Abouzeid 9

Maria Christina Abouzeid

CMS 335-1

Professor Watson

April 22, 2018

Part 1:

MOBA: LoL and DotA 2

10 games of League of Legends start every second. Defense of the Ancients 2 is the most-played game on Steam (Play Dota 2). Both of these Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games have won many awards since their release. League of Legends and DotA 2 have significantly affected the gaming world. These games are constantly evolving with frequent updates and patches that include new characters, improvements in graphics and gameplay, and new or improved features. There’s many factors as to why MOBA games are so popular and one of them is the fact that they’re always action-packed from the beginning till the last minute of the match. Simply put, MOBA games are real-time strategy games in which a team of typically 5 players battle against another team of 5 players in an enclosed arena. The arena usually has three lanes with two bases on each end and unrestrained areas called “the jungle”. Each team also has their own creeps, which are computer-controlled bots while each player has a certain role, depending on the champion. The games also features turrets, which are towers that protect your team’s zones. The objective of the game is to destroy your opponent’s most powerful tower, which is done by getting into mini-duels. “MOBA games will become a crucial driver for the eSports (competitive playing of video games) market, which will itself reach $3.5 billion by 2021” validating the significance of LoL and DotA 2 in the gaming industry (Smith, Sam). League of Legends is known as LoL or League while Defense of the Ancients 2 is simply DotA 2.

In the recent years, MOBA games have acquired an extraordinary amount of popularity and success, which was increased by the emergence of eSports: organized competitions for video games. MOBA games were initially created through different processes and have become the biggest trend in the gaming world. Many gamers have played these games, but not a lot of people know the origin of LoL and DotA 2. In 2002, the media franchise StarCraft released a custom map called Aeon of Strife, which inspired the future formation of both LoL and DotA 2. Blizzard Entertainment then released Warcraft III and a map editor known as ‘Eul’ created a custom map, which was called Defense of the Ancients, which featured three lanes, five players on each team, and two bases for each side. Warcraft III was also the first game to introduce ‘creeps’, which are computer-controlled units. This game was the inspiration for subsequent MOBA games. After being influenced by the DotA map, Riot Games, a small indie studio from Santa Monica, California released the first version of League of Legends in 2009. The game was similar to Warcraft III, but was more user-friendly and its aesthetics looked more like cartoons. Also, LoL is free to play, unlike Warcraft III, which is (still) being sold for $9.99. At the same time, Valve Corporation hired another map editor to work on DotA 2, which was eventually released in 2013, also as a free to play. Valve is also the developer of Steam, the largest platform for PC gaming. Most MOBA games are designed to be played on the PC therefore LoL is playable on Microsoft Windows and MacOS while DotA 2 is available on Microsoft Windows, MacOS, and Linux. Another popular MOBA game, Vainglory, which was released by Super Evil Megacorp, was actually contrived to be for Android or iOS, so it’s playable on phones and tablets. All of these MOBAS are Internet-based because it’s accounted as a real-time strategy game. LoL is available on 13 different servers and DotA 2 is available on 16 servers, which is determined by the player’s location. Both LoL and DotA 2 are currently the most popular MOBA games in the industry and seem to be the leading models for now, especially in eSports.

eSports has significantly reformed the gaming industry and gaming culture. Pertaining to eSports, games like League of Legends and DotA 2 have been commodified to be somewhat of a franchise. Riot and Valve have commodified their two games into a tangible experience that is off the computers, as well. Although LoL is a free to play game, many players end up using their real money to buy points to have more purchasing power in the in-game stores. Some premium items like rare champions or rare, powerful weapons can only be bought with real money. Conversely, in DotA 2, all the champions are free and available to players, which creates a fairer playing field. In DotA 2, paying wouldn’t have any real advantages making it more fair and easier to play with other players. If there’s a player with extra tools, abilities, and other elements, the game’s level of enjoyment decreases. Both LoL and DotA 2 have their own merch stores, which includes posters, sleepwear, and collectibles. LoL also has a League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) which consists of two professional leagues that battle to advance to the League of Legends World Championship with real money as the ultimate prize. DotA 2 also has its own tournaments and professional teams that compete; Valve has even produced their own annual competition called The International, that has been active since 2011. Another aspect of the franchise is live- streaming. Many skilled LoL and DotA 2 gamers live-stream their matches online on a live-streaming platform called Twitch so people all over the world are able to spectate different matches. Both amateurs and professionals regularly stream themselves and are even able to record the matches, so they can re-watch and improve. Streaming also has the options to view the player in a little screen at the bottom, so the experience is more personal between the player and the spectator. Streaming also gives people the ability to become professional gamers.

