As an avid MOBA player I've tried just about every MOBA game I can get my hands on, literally I don't think there is a MOBA current in beta I haven't played. But honestly, the majority of them just aren't fun, the controls and gameplay just don't feel tactile, Dawngate is different.
When I first heard that Dawngate was being developed by a small EA team my initial thoughts were "Oh great they're going to milk it", but much to my surprise one of the developers of the small passion project passed me a beta key so I could try it and then tell him what I thought, so I did. The game is a ton of fun to play, it plays much the same as other MOBA games, but the four gold shrines on the map bring back a bit more of Warcraft and add another objective to the map.
What it always comes down to for me is the attitude of the developer towards the game and its community, and I'm happy to report that Waystone games are very passionate about this. The developers do a livestream on TwitchTV (which was an instant success) and give away beta keys en mass to viewers. They even hired an ex-League of Legends pro-player to help them with game balance.
The Free Agent: Episode 10 - PAX Prime Edition
The Free Agent returns from PAX Prime with his top 3 F2P picks from the show floor
Third Place: EverQuest Next Landmark
This last title caught me a bit by surprise, because I think, like many other people out there, we didn't necessarily understand exactly what EverQuest Next Landmark was. Some were claiming it was nothing more than a glorified level editor for EverQuest Next while others claimed it was a fully fledged game unto itself.
But after sitting down with the Director of Development for the EverQuest franchise, Dave Georgeson, all my doubt was removed and all my interest was piqued. After talking briefly about bearded Dwarven women Georgeson confirmed that EverQuest Next Landmark is an MMO.
Apparently Landmark will include classes (though he wouldn't confirm or deny anything beyond the Adventurer class), gathering and crafting systems, mounts, voxel based construction and destruction, friend/guild tools, the ability to stake claims and set permissions on your property, as well as text and VoIP chat options.
Of course the focus is not on completing quests or missions, but rather on exploration, creation, and social interaction in a persistent procedurally generated world. Certainly sounds like an MMO to me. Plus there’re bearded Dwarf women, so there's that...
But what really excites me about EQN Landmark is rather simple really; it will finally allow me to play Minecraft. Umm... what...??? Okay just bear with me here.
So I have long admired Minecraft and all that it represents, as a game, and to the evolution of gaming in general, but I simply cannot bring myself to play it due to those ridiculous voxel-cube graphics. I know for some people that is part of the whole appeal, but it bothers me so much that I just can't get into it.
But if someone were to create a free-to-play voxel-based sandbox game that allowed for something so fundamentally basic as oh, I don't know, ROUNDED CORNERS, I'd try it in a heartbeat! Please be released sooner Landmark I want to build stuff!
It's a little ridiculous I know, as EQN Landmark has a whole lot more to offer than just being Minecraft with rounded corners and scalable voxels. But even if it didn't the Free Agent is thrilled about this one and plans to dive in when it's released.
Okay so what else does EQN Landmark have to offer for those who think I'm off my rocker about the whole Minecraft thing? Well, picture this, you create your bearded dwarf woman and launch into the game world. You start your journey at one of many recognizable "landmarks" in the procedurally generated world in which you find yourself.
As you explore new vistas you find a cozy little corner between two quant little lava pools and decide to stake your claim. You begin gathering resources to build your lovely new home, which just so happens to be an iron tower with razor sharp battlements and a moat that spells certain death to any unwelcome vacuum salesmen.
Sadly your grandiose plans fall short so, instead of crying and pulling out your side whiskers, you enlist the help of friends to help you build even bigger and better. Once it's complete you step back and think, wow, this thing looks pretty friggin' cool. I bet other bearded Dwarf women would love to have a house like this.
So you get it approved and put it up on SoE's Player Studio and take home 40% of the profits every time someone buys it. Sound awesome to anyone else? A free-to-play game that can actually earn you money just for having fun? Ha! Take that Mr. Spendy-pants, you're days are numbered.