Devaz wroteXterm can you Define Superior please ? I mean do you mean superior in Game Mechanics and Graphics or Superior in Competition and Fanbase ... Cause i play all 3 : BLC , LoL & HoN , And i only Very VERY briefly Played DotA . but Even in that time i felt Like HoN is a 100% Copycat Excluding the Graphics .
It's no secret that HoN copied DotA, they even stated on their website during beta that they took Icefrog's permission to copy certain mechanics. That said, HoN builds on top of DotA's mechanics to provide first and foremost a better online experience.
I'm not going to mention graphics, because despite its greatness, it hardly matters to a hardcore competitive gamer.
1- Incredible amount of servers located all around the world.
2- Crash and disconnect scenarios handled tastefully.
3- Insane amount of heroes and items unrivaled by dota and its competitors.
4- It's matchmaking system and rating system and balancing system are very nice.
5- 24/7 moderation
6- Constant updates, new content and follow up, almost instant bug fixes.
Simply put, you can move from DotA to HoN in a single day without having much of a problem adjusting to the mechanics and yet you can still get an amazing experience.
In the end, DotA has the most fan base and it is more than likely that when DotA 2 comes out, everyone will try/move to it. But just as how HoN and somewhat LoL copied concepts from DotA, DotA 2 will copy aspects of these games to deliver the same experience and more additions.
Games are a matter of taste, I'm a hardcore DotA player but i just couldn't pass out on what HoN brings to the table. LoL did not suite my needs, when i tried it, it did not show good prospect for the future, things might be different now.