Some gamers are able to achieve their entire income through gaming. One example is Carlos Santiago, a retired Spanish LoL player known as “Ocelote”. His website’s online store that sells computer accessories and gaming accessories makes more than 500,000€ each year (Rauch, Eron). Many other gamers make money from creating instructive videos and talk shows. According to Eron Rauch’s essay, “Demystifying MOBAS”, “the logic is as follows: most Western professional players, because they paid their bills from Twitch and YouTube streaming, are then actually having to function as celebrity entertainers first and professional athletes only as secondary function” (Rauch, Eron). LoL and DotA 2 players were not taking the game as a serious professional sport until 2015 when the teams began to hire coaches and living together in one house in order to focus completely on the game. Korean professional gamers have been using these techniques for many years now. In addition, Valve and Riot worked on creating a proper structure for their leagues. They have also engaged the community by producing events and live matches have been transmitted on networks like ESPN. eSports is criticized for not being a physical sport, but these gamers are actually professionals who spend days and nights training, just like a real athlete.

In Man, Play and Games, a 1961 book by Roger Caillois, he explains four distinct game forms: agon, alea, Ilinx, and mimicry. Agon, which comes from the Greek word for contest refers to the competing aspect of a game while alea, which means uncertainty in Latin, refers to chance or luck. Ilinx means vertigo and mimicry means imitation or “role-play”. These four terms are frequently used to describe games, but they are often combined in the actual “play” of the game. In LoL and DotA 2, agon and mimicry seem to be the key elements featured. In LoL and DotA 2, the objective is destroy your opponent’s “Nexus” (LoL) or “Ancient” (DotA 2), which is the main, most powerful structure while protecting your Nexus or Ancient. If one’s Nexus or Ancient is destroyed, the team automatically loses the battle. When the match ends in League, the screen will either say “Victory” in blue letters or “Defeat” in red letters. In DotA 2, it will either say “Dire Victory” or “Radiant Victory”, depending which side (The Dire or The Radiant) win. This demonstrates that agon is featured in these games therefore players are motivated by the competitiveness and the desire to continue their winning streak. These two games also include aspects of mimicry because these champions are battling in an arena in a fake world with fake characters and an entirely made-up narrative. For example, LoL is based in a world called Runeterra that is made of many continents including Valoran. Valoran has two distinct empires, Noxus and Democia, that typically battle each other in the middle of Valoran in an area called Summoner’s Rift.

Caillois, a French sociologist also explained his spectrum of Paidia (free-form) and Ludus (rule-based), but this was discredited by a Danish game scholar named Jesper Juul for being a simple overgeneralization. Juul believed that “relying too heavily on existing theories will make us forget what makes games games” and that elements from paidia and ludus are intertwined -- not separated, in games (Juul, Jesper). LoL and DotA 2 are closer to being ludus because there are two possible endings: a victory or a defeat. There is a certain structure that is supposed to be followed in the arena, Summoner’s Rift with specific champion classes in each lane. In the beginning, there was only one available game mode for LoL, but now Riot has added The Twisted Treeline and Howling Abyss. The top lane is meant to be played by the fighters, assassins, and bruisers. The mid lane is played by the AP carries, who usually deal the most damage. Lastly, the bottom lane is played by supports, that work to assist other teammates and tanks, which act as the defense of the team. DotA 2 is also very similar in this way and has the same basic tasks, that includes destroying the opponent’s turrets to move along the lanes towards the main structure. There’s 9 (3 on each side) turrets in Summoner’s Rift and an additional two turrets that protect the Nexus. In DotA 2, there are also 9 turrets with an additional two that protect the Ancient. There are also some aspects of paidia to LoL and DotA 2 because you are allowed to choose the champion, the lane, and the items bought for your champion. Technically, there’s nothing restricting you from roaming around the arena but you would probably get killed or trashed by your teammates. DotA 2 seems to have more elements of free-play because “any hero can fill multiple roles...Dota doesn’t provide limitations on how to play, it empowers you to express your own style” (Play Dota 2).

