Poll: League of Legends v. Heroes of Newerth

[Andey]

I played DotA for the longest time and when League of Legends came out i was super excited for a great interface with the game i spent so much time playing, then my friend tells me about heroes so i try it. and sweet god did it suck its item builds are more confusing than dota, balance is retarded and quite frankly its bad.

I'm curious as to what other people think HoN or LoL or would you rather just play DotA

 

[Flying-Emu]

DotA has a shitty community, League of Legends is laughably bad (the matchmaking system is horrendous, the animation is questionable, and the tacked-on customization serves little to no purpose.)

Heroes of Newerth is a great game, and I am proud to have been a part of it from the day the closed beta opened. Yes, it has balance problems, but the game is still in beta for a reason. They also introduced Banning Pick for a reason; you get to BAN characters that you think are overpowered (I.E. Chronos, Zephyr, Ophelia) and level the playing field.

I fail to understand how you think the item builds are confusing. It's simple; buy the items that tailor your character to your style of play. It's not rocket surgery; if you're tanking, get lifesteal items and armor. If you're going for a nuke, buy morph weapons and the Staff of Masters (Provided it assists you in some way).

Unless you plan on expanding your argument, I'm going to have to disregard your opinion as the ravings of a man who played the game for a max of an hour.

 

[comadorcrack]

I like League of Legends. I have poor ass matchmaking, but the characters are nice and balanced and its free to play. What more can you ask.

 

[Flying-Emu]

I like League of Legends. I have poor ass matchmaking, but the characters are nice and balanced and its free to play. What more can you ask.

To not be thrown up against noob-stompers for the first eight games I play.

 

[Andey]

alright fair enough. its not that i dont know what to buy its that i dont want to hunt through "combat shop" or something else just put LIFESTEALING ITEMS in plain language, i could spend the time reading up on all the items memorize where they are and put together a build but id honestly rather spend that time playing the game.
it is almost impossible to introduce people who have never played DotA or a similar game to it. of the friends i have recommended it to none lasted more than 3 games. while the animations are better in HoN they are best described as frantic and unnecessary
the community is not much better in HoN, a third of the games i played one of the teams had a leaver and anytime one of the friends i recommended played someone called them a noob and left because they had legitimate questions.

also this is just a minor complaint and probably just petty, but i could not turn off the sounds for the opening menu and lobby fast enough.

 

[Flying-Emu]

alright fair enough. its not that i dont know what to buy its that i dont want to hunt through "combat shop" or something else just put LIFESTEALING ITEMS in plain language, i could spend the time reading up on all the items memorize where they are and put together a build but id honestly rather spend that time playing the game.
it is almost impossible to introduce people who have never played DotA or a similar game to it. of the friends i have recommended it to none lasted more than 3 games. while the animations are better in HoN they are best described as frantic and unnecessary
the community is not much better in HoN, a third of the games i played one of the teams had a leaver and anytime one of the friends i recommended played someone called them a noob and left because they had legitimate questions.

also this is just a minor complaint and probably just petty, but i could not turn off the sounds for the opening menu and lobby fast enough.

Oh, I agree. The community in HoN is horrendous, but at least the PSR matchmaking system works after you get noob-stomped four or five times. And by that time you've usually found people who are willing to help you.

As for the items thing, I liked the way they set it up because it encouraged experimentation. For example, Daemonic Breastplate (increased attack speed and armor) and Lifestealer item on Electrician? Let's give it a shot.

 

[Andey]

i think matchmaking can be gone around in both games if u have friends to play it with you or u just use the game creator and find people on your level. and i just want it to be easier to find the items im looking for and not have to read what everything does while my team gets butchered.

LoL has far less leavers in my experience and is easier to pick up and play, the matchmaking is bad but once you learn a character you should be ok.

 

[scotth266]

League of Legends has what I would say was the best ideas about gameplay. The ability to customize your character is extremely fun, the extra boss creeps that provide buffs for killing them is awesome, the item system is well-organized, and the respawning barracks means that teams can actually turn things around in a close game. However, the game has a PITIFUL lobby system, and the lack of in-game voice chat is a definite minus.

HoN, by contrast, offers no customization, but it does have a VERY good lobby system and in-game voice chat. It also is more open to mods. Heroes of Newerth may have a more chaotic item system that requires a bit of experimentation to understand: but that's why they have nostats games, practice mode AND recommended items based on the hero you pick HoN overall strikes me as being a more streamlined game.

Each game does something entirely different: and it's not really fair to complain about HoN at all, since it's still in beta. Hell, they JUST got to open beta, and they're introducing 11 more new heroes, so things are understandably going to be a bit fucked in the balance department for a while.

 

[AndyFromMonday]

Going to have to go with League of Legends here. I have been playing it for a while and honestly I've rarely encountered matchmaking problems(Once there was a level 30 on my team) as Flying-Emu suggests and the champions are perfectly balanced + they actually added new features to the original formula. The one problem I DO have with the game is the fact that there's only 2 maps available at the moment. I like variety.

As for Heroes of Newerth, whilst the graphics consist of only 3 colors(Black, Green and Brown) the hero animation is very well done. When I first booted up the open beta I had to go through 10 games before I managed to actually play one due to being booted a lot. When I finally managed to get into a game I had to endure the raving insults of 3 DOTA players for the duration of the match but at the very least I was playing. The item builds were confusing but that was only because it was my first time playing. As soon as I bought the items I thought where the best to suit my huge insect like creature I proceeded to my respective lane. From then on the game played more or less exactly like DOTA.

