HoN 3.0
Heroes of Newerth the new MOBA for new players in its genre. HoN has been around since 2010, and has been known for its harsh learning curve and abusive community. The creators of HoN has taken note and are going to add better, and more in-depth tutorials, bot matches, and other various other aids to help new players transition into the game and perhaps increase the competitive community.
S2 Games have been preparing to globally launch HoN 3.0 on January 31st, 2013. The graphics have been greatly increased to take advantage of todays technology with a whole array of new 3D model remake that looks fantastic. It also released bots with customizable AI, which allows newer players learn without costing other players their ranking.
S2 Games have been focusing on improving new player experience , by adding the bot matches for casual players to learn. It will help new players develop basic skills to play against others. Bot matches have been a huge hit for a featured game League of Legends, as playing against bots is the easiest and least stressful way to learn the basics.
Ryan McDaniel, Lead Content Manager for S2 Games suggests that they have made a new player's experience easier by not only adding bots but by remaking the whole walkthrough system, so that it teaches them how to play the game by matching them against these bots. It flattens out the learning curve substantially and it does not take as long for new players to learn the ropes of the game.
The HeroDex has been removed and recreated into the new Learnitorium that players gain access to let players read into hero skills and information, as well as watching videos and tutorials of the specific hero.
Director of operations Nathan Garcia explains that some of their balance designers have worked on a new video series to teach basics of MOBA gameplay, and eventually they expect to expand into more advanced strategies that competitive players use.
The customizable bots isn't specifically towards new players, S2 hopes in finding modders as the code is there for anyone to play with. This is in hopes that the growing HoN mod community will expand and modders will be able to create something for everyone in the community, be it new challenges or even design new helpful tools.
The textures of the map has been completely remade, which looks really HD and it creates a better environmental vibe, changing from spring on the Legion side and slowly progressing to a barren wasteland. The towers and building have been remade, as their health lowers the more destroyed they look. The HD retouch and remake to the sprites of HoN is a nice addition to all of the other amazing things implemented into this 3.0 patch.
In hopes of detering many bad mannered players and creating a better community S2 has removed the vote to kick option, and replaced it with a Report-a-Player function. The system is suppose to punish bad mannered players, and abusers will lose the use of the system. The punishments could be the ability to revoke all voice chat options, which should cut down on mic yellers.
If HoN 3.0 is what HoN 1.0 should have had in the first place, then perhaps Heroes of Newerth would be a more played and more enjoyed game than it is today. This patch has added many things to make the game more playable and more noob-friendly.
Anthony Chen
Source: http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/21/a-newbie-in-heroes-of-newerth-how-patch-3-0-improves-the-moba-e/
ReplyDeleteHeroes of Newerth (HoN) has been around since 2010 and during the last two years has become infamous for its harsh learning curve and abusive community. Despite these drawbacks, HoN is a great Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game, and in the latest patch the developer, S2 Games has finally taken steps to address some of these failings. HoN 3.0 adds better, more in-depth tutorials, bot matches, and a number of community features that aim to hopefully help new players transition more easily into the game and foster a better community.
S2 Games plans to launch HoN 3.0 globally on January 31st, 2013. The latest version includes bots with customizable AI, which allows newer players to learn without cost to the rankings of other players. Bot matches have been a huge hit for other games like League of Legends, as playing against bots is the easiest and least stressful way to learn the basics.
Ryan McDaniel, Lead Content Manager for S2 Games suggests that they have made a new player's experience easier not only by adding bots but by remaking the whole walkthrough system, so that players learn how to play through being matched against these bots. The walkthrough system flattens out the learning curve substantially and it does not take as long for new players to learn the ropes of the game.
Director of operations Nathan Garcia explains that the balance designers at S2 Games have worked on a new video series to teach basics of MOBA gameplay, and eventually they expect to expand into more advanced strategies that competitive players use. These videos appear in the new Learnitorium that replaces the HeroDex. The Learnitorium also allows players to read about hero skills and information in addition to watching the videos and playing the tutorials.
The customizable bots aren’t just for new players. S2 Games hopes to appeal to the modding community as well by providing code for anyone to play with. This is a move to expand the HoN mod community and create something for everyone, including challenges or even new tools.
The community has been known for its rudeness and abuses in the past, and S2 Games has taken steps to address this. The vote-to-kick option has been removed and replace with a Report-a-Player function. This system is supposed to punish bad mannered players, and abusers will lose the use of the system. The punishments could include revocation of all voice chat options, which should cut down the amount of yelling on the microphone .
If HoN 3.0 is what HoN 1.0 should have had in the first place, then perhaps Heroes of Newerth would be a more played and more enjoyed game than it is today. This patch has added many things to make the game more playable and more noob-friendly.