**Gameplay-Update 7.35d und neue Funktionen für die Spielsuche**
Das neue Gameplay-Update 7.35d ist jetzt verfügbar (Chen hat es verdient). Außerdem wurde eine Reihe neuer Funktionen hinzugefügt.
Überarbeitetes Bannen von Helden für die Spielsuche Im Laufe des letzten Jahres haben wir eine Vielzahl von konkreten Maßnahmen gegen Nutzer von Drittanbieter-Cheats ergriffen. Bei der Überprüfung jedes einzelnen Cheats versuchen wir in erster Linie zu verstehen, was dieser bewirkt und wie wir den Cheat aufspüren bzw. unterbinden können. Gleichzeitig fragen wir uns aber auch, warum sich manche Betrüger überhaupt dazu veranlasst sehen, solche Werkzeuge zu benutzen. In den meisten Fällen geht es den Betrügern schlicht darum, sich einen unfairen Vorteil zu verschaffen, was natürlich den Interessen der Dota-Community und dem zugrundeliegenden Gedanken der Wettkampfintegrität und der Fairness zuwiderläuft. Nichtsdestotrotz stoßen wir manchmal auf Dinge, aus denen wir lernen und die wir dazu nutzen können, das Spielerlebnis für alle Dota-Spieler zu verbessern (oder zumindest für diejenigen, die nicht wegen Cheats ausgeschlossen wurden).
Das Bannen von Helden vor dem Beginn einer Partie ist ein Beispiel dafür: Im vergangenen Jahr zielten viele Cheats darauf ab, während der zehn Sekunden der Heldenbannphase einen Vorteil zu erlangen. Wir haben uns die ursprünglichen Ziele dieser Phase vor Augen geführt; nämlich den Spielern die Möglichkeit zu geben, ihre Präferenzen bezüglich der Helden zu äußern, gegen die sie nicht spielen wollen, ohne jedoch Spieler, die nur mit wenigen Helden vertraut sind, in diesem Szenario zu benachteiligen. Unter Berücksichtigung der verfügbaren Daten haben wir uns anschließend die Frage gestellt, ob es eine Möglichkeit gibt, wie wir die genannten Ziele besser erreichen und gleichzeitig andere Probleme lösen können. Mit dem heutigen Update haben wir die Bannphase zu Beginn einer Partie entfernt und durch die in Ihrem Dota-Account gespeicherten Bannpräferenzen ersetzt. Im Tab „Helden“ können Sie bis zu vier Helden auswählen, gegen die Sie in Ihren Partien nicht spielen wollen. Wenn Sie einer Partie über die Spielsuche beitreten, wird garantiert mindestens einer dieser Helden gebannt. Sie können die Liste der Helden mit Bannpräferenz jederzeit ändern. (Falls Sie Plätze für Heldenbanns leer lassen, ist es möglich, dass einer dieser leeren Plätze als Ihr „zu bannender Held“ ausgewählt wird. Mit anderen Worten: Wenn Sie die Plätze leer lassen, können Sie die Bannphase nicht mehr beeinflussen.)
Das neue System behebt eine Reihe von Problemen: Erstens, Spieler vergessen nicht mehr zu bannen. Zweitens, vorgeschlagene Banns können nicht mehr vom Spiel ignoriert werden. Und drittens, eine zeitgebundene und somit stressige Entscheidung entfällt, denn die Wahl der Spieler fällt oft meist auf dieselben Helden. Darüber hinaus wird es nun unmöglich, Helden basierend auf den Daten einer abgeschlossenen Partie gezielt zu bannen, egal ob diese von bekannten Persönlichkeiten oder zufälligen Spielern gespielt werden.
Einige Spielmodi (z. B. Captains Mode, Captains Draft, Ability Draft und Turbo) verfügen entweder wie bisher über keine Bannphase oder nutzen von diesem Standard abweichende Bannregeln. Diese Modi bleiben von den Änderungen unberührt.
