MOBAs
Channel: Rym DeCoster
Date: 30/11/2012

We at GeekNights have certain opinions of MOBAs. ;^)

Actually, there's a lot to say. The jargon isn't really anything special: all games which have a high return on investment for skill progression tend to produce their own lexicon.  Counter Strike players call a particular long outdoor corridor in one particular map "banana," no different from the ironic "Short Lane."

The community around many MOBAs seems to be particularly toxic.  We argued in a lecture at PAX some years ago that, in the case of a game like Heroes of Newerth, this is actually a direct extension of the game mechanics themselves, and not to a significant degree any other external factors.  So while it's perfectly possible to play a great game, a certain sort of behavior is encouraged.

Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRlYM9F50EQ

Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxBw4AK3RYs

I've noticed, as an aside, that there is a certain level of humorlessness in the MOBA community in the sense that they react with surprising hostility to even jovial mocking of their genre.  No one flips out if you call Counter Strike "a head clicking game," and WoW players laugh it off when one makes light of their particular jargon.  But cast even minor dispersions at MOBAs, and it's like you killed their players' collective puppy.