Blizzard DOTA Finally Gets Full Details, Video

[sam]

Blizzard finally revealed to its fans at the BlizzCon event during the weekend the full details on its upcoming Blizzard DOTA release, which aims at bringing together some of the most impressive heroes from Blizzard�s own properties, like Warcraft, Starcraft or Diablo, and throwing them one at another in combat.

The MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) genre, kicked off with the Defense of the Ancients mod for Warcraft III, has certainly gotten crowded these days, with lots of titles like League of Legends or Heroes of Newerth fighting for supremacy, while big companies like Valve or Blizzard are getting ready to debut their own DOTA releases.


After hearing that Valve's own Dota 2 will enter open beta testing soon, Blizzard has also revealed the first concrete details about its own DOTA edition, which is shaping up to be a huge release for any fan of the popular studio.

Basically, Blizzard DOTA is a custom game scenario based on StarCraft II, that sees heroes from across the variety of games made by the company fight it out in battle arenas, in the traditional style of the genre, but bears a strong tongue-in-cheek attitude while simplifiyng a lot of the mechanics.

"Blizzard DOTA is a new official custom game for StarCraft II, inspired by the Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) custom map for Warcraft III. Much like other DOTA-style games, Blizzard DOTA is a team-based competitive game in which each player controls a powerful hero with unique abilities, and works with his or her team to invade and destroy the enemy team's base. We're taking a fun approach to Blizzard DOTA and hope that players enjoy battling each other with heroes from across the various Blizzard universes."

As you'll see in the video and screenshots below, characters range from Warcraft's Arthas, to Starcraft's Zeratul or Queen of Blades, not to mention Diablo's Witch Doctor. The fighters are grouped into four categories, Tank, Support, DPS (Damage per Second), and Siege, while the game focuses and rewards teamwork, sharing experience points with everyone on the battlefield, not just those who take out actual enemies heroes or units.

Blizzard simplified a lot of things for its DOTA title, grouping stats into Damage, Health, and Mastery, and items into Stat Boosts, Consumables, Items, and Artifacts, in order to make jumping in and out of matches a simple affair.

There's still a pretty consistent 'metagame' in Blizzard DOTA, as the studio emphasis that you can also engage in a variety of other things, except battling with enemies, like:

- Territory control and merc camps -- Find and control map locations to gain merc support and send them out to strengthen your creep waves and push lanes.
- More exciting map bonuses like the new Stone Zealot -- Conquer this behemoth and he�ll join you in destroying all that gets in its path.
- Multiple maps -- It�s not the same old map anymore; things are changing and so will the map choices with a change in terrain and new ways to approach the enemy. The possibilities are endless.

Blizzard DOTA is expected to see a beta test be held soon, and its release will happen, according to the company, around the launch of the new StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm.

Trailer for Blizzard DOTA below.

[nameless_fear]

Va fi foarte interesant de vazut lupta Blizzard's Dota vs. Valve's Dota2.
Noi vom avea doar de castigat.

[sam]

DOTA Name Should Belong to the Community, Blizzard Believes

Blizzard, after just showcasing the first big details of its special Blizzard DOTA title, has once again shared its views on the whole trademark issue surrounding the DOTA name, as Valve is currently trying to secure it before releasing Dota 2 next year.

DOTA, or Defense of the Ancients, originated as a community mod for Blizzard's older Warcraft III real time strategy title, and went on to become extremely popular, spawning quite a few replicas, like League of Legends or Heroes of Newerth.

Now, after Valve hired some of the lead developers on the DOTA project, confirming that it's working on Dota 2, it has begun the procedures to trademark the name.

As you can imagine, Blizzard isn't that happy, especially as it's also developing its own take on the DOTA genre, called simply Blizzard DOTA.

The studio's president, Mike Morhaime, shared his thoughts with Eurogamer on the whole issue, saying that the DOTA name should remain in the community.

"I can share that our opinion about the situation is that the DOTA name really should belong to the community. I think that it's been part of the Warcraft 3 community for a very long time, and we would like to see the community continue being able to use that name, and having an exclusive mark owned by a competitor doesn't feel right to us."

Even with this disagreement, Morhaime highlights that the relationship between Blizzard and Valve are still quite good, saying that, "We're very friendly with Valve. So yeah, we do talk to Valve."
Valve plans on holding a special Dota 2 open beta stage soon enough, allowing anyone interested in the title to try it out before it official release sometime next year.

Meanwhile, Blizzard DOTA has just received the first actual details, showcasing a more lighthearted, simplified take on the genre, bringing together some of the most popular characters from Blizzard's variety of franchises, including Warcraft, Starcraft or Diablo.