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Dota 2: The Social Feature

SRKVEN

Wed 8th Feb 2012 – 6:29pm

Dota 2, rapidly expanding since my first introductory blog to the game (refer to business model article), is undergoing a series of sweeping updates, including the new Dota profiles, learn feature and what does this all lead up to?

Increasing socialization within the game of Dota 2. Have you ever wondered what the “socialize” tab is here for? At the moment, its empty, but this article will go through what I think can come in for the game. Socialisation, as defined, is the process of identifying, processing and communicating through social norms, differences and interests. It is extremely for Dota 2 to have a powerful community driven by one focus – the game, and our community.

In my article today, I will be sifting through the different opportunities in which Valve can expand the game and stimulate the community to allow it become vibrant and helpful. As a community-driven and inspired game, it is only fair for Valve to incorporate the many features in which it should have to make it truly, a societal and community based game made for fun, improvement and also competitive play.

Webpage and Promotion

What good game doesn’t have a nice webpage accompanying it? Dota 1 had PlayDota. Dignitas dota 2 members of the ohio com and a whole spate of other website dedicated to the original game, League of Legends has its part and so many other successful companies use webpages to further market their game. As simple as it may sound, having a well-presented, informative and interesting webpage could lead to a satisfaction among the player base as well as an attraction to many potential gamers who are willing to branch into the wonders of Dota 2.

Rather than fiddling around with useless animations, Valve could promote the game in a whole new level if it gives Dota 2 the coverage and influence it needs to dominate the genre. It must be clean, functional and constantly updated for the most up-to-date and accurate information in order to both not mislead long-time users, and to instill faith in the beginners wishing to try this game out.

Competitive Arena

The competitive scene of Dota 2 is spreading like a wildfire. It is brilliant and really making its name in e-sports, as shown by the number of teams willing to play, though only in its beta stages. By allowing Valve to follow the Dota 2 competitive scene in the future, write news articles for its players, have interactive features (i. e. interviews, latest events), it will stimulate the community to not only play Dota 2, but learn and watch from the professionals who do this stuff day in, day out.

It would be also great to use the website as not only a hub for professional Dota 2 stars, but for amateurs or mid-skilled players, who are willing to participate in fun tournaments organised on their website. It would not only promote a greater community. but will definitely give that sense of participation for the non-professional players and could make it more accessible for players to play in a team-based game.

The smart and savvy usage of a rankings and league system by Valve will only further add to the success of the game, whereas Valve should use their webpage to incorporate rankings of not only teams, but individual player skill (and also allow the players to feel that competitive edge and to get their blood boiling at some point).

Guides, Videos, Learning Content

What is a good website without guides, instructional videos and learning content? Dota 2 for it to be a truly complete game requires guides written by all members of the community, and others willing to give feedback, assist and contribute to the learning process. That is what makes a good game succesful and what allows the community to interact and co-exist. Socialization is a critical factor in any game, and there is no reason why Valve should not implement this when Dota 2 if fully released to the public.

To add to the growing trends of multimedia within any area of the web, videos should be embraced. Not only instructional videos, but fun, debate stirring and update notes through video content. It would be a change-up for the community and would in turn stimulate discussion easily and inspire us gamers to play more of the game in which we love (e. g. “meet the —-” videos by Valve from Team Fortress 2). Valve could do this for each hero. Valve could even tell us the lore and storylines between the Radiant and Dire and/or tensions between individual heroes. It could be an epic saga altogether!

Dota Profiles

A quick area which Valve should address involves the usage of Dota 2 to allow players to interact, chat with and play with others. Players should have access to other players statistics (including heroes played, games won, hours played, experience levels) in order to have an >

Forums

Probably one of the most key areas of Dota 2 and socialization. Every game or gaming organisation has one of these, and are the greatest stimulant ever to any sort of community. They allow users to post threads about ALL issues, ranging from game related issues, to bugs, and all the way to what’s happening in world news. That’s the versatility and flexibility of forums to stimulate user life and to incorporate a touch of community principle and action, all in the one web page.

It also allows users to teach others, and make new friends. All these add to the worth of a good game and a steady rise in popularity of Dota 2 for Valve. At the moment, these things look a little bit far off as Valve is expanding the actual game-itself, but for it to be marketable well, all these aspects should be looked at and not ignored, because proven, that’s what makes a community successful and resilient.

Feel free to tell me what you think about how Dota 2 can become more of a social game and less of a independent hermit one! Feel free to PM me, or find me on IRC (nickname: RazorEdge) or on #RazorEdge if you have any questions or feedback. Thanks for reading guys! 🙂