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S2 , the company behind the popular moba game Heroes of Newerth (HoN) , announced their new moba title "Strife".
According to their announcement post on the HoN forums :
"Strife is designed to be a more approachable MOBA, one that has removed some of the intricacies that often deter first-time MOBA players. HoN and Strife will co-exist to provide players with a comprehensive MOBA experience of their choice." (Source)
A later comment by an S2 employee :
"For those who are doubtful for any reason, it will be a Free to Play game that is aiming to push the boundaries of the genre. Try it out if you have doubts and make an assessment based off of your experiences with the game. Maybe the game is not for you but maybe its nothing what you expected and surpasses every expectation you had. It might leave you pleasantly surprised." (Source)
Marc Deforest, Chief Executive Officer of S2 says the following :
"Strife will “prove to be one of the most played and most beloved games in all of PC gaming"(Source)
“Strife is meant to be less ‘hardcore’ than HoN , it’s very, very easy to get into. We made sure that many of the design decisions we made, from art to UI, to how you actually play the game, is very straightforward. That fills a specific niche. It’s still very difficult to master, and it brings depth, but it doesn’t bring depth through unnecessary complexity. That doesn’t mean HoN players may not play Strife and enjoy it, but there are a lot of players who have played [other MOBAs] and felt they were way too hard. But you’re still getting the appetizer, the meal and the dessert with Strife. It still has depth and strategy.” (Source)
S2 released this teaser video earlier today :
S2 also linked this article on their facebook page (a good read to get to know what the game is all about , and the changes they made) :
http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/08/08/massivelys-hands-on-with-strife-a-new-moba-from-s2-games/
(New) Totalbiscuit reviews Strife Alpha :
This is an interview with [S2] Pi Liu , an excellent read for those interested in a more technical point of view (balance , development , objectives behind developing this game , character design ) :
http://www.rtsguru.com/article/6369/Strife-An-Interview-with-S2s-Pu-Liu.html
Interviews with Marc Deforest, Chief Executive Officer of S2 :
http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/08/08/crushing-moba-community-strife-in-s2s-strife/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed: Massively (Massively)
http://venturebeat.com/2013/08/08/s2-games-ceo-strife-interview/
Another great article about the game in general , also has some more information regarding the new strife community , and the "karma" system.
http://www.polygon.com/2013/8/8/4592582/strife-s2-games-moba
(NEW) IGN article on strife : , offers great insight into the game :
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/08/12/strife-takes-aim-at-dota-2-and-lol
and while looking around the forums , I found these preview videos with some alpha phase gameplay :
Tim Shannon talks about the Strife lore and story :
S2 Games founder Marc DeForest explains how Strife will compete with League of Legends.
To sign up for the closed beta and other Strife related social media links :
http://www.strife.com/
Official Strife thread on the Heroes of Newerth forum (FAQ Included)
http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?509464-Official-Strife-Thread-FAQ-Added-to-main-post
Strifeapedia aims to provide players of S2 Game's future MOBA, Strife, with information about it's Heroes, Items, and Minions. More information will be provided as it is released by S2.
http://www.strifeapedia.com/index.php?title=Main_Page
Some interesting notes and rumors :
1- Stealth Mechanic :
+ Show Spoiler +
banedeath (an s2 employee) writes on reddit :
Gameplay and art-style specifically. When I play HoN I have no idea what anyone does and I'll die because of it. Strife is much more clear in what is actually going on. For instance there's a skill in HoN that if you move you take damage, there are no/little burden of knowledge skills in Strife (nothing to that extreme). Additionally stealth in HoN and other MoBa's is very burden of knowledge. Our stealth mechanic telestrates that there's someone stealthed but you can't target them except with skill shots. Out of range stealth characters are fully invisible. (Source)
Gameplay and art-style specifically. When I play HoN I have no idea what anyone does and I'll die because of it. Strife is much more clear in what is actually going on. For instance there's a skill in HoN that if you move you take damage, there are no/little burden of knowledge skills in Strife (nothing to that extreme). Additionally stealth in HoN and other MoBa's is very burden of knowledge. Our stealth mechanic telestrates that there's someone stealthed but you can't target them except with skill shots. Out of range stealth characters are fully invisible. (Source)
2- The Pet Mechanic :
+ Show Spoiler +
Pets and crafting :
By far the most surprising aspect of Strife is its pets. Each pet serves as an ally that grants the player with bonuses specific to the pet. As I played more with my cute support kitty -- at least I think it was a kitty -- I earned the pet more experience toward unlocking new passive bonuses and abilities. Earning enough experience will not only level up the pet but morph the pet into a more grown-up version of itself. Essentially, pets are Pokemon that help replace the talent trees found in other MOBAs.
The passive bonuses of talents are also made up within the crafting system. Players earn resources as well as experience at the end of each match by selecting one of a variety of chests to open. These resources are then used in conjunction with patterns to customize the items you can find in the store during a match. For instance, a basic blade item that grants 15 attack power could be given the bonus of more health, more mana, more run speed, and so on through crafting outside the match via materials earned. I put more mana on an item outside of game and the item suddenly had bonus mana each time I bought it during a match. These bonuses also have multiple tiers up to legendary that require rarer materials, all earned through playing the game. (Source)
By far the most surprising aspect of Strife is its pets. Each pet serves as an ally that grants the player with bonuses specific to the pet. As I played more with my cute support kitty -- at least I think it was a kitty -- I earned the pet more experience toward unlocking new passive bonuses and abilities. Earning enough experience will not only level up the pet but morph the pet into a more grown-up version of itself. Essentially, pets are Pokemon that help replace the talent trees found in other MOBAs.
The passive bonuses of talents are also made up within the crafting system. Players earn resources as well as experience at the end of each match by selecting one of a variety of chests to open. These resources are then used in conjunction with patterns to customize the items you can find in the store during a match. For instance, a basic blade item that grants 15 attack power could be given the bonus of more health, more mana, more run speed, and so on through crafting outside the match via materials earned. I put more mana on an item outside of game and the item suddenly had bonus mana each time I bought it during a match. These bonuses also have multiple tiers up to legendary that require rarer materials, all earned through playing the game. (Source)
3- No regenerating barracks and mana pools play a large factor in the game.
+ Show Spoiler +
According to this s2 employee on the HoN forums (Source)
4- Heroes of Newerth is not going anywhere , S2 will continue to support the game.
+ Show Spoiler +
Heroes of Newerth developer S2 Games has no intention of abandoning the title in light of its newly announced MOBA, Strife, chief executive officer Marc DeForest said during a recent press event (Source)
With all the moba games that are out right now , and the ones in development by other companies (Blizzard , EA...etc) , what do you guys think of this attempt ? we didn't get to see anything yet so I dont think we can make a sound judgement of the game , all I can hope for is that S2 learned from some of their mistakes in HoN , and I really hope the genre moves forward with more titles from different game studios.
