Riot Games Announces League of Legends: Dominion

[Abedeus]

Unimpressed. They've been hyping new AMAZING THING THAT WILL BLOW OUR MINDS!!11 THIS WEEK, NOT SOON, THIS WEEK!


...new game mode that is going to be imbalanced like hell and not nearly as popular as normal 5vs5, SOON, maybe in December.

Actually no. They are planning on releasing it soon. Like right after Pax.

Besides when did everyone get in there heads that the announcement was the only thing they were getting at? Maybe they have something in store for the next patch. Who knows but dont be so pessimistic.

Glad you used that word.

Magma Chamber, soon! More bans, soon! Replays, soon! Spectator, soon!

...Content, soon.

 

[default]

In that last pic Garen is about to get ganked by Nocturne :3

Actually, Garen would probably win...

 

[Mr.Pandah]

I don't want to spark up any unnecessary debate or derail the topic, but how come you guys only ever report on League of Legends news? I mean, Heroes of Newerth went free to play a few days ago (which is a pretty big deal, I think) and you guys didn't even throw it a mention.

I even submit one of those letter things to tell you guys about it, I figured it was worthy enough news. A new game mode is wicked news but the game's rival going free to play isn't? I smell fanboyism afoot at the Escapist office!

And yes as you can tell by my avatar, I am infact, a butthurt fanboy. I'll save you the trouble of humiliating me for it and openly admit my freaky fanaticism to the game I love.

Gonna have to agree with him on this one. HoN (in my opinion) is the far superior game. There is so much stupid stuff in LoL that it baffles me that people continue to play it.

Thats just my opinion, but as a news source...you guys should show a little less bias and actually report on competitors too...

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Maybe with some kind of interesting mechanic of "pleasing the crowd" with bonuses on last hitting other champions.

Hm. I like where you're going with that, actually. Something like +X gold per nearby champion when landing a killing blow?

Give them some sort of energy mechanic similar to fury that charges when they perform special attacks and charges more quickly when surrounded by creeps/other champions. This "Hype" Resource could then be spent on empowered special attacks or an ult ala Renekton and fury.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Can't wait for the mode to be available for the low low cost of 1000 RP...or 20,000 IP.

Sigh...ignore my jaded attitude. It's been one of those days.

 

[Frozengale]

So it's basically Conquest from Bloodline Champions.... almost to a T.

Riot... I used to believe in you.. but the past year or so has been an endless stream of "I am dissapoint" moments.

Oh well, maybe it will be better then I think.

 

[Frozengale]

I don't want to spark up any unnecessary debate or derail the topic, but how come you guys only ever report on League of Legends news? I mean, Heroes of Newerth went free to play a few days ago (which is a pretty big deal, I think) and you guys didn't even throw it a mention.

I even submit one of those letter things to tell you guys about it, I figured it was worthy enough news. A new game mode is wicked news but the game's rival going free to play isn't? I smell fanboyism afoot at the Escapist office!

And yes as you can tell by my avatar, I am infact, a butthurt fanboy. I'll save you the trouble of humiliating me for it and openly admit my freaky fanaticism to the game I love.

Gonna have to agree with him on this one. HoN (in my opinion) is the far superior game. There is so much stupid stuff in LoL that it baffles me that people continue to play it.

Thats just my opinion, but as a news source...you guys should show a little less bias and actually report on competitors too...

Not exactly my point. I'm not arguing as to whether one game is better or not, they appeal to different crowds.

What I am annoyed about, however, is the fact the Escapist seems to deliberately avoid reporting news on Heroes of Newerth. Not one single piece of news on HoN, not even one.

They give us some bullshit news about a pony robot that can move two steps forward and has an Axe deoderant can and a lighter taped to its mouth, but they don't want to report on the game they keep praising's biggest competitor?

I'm not one to assume conspiracy, but something stinks here. And some kind of explanation would be nice.


I mean the game has gone FREE TO PLAY for christ's sake. You've certainly given us news reports on some random, obscure indie game that has gone F2P. If that ain't some sort of news, I'm a gentleman hippopotamus.

yeah I'm confused about this as well. I don't really care for HoN, but it is a big deal. They should at least give mention to it. They should have an article that talks about HoN, BLC, and LoL... possibly even Rise of Immortals... but that is the worst DoTA clone I have seen yet so probably doesn't need to be mentioned.

 

[zajohnson]

YUS! Awesomeness... now to work on mastering Leona and Tryn some more...

 

[Arcanist]

Is it 5v5 or 3v3?

 

[Nayr]

This looks really cool. I'm so excited, however I feel in this type of game tanky dps will rule everything. Something sustainable enough to hold bases and do enough damage to scare off oponents.

I'm glad to see a new game type, I was really hoping for some type of like big team like 8v8 and like 4 lanes. Something crazy. Then again I'm like the only one who would have wanted that haha.

 

[Slycne]

Is it 5v5 or 3v3?

It's 5v5.

