Silence spells

[adrfjell]

Silence is kinda daft tbh, I feel like it breaks the dynamic in an overly intrusive way, but I come from TF2+OW1 so what do I know. Grappling attacks are ok though for the most part. Thoughts?

 

[joeinky]

Silence and Stuns are really just a core part of MOBAs that allow you to counter certain abilities and items, or disable enemy heroes.

They each have their own pros and cons, Silence stops the enemy from casting abilities but they still get full movement so they usually last longer whereas Stuns are complete disables, usually only last 1-2 seconds (outside of edge cases that are usually balanced by long cooldowns) and often have ways to avoid them either by better positioning due to short range or delays that allow you to get yourself to a safer spot before being stunned (like Seven's 2 ability or the knockdown item).

It's all part of the general push and pull of fights and allows you to counter heroes that you might otherwise be unable to with the abilities available to your team, assuming we're mainly talking about items here.

You generally find that many people who come to MOBAs who aren't very familiar with the genre will be against the idea of stuns/silence purely on principle simply because you're giving players the ability to essentially take away control from others without much regard to what that would mean for the actual game design. But it's all part of the somewhat punishing design of Deadlock and DOTA 2 before it, don't forget this game isn't really in the same genre as TF2/OW as it's more just a DOTA-style MOBA in third person.

Out of interest, what dynamic do you feel that Silences break?

 

[adrfjell]

Silence and Stuns are really just a core part of MOBAs that allow you to counter certain abilities and items, or disable enemy heroes.

They each have their own pros and cons, Silence stops the enemy from casting abilities but they still get full movement so they usually last longer whereas Stuns are complete disables, usually only last 1-2 seconds (outside of edge cases that are usually balanced by long cooldowns) and often have ways to avoid them either by better positioning due to short range or delays that allow you to get yourself to a safer spot before being stunned (like Seven's 2 ability or the knockdown item).

It's all part of the general push and pull of fights and allows you to counter heroes that you might otherwise be unable to with the abilities available to your team, assuming we're mainly talking about items here.

You generally find that many people who come to MOBAs who aren't very familiar with the genre will be against the idea of stuns/silence purely on principle simply because you're giving players the ability to essentially take away control from others without much regard to what that would mean for the actual game design. But it's all part of the somewhat punishing design of Deadlock and DOTA 2 before it, don't forget this game isn't really in the same genre as TF2/OW as it's more just a DOTA-style MOBA in third person.

Out of interest, what dynamic do you feel that Silences break?

You make good points, and it makes me think that this game is just not my cup of tea. Coming from high mobility type of games it just feels kind of cheap getting "grounded" sort to speak, + instakilled if it's a 2vs1.

I dunno man, I want to like this game, the controls feel great, the characters are cool, the ults are a lot of fun, but I feel like I am consistently getting red cards for slightly grazing someone in a football (soccer for Unitedstatians) game.

It must be said that the last time I played a moba is back in 2005-06 in the original WC3 mod, and controlling the character in third person feels a LOT different then in a top-down view.

I have played 7-8 games now, and and to be fair it could be that my impression is a bit off because of broken matchmaking. It could be that I am consistently put in games with the people who have been playing since May and keep getting owned and steamrolled because of that.

 

[cosmicthaos]

You make good points, and it makes me think that this game is just not my cup of tea. Coming from high mobility type of games it just feels kind of cheap getting "grounded" sort to speak, + instakilled if it's a 2vs1.

I dunno man, I want to like this game, the controls feel great, the characters are cool, the ults are a lot of fun, but I feel like I am consistently getting red cards for slightly grazing someone in a football (soccer for Unitedstatians) game.

It must be said that the last time I played a moba is back in 2005-06 in the original WC3 mod, and controlling the character in third person feels a LOT different then in a top-down view.

I have played 7-8 games now, and and to be fair it could be that my impression is a bit off because of broken matchmaking. It could be that I am consistently put in games with the people who have been playing since May and keep getting owned and steamrolled because of that.

Keep at it man, if you like the core concepts of the game then it could be worth learning. Most MOBAs have a steep learning curve but that's part of what makes them fun. That moment that a character's combo just clicks in the brain and then you focus on build mechanics and counter building is awesome.

There are bits and pieces of hero shooter esque. mechanics so if you're already great at those then learning when to group up for big team fights means you get to enjoy some 6v6 action just like those games! <3