Escapist News Now: DOTA 2 Open Access Begins

[Escapist News Now]

DOTA 2 Open Access Begins

Valve's popular free-to-play battle arena game, Dota 2 has finally gotten rid of their sign up system. The online game has over 6.5 million monthly users, and it looks like Valve is comfortable enough to take down the gated barrier to entry.

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[scw55]

I didn't realise that they still gated the game after it no longer was in Beta.

I would say DotA1 has to be the most influential MOBA of all time since it was the game which all current MOBAs used as a starting block/ripped off entirely.

But on behalf of current DOTA2 players, please get a coach/use the copious amount of freely available information out there to get better at the game.

We don't enjoy losing due to your ignorance, and you won't enjoy losing because of your ignorance either.
Helps to have a thickish skin, but don't get arrogant. Some players might actually give you useful advice in the games.

 

[elvor0]

Wait what? I have like 40 Beta invite things, as do most of my friends, an open beta seems a bit superfluous at this point, considering everyone who wants to play probably is playing it ><

 

[mindfaQ]

@scw55: Getting a coach is good, but I don't see a reason to impose dry self study on new people. Go through the tutorial matches and you are good to go. Simple skill/itembuild guides are integrated as well. Why should an experiences player care if a new player studies the game before he plays it. There is matchmaking for a reason.

Wait what? I have like 40 Beta invite things, as do most of my friends, an open beta seems a bit superfluous at this point, considering everyone who wants to play probably is playing it ><

Since some months you don't

 

[Akisa]

What the Frack "Stay in your lane", what is this League? Not everyone has to stay in a lane, heck some hero combinations benefit from level 1 ganks even before creep spawns and continue roaming the map, never really staying in any lane.

 

[SquidVicious]

I've been playing for about two months and I've had quite a bit of fun watching matches on Twitch and tutorials on Youtube. I've really only been playing against bots, but I might see if I can get a couple of friends together to give it a go.

 

[TheMemoman]

This sounds like a drug addiction. Why am I not into it?

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

okay seriously now...im on the 360s internet explorer and it wont play the video or do much else. What the fluffage is all this DOTA and MOBA speak?? It actually is startin to sound a bit narcoticy

 

[Erttheking]

I'm a little busy trying to not suck at LoL, I'm not going to double flagellate myself on this one.

 

[The Pink Pansy]

I didn't realise that they still gated the game after it no longer was in Beta.

I would say DotA1 has to be the most influential MOBA of all time since it was the game which all current MOBAs used as a starting block/ripped off entirely.

But on behalf of current DOTA2 players, please get a coach/use the copious amount of freely available information out there to get better at the game.

We don't enjoy losing due to your ignorance, and you won't enjoy losing because of your ignorance either.
Helps to have a thickish skin, but don't get arrogant. Some players might actually give you useful advice in the games.

Way to represent to community in a positive light there.

On Behalf of current DOTA 2 players to anyone joining at this point in time; You will lose a ton of games, and you will win a ton of games regardless of how good/knowlegable/pro you are. Try to have fun and stay positive no matter how things turn out!

 

[Nergui]

okay seriously now...im on the 360s internet explorer and it wont play the video or do much else. What the fluffage is all this DOTA and MOBA speak?? It actually is startin to sound a bit narcoticy

MOBA = Multiplayer Online Battle Arena
DOTA = Defence of the Ancients
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dota_2

I kind of hesitate to say this, but MOBAs like LoL (League of Legends) and DOTA currently are PC exclusive. You can watch people play on TwitchTV though as there are lots of feeds.

 

[Vosgy]

Well my personal experience is the match making is terrible, first game i ever had in dota2 was against people, was expecting to be paired with people who haven't played any games yet either, get paired with 9 people total all who have over 300 games each, proceed to be called a noob the whole time and have all my team mates telling me to uninstall. So learning beforehand is nice, but the match making really should be designed such that you can learn as you go, not have to do 90 hours of homework before your first game, just MHO.

 

[Candidus]

Well my personal experience is the match making is terrible, first game i ever had in dota2 was against people, was expecting to be paired with people who haven't played any games yet either, get paired with 9 people total all who have over 300 games each, proceed to be called a noob the whole time and have all my team mates telling me to uninstall. So learning beforehand is nice, but the match making really should be designed such that you can learn as you go, not have to do 90 hours of homework before your first game, just MHO.

I've got a couple of Steam accounts. I've played Dota on them both and my first matches were always against brand new players (no higher than 5 wins). So, did you by any chance select the wrong option when you first logged in and were presented with the buttons: "I'm new - I'm average - I'm an expert"?

That aside, how much homework you do when joining a new MOBA depends entirely on how much of a shit you give about the time and opinions of other people. For example, I'm a long-time DOTA player who's just trying out Infinite Crisis (closed beta). I've adhered closely to a Wonder Woman guide while playing her on Gotham Heights (quick dominion map), but I'm studying thoroughly the full item list and memorizing it, as well as jungle clearance maps, before I play the true Dota-like map. Not because I give a fuck about the opinions of others, but because I don't want to callously waste their time.

Having to do homework is just a reality of the genre.

Don't uninstall, just play a lot of bot matches. Bot match until you can pick a random hero and decide which items to build for it on the fly, based on team compositions and how well or how badly the laning phase goes. Then you're ready to climb!

