Gameplay
Dota 2 combines the real-time strategy element of traditional top-down perspective, while also incorporating the leveling and itemization system of arole-playing video game. Players are pitted against each other as two distinct factions called the Radiant and the Dire. The Radiant is a faction based at the southwest corner of the map, while the Dire is a faction based at the northeast corner. Players assume the role of a "hero" - a strategically-powerful unit with special skills, who, through combat experience, may progress to a maximum level of twenty-five.[5] The heroes' methods of combat are heavily influenced by their primary property, which can be physical strength, agility, or intelligence.[6]The basic setup of Dota 2 places two strongholds containing critical structures called "Ancient Fortresses" at opposing ends of an evenly balanced map. These bases are connected by three main paths (referred to as "lanes") which are guarded by defensive towers and constantly spawning waves of units which march from one side to another, combating the towers as well as each other along the way. Players are split into two teams, each consisting of up to five players, to compete as the primary defenders for each Ancient Fortress.[7]
The overall objective of each match is to battle through the opposing force's defenses, in order to arrive at and destroy the opponents' Ancient Fortress. Because Dota 2 is highly team-oriented, players must coordinate with their teams in order to achieve victory. The towers and stronghold defenses are invulnerable to attacks so long as the towers nearest to the enemy side still stand. Periodically, groups of weaker units commonly referred to as "creeps" are spawned, which move along their lane attacking any enemy unit or structure upon sight.
The currency of the game is gold, which is granted periodically, but typically accumulates at a more practical level by killing enemy units, which grants a distributed amount of gold to the killer's team, with the greater portion being retained by the killer themselves. A common technique utilized to prevent the opposing faction from accumulating gold from a kill is "denying", which constitutes killing an allied unit or destroying an allied structure and can be employed when the unit or structure it is about to be used on is close to death or destruction, respectively. Players also gain experience, which accumulates to gain higher levels. The greatest portion of gold and experience comes from destroying higher priority forces, such as enemy heroes and towers.[8]
Development
Concept
According to Valve's founder and managing director, Gabe Newell, Valve's investment in DotA was sparked from the collective interest of several veteran employees, including Team Fortress designer Robin Walker, programmer Adrian Finol and project manager Erik Johnson, who had attempted to partake in team play at a competitive level. As their interest in the game grew, they began corresponding with DotA's developer, IceFrog, over a series of emails, inquiring what long-term plans the scenario's developer had.[9]The emails eventually culminated in an invitation from Erik Johnson, offering IceFrog a tour of the company's facilities and as a result, claimed to have "hired him on the spot".[10] The first public notification regarding the development of Dota 2 was a blog post made by IceFrog, stating that he would be leading a team at Valve.[11] No official word was given until its official announcement on October 13, 2010, when the website of magazine Game Informer revealed specific details about the game and its development,[2] creating traffic on the website nearly to the extent of crashing their servers.[12] Later that day Valve released the official press release for the game.[13]Erik Johnson addressed the confusion over the written form of the brand name, citing it as "Dota," rather than "DotA," due to its increasing context as a concept, rather than an acronym for "Defense of the Ancients".[10]
Shortly following a Q&A by IceFrog on the website of Defense of the Ancients, elaborating on his recruitment by Valve, a trademark filing claim was made by the company on August 6, 2010.[14] Steve "Guinsoo" Feak, the original developer of the DotA Allstars variant and Steve "Pendragon" Mescon, both employees of Riot Games, expressed their concern that Valve should not maintain a trademark for the DotA name, due to their views that it should remain as a community asset. On August 9, 2010, Mescon filed an opposing trademark for "DOTA" on behalf of DotA-Allstars, LLC, a subsidiary of Riot Games, in order to "protect the work that dozens of authors have done to create the game".[15] Rob Pardo, the executive vice president of Blizzard Entertainment, the developer of Warcraft III, expressed a similar concern, explaining that the DotA name should remain within the Warcraft III community. Blizzard acquired DotA-Allstars, LLC from Riot Games in 2011, to enforce their claim as not only the creators of the World Editor, but to have the rights from the company that made a claim to the mod previously.[16] During the game's unveiling at Gamescom 2011, Gabe Newell explained Valve's perspective on acquring the trademark, which was that IceFrog desired to develop a direct sequel to DotA and that players would likely recognize it as such.[17] Blizzard filed an opposition against Valve in November 2011, citing the Warcraft III World Editorand their ownership of DotA-Allstars, LLC as a proper claim on the franchise.[16] On May 11, 2012, Blizzard and Valve announced that the dispute had been settled, with Valve retaining the rights to the term "Dota", while Blizzard would change the name of their map,Blizzard DOTA, to "Blizzard All-stars".[18]
Design
