Winter Battle Pass: Our Lunar New Year Present

For those who are new to the blog, or do not otherwise know, Kris and I are pretty much nuts for the computer game that is Dota 2. Whilst some of our colleagues and Ultimate friends have been doing things as extravagant as going skiing and visiting other countries, we have spent the majority of our holiday in our apartment fervently playing as many games of Dota 2 as possible. A large reason for this is a recent piece of content that was released for the game: the Winter Battle Pass.

As is evident from the name, the Winter Battle Pass is a temporary addition to the game, lasting only for the season of winter. There have been similar content to the Battle Pass that have been released for the past few seasons, but none have been as well-received by the community.

Essentially, the Winter Battle Pass costs $8, and gives the player access to content that is unique to holders of the pass. Unlike other games that hold significant content behind a paywall, the Winter Battle Pass does not in any way affect a player’s chances to win the game by altering stats or adding new playable characters or the like. All of the heroes in Dota are available to every player, and the only thing differentiating a person who is just learning the game and someone who has played for years is the knowledge and skills that the player picks up by playing. So, what does the Winter Battle Pass offer to the players of the otherwise free-to-play game in return for their money? Hats. Sweet, sweet hats.

Sometimes bears just want to be cowboys (this set was eventually removed from the store for violating the core aesthetic of the hero)

Whilst no amount of money can give you an in-game advantage, it can buy you cosmetic items to make your hero look cooler, prettier, or of a different style. The Winter Battle Pass allows players to complete in-game quests in the attempt to gain levels and, thereby, hats. Previous incarnations of the Battle Pass idea have been far less well-received, as they were a little more money-grabby and a little less sensitive to what the community wanted. The hats-to-money ratio was out of whack. But the current Battle Pass has struck the right balance between keeping Valve’s investors happy and the community playing as many games as possible in order to complete their challenges.

The pass has been so successful that the average number of players at any one time has risen over 2.5% since the Pass came out. At the peak time in the last month, there have been more than 1.1 million people playing Dota at one time, almost equalling the record numbers for the game from last year in March. Whilst this may not be anywhere near the numbers flaunted by Dota’s main competitor, League of Legends, the growth is encouraging.

So, Kris and I have been holed up in our little apartment, playing game after game in our hunt for pretty hats. I have raged a little, leading to a small domestic dispute, but I have promised to be better. We stopped. Then we started again. Because hats.

Relax, Take it Easy

For the first time in may weeks, Kristen and I do not have any plans for the weekend, apart from doing as little as possible. This came about through sad means – the playoffs for ROK-U (the Ultimate league we have been participating in) were cancelled due to rain. Nevertheless, we have endeavoured to and shall continue to strive to make the most (or least, depending on your perspective) of our weekend off.

This relaxing weekend came at a welcome time – the new schedule at work (with 20 minutes of additional class time for kindergarten) has meant that we come home more exhausted than we have before. Kris fell asleep at about 9 p.m. three times this week, before waking up a couple of hours later and struggling to get a good night’s sleep after that. I have had less trouble, because I am a light sleeper by nature and I have had writing due on most of the evenings this week.

It felt good to wake up at 9 a.m. (still not that late, but later than we have done for a long while) and proceed to stay in bed until 3 p.m., watching Big Hero 6 and Dota streams. It felt nice to not have to leave the house to fulfill any obligations. While today may be winding down, we still have tomorrow to look forward to.

Writing this post was the only thing I really had to do today, and it feels nice to not have pressure weighing on my mind. I most certainly would rather be on a field trying my damnedest to win a game of Ultimate, but I am also enjoying the alternative. What will tomorrow bring? Maybe a board games meetup with friends, maybe simply many games of Dota and more sloth. I look forward to every moment of relaxation, regardless of what form it takes. Have a lovely weekend, everyone.

Betrayal!

I played League of Legends for the first time yesterday. And I enjoyed it. As someone who was raised on DotA and then DotA2, this is considered a form of high treason, punishable by death or permanent low priority. Nevertheless, it happened. League was fun, and there are many differences between League and DotA2, and I thought I’d share the ones that struck me the most: the good, the bad, and the plain weird. I have only played about six games against actual humans, so this is by no means a comprehensive, in-depth comparison between the two games. These simply some of one guy’s first impressions on a game quite similar to a game that he has put thousands of hours into.

