League of Legends vs Heroes of Newerth

[FearoftheNight]

Any of you guys play these games? I'm trying to decide which one to get into.

 

[Fenixgoon]

i'm playing LoL.

there are a lot of fun heroes, although some are more powerful than others. still, there are very few instances where a single hero carries, IMO. some melee heroes can carry hardcore, but if you have stuns, then you can still kill them.

 

[Craig234]

AA.









Avoid acronyms.

 

[FearoftheNight]

fixed

AA.









Avoid acronyms.

 

[AbAbber2k]

League of Legends has my vote. I tried HoN briefly and wasn't impressed.

 

[v8envy]

LoL player here as well. They keep adding content non-stop, which keeps it interesting.

Matchmaking can be complete fail, however. I think a month or two ago they decided to start matching newbies with vets so the newbies learn a thing or two. Good idea in theory, but in practice the results are horrific. Playerbase is riddled with crying emo kids, Downs cases, etc. Overall the experience is positive though.

 

[Saga]

If I wanted to play the candy land version of DotA completely slaughtered to be barely recognizable as a DotA clone, I'd play LoL.

If I wanted to play a real game which more accurately reflects DotA in every conceivable way (which is.. the entire point of playing a DotA clone), while additionally fixing all of the network based issues of bnet play and pushing constant changes/fixes/innovation, I'd play HoN.

I'm not gonna lie, even if I could get past LoL's vomit-inducing korean mmo style graphics - LoL slaughtered the itemization, leveling, and ability system enough in the effort to lure people to playing it without actually buying it that I wouldn't be able to tolerate it long-term. That and I just downright don't want to play with people who can't drop $30 on a RTS, because I play RTS to get AWAY from the 7-16 year old FPS tweens who all sound like girls, not to play a game that basically caters specifically to them.

 

[zebano]

LoL is a lot of fun for me. The only problems I have are with the metagame. You're limited to 2 rune pages which means you can be effectively set up to play about 6-10 toons at one time (less right now for me since I effectively have a caster page + a jungle page). This makes counter-picking especially difficult.

The slightly bigger problem with LoL is that since you have to unlock champions most people learn 1 or 2 champs well and only play them. When you get into ranked matches and people do this without regard for team composition (or enemy team composition) it can lead to some terrible losses.

 

[ModeEngage]

If I wanted to play the candy land version of DotA completely slaughtered to be barely recognizable as a DotA clone, I'd play LoL.

If I wanted to play a real game which more accurately reflects DotA in every conceivable way (which is.. the entire point of playing a DotA clone), while additionally fixing all of the network based issues of bnet play and pushing constant changes/fixes/innovation, I'd play HoN.

Pretty much this.

HoN is a more balanced DotA clone with all of the BNet problems resolved -- except the immaturity one. If that's what you're after, play HoN. This is probably the only game I've never regretted paying full retail for.

I was not at all impressed with LoL during my stint. It didn't feel at all like DotA to me, and the persistence/micro-transactions just served to irritate me further. But hey, maybe you like that MMORPG-type feel. Personally, I like starting all DotA games on equal footing.

 

[Saga]

I was not at all impressed with LoL during my stint. It didn't feel at all like DotA to me, and the persistence/micro-transactions just served to irritate me further. But hey, maybe you like that MMORPG-type feel. Personally, I like starting all DotA games on equal footing.

My rant couldn't have said the above any better had I tried. This. Fucking god, all of this. LoL is NOT even in the same league as HoN. They are almost different genres entirely at this point. Not starting with all players equal is probably the singular most frustrating thing to me, because that defies EVERYTHING DotA stands for.

 

[Hmongkeysauce]

While I don't have any experience with LOL, I wouldn't purchase HON. In my opinion, the players and the environment they create can be brutal if you're either a newbie or just want to have some fun. Forget about HON if all you want to do is play EM(easy mode) games. In terms of balance issues, I don't think it's as balance as DOTA. I've watched just about every single tournament replay available on honcast and every pick is about the same in each game with 9 out of the 10 picks being old DOTA heroes. I think that's a testament of how good the DOTA heroes(and DOTA overall) are against the HON exclusive heroes.