 

[Vosgy]

Well my personal experience is the match making is terrible, first game i ever had in dota2 was against people, was expecting to be paired with people who haven't played any games yet either, get paired with 9 people total all who have over 300 games each, proceed to be called a noob the whole time and have all my team mates telling me to uninstall. So learning beforehand is nice, but the match making really should be designed such that you can learn as you go, not have to do 90 hours of homework before your first game, just MHO.

I've got a couple of Steam accounts. I've played Dota on them both and my first matches were always against brand new players (no higher than 5 wins). So, did you by any chance select the wrong option when you first logged in and were presented with the buttons: "I'm new - I'm average - I'm an expert"?

That aside, how much homework you do when joining a new MOBA depends entirely on how much of a shit you give about the time and opinions of other people. For example, I'm a long-time DOTA player who's just trying out Infinite Crisis (closed beta). I've adhered closely to a Wonder Woman guide while playing her on Gotham Heights (quick dominion map), but I'm studying thoroughly the full item list and memorizing it, as well as jungle clearance maps, before I play the true Dota-like map. Not because I give a fuck about the opinions of others, but because I don't want to callously waste their time.

Having to do homework is just a reality of the genre.

Don't uninstall, just play a lot of bot matches. Bot match until you can pick a random hero and decide which items to build for it on the fly, based on team compositions and how well or how badly the laning phase goes. Then you're ready to climb!

I selected that I was completely new to the game and genre (even though I'm not, played original DotA and LOL) still got paired with people with many many games under their belt.

I don't know about you, but I like to learn game myself, if people want to do homework and figure out how to play that way fine. A good example are MMO's and there boss/raid fights sure you can just look at someones guide on how to do it, but I don't see any fun in that. Also the like I said it should be designed so people can learn as they play, it's kinda how all games are made. If I need more time to learn things I shouldn't be paired up with people who know everything already.

 

[mindfaQ]

Well my personal experience is the match making is terrible, first game i ever had in dota2 was against people, was expecting to be paired with people who haven't played any games yet either, get paired with 9 people total all who have over 300 games each, proceed to be called a noob the whole time and have all my team mates telling me to uninstall. So learning beforehand is nice, but the match making really should be designed such that you can learn as you go, not have to do 90 hours of homework before your first game, just MHO.

First: how is MM supposed to work with no data (no matches under your belt). It is not psychic, it is logical you have to play a few games before you are on the fitting rank. Your first game has the potential to be the furthest away from your actual ranking with the way MM algorithms work, so a bad first game is no unusual sign.
Second: match number says nothing about the skill of people in individual cases.

So in the end you'll just need to play about ten games to be on your MM level (that's the calibration period for ranked MM). A close fit is already reached after 5 games though; you don't have to endure 10 bad games.

 

[Banzaiman]

Sounds like a wonderful community hopping around there.

In all honesty I'll probably play this game, even if it will be almost entirely with bots. It sounds super fun, but I don't trust humans enough to let me enjoy a pvp game without yelling my ear off. Even if the planets align and the stars burn bright and I decide to test the waters, it will be with my speakers silenced and eyes away from chat.

 

[scw55]

I didn't realise that they still gated the game after it no longer was in Beta.

I would say DotA1 has to be the most influential MOBA of all time since it was the game which all current MOBAs used as a starting block/ripped off entirely.

But on behalf of current DOTA2 players, please get a coach/use the copious amount of freely available information out there to get better at the game.

We don't enjoy losing due to your ignorance, and you won't enjoy losing because of your ignorance either.
Helps to have a thickish skin, but don't get arrogant. Some players might actually give you useful advice in the games.

Way to represent to community in a positive light there.

On Behalf of current DOTA 2 players to anyone joining at this point in time; You will lose a ton of games, and you will win a ton of games regardless of how good/knowlegable/pro you are. Try to have fun and stay positive no matter how things turn out!

But it's true. You're going to have to find a way to deal with loses. You're going to have to find a way of not impeding on other people's enjoyment.
It's a tough game.

Might be better to play with friends or people you know to begin with.

 

[The Pink Pansy]

But it's true. You're going to have to find a way to deal with loses. You're going to have to find a way of not impeding on other people's enjoyment.
It's a tough game.

Might be better to play with friends or people you know to begin with.

You are responsible for your own enjoyment of a game. If you can't enjoy a game with random strangers regardless of how much homework they've done, then play with friends; don't discourage other people from playing because you can't keep your attitude in check.

That being said, you are right, playing with friends is a ton of fun and I highly recommend it as a way to learn the game.

 

[scw55]

But it's true. You're going to have to find a way to deal with loses. You're going to have to find a way of not impeding on other people's enjoyment.
It's a tough game.

Might be better to play with friends or people you know to begin with.

You are responsible for your own enjoyment of a game. If you can't enjoy a game with random strangers regardless of how much homework they've done, then play with friends; don't discourage other people from playing because you can't keep your attitude in check.

That being said, you are right, playing with friends is a ton of fun and I highly recommend it as a way to learn the game.

There's a difference between a player who is ignorant and is nice. And a player who is ignorant and is stubborn and refuses to communicate and improve.