Frenetic Pony

HOTS... no the other HOTS. The Lords Management one damn it!

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I've only been playing co-op (Usually when playing with someone new) or quick match, and the quality of those games varies a lot. I haven't played Hero League yet, but from what I hear from my friend, people there take the game very seriously and there is a lot more strategy involved. Unfortunately you do have to play quite a lot before you can reach Hero League, but that ensures that only experienced and serious players are playing it.

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The beta appears to be open now. I'm having a blast with it. DOTA and LOL had too much learning curve and toxicity for me to get into. I really appreciate the lack of items, they felt more like I had to memorize a bunch of precalculated builds rather than making interesting strategic choices in the moment. Team xp I think opens up some possibility for interesting Lords- either to ignore or focus on lanes. The Lost Vikings for instance are all about splitting up to soak all three lanes letting the rest of your team focus on map objectives.

 

ifthen#1122 if anyone needs a little more Uther in their life. Having a reasonable group you can make plans with makes a huge difference.

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So I finally played some Hero League and I had a pretty good time. If you're level 30 and have 10+ heroes, I think it's much better than playing quickmatch. I'm close to level 40 now so I have been toying with the idea of making a team. Are there others here who are level 40 or close to it?

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I want to keep coming back because of the unlocks happening all the damn time but that's a garbage reason to keep playing a game. Is there some level of strategy I'm just not seeing at all?

 

My problem as well. You just need to secure map objectives and the game seems to snowball in your favour, which feels a bit simplistic (And frustrating to be on the losing end of). Which would be okay if it made the players more chill, but they still get all grouchy. Although since I've not played all that long I am probably missing a ton of deeper strategy this game has going on.

 

I still like playing the game though, but that might be down to Blizzard's skill at making buttons that are fun to press.

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My problem with this (aside from it not being as interesting as DOTA once you get over the initial learning curve) is that solo queue is just not fun at all. The lack of any way for an individual to snowball in the game means that if your team is kinda unfocused there isn't anything you can do to turn things around, and that's incredibly frustrating.

 

Also the community seems just as toxic to me as DOTA and LOL's, so it isn't really better on that front either.

 

Playing with friends definitely makes it a much better experience, but for my group of friends it is difficult to coordinate playing a game that isn't on Steam, and everyone else I know is kind of lukewarm on it, so I don't see myself playing it very much.

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The community can be pretty toxic; sure you get people saying horrible shite or trolling using abilities. But I find the best part of the game is when you group with mates. I've been jamming this game with my partner and a friend. We're currently talking about getting another one or two people and forming a proper team :D

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An interesting thing is indeed that it's virtually impossible to put a game on your back the way you can in the more individual-based lomas.

On the flipside, if you're doing well individually, those resources (exp) are now not all concentrated in one fragile dude, but spread over the entire team. So it's like, is one superfed hero stronger than an entire team that's 2 levels up ebcause of your good play?

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Haha, had a double team-wipe last night. First time this ever happened to me in any Lords Management. Fortunately we were quite ahead so despite the enemy team respawning faster, we still won the game.

 

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I've given this thing what I feel is a good college try, as someone who plays a lot of League, and in the past put several hundred hours into DotA 2.

 

I feel like I want to write an essay about all the clear misunderstandings of game design present in the Lords Management genre, which HotS exacerbates, without ever actually making the game interesting in a long term capacity. I know that sounds harsh, but it's kind of meant to be. I was really hoping this would take the direction where they attempted to simplify different aspects of the genre in an attempt to move it forward. Instead it just kinda feels like a neutered, overly cautious experience with absolutely no desire to leave a strong impression.

 

Like they're more afraid of offending people than being memorable at all.

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I think the share leveling kills the game for me. I don't get the same thrill of doing well in other LOMAs since my contributions just get thrown into a big nebulous pot without clear progression. Don't miss items, and the map objectives are generally interesting. Overall speed of the game is stuck in first gear, but I can deal with that if I had individual leveling.

