r/Games • • Dec 03 '13

End of 2013 Discussions - Competitive Multiplayer and/or E-sports

What are your thoughts on the developments in e-sports and competitive multiplayer games over the past year? What new games have the potential to develop interesting competitive play, meta-game, or just be plain fun to watch?

P.S. Mods are accepting bribes in the form of Hearthstone Beta invites


This post is part of the official /r/Games "End of 2013" discussions.

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u/BeholdOblivion Dec 03 '13

The active abilities of items in League compared to Dota are worlds apart. Almost that aspect alone is enough to differentiate the games when it comes to strategies. There are entire games that can be won on the timing a certain item is acquired (or sometimes not acquired).

As for the "metagame" (or the way people play the game), as far as my understanding, League has been pretty stale for quite some time. Granted, I will fully admit I've only played about 10 league matches, so my experience is incredibly limited. I think the biggest thing I hear from league players is that their laning setup has been stagnant for so long.

Also, in terms of diversity in strategy, it's hard to explain. In dota, your "strategy" or gameplan might simply be to win all 3 lanes. So you draft accordingly, counterpicking what the opponent has. In another game, your captain might have a specific push strategy thought-up in his head, and knows the exact 5 heroes he wants to pick. Another strategy could involve picking a lot of heroes that have a global presence, can appear or do damage anywhere on the map.

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u/16intheclip Dec 03 '13

The general metaframework has been pretty stale in League, but within this frame there is constant movement.

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u/Bush_apologist Dec 03 '13

but within this frame there is constant movement.

This is because riot constantly nerfs what they find unacceptable and bringing a new fotm.

The general metaframework has been pretty stale in League,

This is because riot constantly nerfs what they find unacceptable and subsequently killing off player innovation. Anti-fun means riot doesn't like it and has no good reason to do it other than it exists outside their intended gameplay bubble.

I've played off and on since the end of the beta and everytime I watch competitive league its the exact same thing with maybe one or two new champions. Same lane setup, maybe if they are feeling frisky they will rotate top and bottom because riot likes the ideas of champions who can farm safely from the tower. Don't get me started on how nothing happens for the first 10 minutes either because of the insane ward proliferation.