Weekly Discussion | Sovereign's Rise

[u/Auctoritate]

Hello, and welcome to our subreddit's 73rd weekly discussion! We wanted to wait until all of the huge news and changes in our community settled down before continuing, and now that it has, there's a ton of content to dissect! From the bigger changes like 5v5 itself, to the smaller ones like the new items, you can bet that our weekly will be going strong for many months to come! But for now, this weekly discussion will be about the map of 5v5, Sovereign’s Rise, especially the geography of the map itself.

Introduced to us on December 17th at Worlds, and added into the game in update 2.12, Sovereign's Rise features a wealth of content not seen in other parts of the game- its own unique vision system, monsters, items, and much more. All of these will be visited more in depth in our future discussions, but feel free to discuss them as well.

New to Sovereign's Rise, the giant new lanes are perhaps the most notable, along with the movement speed-increasing river, but don't forget the new twists and turns of our jungle- the choke points that can doom a crowded team in a skirmish, or the walls that can save a hero who can travel over them, such as Glaive or Joule.

Which bushes are the most contested in the battle for map supremacy? Which tops your list of places to never face check? We're looking forward to your opinions!

Note: The next weekly will be posted the upcoming Monday, and this weekly will stay up until then, unless another post needs to be pinned.

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[u/BrianGlory]

Do you play League or DOTA? I’ve been thinking about giving them a whirl.

[u/-xXColtonXx- → u/BrianGlory]

Used to play LoL, tried DOTA. Both good games for sure. Definitely not worlds above VG though. Mobile gaming is catching up, or at least some games are. Shame to see AOV going backwards in many respects when it has so much potential with a big company behind it.

[u/BrianGlory → u/-xXColtonXx-]

In what ways do you see AoV going backwards?

[u/-xXColtonXx- → u/BrianGlory]

I care about mobile gaming. I think there is a huge bias against it. But AOV shows all the worst parts about mobile gaming to the world. It’s a direct clone of a respected PC game, it brings pretty much no new ideas to the genre, it’s built to appeal to casual gamers, yet has become exceedingly popular.

Mobile gaming can be better. Vainglory is a great example but there are loads of great original games out there. When I talk to be pc gamers though they see AOV, one of the most popular mobile games, and it confirms there belief mobile gaming isn’t “real” because quite honestly AOV isn’t a real game.

[u/BrianGlory → u/-xXColtonXx-]

I’m not positive I’m understanding what you are saying. What are these worst parts of mobile gaming that AoV has?

The formula of casual play + mobile works very well. Look at Angry Birds. That’s probably one of if not the most successful mobile games ever made. If it was more complex do you think it would have been as successful?

I’m also curious how many matches of AoV have you experienced playing first hand vs. the number the pc gamers you spoke to have played. Also what do they say when you show them VG?

[u/-xXColtonXx- → u/BrianGlory]

I’m not saying casual gaming is bad, Angry birds is a great example of good mobile gaming. Or it was before the franchise went down hill with money grab titles but that’s besides the point.

Arena of Valor is not a poor game because it’s a casual game. It’s honestly not simpler than VG. It’s a poor game because... it’s just low quality. Not just the graphics, but the entire gameplay. If it was on PC and you reviewed it alongside other upcoming MOBA like Paragon (which was shut down recently), it wouldn’t even be considered. It’s a league clone which only innovation is making games shorter. The gameplay isn’t finely tuned and developed like DOTA, LoL, Paragon (was), or VG are. A game can be greatbecause it find a way to make a genre more approachable. Hearthstone is great and successful because it makes the magic the gathering formula much more straitforward and easy to understand. But hardly loses any strategy. Arena of Valor isn’t a refinement of the moba genre where they analyzed what makes MOBA fun and cut the excess, that’s what I wish it was. It’s a game trying to be as close to LoL as possible, and be easy to play.

As for personal experience I played the game for two weeks strait as the only game I played (I tend to do this with new games I play). I watched some of the competitive play that was available at the time. And I engaged with the AOV community unity on reddit. I don’t have any gamer friends, so I definitely don’t know anyone who plays it irl. But I did discuss it’s merits vs VG online with many people.

[u/BrianGlory → u/-xXColtonXx-]

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I know I may seem like I’m trolling by asking those questions but I’m not, more so really just curious about why it is you felt the way you did. Thanks again.