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Heroes of Newerth drops support for Linux and Mac

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Heroes of Newerth, the MOBA originally from S2 Games which is now handled by Frostburn Studios has dropped Linux and Mac support.

On their official forum, a Mac user was asking for help to download and install it. The response from the team wasn't the kind of help expected, as they said:

Garena has made the decision that the Mac & Linux clients will no longer be officially supported.

As a result, the links for the Mac & Linux download have been removed.

The popularity of the game is nowhere near what it once was. I remember a lot of talk about it in the earlier days, with a lot of people excited about it. Eventually it went free to play and it seems S2 Games decided to abandon a sinking ship with Garena acquiring it from them in 2015, with Frostburn Studios taking over as developer of the title.

I'll be honest here, I couldn't care less about it personally. The last time i tried it, it was the single most toxic experience I've ever had in an online game. I've played a lot of online games and even so it was still at a level I had not seen before. I tried to go back to it a few times, never with a happy ending. Still, sad for any remaining Linux (and Mac) fans of the game.

Looking over some statistics, it's not popular with viewers either. Around 180 on Twitch compared with nearly 100K for League of Legends and over 50K for Dota 2.

If I want to play a MOBA, I will jump into Dota 2. It works well, it's supported and when you have a good team it's a damn fun game too.

Thanks, Naib.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: MOBA
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Grifter Dec 15, 2018
Whatever S2's faults, they were always a staunch supporter of Linux, with all their games having support all the way back to the original Savage, and every patch was always released for all platforms (mostly) without a hitch. Two months ago or so S2 shut down their irc server and took down the Strife servers, and closed shop. It's really sad, HoN was the first moba I played, and while it was difficult to get started, and toxicity was rife, it was still an amazingly fun game. Then Strife came out which made it waaaay more accessible to the less leet players like myself. Over time Strife got mired in decisions that catered to the 'pro' scene, and undid many of the aspects that made Strife such a hit initially, and as the less pro players left, then finally the stupid 'pro' scene went away as well. HoN was good, but Strife was better, so amazing and such fun, and I will miss it greatly :(

S2's commitment to Linux remains one of the strongest we've ever had from a game company, the only one that rivals it is Valve themselves. RIP S2, RIP Strife, RIP HoN, RIP Savage.
Tuxee Dec 15, 2018
Quoting: Guest
Quoting: KimyrielleNever heard of that game. I won't miss it either. I don't touch any MOBA game, as that genre consistently seems to attract some of the worst examples of the human species. I can do without getting exposed to that sort of people.

Not really, MOBA players are normal people, like you. If you think you are not capable of behaving like them or even worse, under similar circumstances, you have a really false idea about yourselves.

Most MOBA people become "toxic" because they are frustrated. Most of the time they are justly frustrated, due to bad teammates that ruin their fun.

If you were invested heavily in a game, only for some random dude to ruin your fun, you would be pissed off too, unless you are not human.

Puhleeze. I've started HoN only ONCE (for "real"). At some point you have to leave training and jump into it. All hell in form of constant verbal abuse broke loose, once I was in the game. Never returned.
OTOH: I've been playing War Thunder now for years (I assume I'm at least moderately invested). Never ever have I experienced something similar there. People are occasionally complaining, but it always stays pretty civil. And if I am the one who is frustrated I tend to reflect and keep in mind that it is A GAME. Does this mean I'm "not human after all"?
Modanung 6 years Dec 15, 2018
Now we all have to install Windows again!

Because who cares about FOSS anyway, am I right?
F.Ultra Dec 16, 2018
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Quoting: Purple Library Guy
Quoting: GuestDid anyone even play this anymore?
Wellll, we have documented evidence of one Mac user . . .

Not so sure considering the question the "user" had and the reply (s)he got.
jasondaigo Dec 17, 2018
Quoteit was the single most toxic experience I've ever had in an online game

similar to dota imho


Last edited by jasondaigo on 17 December 2018 at 8:53 am UTC
erlaan Dec 17, 2018
Quoting: jasondaigo
Quoteit was the single most toxic experience I've ever had in an online game

similar to dota imho


I do not know is it me doing wrong but. I have played alot of HoN games back in the days. But for me I notice more toxic people in CS:GO then i have done in HoN. Dota 2 is no better with toxic poeple. I notice a Increase in HoN when I got to get free to play. All the people from LoL came and tested HoN then we hade people that could not play the game they diden't listen they complainde that I diden't get the blue buff(What that is I have no idé)


One thing I do not like with Dota 2 is that you can not concede. Like you could do in HoN. So if you get in a Game with a Toxic kid you don't need to sitt for 50min and hear the kid yelling that everyone is feed in the other team. While all yout team got like 3 death and the kid got 20 death. You know you will not win then is good to have that concede button
morbius Dec 17, 2018
Ah, S2 Games, how much of a mark they left on my life. I used to be avid Savage 2 player back in the days because it was the only game available on Linux that I really liked. Unfortunately, it was not commercially successful, so S2 moved on to HoN, which I played religiously for several years. I was not a very good player though and HoN faced some very tough competition in the rising genre. Then they decided to try to overhaul MOBA games with Strife, which I liked as well, but the MOBA market was already saturated. Strife went nowhere, so they tried to remake Savage, choosing the inferior Savage 1 game for a remake, as it did better financially than Savage 2 that was a better game.

Out of nostalgia, I downloaded HoN client this summer, but it wouldn't install on Ubuntu 18.04. Now it's officially dead as well and I say it was about time to pull the plug. Goodbye S2 Games people and thank you for all the memories.
fenevadkan Dec 25, 2018
Quoting: morbiusAh, S2 Games, how much of a mark they left on my life. I used to be avid Savage 2 player back in the days because it was the only game available on Linux that I really liked. Unfortunately, it was not commercially successful, so S2 moved on to HoN, which I played religiously for several years. I was not a very good player though and HoN faced some very tough competition in the rising genre. Then they decided to try to overhaul MOBA games with Strife, which I liked as well, but the MOBA market was already saturated. Strife went nowhere, so they tried to remake Savage, choosing the inferior Savage 1 game for a remake, as it did better financially than Savage 2 that was a better game.

Out of nostalgia, I downloaded HoN client this summer, but it wouldn't install on Ubuntu 18.04. Now it's officially dead as well and I say it was about time to pull the plug. Goodbye S2 Games people and thank you for all the memories.

it is strange, it still runs perfectly on my ubuntu 18.04... I keep getting the updates that just work. The only issue I have is a minor graphical issue at the end of a game with the scoreboard.
I am surprised though how many people didnt know this game, for me it is still the most played game and it is so about almost a decade... Not many games could achieve this. Only the classic Medal of Honor Allied Assault (with the expansion packs: Spearhead and Breakthrough), it is still the best FPS, that I would sitll play if it was not locked down by origin, so i cannot install it via wine, perfect would be if it had a steam version and I could now install via Steam play :)

I had also fond memories about HoN, because it was available when there was no Steam on Linux yet, and no good games only with a few open source titles like 0 A.D and Nexuiz and that's it. And HoN was something amazing that was running on Linux and without any issues and was also fine on my low spec laptop!

Toxic true, as is all other hardcore competitive games, I tried Dota2 but i always returned to HoN, battles and victories are somehow more heroic here.

HoN was then THE Moba game that everyone has been waiting for, it was and is the real DOTA, even after Dota2 because HoN was developed by the original Dota developers, Valve only bought the rights to use the original characters from Dota, but the true spirit of Dota is in HoN.

So contrary that some said it would be a big and sad loss, but fortunately, I dont experience it, because it still runs fine on Linux and I actively playing it :)
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