhc more simplier. yes it has far more heros but the gameplay is simplier. if demigod is too slow for you jsut nicrease gamespeed.

Reply #135 Top

Haha true, wise words actually, but I'll just keep discussing it as this thread was made for that.

Quoting Neoauld, reply 7
wait wait..there are tons of active items in HoN/Dota, in demigod yes you get to select new abiltities every level, but most of the time you just rank up the same stuff you already have, so your still just as limited, the bar still has 4 buttons on it just like in dota/hon

While the last part is often true, except for hybrid builds, I definately feel that Demigod has more active skills to chose from. The reason for this is probably that in Demigod you can always have 4 active spells (if you chose them), passive skills are not counted on that bar of 4. Also, like I said, hybrid builds are viable, if you have the skill to play them, making your active skill pool even bigger.

demigod really is a noob game in comparison, you have ALOT less to learn, its nowhere near as complex, its slower gameplay, i honestly eat food and watch tv while i play demigod cause of how slow paced it is

First of all calling Demigod a noob game is the pinnacle of what is wrong with the DOTA community. Second, having a lot less to learn does not make something noob, maybe Demigod is just more intuitive to learn. Also, if having a steep learning curve is what you want in a game, then.. well.. go right ahead. I just rather have a fun game to play :) I agree that Demigod feels slow, but that's just an illusion. If you zoom in all the way and animate characters as if they run 60 mph then Demigod would look fast too, but it doesn't actually make that much of a difference in speed.

you play HoN/Dota, you gotta be on your toes, you gotta know what 60 heroes can do, and what all those items can do as they also add more active skills as well

The only reason you have to be on your toes is because you can't look more than 4 feet ahead. DOTA and HoN are claustrophobic. 60 heroes sure sounds awesome, but I don't actually get a feeling of more variaty from the game at all. Also, items adding active skills are in Demigod just the same.

I guess demigods better for casual fans of this type of gameplay, who want an easier game...i know that all the casual gamers i know dont go near anythin like dota

True, but remember casual is not the same as noob.

Reply #136 Top

DotA is not a complicated game. There is just nothing to ease you into learning the mechanics of the game, it's all trial by fire. Demigod is also not a complicated game, however due to my previous experience with DotA I can't really comment on the learning curve as there wasn't a learning curve so much as an adjustment curve for me. Both games are multi-layered, thanks to the RPG aspects they employ, and create a great arena for some truly imaginative tactics to be employed. However, calling either one 'complicated' is a stretch, in my opinion.

The faster nature of DotA is complimented with the narrow viewing field, as a fast game keeps you on your toes and alert at all times; the old expression "a fast game's a good game" certainly applied here. As a result, it's far more reliant on your second-to-second movements and tactical playing style than your over-arching strategic plan, albeit both are still important. I find Demigod to be quite the opposite; the second-to-second tactical movements are not as important as the over-arching plan and this is complimented with the much larger viewing area. It's not that one game uses tactical gameplay and one strategic, they both merely emphasis different approaches. For me, Demigod is the better as it appeals more to my strategic thinking. DotA is more about stun locking and ganking, and while a lot of fun, has run it's course for me.

If you'd like my thoughts on HoN, replace the acronym DotA with HoN and re-read the above comments.

Reply #137 Top

Quoting pseudomelon, reply 8

Quoting Neoauld, reply 7

They're both GOOD GAMES. Rather than let this debate deteriorate into a "my game can beat up your game" contest, the winner of which happens to only be the person who does not take part in the debate, I want to say this. If you like DotA more than Demigod, play HoN. If you like Demigod over DotA, play Demigod.

 

Q4T

 

Lemme also add, if you enjoy both, play both :)

Reply #138 Top

i like both

Quoting Bloodsoda, reply 12

Quoting pseudomelon, reply 8
Quoting Neoauld, reply 7

They're both GOOD GAMES. Rather than let this debate deteriorate into a "my game can beat up your game" contest, the winner of which happens to only be the person who does not take part in the debate, I want to say this. If you like DotA more than Demigod, play HoN. If you like Demigod over DotA, play Demigod.
 

