Disclaimer: Im too tired to format and edit this crap right. Im sorry its a wall of text and full of shit grammar and piss spelling. <3
Ok.
Now that I have a few minutes to type this. I might be over-thinking this, but here is my opinion.
We live in an age where we will spend far more time an energy to shift blame, than we would have expended to accept and remedy the situation in the first place. This has made several generations gun-shy, and excuse-ridden. Fighting games will likely *never* have the enormous audience that MOBA's get, because FGs work contrary to the generally accepted practice of shifting blame. This makes learning a fighting game a daunting task that many, especially younger players, are simply unwilling to undertake. They cant deal with the learning curve and the amount of self-reflection that curve requires.
MOBAs are PERFECT for the excuse-heavy outlook of MANY players. You have 9 other people to blame for a loss besides yourself. I lost lane because top didnt tele down when enemy mid rotated for an early dragon. Our stupid jungler fed the enemy ADC and now I'm getting shit on. I died and got miles behind because when I tried to gank mid-lane our mid-laner was asleep and I died under tower. You only beat me because. because. because. because.
A fighting game leaves you alone and facing your opponent. There is no level advantage, or gold advantage, or curve to get ahead or behind of. Its just you and him/her. Dont get me wrong, we have our fair share of excuses, but all that it really boils down to is a) you're using an OP character or b) you're using a cheap tactic/strategy or c) a combo of the two. That's mostly all we have.
MOBA's have an unlimited number of excuses though. Its SO much easier to play a MOBA and walk away from a loss with a shrug because it COULDN'T have been your fault. It was obviously (insert excuse) that caused that loss. After a loss in a FG, you just have to hold it until next time.
MOBAs are also, currently, the hotness.. Which means each crop of new gamers is coming in to the gaming scene with these dominating the charts and popularity. So their first taste of competitive gaming is the MOBAs. The excuses, the toxicity, the whole MOBA experience shapes their expectations for other competitive games.
FGs function differently on so many levels that the transition is rough and unappealing. FGs also, as I stated, have a pretty brutal learning curve. Even a brand new game thats just as new to you as it is to me, will be EASILY dominated by FG vets from other games, as many of the principles and skill very much transfer over. FG's are far more demanding from a mechanical skill point as well, requiring lab work and solo-practice for various setups and combos and other such things.
Nothing like this exists in the MOBA world. MOBAs are utterly brain-dead to PLAY. Not play well, there is a reason that a VERY small % of players rise through the rankings, there really is enormous skill involved in MOBA play, but its a different skill-set than FGs.
Its also a lot easier to cheat at MOBAs and I think this has an effect. If you doubt me, well, don't doubt me. I have a good RL friend who quite literally makes more money from cheating at LoL (boosting through to gold or higher, or 'moonlighting' in small time online tournaments) than he would from a part time job.
If I cared even the tiniest I could get the programs he uses and auto-level to 30, then run through to about diamond with an 80+% winrate. I haven't seen him do it once, I've seen him do it probably 75+ times. Now, i know cheating can and Im sure does, exist in FGs, but its much different and far harder. The % of 'hackers' in the FG community is microscopic, but in LoL and DotA I would say its very like three or four times worse than people imagine it is.
We, as a species, seem to prefer teams as well. Tennis and Boxing and such are VERY popular, but not nearly so much as team based sports like Soccer, Football and synchronized swimming. So MOBAs being a team game is in their favor as well. The FG community also gives very little respect to purely online warriors. People 'famous' in the FG community are such because of offline tournament results and showings.
This acts as an alienating factor for a lot of players. Young players who certainly cant travel, or players just too busy, or who live in bad locations for offline scenes.. These players may dream, in the back of their minds, of game-based fame and glory, but when its obvious from the outset that unless you're an offline competitor you will get scant give-a-shit from anyone.. it dampens the enthusiasm.
MOBAs also have a TON of money being thrown at them, so the small % of people who are HONESTLY trying to move forward as professional gamers are obviously going to gravitate towards the money and the fame that LoL and DotA provide. I feel like FGs will slowly close this gap however, the whole world has seen what E-Sports is capable of doing and accomplishing and the money it can generate, FGs are poised to be a big damn deal as the foundations of E-Sports are laid. Provided the whole affair doesnt whoopee cushion out, it will continue to grow and FGs with it.
I'm sorry this is so disjointed and a little scatterbrained, I'm exhausted and starving and just don't have the energy to put this together like I would like.. but ultimately, I feel like MOBAs have their massive audiences because they are more accessible than fighting games. That accessibility comes from the factors Ive listed above and it just boils down to them appealing more to the half-assed approach so many poeple seem to have towards everything these days, not just games. Why grind and work and practice when you can mindlessly click a screen and blame losses on the rest of your team?
Evil Canadian said:
I am a little 14 year old boy, do I want to watch league of legends where people make millions and me and all my friends are failing out of school to play, or watch fighting games where I see a bunch of 30 year olds sit on cheap chairs next to a monitor.
In all honesty, this essentially sums my opinions up pretty nicely.