Sup guys. New to DOTA, probably have 60 or 70 hours in LoL. Played a few co-op bot matches (on easy), having fun.

http://steamcommunity.com/id/srkmcrae

Add me on steam if ya want, and we can co-op it up!

Steam ID:

General203

Brand new. 2 bot matches played, but I can already tell I'm going to obsess over this shit. I have 15 tabs open to various DOTA things right now.

Playing Sven right now, trying to learn a character and the various hotkeys and strategy. I play early mornings US West (like 1-4am). I'm down to play and learn.

Steam ID: CLTCHPNDA

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198060195500/

Been playing it since Friday. My interest was spiked when it was mentioned on the podcast, finding it difficult to get going without decent communicative team mates, so here I am.

I play Gyrocopter, Timbersaw or Lone Druid

Steam ID: Wolowizard

I'm new to Dota and have only played two bot matches. I have been looking at the guides and watching tutorials but any help from an experienced player would be great!

I have been hanging out in the channel, but my experience with GB MMs have been quite disappointing. I don't wanna offend anyone, but my winrate from those games is probably in the area of 10-20%, and while people tend to at least not abandon the tone isn't much different from your average solo game.

I have to say though, after having spent quite a lot of time with the game over the last few weeks, the supposed terrible community is far from my biggest source of despair with the game. The matchmaking however is just giving me horrible troubles. I have over 150 hours played of the game and I still get matched up with people that don't understand that 5 carry teams are bad. Hell, tonight I even got matched up with someone that had 0 games played. I'd say at least 75% of the games I play are already pre-determined before the countdown is even finished. I can play great one game and lose horribly, and suck the next game and win easily. Last Saturday I went on a 8-1 win streak (having some free wins, while other were a fight) and the day after I had 7 games in a row where my team was just completely outmatched every single time. The game desperately needs some sort of league system ala SC2 to do some seperation of skill-level. The hidden MMR from my experience only seems to get in they way of itself.

@ares42 said:

It seems to be fine to me, but I queue into High/Very High, so that might have something to do with it. I'm also curious; when you aren't playing with a MM stack, do you play in normal queue or solo queue? I've generally found that, when I'm by myself, people in normal queue are in 2- or 3-stacks and they want nothing to do with teamwork or communication at all (because they're talking on Skype or w/e), but when I solo queue everybody is relatively cooperative with picks and communication.

SteamID: Hatsman

I'm having a similar experience. Guys in the community are usually great and well meaning but especially when you a mixed skill level party of 5 and choose mode other than all-pick chances are you're gonna get crushed. And most matches I played with the community had really bad team composition, either because the pick method didn't allow better or because the team didn't seem to care. Yesterday I played a random draft match in which I picked first and went with support and then the rest of the team all picked carries, none with an initiation method, and I everyone of them were more experienced than me. Now, I'm aware I suck and I'm slow and sometimes I make really poor decisions in-game but I know better than that. Now, I'm not obsessed with winning, I can have just as much fun losing. What I love is a fair fight.

SteamID: OCDog45

New to Dota 2. I've only played solo games, no bot matches. I think I'm getting the hand of it but still super new to how to actually play, like what to buy in the shop or what to upgrade to. those are the things i want to get better at. If I'm on and you send a game request, I'll play.

As an experienced player/new member to the forums I can tell all of you that now is the best time to get into DOTA 2. I have sank over 500 hours into the game and am an active poster on the development forums (as a fan). The biggest, or second biggest, barrier to entry: The typical "get fucked noob" toxic player has, to me atleast, become a relic of the past with the implementation of a new communication ban system on behalf of Valve...I admit it is not perfect and I am not here to get into the details. I am simply here to tell you that you guys have a community and DOTA 2 is very much a team-based game....that being said here is my steamid (I don't intend to actually play that much cause MOBAs are a bit too samey for me personally. However, I will gladly join up with some rookies and carry you all to victory and give you some pointers; though I am no pro.))

