It's for those who haven't played DoTA

Over the next few days, expect a flood of chatter from DoTA/Tower-push map WC3 players. As one of those, and having followed and pre-ordered Demigod before the beta, allow me to pre-empt some of what you're going to hear. 

You are going to get these comparisons because Demigod is the first attempt to monetise a genre that has previously only existed in user-created custom maps. Similar to the attempts to monetise the tower-defense genre with games like Defense Grid and the upcoming title Plants vs Zombies, Demigod is taking ideas that already exist and attempting to turn them into a commercial title. Unfortunately, while Defense Grid and Plants vs Zombies offer a sufficiently different experience to warrant the purchase price, Demigod, upon initial impressions, appears to offer nothing new to existing fans of the genre. 

Demigod is not going to pull in DoTA players. It offers less of what DoTA players enjoy and does not address any of the issues that annoy DoTA players. The selection of heroes is far less and while the skill trees offer a little more variety than you would find for DoTA heroes, they are padded with Skill I, Skill II, Skill III etc, linear progression. Demigod offers less items, a more linear and less refined/interesting system of getting them and the items themselves are also more generic and less interesting. The lack of neutral creeps and the advanced mechanics of DoTA and similar maps reduces the amount of strategy involved, as well as lowers the potential skill ceiling for tournament-level play. While the variety of maps is nice, some of them obviously require far less strategy than others. The open-plane 3v3 map for instance is nothing more than a zerg and I see very little potential for strategy or even skillful micro there. 

I could go on and on, but the point is simple. I understand that GPG have attempted to grab a slice of an emerging genre. That is a sound business strategy and Demigod will no doubt, give some validity to 'Multiplayer Arena Battle Games'. It is accessible and has a shallow learning curve, it is ideal for new players to the genre, who do not have experience with DoTA and similar pushmaps. As it stands though, for the existing playerbase of these type of games, if GPG were looking to take a slice of that particular pie, Demigod will not succeed in doing so. It is too simplistic, too similar and too shallow in all respects and while the polish and style is clearly there and is executed very well, there simply isn't anything new here for genre fans. As a genre fan, I don't think I'm going to be getting my money's worth.

21,125 views 51 replies
Reply #1 Top

Almost the same words were used to describe Galactic Civilizations versus Space Empires IV.  People who loved Space Empires did not necessarly love Galactic Civilizations or vice versa. Same will be true of Demigod vs. Dota.

 

Reply #2 Top

Sounds like all the DoTA guys are just wanting to establish we're noobs and they're Gods.

See you guys in the Pantheon.

Reply #3 Top

DoTA = Warcraft 3 circa 2002. Its a good game but most of us dont play with pixelated orcs vs human anymore. If you still have a pentium 2 and a voodoo graphics card stick with dota.

ZugZug

Reply #4 Top

I don't mean to sound too rude, but since when did a single person's opinion represent the entire PC gaming audience?

 

You're basically condemning the game and saying it will fail because it isn't a clone. The same garbage that people have been complaining about since the game was announced.

Reply #5 Top

Quoting Istari, reply 1
Almost the same words were used to describe Galactic Civilizations versus Space Empires IV.  People who loved Space Empires did not necessarly love Galactic Civilizations or vice versa. Same will be true of Demigod vs. Dota.

 

The difference being that GalCiv was another entry into the long-established 4X genre, whereas Demigod is the first attempt to monetise the push-map. There are two potential demographics you are aiming for here, those who have played DoTA and those who have not. Those who have not, who have no frame of reference, will find an enjoyable and polished, if somewhat shallow and unvaried title. Objectively, not a bad game. Those who have played DoTA, which consists of several million players, are not going to find anything in Demigod that they could not find in DoTA for free. Therein lies the problem. As a DoTA player, I am not going to get my money's worth and cannot in all good conscience, recommend it to anyone who has previously enjoyed DoTA style maps, because it offers nothing new, nor does it do anything sufficiently different to distinguish it from DoTA. Gal Civ was sufficiently different from other games in the 4X genre and might I say, did several things better than most if not all (diplomacy, morality, research to name but a few). What does Demigod have that these free push-maps do not, because you're asking genre-fans to drop $40 on something that brings nothing other than a price-tag to the genre. That's a hard pill to swallow.

