When you’re playing an online game there are a few crucial systems under your control that you depend on for an enjoyable experience. Your computer, your Internet connection, your input devices (no batteries here!), they all have to be responding adequately or one may be thrown through the other. On the flip side, the company providing the experience needs dependable servers, few latency spikes and, naturally, compelling gameplay.

What if the gameplay itself becomes frustrating?

I’m not griping about a challenging boss fight, the umpteenth FedEx quest, an unusual balance change or an encounter so unique or gimmick-driven that it’s outside the cultural norms. I am referring to actual gameplay systems that cause active inhibitions. In an MMOG, you can brush a nuisance game mechanic off. There’s plenty of other content to chose from. Worst case, you have to wait for the next batch of content. In a MOBA, that’s not possible. Unless the character is modified it’s possible to come across the “broken” design at any moment. Continue Reading

Honestly, this week’s patch has been the first one I’ve been the most happy with since back in November.

Neith is one of the most balanced gods right at release – from what I’ve seen. She doesn’t do too much damage, and she’s about as easy to kill as other gods, even with all her utility. Focus is gone, with it’s somewhat clunky mechanic that was changed almost 3 times before being removed.

Along with Focus being removed, every god had a pass through by the designers to re-assign static values for stuns, slows, damage, speed increases, etc. that used to be scaled by Focus. The lengthy list is below, along with Neith’s God Reveal video, her abilities, and the generic balance changes.

Things of note to me were:

• Hel’s abilities share half the CD time in both stances now (Her 1 in Healing Stance is used, both her Healing Stance and Damage Stance go on CD, with Damage Stance only being on CD for 1/2 the time)
• Hercules’ “Earthbreaker” (knockback) ability had the length of its range reduced by about 10ft.
• New Solo Practice Map for Arena: Ymir, Artemis, Ra, vs. Ymir, Artemis, and whomever you choose.
• Advanced Tooltips have been added for abilities now.
• and again, Focus has been removed.

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SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained is a column dedicated to introducing prospective players of SMITE to its massive back story of lore. From the Greek to Hindu, each week we’ll look at two characters from a major pantheon and provide a quick recap of their history and in what capacity their digital incarnation will represent on the field of Hi-Rez Studios’ upcoming MOBA.

Lore: Loki is arguably the best known antagonist of any pantheon. Rarely encroaching upon the gray area of good and evil, The Trickster is the recurring antagonist of the Norse pantheon. Originally a more neutral god, Loki sealed his fate as an evildoer when he arranged the death of Baldr. Capable of shapeshifting, the easier to deceive his prey, Loki has swam as a salmon, flown as a fly and walked the earth as an elderly women.

Loki was not highborn like some others of his repute. However, his seed was sown into history through the two-sided Hel, giant wolf Fenrir and the world serpent Jörmungandr. His laundry list of dastardly acts made his own entry into legend assured.

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SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained is a column dedicated to introducing prospective players of SMITE to its massive back story of lore. From the Greek to Hindu, each week we’ll look at two characters from a major pantheon and provide a quick recap of their history and in what capacity their digital incarnation will represent on the field of Hi-Rez Studios’ upcoming MOBA.

Lore: To call Thor’s history well documented would do a massive injustice to the annals of history. Told, retold, modified for the culture of choice and ultimately made into a comic super hero, Thor’s legacy is perhaps without equal in today’s popular culture. In some respects, we celebrate the mighty Norse god every week with Thursday (Thor’s Day). And no, his beginning wasn’t humble by any means.

Fathered by the All-Father, Odin, the red-haired and red-bearded Thor is husband to the goddess Sif and lover to Járnsaxa. Between these two women, he is said to have fathered the potential valkyrie, Thrúd, and Magni, respectively. The god of thunder shares his fame with his powerful hammer, Mjölnir. Like many of his pantheonic relatives, Thor carries an assortment of named accoutrements, the belt Megingjörð, iron gloves Járngreipr, and the staff Gríðarvölr. Continue Reading