I'm looking forward to playing it since I never played any dota games.

Valve making a quake-like game would be pretty awesome, but highly doubtful they would, still, would it not be possible to mod cs:go into a dmlike game, and then you will have all the match making stuff that comes with that?

What I want to know is what has changed since DOTA 1

Gameplay is a 1:1 port, improvements are all in GFX/game setup etc

The features... Main screen links to instantly watch the top games being played, a full list of any game to watch with GTV-style chat, the ability to join a game as a caster, the ability to choose which caster you want to listen to while spectating a game (though, this crashes me right now), tons of useful unit/player/game information windows, website integration for streaming purposes that include the ability to view the information windows (gold/levels/etc) in a browser, etc...

It still retains the casual appeal, while having the best competitive feature set of any game... ever.

Yes, it has features, but the game itself is rubbish. Terrible interface, unusable shop, the minimap is a piece of shit, graphics are pretty, but lack visibility, sometimes the heroes are indistinguishable among the creeps, nothing is prepared for low resolutions (and by low I mean 1366x768 and below), the gameplay is the exact same thing as Dota with all its flaws...

I've had the beta for a while and I can't get myself to play it. I really don't understand what the fuck is Valve doing with both this and CSGO.

while we all wait anxiously for HL2ep3

the menus aren't perfect, but you can get used to the interface. It's clear that they've spent the majority of their focus into getting the actual game into an awesome state.

Visibility is just something you have to get used to. I struggled for my first few games, but now I can easily recognise all heroes, and most spell effects (at least the ones that i worry about). I think they need to tone some effects down a little though.

The actual game is a Dota copy and paste, I'm sure it didn't take much effort...

Being Valve, I was expecting them to have the balls to improve the formula; bells and whistles alone are not going to make me get back into Dota.

They've implemented warcraft 3 over the source engine. That is a lot of work. I think the dota formula is pretty well refined, and they don't really need it. Players just want it in an updated/more convenient setting.

So they have the engine, they have the heroes, they have the gameplay completely defined and you're telling me that took a lot of effort for a company like Valve?

Dota as a game might be refined, but the formula isn't and it has lots of room for improvements and refreshing changes (see LoL, they did good things and bad things, but at least it feels like a different game).

Agreed. When watching the International tournament, I had trouble following what was happening during big fights, but after playing for a while, it's much easier to understand what is going on. Visibility is only an issue at the start.

This, this this this. I've almost spent as much time just watching games as I've spent playing. not too mention the awesomeness of the auto-director. It is still very much a beta, but it is clear to see where they are headed. It almost brings tears to my eyes when i think that this is what QL could have been.

Too bad the game is incredibly boring to watch.

Gameplay compared to LoL feels pretty slow, and boring for myself. DOTA2 almost seems like the CS of MOBA.

But, it's competitive features are the best I've seen in probably any game.

as a matter of interest, did you play LoL first or Dota? my experience with LoL is limited... but afaik dota's heroes are far more varied and interesting and allow for more strategies. Why do you say it's like the CS of MOBA?

I played dota before LoL, and honestly, I can't see any way in which dota's heroes could be considered more varied and "interesting". Personally I think LoL has much more variation, even just the simple fact that LoL decided that not everyone has to have a mana bar makes it much more varied as it opens up so many different ways to design a hero.

in LoL there are taboo mechanics, spell types, etc. that will never be implemented. They think those are counterintuitive or not fun enough to be in the game.

That's why LoL feels too simple. There are about 4 or 5 different team strategies and that's it, so the game is only about who knows most characters well (including masteries and runes for them), going to team objectives and taking fights properly.
It's not about skill really, which is a big part of dota1's gameplay. In LoL the guy who wins is the one who plays and researches the most.

I haven't been playing lately (since they changed the masteries system) but I was top #130 for a month at the beginning of season 2. Not bad in a game with 20,000,000 players.

