I was never a DOTA player and so I don’t know to what extent LOL is or is not like that game. Coming into LOL it was hard for me to understand at first why there was only one map. Eventually I realized that it’s not that much different from a sport like football or baseball. The “field” is always the same and what makes the game interesting is the interaction of the teams. So when I jumped in and tried a game of Rise of Immortals I wasn't too surprised to see the same map. The rest of the similarities to LOL seem a bit strange to me but I guess I don’t really understand where the “genre” ends and the game begins.
If things like the map, four abilities mapped to Q,W,E,R, Gaining a super power at level 6, a base with a shop full of gear, and the position of turrets are all fair game then the only way to differentiate your game in this “genre” is through your characters. With that said, Rise of Immortals has some of the stupidest characters I’ve ever seen. Each character fills a specific role but they are all cliche’s rather than characters. I mean look at this guy right here. I understand that you need a weird evil guy but come on. You might as well just call him Mr. Spooky. Now look at Robo Scorpix, he is very similar to regular Scorpix but with robo shit all over him. I drew pictures like this on my trapper keeper with a ballpoint pen in Junior High. There isn’t a single decent character design in the entire roster.
So here is my advice. You have a bunch of ridiculous Immortals right? Make that your thing. Go all the way. Make characters like the ones in our comic today. Instead of Karapyss the Crabomaner being a warning, make it a goal! Set yourself apart by making ROI a parody of LOL not a shitty rip off. Poke fun at the genre rather than sucking it’s dick. Making something so stupid that it is actually cool is a ton of fun. I’m sure you’re gonna make a little guy, probably an old man that uses clockwork gadgets or summons a big monster. I bet you already have the designs sitting on a desk and I bet he’s stupid. Well just turn the stupid up! Call him Geppetto the puppet master. He can summon a big murderous doll called PinoKILLo who impales things on his razor sharp nose. Now that’s stupid!
All I’m saying is if you’re gonna make dumb shit anyway, you might as well own it. Do it with a wink and let people laugh with you.
-Gabe out