4 ms·

I watched (OK, not all of it) one of the games you linked and I don't understand any of what the commentators are saying. It relies heavily on knowing what the

by Paul_S 12y ago

I watched (OK, not all of it) one of the games you linked and I don't understand any of what the commentators are saying. It relies heavily on knowing what the hell is going on to be appreciated. FPSs don't have this problem, yet they remain a smaller niche. Even if you don't know anything about Doom, you'll have no trouble following this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcSj0lk-vEo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcSj0lk-vEo ...I can't believe I'm recommending anything - I don't even like spectator sports. But I used to play doom back when e-sports were still science-fiction.

sliverstorm 12y ago
FPS is much more of a visceral experience to me. RTS is perfect for esports IMO. Even superficially, think about soccer or football. The spectator can see the whole field. Players work as a team to orchestrate big plays. Different players have distinctly different roles. The parallels go on. FPS has a lot of this, but it gives the player a more visceral experience- and as a trade-off, makes it more difficult for a spectator to "watch the game". The part about having to understand some of the lingo and all? Well, football (both US & EU) is completely obtuse to the uninitiated.
sillysaurus3 12y ago
Yeah, agreed, that's Dota's single biggest flaw: it's hard for newcomers to watch it and enjoy it like a game of football. Although, in fairness, football's popularity may have something to do with that. If you watch Free to Play (linked above) it helps clarify things somewhat. (It's pretty interesting anyway.) But it may be an unsolvable problem, which would be unfortunate. Then again, the tournament scene is still in its nascent stages. Once the production quality goes up some more, there may be a brief intro for each hero selected that describes to the audience what the hero can do and what its items usually are and what they do.
- vidyesh 12y ago
  >Then again, the tournament scene is still in its nascent stages. Once the production quality goes up some more, there may be a brief intro for each hero selected that describes to the audience what the hero can do and what its items usually are and what they do. It might happen that way, in one single game the teams go through 20 heroes of which 5 are banned by both sides and 5 are picked by both sides.
NamTaf 12y ago
Dota has a vertical cliff for a learning curve. It's not surprising you can't follow it. The problem is that whilst that's a barrier to entry for casual watching, it's also what makes the game so popular. Without that same depth of gameplay, dota would not be nearly as popular. I'm not sure how you go about resolving that - maybe there is some better balance?
vidyesh 12y ago
Okay I'll be straight with you this is about the game genre. If you play or played a FPS game, you can literally watch any FPS game no matter how complicated the cast is, sooner or later you would get it. In case of Dota2 or rather any game of that genre, you need to have played any MOBA ( Multiplayer online battle arena ) game. Any Dota2 player can watch a League of Legends game, they are not the same but similar as the basic of a MOBA game are clear to that dota2 player. They just need to watch and understand the Heroes and their spells. Rest gameplay mechanics, inventory items etc are comparatively easy to follow.

by Paul_S 12y ago

sliverstorm 12y ago

FPS is much more of a visceral experience to me. RTS is perfect for esports IMO. Even superficially, think about soccer or football. The spectator can see the whole field. Players work as a team to orchestrate big plays. Different players have distinctly different roles. The parallels go on. FPS has a lot of this, but it gives the player a more visceral experience- and as a trade-off, makes it more difficult for a spectator to "watch the game". The part about having to understand some of the lingo and all? Well, football (both US & EU) is completely obtuse to the uninitiated.

sillysaurus3 12y ago

Yeah, agreed, that's Dota's single biggest flaw: it's hard for newcomers to watch it and enjoy it like a game of football. Although, in fairness, football's popularity may have something to do with that. If you watch Free to Play (linked above) it helps clarify things somewhat. (It's pretty interesting anyway.) But it may be an unsolvable problem, which would be unfortunate. Then again, the tournament scene is still in its nascent stages. Once the production quality goes up some more, there may be a brief intro for each hero selected that describes to the audience what the hero can do and what its items usually are and what they do.

vidyesh 12y ago
>Then again, the tournament scene is still in its nascent stages. Once the production quality goes up some more, there may be a brief intro for each hero selected that describes to the audience what the hero can do and what its items usually are and what they do. It might happen that way, in one single game the teams go through 20 heroes of which 5 are banned by both sides and 5 are picked by both sides.

NamTaf 12y ago

Dota has a vertical cliff for a learning curve. It's not surprising you can't follow it. The problem is that whilst that's a barrier to entry for casual watching, it's also what makes the game so popular. Without that same depth of gameplay, dota would not be nearly as popular. I'm not sure how you go about resolving that - maybe there is some better balance?

vidyesh 12y ago

Okay I'll be straight with you this is about the game genre. If you play or played a FPS game, you can literally watch any FPS game no matter how complicated the cast is, sooner or later you would get it. In case of Dota2 or rather any game of that genre, you need to have played any MOBA ( Multiplayer online battle arena ) game. Any Dota2 player can watch a League of Legends game, they are not the same but similar as the basic of a MOBA game are clear to that dota2 player. They just need to watch and understand the Heroes and their spells. Rest gameplay mechanics, inventory items etc are comparatively easy to follow.