History Main / MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena

* DuelingGames: The rivalry between ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' and ''VideoGame/Dota2'' is quite possibly ''THE'' most vicious and hate-fueled clash in gaming history, easily surpassing the [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]]/[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]] rivalry of the early 90s or the more recent ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' vs ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' conflict in sheer vitriol. The two fanbases simply cannot tolerate the mere ''existence'' of the other, with ''Dota 2'' players treating ''[=LoL=]'' as a dumbed-down, childish rip-off played by immature, unskilled babies [[ItsHardSoItSucks too pathetic to play a real game]], while the ''[=LoL=]'' players consider ''Dota 2'' to be an obsolete, clunky, intentionally-overcomplicated dinosaur of a game played by arrogant, elitist snobs who [[ItsEasySoItSucks equate "difficulty" with "quality"]]. The fact that both games are considered to have among the most toxic and unpleasant communities in all of gaming certainly does not help matters. Other games in the genre only avoid similar bashing from these communities by virtue of being smaller targets.[[note]]Their case is an exclusive one thanks to a drama-filled conflict of how ''Dota Allstars'' ex-developer and one of the founders of Riot Games, Pendragon, turned the game's official forum as a platform to promote ''League of Legends'', which left the old ''Dota Allstars'' players extremely bitter and swore eternal hatred to ''League of Legends'', and eventually ''League'' players get sick of the constant vitriol and decided to retaliate. Other games do ''not'' have this ongoing drama against each other that made their 'duel' more severe.[[/note]]

* DuelingGames: The rivalry between ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' and ''VideoGame/Dota2'' is quite possibly ''THE'' most vicious and hate-fueled clash in gaming history, easily surpassing the [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]]/[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]] rivalry of the early 90s or the more recent ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' vs ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' conflict in sheer vitriol. The two fanbases simply cannot tolerate the mere ''existence'' of the other, with ''Dota 2'' players treating ''[=LoL=]'' as a dumbed-down, childish rip-off played by immature, unskilled babies [[ItsHardSoItSucks too pathetic to play a real game]], while the ''[=LoL=]'' players consider ''Dota 2'' to be an obsolete, clunky, intentionally-overcomplicated dinosaur of a game played by arrogant, elitist snobs who [[ItsEasySoItSucks equate "difficulty" with "quality"]]. The fact that both games are considered to have among the most toxic and unpleasant communities in all of gaming certainly does not help matters. Other games in the genre only avoid similar bashing from these communities by virtue of being smaller targets.

* ''VideoGame/FatesForever'', a MOBA made exclusively for tablets (iOS only).

* EnemyEatsYourLunch: A constant thorn whenever you play as a jungler. You are just minding your business beating up the jungle creeps, when suddenly, an enemy pops up out of nowhere and lands the final hit, so the rewards (buff, experience and money) goes to that enemy and you just wasted your time. Can also happen in a massive scale when the 'creep' in question is actually a tough {{superboss}}. One of the strategies in the early game is to have every heroes camp near the enemy jungle and gang up on the jungler, stealing their buff (then go back to their proper lanes) and rendering them underpowered for the rest of the game unless the jungler had other ways to catch up without being inflicted with mental damage of getting ganged up ''again'' in another camp.

** [[BladeOnAStick Polearms, but most commonly spears]]. Examples include [[VideoGame/{{Dota 2}} Phantom Lancer]], [[VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends Xin Zhao]]

These titles are somewhere in between the overwhelmingly huge gap between the Big Three and the other niche and/or short-lived [=MOBAs=]. At their prime, they were well-liked and popular enough to actually be considered a contender... until something happened, usually leading to a 'maintenance mode' (not having any new contents) and eventually closing down (the silver lining is that they actually lasted longer than other [=MOBA=]s that were shut down after just a short time, so they had the time to mark their name in the fandom's mind). While they no longer have the influence they used to, even past their prime, they generally enjoyed more success than others. This list will include

