Mmm-MONSTER KILL!!!!

topic of the day: Can you say "BEYOND GODLIKE"? *grin*

today we'll be taking a tour of the warcraft 3 modded map everyone loves: DOTA! so throughout this tour we'll be covering several areas, to understand better the elements of this great game... so strap in and allow your friendly neighbourhood gamer to give you a guided tour... and awaaaaaay we go!!!

if you look to your left, you'll observe the formal elements of DoTA (but first a little history)

DoTA is a team game - 2 teams (one plays "The Sentinel" and the other plays "The Scourge") facing off against one another in a race to destroy the other team's "Ancient" (DoTA stands for Defense of The Ancients after all).

team sizes go all the way up to 6 v 6, with each player controlling their own unique character (or hero) which learns skills and 'levels up' the way that heroes in RPGs do. most characters are classified into 3 kinds - Agility, intelligence or Strength heroes, each with different abilities.

in addition players are allowed to buy items (and combination of items) which boost their attributes in different areas such as attack damage, attack speed, as well as the standard 3 attributes.

right. now onto the concrete stuff...

PLAYERS

players are divided into 2 teams, size ranging from 3v3 to 6v6. there is no requirement that teams should have equal numbers on both sides, though it is preferred for a "more balanced" game (in terms of absolute numbers).

since the map is divided into 3 "lanes" for players to travel through, depending on the number of players (and the type of heroes used), team members then take a lanes to advance in order to destroy the other teams Ancient.

based on heroes used (as well as the individual player's perceived skill level), he / she often will decide if he wants to do a 'solo' (travel the lane alone) or go with other team members. i'm under the impression that guys who request "solo pls" are arrogant jokers who think they're really good (though some heroes are better at solo-ing, and that's agreed by most DoTA players).

would the number of players change a DoTA game's dynamics? DEFINITELY. a common phenomenon in such games is "leaving" (which is the most irritating thing ever), where players just quit the game. i've observed my brother play on battlenet, where a 6v6 degenerated into a 2v4 (himself being one of the 2). and because of the numerical disadvantage, the major strategy went from "pushing" (going on the offensive) to defending the enemy on the doorstep (rather frantically i should add). i think they were pretty successful considering the whole game lasted 1 hour longer than most games.

but that's for multiplayer over a network. recently there have been AI maps where bots can play as your partners. granted they're pretty stupid (it is ARTIFICIAL intelligence after all), there perhaps is less of a challenge for a player who's up against bots. i play AI for fun, and realise that the different difficulty settings just mean that they push the lanes faster rather than the bots becoming more intelligent. so bearing that in mind, turning DoTA into a single player game just makes it one where there's an element of predictability in terms of knowing how the AI responds and acts.

Objectives

the objective of DoTA? destroy the other team's ancient (like i said earlier... DoTA = Defence of The Ancient). that more or less means destroying everything the enemy has in the lane... from defence towers right up to the whole base (since the Ancient is dead smack centre of the base).

although that is the official end-game condition, i've seen people come up with other objectives. the main one being hero killing - racking up the highest number of kills (you get certain kill status if you rack up a consecutive number of kills, eg. 10 straight kills and there's an announcement that you're BEYOND GODLIKE - and an in-game voiceover goes "HOLY SHIT")
procedures

players level up by killing either enemy heroes or 'creeps' (think pawns in chess). the more they kill the more they increase their stats, allowing them to learn special abilities which require mana, or those that increase certain attributes.

rules

1. players have to destroy the other team's "Ancient"

2. players are allowed to destroy opposing team units in the course of attempting to destroy the ancient, and this includes both heroes, creeps and defence towers.

3.players may not attack either creeps, heroes or defence towers from their own team

4. players are allowed to purchase weapons and combination of weapons or items that boost their attack damage or other attributes.

5. items which have 'orb' effects are non-stackable, meaning if you have 2 items - one which has 'life steal' and the other 'desolate (which reduces armour of person being attacked)' both effects cannot be used simultaneously.