 

[xCxStylex]

For all the HON fanbois and other players who have issues with the runes, customization, mmo feel, and issues with matchmaking, you don't run into these in high level competitive play. When most people have played 500-1000 games, these issues are next to nil.

LOL allows for insane customization of characters, most characters can be built multiple ways, usually two out of three "roles" (tank, physical dps, caster), where as in LoL HoN, casters are pretty much casters only. Although some are tankier than others (e.g. Tree, Axe), you're never going to see a physical damage dealing rhasta or puck or witch doctor.

 

[Chiropteran]

I prefer LoL by far.

1- Free. Complaining about micro transactions, honestly? Unless you are so vain you refuse to play without the special alternate skins, you can get everything from regular points you earn by playing the game. HoN costs money, which is point 1 against it.

2- Art style and gameplay. While HoN uses arguably better looking graphics, with it's high resolution models vs LoL's cartoony characters, I find it much easier to actually tell what is going on in LoL. HoN's dark theme results in everything looking pretty much the same. Gameplay > graphics every time, in my book. A great looking game that is a pain to play isn't a good thing.

3- Item shop. HoN's is stupidly complicated and terribly organized, in LoL the shop makes sense.

4- Finding a game. Not sure if this changed, but last time I played HoN in the beta they had no matchmaking, so you had to pick a game and hope it's reasonable matched up. Also, the ban-pick method in HoN takes ages to start a game, rather annoying. LoL's system is far from perfect, but at least it was quick and it generally worked.

5- LoL isn't just a pure DOTA clone, it is an evolutionary "sequel" of sorts. That is what I find so laughable about HoN, is that they went so far as to duplicate heroes and even bugged mechanics (denying) that were just remnants of the warcraft 3 engine rather than making a better game and evolving the concept. If I want to play DOTA I can play it for free, don't need to buy HoN for that.

 

[ModeEngage]

I prefer LoL by far.

1- Free. Complaining about micro transactions, honestly? Unless you are so vain you refuse to play without the special alternate skins, you can get everything from regular points you earn by playing the game. HoN costs money, which is point 1 against it.

I suppose. Seems fair if you'd rather play a free game. I don't mind paying S2 for their efforts, as I am impressed with their product. I was under the impression that you had to pay to play certain heroes in LoL -- if this is incorrect please let me know.

2- Art style and gameplay. While HoN uses arguably better looking graphics, with it's high resolution models vs LoL's cartoony characters, I find it much easier to actually tell what is going on in LoL. HoN's dark theme results in everything looking pretty much the same. Gameplay > graphics every time, in my book. A great looking game that is a pain to play isn't a good thing.

I find it pretty much the opposite, I have a much easier time telling what is happening in HoN and I loathe cartoony graphics. This probably boils down to personal preference.

3- Item shop. HoN's is stupidly complicated and terribly organized, in LoL the shop makes sense.

Again, personal preference. The shop threw me for a loop, but after a week or two I had it figured out.

4- Finding a game. Not sure if this changed, but last time I played HoN in the beta they had no matchmaking, so you had to pick a game and hope it's reasonable matched up. Also, the ban-pick method in HoN takes ages to start a game, rather annoying. LoL's system is far from perfect, but at least it was quick and it generally worked.

Matchmaking has been a part of HoN for a while now. You can't queue as a team yet, which is my biggest complaint with the game as a whole, but custom games are available for clans/teams to join.

5- LoL isn't just a pure DOTA clone, it is an evolutionary "sequel" of sorts. That is what I find so laughable about HoN, is that they went so far as to duplicate heroes and even bugged mechanics (denying) that were just remnants of the warcraft 3 engine rather than making a better game and evolving the concept. If I want to play DOTA I can play it for free, don't need to buy HoN for that.

