Game Maker: Starting by Healing the Players

Regarding the game "DOTA," even though it's a new release from Nebula Games.

Before this, both players and the gaming industry were a bit unsure about it.

This was mainly due to several reasons: the Warcraft RPG maps, unclear gameplay mechanics. It's fair to say that if it weren't from Nebula Games, it wouldn't have made much of a splash in the gaming world.

But after "DOTA" launched and showed strong growth within a week, many designers in the industry were surprised.

Extensive promotion has spread "DOTA" to all kinds of game player demographics.

Plus, the free-to-play model, along with more beginner-friendly tutorials compared to its previous life, and mechanics and strategies for constantly giving out cosmetic items, have drawn many players into this deep pit.

Especially after its launch week, to the surprise of all players, Nebula Games did a surprise delay announcement, saying they would officially launch the game seamlessly after the open beta ended. They also promised additional related events in future updates, which immediately sparked player anticipation.

Beyond Nebula Games' promotion efforts, the more important factor is that more and more players are experiencing the charm of "DOTA."

Putting aside the competitive aspects and various tactical points, and just focusing on the positive feedback the game provides, "DOTA" is actually similar to MMORPGs like "World of Warcraft."

That is, the sense of accomplishment driven by numbers, social interaction, and the novelty of exploration.

As a traditional MMORPG, these are the core points.

Players spend their days grinding dungeons for gear, participating in various faction and guild activities. These are the joys of MMORPGs, but for games like that, they require a considerable amount of time.

"DOTA," however, is different. A single game lasts about 25 to 45 minutes, and it packs all these positive feedbacks into that short span.

For example, the numerical stimulation in traditional MMORPGs, like grinding dungeons for gear, is similar to how players in "DOTA" control their heroes to farm gold and buy items.

Most players playing games like "DOTA" generally have this habit: whether they're playing support or core, sometimes they just can't walk past a wave of minions.

Or if they see two or three waves of neutral creeps stacked up in the jungle, they'll often think about clearing them. Coupled with the sound of gold appearing when killing a minion, these are all numerical stimulations.

Watching your hero go from level 1, defenseless, unable to even take on two waves of creeps, to later being able to clear waves with two skills after farming gold – that's the most direct numerical stimulation.

It essentially condenses the numerical stimulation that requires time to develop and collect in MMORPGs directly into the duration of a single game.

Next is the social aspect. Similar to the arenas and dungeons in World of Warcraft, "DOTA" also has very high demands for teamwork. Combined with the existence of the Fog of War, effective communication with teammates becomes a situation that players inevitably face, thus adding a social dimension for players.

It can be said that a well-coordinated team with teammates who provide effective information can absolutely increase their win rate significantly.

Finally, and most importantly, is the novelty.

For traditional MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, apart from the initial surprise of encountering a new dungeon, the main draw later on is the gear drops from those dungeons. Simply running dungeons can't really be considered fun on its own.

This is because the dungeon bosses and minor monsters don't change.

The routes and strategies are all set in stone. Even if mistakes happen, they're usually in a bad way, like a healer not healing enough, a damage dealer slacking off, or poor movement causing aggro resets and team wipes.

"DOTA," however, is different. There are too many variables in the game.

Many players can play the same hero hundreds or even thousands of times without getting bored.

On one hand, it's due to the heroes being fun and having high replayability. On the other hand, it's the uncertainty each game brings.

Different heroes, different opponents, different teammates.

This game I might have a 10-0 start, be super strong and carry the whole team.

Or I might have a 0-10 start and end up crying in Adu's arms.

Or it could be an evenly matched, exhilarating game, ending with a narrow victory or defeat.

Every match is a new experience, which makes players look forward to the next game.

"I lost the last game, I'll win the next one and go to bed."

"I won the last game, I'll keep winning the next one."

"Last game I was Zhao Yun, but my teammates were four Adu's. Players will think, 'If Adu went to the other team, my side would be full of Yun-ge's.'"

This gives the game a sense of anticipation and addictiveness. Furthermore, since "DOTA" bases its progress on individual game sessions, this game completely lacks the concept of "catching up." You won't experience the situation of falling far behind the main group like in MMORPGs if you haven't played for a few days.

All these core factors have caused "DOTA" to catch fire.

......

From the open beta test to the surprise officially launch.

It can be said that "DOTA"'s popularity grew day by day, dominating the charts on major video and live streaming platforms.

And as players explored, more and more small tricks were discovered.

For example, basic tricks like last-hitting manipulation, creep pulling, jungle stacking, and creep queuing. Some of these hadn't even been discovered by the main development team at Nebula Games yet.

But this was only because the initial player base was small. Now, with players researching the game globally, these small tricks are being discovered little by little.

This is also different from its previous life. After all, when "DOTA" became popular in its previous life, video websites were still in their infancy, let alone live streaming.

Back then, the places for many "DotA" players to learn techniques were Tieba forums and communities.

Including watching game replays, you had to find the corresponding replay files to learn from them.

Meanwhile, the "DOTA" developed by Nebula Games has detailed tutorials for beginners. On the other hand, in the internet age, any small trick that is discovered and put online can be immediately spread.

Therefore, in this parallel world, "DOTA" players' skill levels are improving much faster.

Although the game has been out for less than a month, there's already a significant difference between top players and regular players.

Lucas from Nebula Games knows this better than anyone.

Especially one situation that made Lucas somewhat emotional.

That is, the performance of some top players playing support roles, their roaming ganks, and their hero development and positioning. Lucas felt these were still far from perfect.

And at 53 seconds, or 55 seconds, passing by a neutral creep camp, casually pulling a camp to expand the team's gold advantage is also something that few people do.

But one thing is already the same as its previous life.

That is, supports saving their gold meticulously to buy healing salves and giving them to their core's teammates.

"You focus on last hitting, I'll go farm and buy healing salves to support you."

It's unclear which support first discovered that healing salves and mana potions could be given to the carry.

While various tactics and hero developments haven't emerged in the game yet, supports have already started competing fiercely.

"You're protecting your carry really well?"

"My gold is for the carry's healing salves, how can you compete with me!"

"They're really trying hard. Players are already competing to this extent while playing games?" Anna exclaimed, looking at the relevant data in the Nebula Games office.

"Anna, you never bought me healing salves when you played support! And you often stole my last hits!" Rachel complained next to her.

"Ahem... I was just afraid you wouldn't be able to last hit them!" Anna coughed.

"Alright, let's get ready. The new version is almost ready to be released to the players," Lucas said with a smile in the project room.

The plans for the new version and new events were completed a while ago.

The reason for not releasing them was mainly waiting for players to become familiar with "DOTA's" gameplay and content.

And this new version won't involve numerical aspects. It will mainly be about welfare events and a new ladder mode.

(End of chapter)

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