Everybody has wondered when DotA will make a leap to become a professional eSport, and if it will ever happen. It has been said that the length of the game is a problem, that there are too many non-used heroes, but could the problem lay in the popular In-house Leagues? Could IHLs be the cause of less competitive teams, and more separate players? Do IHLs benefit the DotA community?

The In-house Leagues

The DotA In-house Leagues (IHL) has been around DotA for quite some time. What exactly establishes an IHL? IHLs are a group of players that gather to play a game(s) to get rated. Rating is won and lost per game, depending on the result of the game. There are all types of IHLs, ranging from invite, semi-invite, and also completely open. IHLs have said to be a backbone of DotA, but do they help DotA grow as an eSport? What actually makes an eSport game? Are the IHLs needed? Should IHLs just be thrown away?

The time of the first IHL on East, known as Mota, IGS was still around, and the first Cal Season beginning. At that time, team leagues flourished - not as many leagues as there are today, but they were active - and scrims were common around the DotA community, at least in America. IHLs were and are a way for teams and players to gather together to play competitive games outside of the traditional (team) leagues.

Once several IHLs started forming, however, teams started to stray from the scrims and also the traditional leagues to play in the different IHLs. They would choose to play in the IHLs, rather than actually scrim. Some teams even put the IHLs above the actual 'real/team' leagues. Is that a problem?

Have teams come out through IHLs?

Teams have been created through these leagues; however most of them have failed. A prime example of a team that was put together through friendships and through meeting each other in the IHLs is Hookers are 2 Nasty, or Hans2 for short. This team was a team brought together from the 'elite' IHL, known as IHCS, for one purpose, to play together as friends for the MYM Pride #5. Once again, a team with much potential was just thrown away.

In the MYM Pride tournament 7, we saw Xero Skill become a truly competitive team coming from the 'elite' IHL known as the IHCS. XsK brought together some of the top players in the world, and actually reached the playoffs, losing to the eventual winner, Virtus.Pro in the second round of the Playoffs. What XsK has done is supposed to be happening inside of these IHLs, which is to make friendships, and become a team to play in the tournaments and team leagues.

Most teams do come out of the IHLs, since they are there to make friends, and to play semi-competitively together. However, teams will fall apart, and change players much more than any other true competitive eSport game.

What sets DotA apart from the true eSport games?

The answers can go on and on for this question, but we will only stick at one key point: Players choose IHLs over finding a team, and/or scrimming. When looking at other games, all you ever hear about are the main leagues; CGS, CEVO, WCG, and CAL for instance. What about DotA? Every player has at least heard of the MYM tournaments, as well as CAL, however most players are more familiar with IHCS, DXD and TDA (though TDA is not exactly a IHL, it is a place to gather for games). DXD has 10,000+ players, while MYM has about 1800+ players. Why is this?

There are many reasons for this, but to list a few - Games almost all the time, meet new people, feel good getting a high rating and a lot of mvp's, and also escape the 'competitive' community.

Do IHLs benefit DotA?

What do todays players think of IHLs? Do they benefit DotA? Do they make it worse off?

Orie 'Blowout' Guo of team Hi2u believe that IHLs do help make DotA a larger game, he states, "Exclusive leagues contribute less to this, but they have other functions. For instance, many people continue playing DotA for more than like a month because they find friends, or an environment they like in leagues." He continues, "they are a great testing ground for strategies, and they also make strategies more well known."

Miky 'Samurai' Chea of Xero Skill did not disagree with Orie, but did not agree fully. He felt "the major tournaments that are out there now make it considered an eSport, however IHLs just help benefit the players." He is not positive if they help the DotA community in terms of eSports, but feels players get better and do more "extravagantly in tournaments."

Antherus 'xcyteZ' Ha of Frag Dominant felt IHLs actually hurt the DotA community, saying "it closes the world of competitive Dota, as you can see everyone in the IHL gaming community knows each other." He also feels that the IHLs make newcomers feel badly about the game itself, saying "all newcomers are just considered newbs, and that kind of attitude isn't that great if you are trying to expand DotA as a serious e-sport."

IHLs seem to keep teams away from the scrims, which ultimately increase the teams communication level. Alexander 'Kog' Schütt of Back to Basics stated "IHLs keep top clans away from scrimming, but I wouldn't say that it´s influencing DotA in a negative way."

Others have yet to think of the benefits and negatives of the IHL community. Matthew 'eMg.DOGKaiser' Knizacky aka Tom Cruise jr. said he has not really thought about the impact that IHLs had on DotA as an eSport, but felt "IHLs have some positives that it tries to make the DotA competition higher."

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