@potoskull said:

Which is the really unfortunate side effect of this being a competitive game, people forget that you play games to have fun win or lose. I always feel weird listening/reading when people talk about Dota 2 because of how serious they take it. I had the most fun playing with a group of friends going random every time. Yea it wasn't the "best" way to play but at least we weren't stressing ourselves out. As much as it would split the community, I kind of wish they would split matchmaking into "Competitive" and "Casual" where there is no difference other than the people you want to play with. LoL tries to do something like this with Ranked/Unranked but because they lock you out of ranked until level 30 people get in the mindset that unranked is "serious business". Still, Dota 2 is far from being done and if there is anyone to figure out how to fix the problem Valve has the best time and resources to do it.

You guys are basically imtimidating yourself out of a fun game. There are more people that say the community are assholes than there actual assholes in the dota community. If you go in with the right mentality (ie aware of the fact that you will have to look some stuff up and can't just go in blind) and you let people know you are new at the beginning of the game, you will most likely enjoy your time with dota2.

@potoskull:There is nothing less than your honor as a man at stake.

I've already tried Dota and don't really care for it, but I've almost exlusively encountered assholes in the community outside of the game, too. It seems like the community is comprised mostly of "Screechy elitist PC gamer nerd" stereotypes.

The thing you really need to get into DOTA 2 is friends. I had no experience with traditional DOTA-likes and I too was intimidated by a supposedly aggressive community. Having friends who played and knew what they were doing made the game super comfortable and easy to learn, and it let me see that (for the most part) that the community was not entirely full of jerks and assholes.

If you went in with that mentality than you are just as judgmental as the people are you are accusing of being hostile and judgemental.

I'll admit that the fact that I've had nothing but negative experiences with the community both in and out of game may entirely be coincidental and that perhaps if I meet people that I would actually want to play with I'd pick the game back up. I mean, the league community can be pretty toxic in-game too, and I might have said "fuck this game" a long time ago if I didn't have a significant friends list built up from people I know from outside of the game.

I'm sure there are a million people who are waiting for this kind of post and are going to pounce on me and tell me how stupid I am but here goes.

I realize this is referencing a different MOBA, but still:

This has been my experience every time I have tried to play one of these games. I have had friends try to get me into DoTA[2], HoN, and LoL and every single time I think "Maybe I will have fun learning how to play a new character in a new environment!" and every single time I get fucking cussed out of every match I try to play. DoTA 2 was literally the only experience I have had that wasn't fucking excruciating in every way, and that was because everyone assumed I was a total fucking idiot and acted from the start like I was a burden to be carried.

That is actually the nicest thing I can say about any MOBA community I have encountered. That when they just assume I'm incompetent they don't bother insulting me.

I'm sure there's a whole universe of experiences to be had with this style of game, and with these communities, but I find them to be so utterly toxic and horrible that I can't stand to be in contact with these people for more than a couple of rounds. And this kind of post is exactly why.

"Don't FUCKING feed!"

Uhh, well, maybe you could teach me how to play better, then? Instead of treating me like some subhuman piece of shit because I haven't been playing this style of game for a long time?

I'm sure this post was intended to be genuinely helpful, but this sort of tone is why I will always be revolted any time a MOBA community comes up in conversation.

@laszlokovacs: You'd think that we've had the internet long enough that people would have developed thicker skin. You really need to realize someone on the internet says something stupid or attacks you you can just ignore them. After all you're playing for your enjoyment not theirs so unless you're being a dick and trying to lose on purpose who cares what random dude #3453467777322 has to say. If you really get emotionally hurt by seeing insults thrown at you I'm sure the game has an ignore feature.

After watching the TNT and reading up on some of the champions, I've made the assumption that DOTA 2 is willing to be far crazier than LoL and that has piqued my interest. I mean, I've spent money on League, and that alone means I'll probably stick with it, but if I were to obtain a steam key I would willingly install it. Just not this week, because finals are coming up.

or just be a dick and try to lose so random dude #3453467777322 can cry some more. then laugh sinisterly as you get up and do something else.

maybe if they rage hard enough they'll pop a blood vessel and learn to not take games so seriously. on the flipside they could rage hard enough to pop a bloody vessel, blame you, and then dedicate their life to hunting you down. it's a toss up really.

This is exactly what got me into Dota 2.

Let me warn you friend, once you go down the hole there may be no going back.

@arbitrarywater said:

Protip: if you call the heroes "champions" (or use any League terminology to refer to Dota things, really(e.g. 'poke,' 'kit,' 'invade,' 'turrets,' 'flash,' 'ghost,' etc.)), you're going to get instantly flamed. Try not to do that!