“The industry as a culture feels less sexist than it used to. That is partially because the video game industry realised they were "leaving a lot of money on the table by alienating women”, says University of Southern California professor, Dmitri Williams (Gittleson, Kim). The “female” characters in LoL and DotA 2 seem to be oversexualized, especially in League. In League, most of the “female” characters have a generic face with white features, skinny or curvy bodies, and tend to show their skin. A lot of the male characters are portrayed as strong warriors with heavy armors while a lot of the female characters seem to lack proper armor for the battlefield. Morganna, for example, has a skin called “bake sale” and shows her in the kitchen wearing oven mitts. It seems like the world of League of Legend is male-dominated. Female gamers are usually pressured to take the role of the support during a match. Female gamers are also prone to harassment or unnecessary comments from other teammates (Mackey, Patrick).

In DotA 2, there are only 16 female heroes out of 115. That’s only 13.9% of all of the characters developed by Valve. Also, eSports is currently dominated by male gamers. Most of the shoutcasters, which are the commentators for the matches, are male. These sexist problems are probably due to the lack of women in the development stages of the video games. Van Zoonen, a feminist media theorist said, “the objectification of the female body is a key construct of Western culture” and that is exhibited in video games, television, and films (Van Zoonen).

As mentioned before, MOBA games are created from attributes from “action games, role-playing games, and real-time strategy games”, MOBA games are in their own particular sub-genre because of their distinctive features. In every game, there are both pros and cons and in this particular, competitive genre, there are certain defects that should be dealt with. Not all video games should be commodified and turned into a competition because then the enjoyment of the game is severely decreased. There are people that want to play a MOBA game like DotA 2 without being “wrecked on” by overly competitive gamers, which then creates toxicity. DotA 2 and LoL should be enjoyed but the ranking system and too much focus on the MMR is not allowing players to play, improve, and enjoy. The MMR stands for the matchmaking rating, which is “a value that determines the skill level of each player...Winning increases a player’s MMR while losing decreases it” (MMR in League of Legends). The MMR allows players on similar levels to play with one another. A second issue would be the sexism in the development of the game and the characters. The female characters are typically sexualized in many games with League and DotA 2 included. There isn’t an equal ratio between female and male characters. Most of the female characters in League are showing their abnormally big breasts and their abnormally small waists. Also, they are not wearing any proper armor for a battlefield. They are barely wearing any clothes, even if the champion is meant to be an assassin or the heroes with the “greatest offensive power” (Roles - DotA 2). There should be a higher amount of concentration for these defects in the video games and less concentration on the potential prosperity video game developers can make. Developers should listen to the player’s comments and suggestions and more people will appreciate and engage in the games, especially for MOBA games which rely heavily on the users and their likings.

BALADI by Laab Games

"Finally a MOBA game that appeals to the masses -- by the gamers, for the gamers!

Introduction

Laab Games is a indie game production studio from Rome, Italy. It consists of 4 women and 4 men who share ideas and concepts to work together on games such as Baladi, which is their third released game. MOBA games are definitely enjoyable to play and to watch. Being able to spectate a match while others are playing gives you an interesting perspective on the game and you can possibly predict the outcome. The problem is most MOBA games are similar and repetitive. The terrains tend to look very similar and there’s no special or unique features. MOBA games also can go on for a long time, which gets boring and annoying for everyone playing. That’s why Laab Games came up with Baladi, the improved form of a MOBA game.

Name

Baladi

Genre

Multiplayer Online Battle Arena

Platform

PC (MacOS & Microsoft Windows), mobile, tablets, PS4

Factions

Each faction will be color-coded and have their tools and outfits matching that specific color. The factions are:

Amazonite (turquoise), Amethyst (lavender), Chrysocolla (royal blue), Citrine (gold), Moonstone (silver), Obsidian (black), Tiger Eye (brown), Carnelian (orange)

Characters

For the characters, there will be 10 female characters and 10 male characters. Players are allowed to change the outfits of each character depending on their gemstone and their tools. The character’s name are:

Females: Alma, Anfé, Barsa, Houla, Lala, Manara, Mari, Salima, Talloussé, Zalka

Males: Aba, Adonis, Bnachii, Eddé, Fih, Mina, Sarba, Sidon, Tiri, Zahlé

Rules

The main rules are:

1. Always communicate with your teammates and keep them updated and vice versa.

2. Don’t be rude, disrespectful, or aggressive. There are young teenagers on the servers and words have value, so use them wisely.