 

I think we can safely disregard the overly emotional and irrational responses above as unconstructive white-knighting. This one however intrigued me.

I don't mean to sound too rude, but since when did a single person's opinion represent the entire PC gaming audience?

You're basically condemning the game and saying it will fail because it isn't a clone. The same garbage that people have been complaining about since the game was announced.

Actually I'm saying it will fail because it is a clone, not because it isn't. As explained above, you have two potential buyer demographics. DoTA players, and non-DoTA players. DoTA players aren't going to find anything to like here that they can't already get. Graphics are a tertiary concern in comparison to gameplay and Demigod offers literally nothing new in this particular genre, other than a pricetag. It's a nice introductory title to a nascent genre, but creating a game that does not appeal to the millions of genre fans, due to it's simplicity and lack of innovation, could be described as shooting oneself in the foot. Demigod will stand or fall now, not on the influx of DoTA/Push-map fans, but on it's appeal to those who have not played the genre before. That in itself is an extremely risky prospect.

Reply #6 Top

DotA, in its essence, was basically a rote repetition of tasks. When I quit, it was about last hitting your opponent's creeps, and last hitting your own creeps to deny. This is literally all there is to the beginning of the game. It's micromanagement and, yes, takes some skill, but it bored me out of my skull. It was one of the primary reasons I quit. Sure, you could jungle or pull creeps to your tower (I think they patched that out later), but in every case, interaction with your opponent was minimal. You were basically playing a PvE game.

Competive DotA was about timing a big chain of abilities, usually with a lot of AoE disable. That, or feeding a carry hero. This part was at least some fun, especially in comparison to the last hit snoozefest. But all it really was was getting a team on vent and timing abilities together. After a certain critical moment, say wiping out their team with yours, you basically won the game and the rest of it was mopping up.

And worst of all was DotA's community. Anyone who ever played it would know about it.

Will Demigod fix all of these problems? Who knows. All I know is that I'm done with DotA forever and ready to try something new.

Reply #7 Top

Quoting revlazaro, reply 2
Sounds like all the DoTA guys are just wanting to establish we're noobs and they're Gods.

See you guys in the Pantheon.

The lack of surperiority complex in the community is why I will play Demi-god over DoTA. A game is only good as it's community and in that sense DoTA is one of the worst games in existence.

Reply #8 Top

Oh well, he is right, we have to get used these kind of kids posting their gibberish.  We saw a bit of it in beta, sure there will be more over the coming month.  Hopefully the trolls will slink back to their WC mod before too long.

Reply #9 Top

Quoting Xinoxlx, reply 7

Quoting revlazaro, reply 2Sounds like all the DoTA guys are just wanting to establish we're noobs and they're Gods.

See you guys in the Pantheon.

The lack of surperiority complex in the community is why I will play Demi-god over DoTA. A game is only good as it's community and in that sense DoTA is one of the worst games in existence.

This is only true when one does not have their own community/group of friends to play with. 

The same fallacious argument could be used against Counterstrike, Warcraft 3, Starcraft etc, all of which are extremely successful and objectively good titles. The community is an optional aspect of the game, which is easily discarded in favour of better, friendlier players.

 

Oh well, he is right, we have to get used these kind of kids posting their gibberish.  We saw a bit of it in beta, sure there will be more over the coming month.  Hopefully the trolls will slink back to their WC mod before too long.

As much as I'm sure you think you're currying favour with the development team, one has to wonder why you feel the need to resort to ad hominem and white-knighting, as opposed to bringing your own, well-reasoned counter-argument to any of my points. The fact that not a single one of you has done this yet, is indictive of the subjective, defensive and rather childish attitude of some within this community, which is rather ironic and certainly hypocritical from those who condemn the DoTA community so readily.

The development team are not some fragile damsels in distress who need rescuing from the hideous trolls. They can take constructive criticism like the grown-ups they are, without fanbois embarrassing them at every turn.

Reply #10 Top

Quoting Istari, reply 1
Almost the same words were used to describe Galactic Civilizations versus Space Empires IV.  People who loved Space Empires did not necessarly love Galactic Civilizations or vice versa. Same will be true of Demigod vs. Dota.