I have a shitload of keys: 17ish to give away to anyone who knows a friend or something...if they are a new player mostly. I'll be posting that information on the pinned forum. Good luck to you guys and don't let your heart bleed-out cause someone said something nasty...it's inevitable and a personal disgust I have with the site and its community...but I like games and DOTA 2 so whynot.jpg

@ajamafalous: Well, as I said, I have been trying it out, but in many ways it's still just 4 random guys on the internet and they do things and behave pretty much the same way random people in normal queue does too. The only difference in my experience is that going with a stack just increases the chance of getting stomped.

Recently joined at the same time Brad did, steam ID is Baneland! :)

Friend me, especially if you have a mic. My Steam ID is Jrinswand.

I'm trying to play a lot right now because I've been watching a lot of streams and YouTube vids (particularly Purge's), and I want to become a better player. My W/L ratio is abysmal right now, but hey, I guess time heals all wounds, right? Or something?

@jrinswand said:

Purge's vids are great. He throws a lot of jargon around that might be a little obfuscating at first but I've learned a great deal from watching him play. His in-game guides are great, too.

Okay, I'm completely new to the game and decided to start playing because watching Daily Dota without any frame of reference was making me crazy. I've played around 9 hours of co-op bot matches with a friend who's equally new to the genre and I've really been enjoying it (despite all of my accidental deaths). I've read some of the guides for new players & watched enough videos to have the basic concepts and lingo flowing through my brain without the full on strategic insight that I suppose comes with playing the game for longer.

My Steam ID is ShayLei so add me if you have saintly levels of patience or if you happen to be as bad as I am.

Hey Im new! steamid baneland. Lv4 started about the same time as brad but havent done a lot of live games,still too noob!

Steam ID: bett2000

i need to play with people who aren't going to argue constantly over whos the n00b really is.

Steam ID: Kishinfoulux

Fuck it I'll give it a shot. Total newbie.

I'm new nd wouldn't min some help. xXSelloutXx

I'm downloading this game right now. I've never done RTS games before so it's all new to me. So I'll need help. I think I need a mic for this.

Edit: I ordered a part to hook up my Triton 720's to my computer so I'll have a good mic. Also:

Steam ID: whiteghost09

I hate that ID honestly.

The first thing you should know is that Dota 2 isn't much of a RTS. :)

Steam ID: UselessLuke

I have played about 70 hours but in this game that still counts me as a noob. I have a few IRL mates I play with but often end up going online alone. Always better in a party, so add me on up. I signed up here just now after years of listening to the podcasts, solely to talk Dota! I'm addicted already.

So I'm totally new to Giant Bomb and Dota 2! If anyone wants to learn me the ropes, that would be great:)

Steam ID: Manutsu

Thanks so much :)

Took a break from Dota 2 to finish off some games I needed to complete, but jumped back in with the tutorials. They're okay and the progression of playing mid tower 1 on 1 matches to bot matches to full on player vs player is a smart way of getting folks into the game. That said, I still have yet to even play a full player vs player match, been sticking to co-op vs bot matches... to scared I think :) despite having 40+ hours on Dota 2 clocked up (yes I know, I need to just bite the bullet). But having had some pretty negative experiences with co-op vs bot matches I can only imagine it'll be even worse in a full player match, Dota 2 players get pissed super quickly if you do one thing wrong.

But the tutorials are a good place to start.

Dive into online mate. It's not as scary as people make out. Just ignore the abusive idiots and have fun. Try to pick a character that'll help the team (don't want a team with 5 carries!) and enjoy. I played my first time online after about 35-40 hours too. I've barely played a bot game since. So much more satisfying playing online.

Any European Dota players on here?

Very new to the game, only about 15 bot matches under my belt, plus the tutorials (up until the player match finale). Watched some Purge videos, some Dota 2 Academy videos, doing some reading, trying to keep up, but I do feel like I'm getting my mind around it. I'm still panicky in bad situations and tend to forget about my items. Gotta keep playing though, loving it so far.

Steam ID is the same as my username here: OmniscientCajun - you know, if anyone is interested in molding an overall competent video gamist in their own Dota 2 image.

