quote OP

Ok. I don't really care about the campaign, but if the online multiplayer is epic and lasts long, I'll buy it.

So, I'm a huge fan of Starcraft, because I simply love those large battles and all the strategy and stuff of it. I realize that Warcraft III is more hero-based but I don't know much more about it. So here are a few questions.

-What's the fun side about Warcraft III?
-How long do online games usually last?
-How much of Battle.net is DotA? Is DotA fun enough so it's one of the only things you actually play?
-How do the gameplay mechanics of Warcraft III work?
-How do the different races in Warcraft III work?

Sorry if some of the questions I asked are too general.

War3 is fun for the micro intensive strategy, the macro intensive strategy, and the high level of competition in Battlenet.

Bnet games vary in length depending on the type of game, I mostly play 1v1 in ladder, and the games are roughly 20 minutes on average.

I play ladder, and I never have to wait much longer than 30 seconds to find a game, so I would say that while there is always a DOTA game available to play, there's also a normal game always available to play as well. (Free for alls tend to have a longer queue time)

Gameplay mechanics of war3.... um, well, I'm not positive exactly what you're asking, but you gather gold and wood resources, build builings that can produce combat units or upgrade them, then produce various units to destroy your opponents, just like in Starcraft. The hero class of unit in War3 is the major difference from War3 to Starcraft, in that when units die it isn't just a loss of resources, it actually gives your opponents heroes 'xp' which translates into a more powerful hero unit on their side. So tactics are oriented around this more so than in starcraft. (you don't let your units die as easily)

The differences in races aren't as large as they were in Starcraft, while starcraft has 3 completely distinct races, War3 has 4 races that are more similar. Night Elf and Undead gather resources slightly different than Humans and Orcs, and Undead have to build their buildings on 'blight' as opposed to anywhere. If you've played Starcraft, then bilght is effectively the zerg 'creep'.

All races have 3 tiers; meaning your townhall starts at tier 1, you can upgrade it to tier2, and then upgrade it again to tier3. Depending on the tier of your townhall, certain buildings / units will be available to be built, also, tier 1 means 1 hero, tier 2 means you can have 2 heroes, tier 3, 3 heroes.

Obviously every race has their own distinct units, with various collision sizes, movement speeds, attack speeds, damage, hit points, etc.. etc... but I can't really easily provide any information more specific about it unless you ask a more specific question.