This forum is in permanent archive mode. Our new active community can be found here.

GeekNights Tuesday - Heroes of the Storm: Initial Thoughts

Tonight on GeekNights, we bring to you our initial thoughts on Blizzard's not-a-MOBA-we-swear-to-god Heroes of the Storm. It is to MOBAs what Team Fortress 2 is to... well... Team Fortress games (TF, MegaTF, Weapons Factors, TFC, etc...). In other news, Rym tried out an Escape the Room for some real-life Layton, and the Star Wars pod can be yours for a token $100,000.

After a brief outage, the main GeekNights Feed is now back up on iTunes for your listening pleasure. And in case you didn't know, we have many other options for subscription, including a feed of random old episodes from our ten year 100+ episode run!

Download MP3
Source Link
«1

Comments

  • Kinda sounds like you guys just want to make real-life Saw.
  • How about a MOBA-RTS?

    A MOBA with a commander (natural selection stylee). Commander handles; gold, upgrades, creeps, buildings and orders.

    Shitty player? Commander can request a sub from matchmaking.
  • If the commander is handling all those decisions, then what are the players doing?
  • Rym said:

    If the commander is handling all those decisions, then what are the players doing?

    Well, I figure the same thing that the rest of the team are doing in NS, trying to carry out said orders.
  • Churba said:

    Rym said:

    If the commander is handling all those decisions, then what are the players doing?

    Well, I figure the same thing that the rest of the team are doing in NS, trying to carry out said orders.
    But it's a MOBA. There aren't many things to do except converge/push, run, or farm.

  • Rym said:

    Churba said:

    Rym said:

    If the commander is handling all those decisions, then what are the players doing?

    Well, I figure the same thing that the rest of the team are doing in NS, trying to carry out said orders.
    But it's a MOBA. There aren't many things to do except converge/push, run, or farm.
    True. I can't really tell you how it would be implemented, I don't know much about MOBAs. Though, I'd suggest that it would be more about feeding information to the team and coordinating, rather than explicit orders. Kinda getting rid of the "Why the fuck didn't you ward" question, by having someone who can explicitly tell a particular person to ward, shit like that.
  • edited May 2015
    Churba said:

    Rym said:

    Churba said:

    Rym said:

    If the commander is handling all those decisions, then what are the players doing?

    Well, I figure the same thing that the rest of the team are doing in NS, trying to carry out said orders.
    But it's a MOBA. There aren't many things to do except converge/push, run, or farm.
    True. I can't really tell you how it would be implemented, I don't know much about MOBAs. Though, I'd suggest that it would be more about feeding information to the team and coordinating, rather than explicit orders. Kinda getting rid of the "Why the fuck didn't you ward" question, by having someone who can explicitly tell a particular person to ward, shit like that.
    Now you're dismantling one of the things that MOBAs do that is actually good. That is you have to have five players who make individual strategic decisions, but have to harmonize with the other players for success. It's almost like Hanabi in that way.

    If just one person makes the strategic decisions, the other players become laborers. They are only good for their skill at clicking and following instructions.
    Post edited by Apreche on
  • edited May 2015
    In a board game, that sounds great. In an online game like MOBAs, that actually sounds fucking awful, and only deepens my profound disinterest and dislike of basically every game in the genre.

    I don't know about you, but I've seen people in MOBAs - everybody knows what the rest of the team should be doing in response to how they play. Outside of professional play this inevitably results in exactly twenty different ideas of what the other people should be doing, and a complete fucking mess as everybody plays as if the other people on the team are mind-readers, and then get very shouty when they're not. Fuck that. If I wanted to be screamed at and insulted for no reason by random idiots, I'd go to the local nightclub district after closing time and try to line up for a taxi, at least that way I can have a pint beforehand.

    Not even touching the whole "clicking and following instructions" thing which is so absurd of a statement I can only assume you're taking the piss. Though I can tell you that from now on, I'm referring to NS and NS2 as being nothing more than just clicking skill and following instructions just to annoy you.
    Post edited by Churba on
  • What y'all really need to do is play a MOBA with four friends on a skype chat. That way you can all talk to one another about the decisions you are making as well as absolutely toast whoever you are playing against. When you play as a social thing, all the stupid meta bullshit becomes conversation pieces as you steamroll the enemy team.