3. Enjoy the game! That’s our main goal for creating Baladi.

Narrative

Baladi will be set in the future in about 15 years. Alaska and Hawaii got completely destroyed because of sea levels rising. The rest of the United States has been split into 8 factions (Amazonite, Amethyst, Chrysocolla, Citrine, Moonstone, Obsidian, Tiger Eye) that have their own specializations, depending on their geographical location and resources. Each faction will also have a special gemstone that has special powers. Each faction will also have 16 tools that are unique to each faction. Since every country now has their own nuclear weapons, beginning a war will automatically cause the entire destruction of your faction -- but that doesn’t stop these factions from battling each other. Small battles are allowed in 3 specific arenas: Chekka, Bsous, and Mansoura.

You can choose your own team of 5 players or get random teammates, but each teammate has to be from a different faction. There are 20 different characters you can choose from. The objective is to destroy the main tower, the ‘Nejme’ but every 8-11 minutes, clouds will fill the arena for 15-20 seconds. During this time, your teammates must agree on a new location and one player must transport the Nejme. The Nejme can only be transported to either the left, the center, or the right side at the end of the three lanes. In order to win a match, your team must stay communicating during the whole game and be cooperative. A match can only last 30 minutes and the last 5 minutes, the Nejme is not movable. Also, each team will have their own group chat or they can also communicate to each other using headphones with a microphone. The objective will be to destroy the opponent’s Nejme as quick as possible before the time runs out.

Improvements

There are a couple of issues that we focused on with Baladi. The first one was the commodification of these types of games. LoL and DotA 2 aren’t that fun when people are overly competitive and disrespectful to each other. LoL isn’t fun when people are using a lot of their money to gain more purchasing powers for special skins, rare items, or more weapons. Baladi will not give options to use their own real money to buy any items. Before every match, there will be an option to watch a video of an advertisement. You can choose whether you want a 15 second video, a 30 second video, or a 2 minute long video. During this short period of time, you can relax your eyes or your hands, get some snacks, or check your phone. This will also make it easier for us to develop the game and keep everything free to play because money shouldn’t be an aspect in a free to play game.

Second, this game will be more accepting to female gamers. There will be more gender-neutral tones in the game and options to make the terrain more colorful and more female-friendly. There will also be options to choose if you want your team to be fully female, but your opponents will not be aware. The majority of gamers and professional players in the LoL and DotA 2 franchise are male, which strains the abilities and opportunities for female gamers. Female gamers won’t feel pressured to be a support or forced to be in the bottom lane to keep the top lane or the mid lane for the males. This game will be different and unique for the MOBA category and that’s one of our chief goals.

Audience

This game will be targeted at everyone who has access to a computer but will probably be most enjoyed by people ages 14+. The game will be open to everyone regardless of age, race, sex, etc. People’s genders and age will not be disclosed so bullying and discrimination will be lessened or nonexistent.

Competition

Sales figures and similar statistics were difficult to find for these games, especially because Riot Games doesn’t like to publish their quantitative data. The current competition is League of Legends, DotA 2, Heroes of the Storm, and Smite. League of Legends, released by Riot Games gets “...around 100 million unique players every month” and is the most-played game (Painter, Lewis). The second game is DotA 2 by Valve Corporation and has 13 million monthly players. Heroes of the Storm was created by Blizzard Entertainment and Smite was created by Hi-Rez Entertainment.

Marketing Strategy

Baladi will be free to play. It will be available on the company’s website or downloadable from Steam. All of the heroes and items in the game will be for free. The game should be enjoyed by everyone and Laab’s goal is not to take money from people who just want to play a game. The game will be advertised for the initial two months on Steam. It will also be available on the PlayStation App to be downloaded for free.

Image

This is an image of the 8 factions, which end up battling each other.

Works Cited

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