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DotA started off as a fun custom game to break from standard WC3 play. It is now starting to push its way into the competitive e-sports world. Miss-Rinoa takes a look at what makes DotA competitive and what aspects of the game still need work.  When it all began Blizzard Entertainment released the third edition of the Warcraft 3 series; Reign of Chaos, in 2002. After two successful series, this edition was highly anticipated coming in with around 4.5 million pre-orders. There was one major difference between this release to the older editions; heroes. During the migration from Starcraft to Warcraft, hero play was not popular. Since then, one custom map has boomed the popularity of hero play, Defense of the Ancients (DotA).  DotA Loading Screen Contrary to popular belief, DotA started on Reign of Chaos before the expansion, The Frozen Throne came out. It was based on the custom map "Aeon of Strife" from Starcraft, a team game focusing on hero combat. There have been many different versions of DotA, but only one shines, IceFrog's DotA Allstars. Since then DotA has come a long way, from terrain changes, balances, bug fixes, new heroes, new items and graphics, IceFrog does it all. DotA is a 5v5 game with two sides; sentinel and scourge. There is one map, divided into three lanes where creeps (creatures) automatically spawn. At the heart each base is an ancient; the world tree for the sentinel, and the frozen throne for the scourge. In each lane there are 3 towers protecting the ancient, as well as creep producing buildings (raxes). Not only do players have to focus on defending or killing the ancients, but DotA also focuses on team play to kill enemy heroes. DotA offers a variety of game modes, allrandom, allpick, random draft, league mode, and many others. Competitive play started off with standard league mode; sentinel could only pick sentinel heroes and scourge could only pick scourge heroes. Since then, league play has changed drastically. Extended League mode (XL) is now the most consistently used mode in league play where teams are not only picking heroes, but eliminating them as well. This opened up a new era for competitive DotA, forcing teams to rework their strategies, and learn how to counter others.  Virtus.Pro DotA team after winning at ASUS Summer 2007 This journey leads to one question, why isn't DotA seen in LAN tournaments more? Why was WoW PVP/Arena given a chance and not DotA? DotA is the melting pot of hero combat and teamplay for RTS games. Every aspect of DotA requires some form of teamwork, whether it be coordinating a gank (using multiple heroes to catch/kill enemy heroes), coordinating spells in a massive team fight, or working together to dominate enemy heroes in a lane. Powerhouse teams like MYM, SK Gaming, Virtus.Pro and eMg dominate competition with their innovative strategies, breathtaking teamwork and individual skill. They have proven that DotA is no easy game. To a beginner's eye, DotA seems cut and dry. Public play and competitive play are two different worlds. Not only does DotA require individual skill in micro (last hitting creeps), farming ability (collecting gold), warding (placing wards on the map for vision) and map awareness (knowledge of the map and how to adapt to it), but it also thrives on team play. It has been seen time and time again that one person can not carry a game of DotA. Not many teams can even compete with the top tier DotA teams because their teamwork has been mastered. If this can't be considered a competitive game, then what can? |
Thursday November 26 2009 | |||||
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User Comments
Anyways gj Neha, very well-written article. Nice analysis of dota and its path to becoming a recognized esport
Would be good to point out that DOTA is probably the only games where girls play in the same leagues as the male teams, no distinction at all, no female only leagues, which is something that deserves respect.
Compared to CS, DoA, Halo and other games where female teams would only play against each other, and any decent male team would take on the champions any day.
#9 games are not long (CS matches may take up to 45 minutes too in MR15, up to 2 hours in Bo3) it's just that Dota is harder to understand from a viewer's perspective than a game like Quake or CS. All of the action would ahppen in one screen, in less than 5 seconds. Only people who know the game very well would realize the skill and intensity of the encounters in the game.
The early game may seem boring, but it's when you'll notice how some players will try and harass their opponents, how they deny their creep kilss, slow their farming,, ... there is a lot to see in each second of the game, it just requires a very good knowledge of the game (includes all heroes, all items, items combinations, spells, etc..) which is a lot to any newbie (yes Zechs, I mean you :P)
People who haven't played this game before might wonder what make this game so good. I encourage you to try it out and give it a chance before forming opinions, as just watching the game doesn't do it justice at all.
And on a side note, I agree that the length of an average game is an obstacle for Dota in becoming more popular, but I think I would enjoy it a little less if the game was shortened to, say, 45 minutes. It just wouldn't be the same for me. I guess the spectators would like it a lot more, but the players might not. I think changing the old Aegis was one of the best moves by IceFrog and that reduced the game length significantly, and the game length is pretty good as it is now.
Nice article, sums up well both the good and bad of DotA.
ontopic: It is good. Agree with many of the points, but it is getting better for dota, especially with the lan coming up.