Played LoL first, but I'm open minded. From my understanding from playing it and reading into it, there's a heavy focus on last hitting, and using barely any abilities during the laning phase. There's elements I like in DOTA2 like denying last hits to your opponents, but with pretty much all champs in dota2, you're not wasting mana when you're laning. Also, leaving your lane is HUGE in dota2, and will result in a snowball effect. But in LoL, a lot of champs use abilities for farming, plus leaving your lane isn't a huge deal as compared to dota2. LoL feels a lot faster, looks a lot more vibrant, and there's a lot of good champs. Can't say much on the dota2 champs, but I know LoL is pushing out a lot of champs to compete with dota2. I can't see how LoL's champs don't allow for more strategies though. Some are difficult to play, some are easy.

I play LoL but i think they arent very good with making new heros, so many heros are simliar while Hon guys make real good heros imo, one of the hon champ designers has joined riot now so maybe that'll change

Yeah I saw that one of the HON guys joined riot. Honestly most new champs have been tanky dps, nothing that really interests me. But yeah, I agree they've been pretty dull lately.

Ok. I've actually been meaning to play some LoL and get into it but tbh there's been no reason for me between dota1/2 and HoN. It's very popular so I'm sure it's good.

I actually like the tense laning phase... earlygame is my favourite phase, where every spell counts. apparently you don't have as nice healing items for earlygame in LoL as in dota? in dota you have items fo 100g that can bring you back up to full hp.

HP pots just got nerfed, it was 200hp over 20sec, now its 150hp over 15sec, and there's a big difference. It depends on your champ, lvl, and current hp, but you can go to full hp in some situations.

Laning is only fun when you're against someone who actually is focused on cs, otherwise you just get people who auto attack and are aggressive if you get in their range. Not fun.

edit: some champs don't even have the money to get pots, depends on the champ and who you're against in lane.

Funny thing is what most dota players dont like about hon is its to fast :D

Seems dota2 is purely to please dota1 people, personal i hate the art work style and the general feel of the gameplay

That was my biggest issue with it too, it looked like shit. Plus it's slow. I highly doubt dota2 is going to kill LoL in e-sports, to be honest they're pretty different and both communities are huge.

I'd rather have the sky camera system be like a FPS'er, where when you rotate left/right, the camera rotates left/right with you.
http://www.moddb.com/mods/elements-of-war/ima...dota-2-hud

PS: Can anyone test my hotkeys menu and config.cfg mod in DotA 2?
http://www.moddb.com/mods/elements-of-war/downloads/1337-board-v7

calm down people it is CLOSED BETA. still lots work to do. they won't stop even after the release of game, polishing it.

IMO pm me with a betakey on irc, I have tried to get one for a while.

Trade value on steam trade puts them at about 1 buds in TF2, or roughly $30-$35.

what the hell is a bud :/

A promotional item to celebrate the release of TF2 on mac - earbuds. You could only get them by logging in to TF2 on a mac during the promotional period, so they are no longer available. In the TF2 trading community, they are mostly used as a form of currency.

Keys unlock crates, and they cost $2.50 each. Metal is obtainable in game for crafting, and it takes 3 refined metal, and 2 reclaimed metal to buy a key from someone. Earbuds are roughly 14 keys.

what. the. fuck.

It's actually a great trading system. Even if you don't play TF2, idling for metal can be a way to get free games. Since the advent of the "steam trade" addition, whenever you buy a game as a gift, you receive it as an item, as well. Thus, you are able to trade steam games for TF2 items.

If you have bought games from steam, it's entirely possible that you have multiple valuable items in TF2, and you could be trading them away for games.

I play it a bit, playing dota 1 more atm, because of friends and my team is still playing comp

do you think AM is overpowered in Dota2?

atm, yes antimage is overpowered, but that's only due to less heroes being in d2, easier to counter in d1 though, with heroes such as OD/CK/naga/pa/ursa but the chinese don't like to play it alot due to how it scales/how it is on lane, I think the current metagame is great though.

Way, way worse than HoN at the moment, doesn't seem like it'll be better either since it genuinely just is going to be a carbon copy of DotA.