 

[Uszi]

OT: Sounds like they got some Battlefield in my LoL. I am ok with this.

A bit like Battlefield, also reminds me of Star Wars Battlefront, since it looks like minions will spawn from control points and march to try and take the other control points.

So that's why they canned Magma Chamber (the previously announced map)! Can't say I mind; Magma Chamber was looking like a regular 5v5 map, this is something fresh.

Having followed Magma Chamber [http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Magma_Chamber], I knew in advanced that I never, ever wanted to play it. They were touting an extra huge map as a good thing, but that makes roaming less effective and split pushing more effective, which sounds completely lame to me. I failed to see how it could possibly be more fun than the regular map. So, I'm glad. Ganking and 5v5 battles are more fun than split pushing and needing to cover huge distances.

I'm just wondering what the starting levels/gold are. It surely opens up some new builds and such. I'm guessing regen stats will be less important since there'll be no opening laning phase. Also, Doran's spam (cheap efficient items that don't build into anything) will probably be prevalent, but then again, it already is.

What I want to know is: Will there be lanes? Will there be minions? Will there be jungling? What are the starting level/gold values?

IGN has an interview:


Start at level 3.

There are "lanes" in the sense that the 5 control points are positioned in a circular lane, with paths through the middle of the map.

There are minions (you see them push out from control points in the trailer).

There is no jungling (they say this specifically).

Starting gold isn't specified.

 

[Uszi]

I don't want to spark up any unnecessary debate or derail the topic, but how come you guys only ever report on League of Legends news? I mean, Heroes of Newerth went free to play a few days ago (which is a pretty big deal, I think) and you guys didn't even throw it a mention.

I even submit one of those letter things to tell you guys about it, I figured it was worthy enough news. A new game mode is wicked news but the game's rival going free to play isn't? I smell fanboyism afoot at the Escapist office!

And yes as you can tell by my avatar, I am infact, a butthurt fanboy. I'll save you the trouble of humiliating me for it and openly admit my freaky fanaticism to the game I love.

Gonna have to agree with him on this one. HoN (in my opinion) is the far superior game. There is so much stupid stuff in LoL that it baffles me that people continue to play it.

Thats just my opinion, but as a news source...you guys should show a little less bias and actually report on competitors too...

Not exactly my point. I'm not arguing as to whether one game is better or not, they appeal to different crowds.

What I am annoyed about, however, is the fact the Escapist seems to deliberately avoid reporting news on Heroes of Newerth. Not one single piece of news on HoN, not even one.

They give us some bullshit news about a pony robot that can move two steps forward and has an Axe deoderant can and a lighter taped to its mouth, but they don't want to report on the game they keep praising's biggest competitor?

I'm not one to assume conspiracy, but something stinks here. And some kind of explanation would be nice.


I mean the game has gone FREE TO PLAY for christ's sake. You've certainly given us news reports on some random, obscure indie game that has gone F2P. If that ain't some sort of news, I'm a gentleman hippopotamus.

yeah I'm confused about this as well. I don't really care for HoN, but it is a big deal. They should at least give mention to it. They should have an article that talks about HoN, BLC, and LoL... possibly even Rise of Immortals... but that is the worst DoTA clone I have seen yet so probably doesn't need to be mentioned.

Because HoN has a much smaller player base. At any given time, for every 1 person [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes_of_Newerth#Reception] playing HoN there are 10 people [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Legends#Reception] playing LoL.

Which is why, I think, that LoL is getting quite a bit more press these days.


And..... Maybe some of the people who are covering the games like LoL more than HoN. LoL is more immediately accessible, and their whole design philosophy [http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=293417] of avoiding "anti-fun" moves like Bloodseeker/Blood Hunter's Rupture/Hemorrhage make the game less punishing for the noobs.

 

[chaos order]

im actually thinking of jumping to hon since it went f2p. i was in the beta and i loved it. i just prefer the heroes in HON than in LOL, but the community in HON is complete shit. so i hope going f2p will bring in less assholes who take the game sooo seriously

 

[KCL]

Which is why, I think, that LoL is getting quite a bit more press these days.

The only place LoL gets more "press" is here. And calling it "press" is a bit off, since The Escapist is just a glorified content aggregator.

And..... Maybe some of the people who are covering the games like LoL more than HoN. LoL is more immediately accessible, and their whole design philosophy [http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=293417] of avoiding "anti-fun" moves like Bloodseeker/Blood Hunter's Rupture/Hemorrhage make the game less punishing for the noobs.

The good parts of that post are all Cadwell regurgitating principles developed by WC3 modders a decade ago. The bad parts are some of the worst AoS design philosophies I've ever read, which isn't surprising since he and the rest of Riot, minus Steve Feak, are Johnny-come-latelies to AoS design.

Fact is, LoL and HoN are both pretty crappy. Both are money grabs from companies looking to cash in on the AoS craze. Both cleave too closely to DotA's tired formulas, though LoL at least eliminates denying. Both suffer from wretched character design and poorly crafted fluff. Etc.