Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Sensless rambling by strange man (very long post, no point at the end)
NeverlossNinja
Member, Alpha Two
This might be a dumb ramble that nobody is going to read or ever respond to, but it’s looking like a slow Christmas so if anybody’s interested I’m fin a share some thought on wha
Background
Since the start of gaming we have had so many good genres, in 2D with super Mario platformers, pc joystick flight simulators, RPG in Pokémon, rts games in StarCraft and command & conquer. Top down crime games like GTA. Counter strike the one and only, dota, league etc in mobas and mmos. Battle royals seemed to be a emerging genre, but could not stand the test of time.
Mainly what I’m thinking about is where these archetypes of tank, healer and dps came from. I think as RTS games have been largely replaced by mobas, the comparison could be made with the concept of having set roles and how if affects the gaming experience.
In MMOs we have the tanky class, the bruiser, the healer, the tanky healer, the glass cannon, the ranged dps etc. In mobas and rts there are also ranged units, tanky units, but in a team of _5_ which seems to be the magic number the roles must be quite defined.
In a dungeon the tank:
- is the only one that can take hits from the boss, and has one spot in the group.
- The healer is the only one that can heal the group, and has one spot
- The dps doing damage, either being ranged or melee.
In a 5v5 fight
- the initiator has to be the one to start the fight by scouting for an opportunity and for someone to be out of position or the enemy team to be clumped up. This is usually the tank since he needs to be able to take the initial burst - and, it is not beneficial for the enemy team to use the hardest hitting skills on the tank. Strong early, has ganking potential, falls off late game.
- The gankers are magic damage users, that hits hard in the early game but falls off late as magic becomes less effective. They can’t take much damage and can also be played as support as the don’t need any farm. All the supports are in this category
- The carry is the typical dexterity assassin agility type, they need items to output more physical damage with auto attack and comes online with late game. But they can easily be ganked up until that point.
So those are the 3 types: tank/initiator, support/ganker and carry. There might be some overlap between them but these roles are almost set for all the 100+ heroes. The point I’m getting to here is that in almost all games, and in MOBAs you will either have a team that is all carry or magic damage. They are smaller, run faster, faster animations, smaller hitbox, cooler animations, usually look really hot and in shape and are 21 years old and lightly clothed.
So why would you choose to play a hero that is slow, big etc? Just because the team needs it most of the time, and betting it will be because it’s less popular, or giving some kind of benefit for playing it might not be the best option and hence is the reason why often times there is no tank at all in a 5v5 game, from a pool of 100 heroes, 30-40 of them being tanks, go figure. And most of the time the team with the tank wins (if there is one).
Regarding supports they don’t have the disadvantage being huge, slow, doing little damage all in return of being able to tank some extra. They are squishy and can do damage without having farm. So no skill required in terms of mechanics, just jump in and place wards. So that also means you will be ganked as you are an easy target, and literally nobody wants to play that role, almost all games you don’t see a support, and if you see one they usually have no plans of doing their *** job.
So why have dedicated roles that people do not want to play, and have a game that is just a reflection of human stubbornness, where the team that has someone «taking the hit» and playing a tank that they don’t really enjoy playing to win, or a support they really don’t enjoy playing in order to win. A secret that maybe not everyone knows is that mobas has the most toxic communities ever, thank god you play with someone ONCE, then move on to the next game with OTHER PEOPLE, not a single time in the tens of thousands of games I’ve payed have we ever became friends or suggested that «guys why don’t we queue together next time we are quite a good team», not once. You might get a «wp» from someone on Christmas but that’s pretty much it. And these dynamics of the set roles in teams even causes arguments and issues between groups of friends that play togheter as well, since nobody wants to be the support, and nobody wants to be the tank. Everyone wants to be the best, that is the problem with gaming, but not everyone can be the best, and that is another one.
A wise man once said «It takes 10 000 hours truely master something, I would say that is correct. Or rather, about 10 years. As a player gets better at a game, and progresses, they go through several phases. And having done this a couple times, I would say they are the same for most games, and guess what, eeeverybody is doing it.
