SMITE - religious wars done right.

http://www2.hirezstudios.com/smitegame/home

Smite is a free-to-play action game from Hi Rez Studios. technically you can call it a MOBA / Dota clone, BUT WAIT DON'T RUN AWAY YET!

It's *way* friendlier than those games. For one, it has two other game modes that have little to do with dota at all, but in general it's just... way more relaxed at that genre than any other game before it (save maybe Super Monday Night Combat)

The game uses third person perspective and full 3d, and it looks really pretty. The setting also helps make it cool, as the characters are gods from ancient mythologies. My last team was Kali, Anubis, Sun Wukong, Thor, and Ymir.

The game went Open Beta on the 25th, with release expected to be soon (couple months away maybe?) It has the usual business model of free with a weekly character rotation, and the ability to buy gods and skins with either in-game or real currency. I think it's really worth playing, especially if you're curious about the whole dota thing but feel too intimidated to try it. Tutorial is a good length and is pretty clear, and the community seems WAY friendlier so far.

Bottom line, come play this game I need teammates. If you want to try it, add Astromarine in game and I'll show you around.

I also have some videos showing off the gameplay and a review on my youtube channel, but I dunno if it's really kosher to be linking them here.



Play this game.

Really.

why yes, that IS an extremely well done review done by a man with exceeding good taste and the sexiest of voices. Was kind of waiting on Ely or Lum to come on to ask them about posting it, but that works too I guess :D



Play this game.

Did you ever play SMNC?

yep. I liked it a lot, though playing by myself was a bit of a bummer. I prefer the combat in Smite.

I tried it a bit, but it didn't "click" for me. Smite is more straightforward while still having a good depth, and SMNC has a component of clunky shooting that didn't like.

And you really should play this game, I think it's the best game I discovered in 2012. Playe more than 400 games already.

You can join and play clicking here :P



BTW, new god this week, Vulcan


and new patch
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11rvXxty06LjD2qshEriCgpPN5d6TBvS2ijGG1uhU2_4/pub

oooo, hadn't seen any vulcan info before. *watches*

He seems kinda unremarkable, but the structure placement gameplay should be interesting. I'll give it a try as soon as he comes out!

Turin Turambar, add me in game!

I will add you. Mmm name is astromarine also?

Vulcan is conflicting, I like to have a god that is really new and different, but he seems weak. 3 of 4 abilities are about turrets, which seem weak as they can be blown up from distance with any mage. And his 1, the only direct damage ability, can't be used to pursuit a weakened enemy because it will push you away from him.

well, it can be used to chase with a quick mouse flick, but crucially since his skills are about turrets, there's not much to do after you chase.

And yeah, Astromarine. Rd 1st Post nub.

Sooooooo, Joust mode. Ow. Ow ow ow ow ow.

OW!

Help?

New patch out. Focus removed, Hell buffed back up a bit, and Neith as the new god. She's really fun, despite the misogyny-in-a-nutshell look.

I played her blind here, if you want a look. Or jump to 51:10 for HORRIBLENESS OH MY GOD.

http://www.twitch.tv/astromarine/b/367131125

lost 4 games in a row tonight.


I feel like a good cry

Oh this sucks, my ultimate doesn't work on... WAIT WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS

I don't know the pricing structure for this game, or how much of a deal this is, but if it's as rewarding as the recent Tribes: Ascend deal, it might be worth checking out (link):

I think it's a pretty damn amazing deal. That's 30 bucks for every god forever, so you basically just have to think whether you think Smite is a 30 buck game or not. And the game is free to try until you're sure. Also until you're sure, you can buy gods with favor (ingame currency) and that will get reimbursed once you buy the ultimate pack.

As for the game being worth 30 bucks?

I'd have paid 60.

Also my video for the new champion is uploading right now, should be out in a couple hours. SPOILERS: I'm pretty bad with the new champion.

The only DotA clones I've played are Demigod (loved it, but only played 1v1 + bots vs the wife), and League of Legends (mostly 1v1 + bots practice matches vs my wife). LoL was fun too, but I never spent any money on it, and found the community utterly unforgiving of newer/inexperienced team players in pub matches (and because of that I never felt the urge to actually buy anything for it).

With that being said, I think I'd like the genre a bit more if it weren't for the assholes. How is SMITE in this regard? Welcoming for newer players, or a perpetual array of ragequits waiting to happen?

I really haven't run into too many assholes. It seems at least way more forgiving than LoL. Then again, even DOTA itself I've been finding less assholish than LoL, that game really is in a class of its own.

Smite is fine community wise. Give it a try.

Thought this might be of interest to anybody who had already purchased gods before this pack went live:

Source

yes, I believe that is what I said 3 posts above ;)

also, look at me BIG PIMPIN my channel:

I went and picked up the deal. I've been playing for the better part of the night, trying out different gods. So far my best results are with Arach the spider queen thing (where I just tear up the newbie sub-6 battlefield like there's no tomorrow), and my worst with Neith (I'd actually started with Neith, but it took me a couple matches to realize the broken weaves were useful than more than just the ultra, duh). I've only been playing in the arena so far, but I can already tell the game's going to be great fun.

have you kept up with it, kerzain? was that you that randomly friended me in game?

This question is IN NO WAY a naked excuse to link my latest video, where I do not even close to as bad as the last one with Poseidon:

I haven't friended anybody yet, so it wasn't me. I'm sure it's just some stalker. I have kept up sort of, I haven't played since SimCity went live, but before that I was putting all my game-time into it.