But yeah, many Dota heroes are definitely far more unique than any League heroes (based on the ~100 games I played in the closed beta; I'm sure the hero count has like tripled by now and there are plenty of League heroes I know nothing about). You've got heroes like Invoker, Meepo, Nature's Prophet, Tinker, Rubick, Phantom Lancer, Wisp/Io, Storm Spirit, Chen, etc., who have very unique skillsets that can totally change the way the game unfolds if they're in it. The metagame also isn't very rigid and evolves pretty rapidly; heroes that were always picked two months ago are seen less frequently, and heroes that weren't touched a few months ago are first pick status now. You can pretty much lane anybody anywhere with a variety of laning options (2-1-2, jungle with offlane solo, jungle with safelane solo, dual lane mid, aggressive trilane, defensive trilane, two/three solo lanes with one/two roaming supports ganking, straight up sacrificing your offlane and running 0-1-3 with a jungle), and most heroes can be built in a variety of ways as far as skill priority and item pickups. You can fit pretty much anybody into your lineup depending on what kind of strategy you're going for (push, splitpush, roaming supports, mid-game carry, late-game carry, etc.). All heroes are viable and have a place depending on your and your enemy's team compositions.

I can hook you up with a Dota key if you'd like.

Here's a Dota 2 motivational video for anyone interested:

Last I checked, Dota 2 was going for pennies on the Steam Community Marketplace. Might as well be free.

To be fair it is free. But cause it is still technically in beta it is invite only but there are so many invite out there it might aswell be free.
I mean i have 16 invite, and a gave out a bunch already.

@mindost: Playing with friends makes it exponentially more fun. Not only do you lower the chance that a dickhead will be on your team but it makes it easier to convince the team to listen to reason if it's more than just one person who's telling them what they should do. Solo queueing when you are brand new to the game is arduous, even getting one person who you know to play with you will make the process much smoother for you.

@laszlokovacs: Here's the thing, your defensive hostility is just as bad as someone's regular hostility. Even if I thought you would accept my help, I don't think I would offer it because I feel like you would get mad at me when I tried to teach you what to do. You said you got mad at your team for acting like they had to carry you, well they probably did. In dota if someone cannot play well they are a vulnerability to the team. Assuming they weren't being dicks about it, being protective of you and making sure you weren't going off on your own was the right thing for them to do.

In dota 2 the easiest way to diffuse a situation is just saying "sorry man I'm new, what should I be doing instead?" If someone is still an asshole after that then just mute him, most likely you will be getting so much advice you will have a hard time keeping up.

Yup, It's as if they are playing a game not to have fun but instead turn it into a tiresome chore.

I've also got a key you can have.

So don't play this game, got it.

This looks like the worse game to play with randoms.

@colourful_hippie: You can get unlucky, but it is generally the minority of people who go out of their way to be assholes. Sometimes things go wrong cause of communication or that everyone has their own idea what the best way to proceed is but.
It's not perfect but in a way it is also something that will eventually solve itself once there is a better matchmaking system in play. Fixing the language barrier will be a bigger hurdle though.

That isn't to say that it won't be frustrating but just play to the best of your abilities and take not of your own actions and mistake and draw your conclusions from that.

I'm interested in these games. My experience in the past was a couple of games of Dota with friends in the office. But one of them was a total asshole. This is a dude sitting right next to me. I did to him what I would like to do to any internet asshole, I got in his face and said, "so I fuckin' suck. So what? You know I'm new at the game. So now that you talked shit, back it up and I guarantee you are going to regret it." He acted like a bitch and I treated him like one. This guy was prone to punching his keyboard and swearing up a storm.

It was my last time playing any type of game like this for years. I did try some LoL but after seeing other co-workers and the way they acted with each other I just decided not to play. I swear some of them act like jerks to each other cause it's expected. I'm still interested in learning either Dota2 or LoL though and may just dive in and learn despite the bullshit. I'll suck at the game but with all things it will take time. One of my first time playing first person shooters was Halo 3 and the original MW. It took me months of people talking shit and embarrassing myself before I got effective. So I just need to apply the same here.

Edit:

I should add I've been reading up all the advise on here and will watch videos and research a bit.

@cheappoison: I'll try out bot matches at first to see if I end up liking it in the first place but I'm willing to try it out. Now TF 2 isn't on the same level of impenetrability but once I got over the hump of getting down the perks of each class and knowing when to switch classes to help the team has turned that game into a fun time sink.

@toosweet said:

You two definitely have the right mindset (knowing that there's a learning process that won't be instant, and knowing how to/being able to deal with people who are being obnoxious).

I can hook both of you up with Dota keys if you don't have one yet.

@ajamafalous: I already have it, thanks. Tried it a while back and was like wtf is this nonsense and uninstalled it. After seeing what it can be on that livestream I'm willing to try it again.

And what's your Steam ID?

@ajamafalous: Yeah, I'll give it a try. Thanks!

@colourful_hippie said:

http://steamcommunity.com/id/ajamafalous

What's your Steam ID? Feel free to PM me it if you don't want to post it in the thread.