Why you might like Blizzard DOTA
by Mathew McCurley 
Oct 27th 2011 at 4:00PM
Defense of the Ancients was originally a Warcraft III mod that became so incredibly popular that it spawned the genre know known as MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) or ARTS (action real-time strategy), depending on who you ask. The game consists of three paths that connect two bases with destructible buildings and towers along the path routes. Waves of minions or creeps, NPC characters that spawn endlessly from both bases, meet in the middle of these lanes to do battle. You control a powerful hero who levels up, gains skills and abilities, and can purchase items from a shop. Your goal is to fight these minions and enemy players, destroy the enemy towers and buildings, and win the game.
The formula and map layout is similar from game to game, but each usually involves the three lanes (top, middle, bottom) and an area in between the lanes called the jungle, where players can take detours through from lane to lane or surprise enemies with strategic attacks. Blizzard DOTA is a very familiar experience to DOTA veterans.
Who do you play?
Blizzard DOTA features many characters from Blizzard's universe of games, from Nova the ghost from StarCraft, Sylvanas, Thall, Muradin, and more from WoW, and the witch doctor from Diablo. You can even play as a siege tank, which I got to try my first time playing and had a lot of fun with. Your hero is like a mini-WoW character -- he levels, he has health and mana, and he can learn skills and buy items from a shop with gold that you accumulate by killing creeps and minions, killing players, and destroying objectives.
Characters each have a role that they are best at. Players can take on the role of a beefy tank, damage-oriented DPSer, healer/buffer support roles, or a siege character who attacks from long distance. Thrall, for instance, is a support hero who uses his powers to help his allies on the battlefield as well as control the flow of battle. Arthas is a tanky/DPS character who wades into the fray and puts Frostmourne into people's faces. It is all very familiar to the tank/DPS/healer setup that you already know and love from WoW.
The flow of the game
Each DOTA-esque MOBA game has a certain flow to it. In the beginning, players use some starting gold to purchase an item or two and then head into lane. The enemy team will be getting ready as well, moving characters into lane to defend against your minions. Remember, your goal is to push your minions and destroy towers along the path, eventually destroying the main base. Communication is key, letting your fellow players know what is happening on your side of the map in case the other team is setting up to overwhelm one of your other lanes.
Middle lane is usually left for one hero, with the top and bottom lanes trading off between one or two players per lane. Nothing is set in stone. If top lane is having a hard time, players move about the battlefield, helping and assisting. Putting too many people in one lane means enemies have less resistance as they try to move toward your base. It's a type of meta-game that you pick up quickly.
Blizzard DOTA feels a little more accessible to me than the other ground-up MOBA games out there, considering you already probably know and love StarCraft or you've at least played a real-time strategy game from Blizzard. It is fairly straightforward, to be completely honest. Choose your roll, choose your hero, go have fun. If you've ever played Team Fortress 2, you already know more than you think you do.
Why should you care?
"I'm a WoW player, Mat. Why should I care about Blizzard DOTA?" you ask. Well, there are a few reasons you should pay attention to Blizzard DOTA. First, it appears that Blizzard DOTA will be releasing on a platform called Blizzard Arcade, the new name for what once was the StarCraft map store. Back in the day, Blizzard had wanted to create a marketplace for StarCraft where mod and map makers alike could sell their creations for a tidy little profit, much like the Valve store for TF2 items. This new platform has the potential to be a big piece of Blizzard's future, especially with new or "indie" game distribution. You are going to most likely be interacting with the Blizzard Arcade in some fashion -- so why not grab this free game as well?
Blizzard DOTA also features some of your favorite characters from Warcraft. Sylvanas was in the trailer for the game, with Thrall, Arthas, and Muradin being playable at BlizzCon. You can bet that more famous Warcraft heroes will show up for you to play as, which is pretty cool, all things considered. Plus, Blizzard gets to take liberties with these characters in the goofy, fun setting of the DOTA game, making all sorts of fun stuff possible.
From my time with the game, Blizzard DOTA feels competitive as a MOBA game in a genre where the bar is set pretty high, but is also incredibly accessible because of its connection to StarCraft 2 and the WoW playerbase. You already understand the concepts of the game just by being a WoW or RTS player. Now, you get to take those concepts and try something new with them. Did I mention it's free? Why wouldn't you try it?
The news is out -- we'll be playing Mists of Pandaria! Find out what's in store with an all-new talent system, peek over our shoulder at our Pandaren hands-on, and get ready to battle your companion pets against others. It's all here right at WoW Insider!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Welldead Oct 27th 2011 4:05PM
Might dislike this comment but, League of Legends Much? xD
Nicolas Oct 27th 2011 4:11PM
I find it very hard to come up with non-sketchy reasons why LoL was not mentioned in this article.
Andre Oct 27th 2011 4:11PM
Pretty sure LoL copied WoW DOTA, as WoW DOTA came out first.
