Chapter 725: New Version, New Hero (Requesting Subscriptions and Monthly Passes)

At exactly twelve o'clock, the new version of DOTA was updated.

Many players successively entered the game to check the update content of this new version.

This version update actually came as a bit of a surprise to many players.

Although it was during the New Year period, DOTA itself was a game that had just recently launched.

Despite the skill gap between ordinary players and some high-level players having already widened considerably.

But for most players, their understanding of DOTA was still in a relatively basic stage.

For example, they had figured out hero skills and understood equipment.

As for gameplay strategies and tactics, most players were still in an exploratory phase.

For instance, when it came to farming gold, many players, when playing melee carries, would almost always default to Battle Fury as their farming item.

No matter the hero, as long as they were melee and needed to farm, the first item choice would be Battle Fury.

Spectre Battle Fury, Doom Bringer Battle Fury, Terrorblade Battle Fury, Phantom Lancer, Slark—no matter the hero, as long as they were melee, they would build Battle Fury.

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

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

At a certain internet cafe, Zhang Yi, Song Ren, and Wang Han were out together after lunch.

Naturally, as internet-addicted youths, the place they chose to hang out was somewhere they could get online and play games.

“I wonder what the new version updated! It’s quite mysterious, they haven’t even released the update list.”

The three found a row of computers, sat down, and chatted with each other.

“Enough talk, watch my Shadow Fiend carry you!” Song Ren’s words were full of mysterious confidence.

Hearing Song Ren’s words, Zhang Yi showed a speechless expression and couldn’t help but retort: “Old Song, forget about your Shadow Fiend. You land one out of three Shadowrazes, your souls are never full, and all your damage comes from exploding after death.”

“Exactly, your Shadow Fiend win rate has probably dropped to 30%, right?” Wang Han, who had just returned with milk tea and overheard the conversation, couldn't help but interject.

“Listen to me,” Song Ren declared confidently, “if I don’t pick Shadow Fiend, there’s a high probability a random teammate will. So I’ll pick Shadow Fiend first, that way I can hold the scales of victory and defeat in my own hands, instead of depending on others.”

“But Old Song, have you ever considered this: if a random teammate picks Shadow Fiend, we have a 50% chance of encountering either a Zilong or an idiot. But if you play Shadow Fiend, it’s 100% an idiot.” Zhang Yi coughed twice as he spoke.

Song Ren was speechless, the reasoning was so sound it left him with nothing to say.

While chatting, the few quickly opened the game interface.

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

First, DOTA's dynamic red icon LOGO appeared, then the camera slowly zoomed out, transforming into the battlefield of Dire and Radiant.

The scene opened with an animation of Mirana riding a white tiger and shooting arrows, followed by Invoker Carl manipulating nine spell orbs.

Then, before the Dire's throne, Terrorblade transformed into a colossal demon, and the camera then moved to the front of the Radiant's World Tree, where Dragon Knight Davion awakened the dragon blood power within him, transforming into a crimson giant dragon.

Accompanied by the muffled sound of horns, Radiant and Dire creeps set out from their barracks, and heroes from different factions advanced towards the center of the battlefield.

Dragon Knight breathed fire, Invoker Carl unleashed powerful magic, and Shadow Fiend Nevermore sang Requiem of Souls.

At a crucial moment, a thunderous explosion erupted.

In an instant, the world collapsed, and massive rocks crumbled.

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

‘In the widespread adventure stories of Miner's Cove, none bear more infamy than the Demolition Expert.’

‘Then, Miner’s Cove vanished from the world, along with Crane Harbor and Hunter’s Town. In fact, a brief study of the Demolition Expert’s history quickly reveals that wherever the Engineer appears, that town soon ceases to exist.’

‘But the true masterminds behind all this, the demolition prodigies Squee, Spleen, and Spoon, care nothing for those who mock them, nor for those who even notice them.’

‘All they care about is one thing: how exactly do they trigger such powerful explosions?’

Accompanied by an earth-shattering explosion, the comical-looking Squee appeared on screen, pushing a small cart and carrying a barrel of explosives.

New Hero: Engineer.

This short intro instantly surprised Zhang Yi, Song Ren, and all DOTA players.

‘Holy crap, another new intro CG!’

‘Calm down, Old Zhang, it's from Nebula Animation Studio after all.’

‘New hero Engineer? They're releasing new heroes so fast? This hero looks a bit sneaky!’

For this new version update, Chen Xu didn't add much in terms of game content.

However, he did introduce a brand new hero.

Regarding the heroes in DOTA, Chen Xu hadn't released all of them at once before.

This was mainly to consider the players' learning curve and also to prepare for subsequent updates.

