Why Are There So Many MOBAs?
So End of Nations is going to be a MOBA. We're all a bit surprised by that move, but with about 532 MOBAs coming out this year (approximately), maybe we shouldn't be that surprised.
In fact, we probably shouldn't be surprised in general that there are so many MOBAs in development, in beta, or have already launched. On some level, everyone wants to mimic League of Legends' massive success, just like MMO devs tried to copy World of Warcraft's formula for years. But simple economics and risk/reward analysis might also figure into things.
Consider this: A typical MMORPG has vast tracts of land (insert boob joke here), PvE, PvP, crafting, mounts, thousands of items, AI for hundreds of different monsters, lots of text, or voice acting in more modern games, and so on and so on.
Compare that to a typical MOBA, which is much more minimal in its raw components. A small number of maps – maybe only one or two – only one type of gameplay, virtually no PvE or AI, minimal itemization... Sure, new (and old) MOBAs are going to have balance issues between characters, and that'll take a lot of time and effort to sort out, but that's not any different than what any MMO faces.
Put simply, making a MOBA requires significantly less expense and time for what can, theoretically, still be a World of Warcraft-like payday. If you don't have a huge hit, you can still turn a profit with a relatively small player base.
Even Riot didn't anticipate League of Legends' explosive success. President Marc Merrill said that their “initial target was 20,000 concurrent users.” They planned small, with a likely minimal budget, and when they hit it big there were growing pains to contend with, but nothing that couldn't be overcome with time and a whole lot of sudden money.
Consider the opposite position of having a big budget, planning big, needing a game to be big – only to have it be small and cause your entire company to collapse. I'll take the growing pains any day.
And if it fails to live up to expectations – not something any developer wants, but something every one should plan for – then you've invested a lot less time, money, and manpower. It's a lot easier, one would think, to recover from a failed MOBA than it is to recover from a failed MMO.
True, we probably have too many MOBAs coming out this year, and the market is probably going to become oversaturated with subpar efforts. But before you condemn your favorite company for “selling out” to the MOBA crowd, at least understand why they're doing it. If it was your money, would you want to go for the lower-risk, quickly developed MOBA or the higher-risk, longer-to-develop MMO? If it was your company and your $millions at stake, what would you do?
About the Author
Jason Winter is a veteran gaming journalist, he brings a wide range of experience to MMOBomb, including two years with Beckett Media where he served as the editor of the leading gaming magazine Massive Online Gamer. He has also written professionally for several gaming websites.
More Stories by Jason WinterDiscussion (43)
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Be it not OCD then your just plain smart asses who think you know it all, your right they are wrong.
why is there so many moba ? because theres a lot of kids who like this sort of crap and it really shows on these comments.
and in these days ... every game from RPG to Shooter MMOs or Singel is copy of copy of old ones...
there is no big innovations in my opinion in games ..
last game that really was innovative for me as oold player since atarii 800xl ;p was splinter cell first part ... where u could do all that stuff ...
but now even most epic game like WarFrame is just run and shoot every thing thats move..
but could be so much more ...
But they are being cloned for the same reason WoW was 5 years ago. They're popular and make $$.
Just look how Command and Conquer 4 failed trying to blend MOBA and RTS.
There are lot MMORPG and everyone can find some type they like.
But there is lack of real RTS games. So just imagine what fame will C&C online get if game ends up to be competetive and not pay2win.
When im up to MMORTS i just have to say that iavoid trash games like Stronghold Online or Anno Online just becouse older games in that series offered more then bland travian like gameplay.
Consider the opposite position of having a big budget, planning big, needing a game to be big – only to have it be small and cause your entire company to collapse. I’ll take the growing pains any day.
And if it fails to live up to expectations – not something any developer wants, but something every one should plan for – then you’ve invested a lot less time, money, and manpower. It’s a lot easier, one would think, to recover from a failed MOBA than it is to recover from a failed MMO.
