As early as February 2019, those responsible for Heroes of Newerth announced that they no longer wanted to support the MOBA with large patches in the future. Now, more than three years later, the servers have finally gone offline.
When Heroes of Newerth was released in May 2010, the MOBA from S2 Games (later Frostburn Studios) was so reminiscent of the first DOTA in many areas that HoN was unofficially called Dota 2 by some players (at least until it actually became a real one in 2013). Dota 2 gave). The developers took over the game principle, cheerfully copied heroes and items, but at least had their own engine and additional cards with them.
The really big breakthrough never came, but due to the comparatively high standards, Heroes of Newerth was considered by fans of the genre for many years as one, maybe even the most exciting alternative to League of Legends and Dota 2. We also counted HoN in 2013 among the best MOBAs on the market, and Also in 2015 the game was worth recommending.
Toxic, more toxic, HoN
One reason Heroes of Newerth was never able to emerge from the shadow of LoL and later Dota 2 may be found in the community. Although MOBAs have always been considered a tough place for newcomers to gain a foothold in the community (as various “leaderboards” of the most toxic gaming communities and countless user reviews prove), the Heroes of Newerth community shines in this one to have taken a particularly toxic exceptional position in a dubious society.
Players who just wanted to try out the MOBA and also identified themselves as newbies have been told by HoN veterans that they should leave the game immediately so as not to ruin the fun for others (source). Still others were more “direct”: “Do this or that, or kill yourself (source).” When the offspring is greeted like this almost consistently, it’s no wonder that a game that relies on multiplayer combat eventually bleeds dry. And yes, there’s certainly such hostility in LoL and Dota 2 (which is why these games are in the appear in the “leadership lists” mentioned above). However, we keep finding reports from players who were not attacked and insulted as vehemently in LoL and Co. as in HoN.
First maintenance phase, now offline
Of course, the declining player numbers had an impact. Already in February 2019 we reported about it, that the developers will no longer support Heroes of Newerth with large patches. This maintenance mode should last for more than three years. Now there was a short but clear update on the official website: “HoN is now officially off. Thanks for playing!” So the servers are offline. At the same time, Dota 2 continues to be one day after day of the most played games on Steam. And we don’t need to talk about LoL’s successful journey, do we?
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