This benefits the player and Valve equally, because Valve offers players items they genuinely want to buy, not have to buy or be left behind. Valve makes money, Dota 2 players look pretty. But Dota 2 players who haven't spent any money can still stomp into the ground players who have a cosmetic set for every hero. Moving away from League of Legends (since that debate is a particularly stomach-turning can of worms), consider Plants vs. Zombies 2. PopCap was sold to Electronic Arts after the first game, and EA moved the sequel to an all-mobile platform that's free to play, but it's the wrong kind of free to play. It's the kind with micro-transactions that offer a better gaming experience.

Dota 2 is free to play with no exceptions. The only items you can purchase are purely cosmetic. This makes it so everyone can have an equal experience with the entire game without paying one dime. If you want, however, you can purchase things such as outfits, environmental effects, announcer packs, HUD skins, loadings screens and couriers (an animal in Dota 2 that will bring you your items after purchasing them). You can purchase a battlepoint booster, which will increase the rate at which you level up for a certain amount of time. However, your level has no effect on the game. Dota 2 isn't stingy with these either, as it gives you a random cosmetic item every time you level up.

"Time is money, friend." You've played Monopoly before but never like this. Monopoly: World of Warcraft Collector's Edition features a custom game board designed by Blizzard, and all of your favorite zones from Azeroth are here for the taking. Faction capitals Stormwind and Orgrimmar take the traditional spots of Boardwalk and Park Place, and the player tokens were voted on by fans. Try to stay out of jail as you move around the board as the Corehound Pup, Murky, Doomhammer, Hearthstone, Mechagnome, or Flight Path B

It's hard not to get teary-eyed watching Tyrael descend from the sky voluntarily even out of context, but when the trailer arrives just at the right point in the game's story, there's no denying its impact. Although Diablo 3 is incredibly replayable, the game's story does matter and it's hard not to become attached to its characters in between long sessions of looting. We dare players to make it through the MOBA game walkthrough without getting invested in this st

Mario is not only a staple in video game history; he is THE pinnacle of the industry. His games have defined what it means to be a video game. But guess what? I can make a video game too! Super Mario Maker is a phenomenal concept that allows fans to bring to life their very own versions of the plumber’s classic adventures. I’ve had tons of fun just imagining my own Mario levels and feeling like a real developer at Nintendo. If only they could see my creations…sigh. Whatever, Super Mario Maker is in fact a fantastic game despite all the extremely hard user-created levels that I’ve skipped over.

Regardless of what the most hardcore fans thought, the Mists of Pandaria trailer became an incredibly popular TV spot in the month's leading up to the game's release. It featured exciting action with its three way battle, but more importantly, showcased Blizzard's sense of humor. The trailer isn't full of jokes at all, but a few well-placed visual gags make it impossible not to love the cinematic introduction of the universe's new r

I don't have many vivid memories of things I saw on my Facebook news feed, but this is one of them. I'm scrolling past updates from my friends who play League of Legends, and one post was about how a new champion added was so good. One of their friends commented "Is he worth?" to which my friend responded "So worth."

Not only have we gotten two Avengers movies in the last five years, The CW has aired yearly crossover events since 2014, and Netflix even debuted their own small screen superhero team-up this summer with The Defenders . Ultimately, the team-up aspect of Justice League is something comic book TV and film fans have seen many times now, though not necessarily with these exact characters. While there's undoubtedly excitement each time a team-up event occurs in either film or TV, Justice League simply using different heroes in a story we've seen before - even though they're unquestionably some of the most beloved and storied heroes in comics - isn't quite enough anym

World of Warcraft has been out for 12 years and counting and over that time, Blizzard has produced a massive amount of lore and history to serve as the backstory for player adventures. Trivial Pursuit: World of Warcraft features 600 questions, some of which will put even the most experienced adventurer to the test. The board is a custom Blizzard-approved design and players will take control of adorable Baby Murloc movers as they progress through the game. Categories to choose from include Geography, Player Characters, Lore, Loot, Enemies and Encount

The same goes for League of Legends, bringing it back into the discussion, and they have shown no sign of ever stopping this practice. They release a new champion every week, some of which cost money to play, and many of which are "worth," leaving the players who don't have the money behind. I was this close to trying out Orcs Must Die: Unchained before I found out that it uses the League-of-Legends-style system for hero purchasing. These games are no better than the cable company. In fact, they may be worse. Imagine if every week, Comcast started a new channel with new and amazing shows, but made you pay a new fee if you wanted to experience it.