The horror... New to HON.

[[E]Speedohdk]

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.

Awwwww yeahh

[[RCT]Sammerrz]

I was in that PR game, at least I'm pretty sure. I recognize your name and I remember that our messed up a ward
I was the only one downing the vote kick. Man, there are some people in this community that will always try to bring you down, you just have to forget them! Make some real friends in HoN! Add me! We can do some 1 v 1 practice or 5 v 5 With some of my friends that are very kind. You just have to find the GOOD HoN community, and play with them. Most Trolls play pubs, so maybe try casual mode MatchMaking out for a go with Dshaman (because you know him the best) and when you get the hang of it, switch to Normal Mode! (Which is what most people look at to see your MMR/Skill Level) There are mostly no flamers and trolls in MatchMaking, and since your new to HoN most people in your games will have the same skill level as you, so there should be no flame at all and you can simply practice the game.
TlDR: Add me to your buddy list and we can practice! Ignore the flamers and try some Casual Mode MatchMaking!

[Katieeee]

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

We've just had issues with people spamming accounts to spam our channel. x)

But the invite channel does not have the said bot action, so if anyone needs any help/replay review request without any NM MMR games played, feel free to /join Epoch Invite and ask there. We usually have an officer there, but if not, many of our members do like to hang out there too. :3

[Divinedark]

@Sammerrz: Yup... That would be me. Wasn't proud of it, but still trying to learn, you know? Anyways, I'll definitely add you. I didn't think about playing match making. I always equated that to ladder on SC2. I played a ton of custom games before I tried my hand at the ladder, as that's what most people took seriously. For some reason, I always remember people telling me to avoid CM as much as possible, as it doesn't really teach you anything outside of general controls, and that it would be more benefit for me to play no stats. If that's not the case, then I surely will give it a go.

@Katieeee: I joined the /Epoch Invite channel and I was silenced. That's what I was talking about. I filled out a trainee form and everything. Maybe I just wasn't on at the right time. Either way, I'm still interested in joining up and learning my way thorough this nightmare.

Thanks for all of the replies folks. I do love the forum community. I just wish I could see more of it in game. I know I'm going to suck a LOT for a while. I accept that. I just don't want to ruin everyone else's game while I do it. Unfortunately, that's what I thought no stats games were. Evidently, people take that seriously too. Haha. It's the same in LoL, but the skill cap is much lower. So if you suck in LoL, then... well... I wouldn't want to call you hopeless, but...

[[SKET]MisterLahey]

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.

S2???!!!!!!1
Look at this.
Why don't you charge 50 dollars for 50 heroes? Or maybe even... 40 dollars?

ffs.

[Divinedark]

They did, when the game first launched. I paid $39.99 just out of beta for all of the champs. I'm glad I jumped in when I did.

[[RCT]Sammerrz]

Yeah man definitely add me and we can play a good game just getting better at last hitting and I can show you all the great ward places! And maybe some other pubs where your on my team
Just name a time and I can get on.
And Casual Mode is just what it is, "Casual", not really competitive or really the real game. But it's great for new players learning the basics like last hitting, teamfights, etc. The difference in casual really is more money from kills, towers, EXP from towers, and no money loss from deaths. The extra money and no money loss from deaths is really what makes it stands out, which is why competitive players dont play it. Not losing gold on death basically makes dying an okay thing to do. But for someone like you it's perfect. And the reason I said MatchMaking Casual is because people look at your Normal Mode MatchMaking to see your skill level, so whatever happens in casual, stays in casual. And there aren't any flamers/trolls in MatchMaking. Once you get the game, try normal mode! We could even queue together!

[[KSU]Shifty_eyes]

They did, when the game first launched. I paid $39.99 just out of beta for all of the champs. I'm glad I jumped in when I did.

I bought during the last $10 special before they went free-to-play. lol. Insanely lucky for me.

Mostly it's all been said, but two things kept me playing in the face of constant insulting and flaming: finding friends to play with regularly (maybe a clan), and the /ignore command. There's no sweeter sound than the silenced voice of a per-pubescent puddle of rage.

[[2hP]IstabbedZach]

to the OP- ... Don't give up!!! Keep at it, and ignore the idiot flamers! It was EXACTLY the same way for those of us who started with DoTA! We sucked, got RAPED for GAME AFTER GAME, and then... you get it. And once you get it, it is BY FAR the most rewarding gaming experience of any game.

