No, I do not think that the pre-set messages will help because not everyone uses them. (Edit: Someone told me that you can’t even use the chat wheel to communicate if auto-muted.) So, if I’m unlucky enough to get an automatically muted person, my team is already at a disadvantage. Sure, this can be easily solved if you always queue with five, as are many problems in Dota 2. But, this is not an option for everyone.

Putting them in a timeout in the low priority MM pool is a greater deterrent than automatically muting them. It can be argued that neither make any difference if they just decide to use an alternate account. But, putting them in low priority at least bothers those who care about their BP and in-game drops, not to mention doesn’t put us in a horrible position.

It seems that this new change wasn’t thought out that well. I haven’t met a person who supports it. It also is strange to allow the auto-muted person is the captain in CM games or simply play CM games at all. This came to my attention in this thread.

Does anyone agree or would you rather be subject to the possibility of a completely silent teammate even if you haven’t violated any rules?  If you agree, please feel free to show your support for this Dota 2 Dev forum thread, as well as share experiences about it.

I have faith that Valve will adjust accordingly, but am disappointed that this was implemented in the first place.

Make sure that it is a “Co-Op Bot Match” under “Matchmaking”, NOT “Private Games”. This is highlighted in the picture below.

1. 4 human teammates + you

Even if you are playing alone or in a party, it will match you up to team WITH other humans to play against five other bots. Only “All Pick” is available in this mode. You can still select which server and the bot difficulty. If you are introducing Dota 2 to friends, this is a good mode to use. Giving them an experience of earning battle points and items can be fun. The only downside is possibly having some rude random people flaming your friends. If you want them completely sheltered until they are hooked, private games might be the way to go.

2. Bot opponents

It is 100% playing against bots. So, if you want to play against people, don’t use this mode. Having said that, I feel that the “unfair” bots are better than 50% of players. XD

3. Earn battle points

Unlike private games, you can earn battle points in this mode. Why would you want to do that? Battle points increase you overall “Dota 2″ level. Each time your Dota 2 level increases, you get a guaranteed item drop. (If you are new to Dota 2, these battle points have nothing to do with game play.

4. Possible item drops

Just like playing in regular MM games, you have a chance to get some items after the game ends. I’m not sure if it is a lower or higher chance. My guess is that it’s the same, but I could be wrong.

FYI, I often face high ping when playing. To SEA, I normally get 90+.  To US West, 230+. To US East/EU West, 330+. Sometimes more. The good thing is that it’s normally okay since I play support. I wonder how well I would perform if I had lower latency though. Hmm. o.O!

Thought I’d share a couple more thoughts on these points. I kept it short for the pic.

1.  Watching in-game or streams

Great tournaments are definitely interesting, especially if you’ve got awesome casters covering it. Also do check out some streams of your favourite players or community peeps. On this note, I really do intend on streaming my casual sessions again and have a little project up my sleeve. Something fresh. =)

2. Play support

Playing support isn’t as easy as some people think, especially if those people rarely or never play support. Even if you play carry 99.9% of the time, it’s a good time to understand the issues that supports have… from being underlevel, super poor, super slow or unable to deward/ward alone. It’s even harder when you solo queue and have a bunch of people who don’t know each other. XD

3. Practice/learn other heroes in bot MM games

Btw, yes you do get Battle Points and item drops from “Co-op bot matches”. This is five people against five bots, but different from a custom game. You do not get item drops from custom games. These games are pretty easy, unless you’re fairly new to the game or solo queuing and end up with people who are new to the game. The plus side is that there is no annoying troll opponents who are bad mannered. A hidden plus is that you might discover some hidden gems of talented gamers who are new to Dota 2, but can pick it up really easy. If that doesn’t entice you, you might make some of these new players’ day by giving them some useful tips (if they want and accept them).

