official Dota 2

[Tharp Daddy]

So far my experience with the game is:

- Its very slow

- Its hard to determine if grabbing ability levels or stats at certain points in the game is a good idea. Seems a little too complex and open ended.

- Item shop is a bit... weird.

- At times its difficult to tell what's going on, and a lot of abilities in the game are rather sudden (makes seeing, let alone avoiding them difficult).

- I really hate losing gold on death. It seems a bit too harsh to not only lose farm and experience but also be retroactively punished for dying (losing gold you already earned).

Sure, my first Moba was League, but even then there is a lot here that really just punishes new players. Which, IMO, is just a dumb idea. Never punish players for being new or doing poorly. Reward them for succeeding.

Dota 2 is a very unforgiving game. I, personally, prefer League most of the time. If i want complexity, and hardcore competition i play Dota. If i want to just relax, not worry about denying, animation cancelling and the such, then i play League. League and Dota can compared much the same way that games like Counterstrike/Tribes and Halo can be compared. While very few will argue that Counterstrike is harder than Halo, many find Halo more fun despite being simpler - in fact many would say that they enjoy it because it's simpler.

[Salutary7]

I'm not a big fan of MOBA games, but I do prefer Dota2 to LoL in many respects. There's a lot to learn in both games, but in Dota2 the skillcap is higher and there's a much larger range of tactics and strategies. The pro scene will be more refined and with proper tutorials/leveling/matchmaking I think new users will be fine as well. It's too soon to tell if the game will be enticing enough for people to make the switch however. LoL's 100 character roster and leveling system make putting in all those hours pretty rewarding for a lot of people.

[spaceelf]

So far I've only really gotten into Demigod in this gametype. Is there anything else I should be looking at? I've only really given LoL a cursory glance is it just seems terrible when you first get into it. Maybe I needed friends to play with, I dunno.

[Tharp Daddy]

So far I've only really gotten into Demigod in this gametype. Is there anything else I should be looking at? I've only really given LoL a cursory glance is it just seems terrible when you first get into it. Maybe I needed friends to play with, I dunno.

LoL (League of Legends), HoN (Heros of Newerth), and Dota are the big 3 Moba games out there right now. If you don't like the hardcore dota-style gameplay then chances are you won't like HoN, as it's virtually a clone of Dota as well. I suggest you give LoL an honest shot, it's the largest moba out there by a large margin for a good reason. I enjoyed Demigod, but Demigod was quite unique and i can't think of any games out that are a Demigod-style MOBA. If you want to play some LoL matches my name on league is Ruran, i'd be happy to do some matches with you.

[Emn1ty]

Dota 2 is a very unforgiving game. I, personally, prefer League most of the time. If i want complexity, and hardcore competition i play Dota. If i want to just relax, not worry about denying, animation cancelling and the such, then i play League. League and Dota can compared much the same way that games like Counterstrike/Tribes and Halo can be compared. While very few will argue that Counterstrike is harder than Halo, many find Halo more fun despite being simpler - in fact many would say that they enjoy it because it's simpler.

Yes I can see that (Big Halo fan here as well). The main difference is, that while CS vs. Halo is a pretty good comparison CS is still a very simple game. Dota 2 isn't. The items are complex, there is a lot of unspoken things in the game (such as the secret shop). It doesn't really tell you about consuming trees unless you read the item. The gameplay is also much more passive in Dota compared to League, but battles happen much faster (which, in and of itself lends to a less forgiving game).

While others have mentioned tutorial videos one of my biggest pet peeves in a game is the reliance on external material for players to learn to play. If the game doesn't make an active effort to help those playing learn than I will usually turn my back to it (ie. World of Tanks or FFXI).

[Argi]

I understand the desire to stick closely to the original version of the game but I found it extremely difficult to move back to it from LoL as they've kept even the bad aspects.

[Amarok]

Thanks for Dota 2, Tharp Daddy, you rock! :)

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

I understand the desire to stick closely to the original version of the game but I found it extremely difficult to move back to it from LoL as they've kept even the bad aspects.

What are the bad aspects? My younger brother used to play a lot of League of Legends. Now, he switched over to Dota 2. I played LoL too as well as Heroes of Newerth and I didn't like it. It may be nostalgia from playing the original DotA back in high school but mostly, it's the level of polish and attention to detail. Compared to the other games, Dota 2 looks and sounds better. The art style of the heroes and environments are consistent which makes the game look aesthetically pleasing.

Anyway, I've been playing a lot of Dota 2 lately and I'm a lot better than I was a couple of weeks ago. I'm trying my best to learn about all the heroes' abilities in the game. I'm also doing my best in terms of hero control. I've died a lot from clicking the mini map by accident. My experience in StarCraft 2 has helped a lot though, especially in terms of micro (hero micromanagement).

[_neutrino Veteran]

Where do I go to see if I have Dota 2 keys that I can give people? I have had the Beta for rather sometime.

[spacer]

Where do I go to see if I have Dota 2 keys that I can give people? I have had the Beta for rather sometime.