Instead I'll still with assault mode in Smite for my quick fix.

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Man, I really am digging this game, because it is more even in leveling than dota is it is really all about big team fights all the time which is nice. I wish there was a bit more complexity, maybe a small list of items? Maybe just add wards that maybe spawn on a timer back at your base? I do like that there is so much variety to character builds.

 

I have noticed in the newb tier there are people probably playing with friends who will just group up at a lane and will refuse to help me even if my lane has 2+ people and I am a squishy support. My only real job is then to slow down their path of destruction enough  and hope the other lanes have more success. 

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Play around with the active talents. You'll find something like wards there too.

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I like this! Just tried the tutorials of both this and Dota 2 and I HOTS definitely felt more like something I would play a little bit of. Still haven't braved anything but practice against bots, but I'll try it out in the weekend when the kids are away and I can shout and swear and whatnot.

 

I think not having a selection of 100s of heroes and 100s of items from the get go sort of helps HOTS feel more managable for me. The talent thing makes this more like something like Awesomenauts, which I really liked. I'm not sure how I feel about the map-specific goals, they seem like a distraction more than something actually fun, but blasting through a base with the Dragon King or whatever is still a bit fun.

 

And thus I descend into the endless void of Lords Management.

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I haven't been playing a lot of HotS lately (got into LotV beta + going to Smash Bros tournaments) but yes I'm level 40! I'd be totally keen to have a Thumbs team going. Will give that Three Moves Ahead a listen. I've never actually listened to this podcast yet.

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I am super into this game. It's the first loma I've been able to play several days in a row without getting burnt out. The shorter games really help with that. The fact that a loss doesn't feel like I wasted a good chunk of my time after work is really helping me keep at it. I've even played enough to graduate to quick casting, which is something I never had the confidence to do before.

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Pfft, i've been 40 for months! (Been in since the alpha).

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I got in with the alpha also but after so many level resets I'm back down really low. I need to level it up so I can get that sweet WoW pet though...

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I've been enjoying this quite a lot now more of my friends play it. I've messed around with the game on and off since alpha but it didn't really draw me in until a few weeks ago. It helps too that after my partner and I introduced an ex team mate to this game he went all out and got super into the competitive side of it and his infectious enthusiasm has been drawing me back in.

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I've now played more Hots than any other Lords Management.  The short games really help take the sting out of all the faults.  Just about ready to jump into Hero League, though I can only play maybe 3 heroes competently.  

 

I find I'm way less annoyed by the free-to-play stuff than I expected.  My inclination is just to play the same hero over and over again regardless!  

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I really like that they are experimenting with the genre.  It really is a unique experience in a genre with a bunch of dota clones.  Personally, I didn't enjoy what I played very much, but I am glad it is going after a niche that isn't already well covered by LoL and Dota.

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Can any thumbs recommend a good site for builds for Hots? it was fairly easy to find out where to look with more established lords management games but idk where to go for Hots since its kinda the new guy.

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tnx for that tip supasheep, i wasn't sure if any of the dota sites would have a hots spinof but so far heroesfire has been really usefull. Just passed lvl16 and having a lot of fun learning a hero vs the ai and then jumping into a quick match

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Anyone interested in getting some games in this morning? (Quick match; I'm still only level 28) I've got the next few hours free, (flex day, baby) and I hate queuing for this game solo. Bnet ID is cakedotavi#1406

 

 

Can any thumbs recommend a good site for builds for Hots? it was fairly easy to find out where to look with more established lords management games but idk where to go for Hots since its kinda the new guy.

 

Ten Ton Hammer has some decent guides linked from their tier list. The competitive tier list is here, and the quick match tier list is here. (They split the lists since some heroes are more/less powerful when you have a team that is actually working together)

 

The builds they link to from each list are the same though. Only the tier/order of the heroes changes between the two links. 

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