The Customs and Behaviors of the EM People

Shamefully ripped from the HoN forums, but still an awesome peace of literature.

You can read the original thread written by Murderbunny here.

I have an alternate account I use to play EM games, and after hundreds of games with EM'ers, I feel I've come to know the people intimately and--if I may be so bold--they would call me one of their own.

And in my time with those of the EM, I have come to learn many of the differences between them and NM players, and have come to understand why their culture seems so alien and backward to others.

In general, the EM world is one of self sufficiency and autonomy. There are no restrictive roles or positions forced upon you as in the NM society. Outsiders see this and find the EM player to be uncivilized, brutish savages. However, in the EM game, every player, at the start of a match, is the same as any other. Each player may chose any hero they want, regardless of what their teammates or opponents have chosen. Each player is entitled to their own gold and the pursuit of carry items. There are no predetermined lanes--with the best lanes going to only a few priveleged heroes--lanes are first-come, first-serve. And goes for enemy territory too; if you want to travel to an enemy tower, you will receive less damage from that tower than in a NM game, making tower dives at level 1 possible, whereas you are forcibly restricted from doing so in NM games. Everyone--and I mean everyone--is entitled to the Token of Life.

While it might seem inefficient, disorganized, even arachistic to the NM player, the EM player enjoys a society of true liberty.

Often called "scrubs" or "trash," narrow-minded NM players seem to feel the EM player is a poor player, but in fact the EM player has great wealth--literally, they have oodles of cash. While all players start with the same amount of gold as a NM game, they obtain far more--33% more from kills, and double the trickle income. And since the death gold penalty is not higher in EM, this means a greater net-gain for all. However, it is not your gold you are judged by, but your kill/death ratio. Unlike NM society, where you can buy respect from others with support-item purchases, or sacrificing yourself with a body-block to protect a more priveleged player, in EM society getting kills is the only way to earn respect. No matter what hero you've chosen, what lane you played, what items you purchased for the benefit of others--if you don't get the killing blow on another hero, you're worthless.

It's certainly this aspect that makes EM seem like a savage place to the NM player, and I would be dishonest if I didn't say it was. NM players aren't prepared to enter the EM game; they have grown soft, and they flounder without the comforts they've come to take for granted. If the NM player wants the items they purchased into their stash, they have to walk back to base and pick them up; there is no free delivery system. If they want to know where the enemy is, or what rune has spawned, they have to go into those areas and see for themselves; there are no free wards providing sight of the map. If they want to farm up their carry, they have to do so in the dark, unsure when and from where a gank will come. If they want to attack the enemy, they have to do so blind, surging forward with their posse into uncharted territory. This results in NM players first trying to impose their culture upon the EM players, which is often met with resistance that only furthers the misunderstandings between the players. The NM player might choose SoulStealer, go mid, and demand another player buy a set of wards or a courier for them. While this would be a normal request in a normal game, in EM culture this will be met with indignation and spite, and the NM player will likely be told to "buy your own if you want them." The NM player mistakes this independence for ignorance, and when their plea fails they are late to get the lane they wanted and might find themselves with a hero unsuited to laning in the long lane or a hero unsuited to solo. They are then subjected to frequent ganks, and can find no safety anywhere.

The converse is certainly true as well. When an EM player walks into a NM game, they are often disoriented and frightened by what they see. They are met with prejudice, and are ridiculed for being an EM player, and then they are expected to know certain things--like, support heroes are supposed to buy initial support items--and when they don't know these things they are further berated by their teammates. They are told what hero to pick, where to go when the game starts, how to lane, and what items they must purchase with what little gold belongs to them; if they take a neutral camp, or farm a creepwave, they are yelled at by another player who says that's their farm. Essentially, they must go from a society that allowed them total independance and wealth to a totalitarian, nearly-communistic society where they are nothing but a cog in a machine. This usually results in the EM player withdrawing from the team, becoming sullen, muting others and just waiting patiently for the nightmare to end.

I have played enough EM to see the bad players and eventually the good players--players who play so well, have such amazing map awareness and game sense that you are surprised when they buy an elder parasite and riftshards on Voodoo Jester, a Codex on Swiftblade, an Assassins Shroud on...well, on every hero. But, by God, they make it work and they play their hearts out.

It's this view of the EM world I wish more could see in the NM world. It's not just a different culture but a beutiful one; there is nothing sadder to me than an EM player in a NM game who has renounced his EM ways and swears fealty and conformity to NM.

With understanding and time, I believe the two societies can reconcile and eventually come to know each other.