I will agree that LoL is an evolution, I just don't like it as much as the original. I would also argue that HoN is an evolution. While the core gameplay is the same as DotA, it has extended heroes capabilities far beyond what would be possible through the WC3 engine as well as adding very handy community features.

It all boils down to personal preference, as the goals of each game are markedly different. My advice is for the OP to try them out and pick whichever appeals to them the most. HoN periodically has free to play weeks/weekends, keep an eye out.

 

[Saga]

The only additional thing I'm going to point out is that Newegg's LAN competition specifically had HoN as a premier event. LoL wasn't even a CONSIDERATION for the lineup, much less a contender for the event. As far as competitive gaming goes, that speaks for itself. LoL is a casual friendly entry-level RTS. HoN is a professional level well-tuned RTS for those who enjoy a challenge.

 

[zebano]

I suppose. Seems fair if you'd rather play a free game. I don't mind paying S2 for their efforts, as I am impressed with their product. I was under the impression that you had to pay to play certain heroes in LoL -- if this is incorrect please let me know.

Incorrect: All heroes are purchase-able with either IP (in game "influence points" that you get from playing; more if you win) or RP ("Riot points" aka real money).

The only things that can be purchased only with real money are champion skins (aka a new look for your favorite champion) and champion bundles (a value grouping of roughly 20 champs).

The only things that can be purchased only with in game "influence points" are the runes which you use to customize your characters starting stats.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

The only additional thing I'm going to point out is that Newegg's LAN competition specifically had HoN as a premier event. LoL wasn't even a CONSIDERATION for the lineup, much less a contender for the event. As far as competitive gaming goes, that speaks for itself. LoL is a casual friendly entry-level RTS. HoN is a professional level well-tuned RTS for those who enjoy a challenge.

They're not RTSs. They're not even tactical games. They're team based action rpgs at best. The teen rage you exhibit towards LoL is very fitting of your dbz/naruto inspired avatar btw : p

 

[ModeEngage]

Incorrect: All heroes are purchase-able with either IP (in game "influence points" that you get from playing; more if you win) or RP ("Riot points" aka real money).

The only things that can be purchased only with real money are champion skins (aka a new look for your favorite champion) and champion bundles (a value grouping of roughly 20 champs).

The only things that can be purchased only with in game "influence points" are the runes which you use to customize your characters starting stats.

That's helpful, cheers.

 

[Muscles]

If I wanted to play the candy land version of DotA completely slaughtered to be barely recognizable as a DotA clone, I'd play LoL.

If I wanted to play a real game which more accurately reflects DotA in every conceivable way (which is.. the entire point of playing a DotA clone), while additionally fixing all of the network based issues of bnet play and pushing constant changes/fixes/innovation, I'd play HoN.

I'm not gonna lie, even if I could get past LoL's vomit-inducing korean mmo style graphics - LoL slaughtered the itemization, leveling, and ability system enough in the effort to lure people to playing it without actually buying it that I wouldn't be able to tolerate it long-term. That and I just downright don't want to play with people who can't drop $30 on a RTS, because I play RTS to get AWAY from the 7-16 year old FPS tweens who all sound like girls, not to play a game that basically caters specifically to them.

QFT. I've played both games extensively but HoN is superior to LoL in every way with the exception of match making. S2 is implementing a new match making system sometime in the near future however.

A one-time fee of $30 is about as good as it gets for the amount of time you'll sink into this game. Sure LoL is "free" but if you actually wanted to use all the games features, heroes, etc. then you'll have to spend well over $100 for it and that doesn't even include future content implemented down the road. People claim you can earn everything by just playing and it's true but they always fail to mention it will take you thousands of hours. No one on this board can claim to have earned everything there is to earn on their LoL account without having spent money.

 

[v8envy]

OTOH, I have everything I *WANT* on 2 LoL accounts without having spent a dime on them. You "earn" through playing the game in the first place. I've "bought" several champions I haven't even played because it takes many, many games to properly master any champion and it's simply not possible to "main" all of them.