 

 

I have to agree. 

DotA, I hate neutral creeps (hated in War3, then again I overall hated WAR3).  To me DotA is an "okay mod" one that saved WAR3 from failure.  It should be noted that I never got into DotA hard core, I played a few times and that it was fun, that's it.

Now after playing the Beta of Demigod, I'm totally hooked and can't wait to play some tonight.  Personally I like the more tower defense feel of the creeps auto attacking and starting out on one side or the other (Gives strategy in capturing the portal locations).

Reply #11 Top

Quoting Jaradakar, reply 10

DotA, I hate neutral creeps (hated in War3, then again I overall hated WAR3).  To me DotA is an "okay mod" one that saved WAR3 from failure. 

Your subjective opinion has no bearing on whether or not Warcraft 3 was an objectively good title. To somehow claim that WAR3 would have failed were it not for DoTA is an outlandish and terrible inaccurate claim with no basis in fact. Warcraft 3 was a blockbuster title with universal critical acclaim, it's success speaks for itself.

 

It is sadly, abundantly clear what the modus operandi of some of those who reside on these forums is. People who do not read the post in it's entirity, who do not understand it's context or intent, or cannot see it simply because they're too busy seeing red and typing furiously in defense of a development company on the internet. If you seriously believe that I am out to 'get' GPG and Stardock and score one for the DoTA community (of which I am not a part) then by all means, continue to post defensive, angry replies that do not address, nor counter any of the arguments made in the original post. If you wish to have a proper discussion on the matter, or genuinely believe that I am wrong and have evidence and reasoning to prove it, then I would welcome a civilised debate on the matter. 

At this time, this thread is sadly, anything but civilised.

Reply #12 Top

you forget the population of players who like AoS and tower wars (not defense) maps ;)

Reply #13 Top

Quoting TotalBiscuit, reply 11



Quoting Jaradakar,
reply 10

DotA, I hate neutral creeps (hated in War3, then again I overall hated WAR3).  To me DotA is an "okay mod" one that saved WAR3 from failure. 


Your subjective opinion has no bearing on whether or not Warcraft 3 was an objectively good title. To somehow claim that WAR3 would have failed were it not for DoTA is an outlandish and terrible inaccurate claim with no basis in fact. Warcraft 3 was a blockbuster title with universal critical acclaim, it's success speaks for itself.


Why... why... Emm... Why are you here?

Reply #14 Top

Quoting VoodooKing, reply 13

Why... why... Emm... Why are you here?

Last I checked I was a paying customer and pre-ordered very early on. If the purpose of these forums is simply to lavish praise the developer, as opposed to presenting constructive criticism, then that should be indicated upon joining the forums, preferably in large, red crayon.

Reply #15 Top

Thanks for pointing out how DoTA players will come and go .... probably for the better anyway...

 

I'll take a well educated,thoughtful DG community over a childish,immature Dota community anyday...

 

DG is just starting out and i can guarantee it will only get better...

Reply #16 Top

Quoting Gir92, reply 4

 

You're basically condemning the game and saying it will fail because it isn't a clone. The same garbage that people have been complaining about since the game was announced.

 

That's not what he said at all.

 

I agree with the original poster; this game will be successful because it is fun and accessible, but it's not going to steal away a significant portion of the DotA / AoS playerbase, and players who come to Demigod wanting a more officially supported version of DotA are most likely going to be disappointed.

 

P.S: Posters who profess to like DotA and compare it to Demigod in such a way as to insinuate that the former is superior to the latter will be regarded as trolls.  You have been warned.

Reply #17 Top

Quoting TotalBiscuit, reply 9
As much as I'm sure you think you're currying favour with the development team, one has to wonder why you feel the need to resort to ad hominem and white-knighting, as opposed to bringing your own, well-reasoned counter-argument to any of my points. The fact that not a single one of you has done this yet, is indictive of the subjective, defensive and rather childish attitude of some within this community, which is rather ironic and certainly hypocritical from those who condemn the DoTA community so readily.

The development team are not some fragile damsels in distress who need rescuing from the hideous trolls. They can take constructive criticism like the grown-ups they are, without fanbois embarrassing them at every turn.