I've played mostly Arena, and a couple matches of each other type. I've played every god at least a couple times, but the majority of my playtime so far has been with Arachne, Neith, Freya and Bacchus. Perhaps it's just because the game wasn't designed around arena, but as it sits but there are several problems with the game mode that are turning me off the game in that regard. There are balance and gameplay issues that would be unforgivable if Arena was the game's primary mode, but since it isn't I guess I can't get too upset if it just feels tacked on, and more of a toy than anything else. I've mainly used it because it's a less stressful way to screw around and get a feel for each of the gods in a live player settings, without throwing a whole dota match, plus the matches seem to go by twice as fast.

I'll be putting more time into the game soon.

yeah, arena is faster. What are your specific complaints about arena though? Sure it's throwaway, but they do try to balance it and whatnot. It'll give me something to talk about in this thread that isn't shilling my videos :D

Oh I guess I could mentioned I'm level 11, if that gives a better idea of how much I've played so far.

Mostly it's just that, in public games at least, where teamwork and synergy aren't so easy to find, carry classes dominate all (one example is that on average Loki is the out-and-out deadliest unit in the Arena at the moment, but hey it's beta). The usefulness of tanks here is debatable at best. I mean, aside from Ymir none of the other tanks really leave much of an impression in Arena, and a couple have so far proven to be utterly useless (although Bacchus' ultimate is probably my favorite of all the Tanks, as long as I'm with a team that's willing to work together and make use of it). The same is true in Tribes: Ascend though, in that certain classes/loadouts were inarguably and perpetually broken/underperforming in anything other than the main game mode.

Aside from typical class differences (stuff like that is to be expected, and I find it hard to complain about each class and how they're individually screwed), it's clear that most of the powers in the game were designed around the idea of all your enemies being funneled into a lane (or tighter space at least) before you. With the arena being a wide open space, some abilities don't make the transition very well, and feel insufficient given how much easier they are to dodge or otherwise ignore. And given how easy it is to continually run back to the resurrection room in order to regenerate & use the store (without feeling like you're leaving something unprotected, or allowing for advance. given how close this area is to the portal enemy minions are trying to run though), there's no reason to play a build that can withstand tons of damage and remain on the play-field for any length of time, when all they really need to be able to do is just survive a single fight.

Arena seems to be more about doing as much damage as you can, at least in public matches, when teams aren't coordinating attacks, or comboing off eachother's abilities. A good CC is only as useful as the people willing to take advantage of it, but even then, given how much room there is to move around, it's usually pretty hard to land stuff on more than 1-2 nearby enemies at a time.

you'd be surprised at tank effectiveness in Arena. The thing with tanks is that most of them have a ton of battlefield control. Sure Ymir is probably top of class, with his incredibly effective zoning and CC ult and his really good stun, but you should give Ares or Hades a try sometimes, their ults are also pretty amazing at countering exactly the problem you mentioned: they make sure that a bunch of enemy gods are going to be at a REALLY predictable place at a certain time. Now of course with 30 gods you're gonna have over and underperformers in certain situations and game types, but I don't think that it's that strongly divided by class. Hell, I've had most success in Arena using Guan Yu. In a giant skirmish like this, having someone who can perform a confident initiation can be really valuable.

new god got revealed. My eyes are literally rolling so far into my head that I'm looking at my own spinal cord.

Who is it, Aphrodite (warning, tons and tons of nudity all over the place in that link)? It's the only name I can think of related to love (well, except for the cherub already in the game).

Either way, I can't tell if they're mocking those old Civony/Evony ads, or if Love is supposed to be related to her identity... or if she's just supposed to make gamers horny.

yeah, aphrodite. She's gonna be a support god with abilities like blowing kisses and choosing soulmates. AFAICT, that's a sketch based on her actual in-game appearance.

It's too bad they didn't have the balls to make her fully nude just to piss people off, but I guess butting heads with some ratings board before release would be kinda... bad. Based on the history of her depictions, you'd almost think clothes to her are like sunlight to vampires.

I can't wait to smother my enemy with love and kissies. I have no plans to spend money in any outfits for her, but I think it would be great if they'd go the Bakasura route and give her a giant mech suit to unlock with experience, then we'd see just how deadly her love can be.

nah she's not cupid, she's full support. You'll be kissing your teammate for buffs, not your enemies for pain :D

Well, I look forward to giving hr a spin when she's added. Given that my current mode of choice for play is Arena, I'm curious how her support skills will play out there. One of these days I'll delve more into Conquest so I can play some of these gods right.

Yes, Charles. You are absolutely right, Charles.

Some people apparently don't see much of a difference. I remember finding a travel blog a few years back by a couple who had visited Oslo. They were thoroughly shocked by the scandalous Vigeland Sculpture park.

tentative patch notes for tonight:

http://forum.hirezstudios.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=104779

I'm hooked and will be playing as often as I can. Splitting time with a couple different games right now but hoping to sink into this full time soon. Friend me up so I dont' have to play randoms. ;)

I am mostly a noob, but I study mobas a lot.

Just noticed the Arena comments. I prefer the classic conquest (which is odd because in LOL I'm a Dominion man). I found Guan Yu very good as support in arena since his heal is quite useful in group battles. Add the Gem of Isolation to snare with your 3 and it works quite nicely.

Who are you? just Harkonis in game?