** See also the various other metrics of success. New players typically assume that leading in killscore equates to victory, and it certainly does up your chances... but "CS" (creep score), the number of {{mook}}s you've killed--and thus the ''amount of Gold'' you have--is critical too, because that results in better items. The number of demolished towers are also important, because it lowers the enemy's map control and makes it harder for them to farm safely. Finally, there's typically some sort of BonusBoss (Roshan in the original ''[=DotA=]'') that grants some sort of [[LastDiscMagic mega-buff]] when slain. In the semi-final round of the 2013 ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' world championship, a team that was behind in kills ''2 to 1'' nonetheless managed to keep equal in Gold and items, and snatch said mega-buff. It was enough to turn the game in their favor.

* EnemyEatsYourLunch: A constant thorn whenever you play as a jungler. You are just minding your business beating up the jungle creeps, when suddenly, an enemy pops up out of nowhere and lands the final hit, so the rewards (buff, experience and money) goes to that enemy and you just wasted your time. Can also happen in a massive scale when the 'creep' in question is actually a tough BonusBoss. One of the strategies in the early game is to have every heroes camp near the enemy jungle and gang up on the jungler, stealing their buff (then go back to their proper lanes) and rendering them underpowered for the rest of the game unless the jungler had other ways to catch up without being inflicted with mental damage of getting ganged up ''again'' in another camp.

** If the game has a BonusBoss, it will usually qualify, requiring multiple characters to take down.

* IShallTauntYou: Some games allow you to taunt your enemies with either a taunt command or an emote. If in the game, recalling back to base is an action that don't cost a thing, a player can instead spam the recall button. Negatively, it's considered UnsportsmanlikeGloating. Pragmatically, it's counted as baiting the enemy to [[BlindedByRage get irritated, which hopefully makes them less-concentrated and more mistake-prone]], which translates to more advantage for you. Be careful of possible comebacks, though.

* ''VideoGame/RealmOfTheTitans'' was supported by Creator/AeriaGames for about a year or two, support in the US has been dropped, but continues to be played in East Asia.

** [[ThrowDownTheBomblet Bombs/Explosives]]. Examples include [[VideoGame/{{Dota 2}} Techies]], [[VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends Ziggs]]* YouAreFat: Inverted. In this genre, "fat" is almost always a compliment: it means someone has been "feeding" you and you are now overpowered as a result. This only applies to carries, though. If it's a support who somehow gets fat, they'll probably be criticized for being fat instead of stepping back and letting the ''carry'' become fat, which is what a support is supposed to do. (Keep in mind that carry characters are typically saddled with MagikarpPower levels of scaling, so being undernourished makes it impossible for them to [[TitleDrop carry]] the team to victory as they should.) (This is also an example of why the genre [[ForumSpeak Suffers Newbies Poorly]]: if you're a healer, being a HypercompetentSidekick is good way to ''lose''.)

* ''VideoGame/VainGlory'': One of the earlier attempts at Mobile MOBA by Super Evil Megacorp. Using solely point and click controls like the PC counterparts, it took the Tablet/Android scene in a surprising pace and starts to have its own solid e-sport scene. It was notorious for only having a [=3vs3=] format at maximum, but latter updates made a [=5vs5=] mode available. In 2020, it was shut down by the publisher Rogue due to being eclipsed in popularity by its competitors. However, the community instead took over the development and, working together with Super Evil Megacorp, released ''Vainglory: Community Edition'', which is basically the same game as of the time its server shut down, but with everything already unlocked. Despite its eventual collapse, it's became well known as one of the earliest progenitors of the mobile MOBA scene that Tencent (behind ''VideoGame/HonorOfKings'' and ''VideoGame/ArenaOfValor'') saw it as a main competition and measuring stick on how to approach with their titles.

