The International 11 Wishlist
After a Decade of Champions, the Aegis completed its circle. We hope it isn’t an end, but just the beginning of a new era of the International. We have several suggestions that, in our opinion, will make the best esports event of the year even better.
No more Bo1 elimination matches
First introduced during The International 2015, it was seen as a necessity. The Main Event doubled in size, with sixteen teams playing a double-elimination bracket over six days, as opposed to eight teams playing it over four days. It did put constraints on how much airtime each team could get and how quickly teams needed to be eliminated to fit it all in a tight schedule.
However, the International has grown since then: the prize pool has been rising every year and that means this community-funded tournament has been getting more funding. If back during TI5 we could afford six days of high-quality Dota with a prize pool of ~18 mil., we as a community can ask for seven days of high-quality Dota when the prize pool is more than double that.
Twenty-one BO3 and one BO5 series over seven days will mean that each and every team gets to play actual Dota and not a random elimination BO1. It means that a stronger team will always advance and there won’t be as many “what if?” questions. It means that awe-inspiring lower bracket Cinderella runs are going to be even more awe-inspiring.
Better DotaTV
There are many reasons to prefer watching Dota in-client, as opposed to streaming services. Better quality is the biggest one: 1080 with low bitrate just doesn’t cut it anymore. But for power users, watching in-client also means the ability to check cooldowns, skill builds, fight recaps and many, many other things.
The observer team at the International is unparalleled in how well they do their job and how seamlessly they integrate it into casting, yet sometimes you just need to know whether a certain skill was on a cooldown in a teamfight or whether it was an allied or an offensive Force Staff. We know Valve understands it, given the amazing new timed “override camera” feature, but there are still a couple of problems to solve for comfortable DotaTV viewing.
First of all — sound quality. Broadcasters should not sound this muffled in-client. We as spectators should not choose between better video quality in-game and better sound quality on stream.
Secondly, better transitions between panel and game in-client. The way it is right now is just awkward. Broadcasting the panel into DotaTV during the draft stage would make it considerably less so.
Some way of integrating player cams into client could also be great, but it is probably quite difficult from a technical standpoint.
Finally, a way to rebroadcast it to multiple servers in different regions is necessary for comfortable viewing. The way it works right now, it seems, is it takes data directly from the server the game is played on, with all the associated ping and packet loss for individual users. That can lead to unnecessary jitter and stuttering, especially during teamfights. Usually not a problem if you have a good internet connection and are close to where the game is being played, but can be problematic for Western viewers if TI is held in China or SEA and vice versa.
Keep the generated crowd. Kind of.
A surprisingly great addition to this TI was the generated crowd noises. They allowed for better immersion in the action and made great plays stand out even more. The cheering system might not have worked as intended and a “crowd DJ” was definitely necessary this year, but hopefully, we will have a live audience at the next TI.
It doesn’t mean the system has to be fully retired, though. Perhaps it could be used to control the peak volume that is allowed to seep through into the audio stream from the live crowd, or perhaps it could add our own, virtual voices to the chorus. Either way, we feel like there was something to it and we would love to see Valve iterate on the system.
Re-evaluate fantasy scoring
A bit of a non-factor for most of the community, probably, but Fantasy Dota is, in our opinion, a great way to introduce the players and make them stand out. The problem is, right now it works for positions one and two in the core section and the warding support in the support category.
Non-warding support and position three players are left by the wayside and given how this tournament’s MVP was arguably a position three player, we feel it is unfair. A minor gripe, for sure, but if there are no changes to the scoring system, at least separate carries, offlaners, mids, soft and hard supports into distinct categories, so players of all positions get to shine.
While we are on the topic: a seven-day International would probably allow for better scheduling where all of us won’t have to guess which teams will play double series on the day. Not only is it slightly unfair to the teams, especially in the later stages of the tournament, but also introduces unnecessary volatility to Fantasy Dota.
Keep the compendium and the battle pass separate
There was a silver lining to several delays to the International: the Nemestice Battle Pass ended up being separate from the International Compendium and we honestly think it is great how we first got to celebrate Dota as a game and a dress-up simulator and then fully concentrate on Dota as a spectator sport and a dress-up simulator.
