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[Column] General: How MOBAs Kill Gaming Freedom
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
In case you haven’t heard, MOBAs are all the rage right now. OK, so they’ve been a rage for a few years, but it’s my feeling that they have reached an all-time high; will they continue to climb in popularity or are they doomed to a slow death when “real” sports get a glimpse of MOBA’s pocket protectors?
Read more of Beau Hindman's Not So MMO: How MOBAs Kill Gaming Freedom.
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Comments
Hopefully there will be better indie MMO development to help counter the mass hysteria around MOBAs and bring some new and fun gameplay that isn't so competition focused and simplistic.
I view MOBA's like I view FPS games - it's not what makes them the same you should judge on, it's what makes them different.
Which is why Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm is the only MOBA I've liked, and will play.
"Those very few who make money from it and those millions who watch passively."
I agree completely. I have no idea how someone can just watch hockey or football for hundreds of hours if not more. People are stupid. If you like something, go play it, don't just watch others play.
But other than that I've no idea what to think about that article. It's just empty. Nothing new under the sun.
Good article, e-sport gaming is really part and parcel of the mainstreamification of gaming. With a large enough consumer base, gaming becomes a legit spectator sport and well we've seen the results with our own eyes.
Twitch, dota international, lol championship, SC
Amusingly enough, the one genre that has always had tournaments and "e-sportness" is fighting games, yet it's not as massively popular - there are various reasons for this, but still amusing.
OK, time for some devils advocacy.
#1 makes me think you have never played a MOBA for any significant period. LoL is constantly changing / evolving, and in more ways than just a simple rule here and there. The entire map was changed recently, champions are completely reworked or completely new champions added, items completely reworked/removed/added. It is constantly changing and players are constantly having to adapt and learn anew. This may be different for other MOBA games as I do not have prolonged experience with the others.
#2 While I am 100% for diversity, I am not for being diverse for diversity's sake. Sure Riot and other companies could market more toward female gamers, but ultimately it is up to the girl gamers to make a name for themselves and get on a pro team, there is nothing to stop them. Also, girls can and are just as toxic as boys in an anonymous setting.
#3 Are you also angry that the sky is blue and up is not down? Seriously, there are assholes everywhere and doing everything. I am sure your grandmothers book club has generated at least one asshole in its time. Was this just a filler? Complaining that competition tends to be competitive? Seriously?
#4 How do you suppose this problem be solved? As is evidence by this post, it is very easy to sit back and grumble about problems and how "they" should do something about it. It is quite another to actually do something. Is a game company supposed to tailor make solutions for each individual person with a disability since even many people with the same conditions experience them in different ways? Are they supposed to not create a game at all if they cannot? How is this different from any other non-MOBA game on the market?
Lastly, what is this "Gaming Freedom" of which you speak? Are games being persecuted or their rights taken away? Are people being forced to play a MOBA against their will? What is this?
This is just the 2 cents from this middle age, male, gay, white, atheist, progressive/liberal, feminist gamer.
come on ....u can play a moba everywhere even on smartphone , and u dont need any1 to play it
real sports usually need to be played in a exact spot , and usually 1v1 or lots of ppl.
ppl like to watch RL sports for lots of reasons , some dont even practice it ever (boxing for example, or F1 , snow sports , or womens voleyball
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i would love to play mobas , but dislike the communtiy , and the metagame....some ppl take mobas like its life or death
The whole premise of the article is that MOBAs create a highly competitive environment that caters to aggressive male gamers and not female or disabled gamers thus.......what?
I guess I'm not seeing the problem.
Making everything generic and accessible to all is how we ended up with this withering MMO genre full of shallow titles everyone hates.
If homogenization is sexual and cultural progress, show me the line where everyone goes to be a bigot cause I want to stand in that line.
Only great thing about moba games is that they siphon some of the more competitive jerky players away from the mmorpg genre.
