The (not so) Perfect Blend

[SvN]

A couple of days ago, Matthieu Dallon voiced his opinion on whether there is going to be Defense of the Anicents at ESWC 2009. While the game wasn't picked in the first round, it was still something the organization had in mind. I have to ask the question; why?

For DotA to be a good choice for ESWC 2009, it has to evolve more in the coming six months than it has done in the last four years. The game has an intriguing mix of individual skill, tactics and teamwork, but falls apart in its complexity. In short, the game is great to play, but boring to watch.

Even experienced DotA players find it hard to sit and watch a single match from start to finish without their interest waning. The game is not defined by any certain happenings in that it doesn't have a structured build up. While games like World of Warcraft and to some extent Warcraft III lack the same kind of identifier, there is a clear-cut difference between them and DotA - time.

The length of a game of DotA can vary a lot, but most top-tier games go beyond the one hour mark. A non-structured game, with game time above an hour per map, in an environment that doesn't give outsiders a chance to understand the action - how does that sound for a spectator? In fact, you have to be a DotA player to understand a spectated game to its fullest.

If this sounds like I am blowing the same horn as people critizising WoW, you couldn't be more right. There a not that many differences between the two games in terms of viewability, besides WoW is constant action, instead of farming.

No Sponsor value
While DotA certainly does cater to a large community, it comes across as an awkward mutant to both event organizers and eSports fans. It can't fit into tight schedules, it doesn't work well on TV and is too complex for outsiders to find it interesting. In short; there is no sponsor value in it besides what the community itself can digg up.

There are no fancy-pancy graphics in DotA, so nVIDIA can try to grab the players and convince them to buy their newest GPU for better performance. There is close to no spectators from outside the DotA-world present at the games, and you have to look really hard for the easy brandable and professional star-players in DotA.

Broadcasted live-games are maybe seen by a couple of thousands, but honestly - where is that going to count? The male CS Semi-finals in San José attracted more than 20,000 spectators online, and earlier editions of ESWC have seen up to 5,000 people watching the games live. That alone is more than you will get for a DotA-match.

If you add to this, that a large part of DotA's fanbase is situated in countries like Malaysia, China and Phillipines, you are going to have a rough time selling sponsorships to INTEL, SteelSeries - or anyone else for that matter.

Sure the numbers are fine. 5 million downloads of the map*. By those means, ESWC should include the 9 million StarCraft-players, the 50 million The Sims-players or the 3 million players that bought Red Alert. Numbers doesn't necessarily attract sponsorships, and frankly DotA, in its current state, is nowhere near its competitors in terms of viewability, accesability and useability.

So why include it in ESWC 2009?

Intinya menurut Phil, dota kurang attractive dan kurang menggaet banyak penonton jika dibandingkan dengan yang laen.

[3tag_miracle]

mungkin karena dota lebih seru dimainkan daripada ditonton

[selam_jaya]

sekarang liat aja deh
di bagian replay di mymym.com, game apa yg paling banyak kesedot?
war3?cs?starcraft?
jelas dota donk

dari situ kita udah bisa nilai kalo dota tuh banyak banget yg mau nonton
ya walopun ga banyak penonton saat tanding live sih
tapi replay masih sangat2 menarik di banding game laen

--!

[cutty-flam]

sekarang liat aja deh
di bagian replay di mymym.com, game apa yg paling banyak kesedot?
war3?cs?starcraft?
jelas dota donk

dari situ kita udah bisa nilai kalo dota tuh banyak banget yg mau nonton
ya walopun ga banyak penonton saat tanding live sih
tapi replay masih sangat2 menarik di banding game laen

--!

Setuju
coz bisa jadi bahan belajar
trick creeping
gara2 sering nonton replay skrng gw bisa:
terorblade hutan(sebelumnya ga pernah tau)
Luna hutan
centaur
and many more

[BaBi_BamBu]

klo opini dr om selam gw setuju bgt..

dapet bnyk skill dr replay

mungkin kurang atraktif di bagian hero-hero ganker.

gw liat skrg ud mulai maen late smua

[selam_jaya]

makanya balikin donk dagger seperti yg duluuuu

dota pasti akan lebih menarik dgn banyak gank sana sini smile:

[cutty-flam]

makanya balikin donk dagger seperti yg duluuuu

dota pasti akan lebih menarik dgn banyak gank sana sini smile:

tapi dipake buat CW tourney aja dagger of escape
kalo main di public dagger kek gitu males degh

[jkt-Seen]

ada benernya juga..

kl orang awam gak pernah maen cs, nonton aja bisa buat mreka tertarik..

orang awam gak pernah maen dota, males aja nonton ngapain.. ga ngerti..

tapi kl diliat dr fans nya, gw rasa sponsor harus sadar dan cepet2 make a move

[SrZ]Xevirath]

Sebenernya tanpa dagger juga bisa kan --"
Emang sih banyak hero yang ancur gara2 dagger nerf (centa n the gank)...
tapi kan ada hero2 lain buat gank tanpa dagger >,<

[SvN]

untuk orang yang ngerti dota
bagusnya dota bisa dlihat dari kerja sama
backup, combo, dll
untuk yang ga ngerti ????
beda ma CS yang dah jelas
tembak2an bunuh2an

[asuka83h]

Gue udah kenal CS tapi tetep aja males liat orang main CS, apalagi liat replay CS.
Mungkin kelemahan Dota itu cuman ada di grafiknya doank, maklum, Warcraft 3 kluar kan dah lama bgt.
Tapi tetep, Dota is the best.

[BhLtantetuti]

gua setuju bgt sama SEEN kalo dota kalo orang gk ngerti pasti bosen ngeliatnya kek temen2 gua kalo liat gua lagi main dota ktnya "apa serunya si ni game gini2 doank" kalo orang awam liat main cs nembak2 ngekill pasti lgs ngerti

[1zzroil]

masuk akal juga ^^

[HimuraKenshin]

emang benr seh kalo untuk nonton buat yg awam pasti males nonton dota dibanding cs cuman untuk playernya kayanya sekarang dota lebih mendominasi deh kalo gw liat ( di Bandung khususnya ). sekarang net yg masih rame yg maen csnya dah tinggal dikit, sedangkan dota ampir semua net pasti ada player dotanya.
kalo turnamennya buat menarik penonton seh gw maklum kalo dota dibilang kurang "menjanjikan", cuman untuk partisipasi teamnya kayanya dota bakal ga habis2.

[B_e_P]

bner kata kk2 d atas ... adek gw (10-) ngliad gw maen dota "maen apaan ? gitu doank maennya ?" dy lebih tertarik ngLiad gw maen cs yang jelas2 lebih simple gameplay na dari dota ...