The horror... New to HON.

[Divinedark]

Hey everybody. Just thought I'd come in and pick the brains of those with much more experience than myself. I picked up HoN just in beta and never really bothered to play it. I had a bad run in with some of the illustrious community members that were very set on getting me to have sex with myself and end my life in various ways. That pretty much ended my stay here.

As with most others with that rough initial experience in HoN, I went to LoL. I was just a casual player and spent most of my time playing SC2 (still do). However, I started to really enjoy the game (lol) and have grown more interested in the genre as a whole. I know that most will say that LoL experience doesn't really relate to HoN or Dota very much, but that's all I really have going for me. I just wanted something a touch more involved and challenging.

I got the beta invite for Dota 2 and started playing it off and on, but the real turn off for me in that game is the input lag. I didn't have to contend with that in LoL. I installed HoN and played some solo games with just minions to get a feel for the controls, last hitting and what not, and HoN seems to be much more fluid than Dota 2.

So, here I am. I like the mechanics of the game, but I'm curious to see if it's even worth me starting with HoN. I know I'm going to be terrible out of the gate. I'm assuming that most are. The thing that helped with LoL was the custom games. People didn't really freak out if you screwed up in there, as they were just for testing out builds and so forth. Is there anything like that here? If so, are people still raging dicks?

I guess that's my biggest concern. Can a new player start and actually enjoy the learning experience here? I already have a stressful job. I play games to have fun. Is that possible here?

Are there any tips you could give me to start me out on the right foot?

Thanks for reading.

TLDR: Can HoN be fun for a newb with LoL (lol) and a VERY small amount of Dota 2 experience? How? Best ways to learn?

[Katieeee]

Midwars are like the "fun mode" of HoN games nowadays for many. Go for the "All [Hero] Midwars!" games (Hosts usually stick to heroes in the F2P pool for the week, but you can just check the Herodex in-game), as they allow you to a good chance to ask questions about that hero, try out different builds, and have a fun time. All-Random Midwars and Select Hero Midwars games usually have the similar relaxed environment. ヽ(^。^)ノ

[[E]Ahimtar]

well, there is no stats public game option, but you can only learn early game there, because there is no leave penalty also... so a guy dies twice and leaves. i remember a game where 4 enemies left because they died, but we lost 5v1 because our team all died one by one and left. so, i recommend you to play some no stats games, but after a few games go for normal matchmaking. you have a nonverified account also, so you get joined with people about your level.
but be ready for some flame. 60% of the community cares more about win/loss than the game fun. and insult you for not letting them win.



edit: oh yes, i forgot about the midwars. thats a good choice.

[Sultur]

Its indeed kind of lucky stuff with nostat-games but if u name the room specificly AND look at the guys who come in (to many guys out there who dont understand that a noob game is for noobs to learn something... not for bashing and flaming) u can have some nice and easy games without rage and massleaving. I woudnt say midwars is the best way to learn more than the ultrabasic-mechanics of the game, ofc u see what the abilitys of the heroes are doing and it is relaxed and funny but thats all.

and if u played lol and dota2 i think u allready understand the basics and so the more specific things u have to learn by doing... and mybe some mentoring or reading guides about things like warding, lasthitting, pulling and so on.

[[SBT]Nexorian]

Play some public 'noobs only' games, there you only get flamed if you're a good player.
otherwise, enter any game and type /ic 4 times to ignore all chat

[[S2]Visions]

I would highly encourage any new player to head over to: www.projectepoch.com/forums/ and take a look around

Epoch offers a very friendly environment for a "newb" to hang out with like-minded/similarly experienced individuals and receive training from people that are, generally speaking, a lot better than them. There is constantly someone online who is willing to offer helpful hints, tips and advice.

It's a great way to both make some new friends and get a leg up in this extremely steep learning curve type of game.

[Dostanica]

I would highly encourage any new player to head over to: www.projectepoch.com/forums/ and take a look around

Epoch offers a very friendly environment for a "newb" to hang out with like-minded/similarly experienced individuals and receive training from people that are, generally speaking, a lot better than them. There is constantly someone online who is willing to offer helpful hints, tips and advice.

It's a great way to both make some new friends and get a leg up in this extremely steep learning curve type of game.

He's absolutely right with Epoch. Otherwise, I would suggest playing casual games/public noob games until you can get the hang of items, heroes, and positioning/tricks. It's a hard process to get the hang of HoN.. but when you do.. you'll never leave.