Mathew McCurley Oct 27th 2011 4:12PM
DOTA for Warcraft III predated League of Legends. The developers of DOTA splintered off into different groups. Pendragon, Guinsoo, and others moved over to found Riot Games and made League of Legends. All the MOBA games live in the same sphere.
lilywillylover Oct 27th 2011 4:15PM
DOTA preceded League of Legends.
Sumadin Oct 27th 2011 4:15PM
Lol is a Dota clone aswell. So really not surprising.
Lizenz Oct 27th 2011 4:15PM
Yes, yes it is, because League of Legends was based-off and inspired-by Warcraft III's Defense of the Ancients. It'll be cool watching this genre evolve in the coming years with Blizzard releasing Blizzard DOTA and DOTA 2 coming out on Steam as the official sequel made by the original DOTA modders themselves.
Aurix Oct 27th 2011 4:16PM
Where do you think LoL came from?
Matthew Rossi Oct 27th 2011 4:25PM
I can literally come up with hundreds of non sketchy reasons not to mention LoL, or HoN, or even DOTA 2 in this article. Here's five:
1 - McCurley already mentions LoL so often that he knows I might leap out of a nearby bush if he did it again.
2 - The article isn't about LoL.
3 - LoL's not exactly so hurting for press that it needs to be mentioned here.
4 - Mentioning LoL would take time away from actually talking about Blizzard DOTA, the subject of the post.
5 - I'm serious, OUT OF A NEARBY BUSH.
Lizenz Oct 27th 2011 4:26PM
Lol (NOTE: NOT "LoL"), I like you Mr. Rossi. What's my Warrior column gunna be on this week? :P
Shade Oct 27th 2011 4:29PM
@Rossi So what you're saying.... is that you're Garen? *mauled*
ian Oct 27th 2011 4:33PM
LoL wasn't mentions because he knew it was going to be mentioned in the comments.
Welldead Oct 27th 2011 4:36PM
Lol, i know DOTA came out firstly than LoL but just watching Blizzard finally doing their Official DOTA as a different game like after many years, they're kinda late dont ya think?
Dreyja Oct 27th 2011 4:42PM
Though, to be honest, WOW was working on it first.
And, as always I expect WOW to take what someone else is doing and DO IT BETTER. Not to mention it actually contains characters I give a flying fig about. :)
Goodk4t Oct 27th 2011 5:01PM
I find it very stupid all comments saying "X copied Y". LoL didn't copy DotA simply because Guinsoo, one the led designers of League of Legends, created the original along with Eul. Phreak, another designer of LoL also helped to create DotA. You can't "copy" something you created yourself.
Then some would say: so Blizzard DOTA is a copy of LoL? Yes and No. You can't forget that it all started with Warcraft 3. If there was no WC3, there would never be a DotA to begin with. And DotA itself is a copy of Tides of Blood, which is a copy of Aeons of Strife. And I wouldn't be surprised if AoS was a copy from something else as well.
Everyone "copies" everyone, who cares? Only thing that matters is that we, the players, can have fun with those games.
Pyromelter Oct 27th 2011 6:01PM
I think a LoL comparison is valid. Yes, DOTA started with WC3. Then the guy who did that helped to bring out LoL, which has actually been doing pretty darn well for itself. I know some people who played HoN, but... eh, I dunno, never really held appeal to me.
The question is, will a blizzard all-games themed DOTA be able to surpass LoL? I think there is a good chance it might, due to (as McCurley pointed out) accessibility, as well as the fact that there are a lot of us out there that would enjoy the chance to play as Thrall or Arthas again.
twbrienn Oct 27th 2011 6:02PM
Now I'm picturing Rossi following McCurley around with a fake bush and putting down every time he stops. McCurley looks around as he's about to mention LoL and spots the bush with an ill-concealed Rossi behind it and freezes then proceeds to move off a ways. Rossi then has to reposition in order to leap out of the bush effectively.
Pyromelter Oct 27th 2011 6:27PM
tw, you're thinking about that tree/bush cardboard thing from the Death Knight starter zone quest aren't you?
Natsumi Oct 27th 2011 10:06PM
I actually pictures the ninjas disguised as a hedge from The Tick :p
http://www.thetick.ws/tickcom3.html
Goodk4t Oct 28th 2011 10:01AM
If Blizzard Dota has the same play style as LoL without the darn bushes, I quit LoL in a second. Something that was very bad about DotA was the Str/Agi/Int system, that makes ir so items don't scale well with casters. Then HoN came with the same system and worse playstyle than DotA.
The LoL play style is somewhat more fun, it's very noob friendly unlike HoN. I like the fact your team can turn the tide and win a match the seemed lost. I like the way the spells and skills work, they are very well thought and specially, I like that casters can perform well late-game. But I always found "bushes" to be such a stupid thing, real DotA players use the Fog of War to LoS their enemies. Plus, I miss the creep deny system.