#12 DotA is fun to play when you know how to play, when you're a noob you can't get lucky and get a headshot as in CS and be happy about it, if the other guys is good you won't get a chance to kill him and he'll farm on your face. Also DotA needs to be shortened more than now, sorry if you don't like it p0c but it's the only way to make it more spectator friendly and therefore a better game for LAN tournaments,
#14 Exactly. Lots of people have disable Virtus.Pro favorite heroes and in the end they get unexpected heroes such as bounty hunter or stealth assassin, change the whole game and still beat you.
#22 I think that's been fixed and the article looks great :P, however this won't drag people on playing DotA. There's a larger enough userbase of DotA players, what we need is better lan competitions.
Very well written, you brought up a lot of good points and I think you explained things fine...
1) Boring to watch. Seriously. I play the game and love it but watching a replay bores me to death. The only exciting thing is what heroes get picked. After that there's maybe 40 minutes of farming and a couple minutes of "action."
2) Aging game. DoTA isn't very easy on the eyes because it's built on a pretty old game. Sponsors tend to like games that are going to challenge their hardware and this game doesn't really.
3) No history. Other "big" games like CS and WC3, and DM FPS games (quake etc) have big name players that have been around a long time. I can't name a single "top" DoTA player and though I don't even play WC3 or death-match games I know who fatality and grubby are.
4) Constant changes. So many changes isn't good for the spectators. CS 4 years ago is pretty much how CS is today. Same guns, same maps, etc. Same with WC3. You can be a casual "fan" of these games, watch a match, and know what's going on. DoTA changes drastically with the addition of new heroes and new items and new league modes etc. Also the version the "pros" play is often different than the "latest" version which causes even more confusion. This is great for the average player because it keeps the game fresh but it's not so great for spectators.
Even if spectators showed up to watch during a tournament, that doesn't really indicate anything of the games . Everyone knows DOTA is a huge pub game, its extremely popular. People (especially at dreamhack and the like) are going to watch DOTA. That doesn't mean it is a mainstream competitive game by any measure, however.
side note: item usage is somewhat more sophisticated, more important and subtle in war3. In dota it's just more of a blunt hammer, but the implications of item usage in melee maps is far more complex.
i think PGR is the most boring game to watch, im overit in the first 10sec
please give credit where credit is due pls.
although icefrog has done a lot of things to develop
the game further.
The map was Originally started by different people.
I myself have been rather disgruntled as to why DotA has not been picked up MUCH sooner.
"First team to 10 kills wins! Test mode and infinite gold! GO!"
A few things that I like about it, and why I want to see it in on the mainstage.
1. Spectators. I enjoy watching DotA. A lot. I'll download replays of the top teams, like Virtus.Pro vs. MYM and have a ball seeing what heroes/combos they pull off. Merlini jungling with BM and using the axes to hit creatures in two separate camps was a first for me, and I really enjoyed seeing that. It's little things like that that make me love watching DotA.
2. Game play. With the ever changing gameplay, it's always interesting to follow. The debates on tactics, heroes, etc. is what's fascinating to me. Sure FPS games have the flashy headshot or rocket juggling, but to me, a game where players have to constantly adapt to such a HUGE variety of gameplay tactics makes each game just that much more interesting to watch/play.
3. Longevity. Since the game is always changing, it may head off in a new direction. Just look at some of the older maps (5.84c anyone?) compared to the current 6.49b! This game can keep itself fresh without going stale by the consensus of IceFrog (or whoever happens to be in control at the time).
All in all, DotA is my favorite game to play/watch/follow and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
Challenges offered by DotA.
1. Hero selection. This is the biggest difference between DotA and other games. FPS games have a set number of weapons/powerups that are the same each time played. Star/Warcraft again offers the same heroes/units every time the game is played. And not just one player, but an entire team of heroes that completely change the way the game is played. I'm not saying other games offer no choices, since they do. I'm saying that it's astronomically more prevalent/game-making in DotA.
2. Team work. DotA is a very team oriented game. No one hero will carry a team to victory without good help from the rest of the cast. Missed that one stun on CM? Well, doesn't that freezing field hurt? You bet it does. Yes, games like CS require teamwork, it's not a unique concept. However, I think DotA critics overlook the importance of highly HIGHLY organized team play and are only thinking about one person's skills at a time.
3. Deceptively simple. It's easy to say "oh just nuke and win" to this game. Same reasoning can be applied to any game that a person doesn't know much about or doesn't care to know about. CS can be described as "oh, just shoot the other team, easy!". Starcraft could be called a mindless "mass rush" game, but anyone who's played it seriously knows this is far from the truth. CS and Starcraft are very deep games when it comes to strategy and skill. DotA can be played like a very simple game, as can any game. However, when one takes a closer look, there is a lot to know/plan for in DotA. Simply learning the items/hero abilities is exhausting to a new player only to realize they have to know how each of these things affects each other.
There you have it. #49 please take a look and give it some thought before slamming a very fun and competitive game.
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