Heroes of Newerth 2.0

[non]

The developers from S2 Games dropped by the PC Gamer offices last week to show off the massive changes coming to Heroes of Newerth in the next few weeks. Dubbed HoN 2.0, the new update adds a brand new gameplay mode, a new map, an in-game store, and a streamlined interface. Read on for full details on and an exclusive video detailing the new “casual” gameplay mode.

With Casual Mode, S2 Games hope to make HoN more accessible, faster to play, and less punishing

In-game store

Why do you need in-game currency like gold? HoN 2.0 is introducing a brand new in-game store. In the store players will be able to:

* Get alternate avatars. The new avatars have new textures, new models, new animations, new voices, and some even change the sex of the character!
* Adjust account cosmetics such as icons to show off your personality or a colored name to show up higher in the lobby list.
* Announcer packs to change the voice when you achieve something in game. For example, the Flamboyant pack changes the first kill announcement from “Blood lust” to “Cheery popper!” and is transmitted to all players in the game, when you get the first kill (whether they’ve purchased the pack or not).

These shop tricks can be purchased with currency that’s earned through ladder play (the developers mentioned that no cool item should cost more than 100 games’ worth of currency) or with real-world cash.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E29iOPSxF94

Source:
http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/12/07/heroe ... e-giveaway

 

[CrimsonAngel]

Sounds like they are trying to turn it into lol

 

[Destroid]

DotA and all it's putrid offspring are retarded anyway.

 

[Hoaxmetal]

Gotta love faggots whining about cosmetic item shop.

 

[Excommunicator]

I had a lot of fun with DotA but had no interest in any of its commercial derivatives. Pointless buying what is available better for free

 

[non]

It's fine as long as it's only cosmetic.

But it's a step towards the kind of DLC where you can pay to unlock new items or heroes, which would really suck.

 

[non]

I had a lot of fun with DotA but had no interest in any of its commercial derivatives. Pointless buying what is available better for free

No.
HoN is an improvement over DotA in every way.

 

[Excommunicator]

Want to go into better detail there non?

 

[Grunker]

Since DotA and its offspring are pretty basic and cannot constitute more than mindless fun, LoL is where it's at anyway.

 

[non]

Well here are some of my personal favorite areas of improvement:

*People can reconnect if they drop from games.

*Lots of player stats (rating, wins, losses, kills, deaths, assists, disconnects, games left, favorite heroes, wards placed, concede votes called et c).

*Teams can automatically be balanced based on said stats.

*No one ever leaves games, because that's recorded in your profile.

*Better set of hot keys. (q/w/e/r are always used for the four skills, alt+q/w/e... activates items in inventory)

*Last (and least) it looks much better.

 

[Excommunicator]

Well personally I wouldn't rank any of that high on my list of needs or wants. Visuals I would give it, but that's not enough to make me want to buy it. Also they lose my points on the visual side for basically copying the style (not to mention heroes) of DotA/WC3.

 

[non]

I think that at the very least nothing is worse than in DotA. So it's just an already great game, but with some nice fixes like the reconnecting and leaver protection.

There are also some good new heroes. And some of the old ones have more useful skills. Like Hellbringer (I think "Warlock" in DotA? His Ulti summons a huge demon and does AoE stun), all his skills are now actually good/fun/useful unlike in DotA.

 

[Excommunicator]

Yeah, most likely.

I like Demnok Lannik in DotA. His skills are pretty narrow use but still very good in the right situations.

 

[Padre]

Since DotA and its offspring are pretty basic and cannot constitute more than mindless fun, LoL is where it's at anyway.

yeah because mindless fun is bad right ?

Also, let's compare those two matches shall we.

http://www.own3d.tv/video/46533/Rio...624__Archive__2010-12-11_02_02_51_-_03_02_53_ This was supposed to be a 'lore game' whatever that means. Nice spectating mode they have there. Also tons of action since bloodlust happened like 13 minutes into the game.

http://www.fileplay.net/channels/honcast/12205/honcast-dail-cast-thursday-dec-9th-manhouse

All random, No repick, No swap. As funny as it gets really. Epic game and good play from both sides.

And now tell me which looks more fun to you ?


Also about Casual Mode, it is replacing EM so it's for the better. We will still have our regular mode and on top of that functioning TMM.

As for coins, visuals shop and the like, who gives a shit about such things? If S2 can profit from something like cosmetics, I'm all for it.

 

[Excommunicator]

Grunker has no twitch skills, the noob he is

 

[non]

Also about Casual Mode, it is replacing EM so it's for the better. We will still have our regular mode and on top of that functioning TMM.

As for coins, visuals shop and the like, who gives a shit about such things? If S2 can profit from something like cosmetics, I'm all for it.

 

[desocupado]

I play DotA regularly with a friend, and I wonder if those who bash it actually did play it.

The game has tons heroes and items, and many of those combo to better effect, and you have to know those, otherwise you won't know how to defend against it. You also need map awareness, know the places where you can hide, know when you can farm and when you will be ganged upon.

You might dislike it, but it's not just a clickfest.

 

[Grunker]

yeah because mindless fun is bad right ?

When the fuck did I say this?

Also: I like your method of evaluating which game is better by posting two replays. I'm sure science could learn a lot from you

 

[Padre]

I can't post any more replays of LoL because it doesn't have replay or observer mode.

pwned.

 

[Grunker]

I can't post any more replays of LoL because it doesn't have replay or observer mode.

pwned.

Indeed. The lack of a replay-function reduces all other arguments to dust... What's that you say? You just got the option to reconnect? Yes, yes. A replay-function is much more important, I hear ya.

 

[Markman]

I still want those range indicators, yo. Casual or not.

I still play LoL often(+500 games played on EU and US combined), and while its fun whooping ass with Blitz, it does lack alot of features around the game.

 

[Padre]

So guys, what are your impressions of 2.0 ?

Played 3 games of MM today and it was very fun. Unfortunately 2 of them were pure stomps followed by a 15 minute concede.

The announcer pack - Flamboyant is extremely funny in a gay way but I'm gonna buy it asap to troll noobs in game.

Also there is a new hero coming in 2 days. A vampire looking for his beloved bella

 

[Grunker]

it does lack alot of features around the game.

Trollin' aside, which features make HoN so preferable compared to LoL? Genuinely interested.

 

[Wulfstand]

I wanna play some mm with you guys, but we gotta set up a certain day/time. I for one could play today in about ~8-9 hours. How about you guys?

By the by, I haven't played a normal hon game in ages, mainly because of the shittastic community, but I've been playing a lot of dota, for what it's worth.

 

[Zed]

I played a custom game a couple of days ago. I like the interface tweaks but it's still pretty bad. Had a couple of new heroes in that game. Some water dude that seemed completely OP and some bombardier that looked fun.

Will try MM when I get home after christmas.