LOL!  What a maroon!  Why am I required to try and convince you that Demigod is a good game?  Just because you chose to come to these forums and bash a game we like doesn't put us under any obligation to defend our enjoyment of the game.  Your schoolboy pouting, while amusing, is just sad, my friend.  What does your self-important dribble accomplish exactly?  Beyond trolling, what is your goal?  Or need from this thread?

You like DotA, so go and play DotA.  Simple enough eh?

Reply #18 Top

Quoting Demi-Guy, reply 15
Thanks for pointing out how DoTA players will come and go .... probably for the better anyway...

 

I'll take a well educated,thoughtful DG community over a childish,immature Dota community anyday...

 

It is interesting that you should condemn the DoTA community so readily, when the representatives of the Demigod community have so far, in this thread, shown no capacity for rational, constructive or well-reasoning discussion. Indeed, very little of the OP has so far been refuted and the hostility in this thread to a post with a rather neutral and respectful tone from the outset, is palpable. If this is how the DG community acts, then I can safely brand thee hypocrites when it comes to your so-called 'maturity'.

 

DG is just starting out and i can guarantee it will only get better...

Can you? What guarantees can you offer? There's a lot of rhetoric and grandstanding going on in this thread, but very few facts as of yet. I would like to see my purchase be worthwhile so please, do not hesitate in telling me why my initial impressions are wrong. It is beneficial to me, as a customer, that I be wrong.

 

 

Reply #19 Top

Quoting TotalBiscuit, reply 11

It is sadly, abundantly clear what the modus operandi of some of those who reside on these forums is. People who do not read the post in it's entirity, who do not understand it's context or intent, or cannot see it simply because they're too busy seeing red and typing furiously in defense of a development company on the internet. If you seriously believe that I am out to 'get' GPG and Stardock and score one for the DoTA community (of which I am not a part) then by all means, continue to post defensive, angry replies that do not address, nor counter any of the arguments made in the original post. If you wish to have a proper discussion on the matter, or genuinely believe that I am wrong and have evidence and reasoning to prove it, then I would welcome a civilised debate on the matter. 

At this time, this thread is sadly, anything but civilised.

Of course, you're ignoring my whole post about how stale DotA's gameplay is and why some people would want a DotA like game without the tedium of DotA.

You've chosen to reply to 3+ people, yet completely skipped the post that actually talks about gameplay. Highly suspect.

Reply #20 Top

Quoting Ralsar, reply 17

LOL!  What a maroon! 

A maroon. Interesting, never been called that before. 

Why am I required to try and convince you that Demigod is a good game?  Just because you chose to come to these forums and bash a game we like doesn't put us under any obligation to defend our enjoyment of the game.  Your schoolboy pouting, while amusing, is just sad, my friend.  What does your self-important dribble accomplish exactly?  Beyond trolling, what is your goal?  Or need from this thread?

Ahh yes, ad hominem rears it's ugly head once more. Beyond trolling, what is your goal? A question you should be asking yourself. You are not obliged to defend this game, absolutely correct. So why are you?

Of course, you're ignoring my whole post about how stale DotA's gameplay is and why some people would want a DotA like game without the tedium of DotA.

Which would be valid, had Demigod sufficiently addressed any of the issues you had with DoTA. As it stands, it is DoTA, with less strategy and simplified mechanics. You seem to be arguing that less is more. It's an interesting point, I'd love to hear you elabourate on it, particularly on why exactly it's worth $40.

Reply #21 Top

Quoting TotalBiscuit, reply 11

Quoting Jaradakar, reply 10
DotA, I hate neutral creeps (hated in War3, then again I overall hated WAR3).  To me DotA is an "okay mod" one that saved WAR3 from failure. 
Your subjective opinion has no bearing on whether or not Warcraft 3 was an objectively good title. To somehow claim that WAR3 would have failed were it not for DoTA is an outlandish and terrible inaccurate claim with no basis in fact. Warcraft 3 was a blockbuster title with universal critical acclaim, it's success speaks for itself.

