| Yeah, I started on DOTA Classic and scorned Allstars for awhile but classic just doesn't offer the variety or volume of players (at least anymore) that Allstars does. I feel like it's improved since Guinsoo left but there's still problems. My friends and I still play, though - a lot. Sadly we mostly pubstomp on Bnet because #tda is either toast or I don't know what, and we're too lazy to get into league play.
The only issue I really have with Allstars relative to Classic is the heavy use of stuns as character abilities. Classic was a lot more about preparation, timing, and flanking and there wasn't anywhere NEAR the sheer amount of disable available to any given team of 5 in Allstars. Not to mention what a disadvantage a good team can be at in an -allrandom game simply because the other team got 2 or more disables and your team has 0.
What I really don't comprehend is their design philosophy for certain characters - it's obvious even to armchair designers why certain things or characters, such as previously mentioned Naix, aren't a good idea (Personally I loved the N'aix from Classic). Not to mention poor coding..
Example: Spiritbreaker's triggers are easily thwarted. Ever played him against a Crystal Maiden or someone who's Guinsoo happy? It's painfully obvious when his charge or Nether Strike are executing and you lose both Mana AND Cooldown when your aborted move triggers thanks to Frostbite or Sheep.
Not to mention generic melee character design - why give heroes like Sven and Leoric huge range single target bolt stuns and cleave/lifesteal/superstrength and then give your other melee heroes either no stuns or 0 range stuns and other abilities that are INFERIOR to lifesteal/cleave/superstrength etc. Juggs for example is just poor design - Bladefury is alright but he's really just a one trick pony with Omnislash (again, a dull spell that leaves you less in awe of a player's skill and more in annoyance at yet another gg ability).
I realize how stupid it can sound to bitch so thoroughly about a game you play all the time but it's just testament to how addictive games of this NATURE are, not DOTA itself - if done and balanced by a professional studio, perhaps if Blizzard had taken the idea and produced their own map - it's be INSANE. |