We all know that at the end of the day Dota is a dress-up simulator, but this time around the different aspects of the game didn’t detract from one another. We didn’t need to finish up our Cavern Crawl quests while the games were on and could watch amazing Dota without missing out on Battle Pass rewards. Please, keep it that way and perhaps we will break the viewership records once again.
Better DPC point distribution
We feel like it is a big one. The whole DPC system needs re-evaluation from the last season. We are not saying that there were teams at the International that didn’t deserve a slot or that the system was unfair, but perhaps due to a limited amount of tournaments, it sometimes felt like it.
Consistent in-region results and consistent LAN results should be accounted for, with significantly more weight given to the latter and some points given to the 9-12th places in the Majors.
We need a format where a team needs to win a series to get there. That would already mean that at this point in time they are better or comparable to a team from another region. As such, at this point in time, they should earn more DPC points than what a team in another region gets for fourth place in regional leagues.
That just makes sense. Instead, Top 8 at the international Major with the best competition in the world got the same amount of points as the third place in regional leagues. That doesn’t make sense.
We would also like to see less regional discrimination. Eastern Europe, the current TI title holder, received fewer slots at both the Singapore Major and the AniMajor. Of course, it is easy to argue towards it now, after the fact, but we strongly believe that equal opportunity for all regions with, perhaps, a direct invite to top two from the last Major would make sense.
With two-per-region guaranteed slots and a six-team wildcard between regional third places, it would still allow an overperforming region to field up to five teams to a Major. Only this way each and every spot would be deserved and there would be no bias: a pure results-based meritocratic system. Just the way we love it.
Closing Thoughts
This is our wishlist for the next page in the book of our favorite game. It's been a decade full of ups and downs, but Dota never stops moving forward and we hope it keeps doing so for many years to come.
Do you agree with our wishlist for the next season and next TI or perhaps you have your own wishes to add to the discussion? Don't hesitate to share your thoughts in the comment section below.
First! Nice article. =)
Tap into the streaming community for more exposure even if the popular streamer is in another esport like LOL like imaqtpie, shroud or tyler1. That will give dota an opportunity to show its wears to another group of moba players. Also, start putting casters that have already proven to be entertaining ie. Gorc, mason, waga and bulldog not casters to click a certain identity box because we all know why certain casters are invited and its pandering, demeaning and as one said "a soft form of bigotry".
1. There needs to be more games. It's completely acceptable to shrink the total time of the season in order to pack the schedule a little more as well. After all, an off season is common and well appreciated I think for other sports. But the more important point is just more games to keep it from feeling so dry.
2. This will be controversial probably: no groupstage at TI. Every series is a bo5 to compensate, but the seeding is directly decided by points earnings from DPC. This would be a really big jump, so I would accept a stepping stone in the form of the top.....4?.....teams are automatically given winner's bracket slots and don't play groupstage.
3. Drastically reduce the time between when all slots are decided and when TI begins. The longer you wait, the more unpredictable all teams become. All that hard work to be a good team throughout the year is unfairly compensated by making TI feel more like a coin flip than it should.
4. Address patch release protocol. Not exactly sure how it should be, but as long as it is predictable and well communicated to teams, everyone is more on even footing.
5. Lock in teams for a full season. Roster changes are acceptable, but if a team commits to a full year of competition, maybe give them some sort of seed money to maintain 5 players and a coach. Make it a reward for earning a slot at TI? The point is: somehow we need team consistency. We have OG, Secret, LGD, EG, Alliance, Liquid, possibly Nigma, and IG off the top of my head as series mainstays, but it's hard to build lifelong fans of dota when their teams suddenly disappear via name change or disbanding. Mousesports, teamtinker, DK, Orange, TongFu are all gone, and they would have stuck around if they had a little more financial stability.
6. Disallow the poison that is taunting. Seeps into our games and is highly unprofessional. Get rid of all of it. Chatwheel, sprays, ingame taunts, allchat question marks. Call unsportsmanlike conduct on it.
Direct invites is good. But idk why valve stopped the system totally. At least give defending champions direct invite..
Looking forward to an article on the meta recap. It's nice to have a condensed report rather than try to skim the tournament's stats page.
I wholeheartedly agree with #6 from Brünk Hüll. All that stuff was funny at first, but it is now starting to get out of hand. Pub games were one thing, but these are completely different.