Spielkoordinator-Analyse vor Beginn einer Partie (für Dota Plus) Millionen Dota-Spieler interagieren täglich mit dem Spielkoordinator und jeder Einzelne hat andere Prioritäten bei der Suche nach einer Partie. Einige Spieler ziehen es vor, Zeit zu sparen und so schnell wie möglich einer Partie beizutreten, und nehmen deshalb eine höhere Abweichung des Spielvermögens in Kauf. Andere hingegen legen Wert darauf, dass jede Partie perfekt ausbalanciert ist, und nehmen längere Wartezeiten in Kauf, um gute Chancen auf eine möglichst enge Partie zu erhalten. Wieder andere interessieren sich weniger für das Spielvermögen der anderen Spieler als vielmehr für deren Persönlichkeit und Verhalten im Spiel.
Wir wollten schon lange eine Funktion entwickeln, die es den Spielern ermöglicht, Partien zu finden, die besser zu ihren individuellen Präferenzen passen. Bisherige Versuche stießen auf zwei Hauptprobleme: Erstens: Spieler sind vielleicht gut darin, anderen Menschen ihre Präferenzen mitzuteilen, jedoch gelingt ihnen das weniger gut, wenn der Adressat ein komplexer Algorithmus zur Spielsuche ist („Ich schätze eine Abweichung des Spielvermögens von 13 % mehr als der durchschnittliche Dota-Spieler“). Wie können wir also Werkzeuge schaffen, mit denen die Spieler ihre Präferenzen einfach und direkt ausdrücken können? Zweitens: Änderungen am Spielkoordinator wirken sich auf alle Dota-Spieler aus, deshalb ist Vorsicht geboten. Der Spielkoordinator versucht stets, ein Gleichgewicht zwischen den Präferenzen der einzelnen Spieler und der generellen Spielbarkeit von Dota herzustellen. (Wenn Dota-Partien schlecht verlaufen, sei es aufgrund extremer Abweichungen des Spielvermögens oder schlechtem Spielerverhalten, dann ist das generell schlecht für die Dota-Community. Wenn alle Partien perfekt ausbalanciert verlaufen, aber es jeweils drei Stunden dauert, die passenden Spieler zu finden, wäre das ebenfalls schlecht.) Ändern wir die Funktionen für den Spielkoordinator für alle Spieler gleichzeitig, riskieren wir einen Zusammenbruch der Spielsuche. Und wenn das passiert, zerstören wir Dota. Wie können wir also neue Funktionen für den Spielkoordinator einführen und herausfinden, wie sie in der Praxis funktionieren, während wir das Risiko für Dota insgesamt gering halten?
Yuragi headlines new NAVI rosterAfter three years spent at OG, Yuragi heads back home and joins Natus Vincere.
Artem "Yuragi" Golubiev made his competitive debut at the beginning of 2020 playing through the Eastern Europe region. A year later he was scouted and recruited by OG, who were passing the torch from the back to back TI Champions to a new generation of players. Along with Bozhidar "bzm" Bogdanov and Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf, Yuragi was at the foundation of OG’s fresh start.
Through his three year stay with the organisation, Yuragi claimed with OG his first Major title and first victories in international events. He was moved to an inactive position last month as the team was preparing for DreamLeague Season 22.
The next season of DreamLeague will find Yuragi at Natus Vincere, as the Ukrainian organisation announced him as their new carry. In under ten days, NAVI will compete for a spot at DreamLeague Season 23 with two new players joining their ranks. Along with Yuragi, NAVI have also welcomed aboard Sukhbat "sanctity-" Otgondavaa, a young mid laner who made himself noticed at Lilgun during the Dota Pro Circuit leagues and more recently at IHC Esports.
“With these signings, we plan not only to strengthen our Dota 2 roster but also to adjust the club’s strategic development vector towards the gradual formation of an international roster, as well as changing the language of communication to English,” said Amiran "ami" Rekhviashvili, NAVI Head of Esports.
Natus Vincere roster
Artem “Yuragi” Golubiev Sukhbat “Sanctity-” Otgondavaa Dmytro “Nefrit” Tarasych Bakyt “Zayac” Emilzhanov Arman “Malady” Orazbayev Coach: Vitaliy “Sword_Art” Petkin
NAVI’s new roster will make its debut on March 16 in the DreamLeague Season 2023 open qualifiers.