True, we probably have too many MOBAs coming out this year, and the market is probably going to become oversaturated with subpar efforts. But before you condemn your favorite company for “selling out” to the MOBA crowd, at least understand why they’re doing it. If it was your money, would you want to go for the lower-risk, quickly developed MOBA or the higher-risk, longer-to-develop MMO? If it was your company and your $millions at stake, what would you do?
By Jason Winter
13 Comments
Keylock32
July 17, 2013 at 5:04 pm It’s a progress (whether bad or good) from old classic grind RPG
it has everything that players wants (who love the genre) also have almost everything an RPG genre would have (from point & click part)
it has grind part (from creep/mobs/monster or what ever you want to call it), and you don’t have to spend loads amount of time to achieve it.
it has PVP (which is main reason people playing MMORPG)
it has teamworks element
it has multiple/lot’s of gameplay variety (depend on what hero you pick)
BUT, what I don’t understand is… every games turns out a copy of a copy.
just like the old RPG turns out to be.
in the end, just few famous (or new one with large playerbase) will survive
because it’s meant to be short to play, but repetitive there isn’t much things for publisher/developer to make a profits, but dota2 probably can be a good example.
but then again… we will get through another copy of a copy.
Reply
Takerukun3
July 17, 2013 at 5:07 pm 500?????? mounted. we need a list of 500 mobas please. cover them all.
Reply
Flevalt
July 17, 2013 at 6:10 pm ^This.
Go!
Reply anip
July 17, 2013 at 5:14 pm I don’t play MOBA… the only one I’ve played was from 8+ years ago on Warcraft III…
Mostly because I am more interested in PvE RPG instead of PvP Boxed
I dislike PvP and always aim for PvE only servers in any game, lol.
Plus.. 90% of all MOBA are exactly the same no matter if they’re in 2D, 2.5D, or 3D.
All of them are always “inside a box” with “pre-created characters”
There is no actual customization, since all characters start out as lv.1 and level up inside the box (this applies to all MOBA)
Personally, I am getting tired of all these MOBAs.. needs more MMORPG.
Reply
Keylock32
July 17, 2013 at 5:18 pm Something to add
There are huge playerbase for this genre, but not all of it like it actually (because lack of good MMO with large playerbase nowdays)
probably just log on once in a while and get stomped.
why? because moba is very competitive game, something like overpowered items or hero can easily break the whole things.
and because it’s very competitive not much player like it, 8 from 10 players (2 just quit instantly) will stay to survive while 3 from 8 is quitting after a while because they don’t have much time to understand the game mechanism.
Teamwork Gameplay is the most important essence in moba game, while new player (who probably think they might do good enough if they farm a certain item) will get stomped with only chain of combo, and after 3-5 failed attempt and they didn’t change their gameplay, I can see which team is going to loose within 10 minutes.
Reply
TheGamer
July 17, 2013 at 5:35 pm For me, i’m okay with MOBAs.I’m not a huge fan, but i like a match or two in DotA 2 or LoL.
If people want to make a MOBA, fine, but please, do something different.Don’t just do a “DotA clone”, try making something different with the genre.For example, AirMech, it picked MOBA mechanics and mixed with more “micromanagement RTS”-style mechanics, and we can agree it is a good game.
If you make a DotA clone, you will fail do gain some money.LoL players, DotA and DotA 2 players will not leave their games to play a new one, i won’t do that, now considering that, last time i heard, have 32 million players per month.That is basically 60% of the MOBA players.You can’t compete with that.You need to have something new, unless you want to lose some cash, you may say its “less expensive than a MMO”, but a loss is a loss.Also, if a indie dev (like the guy from AirMech) decided to do a DotA clone and fail, that probably means that he is going bankrupt.If you make something new, more players will be interested, more money you will have and you would have done something good for the genre.Everybody wins.
Reply
wahhh
July 17, 2013 at 6:37 pm no one complains about the 500 wow copies that come out every year!
