Part of our ongoing effort to keep our readers informed is to make sure they have the knowledge they need to be excited about a game. We've reached out to every developer releasing a game this year to have them talk a bit about why their game is special. Next up in this ongoing series is SMITE from Hi-Rez Studios. Read our mini-interview and then talk about it in the comments.

MMORPG: What does 2013 have in store for your game?

TODD HARRIS: The past few months of SMITE Beta we've been focused on features for the competitive scene.  We've delivered a great spectator camera, demo/replay system, team support, and ranked game support. 

Read more of Bill Murphy's SMITE: The Games of 2013 - SMITE.

I've been playing this a bit and I can't quite wrap my head around it. The whole, "You're slowed while actively attacking, but the person you are actively attacking doesn't suffer any movement penalties unless they are actively attacking as well" thing seems beyond silly.

Definitely going to put more time into this, but thus far I've been interested in the ideas behind the game, but unimpressed by it mechanically : /

I've played a few times and it's fun, but I think the queue/match system is a little broken. Don't know how they match people, if it's by level, but some players, like Silacoid said, make new accs and take down his entire enemy team. They should match by K/D/Assist ratio besides level, I don't know. 

Btw, I only tried Conquest novice, maybe that's why. 

To anyone wanting to try the game out.. I've been in the beta for more than 6 months now and I can share some insight on my experience with Smite.

The good:

- The game is unique. It's really not your regular MOBA and certainly not like anything I've ever played before.

- It's fun! Probably the most important aspect. It's also newb-friendly and atm the community isn't as bad as in other more known MOBAs.

- I really like the look of the game. While it doesn't have top notch graphics, the art style makes up for it and fits the game really well.

The bad:

- The balance is bad and it's really not looking good for the future because Hi-Rez doesn't seem to really know what is going on with their game. Atm tanks are facerolling every other class. If the enemy has a decent Sobek and/or Ymir and your team doesn't, good luck because you're in for a lot of pain and frustration. Some gods can build pure tank items and in the end dish out more overall damage than their carries. It's ridiculous and devs haven't done anything about it for a few months now.

- Matchmaking is beyond horrible. If you're a good player and don't play with friends, prepare to get worst of the worst players in your team to "compensate" for your high skill level (hidden elo), meaning you will have to carry them each and every match. After reaching max level, I can be lucky if I win every third round because one lane will ALWAYS feed. So good players get punished, basically. My advice.. get friends and play only with them.

- Devs don't communicate with their playerbase enough. We're left in the dark most of the time so we have no idea what they plan and what is the reason behind each change they make.

So in the end.. Smite is interesting and fun. But if you're looking for a balanced game and want to put a lot of time into a new MOBA, I'd suggest you to check other games or at least wait for release date in case things change.

its a good game with a very competitive side already. you have companies like ROOT, Curse and SK gaming all sponsoring teams with Curse even holding their own tournaments for the game,

yes the game has some balance issues but tell me that DOTA 2 or LoL are balanced and I will laugh in your face and tell you that you have no idea what you are talking about.

I enjoy the whole MOBA idea but i love the idea of being able to control my character with mouse and keyboard, which is what smite is all about. it feels more like a MMO PVP match than a MOBA in terms of controls.

HiRez is putting a lot of work into the game usually patching every two or so weeks and they are constantly balancing gods trying to find that sweet spot.

Originally posted by Silacoid
In response to Eric, sometimes players make new accounts when they've maxed another to either start over in ranked or get easy favor for different gods. They are forced to play the noobie games where they will wipe the floor with new players. You are always able to surrender as a team by pressing f6 after the 10 min mark

Tried surrendering, but with one guy disco'd, it was 2 vs 2 to surrender (the 'pro' on our team and his friend wouldn't surrender).

Originally posted by eric_w66
Does anyone know if they will add PvE aka Co-op vs AI style matches to this game? I played a single novice level pvp game and ran into ALL the usual PvP stuff that drives me away. Teammate disco's 5 minutes in, guy on same team calling all the rest of the team noobs, even though we're in the noobie match queue. Guy on the other team obviously slumming, making everyone else, well, look like noobs. And it took almost an hour to finish, even when it was 4 on 5 for nearly the entire game.

That was my experience with the game as well. I like the game itself, but the playerbase there is the absolute worst.

3rd person MOBA.  Very different from LOL.  This puts you right into the action and  is more fun and intense IMO.  Community issues are similar to other MOBAs, but not that bad once you get pass levels 1-6. 

Game has changed a lot in Beta and for the better.  I disagree with comment that Hi Rez are involved with listenting to communtiy.  They have an employee strea every day and provides info on future updates.  They have employees go on other players streams and discuss the game.  I have been very impressed with how forthcoming they are. 

Basically, try it if you have not.  It is the most fun I have had in a MOBA and I have played most of them.