Next game, before the creeps spawn, just.. run your character back and forth. Watch how he moves. You can control your character so finely and precisely.. You can press S during any attack or spell to cancel it, but still perform the first half of the animation. Next game, try casting a spell and IMMEDIATELY pressing S. Then, go into your lane and DO THIS ALL GAME. Other players will FEAR your spell, and play more conservatively.

Controlling your character is half the battle. Positioning is the other half. Learning what to do and when is the third half. 150% chance to RAPE FACE! What other game has that???

This is the game with the highest skill cap that I know of.. I'd go as far as to say even strategy games don't have this level of skill involved (as a diamond sc2 player). So don't expect to be good right away! Play random every game, and when you are tired of getting raped, play plague rider. Play MMR as soon as possible. Ask yourself: what would I do different? Was it my fault that I got ganked? What should I do next time?

Every loss, is that much closer to a victory. It's like junior high school, dude. You get punked, until you learn how to punk others.

Also, if you get good at HoN, you will rape every league of legends player. Period

[Divinedark]

to the OP- ... Don't give up!!! Keep at it, and ignore the idiot flamers! It was EXACTLY the same way for those of us who started with DoTA! We sucked, got RAPED for GAME AFTER GAME, and then... you get it. And once you get it, it is BY FAR the most rewarding gaming experience of any game.

Next game, before the creeps spawn, just.. run your character back and forth. Watch how he moves. You can control your character so finely and precisely.. You can press S during any attack or spell to cancel it, but still perform the first half of the animation. Next game, try casting a spell and IMMEDIATELY pressing S. Then, go into your lane and DO THIS ALL GAME. Other players will FEAR your spell, and play more conservatively.

Controlling your character is half the battle. Positioning is the other half. Learning what to do and when is the third half. 150% chance to RAPE FACE! What other game has that???

This is the game with the highest skill cap that I know of.. I'd go as far as to say even strategy games don't have this level of skill involved (as a diamond sc2 player). So don't expect to be good right away! Play random every game, and when you are tired of getting raped, play plague rider. Play MMR as soon as possible. Ask yourself: what would I do different? Was it my fault that I got ganked? What should I do next time?

Every loss, is that much closer to a victory. It's like junior high school, dude. You get punked, until you learn how to punk others.

Also, if you get good at HoN, you will rape every league of legends player. Period

Thank you to everyone for the responses. I really appreciate it. I had another horrifying experience, but it looks like that's to be expected. I ended up going back to League of Legends as a comfort zone response to the molesting, but I found it incredibly pointless. I just felt like I was playing a really stripped down version of another game I could be playing. Now, I don't really see the point of logging into LoL. It was fun before I played a game with more nuance in a similar genre.

I just wish I could get past the pub community. I know I need to ignore them, but damn... It's hard. I really hate the feeling that I'm ruining some elses fun. I guess the other team's fun is increased by how horrible I am, but my own team... Not so much.

I'll keep going, though. I just need to push that button. That's really the hard part. My safety zone in every MMO or other RPG that I can think of is to play support. I love healing and buffing. Always have. However, it's different in Dota 2 and HoN. The support role is not just the heal monkey that allows me to sit back and learn the game. It requires stuff like pulling and stacking, warding, gank support, not dying, and being there for critical team fights. Just trying to wrap my head around this is painful. I can get the warding thing. I have a vague grasp on how to pull and stack, was NEVER good at ganking, and could do okay in a team fight. Obviously, not dying is not a strong point either. The real trick is figuring out WHEN to do all of these things. It seems like everyone else on the field has an opinion about where I should be and when. If I'm going to ward, I get screamed at for not supporting my carry. If I leave to pull, I get yelled at for not warding. If I cross to ward their jungle, I get screamed at for intentional feeding... I haven't even died yet... *I emphasize yet*.

I looked around and there doesn't seem to be a decent guide on how to properly support. Just a bunch of people saying what support is. It seems like the perfect opportunity to take something that is fairly complex and break it down to those that haven't been in the genre for years. I'm sure I'll pick it up by trial and error, but I'd obviously like to avoid any unnecessary time spent finding my own way.

[[SBT]Syllab]

There's also some nice hero guides on www.honreplays.org, but please check the more recent ones, I'm in the process of updating the older ones. Anyways, hang in there, pick one type of hero you want to play (I recommend all-round heroes like midas or wretched hag, heroes like this are very item independant), and sticking with them until you're good with them. Positioning is easily the most important part of the game, but you probably know this if you played LoL. Good luck.