Laning is not boring.
First of all, let's explain what laning is. In a MOBA style game, the map has a number of laes. Typically 3. Most of the combat and battles will take place in one of those 3 lanes until the battle is taken to the bases. Laning, while it may appear boring, is actually the most critical part of the game. In games like League of Legends and Dota 2, laning is how characters get gold, and characters use gold to get traits and power-ups. In Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm, laning gives characters XP, which in turn helps them level up. The main difference between LoL and HotS is that one game gives you gold, and the other gives you XP. And in Heroes of the Storm, the XP goes to your entire team. This means, that whoever is getting the XP in one lane, it is shared across the entire team. Whereas in LoL, each character is responsible for their own gold. And they must manage their gold and their bank throughout the length of the game. While this adds an extra level of strategy, it gives LoL infinitely more options for defining their characters. There are many, many, different configurations you can make to your heroes in Heroes of the Storm, but that pales in comparison to the number you can create in LoL or Dota 2.
But the only way to get those levels and character traits adn extra power is to lane. Of course, there is also jungling, but that's a different player type with a different purpose.
Laning is where your character spends most of his time. And most of his time will be spent battling the others teams minion. Minions, not the cute yellow characters from Dreamworks Animation, are wave after wave of enemy characters who's main purpose is to die and give players XP (or gold). While you are trying to soak up as much resources as you can killing minions, the enemy team is trying to do the same thing. In the same lane. And sometimes players get brazen.
While in you're in the lane, you'll periodically antagonize the other players. Step our too far and try and strike them. Lead them back towards your base and then unlease a special power on them. And sometimes you'll distract them or lure back your way, only to have your entire team lying in wait to attack them.
Laning has a lot of back and forth movement, as well as psychology, because you have to out think your opponent and you have to out maneuver them. The faster you can get to your next XP level, or buy that next item, the more powerful you'll be the next time you go up against an enemy. And the more enemies you kill, the better chance you have of attacking their base.
Now a little about Jungling
Jungling players don't get to lane. They don't get to soak up those resources like the other players do. They're forced to wander around the jungle and gather resources by battling bosses and enemy camps. They can earn resources as much as the laners, but the battle are usually tougher, and they come at greater risk. Junglers need to be strong and know when to back away from a fight and when to push the fight.
They must also know when to give up and let the other team have to the boss or camp. Sometimes, just surviving is victory enough, and the resource may not be worth your death in the long run.
Junglers also get a better path to choose from and typically get to wander the map more freely, coming in to lanes to help out their compatriots, and then returning to the jungle to farm for more resources. Jungles can go from the top part of the map, through the jungles in the middle and through all three lanes if necessary. It depends on what objective is in that part of the jungle.
Junglers sometimes spend more time searching for an enemy to attack then people in the lanes. People in lanes always know an attack is coming and must keep their options open for a hasty retreat. Junglers are sometimes like guerrilla warriors, lying in wait, or ambushing each other, trying to get the upper hand.
To be honest they both have a lot to offer, and one couldn't survive without the other. For my money, I'd rather lane than be a jungler. I find the strategy of knowing when to engage and when to retreat more rewarding, and I also like being able to help the team improve by gathering more XP.
One of the other reasons I'm partial to laning, is I try and main support characters. Support characters need to be around other players in order to do their job. So if I'm going to be good at support, I need to be where the action is. And, for most of the game that's in the lanes.
I've watched enough MOBA tournaments now to understand the basic mechanics of these games. Personally, I still prefer Heroes of the Storm, but I think it's more accessible than the other games. As I learn more I will try and branch out more, but I like the visual style and the familiar characters that Heroes of the Storm offers. If I could learn to be a better support character, and be better for my team I would probably play HotS more often, but I'm not as well versed or familiar with the game enough to know how to help my team. So until I feel I can contribute something valuable to the team, I'll continue to play the easier AI matches, and just do it for fun. I'm not the kind of person who goes around trying to play the best in the world for bragging rights. That's just the kind of player I cam, or the kind of player I need to be.
