Henroid

Gamasutra asks an important question. Is YouTube killing the traditional games press?

PS Sniper with Desolator single-handedly turns matches around. Was just now playing him with this team: Sniper, Lich, Ogre Mage, Abaddon, Brewmaster vs. Sand King, Lion, Wraith King, Warlock, Anti-Mage We should've lost. We held up in the start but the mid-game got super sour super-fast. But as soon as that Desolator popped up we had an easier time melting them down, and the momentum shifted. It took a lot of effort but it was my first win in a while. Also decided I like Manta Style on Sniper, I used to not get it on him.

Okay fine I played more rounds. For the record I don't object to 50/50 win/loss ratios. I object to what the cause for losing is.

Don't worry, I'm taking someone's advice and am uninstalling because I haven't won a match in a week and damn near all of them have been against 4-person pre-made groups. The match making system is fucking stupid and lame for not taking that into consideration. 5 randomly thrown together people are less likely to coordinate / listen to one another than a group of 3, 4, or 5 people. They have the inherent advantage. Sick of this shit. Anyway my crazy "I dunno how to really play the game" posts won't happen anymore. gg

Lycan jungling kinda puts him at his best though. There's a steady flow of income and survivability from the start of the match. LC jungling is not as good as Lycan. And when LC hits level 6 she should be out trying to get kills for her ult.

Guides for Legion Commander need to update, because the whole "jungling" thing is false as shit and was based on a bug that was fixed back in January. LC can "jungle" in the same sense that any lord can jungle - get to like level 10 and you can take things out with little danger. I just played with someone who insisted they jungle as LC. I was Lycan, and couldn't get a word in edge wise with them. So we lost, because both of us were crippled by not being able to appropriately farm.

Reading your post I decided to bot match to see what the Lone Druid is capable of if geared up. Holy shit. I played a match a week or two ago with some friends and there was a Lone Druid; a couple of my friends dedicated themselves to shutting down LD's farm. I knew it was to prevent him from becoming strong but I didn't realize to what extent the measure helped us win 'til just now. Cripes. As for item builds, it's like gearing for two characters and is tough. You can't neglect LD himself, but Bear needs priority. Phase boots on the bear definitely works, since it can't benefit from the treads. Orb of Venom I question. Maybe at the low levels but don't keep it around. Stout and Quelling on the start on the bear also works. I'm a fan of the idea of getting a Basher, because the stun works in tandem with the vines you get on the bear. And you don't need a full out Mjolliner on the bear for attack speed because you can hit the cap easily with other means (namely the LD buff), so you get some grace on funds spent. Here's the first question to ask yourself when playing LD - Hand of Midas, to get or not? I guess that depends on if you're jungling, which is really easy on him. I personally can't stand Midas, the wait to get it is too critical I feel. All I know is when you use the item's ability, give it to LD himself, because on the bear you won't get the XP. Gotta do some swapping every couple minutes. As for Radiance, yeah, it feels like you can do yourself more of a favor going for other items. But I mean it does have a +damage component to it. A guide I read says if you can get it before 18 minutes in you can get plenty of damage in on enemy heroes through its aura.

Frankly teh "A to Z" thing is arbitrary and does the opposite of helping people to learn the game. It's frustrating. People should be getting comfortable with the lords one at a time at their own pace. I got better with this lord, then that, then that, then went back to the first to try some new things, and this all keeps steamrolling into picking up on how to play every character. My first attempt to play a support was an arbitrary decision and I chose Disruptor. Big mistake playing a hard support. But later I played some supports that were similar to other lords I'd played, and bammo, I had way more success. And from there I transition into doing better with Disruptor.

Did anyone notice during Microsoft's presentation that the Kinect wasn't mentioned at all?

Disney confirmed that the door to the Falcon fell on Harrison Ford's ankle during filming. Poor guy. 'Course, since I'm an ass,

We're all Miyamoto's children.

This is the sorta thing I'm missing out on when I play the game. Because of my current schedule in life I can't play with all my friends very often, so the planned-out combos thing is rare for me to execute on.

I can't remember where I heard it, but apparently the HoN staff themselves are toxic and perpetuate the bad shit surrounding LOMAs.

That function needs advertising then.

Let's be clear here. People are adults and have shit to do with their lives. Playing a game of Counter Strike back in the day had clear winning scenarios and rounds were brief. If you were on the losing side, you weren't punished by real world time. You were just finished. Boom. Done. When you're losing in DotA 2 beyond means of making a comeback, your time is at the mercy of the enemy team. You can't leave because the system will push you into the shit-show queue.

The problem isn't losing, the problem is being forced to sit in a losing situation for 15+ minutes lest you be punished by the system.

Some people like watching every match their favorite football team plays, and some people only like watching the playoffs. Value differences and nothing more.

People do care about those guaranteed cosmetics. Again, just because you don't care about them doesn't mean you're 'right.' Your opinions and values are true for you and nobody else. Arguing about whether or not they should care is... silly. As for the battlepoints being given out based on time spent, yep, I can't contest that. But you forget that victory also has an effect on points earned, and surrendering would allow for the game to be more easily picked up / put down. Or moved on to the next match. Spending 40 minutes in a match that you've been losing since 20 minutes in is awful; but if you can cut out of it and get into a match afterward where you're winning by the 20 minute mark, your time has been given more value already.

Give an example of what you mean. Because the tournament matches have an official means of surrendering - it's when the gg is called. None of that has changed the game's design.

You not finding value in a feature in a game doesn't mean it's a global sentiment.

There should be multiple layers of qualifiers for a forfeit vote. It shouldn't be unanimous; 4 out of 5 should do it. Requiring that 5th vote is an easy "haha trolled" moment. There should also be a timer on last time your team killed someone on the enemy team. If it's been a while, then forfeiting should be allowed. Not all teams that are in a clearly winning scenario press to win - a lot of them drag shit out to get higher scores. So that should be taken into consideration.

You folks are educated about this sorta thing: Why isn't there a freaking forfeit function in this game?

I don't remember enemies in HL1 throwing grenades at you as a reaction to you being in cover. I definitely remember them running around to get you. But they definitely reacted to your grenades.

Agreed. Stuff like that is why I love the internet.