Phase 1: the noob phase. This is where a person is at their best, with no sense of pride, trying to figure out how to play, having their first experience, picking the class that fits their style the best and just having fun. They follow you around and ask for advice, hoping for a win or a kill. This phase lasts for about 100 hours.
Phase 2: this is noob phase number 2, and where the persons soul turns black. As the classes are getting figured out and they are stating to understand the game, they are left wanting more and believing they are talented, which is an image that is formed of yourself that affects every interaction with the game. What is the best class to play? Carry -> ok I’m only gonna play carry. We lost the game -> ok my team sucks. We don’t have a support -> I only play carry. We don’t have a tank - I only play carry. Someone else is going mid -> I’m playing mid this game, and will stay mid even if we lose. This phase lasts for about 6-7000 hours, and/or hitting a milestone where they start playing with players they actually respect, which is only the pros.
The good player phase: Depending on the game, getting to this point, having actually become a good player and carry after 7000 hours of suffer and low win rates, the game is starting to become more clear in terms of what the game really is about and the player is willing to do now what it takes to play with the best. This could mean practicing a specific skill, following a specific strategy etc. and understanding that people are, even now, much better than you, and that the best of the best have much much more than just a petty 7000 hours in the game. Still, no respect is earned without merit, and mechanical skills won’t be seen unless you get a chance to prove it, or have some kind of medal or badge that proves you are most likely at least 7000+ hours skilled and could also play within the pro community without anyone second guessing your mechanical ability.
The pro phase: hitting about 50 000 hours or more in a game is where you are simply a pro, depending on the game this is what is required to reach guru status and up to 100k hours, even if the difference might not be apparent to an outside viewer, the difference between a 7k hour player, 20k, 50k and 100k is there, and is undeniable, and has very little to do with personal talent.
The problem now a days is that skill has been attempted to counteract. Nobody was ever complaining about matchmaking being unfair before up until 2021 when skill based matchmaking got started. With random matchmaking the chance of each team of getting good players or bad players was exactly the same, and in ranked you simply were matched with who had equal rank. Now, the skill based matchmaking is putting everyone against people that are not in the same level in terms of skill - but who you would lose against half the time, regardless of skill. The algorithm also includes the winrate people get from many against one, since regardless of skill, let’s say 50k hours, without escapes it is impossible to win, as long as they are in phase 2, anyone with 1k hours can double team a pro. And this is what people considers «fair» in that case. Other games have also taken similar approaches and it is making the entire gaming community frustrated and not feeling like they can find their place. If you played soccer against Ronaldo, would you demand that he had his kneecaps knocked and got drugged down before the game to the point he plays to 50% winrate? And if he is still performing then matching should be with worse and worse people that are experts at breaking him down psychologically before the game or having him not allowed to do free kicks or penalties etc. well of course not, not if he is someone you respect for his superior skill and see it as a privilege to play with him, sadly in gaming today the parallel would be to not even answer him if he tries to talk or want to play with him since he can’t do anything for you anyways with the rules in place. And that is a shame. Since there is nobody to learn from; and people are literally all hostile towards each other, and teaming up with others becomes harder and harder, and many people are left without friends. The age gaps the language gaps, the solo problem that has become such a big part that playing solo and not having actual good friends that are down for the same stretch as you then no way to be competitive, and being in the group that is above phase 2 is not fun, it sucks basically. But we’ll go get a family, or you’re in your 30s go to work or w/e, but not everyone has those options, and gaming is the best solution or the least boring thing to do for many. And bragging rights of the good old days are to be reckoned with, it’s not like everyone won’t eventually reach a stage where the entire gaming demographic is an aging group which has no hierarchy or passing on of knowledge, us gamers might have had our time. I see now this is leading nowhere. This took too long to write to just delete it’s so I’m posting it here on the forum.
Merry Christmas!