!!! The Big Three
Currently considered the cream of the crop and the most played games, more likely to get a lot of streamers on the video or rated as the best [=MOBAs=] to date, and more likely to have E-Sport presence. They held the greatest popularities and standing power through TheNewTens, the era where MOBA took stride, and still continue to do so.

These titles are somewhere in between the overwhelmingly huge gap between the Big Three and the other niche and/or short-lived [=MOBAs=]. At their prime, they were well-liked and popular enough to actually be considered a contender... until something happened, usually leading to a 'maintenance mode' (not having any new contents) and eventually closing down (the silver lining is that they actually lasted longer than other [=MOBA=]s that were shut down after just a short time, so they had the time to mark their name in the fandom's mind). While they no longer have the influence they used to, even past their prime, they generally enjoyed more success than others.

!!!The Fledging Ones and the Cult Ones

!!!Mobile [=MOBA=]s

Mobile platforms has a vastly high adoption rate. Therefore, it was perfect ground for the wildly popular genre and several of the mobile MOBA games have gained a great deal of popularity.

* ''VideoGame/VainGlory'': One of the earlier attempts at Mobile MOBA by Super Evil Megacorp. Using solely point and click controls like the PC counterparts, it took the Tablet/Android scene in a surprising pace and starts to have its own solid e-sport scene. It was notorious for only having a [=3vs3=] format at maximum, but latter updates made a [=5vs5=] mode available. In 2020, it was shut down by the publisher Rogue due to being eclipsed in popularity by its competitors. However, the community instead took over the development and, working together with Super Evil Megacorp, released ''Vainglory: Community Edition'', which is basically the same game as of the time its server shut down, but with everything already unlocked.
* ''VideoGame/HonorOfKings'': A mobile MOBA by Tencent, using a modified engine of ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' for mobile, featuring characters from Chinese mythology, history and folklore, because Riot Games (that they owned) wasn't sure about ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' for mobile during its time. Unlike a traditional MOBA or ''VideoGame/VainGlory'', the game play area is smaller for fast paced and quick action gameplay, there are no wards and no fog of war, also the game uses console-esque virtual analog pad and face buttons for action buttons. Being a very Chinese game, its registration requires you to register in Chinese chatting applications ([=WeChat=] and QQ) which has a tedious registration process, but it still managed to be the most played mobile game in the world. It was later ported as ''VideoGame/ArenaOfValor'', and ''years'' later after [[NoExportForYou being contained in China only]], it will finally have an international version.
* ''VideoGame/ArenaOfValor'': An internationalized version ''VideoGame/HonorOfKings'', that eventually will make an appearance in UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, making it the first 'traditional' MOBA that would have a console appearance. Also notable for including DC Comics characters such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash and The Joker, after [[VideoGame/InfiniteCrisis their own MOBA]] was shut down. Aside of being an internationalized version, it's a lot more accessible than ''Honor of Kings'' by the virtue of not having the need to register to those aforementioned applications. Despite the international version of ''Honor of Kings'' announced, no plans are announced that the two will be merged: They will instead walk together in coexistence.
* ''VideoGame/MobileLegendsBangBang'': Made by Shanghai Moonton and surprisingly taking artistic and gameplay cues from ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' (along with CaptainErsatz of other popular anime and game characters) enough that at one point Riot Games sued them for infringement and later Tencent, the new owner of Riot Games, also sued Moonton (due to very high similarities in user interface, controls, and art style to the aforementioned ''Arena of Valor'') and won a fair share of lawsuit. It managed to still stand and continued to gain popularity, especially in Southeast Asia.

