but hey that has its own merit yknow?

like Move Sports Resort.

do ho ho ho ho ho

All in all, I think I will get this game for four reasons.

1) The matchmaking (assuming it works as well as it should) will be refreshing and make getting into a game with similarly skilled people easy. HoN certainly taught us a lesson about how it is not done. SC2 is a good example of how it should be done.
2) I left WC3 partially because it was so ugly. I'm not a graphics whore (I play games on my snes all the time), but WC3 is so ugly. HoN fills the void graphically, but falls short in a few other ways.
3) The other reason I left DotA was because the environment was so hostile, that it left a bitter taste in my mouth. HoN was good for a while, but kind of moved towards that as well. DotA 2 seems to be intent on fostering a good environment, which I am all for. I just hope that it turns out well, and that everyone keeps it from decaying.
4) After having left DotA, I found the lack of Death Match mode in HoN rather depressing. Assuming that DotA 2 is indeed a direct remake of DotA, I don't think I will be disappointed in this regard.

Death Match was seriously my favorite game mode. I am sad that they never implemented it in HoN. The inclusion of DM in DotA 2 will constitute an insta-buy on my part.

I still disagree with the notion that being able to deny creeps is a bad thing. Nobody is FORCING you to deny, and on a casual level, many people will probably be too lazy to deny everything anyway. Besides, if you focus on denying, you also end up neglecting your own last hitting so you might end up underfarmed as well.

While it obviously comes down to whether or not you find it 'irritating', which honestly is just personal preference, I think it's hard to deny that it adds some much needed variation to the laning, which is generally considered the most boring part of the game anyway.

do ho ho

5v5 INT ONLY ALL MID

LOL! I love this. SO MUCH FUN!

Found this Q&A with icefrog, which gives some more info.

Most notably that with the reconnect feature you'll not only be able to rejoin your own games after dropping, but other ones as well if a player needs to be replaced. Spectators will be able to join ongoing games and there will be extensive bot support. It's looking pretty impressive if they make good on all these promises.

Cool, the pics look great too! :)