Eigentlich doch 'ne ganz interessante Überlegung, aber durch Pech bzw. Glück auf der andren Seite, kann ein Team immer stark bevorzugt werden. Trotzdem fände ich das Mal durchaus funny als Competitive-DotA-Mode!The Viability of RD as the Competitive Gametype
by statikK-
The Thriving Competitive Scene
I've always wondered how the competitive scene has thrived so much. DotA is a rather slow-paced game with an average finish time of about an hour. The metagame of DotA has also evolved from push strategies to farm strategies to gank strategies. This has kept the competitive scene interesting. Despite what I say below, know that I clearly understand that the competitive scene is not exactly in a bad place. And while meta game changes keep DotA fresh in the long run, during a specific metagame there isn't a lot of variance between hero lineups. In some of the metagame phases it wasn't uncommon to see the same hero selections every game.
DotA for Spectators
There are three reasons why this game is simply unwatchable for the casual viewer.
1. For one, games take on average an hour to finish and that right there when compared to the current standards set by the CGS (games should last between 20-30 minutes) seems like a gigantic hindrance to DotA's potential growth as a top E-Sport game.
2. Secondly, DotA is practically incomprehensible (outside of the Double/Triple Kill, etc. messages) to anyone who hasn't played at least 10 or so games of DotA. Even then, all the intricacies of top -level play will further confuse any viewer's attempt at understanding what the heck is actually going on.
3. On top of all of this, the competitive DotA scene seems quite content with the fact that the same bans, picks, and lineups occur practically every game. If viewers are able to withstand the two former points made above, they will end up eventually becoming bored after seeing the same heroes game after game.
All that being said, it is quite safe to say that the game (outside of recent roster shake-ups) is quite bland in and of itself. So what are we to do?
A Solution to the Problem?
It is obvious that speeding up the game would require a monumental effort and drastic changes that could really shake up the foundation of DotA itself. This is something that is just probably not going to happen...ever. To address the second problem, we can really do nothing but hope that viewers will catch on quickly and that every step possible will be made to make the presentation of the game simple to understand (I honestly don't know what can be done so...). The only real solvable problem is the third one. Yes, that's right, we need to take one from the pubbers' book and RANDOMIZE the heroes in some sort of manner. AR, SD, and RD are extremely popular for a reason... MOST people don't like to see and/or play the same heroes over and over. Of these three game types, the most suitable for competitive play would obviously be Random Draft. We will delve into how this might pan out.
RD, Could it Work?
For those who are not familiar with the game type (who I honestly hope are not many), Random Draft randomly selects 22 heroes out of the complete pool of heroes and shoves them into 2 taverns (11 heroes in each). From this point on, there is a "coin flip" made to decide which side chooses the first hero. Picks will then go the usual 1/2/2/2/2/1 that competitive players are familiar with. RD strikes nearly a perfect balance between smart-picks and hero randomization. It really gets the best of both worlds, and it's no surprise that it really is the popular game type in current IHLs, TDAs, and is really even seeing spots in pubs. RD spices up the game by forcing players to think a bit differently with picks and play while still maintaining the competitive spirit of fairness as much as possible.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Good
1. Randomization of the hero pool leads to new hero picks and overall interesting lineups
2. "Skilled" players can still shine by adapting to their hero and their lineup - this forces players to be versatile
3. The better team will still win in 99% of the games - surprise/upset/unexpected wins are good for a sport anyway
The Bad
1. Adding any type of randomization can be considered "luck" in a competitive environment... which is generally deemed not good - people will blame losses on the pool of heroes (this argument is weak because the same goes with % chance spells and abilities... what if Ogre Magi Multi-Casted every single spell in a game?)
2. ??? Maybe the pool isn't big enough or there isn't a balance between the # of AGI/STR/INT heroes? That can be changed...
If the problem with RD is a technicality issue (not enough heroes in the pool, no bans), then a league version of RD can be put out in order to rectify the situation. Outside of that, if it is still not viable for competition, I would certainly like to see/know why. Could this be the next step for competitive DotA? I guess only time (and your feedback ) will tell.
Any and all feedback will be appreciated. Thanks for reading.
- statikK-
Gogo! Zerfetzt euch die Mäuler!