Reply
Sza
July 17, 2013 at 6:41 pm Most of this companies trying to copy will fail,I believe LoL was mostly successfull because it was something new and unseen when it came out,but it also was innovative,when those companies(trying to copy the current MOBAs) come up with something innovative and different from what we have today thats when they will be successfull,Just like WoW,Dota,LoL.
Spend more of your manwork and money on finding new ideas rather than just buying a bunch of things to put ontop of the current games.
First come first served.
Reply
Kloakenstein
July 17, 2013 at 6:57 pm Why is this even being asked? Why can’t there be so many MOBAs? That is like asking why are there so mmos or fighters, people want variety.
Reply
iluvgamez
July 17, 2013 at 9:00 pm Yes, there is much variety beetween the Moba Games out there. xD In fighting games i dont have to play with people i dont understand or ppl they dont understand the game (even with 500wins and more which is scary).
MMOs got atleast a storyline.
But Mobas are just the same. Q,W,E,R maybe 1 or 2 other keys for something “special”. Almost every moba has the same map. (Sounds like something i could play on Game Boy actually)
Most of them have bad controls, bad animations and a horrible balance.
Im burnd out. If i see summoners rift one more time and hear that voice, i will pull out my eyes with a knife and for sure something like that with my ears. Not to meantion what i would do if im trying one more new moba that sucks more then the others bevor.
Reply Treeman De Unmountable
July 17, 2013 at 8:43 pm It sadden me that most new developers now refuse and scared to make or try something new; they just simply jump into someones’ bandwagon, in this case it would be League of Legends. But really, the true success is Defense of The Ancient 1.
But the developers of that game move on to make League of Legends. ;D
Reply
Anon
July 17, 2013 at 8:56 pm DOTA and LoL will likely be the only traditional MOBAs to shine.
I don’t see Smite falling anytime soon either, its extremely well done and they way of the future for MOBAs, since it makes the former titles feel like childish antiques. But its pretty hard to flip playerbases overnight. I could see Smite slowly gaining headway though, and I doubt any copycats will steal its spot.
Every time I see a new MOBA I just laugh. They all look awful. Its a sad day if we seriously have to now sift through billions of crappy copycat MOBAs while looking for MMOs, but then again I guess sifting through and actually trying dozens upon dozens of WoW clones in search for a real MMO was a bit more tedious.
Reply
Ero-Shinigami
July 17, 2013 at 9:55 pm Nice point man, like if u see, the only mobas that really get the most attention is those 3, first Dota for obvious reasons, then LoL that kinda “revived” the moba when it was released, and being free helped that genre gain popularity, then Smite, that got the “hack&slash thirdperson” innovation to the genre, after a few new mobas that followed the flow “but with almost no innovation (See HoN, its almost the same as Dota) and then Dota 2 was released. Just like those years where every new mmo was a grindy fantasy-like game (Many could be cleary called WoW copies) its the same with Moba now, but since not many people like this and Rpg is very popular, its why there are more complains.
Reply recap on comments
July 17, 2013 at 9:59 pm 13 Comments
Keylock32
July 17, 2013 at 5:04 pm It’s a progress (whether bad or good) from old classic grind RPG
it has everything that players wants (who love the genre) also have almost everything an RPG genre would have (from point & click part)
it has grind part (from creep/mobs/monster or what ever you want to call it), and you don’t have to spend loads amount of time to achieve it.
it has PVP (which is main reason people playing MMORPG)
it has teamworks element
it has multiple/lot’s of gameplay variety (depend on what hero you pick)
BUT, what I don’t understand is… every games turns out a copy of a copy.
just like the old RPG turns out to be.
in the end, just few famous (or new one with large playerbase) will survive
because it’s meant to be short to play, but repetitive there isn’t much things for publisher/developer to make a profits, but dota2 probably can be a good example.
but then again… we will get through another copy of a copy.