4. Play fun modes with friends in custom games

You know those friends you’d rather not play with often because your probability of winning with them is 0.01% or as much as you adore them as your friend, they rage like a rabid dog when they die once (even when you’ve got a huge advantage)? Now might be a good time to sneak in a few games with them so they don’t feel neglected. XD Hopefully, losing won’t matter as much because there are no stats in custom games. =)

5. Try other games
I LOVE Dota 2 and it’s my main game. But, there are tons of other awesome games out there as well. For instance, I enjoy SC2 and have recently played The Walking Dead. Having a few games you’re really into is great because if the server is down for one, you can play the other! You get to make more friends! If you’re looking to work in the gaming industry, even if you’re dying to work for a specific publisher, knowing more about games is a plus.

When I tried in a bot game, I had 45ms instead of the normal 90ms to SEA from Hong Kong. But, I have been hearing nothing but increased delay including from people in Singapore. Let’s be patient. =)

I sincerely hope that it can be returned to the same or improved latency earlier than expected. My biggest concern is how this will impact teams in certain countries within the region if it doesn’t at least return to what it was before by tomorrow. Although it might affect many teams from different countries, it has a larger impact on countries that experience a higher jump. For example, while those in Singapore might jump from 30 to 200, those in the Philippines might have to adjust from 90-200 to 200-500. While I’m an advocate for being able to play games even with 200 or even 300+ ms, I don’t think these are the best conditions for competitive play with money, invitations and sponsorship on the line.

Let’s cross our fingers and hope that things are smoother for everyone tomorrow! ^_^ If not, I hope that tournament organisers will consider the situation and be flexible.

With the new chests out, people have been asking if I’m looking for them. Yes, thanks for asking!

I am accepting the Treasure of Rarities and Treasure of Cursed Wood. I want to be clear that I will not be doing a donor raffle like last month. This time, it will be just like normal, with some of the items going into my regular pool of prizes.

The special donor-only raffle was a special surprise. I believe that kind people who do things without any expectation of anything in return is awesome. They definitely deserve special surprises every now and then. =)

Please only give them to me if you don’t really want them. They look like this.

You can find me in my dpmlicious Steam Group chat.

Update! Jeff Reyes kindly gave me a Rarities chest! I haven’t opened it yet. I want more before I open them together. XD

For those interested in my personal experience of this giveaway, my intention was to randomly make some people’s days as well as strengthen friendships through their sharing of the prize. I was hoping that such an action could lead to another positive action to another stranger. I always hope that people will donate time and/or money to charity if they are lucky. Honestly, I expect the majority not to know or even care about my goals. I am hoping that it made this kind of impact to at least one person.
My biggest disappointment was when someone blatantly joined with the intention of selling the prize. While I am glad it brought happiness in a certain way, the chance of watching great plays in-game was taken away from someone who would not have gotten that access in another way. In hindsight, if I want to make sure that I can help this particular group of people, I should use a different method of entry and selection. Also, I definitely should try to think of things well beforehand rather than on the day itself. =)

Here is to more events! ^_^

Wishing everyone a lovely weekend! I was just thinking about how watching G-League is the highlight of my weekend. I want to bring this in-game experience to others. Instead of just picking one platform, I’m making it possible for anyone with internet access to have a chance, rather than just Facebook or Twitter.

Watching streams is definitely fun and I recommend anyone with Dota TV tickets to watch streams between games! But, we have to admit that being able to check anything you want and watching player perspectives is a huge perk. Don’t forget the item drops!

If you can already afford a ticket, it would be great if you don’t join and give others a chance to win. I do hope that the winners will consider to donate time or money to charity. I’m all about spreading more joy.

It’s pretty easy to join. Here are the details! One way to join is by replying to this blog post with:

1. Why you want to watch G-League.

2. Your Steam URL.

3. Friend’s Steam URL.

If you don’t win one, don’t fret because the streams are bound to be REALLY awesome!