As the sequel to Defense of the Ancients, the development cycle of Dota 2 has been concentrated primarily upon fully transferring the aspects of its predecessor to the Source engine, as well as building upon the core gameplay. Dota 2 recreates the factions of theSentinel and the Scourge from Defense of the Ancients with the Radiant and the Dire, with cornerstone features of the characters' alignment reserved, while ultimately re-establishing the familiar qualities in a new form from Valve. Warcraft III composer Jason Hayes joined Valve to collaborate with Tim Larkin for developing Dota 2's musical score.[1] Character names, abilities, items, map design and other fine details remain virtually unchanged, but the integration of these features to the Source engine allows for continued, scaled development to bypass limitations from the Warcraft III World Editor. Further support for the competitive experience is developed through the use of Dota account matchmaking, which scales a player's automated placement in accordance to their estimated skill level. Non-computed and unranked practice matches are made available through the use of either human players, AI bots or solo games. In the debut Q&A, IceFrog stated that Dota 2 will serve as the long-term continuation of the mod, building upon the original gameplay without making too many significant core changes that may alter the overall experience.[10] According to Valve, the company contracted major contributors for DotA's popularity to assist in developing Dota 2, including the mod's original creator known as "Eul", as well as loading screen artist Kendrick Lim of Imaginary Friends Studios.[19] IceFrog has stated that in order to further emphasizeDota 2's premise as a continuation of DotA, contributions would remain consistent from sources outside the main development team.[20]
To accommodate Dota 2, Valve has worked to upgrade the Source engine to include high-end cloth modeling, as well as improved global lighting and improvements to Steamworks, which includes a wider expansion of utilities, such as player guides and the coaching system.[2] Dota 2 utilizes Valve's Steam software in order to provide social and community functionality for the game. Steam accounts save personal files and settings on the online accounts using the Steam Cloud. Dota 2 also features multiple options of live spectating, in tradition of competitive Valve titles. The game host has the option to fill open slots with AI bots. Another option allows the host to determine if AI bots or other human players will be used to fill the vacated slot of a disconnected player. Valve is introducing a coaching system to allow for more experienced players to tutor newer players. The game will also feature tutorial sessions for further assisting players to mount the steep learning curve before competitive play.[2] In addition to the online platform established by Steam, Dota 2 will support LAN multiplayer connectivity.[21] As part of a plan to create a social network based around Dota 2, Gabe Newell announced in April of 2012 that the game would be free-to-play, with an accentuation on player contributions to the community.[4]
To coincide with Dota 2's public debut at Gamescom 2011, Valve opened the sign-up for invites for the beta, with invites being sent out following the conclusion of Gamescom.[22] During the debut, Gabe Newell revealed that Dota 2 would likely ship in 2012, despite original plans for a full release in late 2011.[3] On September 23, 2011, Valve scrapped its previous development and release plans for Dota 2, which would have kept the game in its beta phase for over a year, in order to accommodate the full transfer of creative materials developed for the original DotA. The new plan described by IceFrog looked to release the Dota 2 beta at the nearest possible date and to implement the remaining heroes afterwards.[23] Simultaneously, Valve announced that the non-disclosure agreement for the beta was being lifted, allowing testers to discuss the game and their experiences publicly.[24]
Cultural impact
Reception
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Following the first public showing of Dota 2, the game won IGN's public opinion-based People's Choice Award, defeating other anticipated games, including Battlefield 3, Diablo III, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Guild Wars 2.[25]
Professional competition
In a 2008 article of video game industry website Gamasutra, editor Michael Walbridge citedDefense of the Ancients as the most popular mod in the world, as well as one of the most popular competitive titles, with its strongest presence in Asia, Europe and North America.[26]To ensure the transition of DotA players to Dota 2, Valve invited and sponsored 16 of the most accomplished teams to compete and showcase the game's capabilities with its public debut at The International, a global championship hosted at Gamescom 2011 in Cologne, Germany, with a grand prize of one million dollars.[27] According to IceFrog, The International global championship is to be an annual event, with a prize purse at least equal to the debut tournament.[28] Erik Johnson commented in an interview that the implementation of the game's LAN feature would be intended to promote smaller, independent competitions and local tournaments.[21]
Following the inaugural event of The International, several electronic sports tournaments began to transition from DotA to Dota 2, including the Electronic Sports World Cup, which is noted as being one of the most internationally-convergent competitions that maintained DotA a cornerstone title since 2008.[29] DreamHack, the world's largest computer festival, would also support Dota 2 in 2011, following a year without support for the original, on account of other competingaction RTS titles, including Heroes of Newerth and League of Legends.[30] By the end of its first year in its beta phase, Dota 2 had become one of the highest-paying eSport titles of 2011, second only to StarCraft II
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