What is most important for a game?

Balance and reasonable operation are both correct, but there's another point: game content.

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

Some said it was the art style, others said it was the easier-to-learn mode.

But these were just parts of it; a more crucial point was the continuous release of new content.

When DOTA was embroiled in copyright disputes between Blizzard and IceFrog, League of Legends emerged, seizing the market and continuously updating with new heroes, adding nearly 90 heroes in just two years.

This allowed early League of Legends to successfully capture most of the market from DOTA.

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

Blizzard's Overwatch, which started with a perfect hand but played it terribly, suffered from cheating and its inherent game attributes, but the biggest problem was the constant lack of new heroes and content.

Similar examples include Bluehole's PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Epic's Fortnite. The former only began to produce various content after its market share was significantly eroded by similar games like Apex Legends, Fortnite, and mobile games.

The latter, on the other hand, consistently maintained a high frequency of content, with various crossovers and constant shenanigans, never pausing for a moment.

So for Chen Xu, releasing a large portion of DOTA's heroes initially, then gradually introducing the rest, was enough to drive the game's early operations.

Similarly, once enough heroes were released, this aspect could gradually slow down, because by then, players' understanding of the game would have largely progressed from shallow to deep.

Professional tournaments and various game changes would then become new content points.

………………

Players, of course, were unaware of DOTA's future content.

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

“Let me see, besides this new hero, there are extra events!” In the internet cafe, Zhang Yi was excited as he looked at the update content.

This update, besides adding the Engineer (also known as Techies) as a new hero, and some Arcana skins...

What piqued players' curiosity was the addition of a brand new AI Challenge event.

Five players team up to challenge AI-controlled bots. Upon winning, players can randomly obtain an Arcana set for a hero; if they already own it, it will be converted into an in-game store discount coupon.

Of course, this AI challenge for players was not the version Chen Xu had tested previously.

In this event, players would receive an extra BUFF: gold and experience acquisition would increase over time, and buyback would have no cooldown.

It was essentially an official cheat given to players. Although still challenging, for ordinary players, by intelligently using some tactics, such as baiting out the AI's ultimate abilities and key item cooldowns with buybacks, the chances of winning were not low.

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

Finally, came the crucial major update: the launch of Ranked Mode.

Many players had long been looking forward to this mode.

Especially players who considered themselves masters were eager to see where they ranked in the game.

For DOTA's Ranked Mode, Chen Xu still adopted the model from his previous life.

Based on different scores, it defined Herald, Guardian, Crusader, Archon, Legend, Ancient, Divine, and Immortal tiers. Before Immortal, each major tier had five sub-tiers, while Immortal was based primarily on score and rank.

As for scores, losing a match would deduct 25 points, and winning would add 25 points. To climb ranks, one had to maintain a net win rate.

Additionally, there was a position-based mode where players could choose roles from position one to position five.

The Ranked Mode's hero ban rules were the same as in DOTA in his previous life: each player could propose one hero to be banned in that match.

The system would randomly select 2 heroes out of ten nominated to be banned.

It could be said that the new Ranked system also sparked heated discussion among countless players.

“Let me see, 100 regular matches, these requirements are quite strict!” Song Ren exclaimed in surprise, looking at the Ranked Mode requirements in the internet cafe.

“Normal,” Zhang Yi said, not too surprised, still studying. “After all, DOTA is quite complex. Playing Ranked without understanding it would definitely be a trap.”

“This Engineer hero looks a bit sneaky!” Wang Han was different; she wasn't as interested in Ranked Mode and was more concerned with the new hero.

“Come on, come on, let’s go Ranked! Immortal might be a bit tough, my goal isn’t high, I think reaching Divine should be no problem.” Song Ren was excited.

“Oh, come on,” Zhang Yi scoffed. “I think you’re just the title of a movie.”

“What do you mean?” Song Ren asked.

“'I Am Legend,'” Zhang Yi said.

“You jerk!” Song Ren cursed with a laugh.

“You two stop bickering,” Wang Han interjected. “I don’t recommend playing Ranked now. All the high-level players will definitely be rushing to climb the ranks immediately. The three of us together would just be three fewer high-level players, so the probability of losing is very high.”

“Besides, the new hero just came out. We don’t know if it’s strong or not, but everyone will definitely want to play it even if they don’t know how. If we get it on our team, our win rate will drop by a few more percentage points,” Wang Han analyzed rationally.

“That makes sense! How about we play a couple rounds of this challenge match? See how hard this AI is?”

“Alright, then, watch my Shadow Fiend Nevermore carry you!”

The group conferred briefly and quickly settled on a plan.

(End of Chapter) <>