What did I have to lose when I tried a newly free-to-play hybrid of real-time strategy and tower defense?
My dignity, apparently.
Let me back up a little. Heroes of Newerth came onto the scene last year, and it borrowed heavily from the premise of a wildly popular Warcraft 3 mod called Defense of the Ancients. DOTA, as most call it, inspired the tower-defense genre. These games are really quite simple. Essentially, one sets up towers along a sometimes-predetermined path to prevent a line of enemies from reaching a base. HON adds a twist where two teams of players control herculean heroes that battle it out to see who can move up far enough to eventually destroy the opposing team's defenses and primary base.
Sounds fun, right?
It is. For the most part.
When I found out that HON became free-to-play, I had to try it. I pondered a clever username and went through the typical tutorial process. Unfortunately, I had heard that the game's community was unforgiving. But I thought that veterans would potentially welcome new free-to-play players who were helping to grow their numbers.
Soon enough, I joined my first multiplayer match, and I haphazardly selected a hero to begin.
I lost. Savagely. I’m not kidding. They tore into me. And I'm not talking about the opposing team.
“You $%*@ newb. Get out of here!”
“You are completely useless!”
“Go shoot yourself in the face and die.”
These were a few of the choice phrases I received from my own team.
During this battle, my allies also vehemently accused me of working with the enemy. I explained it was my first time and that I wasn’t even experienced enough to effectively execute such a strategy. In subsequent skirmishes, many individuals called me out because I didn’t know how to gank or couldn't locate the jungle.
All the racist, sexist, and childish banter I encountered in countless hours of playing the Call of Duty series online couldn’t hold a candle to what I've endured while playing Heroes of Newerth.
It has the worst online community I’ve ever encountered.
Luckily, HON is a fantastic title.
When I get on a team that works together like tiny cogs in giant war machine, smashing enemies becomes quite satisfying. All that hard work coming together results in a triumphant feeling that gaming rarely delivers.
So I'm still recommending the game to my friends. If they joined, I would gain some teammates who would give me some respect.