lol HoN beta community already many times bigger than Demigod

Is that because Heroes of Newerth is a better game? No - cos its not.

Or is it because:

The beta network service is already better than Demigod's is now.  

The interface is about a million times more feature-rich than Demigod, e.g. the host can do simple things like force players to switch slots.

There is no lag because of the client-server interface (wait, I thought RTS games HAD to be peer 2 peer?)

90% of the games played are 5 vs 5 players, whereas 90% of 5 vs 5 games in Demigod don't work due to lag.

Robust handling of disconnects, RQing, ability to votekick players (now that's just revolutionary!)

Most of this stuff is just billy-basics, day-1, week-1 of Video Games 101.  Shame Demigod has none of it.