[ChimeraTX]

If you're looking for some guidance or someone friendly to play with, just add me, I'm willing to help u get into the game =)

[dolb]

That is pretty much correct - if you feels like joining some helpfull comunity try project epoch Back to the topic - HoN is full of ragers - if youll play poorly theyll whine and cry thru the game, that youre bad, and you should do some nasty stuff to yourself - thats just mainly because if you play HoN in rush hours you may be teamed up with (or against) bunch of kids (my experiance from European games) which if you wont stay calm ignoring them will eventually drive you mad ^^ And remember - for tipical HoN player it is always YOUR fault that theyre losing the game. Those are the things you have to take into consideration - if this just upsets you dont bother playing the game, if not - welcome

[xguild]

I just got done with the "noob" experiance HON has to offer and as a survivor I can tell you that the best games are in verified mode and as such you want to get verified as quickly as possible. Spending money to buy gold I'm not sure is the best way to go about it, unless you are certain you are going to play HON as its quite expensive and even if you buy a lot of Goblin Gold you will still only get a small fraction of the heroes. That leaves you with the matchmaking system and leveling up your account to level 5 while simultanously earning gold to buy heroes you will hopefully have tried out using the rotation system. The drawback is that the smurfs, ragers and the pathetic seem to be drawn to the 1500 unverfied bracket mostly as a result of either account banning or just people looking to slaughter noobs.

Still I personally think its the best option outside of buying goblin gold which now that I love the game, I will probobly do it, but when I started I wasn't so sure so it s a bit backwards.

In any case.. the advice

1. Ignore the frivolous chatter. In unverified matches their is no recourse for violating the rules in HON unless their happens to be a verified player in the match which strictly speaking their rarely is. Its a spawning bed for griefers and people who have been banned. People can say whatever to you without repocussion because as a unverfied player you won't be able to report anyone. Hence your best move is to completetly ignore chat and just watch for Pings and SS's, that sufficient information to contribute the best you can to a match while you learn to play. Don't get involved in conversations at all. Unless people are friendly Im strictly business in these games.

2. Ignore the advice that says "learn all the heroes" and start by playing and getting accustomed to one hero at a time until your comfertable with the game and you have that AHA moment where all the heroes suddenly seem familiar and easy to understand. Not doing so just steepens your learning curve dramatically and very unescessarly, I always thought this was the worst advice the community offered and it really screwed me at first as I always felt like I had no idea what the hell I was doing in every match. Find a hero that works for you in practice games and go right into matchmaking and play that hero until you get it down packed. If you know what hero you will pick when the match starts its never a problem to pick it before someone else can, I havent had any problem doing it in 50 matches. A newbie player that knows how to use his hero even mildly sufficiently can make a considerable contribution to your match and if you do, you will find that because your a noob playing other noobs that are less prepared you will more often than not act as the catalyst for the win. I can honestly say that in almost every match I have played I have either been the reason we lost, or the reason we won. The difference has always been my ability as a noob to stay alive and make my small contribution to the team. In matches where we lost I overfed the team by dying to often, usually as a result of being unfamilier with my hero. Since I started using heroes I know well, my results are a hell of a lot better and my knowledge and understanding of the game as a whole has improved 10 fold.

3. Don't play carry heroes or primary initators at first. Support/Tanks are the best heroes for newbies I think. In as a whole a newbies greatest contribution to a team is not dying/feeding. Seriously. In most matches its better that a newbie stay at base AFK than it is for him to die 15 times in the course of a match. So give yourself survivability by playing a good tanky support hero like Armadon or something like that. Don't try to be a hero, its safe to assume if you don't have direct experiance with HON specifically you will not play well. DOTA and LOL experiance really doesn't apply as much as you might think.

4. Don't bother reading peoples stats in 1500 unverfied, everything is completetly meaningless. A stat less hero may be a pro player simply using a smurf account and 9 out of 10 times this is the case. A newbie with a .11 KD ratio maybe the best player on the team, simply using support heroes or playing is safe throughout the match which is a proper way for a newbie to act. You have to feel each match out and figuire out who on your team knows what they are doing, usually this will be the most vocal person in chat and you should follow his advice, even if he uses profanity and talks like a complete tard unless he proves to be as bad at the game as is his language. Generally though even the banned smurf account players will usually carry the team so if you want to win you have to try to help them no matter how much they curse you out so see rule 1.

5. Play 3 player games. The games are shorter and you will end up getting verfied faster.

Once your verfied play verified only matches. This filters out 90% of the riff raff and anyone stupid enough to curse you out just report them and help the community keep HON clean and competative.

[ceystel]

If you have the heroes dont play All Pick. There is the main part of the frustrated community.
My best game experiences were in Banning PIck. Even if i did really bad my teammates didnt flame me and i was really grateful for that.

[xguild]

If you have the heroes dont play All Pick. There is the main part of the frustrated community.
My best game experiences were in Banning PIck. Even if i did really bad my teammates didnt flame me and i was really grateful for that.

Ya this is my goal. Unfortunatly even after 50 matches I have had barely enough silver to purchase 3 heroes, hardly sufficient and while I did get 5 token things its hardly sufficient for long term play. Ultimatly I think I will buy into the game and get an influx of heroes as a result, but I personally don't care for the token system. I know its a way to make money but generally in free to play micro transaction situations I want my purchases to be at the very least permenant. Aka I don't ever buy temporary or one time use items because its simply never worth it and tokens fall into this category. Buying heroes on the other hand Im ok with, but even with that the price isn't exactly right, 30 bucks gets you a small handful of heroes.

But ya I agree banning pick would be really nice to get into and in a way Im glad they make it difficult so that at least it keeps the impatient riff raff out, but I would really have loved to have known about this game early so I could purchase a full (all hero account) which given the oppertunity today I would be happy to buy even if it was overpriced.

