FEATUREWRPG design, such as quests and NPC enemies that
were hostile to every faction. Because they’d persisted
through all the other changes, they weren’t novelties;
they were built into the game’s foundations. Thanks
to these innovations, as well as Blizzard’s brilliant
balancing and clever mission design, Warcraft III and its
expansion, the Frozen Throne, became seminal
strategy games.
Frozen Throne marked the end of Warcraft, at least
as a strategy franchise. The critical and commercial
success of Warcraft III, instead of paving way for yet
more RTS games, set the scene for its MMO successor,
World of Warcraft. Its strategy legacy is just as
important, however, with Warcraft III at least being
partly responsible for the birth of multiplayer online
battle arenas, or MOBAs.
Defense of the Ancients was a Warcraft III mod that
gave players direct control of their hero, and nothing
else. Armies and bases were still integral, but there was
no construction, nor could these armies be commanded;
instead they automatically marched down lanes,
attacking enemy towers or any other units they came
across, until they reached the opposing base. Defense
of the Ancients was based on a StarCraft custom map,
Aeon of Strife, but used Warcraft III’s RPG hero systems
to create the blueprint for the vast majority of MOBAs
that would follow in its wake.
Though it would take several years for the popularity
of Defense of the Ancients to inspire commercial
imitators and spiritual successors,
plenty of variants were developed
by other Warcraft III modders. Kyle
‘Eul’ Sommer developed the original
mod, but when Sommer ceased
updating his version, new mods
filled the vacuum. DotA: Allstars
attempted to capture the best of this
burgeoning genre of mods, throwing
an assortment of heroes from across
multiple variants into one map.
Allstars grew, and it eventually
passed into the hands of eventual
League of Legends designer, Steve
‘Guinsoo’ Feak.
Feak developed a lot of new
features, heroes and items, but
perhaps the most important thing
to come out of Allstars was its
competitive community. Tournaments
had started kicking off, the forum
was a constant hive of activity, and
the mod was always being tweaked
and balanced by a growing team
and a community quick to give
feedback. Allstars’ popularity was
unprecedented, and it would sit
at the top of the pile until 2009,
when League of Legends launched.
Valve’s standalone sequel, designed
by another DotA modder, generally
known just as IceFrog, followed
FROZEN THRONE MARKED THE
ENDOFWARCRAFT,ATLEASTAS
A STRATEGY FRANCHISEWhen Civilization
codesigner Bruce
Shelley embarked on
AgeofEmpires,itwas
going to be a cross
between Civ and RTS
games like Warcraft and
Command & Conquer.
Those lofty ambitions
were never quite
matchedbyAgeof
Empires,butRiseof
Nationsgotalotcloser.
AlsodesignedbyaCiv
alumnus, this time Brian
Reynolds, it made all ofhuman history an RTS
playground. Reynolds
threwlotsofconcepts
more common in
turn-based games into
the mix, including
territory, attrition, and
overseeing multiple
settlements, but it was
all manageable, even
with the real-time pace.
It looked poised to
usherinanexcitingnew
eraofRTSgames,but
despite being brilliant, it
never did.RISE OF NATIONS
BELOW:Don’t let
the teeth fool you—
Thrall’s a big softy on
the inside.