I'm pretty sure if you go to "Games" > "Manage Gifts and Guest Passes", it will show up there. Unfortunately, I don't have any passes to give out myself.

[Nerd Rage]

I really enjoy Dota2. I never played the original Dota or LoL before playing Dota2, but I really got into it. I've logged over 250 matches in the beta so far, really fun stuff. I tried LoL after Dota2, and didn't like it at all in comparison. That being said, all of my friends who played LoL before coming to Dota2 think that Dota2 is too hard. To each his own I suppose :)

[Emn1ty]

I haven't played it in a while, but I think the reason I dislike the game is it's complex for the sake of being so. A lot of the game could be ironed into a much more refined experience (I mean, buying an item to consume a tree in order to heal is a bit roundabout even if semi-core to the original game). On another note, the game devolves very quickly when it comes to team fights. Its literally just an ult explosion. The game also seems to favor runaway victories due to the harsh punishment of dying. I'm not saying this doesn't happen in other Moba's. But sometimes I can't even play bot matches cause my bots feed so hard that regardless of difficulty/kills I can't compete anymore.

[Amarok]

Okay so now that I've gotten to play it I think I like it a little bit more than I liked LoL/HoN. Not sure why, maybe it's just that it feels more fresh.

On a random note is anyone else having an issue where Steam isn't accurately logging your Dota 2 time? It hasn't logged my last 3~ play sessions.

Edit: Come to think of it, it didn't log my Witcher 2 session yesterday either so guess it's not just an issue with Dota 2.

[offroadaaron]

If anyone has a spare key I would appriciate it very much.

[Athernar]

I haven't played it in a while, but I think the reason I dislike the game is it's complex for the sake of being so. A lot of the game could be ironed into a much more refined experience (I mean, buying an item to consume a tree in order to heal is a bit roundabout even if semi-core to the original game). On another note, the game devolves very quickly when it comes to team fights. Its literally just an ult explosion. The game also seems to favor runaway victories due to the harsh punishment of dying. I'm not saying this doesn't happen in other Moba's. But sometimes I can't even play bot matches cause my bots feed so hard that regardless of difficulty/kills I can't compete anymore.

Tangos aren't really a healing item per se, their bigger purpose is to aid escape such as with abilities like Prophet's "Sprout", or to make it harder for a fleeing player to "juke" by removing the trees they're trying to hide behind.

I've seen Pudge players cut their way into the middle of a forest with Tangos/Quelling Blades so they could hook a player out of lane and get a gank off for example.

And as far as bots go. That ain't even Dota 2 anymore, at least not the Dota 2 that is played in PvP matchmaking.

[Emn1ty]

And as far as bots go. That ain't even Dota 2 anymore, at least not the Dota 2 that is played in PvP matchmaking.

No it probably isn't, but I prefer to test out characters in a bot match. Unfortunately its hard to learn the game when the bots screw you over 70% of the time.

[Salutary7]

Okay so now that I've gotten to play it I think I like it a little bit more than I liked LoL/HoN. Not sure why, maybe it's just that it feels more fresh.

On a random note is anyone else having an issue where Steam isn't accurately logging your Dota 2 time? It hasn't logged my last 3~ play sessions.

Edit: Come to think of it, it didn't log my Witcher 2 session yesterday either so guess it's not just an issue with Dota 2.

Steam always seemed to round down on the time I've spend on a game session.

[Athernar]

No it probably isn't, but I prefer to test out characters in a bot match. Unfortunately its hard to learn the game when the bots screw you over 70% of the time.

If you purely want to test out new heros, play with the bots set to passive difficulty.

Otherwise just play a supercarry and do what you can to get as much farm as possible - providing the team composition isn't stacked against you.

[Emn1ty]

If you purely want to test out new heros, play with the bots set to passive difficulty.

Otherwise just play a supercarry and do what you can to get as much farm as possible - providing the team composition isn't stacked against you.

I did not know there was a such thing as "passive" difficulty. I need to stare at this interface a bit more, hm... Moba's are not known for having good interfaces. Even LoL.

[Athernar]

I did not know there was a such thing as "passive" difficulty. I need to stare at this interface a bit more, hm... Moba's are not known for having good interfaces. Even LoL.

It's right under the checkbox to add bots in private/practice lobbies, in a dropdown labled "bot difficulty".

[_neutrino Veteran]

I'm pretty sure if you go to "Games" > "Manage Gifts and Guest Passes", it will show up there. Unfortunately, I don't have any passes to give out myself.

Does not appear to be listing anything on the manage gifts thing at all.

[Miuku.]

If anyone has keys to give, I'll give nudey pics in return. >_>

Ok maybe no pics but much <3 anyway.

[Shaun N.]

I got into the Beta this afternoon.

[Shaun N.]

I can't log into Steam though, Says it can't connect to the servers. Is it down for anyone else?

Edit: scratch that. Working again. I think the login servers went down for a bit

[Lilgnomy]

Has anyone got a beta key, I might even buy it, or trade it for something else?