Reply
Takerukun3
July 17, 2013 at 5:07 pm 500?????? mounted. we need a list of 500 mobas please. cover them all.
Reply
Flevalt
July 17, 2013 at 6:10 pm ^This.
Go!
Reply anip
July 17, 2013 at 5:14 pm I don’t play MOBA… the only one I’ve played was from 8+ years ago on Warcraft III…
Mostly because I am more interested in PvE RPG instead of PvP Boxed
I dislike PvP and always aim for PvE only servers in any game, lol.
Plus.. 90% of all MOBA are exactly the same no matter if they’re in 2D, 2.5D, or 3D.
All of them are always “inside a box” with “pre-created characters”
There is no actual customization, since all characters start out as lv.1 and level up inside the box (this applies to all MOBA)
Personally, I am getting tired of all these MOBAs.. needs more MMORPG.
Reply
Keylock32
July 17, 2013 at 5:18 pm Something to add
There are huge playerbase for this genre, but not all of it like it actually (because lack of good MMO with large playerbase nowdays)
probably just log on once in a while and get stomped.
why? because moba is very competitive game, something like overpowered items or hero can easily break the whole things.
and because it’s very competitive not much player like it, 8 from 10 players (2 just quit instantly) will stay to survive while 3 from 8 is quitting after a while because they don’t have much time to understand the game mechanism.
Teamwork Gameplay is the most important essence in moba game, while new player (who probably think they might do good enough if they farm a certain item) will get stomped with only chain of combo, and after 3-5 failed attempt and they didn’t change their gameplay, I can see which team is going to loose within 10 minutes.
Reply
TheGamer
July 17, 2013 at 5:35 pm For me, i’m okay with MOBAs.I’m not a huge fan, but i like a match or two in DotA 2 or LoL.
If people want to make a MOBA, fine, but please, do something different.Don’t just do a “DotA clone”, try making something different with the genre.For example, AirMech, it picked MOBA mechanics and mixed with more “micromanagement RTS”-style mechanics, and we can agree it is a good game.
If you make a DotA clone, you will fail do gain some money.LoL players, DotA and DotA 2 players will not leave their games to play a new one, i won’t do that, now considering that, last time i heard, have 32 million players per month.That is basically 60% of the MOBA players.You can’t compete with that.You need to have something new, unless you want to lose some cash, you may say its “less expensive than a MMO”, but a loss is a loss.Also, if a indie dev (like the guy from AirMech) decided to do a DotA clone and fail, that probably means that he is going bankrupt.If you make something new, more players will be interested, more money you will have and you would have done something good for the genre.Everybody wins.
Reply
wahhh
July 17, 2013 at 6:37 pm no one complains about the 500 wow copies that come out every year!
Reply
Sza
July 17, 2013 at 6:41 pm Most of this companies trying to copy will fail,I believe LoL was mostly successfull because it was something new and unseen when it came out,but it also was innovative,when those companies(trying to copy the current MOBAs) come up with something innovative and different from what we have today thats when they will be successfull,Just like WoW,Dota,LoL.
Spend more of your manwork and money on finding new ideas rather than just buying a bunch of things to put ontop of the current games.
First come first served.
Reply
Kloakenstein
July 17, 2013 at 6:57 pm Why is this even being asked? Why can’t there be so many MOBAs? That is like asking why are there so mmos or fighters, people want variety.
Reply
iluvgamez
July 17, 2013 at 9:00 pm Yes, there is much variety beetween the Moba Games out there. xD In fighting games i dont have to play with people i dont understand or ppl they dont understand the game (even with 500wins and more which is scary).
MMOs got atleast a storyline.
But Mobas are just the same. Q,W,E,R maybe 1 or 2 other keys for something “special”. Almost every moba has the same map. (Sounds like something i could play on Game Boy actually)
Most of them have bad controls, bad animations and a horrible balance.
