A descriptive study on multiplayer online battle arena games

Abstract

This research was designed to rank the important aspects of Multiplayer Online Battle Arena games by describing the top 3 Multiplayer Online Battle Arena games of 2015 namely League of Legends, Dota 2, and SMITE online. The study conducted accomplished the following objectives: (1) Described League of Legends, Dota 2, and SMITE, (2) Described the games according to Graphics, Environment, Lore, Roster, Gameplay, User Interface, and Controls, (3) Identified the common elements of a successful MOBA game, and (4) Ranked the aspects according to their importance in the genre. The researcher played a series of 70 games within each MOBA game to be able to analyze the games according to graphics, environment, lore, roster, gameplay, user interface, and controls. The researcher also gathered information from developer interviews and gameplay reviews for additional insight. After the games were described and analyzed, it was found out that: (1) There were strong similarities between League of Legends, Dota 2, and SMITE, (2) MOBA games can be dissected into aspects and described according to them, (3) The structure of gameplay, controls and user interface, and the goals of roster, environment and graphics were common elements within a MOBA game, and (4) The gameplay aspect of MOBA games was the most important aspect as it defined the genre.