[Divinedark]

Thanks to everyone for all of the advice.

@Xguild - I actually bought the game outright when it first release, so I didn't have to bother with the free to play stuff. I'm not sure how that affects me going forward with all of the new heroes, but as of right now. I own, at least, every hero that came with the game upon release. As for the hero role. I am a support guy. I only play support in LoL, and every MMO I've ever played. That's why I was hoping that people would be more accepting. It's usually hard to find someone willing to give up kills and CS to heal you. That's what I enjoy. Heals, CC, and generally being annoying to everyone on the other team.

@Ceystel - I never thought about playing banning pick, mainly because I know literally nothing about any of the characters, outside of Demented Shaman (the only hero that I've played). I wouldn't have any idea who to ban...

[ceystel]

@Ceystel - I never thought about playing banning pick, mainly because I know literally nothing about any of the characters, outside of Demented Shaman (the only hero that I've played). I wouldn't have any idea who to ban...[/QUOTE]

I guess you will not be always the guy who is banning because its always pink and blue. And if you are the unlucky one then ask your teammates for advise or ban heroes you dont like. I always look for my enemies most played heroes or last winning ones. That should work at least in low level games. Its really not that difficult. At least for my MMR.:P


@xguild
I know what you mean. I had the same problem until Chrismas and got lucky with the deal. But they also want to change the f2p model. You can read it in General Disscussion. I hope that will be an improvement.

[[iAPM]TattyJangles]

Play public mode, APCM. Just learn the game mechanics from there. If people start chatting **** then just type /ic and press enter, 4 times.

[Antimodus]

Not sure if srs about the "play BP" suggestion.... probably the worst imaginable advice you could give to a newbie IMO

[Divinedark]

So, I jumped into some customs last night to just get in there and see how everything really is. Well... It was worse than I remember it. I played Plague Rider. I bought wards and left my lane at the start of the game to go place wards. I'm a bit foggy on where exactly the runes spawn, so I guessed on the bot rune and evidently, I got it wrong.

This started off a series of BM from my team... I was in a no stats game, and I made it clear that I was just learning. I let my lane mate last hit, I kept my wards up... Yes, I made mistakes. It was my first game. None the less I ended up 2-6-8 by the 30 minute mark. We had one leaver, and they were voting to kick me...

I just don't really get this game. I play Dota 2 as well (just as poorly), and I have nowhere near the anxiety of starting a game as I do with HoN. I don't understand how any new player is supposed to be able to get in and enjoy a game. I played the most "No harm, no foul" game type I could without going AR-AM, and I still got berated. I have thick enough skin to deal with it, but with the alternatives I have out there, I'm struggling to find a reason to start HoN. I love the speed of the game, the engine runs like a dream, and the dashboard features of the game are fantastic, but damn... Barring the kindness I've found in the forums, this may be the most BM community I've ever tried to get into.

I applied to Epoch, but they never responded, and they silenced me in their Invite channel... Not sure why. I never spoke, outside of saying good evening. That may just be common practice. Either way, I'm still trying, but losing a bit of my drive and leaning back toward Dota2.

[Katieeee]

I applied to Epoch, but they never responded, and they silenced me in their Invite channel... Not sure why. I never spoke, outside of saying good evening. That may just be common practice. Either way, I'm still trying, but losing a bit of my drive and leaning back toward Dota2.

Hi,

Sorry if you've had to wait for an invite. The Epoch Invite channel bugs sometimes, so we can't get on it. You can also sit on the main channel at /join Clan Project Epoch and see if any of us officers get on there.

As for the silencing, blame Theli. His Icbot was set to silence people with 0 MMR wins or something. ;x

[Antimodus]

As for the silencing, blame Theli. His Icbot was set to silence people with 0 MMR wins or something. ;x

sounds like a very clever idea.... in a clan that's supposedly about teaching/mentoring through ANY level of play.

[trout0x]

wall of text

It's shame, but single games with painful people like that do happen. Tough it out for a bit, most people whine about people taking 4x carries so having a good willing support player is a boon to the community and the specific game itself! If you play for long enough (cutting down small mistakes from earlier games) people will thank you, will realise what you are doing and appreciate it (even if less than 20% will verbally/txt actually show this - just know that any 1600+ player is HAPPIER with wards). Add or ask to add these people to your friends list and play with them, win/win. Personally I am loath to add anyone to my list who has zero or close to wards per game, because any decent player knows sometimes even a carry might have to ward. I started playing hon with 4 friends, 2 couldn't hack it and quit (within a month) me + 1 survived the early horror. I flame people from time to time, but i will/have never flame a warding support. If you were from Au I'd happily add you, but chances are we are on the other side of the world to each other, so goodluck!

Also people run "uber noob" games with sub 1500 players only, these should be light hearted (and should eliminate most smurfs who i find are the most angry players probably because the are trying to farm kdr?).
No stats can have people trying specific things, which can lead to various types of rage, leavers.
Midwars is mostly light hearted, esp noob midwars, demented shaman is very strong in midwars (nym with her mana regen is even stronger early).