Draginol

Thats awesome, I've played DotA a bunch, and I've always loved it, so it's cool to hear where there inspiration came from.

Having not played DotA, this explains a lot.

The basic idea of DotA for those who haven't played is pretty simple. As said, there are two opposing teams of up to 5 players each. Both teams have a base at opposing corners of the map with 3 lanes exiting along the two sides of the map and the middle. 6 "unit" buildings (two per lane) serve as protection for the main objective, the World Tree (for Sentinels) or the Frozen Throne (for the Scourge). Marring passage to destroy these unit buildings and eventually the goal are 3 towers per lane, and wave after wave of minor enemies rushing to their eventual demise, or victory, at the other end of the map along each lane.

The central focus of the map is to help your waves of allies (henceforth named creeps) push towards the enemy base, through all three towers on a lane (you can destroy all 9 towers if you like), destroy the unit buildings on that lane (which give your creeps on that lane a power boost), and then take out the World Tree or Frozen Throne. It's a simple premise, but the practice of a game is rarely as simple. Initially every hero starts at level 1 and has a modest stipend of gold to buy gear with (gear will improve your attributes, provide modest healing, or other combat advantages). You gain levels by killing enemy creeps, and enemy heroes. Primarily your skills are focused on dealing with enemy heroes or aiding allies, though at times skills can have other purposes*.

The exciting portion of DotA's game play comes from the player versus player aspect. While your objective is always to progress towards the enemy base, rest assured they're after the same thing, so much of the game is spent actually beating each other up rather than helping the creeps all that much. With carefully laid out terrain blocking movement and sight, it's possible to lead ambushes on enemy heroes progressing into your territory, or even as you progress into theirs. Chases can lead through these wending passes and often times amazing victories are just as common as narrow escapes. For more info I direct you to Youtube. As grainy as those videos are, you'll see many videos on Pudge, the Goblin Techies, and Axe describing vicious and decisive victories.

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It's nice to hear that Demigod won't be just a DotA clone. I had my suspicions that there would be something more, but I'm glad it's confirmed. Now I'm eager to see what you guys have in store for us.




* Some attack skills like Rexxar, the Beast Master's Wild Axes can remove trees from the map while damaging enemies they come in contact with in their travels, creating new passages to attack enemies. Other skills like Furion, the Prophet's Sprout skill will restrict enemy movement for several seconds. Some skills will also charm units into following you, like Chen, the Holy Knight's Persuasion skill which allows him to control up to 3 creeps (neutral creeps found throughout the forests of the map can be quite powerful if used properly, but even charming enemy creeps can make enemy heroes nervous in the early game)

This is great news, in that it also confirms the fact that maps may have custom game play effects in them (something I was very much hoping for)

So again, THANK YOU!

As a Dota player looking to Demigod for some new innovation on an original genre crossover, this part has me excited:

"That is, there are certain parts of the Arena that you can control that give your side significant advantages. Hence, there are multiple strategic objectives."

Questions to the Devs:

A) What are your favourite Dota Heroes?

Do any Demigods draw inspiration from these heroes?

is an incredibly clever game concept

Dota is hardly clever nor a concept. It's an old, wore down idea that is played mostly by 7 year old ADD players with no friends.

My experiance in playing dota was not a good one. I've tried on 3 separate occasions to play a game of it;
First game I was kicked in the first 10 minutes because I didn't choose the right item. Even though I was kicked, everyone left the game shortly afterwards because of how I had ruined it.

Second game I was a melee hero and I killed 2 creeps; the game was than abandoned because that's not what pros do.

Third game (and the last) I got about 20 minutes into the game before being kicked for having the lowest score.


Even trying to have fun, the game was horribly boring to me. It was predictable, nothing special.
Dota is a half decent game, but it's overplayed and overhyped.

EDIT: Also, their triggers are horrid to look at. I've seen some bad jass, but still.

I think as well that it is mainly a community thing, normal warcraft III isn't much better when it comes to this ( to be fair I noticed that its alot better than it was a few years ago at least in normal Warcraft).

having non-ranked game modes doesn't split the community, its 2 different types of experience which attracts 2 different type of players, also it isn't an either/or decision but most will play some games of both type probably.

What could split the community is having too many different ranked game modes, so we end up with 7 Teams in 7 different game modes waiting for an opponent via automatch, I would hate to see 1vs1 or 2vs2 becomes the standard ranked game mode because of this.

I can't wait to see more in regards to not just what Demigods will be available but how we are able to personalise each Demigod to our playstyle (within reason of the core design of the Demigod itself).

I can't wait to see to what extent the item system will play, and what other sorts of systems are implemented (I'm hoping for a talent tree system of sorts that lets our Demigod excel in certain areas we desire).

I have to admit that I had no idea what DotA was until one of my teenage sons explained it to me a few months ago. ????

DotA stemmed from the Aeon of Strife map which was made for StarCraft. Really nice idea, and I'm glad that the numerous guys and their predecessors made the map to what it is today.
Sounds like you're just bitter, or joined a pro or expert game. You don't get kicked out in noob/beginner/regular players' games. What makes me play it? It's not really predictable, every game is different. Here, variety is key, and how you use it to your advantage.

Good for you, for being the bitter, bitter man like you are, while we have fun instead of "even trying to have fun"
Matter of taste I guess.

Heh, isn't this what Demigod is all about?

Agree on that. DotA is pretty addictive and fast paced game, that despite its fast pace offers surprisingly deep gameplay. When you chance on a well playing, mature enough not to abuse people, it is real plasure to play.

About Demigod now. All the information mentioned in the press releases and interviews by developers and Stardock seems very promising , BUT one thing that concerns me pretty much. I am talking about that u will have only 2 types of heroes. That doesn't seem enough to me to offer the level of customization per hero, which would delight the regular DotA player. I know that the game has a variety of other aspects that will be much deeper integrated in Demigod, than they are in DotA, but anyway take a look at DotA. The funniest part is the wide variety of heroes u can choose between, and the many different way to build up each one of them with so many items available.
That i doubt will be that good implemented in Demigod, with only 2 types of heroes.
Please surprise me, and prove me wrong:)