The Game I Love

Ask anyone close to me what I love most in the world and they'll probably answer Dota 2; if they don't, they don't know we well enough. Throughout my roughly 2 years playing this game, I've amassed around 4,500 hours or 187 days of game time which to the average person would be a crazy amount of time to dedicate to one thing; however my 4,500 hours is a drop in the pond of what it takes to truly master this game.

What is the reason for my love of this game? Well there are countless reasons why I love this game. Firstly, the depth of it. I've been gaming since I was 8 years old so around 11 years now and never have I encountered a game so layered and complicated as Dota 2; no RPG & no MMO even comes close to the depth of this game. After 4,500 hours of game time, you'd expect me to have full understanding of the game and its mechanics. That's were you'd be wrong—the game is constantly changing with new patches, changing how heroes operate individually and within the teams they play. Along with the interactions between abilities and how mechanics operate, the game seemingly has infinite depth to it.

A second reason I love this game is the competition it provides. Being an e-sport, it naturally has a competitive side and a pro scene, however on the more casual side of things, people that are skilled but not pro level skilled that play this game still have immense competition in them to levels you might not expect for amateur level matches of a competitive game. Even a more known and understandable sport such as football friendly matches played which you could equate to the average higher level of Dota 2 matches do not have the same levels of passion and competition that Dota 2 seems to inspire from its players.

A final reason of why I love this game but certainly not the end of the list of reasons is the community it provides. Whilst it seems that more often than not the community of Dota 2 appears a toxic one full of hate, bitterness, and anger, look past that and you will find kind, helpful, and genuine people. In my life not only are there people I have become friends with purely through meeting in Dota and continuing to play with them from game to game but several people outside of the game that we have carried over into the game to play together. Playing Dota 2 with friends from outside the game is certainly a unique experience and one that I don't think you can obtain easily, it provides a, in my opinion, truly unique look into the mind and personality of your friend. Several people I know from outside the game that I have played with act and behave differently in the game that you may expect, people that are relaxed, kind and calm in real life become easily angered, egotistical, and bitter in the game. It truly is a bizarre experience seeing the change of people; however it is, in my opinion, a helpful experience at the end of the day allowing you to grow closer and develop on a level that without the game you wouldn't possess.

To complete my first post I'll finish by saying that with the release of the new ranked season of Dota 2 I will continuing writing about the game, my experience climbing the ranked ladder, the pro scene, and how that develops and general issues I see with the game and its surrounding features such as the community.

Thank you for reading.