* WeaponOfChoice: Due to the inherent large number of characters, eventually each MOBA will have representatives for many weapons. For those of you who likes certain weapons, you will most likely be drawn to the Hero/Champion wielding it, although their usage and role vary between each games. Add up DualWielding sometimes and it provides variety. [[Analysis/MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena The Analysis page provides some common themes shared between those who wield these weapons.]] Some of the more common weapons to grace the MOBA genre include:

** [[ThrowDownTheBomblet Bombs/Explosives]]. Examples include [[VideoGame/{{Dota 2}} Techies]], [[VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends Ziggs]]
* YouAreFat: Inverted. In this genre, "fat" is almost always a compliment: it means someone has been "feeding" you and you are now overpowered as a result. This only applies to carries, though. If it's a support who somehow gets fat, they'll probably be criticized for being fat instead of stepping back and letting the ''carry'' become fat, which is what a support is supposed to do. (Keep in mind that carry characters are typically saddled with MagikarpPower levels of scaling, so being undernourished makes it impossible for them to [[TitleDrop carry]] the team to victory as they should.) (This is also an example of why the genre [[ForumSpeak Suffers Newbies Poorly]]: if you're a healer, being a HypercompetentSidekick is good way to ''lose''.)

** [[AnAxeToGrind Axes]] (be they used to melee or being thrown). Examples include [[VideoGame/{{Dota 2}} Axe]], [[VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends Darius]] for the purely melee ones, [[VideoGame/{{Dota 2}} Troll Warlord]], [[VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends Draven]] for the ranged ones (though Troll can switch to melee if he wants to)

* UnsportsmanlikeGloating: Aside of the usual all-chat abuse, there's one way to rub your victory over the defeated team if you're so ahead: 'Base/Fountain camping'. It's the act of surrounding the enemy base after you have deprived them their defensive structures and only waiting for the inevitable time that the enemy core will blow up... and yet you don't do it manually, you let your creep/minions do the job as you stand near the enemy base, killing them swiftly whenever they respawn, just to hammer down their helplessness from your savage beatdown. However, there are some scenarios where the gloaters got too cocky they made a mistake that allowed the curb-stomped team to somehow make a comeback and snatch victory, [[WhosLaughingNow reversing the position.]]

* ''VideoGame/VainGlory'': One of the earlier attempts at Mobile MOBA by Super Evil Megacorp. Using solely point and click controls like the PC counterparts, it took the Tablet/Android scene in a surprising pace and starts to have its own solid e-sport scene. It was notorious for only having a [=3vs3=] format at maximum, but latter updates made a [=5vs5=] mode available. It's no longer receiving updates and most of the heroes have been unlocked for all to be played for free, making its fans believe that this game is kind of dead.

* ''VideoGame/HeroesEvolved'': A mobile MOBA which takes inspiration from ''VideoGame/MobileLegendsBangBang'' and ''VideoGame/ArenaOfValor'' while also adding in features from ''VideoGame/{{Dota 2}}'', such as fog of war, terrain elevation (enabling high ground system) and character primary stats (Strength, Agility and Intelligence) and passives required to be leveled with skill points gained from leveling up, and in the meantime, adds a RPG-like Adventure mode with gacha rarity systems. Formerly created by [=R2Games=], it eventually faced a stagnant era with its fans fearing that it'll die. However, [=NetDragon=] took over the development and has since given out more improvements of the game.

* DifficultButAwesome: Sure, it can take a long time to adjust to even the basic mechanics of the game, even longer to get a firm grasp on the flow of the game, but if you can get past those (and the community), [=MOBAs=] can be a very rewarding experience for some.

* ''VideoGame/PrimeWorld'', a game that seeks to integrate Facebook and the ability to play support with a Zuma-like mini-game if a player isn't that good with [=DotA=]-style games). Has its own TowerDefense SpinOff, "Prime World Defenders", on smartphones.

** ''VideoGame/{{Battlerite}}'', a SpiritualSuccessor to BLC.
* ''VideoGame/BloodlineChampions'', which does not follow [=DotA's=] formula at all. Rather than having creeps, lanes, and towers, Bloodline Champions focuses entirely on player vs. player combat, making it a "Multiplayer Online Battle Arena" in the most literal sense of the phrase.