And I still have buckets of IP left over.

Had I played only one account I could have unlocked every bit of content in the game except custom skins. But that's not my goal -- I play because I like to, and the unlock happens as a side effect.

 

[Chiropteran]

A one-time fee of $30 is about as good as it gets for the amount of time you'll sink into this game. Sure LoL is "free" but if you actually wanted to use all the games features, heroes, etc. then you'll have to spend well over $100 for it and that doesn't even include future content implemented down the road. People claim you can earn everything by just playing and it's true but they always fail to mention it will take you thousands of hours. No one on this board can claim to have earned everything there is to earn on their LoL account without having spent money.

That sounds like a slight exaggeration. I "bought" the game when it was released, I think it was $30 but I could be mistaken. That gave access to some 20 champions. The rest of them were available for some riot point package, I think I spent another $20 on riot points to get that package. So I did spend $50, but that gave me access to every champion in the game at the time, along with some extra Riot Points. But beyond that, I haven't spent $1 on the game. The IP gain just from playing the game normally and learning each champion was more than enough to cover a couple basic rune sets, and I still had enough left over to purchase each champion as it was released- with a few exceptions. Since the champions were also available to play for free on their own week, I didn't bother buying a few which were just not my style of play at all. And I am a very casual player anymore, on average play only 2-3 games at a time and only play 3-4 nights a week.

I mean, it doesn't take a math whizz to see how viable it is to play without spending money.

You earn some 150 ip per game on average. Most champions are about 3k points, some are 6k. That is 20 games to buy most new champions, 40 for the more expensive ones. They only release a new champion every 3-4 weeks. So if you play 1-2 games a night, you will have more than enough points to buy the next champion by the time it comes out, it is even easier if you are selective and avoid buying champions you don't like.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

WC3 Dota.

 

[SpicyCurry]

The only additional thing I'm going to point out is that Newegg's LAN competition specifically had HoN as a premier event. LoL wasn't even a CONSIDERATION for the lineup, much less a contender for the event. As far as competitive gaming goes, that speaks for itself. LoL is a casual friendly entry-level RTS. HoN is a professional level well-tuned RTS for those who enjoy a challenge.

This. LoL is great for casual gamers. It has MMO elements and is not extremely complex. HoN is great for people who hardcore gamers (people who enter gaming tournaments, people who watch replays of professionals).

This doesn't mean that LoL doesn't have competitive gamers or that HoN lacks casual gamers. You'll just have trouble finding LoL tournaments compared to HoN tournaments. And you'll get flamed much harder in a "casual" game in HoN compared to LoL.

 

[Saga]

The teen rage you exhibit towards LoL is very fitting of your dbz/naruto inspired avatar btw : p

Shit. Okay. Total threadjack.

Absolutely hilarious to watch someone make such an ignorant assumption. Typical of someone who would have the mental capacity to find games like LoL stimulating to make blanket generalizations that all anime is "dbz/naruto".

You realize that there are as many professional production animated films in Japan as there are (if not more) movies released in US theaters every year? You also realize that your CartoonNetwork-level vomit tween angst anime is in no way an accurate representation of a genre so broad as to have the same subsets (drama/action/comedy/etc) as any other film medium? Comparing every anime to "dbz/naruto" is like saying every piece of American film produced is reality TV. Believe it or not, there is anime that would absolutely amaze you at it's depth and production quality (think Ergo Proxy, EVA, Ghost in the Shell).

Jesus. I'm sorry. Comparing War of Genesis to the likes of DBZ and Naruto about made my head explode from the sheer audacity.

/threadjack

 

[Malak]

I didn't pay for HoN and never will, but even free I wouldn't touch LoL. I beta'd HoN and had my fun, but the community was horrible. Maybe when it goes free like all the other S2 games I'll play again. LoL just wasn't fun at all. LoL isn't even the same game. More likely to compare HoN with DOTA or that other game I always forget even though I own it...