Chapter 725 - 725: New Version, New Hero

At exactly twelve o'clock, the new version update for "DOTA" was completed.

Many players gradually logged into the game to check out the content of this new update.

This version update actually surprised quite a few players.

Although it was right around the New Year, "DOTA" itself was a game that had only been released for a short time.

Even though the skill gap between average players and some high-level players had already widened significantly, for most players, their understanding of "DOTA" was still at a pretty basic level.

This meant they understood hero abilities and items, but when it came to strategies and build orders, most players were still in the exploration phase.

For instance, when it came to farming gold, many players defaulted to getting a Battle Fury as their first item when playing a melee core hero.

No matter the hero, as long as it was a melee hero that needed to farm, the first item they would build was Battle Fury.

Spectre with Battle Fury, Doom with Battle Fury, Terrorblade with Battle Fury, Phantom Lancer, Slark – it didn't matter the hero, if it was melee, they'd build Battle Fury.

A classic saying also spread among the player base: "If a melee hero doesn't build Battle Fury, they might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes."

As for items like Radiance or Maelstrom, many players currently didn't consider them farming items but rather damage items.

In an internet cafe, Zack, Ben, and Hannah, after having lunch, decided to play together.

Naturally, as gaming enthusiasts, they chose a place where they could get online and play.

"I wonder what's in the new version! It's pretty mysterious; they didn't even release a patch note."

The three found some connected computers and sat down, chatting.

"Enough talk, I'll carry you guys with my Shadow Fiend," Ben said, his voice full of misplaced confidence.

Hearing Ben, Zack made a speechless face and couldn't help but tease, "Ben, forget your Shadow Fiend. Out of your three Shadowraze spells, only one hits, your souls are never full, and your damage relies entirely on the explosion after you die."

"Exactly, hasn't your Shadow Fiend win rate dropped to 30% by now?" Hannah, who had just returned from buying bubble tea and overheard their conversation, couldn't resist chiming in.

"Listen to me, if I don't pick Shadow Fiend, there's a high chance a random teammate will. So, I'll pick him first, that way the balance of victory is in my hands, and I won't have to rely on anyone else's performance," Ben stated confidently.

"But Ben, have you ever considered that if a random teammate picks Shadow Fiend, there's a 50% chance we'll get a Zhao Yun or an Adou, but if you play Shadow Fiend, it's a 100% chance we'll get an Adou?" Zack coughed a couple of times and said.

Ben was speechless. What he said made so much sense that it left him unable to respond.

The group, still chatting, quickly opened the game interface.

As soon as the game started, a brand new CG animation played.

First, the red "DOTA" logo appeared dynamically, then the camera zoomed in, transforming into the battlefield between the Dire and the Radiant.

The opening scene showed an animation of Mirana riding her White Tiger and shooting an arrow, followed by Invoker manipulating his nine orbs.

Then, in front of the Dire's throne, Terrorblade transformed into a massive demon, and the camera shifted to the Radiant's World Tree. Dragon Knight Davion awakened his dragon blood power and turned into a giant crimson dragon.

Accompanied by the low sound of horns, creeps from the Dire and Radiant camps marched out from their barracks, and heroes from both factions advanced towards the center of the battlefield.

Dragon Knight spewed flames, Invoker cast powerful magic, and Shadow Fiend, Nevermore, sang his Requiem of Souls.

At a critical moment, a deafening roar erupted.

In an instant, the sky and earth shook, and rocks crumbled.

A mushroom cloud rose from the center of the battlefield, followed by a burst of excited laughter and narration.

"In the widely spread adventure tales of Miner's Bay, few endure as much criticism as the Demolitions Experts."

"After that, Miner's Bay vanished from the face of the earth, along with Crane Port and Hunter's Town. In fact, if you do a little research into the history of Demolitions Experts, you'll find that whenever an Expert appears in a town, that town soon ceases to exist."

"But the originators of all this, the demolition geniuses Sque, Spryin, and Sboun, they don't care about anyone who mocks them, or anyone who notices them."

"The only thing they care about is one thing: how did they manage to cause such powerful explosions?"

Accompanied by earth-shattering explosions, the seemingly comical Sque, pushing a small cart and carrying explosive barrels, appeared on the screen.

New Hero: The Engineer.

This not-so-long opening immediately surprised Zack, Ben, and all the "DOTA" players.

"Holy crap, another new opening CG!"

"Zack, be calm, this is from Starfall Animation Studio."

"New hero, the Engineer? They released a new hero this fast? This hero looks a bit sneaky!"

Lucas didn't add much to the actual gameplay content for this version update.

However, it did introduce a brand new hero.

Regarding the heroes in "DOTA," Lucas hadn't released them all at once before.

This was mainly to consider players' learning curve and to prepare for future updates.

For a game, what is most important?

Balance and reasonable operation are all important, but another key aspect is the game's content.