**Dota 2 pros unable to play ranked after losing smurf privileges**
Professional Dota 2 players have started losing access to their smurf accounts, preventing them from playing ranked matches, an issue that Seleri and Ace brought up on X (formerly Twitter.) Gaimin Gladiators’ two-star players planned to play a ranked game together as practice, but they couldn’t due to the queue times exceeding 90 minutes to find a ranked match. A couple of months ago, this would be an activity that they could easily do with their smurf accounts, which had lower MMR. Since Jan. 15, Valve has banned an SA Dota 2 star in the middle of DreamLeague qualifiers due to breaching account sharing and smurfing guidelines. The associated Dota 2 roster was also dropped by their organization, while ESL also made ruling changes to back up Valve’s stance on smurfing . Following these events, Valve banned almost all professional Dota 2 players’ smurf accounts, as the developer wanted all players to own a single account.
While a small minority of the pro-player scene disagreed with the decisions, others were happy to oblige, but the negative impacts of the new smurfing guidelines started to show up. Even if the top professional players decide to play solo, it can take longer than 40 minutes to find a match. This mainly happens because there tend to be around 10 to 15 high-ranked players looking for a match at most times. When only 10 players get into a high-level match, the remaining pool of players has to wait for a match to finish unless the matchmaking system can find 10 people to start a second match. In other competitive games that share the same faith, in-house leagues and solutions like FaceIt often save the day for professional players.
These systems allow pros to gather and host games amongst themselves, and they were also a part of the Dota 2 pro ecosystem in the mid-2010s. However, based on Dot Esports knowledge of these in-house leagues, most of these organizations only remained live for a couple of months before they were deserted due to drama or players still valuing their MMR and preferring to play ranked matches instead.
**Azure Ray New Dota 2 Roster Leaked, Official Announcement Soon?**
Following the conclusion of ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023, Azure Ray saw a major roster change. Three of its players — Guo "Xm" Hongcheng, Lin "Xxs" Jing, and Zhao "XinQ" Zixing — transferred to Xtreme Gaming. As a result, the ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 champion team was notably lacking three players and needed replacements.
English Dota 2 commentator Benjamin "Bkop" Kopilow recently took to X to confirm the new Azure Ray roster. According to Bkop, the three new players for Azure Ray reportedly are Zeng "Ori" Jiaoyang, Zhang "Faith_bian" Ruida, and Xu "fy" Linsen.
Notably, in an earlier statement, Lin "planet" Hao, who is currently on the inactive roster of LGD Gaming, reportedly said that Zhang "Faith_bian" Ruida and Xu "fy" Linsen would be joining Azure Ray while stating the mid laner was a streamer.
Azure Ray’s Roster Allegedly Complete
On 30th December, English Dota 2 commentator Bkop tweeted that the new Azure Ray roster was complete and laid out the rumored five-man team in front the community.
According to Bkop, the roster is as follows:
Lou "Lou" Zhen
Zeng "Ori" Jiaoyang
Zhang "Faith_bian" Ruida
Xu "fy" Linsen
Jiang "天命" An
**Valve literally gift-wrapped its permanent bans for Dota 2 players this Frostivus**
Some Dota 2 players are receiving a special gift from Valve as part of the game’s current Frostivus holiday event: a thoughtful, gift-wrapped, permanent ban from playing Dota 2.
As forewarned by Dota 2’s latest patch notes and the Frostivus 2023 event page, players are receiving a special seasonal reward called a Frostivus Gift in their armory during Valve’s holiday event. Some players will receive free cosmetic items, while others will receive bans from the game for smurfing or sharing accounts. (Smurfing refers to creating a new account to play against low-level players, or intentionally losing to derank into matches with lower-level players.)
The unwelcome version of that special Frostivus surprise is a Highly Toxic Lump of Coal that informs players they won’t be playing Dota 2 this holiday season, or any holiday season. Some players are receiving temporary bans as warnings to correct their in-game behavior.
