Ever heard of DotA?

Tue, 11 Jul 2006 13:03:52 GMT

Out of all of the custom games made in WarCraft III, Defense of the Ancients (and the latest version, AllStars) is by far the most popular. It's a ten-player game with five on each team (two teams, of course). The object is rather simple: reach the enemies main building and destroy it. The means to get there is a bit harder. So far there are 77 different heroes, tons of items and ways to combine them, and an average of an hour each game. I really enjoy this game, but it's beginning to lose its touch.

Due to its popularity, each game in my mind always starts out as "Who is going to leave the moment the game starts?" Sure enough, this will happen every so often. People stay and enjoy the game, but a missing player is oftentimes a hopeless situation. If no one leaves, I sigh in relief and start playing. Then I remember, "Who's going to leave after they die once?" and dispair once again. This game takes a lot of patience: level up, get good items, look for the right opportunity to slay an enemy player. Some don't have this patience and, as a result, usually play far too aggressively. Sometimes (if they play people even worse than them) they'll get a kill. It's more likely that they get killed in the process. I don't know WHY they leave after this, but they do. I just can't relate to that kind of absolute loss situation: to explain, you won't lose the game because you died first. You'll be at a slight disdvantage, but it's very likely your team is doing just as good as a whole.

The worst kind of people who leave are the ones that leave after killing a lot and not dying much. I can only guess at their reasoning, but I believe it is due to them thinking that the game is already won and that there is no point to playing anymore. I'd like to smack some sense into those people. DotA, similar to most games, is UNlike chess in that you can fix most problems easily. There are hopeless points where people have died too much and the enemy gains too much from them, or you lose your unit-producing structures, but you will have already had to mess up a lot to reach that point. Apparently, these people have the prescience to see that the game's already won and decide to leave. I end up winning almost every time once they're gone...so much for foresight. And of course, you get the people who just...leave. That could be due to a computer crash or a lost connection, or they "just had to leave". But it's still annoying and usually ruins the game.

In summary, this is the doom of popular games. You'll get people who want to play and fight to the bitter end, and you get everyone else who are either too spoiled or too arrogant to play through. I try to play every game to its end, and I wish other people would, too, but what can you do? It's the Internet. For anyone who's played Defense of the Ancients (or most WarCraft III games), perhaps you can relate to this. Otherwise, just keep in mind that there are people who aren't very good gamers.

Well...it's something.

Sun, 23 Apr 2006 17:11:18 GMT

Why not post here? No point using it as a blog, but at the same time it's wasting $15 if I don't (along with the few other perks of a subscription). So, I figure I'll talk about the games I have on my favorites and why they have such an honor.

My Life As A Spy (by Skysaw):

This game was what brought me to BYOND in the first place. I heard about it from a friend, and I stayed with the game for a good long time. Even though it's basically dead due to over-hosting and lack of updates, it's still a fun, interesting aspect to the standard RPG on BYOND. Experience is, instead, training points, and you increase your abilities in order to gain ranks. Of course the ranks mean very little: it's the abilities you want, and considering you can't max all of them, you'll have to become more specific in your goals. Brawn, Weapons, Stealth, Traps...there's a few more, but you get the idea. This game had a lot to it besides this so-called leveling: training points could be traded, and thus an economy for "TP" was born. There were clans and various other fun things in the game. I joined it when it was a few years old, but it was sure a hell of a good time.

Final Fantasy Online (by Gakumerasara):

I don't know why, but one day I decided to try it out. Sure, it was a standard RPG, but for those of you who know Gakumerasara, it expanded (shortly after my entering it, in fact). It is now very Diablo II-esque, and even though it's not hosted at the moment, people are anticipating its arrival once more. Lots of new things will eventually be added: right now there are AI guards, fiefdoms (like a kingdom, but more general) with the ability to have underlings that control under-towns, quests, bosses, and plenty of involvement in the community. I was actually a king (I called myself Overlord) of a fiefdom, but left for various reasons, likely having a big impact on FFO (but I try to be humble about it). I'm still active on the forums (continuing an RP story, giving decent comments about the future of the game) and I hope it continues to prosper.

Treasure Quest (by Leftley):

In short, it's really fun. You have about twenty classes you use in this turn-based dungeon-crawler. With a ton of monsters, equipment, and possible helps along the way, you search for the Treasure Hoard and bring it back up before the game ends. I've enjoyed many a game of this, and I suggest you try it out, too. A couple of my buddies and I once atttempted to place each character into tiers, and I think we did a good job. There haven't been recent updates, but the game is plenty built as it is with plenty of room to expand.

Last Robot Standing (by Deadron/DDT):

#2 on the ranks as I type this (though it should be #1, blasted Seika fanatics), and a fantastic game. Despite its early stages, you can have many fun experiences in this turn-based world. Four robots are on a space station, battling to control it. You can either control two of the power supplies aboard the ship to win, or get rid of the other robots. With a multitude of modules at your disposal, you make your way through the small station in order to achieve your goals. Much of the game isn't about what modules (think of them as cards) you get, but how you use them. This is one of the few games that has perks for BYOND Members, so if you have a subscription, check it out! Deadron is going to be working on multiplayer games soon, and I myself am an administrator who expects to be on a lot more, so look for me on one of the servers.

There you have it. I'll type up something else if I feel like it.

Have a nice day.

The website on BYOND that is Game Hunter's

Ever heard of DotA?

Well...it's something.