SquidLord

Very short response to your very long post.

I know this is beta 1 and this beta isn't about gameplay - so odd that you would post such a long response on gameplay.  That being said, the only thing I hope is changed between now and release is the actual skill needed to play this game.  So far, I just don't see how I would be any better in the game in 6 months time than I am now.

That being said this isn't a gameplay beta.

If you've never been a regular DotA player that kinda makes your opinions a bit imbalanced and perhaps inaccurate in some cases (2 hours for an 'average' DotA game is way off the mark, for example).

There are also a lot of elements in the game which are similar to DotA already, so it would be futile at this point to try and denounce its design. I, too, don't want Demigod to be exactly the same as DotA, but it really does have so many great elements to offer that shouldn't be ignored during the development of this game. These elements should be embraced and improved upon rather than dismissed.

I totally understand that you want something unique, and in my opinion the game is shaping up this way already. However, there really is no harm in researching from other sources, particularly when your main source is something as popular as DotA. GPG's focus should not be on making Demigod as different to DotA as possible, but building on the fact that there really is no commercial game out there quite like it. It's about bringing the gamestyle to the forefront and improving upon it in the way that we know GPG can.

You bitter hatred towards a game you've never played is quite amusing to me considering that your giving a more biased view than a dota player that has at least tried that game along with other and knows what each play like.

I myself play dota, I play wow, I play Strategy/Racing/FPS/RP and a huge variety of games, is suggesting things that are right in those genre's going to cause you to write a 10 page post repeating religiously over and over Demigod is not xxxx Demigod is not zzzz. It boring and you actually don't make any points to support what you want from the game.

What people are suggesting from Dota are the points that make the game interesting, and what your wanting actually has negative effects on what is being produced here, you say you don't want 10 mins to get a game really flowing, you don't want 2 hour games (which rarely if even happen in dota so maybe check your facts) well sorry but when you have a game that at launch is going to have a limited amount of maps and a limited amount of heroes, I think a hour a game is more than justified to get fufilment out of the game itself.

You make this point

Where you practically argue with yourself within one sentence, at the start your asking to not have to last hit so you don't have to concentrate and then later you want to stratergize but without tactics, well unforutantely these things are all the same, it is good tactics to do last hitting in dota, it is good strategy to last hit in dota, but its not necessity to do it to win.

I'm glad your not on the team as you would make the singular most boring game to ever grace gods green earth, thats all I have to say on this point

Now onto the points you'd like to see,

Zoom out, fairly simple way to see what is coming and as it is a regular spawn then you'll get a feel for it

Yeah I can imagine the time it takes to click 5 seperate buildings is excruciating for you but in reality when a big amount of items get implemented you'll be glad of seperate shops instead of 9923438 items per 2 "shopping malls" as you put it

Finally a point I agree with, I'd love to see a option for permanently showing health bars/ power bars of units / demigods / creeps or all of them also possibly some text on your own health/energy bars to give you a number of how much you have left.

Not sure if this is a attempt at humour or you do actually suffer from hodgekinsons disease but really your not funny so stop repeating yourself 90 times

Cannings, you really rob yourself of any credibility you might have had by being snarky.

And I would be ecstatic if Demigod were a prettier DOTA.  There's a reason DOTA is one of the most successful mods ever; there's a reason it continues to be actively played today despite the fact it runs on a 6-year-old engine.  If Stardock can improve on that model, great.  But I think the overriding focus should be on replicating the fun-factor that has kept DOTA alive all these years.

I'm sorry to intrude into your arcane discussion, but I did not know what DotA meant. Good old Wikipedia gave me the answer :

« Defense of the Ancients (often referred to as DotA) is a custom scenario for Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, based on the "Aeon of Strife" map for StarCraft. The objective of the scenario is to destroy the opponents' "Ancient". The two teams' ancients are heavily guarded structures at opposing corners of the map. Players use powerful units known as heroes, and are assisted by allied heroes and AI-controlled fighters called "creeps". As in role-playing games, players level up their hero and use gold to buy equipment during the mission. »

I post this Wiki quote for the benefit of other forum users who would not know what this thread's main topic was refering to.

I might reinstall WarCraft 3 and the DotA mod just to see what you guys are talking about ... but university classes have restarted : Demigod will have to suffice.

First, its terrible form to bash the game mechanics of DotA when you say, "I am not now nor have I ever been a DotA player"

So you dont play it, but you feel qualified to talk about it? Not sure I get that.

Too many terrible points to do a point-counterpoint for each one, but the biggest one is this:

So, youre saying that there arent enough DotA players to support a commercial game? I wonder why that is. Could it be because since DotA is a free game, theres never been any marketing for DotA, or any hype for DotA, and no shelf space in stores so that the casual person could pick it up and buy it? In fact, the only way anybody could ever learn about DotA was by word-of-mouth or by happening to own Warcraft 3 and seeing the tons of custom games up on Battle.net. And yet, despite all this, every new version of DotA still gets hundreds of thousands of downloads within the first few days of being released.

Now, imagine that same game model but made by a commerical company, with marketing, hype, a polished release, a good dev team, and a spot on store shelves. That would be a sight to see and a hell of a commercial success.

The fact that somebody hasnt exploited the success of DotA by now is just shocking. I say its about time. Lets do this.

Demigod is trying to become a premier eSport and it has a game style very close to DOTA.  There is a lot to be learnt from people who have played DOTA for 2+ years.

Replicating the fun-factor: yes.

Replicating the entire bloody game: no.

DotA doesn't have a monopoly on fun gameplay in this subgenre, and there should be variety. Different styles for different people.

Thanks  . There is definitely a middle ground between slavish copy and losing all the fun, and I hope demigod plants itself firmly in said middle ground.

I say amen to the OP. Demigod definitely is not DotA. It's the same genre, certainly, but does that mean all First person shooters should all have the same guns or similar maps? Should every racing game copy Need for Speed and be just street racing and use the same cars? should every puzzle game be like tetris? I think you guys get my point. Something different is nice. Then you've got two DIFFERENT games to play!