* ''VideoGame/VainGlory'': One of the earlier attempts at Mobile MOBA by Super Evil Megacorp. Using solely point and click controls like the PC counterparts, it took the Tablet/Android scene in a surprising pace and starts to have its own solid e-sport scene. It was notorious for only having a [=3vs3=] format at maximum, but latter updates made a [=5vs5=] mode available.

These titles are somewhere in between the overwhelmingly huge gap between the Big Three and the other niche and/or short-lived [=MOBAs=]. At their prime, they were well-liked and popular enough to actually be considered a contender... until something happened. While they no longer have the influence they used to, even past their prime, they generally enjoyed more success than others.

* ''VideoGame/DefenseOfTheAncients'' - A ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' GameMod, improving further of the concepts of Aeon of Strife and having its own dedicated patch team to ensure the game continues as a success. Has many iterations until the ''All Stars'' subseries becomes the standard map. Also known as ''DOTA'', this is the TropeMaker.

* ''VideoGame/{{Smite}}'' - Made by Hi-Rez Studios, who made ''VideoGame/GlobalAgenda''. Notable for putting the action in over-the-shoulder 3rd person for a more action-packed experience, while still sticking faithfully to the genre formula. Based around mythologies from all over the word where you take control as gods such as Thor, Hades, Ra and many more. Also available for UsefulNotes/PS4 and UsefulNotes/XboxOne

** [[SimpleStaff Staves]]. This is commonly used for a MonkeyKingLite character, if there's one.

* ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm'' - A MOBA made with Heroes and characters from [[Creator/BlizzardEntertainment Blizzard's]] [[Videogame/{{Warcraft}} popular]] [[Videogame/{{Starcraft}} franchises]] [[Videogame/{{Diablo}} and]] [[VideoGame/{{Overwatch}} properties]] (and [[Videogame/TheLostVikings at least one of their older classics]] so far), crossing over and battling in new and original maps, each with their own objectives and twists. It features a shorter average game length and removes items entirely in favor of "Talents". Was originally called Blizzard Dota, and then Blizzard All-Stars, before settling on the current title. Unfortunately, Blizzard committed a certain mismanagement that caused them to pull the game from the e-sports scene, thereby losing a lot of attention and players. It's still played and is managed by its development team, attaining CultClassic status like ''VideoGame/HeroesOfNewerth'', but now mostly concentrates on non-e-sport scenes (such as quick plays), thus losing its spot as one of the big ones. Unofficial tournament scenes are still made by not-so-big names so it feels like making a slow recovery, but has yet to reach the stage that they would take the world by storm again... and generally still survived when ''VideoGame/HeroesOfNewerth'' closed off, though shortly after that happened, Blizzard announce the game would no longer be receiving new content.

* ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm'' - A MOBA made with Heroes and characters from [[Creator/BlizzardEntertainment Blizzard's]] [[Videogame/{{Warcraft}} popular]] [[Videogame/{{Starcraft}} franchises]] [[Videogame/{{Diablo}} and]] [[VideoGame/{{Overwatch}} properties]] (and [[Videogame/TheLostVikings at least one of their older classics]] so far), crossing over and battling in new and original maps, each with their own objectives and twists. It features a shorter average game length and removes items entirely in favor of "Talents". Was originally called Blizzard Dota, and then Blizzard All-Stars, before settling on the current title. Unfortunately, Blizzard committed a certain mismanagement that caused them to pull the game from the e-sports scene, thereby losing a lot of attention and players. It's still played and is managed by its development team, attaining CultClassic status like ''VideoGame/HeroesOfNewerth'', but now mostly concentrates on non-e-sport scenes (such as quick plays), thus losing its spot as one of the big ones. Unofficial tournament scenes are still made by not-so-big names so it feels like making a slow recovery, but has yet to reach the stage that they would take the world by storm again... and generally still survived when ''VideoGame/HeroesOfNewerth'' closed off.