What is Moba and how does the genre work?
What is Moba? Moba — or Multiplayer Online Battle Arena — is a virtual battlefield that combines elements of real-time strategy and an RPG component. The Moba genre itself has been around for just over 20 years. The basis and rules of the genre laid the player with nickname Aeon64, creating the map Aeon of Strife for the game Starcraft. But a more complete development, MOBA received with the release of custom map Defense of the Ancients, which created the user Eul for Warcraft 3.
Starting with Eul and following it, the developers formed a set of rules that eventually became canon: items, character development, economy, etc. were added. Many have started to compare Moba to chess, as the game is built on similar principles, with pawns, stronger significant pieces and a king to protect. In addition, there are many strategies involved in giving or taking up space on the map.
The most popular games in this genre are Dota 2, League of Legends and DotA All Stars. All of these games were invented by the creators of the original Defence of the Ancients, who have worked and supported it at various times.
The basic principles of the game
In a game of the MOBA genre there are 2 opposing sides. In the virtual arena there are 2 teams of 5 people who fight against each other, the main task of which is to destroy the opponent’s main base. Each player controls a chosen hero, with each hero being unique. They differ in appearance, abilities, and characteristics. During the match, the player has to pump the hero, upgrade his abilities, buy supplies, artifacts, equipment.
The various details, nuances and mechanics may vary from game to game, but the core essence of ‘Destroy the enemy’s main building’ remains the same.
MOBA and cybersport
MOBA games are not the first in cybersport. In fact, eSports itself was well developed before these games were released. The first computer tournament took place in 1970 with SpaceWar.
But what is worth noting is that DotA, League of Legends and Dota 2 have become the games that have gained popularity among cyber athletes and spectators at an enormous rate. At the moment, Dota 2 and LoL have the biggest prize pool tournaments.
Until 2016, the Olympic Committee refused to consider adding various cybersport disciplines to the Olympic programme because of the violence and brutality in the games:
“We cannot have in the Olympic programme a game which is promoting violence or discrimination. So-called killer games. They, from our point of view, are contradictory to the Olympic values and cannot therefore be accepted. Of course every combat sport has its origins in a real fight among people, but sport is the civilized expression about this. If you have egames where it’s about killing somebody, this cannot be brought into line with our Olympic values.”
But the committee was well aware that they were losing a young audience, as young people at the time were keen to watch cybersport tournaments. For this reason, in 2019, the IOC took a serious interest in video games and decided to launch a cybersport competition at a virtual reality level. Which ended up being the first digital experience at the Olympic Games.
And in early 2021, the Olympic Council of Asia, which is part of the national Olympic committee, announced the cyber sports events for the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. This list of cybersports disciplines will also include Dota 2 and League of Legends.
