Blizzard and Valve make nice over DOTA trademark
Blizzard Entertainment and Valve announced in a press release today that an agreement has been reached, after a long dispute, over the use of the name DOTA, originally an abbreviation for the fan-made Warcraft III map Defense of the Ancients. Valve will retain the commercial trademark to DOTA, and will not be required to change the name of their upcoming title DOTA 2, a stand-alone sequel to the Warcraft III map.
Blizzard clash with Valve over DOTA trademark
Blizzard are appealing against Valve’s use of the DOTA trademark. Kotaku have spotted a NeoGaf post that brings to light the appeal notice put before the US Patent and Trademarks office late last year
Blizzard argue that “by attempting to register the mark DOTA, Valve seeks to appropriate the more than seven years of goodwill that Blizzard has developed in the mark DOTA and in its Warcraft III computer game”
The appeal says that the original DOTA mod was originally “distributed, marketed, and promoted by Blizzard and its fans” and is “built upon the 1 Warcraft III game engine, interface, and gameplay mechanics; that is comprised of Warcraft III characters, items, spells, artwork, textures, and color palates; that can be played only using Warcraft III software and via Blizzard’s online service Battle.net.”
Blizzard Dota preview
Americans. They’re just like us, you know. Sure, they all take guns to work and drive limousines to the corner shop, but we should cherish our cross-Atlantic cousins. I had first-hand experience of their usefulness during my first game of Blizzard’s take on the DOTA template – called, imaginatively, Blizzard DOTA.
I took to the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) – the clumsy name for games of League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth’s ilk – grouped together with PC Gamer US’s Josh Augustine and Lucas Sullivan. Josh chose to play tank, absorbing blows as Warcraft 3’s beardy Muradin Bronzebeard.
Blizzard dev on Blizzard DOTA: “We felt like we really needed to simplify things”
Defence of the Ancients games are fast becoming the equivalent of hatchback cars. They’re mostly the same, but each manufacturer is going to put a different spin on it – a bigger bumper, maybe, or a sunroof designed to catch people with giant perms. Blizzard DOTA, though, is looking to shake things up a bit. At Blizzcon the devs outlined a number of intriguing changes to the classic DOTA formula designed to streamline the experience for new players and “get the depth back where it belongs.”
We caught up with senior designer, Johnny Ebbert at Blizzcon for a to find out why why the developers felt as though they “really needed to simplify things,” and why DOTA should become more like chess.
Have your say: What do you think of World of Warcraft’s new expansion?
At Blizzcon this year we caught a glimpse of the future of World of Warcraft, and it’s full of kung-fu Panda monks. This time round there won’t be a world-ending monster threatening to destroy Azeroth, only Pandas, and their lovely homelands of Pandaria. And a new Monk class. And new PVE scenarios. And a new poke-tastic pet battle system. Oh, and the talent system is being scrapped and rebuilt from the ground up.
One way or another, Mists of Pandaria is going to be quite something, but what do you think of it? Did the very mention of a race of pandas send you running for the ‘cancel subscription’ button, or do you dig the cuddly new race? If you’re a lapsed subscriber, will Pandaria tempt you back into Azeroth? And what about all the other announcements at Blizzcon this year? Are you tempted by the WoW Annual Pass, and what do you think of Blizzard DOTA? And what about those new StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm units? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Blizzard DOTA screenshots introduce Thrall, Arthas and Diablo 3′s Witch Doctor
The Blizzard DOTA Panel that took place earlier today at Blizzcon 2011 dropped a ton of interesting info on the features that will set the free StarCraft 2 mod apart from competitors like League of Legends, Heroes of Newerth and Dota 2. There was news of mounts, winnable boss monsters that live in the jungles between lanes, and the disposal of the traditional last hit method of earning experience. That’s all well and good, but what does it actually look like? Find out in the many screenshots that have emerged from the conference today.
Blizzard DOTA to be free with StarCraft 2 Starter Edition, mounts and boss monsters added
Blizzard have revealed some of the major changes they’re making to the classic defence of the ancients format for Blizzard DOTA. They’ve mentioned mounts, major changes to the vital last-hit system, spectacular capturable boss monsters, and the steps they’re taking to try and make Blizzard DOTA’s battles faster and more friendly. They also confirmed that Blizzard DOTA will be added to the free StarCraft 2 Starter Edition.
Blizzcon 2011: day one round-up
Pandas Oh My God! World of Warcraft’s fourth expansion has been announced. It will let us play as Panda warrior monks on the back of a giant sea turtle. It will open up the new real of Pandaria to the Alliance and the Horde. It will introduce a pet battling system in which you must catch wild monsters, level them up and make them fight for your own amusement. It’s just one announcement of many in a brilliantly, stupidly hectic first day at Blizzcon 2011.
It’s not all been about World of Warcraft, either. New units have been revealed for StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm, new trailers have appeared for Blizzard DOTA and Diablo 3, and we’ve learned something new about each one of Blizzard’s upcoming titles. Below you’ll find our guide to day one of Blizzcon. Get all the latest at a glance.
First glimpse at Blizzard DOTA; may be entirely free-to-play via SC2 Starter Edition [Updated]
With a wink and a nod, Chris Metzen revealed a new trailer for the official Blizzard DOTA map for StarCraft II at this morning’s BlizzCon Opening Ceremony. This map may not have the same hype level as StarCraft II’s new multiplayer units, but Blizzard has wisely chosen to focus on another asset in their expertise: finding the humor in fights to the death. Alongside offering a new creep, lane, and jungling experience, Blizzard has hinted at “a way to play Blizzard DOTA for free, possibly by including it as part of the StarCraft II: Starter Edition.” Check out the four hero roles and the nitty-gritty of the raucous hero-versus-hero romp.
Blizzcon 2011 kicks off today, here’s what to expect
The annual festival celebrating all things Blizzard is set to kick of later today. We’ve flown Rich out to kill ten wordboars and level up his reporting skills till he finds us some news, and there’s sure to be plenty. Blizzard are pretty guarded as to what’s on the agenda, but there are some huge potential announcements. We’ll be covering them all for you throughout the two day event.
DOTA vs Dota 2: Valve and Blizzard go to war
Never mind the fuss over Scrolls/The Elder Scrolls – if you want trademark confusion, look to DOTA.
To recap. There’s the original DOTA, aka Defense of the Ancients, a Warcraft III map. There’s Valve’s Dota 2, which doesn’t actually stand for anything, acting as a direct commercial sequel. Next year, we can expect Blizzard’s official take, with a Starcraft map combining heroes from all of its units. And then there’s League of Legends, the same game at heart, whose creators want everyone to use the term MOBA – Multiplayer Online Battle Arena. Sound fair? Perhaps, except that even if you ignore that about 99% of online action games could qualify as that, the likes of Funcom’s Bloodline Champions apparently don’t, at least not in the eyes of the players… because they’re not DOTA.
That pain in your head is a migraine no amount of Neurofen will shift.
Blizzard DOTA “flattened,” rebuilt to be “more user friendly”
Blizzard senior game designer Jonny Ebbert has been talking to Eurogamer about the current state of Blizzard’s version of DOTA. It’s being developed as a StarCraft 2 mod, but has been changed drastically since its showing at last year’s Blizzcon. “We’ve completely flattened it since then,” said Ebbert, “and completely rebooted it because we just thought, there’s more we can question on this.”