6. players can level up their heroes stats once he has sufficient experience points, which are gained by killing enemy heroes and creeps.

7. when a player's hero is killed, there is a cooldown period before respawning. the higher the player's level, the longer the re-spawn time.

Resources

Players are allocated a specific amount of gold which can be used to purchase various items. gold can be earned by killing heroes, creeps or by destroying structures such as defence towers. players are also allocated gold over time periods (like 8 gold per second i think).

the heroes that players use have their stats as resources - ranging from attack damage, armour, agility, strength and intelligence. players' heroes are also given a certain number of hit points and mana (which can increase with each level-up or depending on what enhancements they purchse for their character). mana is used for spell-casting which often results in various effects or damage to opponents or allies, and many spells are unique to each hero.

Conflict

DoTA conflict arises between players from opposing teams generally speaking. sometimes it occurs between members of the same teamin instances where they do not follow team instructions (hence getting themselves killed). this is where all the taunting and insults come in. especially if your teamates are 'NOOBS' or 'leavers'.

Boundaries

DoTA boundaries basically are limited to the map.you cannot go beyond points that are outside the map area. players' heroes can only see a certain distance in front of them (fog of war) though they can see what their team mates or creeps see (basically they can see anything an ally sees).

Outcome

The outcome of DoTA is the declaration of the winning team after the end-condition has been satisfied. most of the time players are able to guess which team is about to win (based on the number of kills the team has in total, since if team members are pretty much always dying then there's no one to do the defending).

and that concludes our tour of DoTA.

can you say "OWNING?" *grin*

trading poker

here's a game idea that combines poker (sort of) with a element of trading resources.

equipment: 1-2 decks of playing cards (2 decks if more than 4 players)

players: 4-8 players

objective: build a 'flush' / 'straight' of the same suit (e.g. 10, jack, queen, king, ace all SPADES)

rules:

1. each player starts off with 10 cards, and whatever balance goes into the 'resource' pile

2. in order to build their flush / straight, players are allowed to trade off "excess" cards (they need a minimum of 5 to build a straight / flush)

3. players can obtain the necessary cards by trading with either the resource pile or other players.

4. when trading with the resource pile players are allowed to shuffle the pile and then take the top-most card (s). in order to obtain 'n' number of cards from the resource pile players must return n + 1 cards to the pile (e.g. if you take 2 from the pile you have to surrender 3 cards to the pile).

5. in the event that a player has the minimum number of cards (5) in his / her hand and wants to trade with the resource pile, he or she has to trade at least 2 cards into the pile. (so if you have 5 cards in your hand and want to trade with resource pile, then you have to exchange at least 2 cards in your hand for the corresponding number from the pile.)

6. when trading with other players, players are only allowed to indicate which suit they are looking for, not the specific card (so you can ask to trade for diamonds but not ask to trade for 7 of diamonds).

7. the number of cards players trade is up to them to negotiate. it is not necessary to have a 1-to-1 exchange or a n-to-n+1 exchange.

7. cards being traded do not need to be of the same suit (you don't have to trade 1 diamond for 2 clubs. you can trade a diamond for 1 club and 1 heart for example).

8. first player to build his / her "flush" or straight wins.

9. when a player is 1 card away from a flush / straight he or she has to declare himself / herself as "1 away" (as in 1 away from completion).

10. in the event that 2 players manage to complete their sequences at the same time, the player with the "higher" sequence will win the round (e.g. a royal flush will beat a 6-10 straight). should players be playing for points, a royal flush would be worth 2 points instead of 1.

optionals / exceptions:

1. players are allowed to 'wash' their hands by mixing their cards into the resource pile and drawing out the same number of cards they put in (so if you have 10 cards in your hand and decide to 'wash' it, then after shuffling your cards in the resource pile you draw out 10 cards for your hand).

2. washing can be done up to a max of once per player per round.

3. in the event that a player is dealt a flush / straight in the opening hand of the round, he / she has to declare it and then 'wash' his / her hand. this mandatory washing does not count towards the quota.