Image from Valve’s Official Dota 2 Blog

Better price stability for buyers
By providing it at a fixed price, buyers can obtain it without worrying about its trade market value. They don’t need to rush to buy it, regret missing out on an earlier cheaper deal or feel bad if its value decreases.

The current situation makes it possible for traders to hoard rare items and heavily influence the market by limiting the supply. It sometimes might get worse if they are successful in manipulating the prices. For example, a trader once told me that he was even buying and selling TI2 couriers to himself to jack up the price. In a matter of months, the courier jumped from something like USD 100 to USD 200.

More income and stability for artists

Artists do not have the same opportunity to earn if we keep all items at a relative price to each other. There is a market for luxury items in Dota 2. By keeping all prices low in the store, we are not keeping it low for everyone who wants an item and traders benefit the most from this.

Instead, we should allow artists to tap into different markets of buyers to reap the benefits, rather than benefits ending up with someone who simply had the money and patience to hoard tons of items.

More income and stability for communities and event organizers

Since some communities and event organizers have been and probably will produce more store items, they will also benefit from tapping into another market.

As a person who has seen the community and organizing side of things, a constant flow of income to continue great work is hard to come by. Additional income is much needed, rather than relying on sponsorship and investments.

Sustainability of continued development and improvement of Dota 2

Dota 2 is a free-to-play game. You don’t need to spend money at all. While Valve has deep pockets, we surely understand that they need to cover the costs, as well as make it worth their time. Valve is one of my favorite companies and I love how they work. I look forward to seeing more improvements in Dota 2 and other games.

I believe that there will always be free items and a wide price range available when it comes to items. I do not think all items will suddenly become more expensive.

Overall improvement to the eSports and gaming communities

Tapping into an existing market to make more for development, as well as provide more sustainability to artists, organizers and communities helps more than just Dota 2 and Valve. It is a successful and much more sustainable business model for both the game developer and involved communities. Besides that, Dota 2 and Valve are paving the way for gaming to be more respectable.

In a nutshell, Valve is simply acknowledging that there is an existing demand for higher-priced and more complicated products. They are taking advantage of this market to benefit everyone. Rather than leaving it untapped and that money going into the pockets of traders, rather than artists, organizers, communities or Valve itself to strengthen Dota2, eSports and the gaming community.

Where I think Valve can improve on in the area of items is supporting more contests and giveaways with these amazing items. We had very little to offer back in DotA days. It would be an awesome way to give talented/lucky people a chance to get an item they can’t afford. It also helps promote the gaming community that is running it.

Now, on the details of how many changes “Arcana” rarity should have, I haven’t looked into changes it makes yet. But this is a separate issue from whether there should be items that are higher-priced.

YouTube video of iceiceice playing (By noobfromua)

In the midst of people asking for items or asking if they could get an item for one chest they won’t use anyway, there have always been kind friends who gladly give me the chests they delete or won’t use anyway. I thought it was about time I randomly give back. It is not meant to be as an incentive to give me chests in the future, but purely a reward for the generosity displayed this time.

For those wondering, I do not need any chests at the moment. In the future, new treasure chest donations are welcome, but please don’t do it because you are expecting something back. Only do it if you really don’t need or won’t use them.

For those wondering why I needed so many chests, I like to open them to get things to giveaway in raffles and mini events. Getting a chance to get a cute courier, is simply a bonus because it’s honestly cheaper to just trade for those directly.

Below are the 29 winners of the 43 prizes. Eight of them were given to viewers of the live draw on my stream.

Hope these items have found happy homes. ^_^

Want to win this donkey? =)

What is your favourite thing about GosuGamers? Get a chance to win a Dota 2 Donkey Courier plushie (w/o Zonkey).

Just reply to the Facebook event post to answer the question. Only reply ONCE or you will be disqualified. The winner will be selected randomly, so you can be completely honest and not worry about your answer! Cut-off time will be Dec 24 at 6pm +8GMT.

An in-game Zonkey will also be given! Selection method is a surprise! ^_^

Surprise Prize!