This isn’t strictly on-topic, since the game that’s got me thinking isn’t actually a mod, but it is the spin-off of one, so sod it. Over at delightful sister site Resolution Magazine, Jennifer Allen’s been a-reviewin’ Heroes of Newerth, the standalone successor to Warcraft 3 mod Defence of the Ancients, which we included in our Unmissable Mods feature a while back. While being vaguely impressed by the game itself, her major turn-off was the community, which she describes as “frankly downright nasty”.
I can’t say that I’ve played a lot of Defence of the Ancients, but I do know that it has a passionate and dedicated player base who take their gaming very seriously. Newerth’s only just been released, but I’ve already heard plenty of stories that corroborate Jen’s own impressions. And, browsing through the comments on Andrea’s DotA write-up linked above, the ever-present force of DrGonzo makes a similar comment himself about the game in its original mod form.
So I’m wondering when this developed. Presumably everyone was a new player at one point. And I’m also wondering if its being considered part of the modding scene is anything to do with it. Is a certain level of expertise assumed in mods? I mean, in order to play them in the first place, there’s a few more steps to take than simply bunging a game disc in the drive. Are mods seen as being for the hardcore, their players painfully intolerant of anyone invading their very serious gamespace?
No answers from me, I’m afraid, but I’m very curious to hear from DotA players who might be able to chip in with some thoughts.
I’ve seen this in a few mods, although DoTA is definitely one of the biggies. The few big notables I can think of have been Natural Selection, where I was ravaged for being clueless, and to a degree Empires for HL2 – although that wasn’t half as bad.
This is definitely true. It is understandable that people get irritated though. One ‘noob’ will lose the game for a team. That doesn’t justify people being mean though.
The game needs a decent system to stop new players and more casual playing with the hardcore.
DrGonzo: That’s the thing, though. These are experiences Jen had on the Beginners server. Yet it seemed to be primarily populated by experts who just enjoyed taking the piss out of the newbies. It’s bizarre.
if anyone has ever used springRTS, the system they have in lobby to have the option to deny noobs access should be in more teamwork central games
@Lewis Your completely right, I seem to remember joining servers named NOOB ONLY and then being called a noob and getting shouted at for nearly an hour.
@StoneCrow:
Then a reverse system could exist as well, Deny pro’s access. No more bullying. Yay.
Shitstorm commence: http://resolution-magazine.co.uk/content/review-heroes-of-newerth/
Wow, that is special.