Denying was a pretty important part of DotA. It prevented from melee Agi carries from just sitting there while they level up and denying them gold at the same time (assuming you aren't playing EM) and instead of just sitting there auto-attacking, people actually last hit well enough to stop the enemy from denying you.
As for the minimap, they could just move it to the left corner and shift everything else to the right a bit. They really didn't have to put it there =/
I checked out a few things on LoL and a few things feel iffy to me still. Remember that I can't play since the Beta is US only, unless it has changed recently.
Features that make teaching the game to your friends easier, (game tutorial, bots, suggested items)
Awesome, this is one of the things DotA needs. HoN already has suggested items, but this will seriously help out noobs.
Once a match is over, the Summoner gains experience and influence points. Experience points allow the Summoner to gain increased powers, while influence points allow the Summoner to gain access to new champions and power ups for use in future fights.
It sounds like the more you play/win, the more exp you get, and with that, you can buy powerups for your Heroes/Champions. Having an advantage against others before anything happens, its kind of making me cringe. Reading further about Spells/Runes/Masteries, it feels like it punishes people who play very little, and awards people who play 24/7. Or are these bonuses too little to matter?
League of Legends is less random – In DotA, many abilities, runes, physical attacks, and terrain mechanics have a random component to them. We’ve removed many of the random elements of DotA's gameplay to make you more reliant on skill instead of luck.
Removed runes? So that means I don't need to learn rune warding spots or safe rune watch spots? Other than that, I agree with the removal of luck based abilities. Fucking 5 multicasts in a row. Or that mass Slardar bash bullshit. Bad memories...
League of Legends has Brush – In League of Legends, Brush is a tall grassy terrain that provides a Champion with a form of invisibility, you can see out of it but enemies can’t see in! It’s great for ganking and juking.
I like this feature. Ambushing will be pretty cool with this around. How strategic is the placement of brush?
Games are decided by which teams win team fights – not which guy solo farms an agility carry.
Sounds like they have been playing EM too much. Preventing the carry from farming is pretty important, and if they use a dedicated carry, the game will be 4v5 most until late game. You are banking on your team to be able to hold off all 5 until you are strong enough. Also, the old 5 man push teams need to make a comeback =(
We've already engaged with many members of the competitive DotA community during our Competitive DotA Roundtable and the $15,000 cash prize DotA tournament at GamesCom in Cologne, Germany and these are just small examples of the type of events we have planned.
Cash prizes are always good =)
Correct me if I'm wrong about any assumptions I've made.
And 1 last thing? Is the game really that much faster (Competitive DotA games on average last about 40 minutes, although I've seen quite a few 70 minute ones, and even a 2 hour one =/)? And does it really push people to be more agressive like they keep saying?
