By. BZork
Every few years, a video game genre takes over
the scene and inspires many similar titles to come around and dominate,
producing lookalike after lookalike; we saw it with World of Warcraft, and the
rise of MMO’s, and as of the 2010s, it seems like MOBAs
(Multiplayer-Online-Battle-Arena) have fit the bill as the flavor genre of PC
gaming, much to the pleasure of some, and annoyance of others.
With spiritual
roots linked to Blizzard RTS Warcraft III's custom game modes, such as Defense
of the Ancients (DotA) and Aeon of Strife (AoS), the concept behind the MOBA is
a quick-paced, highly competitive team-based strategy game. You assume the role
of one of several heroes/champions, and team up with other champions/heroes
controlled by four other players. The goal is simple, or appears to be: breach
the enemy team’s towers across three lanes, and destroy their
Nexus/Ancient/Throne. What makes the genre so enthralling and fun, is the sheer
amount of combinations one can make, according to hero choice, form of
leveling, items to be purchased and out-of-game options, such as League of
Legends’ runes and masteries system. The possibilities run into the thousands
when it comes to all possible combinations, and when you add up how certain
characters play, you have a recipe for a game that is constantly changing and
evolving.
Due to the rise of
MOBAs, in particular the genre’s biggest two titles: DoTA 2, produced by Valve,
and League of Legends produced by Riot Games, the competitive PC gaming scene
has grown significantly in the past three years. What was often thought to be the pointless dream for
gaming’s many enthusiasts has become a reality, culminating in the possibility
for gamers around the world to live off of earnings from tournaments and
often-times live streaming their games for viewers on Twitch.tv, earning
six-figures or more. Last year, Valve’s “The International 3” for DoTA 2 became
the tournament with the largest prize pool ever, topping off at around $2.8
million dollars, of which it gave $1.4 million to the 1st place
winners, Alliance, a Swedish team of pro-gamers. Whereas the League of Legends
Championship sold out the Staples Center in LA.
This is not to say that
MOBAs are the solution to gaming’s gripes, seeing as many enthusiasts have
several reactions
of the genre, ranging from sheer hatred to obsessive fans that literally
live-stream for the majority of their day in hopes of making enough money to
get by. However, no one can ignore that they have brought a lot of interest,
sponsors and a breath of fresh air into the competitive gaming scene, even more still driven by the
fact that one need not spend any money at all to get into MOBA’s. Most are
free-to-play, with
usually low-hardware requirements for computers to run them, as seen in League
of Legends’ case. Whether you love ‘em, or hate ‘em, they’ll probably be around
for a while (Seeing as World of Warcraft is still going strong after 10 years in the MMO genre. . .),
so give them a shot! Puerto Rico has vibrant communities for both of the
genre’s mainstays, so it’s worth looking into. Who knows... You might find
yourself enthralled by the genre’s charm, or turned away entirely by the
skill-curve and the community, there’s only one way to find out!
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