The gameplay between League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth is exactly the same. The thing that separates the games are their respective art styles, heroes and matchmaking systems with LoL getting a plus for its "Summoner" system, something which actually adds to the original DOTA formula. LoL goes for a colorful "fantasy" look whilst HoN decided to go the grim style.

I personally prefer LoL but I can see why HoN can have a certain appeal. I went with LoL simply because I found the champions more interesting, the art style better and the summoner system appealing.

 

[Andey]

Going to have to go with League of Legends here. I have been playing it for a while and honestly I've rarely encountered matchmaking problems(Once there was a level 30 on my team) as Flying-Emu suggests and the champions are perfectly balanced + they actually added new features to the original formula. The one problem I DO have with the game is the fact that there's only 2 maps available at the moment. I like variety.

As for Heroes of Newerth, whilst the graphics consist of only 3 colors(Black, Green and Brown) the hero animation is very well done. When I first booted up the open beta I had to go through 10 games before I managed to actually play one due to being booted a lot. When I finally managed to get into a game I had to endure the raving insults of 3 DOTA players for the duration of the match but at the very least I was playing. The item builds were confusing but that was only because it was my first time playing. As soon as I bought the items I thought where the best to suit my huge insect like creature I proceeded to my respective lane. From then on the game played more or less exactly like DOTA.

The gameplay between League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth is exactly the same. The thing that separates the games are their respective art styles, heroes and matchmaking systems with LoL getting a plus for its "Summoner" system, something which actually adds to the original DOTA formula. LoL goes for a colorful "fantasy" look whilst HoN decided to go the grim style.

I personally prefer LoL but I can see why HoN can have a certain appeal. I went with LoL simply because I found the champions more interesting, the art style better and the summoner system appealing.

i like league of legends better but saying the champions are perfectly balanced is a stretch, its not hard to break shaco or cho gath

 

[AndyFromMonday]

i like league of legends better but saying the champions are perfectly balanced is a stretch, its not hard to break shaco or cho gath

Shaco's an assassin. He's supposed to be squishy the same way every single assassins is. His main focus is assassinating targets with high burst damage or finishing off targets with low HP.

Cho'Gath is a tank. If you build him as a tank and use "Feast" well enough he will be a hard target to kill. Usually a fully equipped, 6 feast stack Cho'Gath is a hard target to kill 1 vs 1 or even 2 vs 2.

 

[AngryMongoose]

Lol. It's the only one i've played, but the characters and setting seemed more interesting.

If HoN doesn't have an annoying inbalance meta game though I might try that.

 

[02y211]

Well I've played a lot of HoN so I am going to say that, but it needs some serious smacktard fumigation. The single worst part of HoN is the tone in which people on that game speak to each other.

 

[Enamour]

Just to add my 2 cents here. First comment too wew. I lived Dota for 3 and a half years, played South African national tournaments and did very well... so I took it seriously. In that context I'd like to uhh comment.

The HoN item system makes alot of sense if you spend two minutes figuring it out. If you don't spend the two minutes then I'ma venture an opinion and say it's not the game's fault. I was confused by it as well in the beginning.

HoN IS Dota with its own engine, can't think of a simpler way of putting it. The interface, lobbies and whatnot are better than any other game I've seen.

OP: "and sweet god did it suck its item builds are more confusing than dota" - addressed

"balance is retarded" - during beta

"and quite frankly its bad." - opinion based on previous bits

As for the community... it's the worst... by far... horribly horrible. The trick I've found is to Zen, cause feeding trolls are not conducive to good zen practice even if you are playing as poopy as they're saying. Started playing again yesterday since the beta ended and just got yelled at by an angry something or other for not playing how he would play the hero. I apologized for not understanding his over the top voice rant aimed at the team and me cause I'm not sure the F word is meant to fit between every other word; or am I missing something?

As for LoL I think it appeals more to those who don't mind the size of their epeens but I havent played it enough to venture educated comments on the subject.

My point is that HoN is technically very good and much more accessable to newbs than dota was despite the same community mindset that comes with it. Fault the players, not the game.

 

[Skullpanda]

From the while I've played, LoL is much more receptive to the "casual" player. I have a job, not to mention the part time tutoring I take up, so I can't really spend too much time online. The matchmaking is horrid, admittedly, and more than a few players need to stop thinking about their e-peen, but most people are just there to have fun.

I have yet to try HoN, but from the comments here, I probably won't. Community is a big thing to me, and I'd much prefer to go have fun instead of get yelled at because I'm not building my character perfectly.

As for the actual topic, go for what you want. Competitive, high tension battles - HoN. Laid back, open community - LoL.

 

[Flying-Emu]

It's funny how this thread was necro'd and I've completely 180'd.

Can't stand HoN anymore, now that League of Legends has cleaned up a bit.

 

[s0m3th1ng]

Really can't understand why people would play a game featuring one small map...when the WC3 map list was filled with DOTA games, it was a real "Wtfisthisshit" moment.
That being said, my brother plays HoN religiously. Said his rating was in the 2000's?

 

[Direbetus]

Let's watch as people claim League of Legends to be the better game merely because it's free.