Dota 2 looking to address AFK players

Valve releases word about an ongoing initiative to curb the tendency of certain players to abandon games of Dota 2, mid-match.

6

Valve's upcoming action-RPG sequel, Dota 2, may include some measures to address the issue of players leaving matches early. While the developers acknowledge that there are certainly some understandable instances in which players leave a match prematurely (citing one Valve employee who locked himself out of his apartment when dealing with the pizza guy), Valve notes that "it's fundamentally unfulfilling for everyone," if a significant number of matches "end prematurely, for any reason."

Valve has just been gathering data about the problem up to this point, but a recent post on the official Dota 2 blog warns players that in order explore potential solutions, players will "see us starting to venture into additions that actually perturb the system."

As such, players are asked to keep in mind that certain additions that the developer makes to the game may eventually be removed once the necessary data has been gathered. That said, there's no word yet about what these new additions to the game might entail, but the blog assures that data is being gathered to make "the overall ecosystem better, [while] not penalizing legitimate players or missing those who are out to hurt other player's experiences."

"It'll be an ongoing process for us as Dota 2's player base expands, but it's one we're not going to stop working on until you tell us we're done," Valve notes.

Filed Under
From The Chatty
  • reply
    October 11, 2011 5:15 PM

    Jeff Mattas posted a new article, Dota 2 looking to address AFK players.

    Valve releases word about an ongoing initiative to curb the tendency of certain players to abandon games of Dota 2, mid-match.

    • reply
      October 11, 2011 6:29 PM

      just release the damn game already :)

    • reply
      October 11, 2011 7:46 PM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      October 11, 2011 7:49 PM

      give it tooo meeeeeeeeeee

    • reply
      October 11, 2011 11:08 PM

      "locked himself out of his apartment when dealing with the pizza guy" Story of my life.

    • reply
      October 11, 2011 11:27 PM

      Why can't they introduce a new system like in Left4Dead where a person can allow a bot to take over for your character. They could also add the ability for the person to ask to be rotated out or have another player substituted in. This could be a pseudo-drop in/out system. That way a person doesn't have to sit through a lost cause or verbal player abuse.

      • reply
        October 11, 2011 11:40 PM

        The nature of DOTA is such that a bad player on your team works to help the other team because they get gold and experience from killing your bad player. Bots are terrible and would 'feed' the opposing team. The second idea could be easily abused.

      • reply
        October 12, 2011 12:01 AM

        "Why can't they introduce a new system like in Left4Dead where a person can allow a bot to take over for your character"

        I'm pretty sure that AI taking over happens now. I do like the idea of different players dropping in and out if you vote to sub someone else in. The player who's being voted out would have to agree though, people would abuse the hell out of a kick system.

    • reply
      October 12, 2011 1:06 AM

      I hate it when things end prematurely.

    • reply
      October 12, 2011 1:18 AM

      HoN's system, while far from perfect, allows shitty games to end quickly with...
      1. a concede button
      2. fewer 'yes' votes required to concede after 30 minutes of game time
      3. kick votes
      4. Being able to remake a match up to 7 minutes in
      5. Fewer votes needed to remake if someone disconnects

      and while they can be abused, having them in place is a whole shitton better than nothing. I cannot imagine a DotA-style game without such protections.

      Valve should get downright draconic on their asses. The stricter the leaver/griefer protection, the better.

    • reply
      October 12, 2011 1:24 AM

      Any other company would have probably made fun of the guy around the office for that. Valve manages to work it into an official statement about a huge upcoming release. That is why they are my favorite company.

      • reply
        October 12, 2011 8:09 AM

        I highly doubt they ALSO didn't make fun of the guy.

Hello, Meet Lola