Everyone gets the new 1-60 quest progression. Some of the starting zones are better than others though, so I'd recommend trying out the Forsaken stuff on your trial. Tirisfal is pretty standard but it picks up dramatically in Silverpine Forest.
Buy a DS Lite for cheap, you'll be up to your eyeballs in good JRPGs. Not to mention some of the old GBA ones if you can find them (Golden Sun 1/2, Mario&Luigi Superstar Saga, etc.).
Loving it too, though I'm only level 33 so far. Silverpine Forest is easily the best zone I've seen yet in terms of storytelling and to some extent questing, and it left me a bit disconnected from the rest of the game when I moved onto Hillsbrad (also an excellent zone but for different reasons. Sludge Fields <3).
My only complaint so far is the overleveling that happens when you do *any* dungeon runs. I've been fighting mobs 2-4 levels below me since level 15 and it only recently started evening out at ~30.
" Disregarding my own personal preferences and biases, the two games that probably define most others this gen is Call of Duty 4 and Wii Sports (or Wii Party). Both represent at large the two sides of gaming and what they have each become. They have each created many imitators, and dozens upon dozens of games use pieces of their mechanics. "
I haven't played for about 3 months or so (other than one pub a few weeks ago, with a Drow who went 2 Rapiers because "the guide said they buff images") but I'll probably start again when 6.70 comes out.
The only recent news for DotA 2 I know about is the Q&A on dota2.com. Definitely worth checking out if you haven't read it already.
" I was just recently thinking that I should get a trial just to see what this damned game is. The descriptions here, while friendly...are turning me off. It sounds like its grown so large that trying to penetrate it as a n00b is a whole "get to level 60" in itself. I guess the new expansion might change that though... "
Honestly, it's pretty easy to get into it nowadays. I'd wait until Cataclysm launches before using a trial though, as most of the old content isn't worth seeing (other than the zones that are being physically changed post-Cataclysm). Blizzard wants this expansion to help retain new players, and a lot of the changes they're making are going a long way to do that.
Start now or in the very near future and do the old 1-60 content (somewhat disjointed by having to zone hop for quests, but the Dungeon Finder helps make it a bit easier). Currently low level abilities are too strong and it trivializes most of the content, but this is being changed sometime between now and Cataclysm's launch. The content progression won't be as fluid as the new 1-60 content that comes with Cataclysm, but you'll be able to see some of the old content before it's removed forever and it's generally pretty easy.
Start after Cataclysm launches and play it with the new 1-60 content and/or with one of the new races (Worgen or Goblin), both of which have really cool starting zones from what I've seen. There's supposedly a much better quest progression with the new 1-60 content, with less zone hopping and generally better quests to do. All of the level 1-60 dungeons are being reordered and rebalanced in some way (new bosses, being split into multiple parts, some having their level lowered, and general improvements). The main downside is that you'll miss out on seeing the zones and some of the story before they're changed.
It's a pretty smart system actually. As a new player you get a smaller selection of heroes to choose from, giving you a better chance of learning their mechanics at a smoother pace. There's a pretty good chance you'll be playing with and against these free heroes for the first 5-10 levels. As someone who's played DotA for ~7 years, it somewhat emulates the early years of DotA when there weren't a lot of heroes to choose from.
Beyond the benefits it gives to the learning experience, it encourages players to buy newly released heroes / hero + skin packs with Riot Points. You can still save up Influence Points if you don't want to spend money, and usually the new champions are put into the free rotations a week or two after being released.
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