Im burnd out. If i see summoners rift one more time and hear that voice, i will pull out my eyes with a knife and for sure something like that with my ears. Not to meantion what i would do if im trying one more new moba that sucks more then the others bevor.
Reply Treeman De Unmountable
July 17, 2013 at 8:43 pm It sadden me that most new developers now refuse and scared to make or try something new; they just simply jump into someones’ bandwagon, in this case it would be League of Legends. But really, the true success is Defense of The Ancient 1.
But the developers of that game move on to make League of Legends. ;D
Reply
Anon
July 17, 2013 at 8:56 pm DOTA and LoL will likely be the only traditional MOBAs to shine.
I don’t see Smite falling anytime soon either, its extremely well done and they way of the future for MOBAs, since it makes the former titles feel like childish antiques. But its pretty hard to flip playerbases overnight. I could see Smite slowly gaining headway though, and I doubt any copycats will steal its spot.
Every time I see a new MOBA I just laugh. They all look awful. Its a sad day if we seriously have to now sift through billions of crappy copycat MOBAs while looking for MMOs, but then again I guess sifting through and actually trying dozens upon dozens of WoW clones in search for a real MMO was a bit more tedious.
Reply
Ero-Shinigami
July 17, 2013 at 9:55 pm Nice point man, like if u see, the only mobas that really get the most attention is those 3, first Dota for obvious reasons, then LoL that kinda “revived” the moba when it was released, and being free helped that genre gain popularity, then Smite, that got the “hack&slash thirdperson” innovation to the genre, after a few new mobas that followed the flow “but with almost no innovation (See HoN, its almost the same as Dota) and then Dota 2 was released. Just like those years where every new mmo was a grindy fantasy-like game (Many could be cleary called WoW copies) its the same with Moba now, but since not many people like this and Rpg is very popular, its why there are more complains.
Reply_
Keylock32
July 17, 2013 at 5:04 pm It’s a progress (whether bad or good) from old classic grind RPG
it has everything that players wants (who love the genre) also have almost everything an RPG genre would have (from point & click part)
it has grind part (from creep/mobs/monster or what ever you want to call it), and you don’t have to spend loads amount of time to achieve it.
it has PVP (which is main reason people playing MMORPG)
it has teamworks element
it has multiple/lot’s of gameplay variety (depend on what hero you pick)
BUT, what I don’t understand is… every games turns out a copy of a copy.
just like the old RPG turns out to be.
in the end, just few famous (or new one with large playerbase) will survive
because it’s meant to be short to play, but repetitive there isn’t much things for publisher/developer to make a profits, but dota2 probably can be a good example.
but then again… we will get through another copy of a copy.
Reply
Takerukun3
July 17, 2013 at 5:07 pm 500?????? mounted. we need a list of 500 mobas please. cover them all.
Reply
Flevalt
July 17, 2013 at 6:10 pm ^This.
Go!
Reply anip
July 17, 2013 at 5:14 pm I don’t play MOBA… the only one I’ve played was from 8+ years ago on Warcraft III…
Mostly because I am more interested in PvE RPG instead of PvP Boxed
I dislike PvP and always aim for PvE only servers in any game, lol.
Plus.. 90% of all MOBA are exactly the same no matter if they’re in 2D, 2.5D, or 3D.
All of them are always “inside a box” with “pre-created characters”
There is no actual customization, since all characters start out as lv.1 and level up inside the box (this applies to all MOBA)
Personally, I am getting tired of all these MOBAs.. needs more MMORPG.
Reply
Keylock32
July 17, 2013 at 5:18 pm Something to add
There are huge playerbase for this genre, but not all of it like it actually (because lack of good MMO with large playerbase nowdays)
probably just log on once in a while and get stomped.
why? because moba is very competitive game, something like overpowered items or hero can easily break the whole things.
and because it’s very competitive not much player like it, 8 from 10 players (2 just quit instantly) will stay to survive while 3 from 8 is quitting after a while because they don’t have much time to understand the game mechanism.
