Multiplayer online battle arena

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Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), also known as action real-time strategy (ARTS), originated as a subgenre of the real-time strategy (RTS) genre of video games, in which a player controls a single character in one of two teams. The objective is to destroy the opposing team's main structure with the assistance of periodically spawned computer-controlled units that march forward along set paths. Player characters typically have various abilities and advantages that improve over the course of a game and that contribute to a team's overall strategy. A fusion of action games and real-time strategy games, players usually do not construct either buildings or units.

The genre largely began with Aeon of Strife (AoS), a custom map for StarCraft^[1][2] where four players each controlling a single powerful unit and aided by weak computer-controlled units were put against a stronger computer-controlled faction.^[3] Defense of the Ancients (DotA), a map based on Aeon of Strife for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne, was one of the first major titles of its genre and the first MOBA for which sponsored tournaments have been held.^[3] It was followed by the two spiritual successors League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth, and eventually a sequel, Dota 2, as well as numerous other games in the genre.

History

Generic map of a MOBA genre game. Yellow lines are the "lanes" where action is focused; blue and red dots are the defensive "towers/turrets" that defend them; light-colored quarter circles are the teams' bases; and blue and red corners are the structures whose destruction claims victory.

The roots of the genre can be traced back decades to one of the earliest real-time strategy titles, the 1989 Sega Mega Drive/Genesis game Herzog Zwei.^[4][5] It has been cited as a precursor to,^[6] or an early example of,^[7] the MOBA/ARTS genre. It used a similar formula, where each player controls a single command unit in one of two opposing sides on a battlefield.^[4][5][6] In 1998, Future Cop: LAPD featured a strategic Precinct Assault mode similar to Herzog Zwei (with the main difference being that the player(s) could actively fight alongside the generated non-player units).^[8][9] Herzog Zwei‍ '​s influence is also apparent in several later MOBA games such as Guilty Gear 2: Overture (2007)^[10][11] and AirMech (2012).^[7]

In 1998, computer game company Blizzard Entertainment released its best-selling real-time strategy game (RTS) StarCraft with a suite of game editing tools called StarEdit. The tools allowed members of the public to design and create custom maps that allowed play very different from the normal maps. A modder known as Aeon64 made a custom map named Aeon of Strife (AoS) that became very popular.^[3][12] Aeon64 stated that he was attempting to create gameplay similar to that found in the Precinct Assault mode of the 1998 game Future Cop: LAPD. In the Aeon of Strife map, players controlled a single powerful hero unit fighting amidst three lanes, though terrain outside these lanes were nearly vacant.^[13]

In 2002, Blizzard released Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (WC3), with the accompanying Warcraft III World Editor. Both the MOBA and tower defense subgenres took substantive shape within the WC3 modding community. A modder named Eul began converting Aeon of Strife into the Warcraft III engine, calling the map Defense of the Ancients (DotA). Eul substantially improved the complexity of play from the original Aeon of Strife mod. Shortly after creating the custom DotA map, Eul left the modding scene. With no clear successor, Warcraft III modders created a variety of maps based on DotA and featuring different heroes. In 2003, after the release of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, a map creator named Meian^[1] created a DotA variant closely modeled on Eul's map, but combining heroes from the many other versions of DotA that existed at the time. Called DotA: Allstars, it was inherited after a few months by a modder called Steve "Guinsoo" Feak, and under his guidance it became the dominant map of the genre. After more than a year of maintaining the DotA: Allstars map, with the impending release of an update that significantly changed the map layout, Guinsoo left the development to his adjutant Neichus in the year 2005.^[1] After some weeks of development and some versions released, the latter turned over responsibility to a modder named IceFrog, who initiated large changes to the mechanics that deepened its complexity and capacity for innovative gameplay. The changes conducted by IceFrog were well-received and the number of users on the Dota: Allstars forum is thought to have peaked at over one million.^[13]

By 2008, the popularity of DotA had attracted commercial attention.^[14] That year, The Casual Collective released Minions, a Flash web game.^[15] Gas Powered Games also released the first stand-alone commercial title in the genre, Demigod.^[16][17] In late 2009, Riot Games' debut title, League of Legends initially designed by Feak, was released.^[18][19] Riot began to refer to the game's genre as a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA).^[20] Also in 2009, IceFrog, who continued to develop DotA: Allstars, was hired by Valve Corporation, in order to design a sequel to the original map.^[13]

In 2010, S2 Games released Heroes of Newerth, with a large portion of its gameplay and aesthetics based on DotA: Allstars.^[21][22] The same year, Valve announced Dota 2 and subsequently secured the franchise's intellectual property rights,^[23][24] after being contested by Riot Games for the DotA trademark.^[25] Dota 2 was released in 2013, and was referred to by Valve as an "action real-time strategy" game.^[20] In 2012, Activision Blizzard settled a trademark dispute with Valve over the usage of the DOTA trademark and announced their own standalone game, which was eventually named Heroes of the Storm.^{[26][27][28][29][30]} Blizzard adopted their own personal dictation for their game's genre with "hero brawler", citing its focus on action.^[31] In 2014, Hi-Rez Studios released Smite,^[32] a MOBA with a third-person perspective.

Gameplay

There are two opposing teams whose goal collectively as a team is generally to destroy their enemy's base to win,^[33] though some games have the option of different victory conditions.^[34] Typically, there is one main structure which must be destroyed to win, though destroying other structures within the opposing team's base may confer other benefits. Defensive structures are in place to prevent this, as well as relatively weak computer-controlled units which periodically spawn at each base and travel down predefined paths toward the opposing team's base.^[35] There are typically 3 "lanes" that are the main ways of getting from one base to another. There are also specific type of roles, the names of which vary from game to game (typically a damage role, a support role, and a tanking role).

The Halcyon Fold map from the mobile MOBA Vainglory features a single lane connecting the two team bases, and the "jungle" underbrush beneath the lane

A player controls a single powerful in-game unit generally called a 'hero'. When a hero stands near a killed enemy unit or kills an enemy unit, it gains experience points which allow the hero to level up. When a hero levels up, they have the ability to learn more powerful skills and abilities. When a hero dies, they have to wait a designated time, which generally increases as they level up, until they revive at their base.^[36]

Each player receives a small amount of gold per second from their base. Moderate amounts of gold are rewarded for killing hostile computer-controlled units and larger amounts are rewarded for killing enemy heroes. Gold is used by heroes to buy a variety of different items that range in price and impact. For the most part, this involves improving the combat viability of the hero, although there may be other items that support the hero or team as a whole in different ways.^[37]

As the heroes of each team get stronger, they can use multiple strategies to gain an advantage. These strategies can include securing objectives, killing enemy heroes and farming gold by killing A.I. units. The stronger a team gets, the more capable they are at destroying the enemy team and their base.

Members of the genre do not generally feature several other elements traditionally found in real-time strategy games, notably base management, and army building. Some video games have certain heroes which control a few specialized units. The RPG genre has a much closer resemblance to the gameplay, only limited to an arena.

References