The most high-profile incident of a permanent ban is former pro Dota 2 player and two-time The International competitor Mason “mason” Venne, who streamed the opening of his Frostivus Gift on Twitch on Thursday. The surprise inside? No more Dota 2 for Venne. As seen in the clip above, Venne’s Highly Toxic Lump of Coal informs him that he’s been banned for “Smurfing, or other violations of the Steam Terms of Service.” Venne immediately tries to test that ban, which he clearly cannot believe, and is rebuffed by Steam matchmaking and Valve Anti-Cheat. He later took to the Dota 2 subreddit to defend himself and explain why he thinks he might’ve gotten banned, but also admits wrongdoing in the form of behavior score boosting. He says he’s reached out to Valve to file a support ticket, hoping for leniency.
Valve rolled out changes to Dota 2’s behavior score system earlier this year, adding a separate communication score which “reflects the quality of their in-game chat and speech interactions.”
Other players have also brought their ban messages, in the form of receiving lumps of coal, to the Dota 2 subreddit to vent and gloat.
**LGD Gaming finishes Dota 2 rebuild with Emo and Pyw, leaves one big question mark**
China’s most dominant organization has finished its most recent roster shuffle, completing a drastic set of changes that saw two players exit the starting lineup and the veteran duo of Emo and Pyw fill those spots.
But that still leaves one big question hanging over LGD Gaming—Will Xiao8 return to coach this altered squad?
Despite notching the organization’s record sixth top-three finish at an iteration of The International, LGD did not just want to run things back for the 2024 season. On Nov. 11, the team transferred star midlaner NothingToSay to Invictus Gaming, leaving its captain y’ as the only player to have been with the team for multiple TI appearances.
It took a few weeks before the team made its next move, but now management has brought in former Invictus Gaming players Emo and Pyw. Both are veterans in the Chinese scene—though they only have a combined three TI appearances between them, none of which while they were on the same team. Pyw only joined iG midway through last season while Emo has almost exclusively played for the organization or one of its subsidiary rosters since entering the competitive scene in 2017. To make this move work, LGD has also shifted its Lin “planet” Hao to the offlane less than a year after the team signed him away from EHOME.
**Team Secret has finalized the formation of its Dota 2 roster**
The European esports organization Team Secret has finalized its Dota 2 roster in anticipation of the upcoming competitive season. Previously, the team parted ways with the midlaner from the Philippines, Armel "Armel" Tabios, and the offlaner from Indonesia, Saieful "Fbz" Ilham.
The new lineup includes players from Malaysia and the Czech Republic, Yeik "MidOne" Nai Zheng and Miroslav "BOOM" Bičan, respectively. MidOne spent the last two and a half years playing for World Team SMG, while BOOM played for the mix team World Team Tickles in the last couple of months.
Both players have been part of Team Secret before: MidOne represented the club from 2016 to 2019, and BOOM defended the team's colors from December 2022 to June 2023. They will take the second and third positions in the roster, respectively. Additionally, Team Secret has also changed its coach.
Just a reminder, Team Secret secured the fourth spot in the Western European qualifiers for The International 2023 and did not qualify for the main Dota 2 tournament of the year, held in Seattle.
The updated roster of Team Secret:
Netherlands, NL: Remco "Crystallis" AretsMalaysia: Yeik "MidOne" Nai ZhengCzech Republic, CZ: Miroslav "BOOM" BičanRussia, RU: Daniil "yamich" LazebnyEstonia, EE: Clement "Puppey" IvanovMalaysia: Tue "ah fu" Soon Chuan (coach)
New TL leader Zai embraces ‘carrying the torch’ left by MATUMBAMAN and his huge personality
Oct 16, 2023 10:01 pm DOTA 2New TL leader Zai embraces ‘carrying the torch’ left by MATUMBAMAN and his huge personality
He's left big boots to fill.
Alex TsiaoussidisImage via Valve
Zai, famously known for being one of the more soft-spoken Dota 2 pros, has taken on a new challenge this year: he’s become Team Liquid’s second-in-command, a position that opened up when MATUMBAMAN retired last year, and he’s thriving. Dota 2 veteran MATUMBAMAN was always known for consistently playing well and being reliable, but Zai believes his real strength was being a great leader behind the scenes. With him gone, the Dota 2 roster felt his absence. The team needed a new leader to help Insania, and Zai, with the most experience, stepped up to help.