Part of why WAR3. CS, Starcraft, and other's are successful is the competitive scene. WAR3's orginal game did not have that potiential for a good competition, DoTA supplied it better then the actual game. You say millions play DoTA but let me ask you this. How many still actually play the original game in comparison and how many of them play both? I'l guess (that's all I can do on the information given thus far) more people play DoTA or only play original Wc3 to cool off from DoTA then people who still play it just for the original game.

You are right though, every game has it's bad people but from my experience DoTA has had the highest amount of jerks in comparison to nice people. I tried for a week to play regular DoTA games at different times and maybe I had bad luck but no matter how much I tried to be helpful / tried to get good, I was still rewarded with the most horrible people i've ever met on the internet. If i'm greeted by the same in demi-god I still will think I got my money's worth, as even though I don't play DoTA with players I still have the DoTA version with BoT's that i'm probably gonna play after this post. For me the community is what makes or breaks a game for me.

 

EDIT: I think if you give it a chance the game will turn out to be better as GPG and stardock have both show they listen to the community. For an example on stardock's side Sins intially had a rather large problem with siege ships being to strong. That issue is fixed as are many others. If someone has an example for GPG i'll be all ears as really my only experience I have with them is I own supreme commander: forged alliance which is also a very good / fun game. Really at the end of the day that's why I play games, for them to be fun and different from what i've played before.

Reply #22 Top

Quoting Xinoxlx, reply 21

Part of why WAR3. CS, Starcraft, and other's are successful is the competitive scene. WAR3's orginal game did not have that potiential for a good competition, DoTA supplied it better then the actual game. You say millions play DoTA but let me ask you this. How many still actually play the original game in comparison and how many of them play both? I'l guess (that's all I can do on the information given thus far) more people play DoTA or only play original Wc3 to cool off from DoTA then people who still play it just for the original game.

I don't have the numbers, but what I can say is that WAR3's competitive scene is far larger than DoTA's. There are more ladders, more tournaments, more national and international E-sports contests for WAR3 than there are for DoTA. Starcraft, an even older RTS title, dwarfs both. 

Granted, DoTA helped WAR3's subsequent success after it's initial release, just as Counterstrike helped Halflife tremendously. Both are similar in that they were both objectively good games from the outset. Can you think of an objectively bad game that was saved by a mod or custom map? Off the top of my head, I can't.

Reply #23 Top

Total, your I-own-a-thesaurus posting style is both obnoxious and a transparent attempt to make your points sound more intelligent than they actually are.  I know the freshman english teacher at your highschool heaps praise on you for smothering every little phrase in adjectives, but that's not how real writers write.  Your tone makes you sound like there's a greased flop of black hair over your left eye and a bunch of razor scars down your wrists.  To simplify:  You're trying too hard.

 

Unless you're (intentionally) trolling.  In that case, good job and carry on.

 

As for your analysis, I'm reserving my judgement for when my friend buys the game and we start to pubstomp.  That was fun in DOTA, if it's not fun in Demigod, I don't see us playing very long.

Reply #24 Top

The reason no one is arguing with you is we simply don't care.  You don't really offer any thoughts on improving demigod in your post.  We get it you like DotA.  Cool for you.  We like Demigod.  Cool for us.

 

You play what you like, we'll play what we like.  Guess what I am not planning to spend the next 3 hours commenting on DotA on your boards, because I will be playing demigod.

Reply #25 Top

Quoting TotalBiscuit, reply 22

Quoting Xinoxlx, reply 21
Part of why WAR3. CS, Starcraft, and other's are successful is the competitive scene. WAR3's orginal game did not have that potiential for a good competition, DoTA supplied it better then the actual game. You say millions play DoTA but let me ask you this. How many still actually play the original game in comparison and how many of them play both? I'l guess (that's all I can do on the information given thus far) more people play DoTA or only play original Wc3 to cool off from DoTA then people who still play it just for the original game.


I don't have the numbers, but what I can say is that WAR3's competitive scene is far larger than DoTA's. There are more ladders, more tournaments, more national and international E-sports contests for WAR3 than there are for DoTA. Starcraft, an even older RTS title, dwarfs both. 

My mistake then, WC3 never struck me as a competative game due to the upkeep system and simply how most units hard counter another unit too much.

@lord more ad homenium...