So internet, why ain't you playing Super Monday Night Combat?

Played it a bit. It does absolutely nothing better than other games out there. There are better shooters, there are better MOBAs. Couldn't find a single reason to continue playing SMNC.
 
If they just made a straight-up sequel to Monday Night Combat and removed/toned-down the Juice I'd be playing it right now.
 
I'm totally over MOBAs after realizing that the time sink and number crunching homework was really stupid. Doesn't help that winning is not rewarding, and losing is frustrating...I play 20 games just for the chance to play 1 game that doesn't end with me rolling me eyes because partner A sucked or enemy B gave the game away. And, when you finally find a decent game, the game's wheel in the mud gameplay shows its ugly head.

Then there's the balance nonsense and the constant patches that change balance...more homework. More time commitment.

Mobas are one of those things, like most games these days, that require a high dose of OCD to make it even bareable or even something remotely defined as "fun."

"If you like what i don't like there's something wrong with you." Got it.
 
I'll admit I DO like the franchise, but Uber seems to have serious issues learning how not to annoy people. Sometimes I feel they're like the world's littlest mega corporation run by a soulless suit or something.

Its ridiculous patching system is also hard to bear.

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Problem?
 
Team coordination is limited compared to a birds-eye view like LoL/Dota 2 since you don't know exactly what your teammates are seeing. Team vision does help a bit but its not exact enough to be able to plan attacks on the fly. Because team coordination is limited in random groups due in part to the third person viewpoint, they will almost always get stomped by pre-arranged teams.

Yeah, team coordination is one of my biggest gripes with the game. I watch someone like TotalBiscuit play Smite or LoL and he's constantly setting up coordinated attacks with random dudes in a pick up game while also narrating a video. That kind of thing rarely happens in SMNC unless you're on Vent/Mumble with your whole team. The game is too fast-paced to set up intelligent plays over text chat.

And the lack of good team communication makes the commando classes way more annoying than they should be. Commandos should be about picking off players who separate from their team. Not picking off players who are two feet behind their team, but may as well be two miles away because by the time their team notices and turns around, the commando can be on the other end of the map. Because of that, their use is completely different in team play vs. random matches, so it's impossible to balance them for both.

I'm totally over MOBAs after realizing that the time sink and number crunching homework was really stupid.

Not sure how it is in other MOBAs, but there's really not any number crunching necessary in SMNC. Shooter skill and strategy are much more important than stats in almost every case.
 
Posting because I just got into SMNC. There are ~200 players daily. Not pretty.

Road map to SMNC's success:

Surefire, simple, and immediate methods to garner a larger player base:
  • New Team Fortress 2 cross-content. Preferably obtainable without a mindless grindfest. Forcing players to play extensively for a single reward isn't such a hot idea. IE: Instead of 'Reach Level XX', a goal which might be perceived as a huge time investment, reward players for, 'Twenty-five Kills As a Striker Class Pro', which seems like a much more bite-sized time investment and might encourage players to try out different classes allowing them to choose to spend their time they way they want to. This ties into...
  • More Steam achievements. It's important to reward, and encourage a wide variety of play styles so that everyone feels like a winner. Dangling a carrot on a stick only works if the carrot is a reasonable distance away, ect, ect. Moving along...
  • Achievement-based SMNC unlocks to guarantee rewards for people who feel that random drops never work in their favor. Guaranteed endorsement, and product drops as a reward for accomplishing specified tasks will give players something to focus on. Also in general, you never want the RNG to be responsible for everything...

Proper implementation of carrot sticks is a must for ftp games.

Long-term issues that need to be addressed to keep players playing (and paying):

  • Steam workshop support. Having the opportunity to create content might entice people who like the flavor of the SMNC universe to produce some spectacular work. We've all seen the kinds of things the Steam Workshop can cook up. If content creators received a cut of the cash their items produced it would be even better. Also the devs get free content to add into their game. It's a win-win scenario.
  • Introduce a beta client for the large, weekly updates. Naturally this wouldn't be a great idea to implement now, but if the player base ever grows this is an absolute must. Huge updates aren't fun for anyone, and some people honestly can't afford them due to bandwidth constraints.
  • Allow players to roll aesthetic drops if they drop cash on the game. Make this perk loud and well known.

...Uh, that's all I got for now.
 
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