If nothing else, it is just distracting to the spectators and even the broadcasters. All that stuff can just be disabled for those games, simple as that, problem solved.
And last, dont put winner for arcana in battlepass paywall.
Bo1 have been at TI since TI1 with the exception of TI4.
Gaben here, first thing we need to think how the heck we will beat the 40mil$ prizepool
I think we can all agree that BO3 is better than BO1... I think more games is better at this point.
Where was the arcana vote this time around? And the arcana should be available by using the cash. Putting the "loser" into the next Battlepass is more than fine.
And why was there no immortal treasure put out during TI10? But I guess this is why we got the summer "unrelated" battlepass.
Better DPC Point distribution is great, but better DPC payout is also needed.
IMO The International has become too big and its gravity makes every other Dota tournaments less appealing. DPC seems like nothing more than a glorified qualifier for TI and teams don't seem to put any emphasis on it after they have qualified.
@offlaner ≠ carry
The International is kind of supposed to trump any other tournament though. DPC is very much the qualifier for TI, that's....that's just sports. Regular season leads into playoffs leads into finals. When teams in any competition qualify for playoffs they try less absolutely, but that shifts the focus from the leaders to the teams trying to scratch by into the playoffs. That's also great because otherwise they would get zero attention.
The payout is a little hard to fault Valve for apart from the distribution, but even then a team that places 16th has earned the bulk of a full year's salary for their team if not for a coach as well. Considering that a poor NFL team spends 500mil USD and profits 35mil off of that in a year, the 160m generated by TI is still pretty paltry. We have to assume most of that money is spent on the events and the anime production probably, so to increase the attention to the other tournaments would sap money from TI, and that's not something that appears feasible quite yet. If Valve finally pursues advertisers in earnest, the league would have a LOT more room to grow, and the viewership should be argument enough for them to finally take that plunge.
I agree, however, that more games and a more liberal spread of DPC points would encourage teams to remain consistent, which is absolutely healthy for the league. That's also very integral to the formula of a season long competition: can you be good consistently AND can you be good under the pressure of elimination?
Well, you can look at the DPC season this way too... There is only ONE team per region making it into The International without any DPC credits... And you pretty much lose one series and you are out. Get out drafted twice and it is over. That is quite risky... Like what happened to Nigma, Na'vi etc. They couldn't push through the open qualifiers to get that one slot...
So, if you are serious about getting into the "big one", you need to collect those DPC points... The DPC point distribution is very top heavy... You basically need to win to get a significant amount of DPC points and this is a bit ridiculous. Winning a tournament is always extremely hard and I would say that the top 4 teams should walk away with a significant amount of these points... All of them have beat a whole lot of teams to get so far... I know the system is created so that you don't have to be at every tournament and you can get enough points by just winning a couple of tournaments. But placing consistently in top 4 over multiple tournaments should net you enough points for a direct invite as well... It is a tough nut to crack. There are so many sides to this journey that it is quite hard to balance out.
You could maybe have a tournament for the teams below the top 6 DPC point teams to get the other 4-6 teams into the tournament. Invite the next 10 best DPC teams there. Two 5 team halves, playing 4 series against the teams on your side. Then playoffs for where the side A team 1 goes against side B team 5 and winners of these games would qualify for the TI. Before the open qualifiers...
No we do not need fake crowds. Next time please just don't organize your 8 figure esports event in an antivaxxer country. Fake crowds more cringe than your average pudge mid in your pubs.
Adding virtual voices, and people shouting in random shit lol
Love the BO1, just so much on the line and often comes down not only to draft but also the mental strength
Yeah, main stage crowd was almost like the real crowd during past TI absolutely loved it. Hope valve does fix the DPC points distribution to prevent disasters like TP that dominated two team regions just to shit the bed in TI
In my opinion, a team like ThunderPredator had no business being at that TI over a team like Nigma or Liquid. I wish The International could be a tournament of the best teams, and not just the top 3 teams from each region.
I just want BULBA out of EG
Nigma back on TI plz!
Completely agree with @Brünk Hüll on #6, i've been rooting for this since 2016, when I started playing competitively instead of "for the fun of it". People take habits from the ones above them, and while some are good, taunting, tipping, chatwheeling and spraying etc is not one of them.