DoTA 2 Ditches Beta Keys

[Darren716]

Man everyone thought the keys were worthless even when they actually let you access the game, now they truly are worthless. Luckily for me I never cared for DOTA so I don't have an inventory full of beta keys.

 

[teebeeohh]

Question: I can play a mean Gunner in Super Monday Night Combat, a Third Person Shooter DotA/LoL-esque game. You think I'd be any good at this? Any suggestions?

knowing how mobas work will help you a lot. and, of course, shooter reflexes help with everything
in terms of "clicking at things really fast", have you ever played any RTS?

 

[Steve the Pocket]

The official release date is whenever the Mac version comes out. I'll give them a little longer to bring it to Linux, though they're probably holding out on an official release until that version is ready for prime time anyway.

 

[KeyMaster45]

The whole point is that it's a graphical upgrade of Defense of the Ancients that also gets rid of some of the limitations of the Warcraft 3 engine, such as being able to use QWER(DF) as your ability keys. They're not knockoffs - they're exactly the same, except where copyright won't allow it. That's the point.

So then they are knockoffs in every sense of the word.

The design team actually made it a point that all hero's kept the same silhouette as they did in the original mod so that they'd be instantly recognisable, and just like in Team fortress 2, each hero has a unique silhouette and color pallate to identify them, I actually quite admire it.

Since one of the original developers of DOTA Allstars is working on DOTA2 to create a standalone of the original (which explains why DOTA2 is pretty much only DOTA in a new engine)... Why should they hide that? It is actually one of the bigger advertisements for the game.

The copyright: DOTA Allstars used characters and designs (Pandaren) that are owned by Blizzard entertainment. They got to an agreement to not use those names and designs but since it is still just a port they keep it as close as (legaly) possible.

Does the game really hinge so importantly on people still being able to recognize the units as W3 units that the DOTA2 team had to continue clinging to Blizzard's shins to have any hope of it being a success? It feels lazy, and to a lesser extent, sleazy to me that they didn't make their own distinguishable game from Blizzard's. They're not just updating a mod, they've built a game from the ground up that is no longer tied to W3. The very first thing that should have happened was ensuring that cursory glances at their characters didn't identify them as the demon hunter, blade master, ranger, brewmaster, abomination, or high elf mage units of W3; just to name a few.

They could have developed new characters and new silhouettes. I suspect their player base would have been smart enough to catch on, and that Valve has the funds to do so. That they've stuck so close with the designs as to be near miss copyright infringement on them, makes them no better than a Chinese knockoff trying to ride on the coattails of Blizzard's success.

 

[scienceguy8]

Question: I can play a mean Gunner in Super Monday Night Combat, a Third Person Shooter DotA/LoL-esque game. You think I'd be any good at this? Any suggestions?

knowing how mobas work will help you a lot. and, of course, shooter reflexes help with everything
in terms of "clicking at things really fast", have you ever played any RTS?

A couple dungeon crawlers (Torchlight, Torchlight 2, Spiral Knights), and a turn based strategy (Battle for Wesnoth). No major real time strategy experience.

 

[teebeeohh]

Question: I can play a mean Gunner in Super Monday Night Combat, a Third Person Shooter DotA/LoL-esque game. You think I'd be any good at this? Any suggestions?

knowing how mobas work will help you a lot. and, of course, shooter reflexes help with everything
in terms of "clicking at things really fast", have you ever played any RTS?

A couple dungeon crawlers (Torchlight, Torchlight 2, Spiral Knights), and a turn based strategy (Battle for Wesnoth). No major real time strategy experience.

ok, torchlight should qualify you.
if you liked SMNC you will probably have some fun here, especially since it's free. If there are restrictions to the non-key version, those things are about as rare as hats in tf2

 

[Combustion Kevin]

snippertje

well, this is where we disagree, Dota 2 was supposed to feature the very same heroes as the mod did, making them look like they did in the original is completely logical.
That said, the silhouette is often the only thing they really have in common, the anti-mage does indeed use the same dual-blades like the illidan model in WC3, but he no longer even closely resembles illidan, the same can be said for the juggernaut (no longer an orc) and the Storm Spirit (no longer a panda).


Character detail is also very important, combined with their backstory, can actually give character more of a distinct personality to them, such as the Omni-knight who is adorned with symbols of the omniscient, his god.