I literally just played the first 2 tutorials today, but if anybody is willing to add me my ID is fr33_samples

steam id: afabs

I've played a bunch of bot matches with my friends and one real match (guess how that went :/) I'm still on that learning curve, but if anyone wants to ride it with me, feel free to send me a request

Just played my first Limited Pool player match from the tutorial section... ouch. Got our backsides handed to us, that was painful. Was a little surprised that some guys on the other team clearly had a fair share of experience and knew what they were doing, making it feel a little one sided as pretty much everyone on my team were playing for the first time. I won't tell you how badly we lost, but it was bad :D

I can see why folks ditch Dota 2, that was rough. I'll give it a few more goes though.

Definitely don't give up on it. I have had some horribly brutal defeats but also some incredibly satisfying victories. I'm up to 23 wins, 21 losses. Very happy with that ratio.

One tough thing I've had is having to remap keys, as I'm left handed. Can't find anywhere to remap the ping (alt + click) key!

Hey duders, an newbies out there want to comp stomp? Add me, I have a mic and am not opposed to vent/skype. YoThatLimp

Just started playing this week and I really like it so far. Been through all of the training and starting to get into real matches if anybody wants to hook up and play some time.

Steam ID: fodigga

Ok I'm gonna try this game again, for the third time. I'm Jedicake on steam. Gonna try to join the giantbomb lobby, if there is one.

@tehjedicake: There is a Giant Bomb chat channel and there is usually a few hundred people in there, probably more now because of The International.

Looking for other newbies to play with, have only been doing some bot matches. Been watching purge, dotacinema too.

Steam ID is Sproutella, I live in US East if that matters

http://steamcommunity.com/id/slugworth1986

Throwing my steam id around now, feel like I've had 1 friend long enough, and just started really getting into Dota 2, might add a few of you guys too, feel free to add me, Australasia servers for the most part if it makes a difference.

Hey guys. I just got a pc a couple months ago, and I litterally just downloaded Dota 2, so I've basically just stared at the menu clueless. That said, like Cammy above I've had one Steam friend long enough, it'd be great to fill out my friend list with some Giant Bomb duders. If anyone would like to add me that'd be great. Thanks!

Steam name: figurehead00

Hi folks, just installed DOTA last week and I've only played a couple of games against bots so far co-op with a few guys I know. Hoping to get my head around what seems to be a game with loads of depth, so feel free to add me on Steam. I mostly play during weekday evenings, UK time (GMT). Cheers! :-)

http://steamcommunity.com/id/floorswine

Yo How is everyone doing?

Hey guys, looking for a newer player crew to play with and learn the game. US-East, usually on in the evenings during the week and all day weekends.

http://steamcommunity.com/id/nelsk

http://steamcommunity.com/id/jking47/

Started playing about a week ago, used to play some League of Legends but this seems far more interesting. Looking for duders to play with, this solo queue crap sucks.

Hey GB team,

Just started, have about 10 bot matches under my belt. Let's play some DOTA!

http://steamcommunity.com/id/jakemuffins

join the giant bomb chat channel is my first piece of advice

Well with The International hype in full swing thanks to Compendium fever, I'm looking to get back into dota again.

I've played a few games - about 100 over the past 2 years - have not played much in the past year since TI3 (probably 5-6 matches since Sept '13).

I'm a casual guy who likes to have fun, laugh with strangers and doesn't freak out when we lose. Looking for like minded individual who knows good plays when they see them, and won't go ballistic over a videogame.

That being said I have no problem taking orders and I mostly like support dudes. I'm a bit of a follower.

I've got a vent server myself that I don't mine sharing with others. Looking to get a better one set up soon.

Steam = bemusedchunk

Stats

Please mention you are from a duder from GB when friending me.

Been trying out Dota 2 after watching Brad play it so much....but man, it's so frustrating! Every single bot match (all set to easy) that I've been in, someone disconnects and abandons the game...quickly followed by at least one or two others. I'll keep trying for a bit longer, but it's disheartening to be stuck with 0 games like this.

I love doing bot-matches as a warm up or a cool down. Or if you want to YOLO it, you can always go to the Giantbomb channel and just ask for a mm. Just be up front with your experience level.