Due to various neglectful decisions by Valve, Dota 2 faces a huge backlash in its player base count. The game stood astounding in the gaming industry and earned the title “Game of the Year” in the MOBA genre in 2013.
With time, Valve did a great job improving the overall gameplay and adjusting the game’s UI. However, with time, Dota 2 falls short of standing its ground in the competition with other MOBAs.
Key Takeaways
Mechanics Are Overcomplicated For Beginners
Dota 2 has diverse mechanics and is one of the toughest ones to grasp, in my experience. I believe this game is generally complicated, but as a learner, it is more challenging to learn the proper basics in a single go.
In recent updates, Dota has introduced a whole new comprehensive tutorial section that acquaints the players with the basics and in-depth mechanics. However, I find the tutorial lacking the certainty of real-time encounters in online matches.
What I like most is that there are numerous Heroes to play and learn, each with unique abilities. But what makes it more difficult to catch is to align those skills with rightful items.
Now, there are tons of items to go through in Dota 2. Following this, every item carries its separate effect, and with every major update, more items are added, and old ones are reworked.
Targeting A Specific Audience
Dota 2 attracted a large audience upon its release. Valve also did an excellent job of keeping its fans thrilled. New events kept up the hype, new patches often took place to keep the gameplay balanced, and valuable cosmetics were rewarded by simply playing the game.
Later on, the Dota 2 fanbase was diverted to its professional leagues after its international tournaments took the spotlight. Professional players influenced the fans, and the game’s community became more thriving and diverse.
During this time, Dota 2 began to earn a lot of fame. This factor played a huge role in diverting the attention of the developers. Rather than making the game enjoyable for everyone like before, the focus was on gratifying the quality experience for veterans only. Simply because they hold special ground in making Dota 2 interesting.
Now, to entertain the skills and mettle of veterans, the already challenging dynamics became more focus-demanding to learn. Many mechanics went through a reworking stage, making the gameplay more intriguing to experience.
Among all this exciting changeover, Valve never considers focusing on being welcoming to newcomers. The decision to make Dota 2 a delightful experience for its veterans only gave the game a miniature amount of new and fresh minds.
Making Dota 2 Inaccessible To Most
Throughout time, this game has made a lot of progress. Visual enhancement, UI improvement, and new training features were exquisite additions to the game.
However, the visual enhancements are now too costly for the players to readjust. This gradual progress made Dota 2 lose its adaptivity, where anyone can play the game regardless of their hardware specification.
Another fact that relies too much on visuals nowadays in Dota 2 is the gameplay dynamics. Some particle and ambient effects are important for efficient and responsive gameplay that can only be possible with high-quality graphic settings. This means that players who meet the minimum requirement to run the game might face hurdles in higher-ranked matches.
The worst part of all this is the time when Dota 2 adopted the pay-to-win tactics. Pretty helpful training features finally came in, but only for those willing to pay for them.
Dota 2 also launches Battle Pass each year, which used to be considerably engaging. Later, the Battle Pass became infested with the money-grabbing approach by introducing exclusive skins, limited-time events, and leveling-up rewards requiring substantial sums rather than real-time grinding.
I used to enjoy playing new events on every occasion, and many players only longed to have those events occur again. So they could start playing the game and try something other than rough, old strategic gameplay.
Unfortunately, by now, Valve has no intention of focusing on bringing back those lively, entertainment-filled activities.
Unfair Matchmaking
Encountering a smurf in every level of a Dota 2 match is a routine check now. From the basic rank level to the top of the ladder, every match consistently involves the presence of at least one smurf.
Unfortunately, this activity is carried on by a lot of professional tier players themselves. Therefore, the decision to take action against these smurfs can potentially lead to unhealthy consequences.
However, a recent event stated that Valve did take action against a professional TI winner, Yatoro, by banning his Smurf account. Expectingly, the blame game was initiated and Yatoro started pointing fingers at other players of his tier, namely; Miracle.
Valve thoroughly examined the situation and released a patch update that was specifically intended to ban as many Smurf accounts as possible. The ban wave took down a mediocre amount of accounts along with 14 other professional players.
Even though maintenance was done, smurfing was very little affected by such an event. The fact that professional players strive to smurf is to boost the matchmaking rate (MMR) overall and attain the topmost position.
How it affects a regular Dota 2 player is that the average of the MMR is disturbed regularly. Players get hard-stuck on low-rank levels despite improving their gameplay approach.
Apart from high-tier players, an average or low-tier Dota 2 hustler also gets to encounter a Smurf in every one of three games.
These factors make it almost impossible for a new player to adapt to the Dota 2 dynamics and get a good grip on its complex mechanics adequately.
How Dota 2 Is Still Surviving The Competition
Despite Valve’s bad decision-making over time, Dota 2 still seems to be thriving in Esports tournaments and is considerably the highest prize pool title.
Centralizing the game’s dynamics around a specific audience did not stop the lively, ongoing events each year. Instead, it seems Valve knew how its decision would affect the overall outcome.
From my perspective, I do not consider Dota 2 welcoming to new players in its current stage. The only occasion nowadays that is worth a delightful experience in this game is professional match-ups. This leaves fresh minds with only gameplay features to enjoy, but due to the ample presence of Smurfs, even the learning phase of the game appears unamusing.
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Meet Ayesha, a business student and a Game Guides writer whose passion for gaming knows no bounds. With a keen interest in simulation and RPG genres like Disney Dreamlight Valley, Starfield, and Final Fantasy Series, she’s been sharing her expertise at VeryAli Gaming for a year now, enhancing the gaming experience for players worldwide. Check out what Ayesha likes to play on her Steam.
