The Waiting part
“Dota 2 Coming Soon” By IceFrog
Sep 23rd
Today another interesting update was released by the co-producer and producer of original Dota IceFrog.
He stated:
Our original plan was to spend the next year or so in beta, adding new features and slowly growing the number of heroes until we reached a level of parity with Dota 1, at which point we’d release Dota 2 to the world.
He later admits that this was not the best plan and so do the Dota fans. IceFrog and Valve decided to get the game out as soon as possible although a few things still need to be done. Some heroes need to be imported and similar stuff new dvds.
Welcome to the new plan: We’re going to take the current version of Dota 2, which has The International set of heroes, and get it out there as fast as we can. We’ve still got some work to do in a couple of areas, so we’ll be keeping it invite-only for a (hopefully short) period of time.
The players are anxious for the Dota 2 release but the exact date is still being kept a secret.
DotA 2 Free To Play?
Aug 25th
Since the International tournament finished there are many speculations on the Valve’s marketing module on how to market the DotA 2. There are at least three possibilities:
- free to play
- upfront payment of 40-60$ as all the other high-end games cost
- monthly/yearly subscription to DotA 2
Free to play
1.6 million USD was invested merely into International tournament for prizes. Valve got the attention of the gaming crowds from all over the world and will need that money back. So we think that free to play is the least possible solution.
Would you even want F2P game? That means that developer has no obligations whatsoever on how the game will be updated and supported. That could break a game even if it is free.
Up-front payment
Making a 60$ payment for a game is a big decision to make. Many will hesitate and wait for gamers experience before making the purchase.
Valve is expected to continue maintaining servers and developing the game for you. But what when all that money runs out? How good support can we expect after a few years?
Subscription
How about a fee of 3-5$ a month. That makes 36 to 60$ a year. Quite expensive right? Well yes but you can leave the game anytime you want. Valve gets money every month and keeps updating the game and give support to players. Valve would need to make its best on keeping the game interesting and fresh.
What is your stand on all this? In a survey taken on “DotA 2 Price” many reject the so called monthly fee.
DotA 2 Tournament Finished, Coming Back In 2012
Aug 22nd
The International tournament is finished, final prize of 1$ million is going to Na`Vi from Ukraine.
In the final match Na`Vi made it clear that they came here to win. And so they did in the finals against China’s EHOME.
Video: Gabe Newell congrafitulation the wining team
Na`Vi
Updated DotA 2 Release Date
Aug 18th
Disappointingly but somehow in Valve’s style DotA 2 got its release date delayed.
Gabe Newell, Valve’s director stated: “Fantasy strategy game Dota 2 won’t ship until 2012”
DotA 2 needs to go through a massive Beta phase where it will get polished and prepared for release. Plans are to add more heroes and to make the game as balanced as possible.
Game will be available through the Steam platform as usual for Valve’s products. The Gamescom tournament played a great role in marketing DotA 2 as well as making the gamers anticipated for a final release.
There are also no plans on how the game will be marketed. It may even happen that the game goes free-to-play.
Beta will start in a few weeks and if you were lucky enough to register you just may end up beta testing DotA 2.
DotA 2 Revealed
Aug 17th
After a long day at Gamescom and after first matches 8 teams are still in the game for one million dollar prize.
All the matches were streamed through the official website. But lag became a major problem after more then 1.5 million viewers joined in to see the new Valve’s game.
The International tournament also brought the first peak at DotA 2 gameplay, which as predicted has not changed dramatically. At first glance there are not many major changes but that was the whole idea of keeping the gameplay experience intact. All the heroes were imported from the old DotA.
Keep in mind that the game is going in beta in a few weeks. The real large scale beta, which will certainly bring a few much needed changes to a final product.
Valve is still shy about the DotA 2 release date but it is expected in the late 2011 or early 2012.
Some match-ups are online on youtube so just sit back, relax and let the action begin:
TyLoo vs OK.Nirvana.CN
OK.Nirvana.Int vs Virus
Mineski.Infinity vs SGC
EHOME vs SGC
Minesky.Infinity vs iG
Join in tomorrow as the tournament continues.
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