Q4T

 

Lemme also add, if you enjoy both, play both

 

in concept i would play both, unfortunately demigod's netcode is complete garbage.  No one can deny that the game is laggy as hell.  I mean i tried the game this weekend after not touching it for 3+ weeks, and some guy was lagging so bad that everyone else got popups non stop about desync errors, popups that prevented the clicking of actions

As for demigods 'feeling slow'...when i play demigod i dont really have to try, i dont hve to pay as much attention, theres something very wrong with that.  Whether things are actually moving fast or not, the game doesnt take any effort atm.  With HoN/Dota i still do.  So whether thats due to the zoom out function or not, its still very easy im comparison.  (I like the zoom out though strategy games should start using that)

I also like how Demigod has more than one game mode, not just fortressing. 

And to the above comment about having 4 active skills + passives, that is true.  But lets be realistic, it doesnt take a whole lot of brain power to control anythin more than maybe, 8 abilities.  Coming from strategy games, and MMO's like AoC/WoW, i can safely say using 4 buttons isnt hard. Both games have simplicity when it comes to abilities.  The difficulty of this gameplay type is in teamwork, communication, timing, picking the right items for the right situation, and anticipating your enemies move.  This is where demigod is a failure.  Reguardless of actual movement speeds, reaction time is rather irrelivant in this game because theres always going to be that one 400+ ping player that obliterates any chance of a decent game as Demigod has terrible netcode.  

The creeps in demigod play no role at all until giants really.  You dont interact with them, you just stand there and farm.  Last hitting/denying is something that is rather fun in HoN/Dota, something i missed in demigod as you just need to stand there and do nothing to profit. 

As to another person reguarding the stuns.  Alot of people who are inexperienced in dota/hon will complain about that.  There are items to prevent that, and you have a team with you as well to help deal with it.  Also when choosing heroes you tend to go for a balance. 

Those are just some random thoughts but my final thought is that demigod is always going to be a backend near-dead game.  Here is why.  Its development is REALLY slow, for a company thats charging for this you think things would move quickly, but its not.  Theyre still trying to make a release quality game, and they are clinging to faulty netcode that in theory makes lag better, but its clearly not lol.  The interface is limited.  HoN is being built around this gameplay style, all the features ppl have been dying for in Dota are being added to HoN, such as banlists. 

When you look further at development, demigod has been out since april 4th, or 14th i cant remember.  I preordered it.  It was god awful on release, couldnt get a game going because someone wouldnt have a port forwarded or whatnot.  Since then, theyve made it so people can play even though its still laggy.  Theyve added concede, big fixes, redid the UI a bit, and thats about it.

In HoN, ive been playing 3 weeks.  Ive seen CLAN support added, concede, vote to remake, new heroes added, balance changes, UI changes, a functional rating system(demigods is still broken), team auto balance, and every few days theres a patch with noticable changes. 

Theres something very wrong here, 3 weeks more was done to a free beta than to a game people have paid for, where the company has income.  Seems like theyre takin the money and taking their sweet time doing anything with it. 

So conclusion, i would like to play demigod when it is release quality.  Currently it still feels worse than a beta, but has promise.  I think if they got the game to not lag i would play more often.  The new demigods will definitely make me try this again.

Reply #139 Top

Heroes of Newerth has one advantage Demigod doesnt: It runs natively on LINUX. :) 

Reply #140 Top

Quoting zndkwin, reply 14
Heroes of Newerth has one advantage Demigod doesnt: It runs natively on LINUX.  

yup and on mac too i believe

 

Reply #141 Top

Thanks to whoever posted the link to the HoN beta key.