“The role Matu kind of figured out for himself towards the end of his tenure is something I have kind of carried that torch a little bit this year I think. Kind of stepping into a leadership kind of role,” he said during an interview at The International 2023 yesterday. The role isn’t just about playing well. It also means having a say in team drafts, making sure everyone understands and executes the plan before, during, and after games, and keeping the whole team focused. It’s something MATUMBAMAN was very good at, and that role loomed as a gap in the team after he retired.
Today, Zai is trying to follow in his footsteps.
**CAN TOPSON WIN A THIRD TI WITH TUNDRA ESPORTS?**
After his short stint with Old G and failing to even make it out of the Division 2, Topson is back in the big leagues boys. He made it into the International 12 (TI12) after a rather unimpressive Season in 2023, but now becomes part of the second most favored roster in the power rankings.
**SETTING UP THE STAGE**
It has been a year since Topson returned to competitive Dota 2. Last time, he joined forces with former OG teammate, Anathan “ana” Pham, at last year’s TI with the Southeast Asian team, T1. However, the attempt was unsuccessful as T1 failed to beat the competition at TI11 Last Chance Qualifiers.
Back than, Topson stated that there was no strong leadership that he’s used to like in team OG.
After those failed qualifiers, he returned to his home region, Western Europe, in search of like-minded players. Old G was hyped up as the return of TI8-9 OG roster that became the first two-time champion in Dota 2 history but quickly died down after underwhelming results.
**TOPSON IN TUNDRA ESPORTS**
Fast forward to the disband of Old G, fans thought it was the last of Topson’s journey to TI12. But, with Martin “Saksa” Sazdov going on a hiatus from Tundra Esports, there was a vacant slot for Topson to fill.
Tundra Esports is an incredible team, being one of the Big Four WEU in Dota Pro Circuit 2023 (DPC 2023). Hence, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Topson is in very good hands. There are concerns about how Topson will fit into Tundra’s line-up.
Saksa was the pos-4 support player of Tundra Esports, which without any role shuffle, means Topson will have to pick up that role himself. Considering how the three carry players of Tundra Esports are already ingrained as cores, it’s bewildering even to think that Tundra would let Topson have his signature role as a mid-player.
Well, as it turns out, Tundra will do just that.
Leon “nine” Kirilin has reportedly been playing the support role, which will surely be a transition. However, Saksa’s immense contribution to Tundra Esports’ synergy and playmaking will not be easy to replicate, even by the likes of a TI11 Champion.
**Dota 2's latest update gives you new tools to filter out jerks**
Dota 2 summer update is out now, and among its many additions are several designed to make "Dota a better place to play, together." It includes a "dislike" button that lets you filter out people you'd rather not play with in future, a new reporting system, real-time review of toxic chat, and more.
The most interesting of the new features is what Valve are calling personalised matchmaking. You have long been able to commend players for good behaviour in Dota, but now those commendations will make it more likely you'll encounter that player again in future matches. Likewise, the new "dislike" button makes players less likely to show up via matchmaking.
"There can be a big difference between players you'd prefer not to play with, and players who are outright toxic. Dota’s new reporting system will let you report Toxic Chat, Toxic Voice, Smurfing, Griefing, Cheating and Role Abuse," says the summer update site. The new system also removes the cap on reports, and allows you to report players on either team, both during and after matches.
If you do report toxic chat during a match, "that chat will be analyzed in real-time," says the site. If the toxicity is confirmed, then the offending player will have their voice and chat "muted for all players immediately, and for the remainder of the game." I'd love to know how the chat is being analysed, but the post doesn't say.
The update's other major feature is a new armory, which gives you new ways to explore Dota 2's vast inventory of items, "from buying and selling to previewing and equipping." It now lets you do things like demo cosmetic item combinations, like trying on clothes before you buy them.
Earlier this year, Valve made the decision to ditch Dota 2's battle pass in favour of smaller, more regular updates. This seems like that plan continuing to produce results.