Teamwork Gameplay is the most important essence in moba game, while new player (who probably think they might do good enough if they farm a certain item) will get stomped with only chain of combo, and after 3-5 failed attempt and they didn’t change their gameplay, I can see which team is going to loose within 10 minutes.
Reply
TheGamer
July 17, 2013 at 5:35 pm For me, i’m okay with MOBAs.I’m not a huge fan, but i like a match or two in DotA 2 or LoL.
If people want to make a MOBA, fine, but please, do something different.Don’t just do a “DotA clone”, try making something different with the genre.For example, AirMech, it picked MOBA mechanics and mixed with more “micromanagement RTS”-style mechanics, and we can agree it is a good game.
If you make a DotA clone, you will fail do gain some money.LoL players, DotA and DotA 2 players will not leave their games to play a new one, i won’t do that, now considering that, last time i heard, have 32 million players per month.That is basically 60% of the MOBA players.You can’t compete with that.You need to have something new, unless you want to lose some cash, you may say its “less expensive than a MMO”, but a loss is a loss.Also, if a indie dev (like the guy from AirMech) decided to do a DotA clone and fail, that probably means that he is going bankrupt.If you make something new, more players will be interested, more money you will have and you would have done something good for the genre.Everybody wins.
Reply
wahhh
July 17, 2013 at 6:37 pm no one complains about the 500 wow copies that come out every year!
Reply
Sza
July 17, 2013 at 6:41 pm Most of this companies trying to copy will fail,I believe LoL was mostly successfull because it was something new and unseen when it came out,but it also was innovative,when those companies(trying to copy the current MOBAs) come up with something innovative and different from what we have today thats when they will be successfull,Just like WoW,Dota,LoL.
Spend more of your manwork and money on finding new ideas rather than just buying a bunch of things to put ontop of the current games.
First come first served.
Reply
Kloakenstein
July 17, 2013 at 6:57 pm Why is this even being asked? Why can’t there be so many MOBAs? That is like asking why are there so mmos or fighters, people want variety.
Reply
iluvgamez
July 17, 2013 at 9:00 pm Yes, there is much variety beetween the Moba Games out there. xD In fighting games i dont have to play with people i dont understand or ppl they dont understand the game (even with 500wins and more which is scary).
MMOs got atleast a storyline.
But Mobas are just the same. Q,W,E,R maybe 1 or 2 other keys for something “special”. Almost every moba has the same map. (Sounds like something i could play on Game Boy actually)
Most of them have bad controls, bad animations and a horrible balance.
Im burnd out. If i see summoners rift one more time and hear that voice, i will pull out my eyes with a knife and for sure something like that with my ears. Not to meantion what i would do if im trying one more new moba that sucks more then the others bevor.
Reply Treeman De Unmountable
July 17, 2013 at 8:43 pm It sadden me that most new developers now refuse and scared to make or try something new; they just simply jump into someones’ bandwagon, in this case it would be League of Legends. But really, the true success is Defense of The Ancient 1.
But the developers of that game move on to make League of Legends. ;D
Reply
Anon
July 17, 2013 at 8:56 pm DOTA and LoL will likely be the only traditional MOBAs to shine.
I don’t see Smite falling anytime soon either, its extremely well done and they way of the future for MOBAs, since it makes the former titles feel like childish antiques. But its pretty hard to flip playerbases overnight. I could see Smite slowly gaining headway though, and I doubt any copycats will steal its spot.
Every time I see a new MOBA I just laugh. They all look awful. Its a sad day if we seriously have to now sift through billions of crappy copycat MOBAs while looking for MMOs, but then again I guess sifting through and actually trying dozens upon dozens of WoW clones in search for a real MMO was a bit more tedious.
