It's not a competition, Starcraft isn't going anywhere. I think Dota 2 will be more popular, Valve is showing much more love to the community in terms of shoutcasting and replay features.

FoeHamr

United States489 Posts

August 09 2011 18:44 GMT

#22

MOBA's suck too watch in my opinion. I've tried several times, but its not as fun as watching SC.

Playing a MOBA is fun though.

figq

12519 Posts

August 09 2011 18:44 GMT

#23

There will always be "the next big thing" that "replaces" Starcraft, and... is gone in a few years.

LegendaryZ

United States1583 Posts

August 09 2011 18:44 GMT

#24

Of course. Whatever you may think about the games, their following and popularity are really undeniable.

outerspace02

United States136 Posts

August 09 2011 18:44 GMT

#25

also dota 2 will demolish LoL, at least in terms of competitive viability at the highest level

RvB

Netherlands6236 Posts

August 09 2011 18:45 GMT

#26

Honestly not really when I watch a moba as total noob I don't get what's going on at all for sc you still have battles which aren't hard to understand and flashy for even more casual people.

Omnipresent

United States871 Posts

August 09 2011 18:45 GMT

#27

On August 10 2011 03:37 PlosionCornu wrote:
Apples and oranges. Totally different games, totally different skill set required.

Besides, Dota has a super high entry requirement, despite of what people may think.

Knowing each and every hero and relative abilities is no casual task, therefore is much less of a spectator Esport.

This is the big barrier for me. I've tried watching HoN or LoL and I just can't get behind it. There are too many heroes and too many abilities. You simply can't understand what's going on without a significant knowledge base beforehand.

Beyond that, gameplay isn't that exciting and strategy isn't all that deep (read not deep compared to something like SC2). Viewers who want deep strategic games will flock towards RTS. Those who want pace and excitement will move towards fighting games. MOBAs seem to have all the downsides of both without the advantages.

They could certainly be popular to watch among players, but I can't imagine people who don't play watching them for entertainment. SC2 already has a lot of non-playing fans.

VillageBC

322 Posts

August 09 2011 18:45 GMT

#28

Maybe, I tried to watch it and couldn't understand what was happening. It might be my familiarity with SC2 and lack of familiarity with LoL/Dota game. I think SC2, two armies clashing and one standing is a little easier to follow then a team casting abstract spells that do something and one team winning. Concept is the same, but one I can see someone won the engagement without knowing much where the other I haven't a clue what is happening unless they are dead.

I_Love_Bacon

United States5765 Posts

August 09 2011 18:45 GMT

#29

Moba's problems are that they, in my opinion, have no mainstream watch-ability. Games are generally slow and you really need a lot of knowledge about the game to really get what's going on.

SC2, fighting games, etc... can all just be watched and understood easily enough that random people's interest can be peaked.

PhiliBiRD

United States2643 Posts

August 09 2011 18:46 GMT

#30

LoL only has so many players because its free. This especially applies to 3rd world countries and others such as China.

Personally, I can see the appeal LoL has. Free and decent gameplay. But in terms of esports I just cant even understand how it gets views. It's slow paced, and rather boring to watch (oh he killed a creep, and another creep!). And you miss out on half the action due to it being split so much.

1 on 1 will always beat team games. thats why SC2 + SSF4/Fighting games are the best for esports

DotADeMoN

United States517 Posts

August 09 2011 18:46 GMT

#31

Two different games. SC2 = Individual skill, DotA2 = Team skill. Neither will kill off the other.

Although I do believe DotA2 will be more popular, as team games tend to be more popular than individual games.

cocosoft

Sweden1068 Posts

August 09 2011 18:47 GMT

#32

Well I hope DOTA 2 brings eSports forward even further.

taLbuk

Madagascar1879 Posts

August 09 2011 18:47 GMT

#33

On August 10 2011 03:43 howerpower wrote:
It's not a competition, Starcraft isn't going anywhere. I think Dota 2 will be more popular, Valve is showing much more love to the community in terms of shoutcasting and replay features.

This, Sc2 is here to stay it's goddamn amazing, but for people to just instantly dismiss any other games "skill" is rediculous. Valve has shown they are 100% commited to give us the features to support esports directly. One can only assume the dota 2 client is going to be insane, they have said you will be able to join games that are already in progress and watch them real time via their spectator client (think Half Life TV), and there will be over-the-shoulder coaching mode where you can coach players on a one on one basis. Who knows what else it will have.

I really wish blizzard didn't screw up Bnet 2.0 so bad, even the custom game system seems inferior to a 10 year old wc3.

phrenzy

United Kingdom478 Posts

August 09 2011 18:47 GMT

#34

Esports in my eyes are like the Olympics.

Starcraft is one event. Dota might be another. SFIV is another.

I dont know how many Moba games will survive since it might be perceived that they are all similar to the casual viewer. But Starcraft will always be in Esport.Whether it gets taken over in terms of viewers compared to moba games.... who knows. Either way it will always have a strong following.

Plus there is soo much drama with SC2, thats another reason why SFIV is soo popular i feel. I think the 1v1 aspect of it has something to do with it and Moba games have a long way to go to get established since getting a strong team isn't something you can do immediately.

Ghad

Norway2551 Posts

August 09 2011 18:48 GMT

#35

Several FPS games are coexisting as esports, no reason rts games can't.

ptrpb

Canada753 Posts

August 09 2011 18:48 GMT

#36

LoL at least is a bit too unstable to compete with SC2, with new champions being released every 2 weeks along with reworks, balance patches and item changes, only the regular playerbase will connect with it at best. SC2 doesn't see patches for months at a time and even when patches occur they're small changes to timings, damages, and things like that, so anyone who knows the slightest about SC2 can jump in whenever and still be able to keep up.

windsupernova

Mexico5280 Posts

August 09 2011 18:48 GMT

#37

Yes.

One thing that could prevent that is DotA 2, LoL and HoN eating each other´s market. But undoubtly MOBA games can and will compete with SC

MacDubhghaill

United States41 Posts

August 09 2011 18:49 GMT

#38

Personally, I look at this "issue(?)" as comparing football (either kind) to basketball. Each game takes skill in its own right, but they both contribute to the sports world. I don't really see either being bigger than the other, but I do see both contributing to the eSports world.

(reiterated the iterated)

carloselcoco

United States2302 Posts

August 09 2011 18:50 GMT

#39

When either of them get a whole country to devote itself to the game (like Korea with SC) then they could be considered a threat.

RoyalCheese

Czech Republic745 Posts

August 09 2011 18:52 GMT

#40

It will attract mostly different crowd i think. I played Dota for like 4 years and a year of hon but i still don't watch almost any games. I just could be weird, though ^_^