Ironclad is hoping the mixture of RPG with RTS in its MOBA Sins of a Dark Age will help it stand out from competitors such as League of Legends and Dota 2, and the crux of this approach appears to be Realm Quests, optional side-tasks which players can complete for team-wide boons and powerful items. In an explanatory trailer, Ironclad Producer Blair Fraser describes how Realm Quests work and how they influence the Hero-on-Hero clashes on the battlefield.
According to Fraser, Realm Quests increases the tactical options for both defenders and attackers and drives “the application of strategy, counter-strategy, and counter-counter-strategy.” According to us, that’s a perfect opportunity to write “Yeah? Well, I double dog-counter-strategy!” in chat during a fortuitous moment.
Ironclad has more info on Sins of a Dark Age at its website, but what luck! Our brethren over atGamesRadar sat down with Fraser to talk about what makes his MOBA shine. Have a look below.
Tags: Blair Fraser, Ironclad games, moba, RPG, RTS, Sins of a Dark Age
I own Demigod and a friend just gifted me DotA 2, I really should give MOBAs a bigger try, but I just can't seem to get interested in them at all.
I'm with you on this.
I've never actually played any, but everytime I read/watch them I just don't see anything which seems to appeal to me. Mostly because I don't enjoy RTS, but also because they just seem kind of boring and tedious
I just find them impossible to enjoy because of their competitive nature. There's never a match where people just enjoy the game, there's always verbal harassment or people behaving like dicks.
With Sins of a Dark Age Ironclad will be up against the giants Dota 2 and LoL, both immensely popular MOBA games. It will be interesting to see if people think Realm Quests are enough to switch over.
It sounds to me like this game TOTALLY misunderstands the purpose of MOBAs. I wouldn't call MOBAs fun exactly, but I can and have played them a lot, and these people have no understanding of why they are popular.
Hmm - what secret knowledge of their popularity do you have that they don't?
To me, they are popular because they are:
1. Free to play
2. Provide a sense of progression/attachment to the game
3. Are fairly easy to get into (although LoL is better at providing an entry level experience than Dota2)
4. This results in some fun, competitive PvP when at its best - along with tournaments too.
Which of these are IC failing at based on your quick read/watch of these articles?
I have enjoyed those types of games myself, it just takes finding the right people to play with, or finding the right kind of MOBA, such as some obscure ones that I played where always fun because they did not attract huge droves of people which inevitably leads to problems such as Heavenfall mentioned.
They are adding too much RPG stuff. Realm Quests and all that. MOBAs at their heart are about execution, like Halo. I'm not saying no one will buy the game. Its just going to only be Demigod level popular. Which isn't bad, but its not really how MOBAs go.
MOBAs are built off RPG stuff too - character classes, spells/abilities, upgrading items, using potions...
Realm Quests look to be more about spicing up the variety of situations or conflicts the heros fight in rather than just the standard laning/jungling.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
Sign in or Create Account
