<p>There was a time when MOBAs owned my life. DOTA and LoL were at their zenith, and I—don’t judge, I was young—was dead-set on going pro. Then came Paragon. While SMITE had already broken the third-person mold, Paragon felt different even in beta; it felt promising. The heroes weren't just kits; they had lives and lore that bled out of the game into official short stories. I was hooked.</p><p>Aurora became my main, and I was a menace. If my match replays were ever uploaded, еhey'd need a mature rating because I f*cked my opponents really hard. But this story lacks a happy ending. Epic Games choked the life out of the project to feed Fortnite’s success. Once again, the hairy hand of capitalism tightened around the throat of something beautiful until the light left its eyes. To their credit, Epic released the assets for free, allowing the game to be resurrected years later as Predecessor and Overprime. But the boy who dreamed of the 'Cyber-Olympus' is gone; in his place is a man with a dull gaze and a stack of bills to pay.</p>

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