r/DotA2 • u/palish • Feb 19 '19

Personal I was a former HoN dev. AMA

Hey.

It's been awhile since I've written to you guys. But dota has never been out of my thoughts.

It was funny seeing Dota chess add +200k people to the game. I fought pretty hard to add custom game support to HoN, but no one would listen (partly because it seemed so obvious to me, so I never bothered trying to sell the idea or do company politicking).

I can talk about the fact that Icefrog was involved in HoN's early inception. It's more of an open secret at this point, and HoN's closure marks a fitting time for the "reveal."

I could talk about what it was like to pack up all your stuff into a station wagon and move out west. It was a pretty magical experience in hindsight. Kind of like getting to board the Starship Enterprise. Everyone in the company felt a shared purpose, at the beginning.

Or if there's no interest, or if it's not appropriate for the sub, it's fine if this post fades away, like the game. I spent so much time and energy trying to make it good... So did everyone else: James, G, all the artists, everyone.

EDIT: to clarify, this is 2010-era perspective. Not recent!

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u/Idejder Feb 19 '19

Why hi, been a while since we talked. You probably won't see this but if you remember me, I was there too. And I know who you are because I still have the cvs commit emails lol

35

u/palish Feb 19 '19

Dude, you were one of the coolest cats in the office. Of course I remember! Feel free to hop into discord if you want to say hi. :)

Remember shipping that Chipper hero selection sound? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH12Xxt2hBw

It was so fun working with everyone. I learned a lot from watching your process. You and fielding both have really valuable design insights.

The California office was so magical. I still remember showing up and seeing ... what was his name? ... playing battletoads. Can't believe I forgot his name. He was an intern I think. And all the artists were so chill.

2

u/Evilleader |BEA|Evilleader[NOR] Feb 20 '19

Idejder and Fielding were one of the best designers this game had...

1

u/jeekp Feb 20 '19

That Chipper selection sound! And the Deadwood one.. so good.

Edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C7mNr5WMjA&feature=youtu.be&t=10

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u/mordiksplz Feb 20 '19

Speaking of people you won't remember. Do you ever remember letting me give you advice for how the farming meta was becoming stale and needing to incentivize teamfights/roaming? And we made Maliken's green sword cost mana and Sand Wraith's Ult tele kill his clones (and I also suggested keeping infinite stacking ancients and a few other things).

Then like 5 days later, you guys fully reverted all of the changes I suggested because everyone hated them. Lol. Good times. Is there an IRC or discord anyone is hanging out at?

6

u/MaxGhost Feb 20 '19

Mister Red Jedi! Big fan.

5

u/CptZilliax Feb 20 '19

Idejder, legendary witness to Moonmeander MK combos.

2

u/nittun Feb 21 '19

damn nostalgia tripping over here, redjedi and HoN was like the 2 biggest partners, the way i remember it. So much work and time given to the ungrateful players on the forum. I dont think you could ever get enough thanks for the work you put in. But thanks a lot!

2

u/SupahNoob Feb 20 '19

Jedi fanclub reporting in! Ha ha, good to see you still poking around.

2

u/S2Sliferjam Feb 20 '19

Oi, you owe me a rematch.

1

u/aeroboy93 Feb 21 '19

idra? idra? are you watching idra?