So, here are my general thoughts on DOTA2 after playing a week of beta (mostly just compared to HoN).
The good:
-Overall, the game feels polished and responsive. I do feel like HoN actually felt more responsive overall, but this is leagues above LoL.
-The art style is good, it is better than that of HON / LOL.
-The fact that you can communicate via steam with friends, join parties so easily, spectate a game while queued. Basically the whole interface is designed well.
-I really missed some heroes and am glad to be able to play them again.
-Some things in HoN were just bad, most prominently some cheesy heroes and the community (which definitely seems worse than DOTA at this point, though it remains to be seen whether that will continue)
The bad:
-I felt like HoN moved in a more overall positive direction than dota by emphasizing faster paced games, more ganking, and "skill shots" on some of their well-designed heroes (and I'd readily acknowledge that many do not fit this description). I really do not enjoy farm-fest games that end with spectre-domination in the 60th minute...this sort of game to me really represents the stagnant aspects of the genre, and i'd like to see it change. I don't have a problem with carries fulfilling their roles, but the game should be able to be won reliably earlier on, so that every game doesn't just devolve into carry v carry. Perhaps there just aren't enough good gank/push heroes implemented yet?
-Mana bars? I'm sorry but this type of thinking that a lack of mana bars for enemies is a good implementation of a "skill gap" is just antiquated. If anything, I'd say that displaying mana bars adds a new layer of skill to the game, not to mention more user friendly and intuitive. I think this type of antiquated thinking is a general problem at this point. This game should be seen as an opportunity to take advantage of the opportunities provided by a new engine and a fresh start. Instead, aspects of DOTA that were probably never intentional or thought-through are being copy-pasted into DOTA 2 without rethinking their necessity.
-Most of the other things I don't like are mostly due to the game being in beta. If many of the improvements that were added by HoN/LoL such as PSR matchmaking, internal banlists, etc aren't added here though, that would be to DOTA2's detriment.
And finally some random questions that have come up:
-How do I whisper another player (who isn't on my friends list)?
-Is there a banlist or any plans to implement one?
-Has icefrog given an ETA on getting SD and other game modes in to the game?
-Were there some console commands that I am supposed to input to make the game more responsive / reduce lag? Also...I don't know how to open the console.
-Are there plans to implement a stat tracking system that also matches players according to skill ala PSR in HoN?
