League of Legends
League of Legends is a top down, free-to-play MOBA (Multi-player online battle arena) created by RIOT. League of Legends redefined and revived the MOBA genre by introducing cartoony graphics that were very clean in execution. LoL (League of Legends) also introduced a friendlier learning environment for people new to the genre by changing the rules of the MOBA genre set by the popular Defense of the Ancient (Dota) which creted the MOBA franchise. It continues to grow because of the constant change the developers put the game through to make the competitive nature of the game never grow stale. What sets it apart from other MOBAs aside from its graphics are the runes that a player can use to help make their champions stronger. With these runes a player can make rune pages for general roles (Support, Top-Lane, Mid-lane, Jungle, ADC) or the player can specialize the rune pages for certain champions. Its all up to how you want to play and who you want to play. One problem within the MOBA community in general is its player base. People seem to get very angry while playing any MOBA. Luckily there is such thing as an ignore button.
This game is very team comp oriented, but skill and different strategies/play styles can help the team with the lesser team comp win. Remember, the game is never lost until your nexus has exploded!
Dota 2
Dota 2 is a remake of the original Dota but is made by Steam instead of a random team of people. The original Dota was a Warcraft mod used on the map Defense of The Ancients which is what Dota stands for. Dota 2 has all of the features from the original Dota plus some interesting customization features thanks to the Valve community. This game is the definition of "hardcore" game play. Last hitting is hard, you can deny your own creeps and towers, the map has effects that can change how the game is played, you can alter the map during game, Micro managing is king, and the characters have wildly different move sets from each other. While the game does not look as clean as League of Legends it offers an insane amount of different play styles as well as a meta that is not really set in stone. The skin system in the game is just like other popular Steam games meaning you can trade for pieces, sell them, buy them, or even create skins, if you are a more advanced user. This game also has an in game voice chat which can be useful in ranked play as long as your teammates aren't screaming at you in some foreign language that you could never dream of understanding. Generally the Dota 2 community is nicer than that of LoL or Smite's. This game might be too much to handle for some, but if you are a hardcore player you will enjoy this game.
Smite
Smite is a third-person, over-the-shoulder Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA). It was created by Hi-Rez in response to the boom in the MOBA franchise. Hi-Rez's take on the MOBA franchise follows their previous experience in the gaming industry A.K.A 3d Shooters. SMITE puts a new perspective on the MOBA franchise by making it more like an over-the-shoulder shooter with its character control. The Map on smite is not as large as a normal MOBA map and you gain gold from just being near an enemy minion death to compensate for the lack of control over what you are attacking. Even then last hitting is still a large part of this game because you only receive half of the possible gold gain from an enemy minion if you do not land the killing blow on it. This game wanted to bring a fresh look into the MOBA franchise by redefining how you play the character, or god, that you choose. The risk taken by the SMITE team seemed to pay out as the game has been gaining a lot of steam. This game offers a multitude of modes to play in such as 1v1, arena, 3v3, ARAM, and their take on the original MOBA map.
Every god has their own style of play even if the move sets seem to be very similar between certain gods. Hi-Rez carried the voice notification system from their popular game TRIBES into this game which opened many opportunities for players to make interesting plays easily. This also opened the possibility for interesting usage of the skins made by Hi-Rez so you not only look fancy, but sound fancy.
Your team will not have any choice but to bow to your godly powers as you scream out I'M THE GREATEST!
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm (HOTS) is a new MOBA being created by Blizzard. It is hard to say where this game is going to end up. So far the creators have refused to put in the original MOBA map and play saying they did not think it was fun enough because of how much time it takes for a match to finish. Personally, I think they should still have the original mode in there for people that enjoy the nostalgia of a rage inducing 40 minute match. Right now they have one mode with different maps that all have a different objectives on each map. The main objective is still to break into the enemy teams base and destroy their Nexus but they wanted different ways of doing that. Characters do not level up individually, but they level up as a team. This means roaming in an attempt to make plays will be a very strong mechanic. Another difference is that every character has different "ultimate's" or "heroic abilities" that you can choose from before you go into game. With the addition of this it makes the game interesting because you feel like you have more control over how you want to play your favorite character. This game also does not have any itemization. Instead you pick upgrades to your heroes abilities as your team levels up. These abilities can determine how the hero you are playing as will play with your team just like the itemization would in other MOBA games. HOTS probably has the best character design seen within the MOBA industry thus far. As stated earlier this game is in very early alpha so there are many things that will change before the game is truly released.
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft (WoW) is an Mass Multi-player Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) created by Blizzard that has a $15 monthly fee after you buy the game. Its rare to find someone that hasn't at least heard of this game. When this game first came out it was full of wonder, hidden quests, and intense raids. As the game has evolved some would argue that it was devolving mainly because it has become more "casualised" for players that don't have endless time to complete one raid that requires 40 people. Others argue it became more user friendly and has made the game experience more enjoyable because everyone has a chance at getting some pretty cool gear. Whatever side you are on I feel like this game has elements for the "casuals" and "hardcore" players. It might not be as intense as it used to be, but there is a large list of things you can do in your spare time. The graphics on this game are very beautiful and are continually upgraded. One area that WoW is lacking in would have to be updates. In recent years the WoW team seemed to be updating less and less, especially when they are focusing on the next expansion. There is usually around 4 or 5 months of completely no changes, no raids, or no events (aside from the special annual events but even those have become boring). Even with the lack of new content before the next expansion is released this game is amazing and offers a lot of different events for the player to participate in.