Background
Since the start of gaming we have had so many good genres, in 2D with super Mario platformers, pc joystick flight simulators, RPG in Pokémon, rts games in StarCraft and command & conquer. Top down crime games like GTA. Counter strike the one and only, dota, league etc in mobas and mmos. Battle royals seemed to be a emerging genre, but could not stand the test of time.
Mainly what I’m thinking about is where these archetypes of tank, healer and dps came from. I think as RTS games have been largely replaced by mobas, the comparison could be made with the concept of having set roles and how if affects the gaming experience.
In MMOs we have the tanky class, the bruiser, the healer, the tanky healer, the glass cannon, the ranged dps etc. In mobas and rts there are also ranged units, tanky units, but in a team of _5_ which seems to be the magic number the roles must be quite defined.
In a dungeon the tank:
- is the only one that can take hits from the boss, and has one spot in the group.
- The healer is the only one that can heal the group, and has one spot
- The dps doing damage, either being ranged or melee.
In a 5v5 fight
- the initiator has to be the one to start the fight by scouting for an opportunity and for someone to be out of position or the enemy team to be clumped up. This is usually the tank since he needs to be able to take the initial burst - and, it is not beneficial for the enemy team to use the hardest hitting skills on the tank. Strong early, has ganking potential, falls off late game.
- The gankers are magic damage users, that hits hard in the early game but falls off late as magic becomes less effective. They can’t take much damage and can also be played as support as the don’t need any farm. All the supports are in this category
- The carry is the typical dexterity assassin agility type, they need items to output more physical damage with auto attack and comes online with late game. But they can easily be ganked up until that point.
So those are the 3 types: tank/initiator, support/ganker and carry. There might be some overlap between them but these roles are almost set for all the 100+ heroes. The point I’m getting to here is that in almost all games, and in MOBAs you will either have a team that is all carry or magic damage. They are smaller, run faster, faster animations, smaller hitbox, cooler animations, usually look really hot and in shape and are 21 years old and lightly clothed.
So why would you choose to play a hero that is slow, big etc? Just because the team needs it most of the time, and betting it will be because it’s less popular, or giving some kind of benefit for playing it might not be the best option and hence is the reason why often times there is no tank at all in a 5v5 game, from a pool of 100 heroes, 30-40 of them being tanks, go figure. And most of the time the team with the tank wins (if there is one).
Regarding supports they don’t have the disadvantage being huge, slow, doing little damage all in return of being able to tank some extra. They are squishy and can do damage without having farm. So no skill required in terms of mechanics, just jump in and place wards. So that also means you will be ganked as you are an easy target, and literally nobody wants to play that role, almost all games you don’t see a support, and if you see one they usually have no plans of doing their *** job.
So why have dedicated roles that people do not want to play, and have a game that is just a reflection of human stubbornness, where the team that has someone «taking the hit» and playing a tank that they don’t really enjoy playing to win, or a support they really don’t enjoy playing in order to win. A secret that maybe not everyone knows is that mobas has the most toxic communities ever, thank god you play with someone ONCE, then move on to the next game with OTHER PEOPLE, not a single time in the tens of thousands of games I’ve payed have we ever became friends or suggested that «guys why don’t we queue together next time we are quite a good team», not once. You might get a «wp» from someone on Christmas but that’s pretty much it. And these dynamics of the set roles in teams even causes arguments and issues between groups of friends that play togheter as well, since nobody wants to be the support, and nobody wants to be the tank. Everyone wants to be the best, that is the problem with gaming, but not everyone can be the best, and that is another one.
A wise man once said «It takes 10 000 hours truely master something, I would say that is correct. Or rather, about 10 years. As a player gets better at a game, and progresses, they go through several phases. And having done this a couple times, I would say they are the same for most games, and guess what, eeeverybody is doing it.
Phase 1: the noob phase. This is where a person is at their best, with no sense of pride, trying to figure out how to play, having their first experience, picking the class that fits their style the best and just having fun. They follow you around and ask for advice, hoping for a win or a kill. This phase lasts for about 100 hours.
