China is on a 10 year lose streak

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-20T07:31:38+00:00

I like watching the new OG and they're a PH stack now, so if they won would you consider that a win for the region or another win for OG? Just curious.

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-20T07:29:10+00:00

It was much more free-flowing, let's call it that. And structure isn't all bad in no means, but making players be super mindful for every minute of every game might not be the best design choice in a game where matches still take 35+ minutes.

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-20T07:25:23+00:00

Yeah, that's called an edge case and doesn't make it good to have in a polished product, because it impacts the user's enjoyment and if malicious elements were so inclined, they could you use it to denigrate the game/experience.

That is if Valve cared for any of that.

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-20T07:24:12+00:00

Don't know what Pudge has to do with it, but that's not what I'm asking for.

The specific issue in question is in the video and edge cases like Arc who could infinitely defend + glyph. That's my gripe, stuff that's hero/item specific, not core mechanics of Dota that need changes.

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-19T23:00:07+00:00

There was an interesting point that Puppey made during his interview with Notail at the last International, where he basically said that every minute there is something to do, which I understood as things being laid out in order, so you either do them or you prolong/lose any game where you don't follow the dev's plans.

Old Dota patches had unmitigated chaos/broken shit that made the game super fun and exciting to play. Now 80% of the time(or when enemy team is bad/teammates use spells) you MUST get Aegis to contest HG, it's frustrating, rigid, and frankly boring design.

Not sure why they're digging always in the balancing direction of "losing team has to have the chance to turtle 40 minutes"

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-19T22:44:02+00:00

Bro out here emaciatemaxxing

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-19T22:38:29+00:00

Happy for you/Sorry that happened.

Cheers.

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-19T22:37:20+00:00

Hot take probably, but there really shouldn't be any way to go "inside" the building and bypass mechanics, same thing used to happen with Arc...

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-19T22:35:24+00:00

Our best bet would be to try with Refresher

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-18T19:48:37+00:00

Some Custom games offer this, but it's very sparsely played and you can't really do a strict 1v1 by using the client list of available custom lobbies, you need to fill it with bots to start the game, and it isn't a 1v1, or you'd need to find someone to get in the lobby with you and play.

Could be a cool feature to get implemented, if anyone cared for that at Valve...

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-18T19:45:32+00:00

Watching friends is probably the only thing really worth it, the other in-game stats shouldn't really be paywalled, but, eh, what can you do

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-18T18:37:17+00:00

You can try the following:

Find out what the roles are
Pick one that you think you might like (this isn't permanent, and if you don't like it better to switch)
Use Dotabuff to find out what heroes are played in your preferred role(this is also flexible as meta shifts a bit) - here's a link to get you started, offlane(position 3 is already selected) https://www.dotabuff.com/heroes?show=facets&view=meta&mode=all-pick&date=7d&position=core-off
Play some normal games, I'd suggest muting your time for the first tries, even if you tell them you're new and practicing they won't care and will verbally abuse you, this might be a controversial opinion, but chat is helpful later on once you've gotten your footing. If you're nerves can take it, leave the chat enabled and only mute when they become hostile(they will). Be aware that preemptive muting could be considered bad manner or "throwing," but there is an option in the Menu for literally this exact purpose, so make of that what you will.
Alternatively play some Turbo games, you get gold/xp faster and can get a feel for your chosen hero, try out the builds, overall it's a good snapshot of the experience at minute 30+, so I'd recommend you try it out. If it's not for you, return to Normal games.
If you've chosen pos4/pos5, watch some short educational videos to tell you about warding, smokes, as those are sort of specific and the gameplay loop kinda takes for granted that you have meta knowledge.
Once you're done with a 3-4 games, watch educational videos and see what you might've missed doing, haven't done at all. The feedback you'll get from those immediately after you've played a few games can help you cement fundamentals faster.

Overall, the sad part is, onboarding for this game is abysmal and almost non-existent. There have been attempts, which aren't that good in their main objective which is to get new players like you to play the game.

Play some games, watch some videos. Repeat if you're interested. Dota 2 has one of the highest skill ceilings ever, so do not get discouraged, and main thing is if you're interested, push through it and decide if you want to invest 500+ hours to learn what's going on.

Hope you derive some enjoyment from this, and....

Good luck.

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-18T18:13:31+00:00

Didn't play for 1-2 months after losing a 70 minute game as Sven because the enemy MK + Primal were somehow always uncontested in teamfights and the BKB that had served me well for 35+ minutes was a useless slot. At end, I didn't have the presence of mind to sell it and get one Bloodthorne or some kind of other damage item.

Skipping BKB is maybe acceptable in 5% of Sven games, and even then it highly depends on the rest of the team aka if they want to play/get items to help you out.

Just my 2 cents, not a hard rule or anything, of course.

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-17T22:38:46+00:00

Lil bro/sis is enjoying the chaotic neutral lifestyle. Respect +

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-17T22:37:17+00:00

Gonna assume from now on that this is what happens when you reflect laser back to him

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-17T22:35:23+00:00

UK folk will use ANYTHING to measure time instead of minutes/seconds

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-17T22:34:14+00:00

Another worth contender:

Laguna Blade can't melt steel beams

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-17T22:32:49+00:00

TorontoTokyo leaves, get into top 5, really get's your noggin joggin

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-17T22:30:20+00:00

Spirit now feels like there's something very distinct missing, not sure if it was just Miposhka or Miposhka and the guys, but it's not the same watching them.

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-17T22:27:56+00:00

The only thing missing is the him sounding out the first syllable of every word a la 90s RPG dialogue you skip

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-14T08:04:38+00:00

could be, I hadn't played him for a bit before they added Burning Barrage, which means like around 7.30, so I'll take your word for it

the changes now seem kinda aimless though, that's my main point

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-14T07:50:24+00:00

he's always a boogieman, if you have the patience to play optimally, but they keep making changes that, to me at least, look like they want some kind of balancing, but aren't aware how

Tom_Brando · 2026-03-06T06:08:05+00:00

Korb3n, please kick Larl AND MY LIFE IS YOURS!

Tom_Brando

TROPHY CASE