Firstly, the things I liked about League. The process from first signing up, picking an appropriate (or inappropriate) summoner name to playing against real live humans took only a couple of games against computer-controlled characters. DotA2 has an extensive tutorial that needs to be completed, and then bot games, and then only can one try to defeat prepubescent boys who speak a different language than you. To a new player, this may be a detracting factor from starting to play DotA2.

The reason that League can do this is the second reason I enjoyed jumping into League: it has a lower overall skill requirement. I am not saying that it is easier overall, or that there is no difference between skilled players and people who have never played a game in their life before, but the amount of skill required to go into a game and not single-handedly lose the game for your team is far lower in League than it is in DotA2. Sure, you may not win the game for your team, but you will not cause your first games to be hour-long visits to the house of feed and pain for your teammates.

Thirdly, League seems more whimsical. From ridiculous character skins to the more cartoony art style, League takes itself far less seriously than DotA2 does. While this may not be to my liking in the long run, there is something cool about playing a slightly insane teenage girl wielding a machine gun and rocket launcher, and this put a smile on my face in my first few hours of play.

Next, those things that I am currently ambivalent about, undecided, or haven’t encountered enough to make an informed judgement call on. In League, as you play more games, you level up and gain certain in-game benefits that would be inaccessible to new players. While this may allow for you to more intricately tweak your heroes (sorry, champions) into a bastard child of your own designing, it also means that there is some grinding necessary to unlock these. Coming from DotA2, where no matter how many games you have played, the only bonuses you get are shiny hats and more honed skills, this seems both intriguing and problematic.

The fact that there are over one hundred heroes (sorry, champions) in League, combined with a whole host of items, and then all of the summoner bonuses, I feel that it may make certain strategies or heroes imbalanced. Even in DotA2, without summoner abilities, the metagame (which heroes and strategies are played most consistently) is ever-changing.

This need for grinding encourages people to develop scripts with the sole purpose of sitting completely away from your computer and doing something else, meeting the minimum requirement to not be kicked from the game, simply to gain levels. This ruins games, and it happened to me a couple of times in my time playing League. Finally, the minimap is on the wrong side of the screen (for me). I’m sure I can easily change it, but what’s up with that?

Now, that which I disliked. Linked to the grinding above is the fact that not all of the heroes (can we just accept that I’m not going to get the terminology correct?) are available to all players at all times. There is a list of heroes which are available to everyone who plays League. The list changes regularly, so all heroes will go on the free rotation at some point. The rest being available in a store, purchasable with either in-game gold (gained by playing games) or real money. At first, I thought it was a good idea, allowing players to make tangible gains in the game simply from playing and doing well. Like a hero? You buy them, using the gold you earned while playing them during their free rotation. Also, having a limited pool of heroes forces you out of your comfort zone occasionally, which can help you improve your skills.

But then I thought about how certain heroes might be able to completely unchallenged by the free heroes, and stomp the games where people had not purchased the heroes that countered them. This kind of imbalance worried me, but not too much. It seemed like a little inconvenience. Sure, one day, you might be able to play most of the heroes every game. But not for a long time.

I disliked the fact that there is no in-game support for voice chat, only text input. Voice chat is so much quicker and more concise, and promotes greater communication. Sure, a good ping and a message can be great, but a simple ‘Careful.’ muttered by a teammate can more effectively prevent feeding. Not having support for it seems silly. We ended up Skyping a friend we were playing with in order to accomplish the same task as a feature built into DotA2.

However, the feature of League that I liked the least is the surrender option. In League, if 4 out of 5 players on the team (correct me if I’m wrong, League friends) vote to end the game, your ancient (sorry, nexus) will blow up and you will lose. The aim of this is to put you out of your misery if the enemy is using your team’s collective face as a doormat, and the game is not even close. In my experience, however, it was more often used when players had a poor early game experience, and simply wanted the game to end in order to move on to their next one. In DotA2, there is no surrender. Until an ancient explodes, it will continue. And you can continue to fight. And it is possible to come back. Comebacks from major deficits are some of my favourite memories in DotA2. With a surrender button, these are far less likely to happen. Stop voting for surrender and simply play the game.

Looking back, I see that I have only just touched the surface of the different experiences. I will undoubtedly play League more, and have more to say as I gain insight and experience. Do I prefer it to DotA2? Nope. It is a nice change, and being able to play with those friends in Korea that only play League is something I look forward to doing more. But my heart still lies in the never-ending battle between the Radiant and the Dire. Between Kunkka and Tidehunter. Between all of the heroes who I have spent inordinate amounts of time trying to master. In the words of Rubick, my favourite hero in DotA2: “Quickly! To the next battle!”.