Guide to enjoying HoN

[[TGCH]senzation54]

I haven't been active in this community for months now, so things might have changed. However, when I was active, people were constantly complaining about a lot of stuff, and a lot of people had a mindset that completely ruined their fun.

The first thing I'd like to just get out of the way is that the myth that is the "1300 hole" or whatever you want to call it, is just that - a myth. The whole point of solo matchmaking is that you're supposed to tip the scales of the battle regardless of your team. You don't need to single-handedly win the game, you just need to play better than the average player in your bracket, and you will win more than you lose, and gain MMR. I'm like 1550MMR or something and I guarantee you that if you give me a 12-1400 MMR account I'll get it above 1500 in a day. Everyone at 1300 MMR is equally horrible at HoN, if you can't win more than you lose in that bracket you deserve to be there.

However, that doesn't matter. MMR is just a stupid arbitrary number that helps the game decide who to match you with, it doesn't matter in any other way. Games aren't any more fun at 1600 than they are at 1300, they're just harder. If you're not completely roflstomping 1300 games, you're going to get your a$$ handed to you above 1500 MMR and you're going to have a lot less fun.

I spent a lot of time trying my best to improve at this game, with my only goal being to raise this dumb arbitrary number we refer to as MMR. At one point I even got above 1700 MMR and guess what? Games were exactly the same, except it was much harder for me to dominate, in fact I was struggling in many games. As I got past my initial starting phase of only playing HoN and no other games, I started caring less and realized that I'm never going to be a professional HoN player. I never actually thought that I was going to be a professional gamer at all, and I didn't really ever have that as my goal, but if I'm not aiming to be the very best then why in the world should I care at all? What does it matter if you're 1300 MMR or 1800 MMR when you'll still always get your a$$ handed to you by thousands of players?

I think this is a major problem for many HoN players, they don't seem to realize that it's just a game. It doesn't matter if you win or lose, it doesn't matter what your MMR is. What matters is how you feel about the time you spend playing this game. Are you having fun, or are you letting other people ruin your fun without even trying, just because they're not playing up to your expectations? Back when I first started playing video games in the 90's, there was no competition. Playing video games had one single purpose - fun.
So if you're among the people who get angry when they lose or don't play well, or their teammates don't play well, take a deep breath and think about it. Do you really give a rat's a$$ about whether you win or lose this game? Of course you don't, it's just a stupid game. And if you're one of the people who think they're stuck in the 1300 brackets because of their teammates, seriously.. you're the one saying 1300 players suck too much and are dragging you down, yet you're also the one who sucks too much to beat them so what does that make you? A 1300 player. There's nothing wrong with that, everyone's been there at some point. Just accept it and focus on the game itself rather than the number you see when you aren't playing. It means nothing.

Another thing that can really ruin your fun is a teammate that's constantly nagging you. When people get angry about stuff I do, I usually just respond with "umad bro?" or some variation like "y u so mad bro?" or whatever other bad internet insult/joke I can think about, like your mom jokes or whatever. Anything that's completely unrelated to whatever he said to you.
This serves several purposes. First of all, you send the message that you really don't give a crap about what this insignificant prick thinks of you. After all he's just some kid, sitting at home on his computer and actually getting mad at you because you're not living up to his standards in a friggin video game. Who cares about this prick?
As a bonus you might also piss him off, which can be very entertaining. And if he gets annoying in any way, just type /ignore add playername and enjoy the silence.

This probably got a bit more messy than I intended when I started but well, I just felt it had to be said, so I said it. I hope someone else can benefit from reading this, and perhaps giving some thought to what they really want from this game. If you want to be a professional player then by all means, take it seriously. If you're not part of the 0,001% however, just loosen up and enjoy the game. It's just a game after all.

[Katieeee]

I agree, people do take MMR and winning/losing too seriously, and just to enjoy the bracket you're in.

But sometimes I do feel a bit sad when I ponder about how down players who are struggling to get out of the sub-1500s feel when we above that line constantly tell them how we'd roll over teams in their brackets with such ease. It also gets to me knowing there are players out there who are struggling to learn the game, try their hardest, but wins come at such a low rate for them. Like if you join Public Games, there are many players there who just don't experience a win on a regular basis, and that always breaks my heart a bit because they should try to enjoy the games even if they're losing, but you can only lose so many before it just gets sad. :[

[stiffi`]

This is true, yet so so wrong. MMR creates a competitive game mode, so one can see why people do get upset at others for not trying or being worse than they are. I do agree that people don't need to blame others for their mistakes though. It gets annoying when people cannot accept the fact they either messed up or can't play the hero or cannot play their role properly.

If you are just looking for fun, then you should play non ranking public games.

[[DrQs]OneSantaPlz]

Midwars = funmode.