    "Hey dude I'm thinking of building bork to deal with this mundo."

    "naw dude aatrox got it, grab freezyhammer we need the cc."

    "okay i'm going to snare... now. go in go in!"

    Social League feels a lot like CS:Go does, once you add the voicechat. Same kind of weirdass meta on what to buy and who goes where, same people yelling at you for being a scrub which is why you don't play pubs. Cept CS is dominated entirely by clickspeed and if you weren't born with the reflexes then you are just helpless no matter what you do, whereas a person can actually learn a moba and do smart things.

    The people who yell endlessly about the meta in mobas are idiots looking for an excuse to spread blame around, because you can get away with a lot of weird shit if you have a clever plan. Our group has this whole thing we do of doing insane metabreaking comps in League and consistently getting away with it. "I'm taking X and I'm going to build whatever." is a something of a motto for us.

    (One of our favourite lanes is taking two tanky bruiser assholes, Garen and Darius, to the bot lane, traditionally populated with squishy ranged guys and their equally squishy supports, and both taking the starting item that shares gold and a heal when you execute minions with it. Outside of a few wildcards lanes, we basically turn into a steamroller of regenerating health and murder that pushes the other guys under their tower and freely takes all the last hits forever. It's p great playing a duo lane where we both outfarm the solo carry we're facing.)
  • edited May 2015
    Rym said:

    If the commander is handling all those decisions, then what are the players doing?

    Execution. What if execution was literally just street fighter controls. lol I don't know.



    BTW, just got back from watching Mad Max.

    It was good. (⊙ω⊙) In the paraphrased words of Rym "best action film since the Matrix".

    Not exactly the best complement though. It's like finally, something done well. However I can understand why some people, even myself, weren't completely satisfied or didn't like it. Was mostly monotonal. It's one long car chase sequence from start to end. It's strength and weakness.

    The action was full of adrenaline and lots of subtleties, if you blink you'd probably miss why that guy now isn't inside the vehicle. Was like watching a kung fu fight with cars (awesome).

    With the action being so long and not wanting to blink, it's almost draining to watch. When the action calms down, it's like... aww.. I can rest my poor eyes for a minute before we start again.

    Kind of why the ending wasn't too satisfying. Was more of a relief than anything else. Wanted more from it, but I can't say what. The aesthetics and all was great. I have few complaints here and there, but I definitely recommend to all, to watch.

    Really makes me wish it was Fist of the North Star, then we could get some omae wa mo shindeiru too.
    Post edited by Dazzle369 on
  • Dazzle369 said:

    Rym said:

    If the commander is handling all those decisions, then what are the players doing?

    Execution
    But if you streamline the MOBA gameplay part, there is little to do on the execution side either.

  • What if there's a pot limit. Limited amount of gold in the game. You either steal the gold from towers or players by killing and destroying.

    You can rebuild be sacrificing coin, but you need coin for upgrades. Make the game flip flop more, which may give incentive for winning faster/ surviving/ sharing coin with teammates.
  • edited May 2015
    Rym said:

    Churba said:

    Rym said:

    If the commander is handling all those decisions, then what are the players doing?

    Well, I figure the same thing that the rest of the team are doing in NS, trying to carry out said orders.
    But it's a MOBA. [...]
    Like NS? Or is that no longer a multiplayer game played online where you battle another team in an arena? Or like Counterstrike? Or TFC? Or Tribes? Or Quake? Or Garry's Mod? Or Goldeneye Multiplayer?

    The original mod went on to kickstart the genre that Dota 2 developer Valve now calls MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena), and League of Legends developer Riot calls ARTS (action real-time strategy)

    GN: We usually call it an "action RTS", just because that seems to make a lot of sense to customers. If you say that, they have a pretty good idea what you're talking about. I don't even know what MOBA stands for.

