Heroes of Newerth (DOTA type standalone game)

[TrueGamer]

Heroes of Newerth

It's created based off the original custom map Defense of the Ancients for Warcraft 3. Anyways, it's probably one of the funnest most addictive RTS games out right now (as you only need to manage your hero (and their pets))

The mac version is awesome, so if you are really looking for a tight MAC PC game to get into, I suggest you give it a try. Trust me, it's worth it.

 

[Tonsko]

The one thing about this game - it IS really really good. The community, however, is one of the most viscious, spiteful and horrible ones to come into. If you've never played a game like this before, prepare to be totally bitched out by your team-mates for 'feeding' the other team, not levelling fast enough etc. Your team-mates will drop and you will lose. You wil lose anyway, even if they don't. Not wishing to piss on your chips, I'd say that you should try it, but you're going to need a really thick skin and be prepared to lose games for months on end to continue with it.

 

[TrueGamer]

Yeah, it DOES have a learning curve, and most of the people came from DOTA so they expect you to know all the ins and outs (roles of carrier, support, tank, and ganker). If you have played the other game DOTA, then you are at an advantage as it's pretty much the same.

As for the people... there are a lot of respectful people, but probably about 4x as many @$$holes whom will taunt you, call you out of your name (generally racial slurs, though they have no idea what you look like) etc. When you're a key asset to winning, everyone is your friend, but the moment you mess up... just be ready to either deal with the bombardment of nonsense and laugh or redeem yourself by doing better. I personally tend to think their attitudes are funny, in which I say things back to try and get under their skin and make them even madder.

 

[Tonsko]

I'd never played DOTA, and came into the HoN beta with a bunch of guys I used to play Planetside with, and some randoms. I was/is hopeless - I did improve slightly, but got totally sick of the bitching.

I'm an old hand at online gaming, but had never experienced so much vitriol before or since! Still, as you say, if you've played DOTA, I imagine it's a blast, as when I started to improve slightly I really enjoyed the game. It's fast, furious, and there's lots of heroes to choose from with different powers.