In his previous life, why did "League of Legends" surpass "DOTA" to become the world's largest competitive game?

Some people attributed it to the art style, others to the simpler, more accessible gameplay.

But these were only partial reasons. More importantly, it was the continuous release of new content.

While "DOTA" was embroiled in a copyright dispute between Blizzard and IceFrog, "League of Legends" emerged to seize the market, constantly updating with new heroes, adding nearly 90 heroes in just two years.

This allowed early "League of Legends" to capture a significant portion of the market from "DOTA."

Of course, besides "DOTA," there were many other typical examples in his previous life.

Blizzard, with a brilliant start, fumbled its strong hand with "Overwatch." While hacks and the game's inherent properties played a role, the biggest issue was the continuous lack of new heroes and content.

Similar examples include Bluehole's "PUBG" and Epic's "Fortnite." The former only started producing various types of content after its market share had been significantly eroded by similar games like "APEX," "Fortnite," and mobile titles.

The latter, on the other hand, maintained a high frequency of content, with various collaborations and events, never stopping for a moment.

Therefore, for Lucas, releasing a large portion of the heroes early in "DOTA," and then gradually introducing the rest, was enough to drive the early operation of the game.

Similarly, once enough heroes were produced, this aspect could be slowed down, as by then players' understanding of the game would have deepened.

Through professional tournaments and various game adjustments, these would become the new content points.

.........

Players, naturally, were unaware of the future content for "DOTA."

But for this new version of "DOTA," they were still very excited.

"Let me see, besides this new hero, are there any extra activities?" Zack asked excitedly in the internet cafe, looking at the update content.

This update, in addition to the new hero Engineer, also known as the Bomber, and some Arcana skins, introduced a new Human vs. AI Challenge activity that piqued players' curiosity.

Five players team up to challenge AI-controlled bots. Upon winning, players can randomly receive an Arcana set for a hero. If they already own it, it will be converted into a Zack store coupon.

Of course, this AI challenge aimed at players was not the test version Lucas had previously used.

In this activity, players would receive an additional buff: increased gold and experience gain over time, and no cooldown on buybacks.

It was a kind of official "cheat," and although the game was still difficult, for ordinary players, with reasonable tactical application, such as using buybacks to bait out the AI's ultimate abilities and key item cooldowns, their chances of winning were not low.

After all, it was a welfare event for players, so it couldn't be too difficult. The only challenge for players was the speedrun ranking, to see who could defeat it the fastest, rather than relying on accumulating buffs to win.

Finally, the key, heavy update content: the launch of the ranked matchmaking system.

Many players had been eagerly anticipating this mode.

Especially those who considered themselves gods among players, they were eager to see where they ranked in the game.

For "DOTA's" ranked matchmaking, Lucas adopted the model from his previous life.

It defined ranks based on different scores: Herald, Guardian, Crusader, Archon, Legend, Ancient, Divine, and Immortal. Each major rank before Immortal had five subdivisions, while Immortal was based on score and rank.

As for scores, losing a match deducted 25 points, and winning a match added 25 points. To climb the ranks, players had to maintain a positive net win rate.

In addition, there was a role selection system, where players could choose positions from 1 to 5.

The ranked ban and pick rules adopted the same system as in "DOTA's" previous life. Each player could propose one hero to be banned in that match.

The system would randomly select 2 from the 10 ban slots and ban them.

The new ranked system sparked heated discussions among countless players.

"Let me see, 100 normal matches, that's quite a strict requirement!" Ben said in the internet cafe, looking at the requirements for the ranked mode, somewhat surprised.

"It's normal. After all, 'DOTA' is a really complex game. If you don't understand it, playing ranked will definitely screw over your teammates," Zack wasn't too surprised and was still looking it over.

"This Engineer hero looks a bit sneaky!" Hannah was different; she wasn't as interested in the ranked mode and was more curious about the new hero.

"Quick, quick, let's go for ranked! Immortal might be a bit difficult, but I'm not asking for much, reaching Divine should be fine," Ben said excitedly.

"Give it a rest. I think you're the name of a movie," Zack teased.

"What do you mean?" Ben asked.

"'I Am Legend'," Zack replied.

"You jerk!" Ben cursed with a laugh.

"You two, stop arguing. I don't recommend playing ranked right now. The pros will definitely be playing ranked to climb the ranks immediately. If the three of us play together, it means we'll be missing three potential carry players, so the probability of losing is very high."

"Also, the new hero just came out, we don't know how strong it is yet, but everyone will want to try it even though they don't know how to play it. If we encounter them on our team, our win rate will drop a few more percentage points." Hannah analyzed rationally.

"That makes sense! How about we play a couple of rounds of this challenge mode? Let's see how hard this AI is?"

"Sounds good. Watch me carry you guys with Shadow Fiend, Nevermore!"

The few of them discussed it and quickly reached an agreement.

(End of this chapter)

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