    Because marketing terms from one company as genre makes perfect sense even if they describe almost every single opposing multiplayer game under the sun, as opposed to, say, an acronym based upon the roots of the genre it was initially based upon that still gives a lot of information about the generic aspects of the game giving people some clue as to what to expect.
    Post edited by Not nine on
  • Well, I found the hero I'm good with. It's Valla, the crossbow lady. She really suits my natural playstyle, at least in pub games at my low skill level. I choose the talents that stack up to make her basic attack ridiculously strong. Then I come in behind the tank and ATTACK ONLY ONE. Enemy heroes die surprisingly fast. Getting tons of kills, even early ones.

    She also has this great special move for running away. Thanks to that I can escape all those situations where you have a speck of health left and the enemy is hunting you down for that last shot. I'm dying maybe once or twice a game whereas otherwise I would be dying at least 5-10 times. It's also great for the opposite situation. the enemy runs with a speck of health left. I just catch right up and one shot puts them away.

    Also, since the basic attack stacks up she's also useful for defense, getting objectives, getting mercs, destroying structures, just about everything else.

    These games get a lot more fun when you find a hero you feel like you can play well, even if you still suck.
  • Apreche said:

    [Winning is] a lot more fun[...]

    WHO KNEW.
  • Not nine said:

    Apreche said:

    [Winning is] a lot more fun[...]

    WHO KNEW.
    It's more fun even when you lose, because you still feel like you accomplish something.
  • Not nine said:

    Apreche said:

    [Winning is] a lot more fun[...]

    WHO KNEW.
    Losing should be just as fun...


  • Apreche said:

    These games get a lot more fun when you find a hero you feel like you can play well, even if you still suck.

    Counter Strike is similar. Can't click on guys' heads? Find a hiding spot in one site you can camp. Give your teammates intel. Surprise the bad guys and shoot them in the back after they run by you.
    Rym said:

    Losing should be just as fun

    I think that's too strong. It can be fun. I think in the context of a competitive, 2-player (or team) game, winning should be funner.
  • edited May 2015
    Rym said:

    Not nine said:

    Apreche said:

    [Winning is] a lot more fun[...]

    WHO KNEW.
    Losing should be just as fun...
    It is. Teach Preachy. ;)

    EDIT: Fucking appended newlines for no good reason every time.
    Post edited by Not nine on
  • 100% this game will boild down to being all mechanical skill based.

    Also this type of game where you're "told what to do" with timed team objectives exist as mini / sub games / side maps in League of Legends.

    All the experiences I heard on the podcast just sounded like "I played a MOBA and didn't throw my computer out the window after the first game". Nothing really new other than streamlining it to the point where the only thing that needs to be improved is individual clicking skill and team communication (just like every MOBA I guess).

    Anyway I'll see how it goes, I'm in the weird position of being able to see the target audience try it out and accept or reject it.
  • There's a feed with *every* GN episode?
  • Starfox said:

    There's a feed with *every* GN episode?

    I thought there was, but I guess there isn't.
  • MrPeriod said:
    This would be the best with Sonic the Hedgehog!
  • Apreche said:

    Starfox said:

    There's a feed with *every* GN episode?

    I thought there was, but I guess there isn't.
    It's unofficial and doesn't have recent stuff.
  • That Mario Fury Road video is amazingly subtle. Also I'm sooooo glad I didn't see any trailers for Mad Max before watching it.
  • The Mad Max trailer is what got me interested in the film at all. Unlike most trailers, it looked like what the film looked like. Wasn't hyped up, it was just hype!
  • All I knew about Fury Road before I saw it was:

    1. MRAs were mad about it for some reason.
    2. It was a Mad Max movie
    3. "The entire movie is one giant car chase"
    4. George Miller spent years trying to build custom cameras to film it in 3D

    That was enough. I didn't even see the trailer.
  • You don't need to know anything, really. It's just an awesome action movie. Do you like good action movies? Great, you will enjoy Mad Max Fury Road.
  • You don't need to know anything, really. It's just an awesome action movie. Do you like good action movies? Great, you will enjoy Mad Max Fury Road.

    Also with the caveat, if you have anxiety about car crashes this is not a movie for you ^_^
  • You don't need to know anything, really. It's just an awesome action movie. Do you like good action movies? Great, you will enjoy Mad Max Fury Road.

    You 100% should judge a book by it's cover (trailer). Most modern films aren't worth your time at the cinema.
Sign In or Register to comment.