Reply
Ero-Shinigami
July 17, 2013 at 9:55 pm Nice point man, like if u see, the only mobas that really get the most attention is those 3, first Dota for obvious reasons, then LoL that kinda “revived” the moba when it was released, and being free helped that genre gain popularity, then Smite, that got the “hack&slash thirdperson” innovation to the genre, after a few new mobas that followed the flow “but with almost no innovation (See HoN, its almost the same as Dota) and then Dota 2 was released. Just like those years where every new mmo was a grindy fantasy-like game (Many could be cleary called WoW copies) its the same with Moba now, but since not many people like this and Rpg is very popular, its why there are more complains.
Reply-
I don't see Smite falling anytime soon either, its extremely well done and they way of the future for MOBAs, since it makes the former titles feel like childish antiques. But its pretty hard to flip playerbases overnight. I could see Smite slowly gaining headway though, and I doubt any copycats will steal its spot.
Every time I see a new MOBA I just laugh. They all look awful. Its a sad day if we seriously have to now sift through billions of crappy copycat MOBAs while looking for MMOs, but then again I guess sifting through and actually trying dozens upon dozens of WoW clones in search for a real MMO was a bit more tedious.
But the developers of that game move on to make League of Legends. ;D
Spend more of your manwork and money on finding new ideas rather than just buying a bunch of things to put ontop of the current games.
First come first served.
If people want to make a MOBA, fine, but please, do something different.Don't just do a "DotA clone", try making something different with the genre.For example, AirMech, it picked MOBA mechanics and mixed with more "micromanagement RTS"-style mechanics, and we can agree it is a good game.
If you make a DotA clone, you will fail do gain some money.LoL players, DotA and DotA 2 players will not leave their games to play a new one, i won't do that, now considering that, last time i heard, have 32 million players per month.That is basically 60% of the MOBA players.You can't compete with that.You need to have something new, unless you want to lose some cash, you may say its "less expensive than a MMO", but a loss is a loss.Also, if a indie dev (like the guy from AirMech) decided to do a DotA clone and fail, that probably means that he is going bankrupt.If you make something new, more players will be interested, more money you will have and you would have done something good for the genre.Everybody wins.
There are huge playerbase for this genre, but not all of it like it actually (because lack of good MMO with large playerbase nowdays)
probably just log on once in a while and get stomped.
why? because moba is very competitive game, something like overpowered items or hero can easily break the whole things.
and because it's very competitive not much player like it, 8 from 10 players (2 just quit instantly) will stay to survive while 3 from 8 is quitting after a while because they don't have much time to understand the game mechanism.
Teamwork Gameplay is the most important essence in moba game, while new player (who probably think they might do good enough if they farm a certain item) will get stomped with only chain of combo, and after 3-5 failed attempt and they didn't change their gameplay, I can see which team is going to loose within 10 minutes.
Mostly because I am more interested in PvE RPG instead of PvP Boxed
I dislike PvP and always aim for PvE only servers in any game, lol.
Plus.. 90% of all MOBA are exactly the same no matter if they're in 2D, 2.5D, or 3D.
All of them are always "inside a box" with "pre-created characters"
There is no actual customization, since all characters start out as lv.1 and level up inside the box (this applies to all MOBA)
Personally, I am getting tired of all these MOBAs.. needs more MMORPG.
it has everything that players wants (who love the genre) also have almost everything an RPG genre would have (from point & click part)
it has grind part (from creep/mobs/monster or what ever you want to call it), and you don't have to spend loads amount of time to achieve it.
it has PVP (which is main reason people playing MMORPG)
it has teamworks element
it has multiple/lot's of gameplay variety (depend on what hero you pick)
BUT, what I don't understand is... every games turns out a copy of a copy.
just like the old RPG turns out to be.
in the end, just few famous (or new one with large playerbase) will survive
because it's meant to be short to play, but repetitive there isn't much things for publisher/developer to make a profits, but dota2 probably can be a good example.
but then again... we will get through another copy of a copy.