Phase 2: this is noob phase number 2, and where the persons soul turns black. As the classes are getting figured out and they are stating to understand the game, they are left wanting more and believing they are talented, which is an image that is formed of yourself that affects every interaction with the game. What is the best class to play? Carry -> ok I’m only gonna play carry. We lost the game -> ok my team sucks. We don’t have a support -> I only play carry. We don’t have a tank - I only play carry. Someone else is going mid -> I’m playing mid this game, and will stay mid even if we lose. This phase lasts for about 6-7000 hours, and/or hitting a milestone where they start playing with players they actually respect, which is only the pros.
The good player phase: Depending on the game, getting to this point, having actually become a good player and carry after 7000 hours of suffer and low win rates, the game is starting to become more clear in terms of what the game really is about and the player is willing to do now what it takes to play with the best. This could mean practicing a specific skill, following a specific strategy etc. and understanding that people are, even now, much better than you, and that the best of the best have much much more than just a petty 7000 hours in the game. Still, no respect is earned without merit, and mechanical skills won’t be seen unless you get a chance to prove it, or have some kind of medal or badge that proves you are most likely at least 7000+ hours skilled and could also play within the pro community without anyone second guessing your mechanical ability.
The pro phase: hitting about 50 000 hours or more in a game is where you are simply a pro, depending on the game this is what is required to reach guru status and up to 100k hours, even if the difference might not be apparent to an outside viewer, the difference between a 7k hour player, 20k, 50k and 100k is there, and is undeniable, and has very little to do with personal talent.
The problem now a days is that skill has been attempted to counteract. Nobody was ever complaining about matchmaking being unfair before up until 2021 when skill based matchmaking got started. With random matchmaking the chance of each team of getting good players or bad players was exactly the same, and in ranked you simply were matched with who had equal rank. Now, the skill based matchmaking is putting everyone against people that are not in the same level in terms of skill - but who you would lose against half the time, regardless of skill. The algorithm also includes the winrate people get from many against one, since regardless of skill, let’s say 50k hours, without escapes it is impossible to win, as long as they are in phase 2, anyone with 1k hours can double team a pro. And this is what people considers «fair» in that case. Other games have also taken similar approaches and it is making the entire gaming community frustrated and not feeling like they can find their place. If you played soccer against Ronaldo, would you demand that he had his kneecaps knocked and got drugged down before the game to the point he plays to 50% winrate? And if he is still performing then matching should be with worse and worse people that are experts at breaking him down psychologically before the game or having him not allowed to do free kicks or penalties etc. well of course not, not if he is someone you respect for his superior skill and see it as a privilege to play with him, sadly in gaming today the parallel would be to not even answer him if he tries to talk or want to play with him since he can’t do anything for you anyways with the rules in place. And that is a shame. Since there is nobody to learn from; and people are literally all hostile towards each other, and teaming up with others becomes harder and harder, and many people are left without friends. The age gaps the language gaps, the solo problem that has become such a big part that playing solo and not having actual good friends that are down for the same stretch as you then no way to be competitive, and being in the group that is above phase 2 is not fun, it sucks basically. But we’ll go get a family, or you’re in your 30s go to work or w/e, but not everyone has those options, and gaming is the best solution or the least boring thing to do for many. And bragging rights of the good old days are to be reckoned with, it’s not like everyone won’t eventually reach a stage where the entire gaming demographic is an aging group which has no hierarchy or passing on of knowledge, us gamers might have had our time. I see now this is leading nowhere. This took too long to write to just delete it’s so I’m posting it here on the forum.
Merry Christmas!
0
Comments
Good callback, OP.
Try Predecessor. Maybe, just maybe, you'll experience something different, but yeah, probably not.
See you in solo lane.
I think what we might all be looking for is maybe a resurrection of what we all ready love, just with amazing next gen graphics, it needs to have that magic that just draws you in and keeps you there. But with people not ever having known the alternative might just grow to accept sbmm etc and see gaming more like a drug, the less you ingest, the better.