 

I played the game all weekend and overall I was very impressed, tons of features implimented that demigod lacks. If you are a casual gamer who enjoys a slower paced game demigod is for you, if you like competitive RTS gameplay HoN is money in the bank.

 

Probably the best part is the amount of open games at all hours, I was playing at 4am(US WEST) and there were about 100 open games of various types.

 

Cheers

Reply #142 Top

One thing I can say for certain about HoN: I hope in the future, other games will learn from its AMAZING matchmaking.

Reply #143 Top

Quoting f1do, reply 16
Thanks to whoever posted the link to the HoN beta key.

 

I played the game all weekend and overall I was very impressed, tons of features implimented that demigod lacks. If you are a casual gamer who enjoys a slower paced game demigod is for you, if you like competitive RTS gameplay HoN is money in the bank.

 

Probably the best part is the amount of open games at all hours, I was playing at 4am(US WEST) and there were about 100 open games of various types.

 

Cheers

 

yeah i dont think demigod really has many people on

half the time i go into pantheon it says im the only one looking

Reply #144 Top

Quoting Neoauld, reply 140
zndkwinreply 14Heroes of Newerth has one advantage Demigod doesnt: It runs natively on LINUX.  yup and on mac too i believe 

Exactly. S2 Games are one of the few companies that actually have multi-platform games. I bet their games are far more stable and bug-free than most game developers just because of that. :) I played the game, it's very competitive, as someone said, Demigod is more casual, while Newerth is too much on the expert DotA player end for me.

Reply #145 Top

Quoting zndkwin, reply 19

Neoauldcomment 140zndkwinreply 14Heroes of Newerth has one advantage Demigod doesnt: It runs natively on LINUX.  yup and on mac too i believe 
Exactly. S2 Games are one of the few companies that actually have multi-platform games. I bet their games are far more stable and bug-free than most game developers just because of that. I played the game, it's very competitive, as someone said, Demigod is more casual, while Newerth is too much on the expert DotA player end for me.

 

yeah i havent had a single issue with HoN really, and sometimes i burn out of HoN's complexity and need to relax more, which is why i got demigod :)

Reply #146 Top

Quoting Neoauld, reply 18
yeah i dont think demigod really has many people on

half the time i go into pantheon it says im the only one looking.

I'd bet you'd see this message all the time due to the glitch ;)

Reply #147 Top

Quoting Neoauld, reply 145
zndkwinreply 19Neoauldcomment 140zndkwinreply 14Heroes of Newerth has one advantage Demigod doesnt: It runs natively on LINUX.  yup and on mac too i believe Exactly. S2 Games are one of the few companies that actually have multi-platform games. I bet their games are far more stable and bug-free than most game developers just because of that. I played the game, it's very competitive, as someone said, Demigod is more casual, while Newerth is too much on the expert DotA player end for me. yeah i havent had a single issue with HoN really, and sometimes i burn out of HoN's complexity and need to relax more, which is why i got demigod

 

HoH is for the dedicated DotA long time players. :P  And yeah, that's because since HoN is a multiplatform game from the ground up, it  doesnt have all those annoying API dependent problems which plague most "games-for-windows" titles shipped nowadays. By that meaning, no .NET 3.5 redist problems, directx-specific errors, and such. S2Games is so awesome because of that.

Reply #148 Top

Gametrailers just released a preview to LoL.

I must say, even these info tidbits look quite interesting.

Let's change this thread to HoN/LoL/Demigod/whatever discussion.

 

 

Also check out the alternative Demigod videos in the main post if you haven't seen them yet.

These, more than anything else, demonstrate the absolute superiority of Demigod over any other RTS game currently available in regards of artwork and graphics.

 

Reply #149 Top

Quoting zndkwin, reply 22

 By that meaning, no .NET 3.5 redist problems, directx-specific errors, and such. S2Games is so awesome because of that.

LOL you have no idea how funny this is to anyone that actually knows something about it :p