DOTA 2 📽 Through the Lens
📢 IF YOU VALUE A PRODUCTIVE LIFE STAY AWAY FROM THIS - 📢
choking sounds
Nothing to see here folks. 😉
I have done many articles on Dota 2. But I have never done a Through the Lens article where we talk about the history and overall feel of the game. Now, what better time to talk about it than with my comeback to Hive?
And so❗️ In this edition of Through the Lens 🎞, we'll be taking a look at Valve's Genre originator from 2013: DOTA 2. ◀️
(I remember bck in the day there was a huge hissy fit over the naming of this game, most people wanted the Defense of the Ancients title back)
Roll it! 📽
🔷 UP TOP 🔶
The original music here is grandiose and epic. Choir and massive strings bring to the forefront the epic scope of these Gods duking it out in this arena. The thing is, DOTA has a lot of music packs that totally change the score. These music packs are one of the many microtransactions in the game and are more or less all awesome. The link below is the original soundtrack, however.
I have been playing DOTA for around 20 years at this point. I got in the DOTA 2 beta early with a key, and have been playing it off-and-on ever since. Over 5k hours played on Steam and my brain is sufficiently fried. 😅
Suffice to say I love this game as much as I hate it. It is one of the most complicated games out there, and most assuredly the most complicated team game ever made. It's deep, it's dynamic, and it's frustrating as all hell.
Let's explore each of these elements, shall we?
🔷 DYNAMIC 🔶
DOTA is the originator of the MOBA genre. Even though Riot, LoL's developers, coined the term. To be fair, Aeon of Strife, a mod for Starcraft: Broodwar was the first ever MOBA, but we don't talk about that. 🤫
What separates DOTA from the pack is the endless experimentation baked into the game. Some MOBAS like HotS for instance have no dynamic gameplay, the game is the game and you either fall in line or you lose. Games like LoL and Smite have some choice, but really the choices in those games are more how you approach fights than the build itself. 💯
DOTA is a different monster.
For better or for worse DOTA grants you the freedom other games in the genre lack. A lot of builds and ways of play are viable here, for better or worse. Why worse? Why wouldn't more ways to express yourself be strictly bad? Well...
In DOTA, if you die to the enemy team, you actively hurt your team. So the team aspect is even more important. As such, if you give people more tools to play with, but at the same time they are using those tools wrong in this particular situation, it can be very frustrating, and as such create a net negative experience.
🔷 TOXICITY 🔶
We're not talking about the System of a Down song here, shoo!
DOTA, as do most of these competitive team games, induces a lot of toxicity in its player base.
Recent attempts to quench said toxicity have produced results, but we still have a long way to go. Threats to one's family/friends/livelihood are still a regular part of the DOTA experience. And I don't think that will change anytime soon.
This toxic behavior causes people to tilt (play worse) which in turn produces less quality matches. Which in turn leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth that you blame on the game itself. When in actuality the game is just a conduit through which the toxicity seeps into your bones. But if a machine causes you to feel awful. does it matter how it does what it does? // does this make any sense or am I crazy?
I don't have an answer for the aforementioned question, I just find it fascinating. 🙂
🔷 BEAUTY 🔶
Valve is the biggest gaming company in the world. As such, they can afford to work at a loss. As such x2, there have been many iterations on the core design of DOTA. Iterations that would spell doom for any mortal companies attempting them. But not for Valve. 😁
DOTA is such a dynamic game that changing one valve (no one intended) changes the scope of the entire game. Bear in mind people have spent thousands of hours mastering certain aspects of the game that suddenly have completely changed. Oh well! Better to master them again now!
A lot of gamers who play DOTA play nothing else. The game requires a level of concentration that is close to, if not exceeding, that of chess. Which makes my precious point on toxicity even more potent. You try so hard, and you expend so much energy, yet in the end, it doesn't even matter. 🥁
I myself find the dynamic nature of the game very appealing, and impressive. I just adore that a game can be so unabashedly complex and deep. That it then takes these principles and applies them to a team setting is even more bold. Dot ais a game like no other, and as such it can feel very bad when you lose. Or... the best time you've ever had gaming.
🔷 LEGACY 🔶
DOTA's legacy is set in stone. There isn't a gamer out there who hasn't heard of it. For good or ill reasons. 😁
The MOBA genre has died down in recent years, yet DOTA keeps innovating at a pace similar to hungry indie devs. 🤤
We haven't even talked about The International, DOTA's premier eSporting event, and a landmark event in eSports in general. ⚽
A game for the ages, and regardless of whether you love it or hate it, you cannot deny its long-lasting impact on the industry. 👣
Thank you for reading, you rock! (and maybe roll) 👏👏👏
🖼️ Image Sources: 01, 02, 03, 04 🖼️
Shout-out to the 🍕PIZZA🍕 gang, 🤙 gang. 🤙
I'm still easing myself back into writing for Hive, so I decided on some comfort food for my first post. 😁 I think I made some good points and I hope this was as enjoyable to read as it was to write. We will tackle a new game as soon as I figure out what to write next. As always, thanks for being cool and stopping by!
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I hope you are having an amazing week! 🙌