MMR = Rage, Mad and Flame.


That's only my experience though.

[stiffi`]

Solo MM is a lot of raging br's who think they are better than what they really are. Que up with some friends or look in the competitive discussion and look for a team and it is much more enjoyable.

[[SmZ]Fred_HUN]

Well i got problems with queing up with friends, because if we are a 3 man group, the enemy team will also have a 3 man group who could be on teamspeak or skype, and they work together most of the time and i end up losing in 60% in this case. In solo que i could gain 40 mmr from 1440. (yeah i know its a noob bracket...)

[stiffi`]

You don't work together with your friends? Confused what you mean when you say the enemy 3 man team communicates when you can do the same thing.

[[eNHa]Myzreal]

I play on several sub-accounts. Their mmrs are:
1780
1690
1620
1540
1275

I play on all of them regularly because I have lots of game-friends who's skill level differs greatly, so I choose my account to play with them according to their mmr level.

As such I can tell you that I disagree with your statement that the games do not differ between high and low mmr. I consider myself an experienced player and my main account (the 1780 one) is a support account. As such, when I play on the 1700+ bracket I am used to advanced techniques (used by both my team and the enemies) mainly a great increase in supporting and farming capabilities (in case of carries). The supports at 1700 know a lot more useful ward spots and actually know that lane wards are far more important at some stage of the game. They also know that wards are more important than their boots, that survivability and positioning are key for a support hero and that the courier should be upgraded in the first 2 minutes of the game. After playing as a support in such games and using all that I get used to it as fairly standard.
And then I go on my 1200 or 1500 account to play with some low-mmr friends or just to roflstomp some pubs. I pick a carry usually and what do I get. It is a rare occasion that anyone at ~1300 plays a support hero (they pick them obviously because many accounts are f2p, thus limited choice, but they don't play support with the support hero they picked) and even if they are somehow forced by the team to pick up those wards, they just buy 2 and put them at the rune spots. All the time, only those 2 ward spots are warded, nothing else. They have no idea about the notion of stacking, and if they happen to know about creep pulling then they do that without stacking ("stacking the pull is a waste of time" - heard that yesterday, sadly from my own low-mmr friends).
And this is the difference. The play style is of way higher quality up near the 1800 than it is near 1300 and it's undeniable. Obiously sometimes you get a carried-to-1700-and-failing guy at the 1700 bracket and sometimes u face a 1800 smurf at the 1300 bracket but those are exceptions.

I do agree though that the player mentality does not change. Everyone rages and claims to know everything better no matter the mmr they are. The funny part is, though, that among the 1700 players - they sometimes may even be right. But among the 1300, I don't even know if I should laugh or burst into tears when those people are teaching me that Puppet Master is a support, Armadon's Armadillo is useless and you should go Snot Storm first and that stacking forest is useless because no regular player can deal with so many creeps at once.

[[E]Clytemnestra]

I play on several sub-accounts. Their mmrs are:
1780
1690
1620
1540
1275

I play on all of them regularly because I have lots of game-friends who's skill level differs greatly, so I choose my account to play with them according to their mmr level.

As such I can tell you that I disagree with your statement that the games do not differ between high and low mmr. I consider myself an experienced player and my main account (the 1780 one) is a support account. As such, when I play on the 1700+ bracket I am used to advanced techniques (used by both my team and the enemies) mainly a great increase in supporting and farming capabilities (in case of carries). The supports at 1700 know a lot more useful ward spots and actually know that lane wards are far more important at some stage of the game. They also know that wards are more important than their boots, that survivability and positioning are key for a support hero and that the courier should be upgraded in the first 2 minutes of the game. After playing as a support in such games and using all that I get used to it as fairly standard.
And then I go on my 1200 or 1500 account to play with some low-mmr friends or just to roflstomp some pubs. I pick a carry usually and what do I get. It is a rare occasion that anyone at ~1300 plays a support hero (they pick them obviously because many accounts are f2p, thus limited choice, but they don't play support with the support hero they picked) and even if they are somehow forced by the team to pick up those wards, they just buy 2 and put them at the rune spots. All the time, only those 2 ward spots are warded, nothing else. They have no idea about the notion of stacking, and if they happen to know about creep pulling then they do that without stacking ("stacking the pull is a waste of time" - heard that yesterday, sadly from my own low-mmr friends).
And this is the difference. The play style is of way higher quality up near the 1800 than it is near 1300 and it's undeniable. Obiously sometimes you get a carried-to-1700-and-failing guy at the 1700 bracket and sometimes u face a 1800 smurf at the 1300 bracket but those are exceptions.

