This isn't surprising. The 2016 League of Legends World Championships had a prize pool of about $5 million. But in comparison, the 2016 Dota 2 International broke its own record for the biggest prize pools in eSports with an over $20 million in prize money. The first place team, Wings Gaming, took home $9 million to split between t

M: That is super important too. I think that is something a lot of people struggle with. For myself, sometimes I may do things that I feel disheartened by. But when I am happier with something I do and I personally think it's fine -- even when others don't -- that is something I can totally agree w

"Right now, I’m gearing up for Megacon. I’ll bring my Inara cosplay and I’ll be doing a Popstar League of Legends group cosplay with several friends of mine. I’m a HUGE Firefly fan so I’m pretty pumped to get some autographs! As for the rest of the year, Janna will most likely mosey out of my labyrinth for Metrocon and Supercon. I also love Holiday Matsuri, it’s just a really fun smaller convention that just feels so warm and friendly, I’ll be going back to it for sure again this year. We have yet to get a hotel room for Dragoncon (much to my dismay), so I’m not sure of the status on that venture y

A trend has risen over the last few years; one where Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas (MOBAs) are taking over a huge portion of gaming culture. Now, stadiums are filled with fans of the genre, and its celebrities are treated like sports stars. The two most popular MOBAs, League of Legends and Dota 2 , are direct competitors, based on the same custom game mod, 'Defense of the Ancien

Shovel Knight was released back in 2014 but it just wasn’t enough. Luckily, Yacht Club Games came out with a whole new storyline and adventure centered around Plague Knight with Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows. In it we’re playing as one of the bad guys as we go off to do bad guy things, but is Plague Knight really all that bad? He’s definitely one of the most interesting characters in the game and ditching the shovel in favor of potions and explosives is a great change of pace. Altering the story to fit Plague Knight is a great addition to the classic NES-style platformer. Playing through all the same levels we’re used to but as a different character bring a new perspective to the world. We can only hope every knight will get their chance in the spotlight.

Tyrael's Sacrifice is the first of a few tear-jerkers to make our list. Unlike the World of Warcraft opening cinematic, this Diablo 3 cinematic is entirely devoted to established characters in the game's universe. The three-minute cut scene contains lots of flash and action in the heavens, but what makes it great is how well it pulls at the player's heart stri

Once again, _ HotS _ doesn’t have this problem due to the shared experience. There are certainly heroes that have a more potent role early on, or are more effective in the late game, but the role of the damage dealer is no more or less important than any other role on the team. Likewise, this helps to keep egos more in check in the Blizzard M

On the flipside, Dota 2 attempts to diversify its heroes' roles. It's a lot more feasible for a Dota 2 hero to begin as a support, but to finish the game as the one carrying the game. The heroes are grouped into three categories; Agility, Strength, and Intelligence. However, in and out of the same category, the heroes are vastly different from each other, some being extremely unique. Rubick can steal abilities. Invoker has ten spells. At the same time, equipment purchases are a lot less restrained. Any hero can buy Aghanim's Scepter or a Blink Dagger. These choices allow for novel matches to happen fairly of

"The demon hunter was the project that I decided to do after I went to my first major convention and got a good look at what other people were producing. I mained a demon hunter all the way through Diablo 3 , had loved the character and the artwork associated with it. It seemed a natural choice for me at the time. I just kind of sat down one day, looked at my boyfriend, and said "This. This is what I want to do next." So I did it. Rather poorly. It was pretty much glued together and the first time I wore it to Megacon, it hadn’t even been sealed, I just slapped paint on it. It evolved quite a bit between Megacon and Supercon. It now just sits on a mannequin in my room, it’s almost too fragile to wear out anymore. There’s a nostalgic part of me that wants to remake it knowing everything I know now

Dota 2 's lore is a little more complete. Heroes are called forth in the eternal war between the Dire and the Radiant. The game fills each hero with vocal cues to further expand their character. A player can witness Rylai's crush on Sven in-game if they are allied together. Dota 2 would bring comics to the fray. Meanwhile, League continues to experiment with various interactive (over-produced) promos. I miss the now-discarded 'League Judgment' where champions earned entrance into the League through a trial. Little did either MOBA game updates realize, was that all the fans wanted was a little more continu