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Currently Playing EVE, ESO
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You could honestly replace all cases of "MOBA" in this article with "FPS" and it'd probably be the same thing (with the possibly insignificant exception of not being as relevant to the current era, and even that's questionable).
Such is to be expected with any online competitive genre centered solely around competition (there's no "PvE" in a MOBA for the most part), the only thing really standing out about the MOBA one is that it's popular (but again, so are online FPS games).
+1. I see MOBA's like FPS games. Games have to differentiate themselves from other games while sometimes having to be similar so they are not too different.
At my age, I don't have the reflexes to play FPS or MOBA at a competitive level.
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Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
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LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
On one hand, i consider MOBA's to be a cancer to online gaming that distracts players and prevents any sort of stability within the community. Players have lost their patience and dedication since they can just hop in and hop out rather effortlessly.
On the other hand, perhaps MOBA's are good because they draw a certain player away from MMO's that never really understood the "rpg" elements that make them go. They can go get their quick fix and stop raging in my MMO's.
Separate, i think they're both fine.
The problem begins when MMO's try to incorporate elements of MOBA's that have no business being in an MMORPG just to draw in that larger player base. That is what i have issues with and why i dislike them so much.
Wow!
Just face facts. eSports is the fastest growing spectator sport. It will continue to grow!
eSports was created by people playing games agaisnt each other as a hooby that evolved into what it is today. Its huge and isnt going anywhere other then upwards!
I really dont understand your point and why you decided to discuss it on a site called MMORG.com not MOBA.com
The usual gulp from outsiders who doesnt know what many mobas are all about. If you sat Down With some friends and invested some time into Dota 2 for example, you would Discover that there are tons of tactics and teamplay involved. It's deeper than most mmos could ever be.
WOW LOL
We can't have niche games or genres because some people might not like them or might not be competitive in them? Am I reading this right? You want everything to be accessible by everyone? Yes guys, WoW clones, for the next 40 years, it's the future of gaming.
And you blame the toxicity in MOBAs on 'angry young dude gamers' because no female or old gamer has ever been toxic before?
I don't know what bothers me more, this hate-filled bigotry rant disguised as journalism, or the fact that like 10 people said it was good and they agreed with it.
Lord help us if you actually read this article and agree with it.
Asamof nailed it in 12 words.
Pretty much this.
So "young angry dudes" are at fault, who would have thought. No angry females out there. I should sic on you writers my GF when she's on her period, you would see anger unmatched.
Now for MOBAs, you have the possibility to CHOOSE. You don't like, you DO NOT play. You vote with your wallet, and in our society, growth and popularity is decided by many wallets voting together. For now, MOBAs are proving that they are well loved, regardless of toxicity (ooh, I am so affected, some guy called me a fag on the Internet, I'll go /wrists in the bath room... not).
Now please grow some thicker skin. This is the Internet, there are good and bad people, many idiots and many "tough" kiddos in their basements, nothing you can do about it.
MMOs are exactly the same BTW at their highest level, such as mythic raiding or arena in WoW. There's lots of toxicity as there's competition. It's not like MOBAs are unique in this aspect or something.
This site is great for discussions and such, not for much else.
But as I've said before: most of the articles on this site are written by clueless people who doesn't seem to know anything at all about the topic they're writing about.
This one is not an exception.
This: "Those very few who make money from it and those millions who watch passively."
It's exactly my concern.
For much as I love playing MOBAs, I'm really concerned and tired from hearing people talking about professional teams and spending more time watching than playing.
I have the same thoughts on any other sports. Why are people spending so much time watching football than actually playing it? Watching is passive and adds nothing to the person. They spend their time (and sometimes money) on an activity that provides no personal growth. And what's worse is: they fight over it. I'm a Brazilian, and it's sad that sometimes people will spend a whole conversation talking about football, when they don't even play it.
I hope that the same does not happen to gaming. But my little brother has already become one of those people who watch more than they play. Sad, sad, sad.