I do agree though that the player mentality does not change. Everyone rages and claims to know everything better no matter the mmr they are. The funny part is, though, that among the 1700 players - they sometimes may even be right. But among the 1300, I don't even know if I should laugh or burst into tears when those people are teaching me that Puppet Master is a support, Armadon's Armadillo is useless and you should go Snot Storm first and that stacking forest is useless because no regular player can deal with so many creeps at once.

and that's the reason i want to get out of 1500,to play with those who know where to ward etc.And it is impossible to do so.

[[TGCH]senzation54]

and that's the reason i want to get out of 1500,to play with those who know where to ward etc.And it is impossible to do so.

You can't get out of the 1500s because you're not at that level yet. All these things he listed that people do at higher ratings are things YOU need to start doing if you want to get to 1700+. You don't need your team to do it, you need to start doing it yourself and once you've mastered everything to the point of perfection, where you'll stack camps every time you're near them at the .55 mark, you'll ward properly and support like a pro when you're playing that role and you'll farm 3-500 GPM with carry heroes even when when your team's not doing so well, that's when you'll get there.
If you play like a 1700 player, you'll get to 1700 MMR, but if you don't play like a 1700 player there's no reason for you to play in that bracket, because you'll only be a liability to your team.

And of course Myzreal, I didn't mean everyone plays exactly the same, that's what I meant when I said the games are "just harder". Everyone plays better - both your team and your opponents. Usually anyway. But it seems that people think that it's somehow harder to get from 1300 to 1500+ than it is to get from 1600 to 1700 which is pure bullcrap. There's no pit below 1500 any more than ~1600, ~1700 and ~1800 is a pit. It's just different skill levels and once you're at one milestone, the ones below it are easy.
People don't get stuck below their real rating because their teammates are bad. They get stuck because they are bad. Unless of course you're an 1800 player who constantly plays TMM with a bunch of 1400s, that would cripple you but it'd also be your own choice.

[[E]Clytemnestra]

You can't get out of the 1500s because you're not at that level yet. All these things he listed that people do at higher ratings are things YOU need to start doing if you want to get to 1700+. You don't need your team to do it, you need to start doing it yourself and once you've mastered everything to the point of perfection, where you'll stack camps every time you're near them at the .55 mark, you'll ward properly and support like a pro when you're playing that role and you'll farm 3-500 GPM with carry heroes even when when your team's not doing so well, that's when you'll get there.
If you play like a 1700 player, you'll get to 1700 MMR, but if you don't play like a 1700 player there's no reason for you to play in that bracket, because you'll only be a liability to your team.

And of course Myzreal, I didn't mean everyone plays exactly the same, that's what I meant when I said the games are "just harder". Everyone plays better - both your team and your opponents. Usually anyway. But it seems that people think that it's somehow harder to get from 1300 to 1500+ than it is to get from 1600 to 1700 which is pure bullcrap. There's no pit below 1500 any more than ~1600, ~1700 and ~1800 is a pit. It's just different skill levels and once you're at one milestone, the ones below it are easy.
People don't get stuck below their real rating because their teammates are bad. They get stuck because they are bad. Unless of course you're an 1800 player who constantly plays TMM with a bunch of 1400s, that would cripple you but it'd also be your own choice.

I already do all those listed things since i was watching some pro streams+reading a few guides or watching videos etc.Some of them are really hard to do with random teammates or people that don't listen to you.Also it is hard to farm when you got no wards,unless you buy them yourself.The idea is that i am tired of winning or losing matches based on feeders/grievers.I just want fair team vs fair team.Something like scrims?

[[EHOP]herro`kiti]

Enjoyment? Take on a silly project...this acct is playing every hero just once before I repeat any...sure, some of the games are disaster, but it's keeping things interesting

[Sezior]

Yeah totally agree, MMR is taking extremely serious compared to mid-wars

[Abster]

very nicely written OP i agree with what u say. I also used to keep thinking about my MMR and later realized that i dont give a **** about it - simply because that's my real MMR and i will find the game challenging at that level. When u think about MMR, u care about winning. When u think about your playstyle instead, your MMR will go up automatically.

About the other discussion going on here - generally MMR is a poor indication of how knowledgable a person is about the game. For example i know about support positioning, stacking and pulling, many ward spots, played with almost all heros atleast once, push strats, gank strats, couter-warding etc etc that 8/10 people i play with dont know. this is because i read a lot of guides and follow the competetive scene alot and watch streams.

However, that doesn't mean im very good myself - i hover around the 1450 mark. cant be considered a 'good' player by any standards. still i think my knowledge of the game surpasses 90% of 1400s. In-game skill and know-how are very different things. Just my 0.02 =)

if u just wanna have fun and notihng else do what i do - play no-stats, like the onld Dota was played. No kdr, no mmr. Just Fun

[[xBM]Ackwell1]

http://tinyurl.com/brygkg3

[[PORK]Calamity]

Most of the time I just act pretty (and friendly xD).