indiefinch

7. Puck is a pretty lady.

@kishinfoulux: Icefrog is the developer of Dota. He took over around 2007 I believe after Pendragon and Gusinoo left (Now both at Riot). Icefrog is known for his secrecy of who he actually is. There are a ton of rumors out there, but this one that he is Cyborgmatt just started as a joke.

Not sure why he likes to be so private, however you gotta respect it. He doesn't really want anything to do with being in the public eye. Over the years this has turned him into a legend of sort since so few people know the true identity of Icefrog.

He isn't Icefrog. I have spoken to both Matt and Icefrog, they are not the same.

Though it is a fun rumor to keep going!

Sort of odd that they just flipped the switch today. I expected a bit more buildup. Then again I have been playing Dota 2 for two years now, would just feel weird to have them make some major deal about the release.

Anyways though, new players who want to give this a shot you can go watch my series Dota for Dummies. I try to cover everything you need to know to at least get started and enjoying Dota 2.

@chilibean_3: No problem, hopefully they help you get into the awesome game that is Dota!

LoL isn't a step backwards. It is just an entirely different game then Dota. They set out to achieve very different things and cater to very different audiences. Dota is a mechanically and mentally more difficult game. Due to how the heros work, the vast amount of strategies you can implore, as well as more punishing mechanics. Does this mean League is a bad game? Not at all, it just caters to a different audience and tries to achieve different goals.

It can be pretty much summarized up on their pay models. Dota gives you 100% of the heros for free, because the game is built on a decade old legacy of strategies and counters. If they charged for even 1 hero, it would completely break Dota into an unplayable game. League is built around the idea that you only need a few champions of each type to fill a role. So they have to balance that by making no one hero super powerful because it will give that person a major advantage. (Hence why you see a ton of tanky dps, with gap closers...) Where as in Dota you get the idea of, if everything is powerful then nothing is broken. So heros like Meepo appear where you get to control 4 separate heros...and a 5th when you get an Aghinims Sept. Or Invoker, where you get 10 castable spells based on the Q,W,E imput you put before casting it. This just makes Dota a bit more crazy with a ton of stuff you need to know before you can truly enjoy the game. Becuase of this, League makes things simpler (No loss of gold on death, no denying, no multiple unit control, no crazy heros) because they need things to remain stable so they can sell more champions.

I don't think anyone would argue that League is a more difficult game. However it is different a lot of people have no desire to play a more difficult game. Both games can survive together and cater to very different audiences. Its like some people before Super Smash Bros over Street Fighter...or some people prefer Call of Duty over Counter Strike...it comes down to what you play games for.

This weeks episode is now up! This episode centers around laning. Things such as last hitting, denying, and tower mechanics. Hopefully people can get a better idea of how these mechanics work in Dota and realize how important they are. Next weeks episode will be all about micro heros and tips to make people more successful when playing them.

@birthdaysuitburns: They are still continuing. Shit has been crazy at F.3 since we signed the team. Right now all of our effort is working on getting them prepared / financed for their tournaments. They will be at the Raidcall EMS event in Poland in a few weeks, once that is completed hopefully he will be able to get back to videos.

Today is the release of the Warding overview! Hopefully this is able to answer some of your questions about warding as well as give you a solid foundation to begin thinking about map awareness.

@golguin: What if someone on the other team picks that hero first? Or what if your team already has a mid and really need a different hero? Or even if they pick a team with a lot of silences? It is a major crutch to only play one hero. If anything, learn 2 or 3 heros at each role so you are flexible and able to pick synergy with your team.

@benstewart84: If you made it 22 games without disappointment, then you did pretty damn good. Dota is such a high skill cap game that sometimes you play someone who just flat out is better then you. Sometimes you get countered hard by another hero and have a rough time. (As @ajamafalous said, PA pretty much crushes Drow) The key is to try to locate what you personally did wrong and figure out how to learn from it. Sometimes it is best to just take a short break, make some food or grab a drink...then come back into the next match in a good mindset. There are some dark nights where I have been on major losing streak spirals where you drop 8+ matches in a row...it is a damn awful feeling.