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Dota 2 Introducing Monthly Dota Plus Subscription Service
Valve's endlessly popular MOBA Dota 2 has announced a new monthly service called Dota Plus.
The service is an "evolution" of Battle Passes. These are optional, seasonal packages players pay for which offer bundles of cosmetic items, as well as quests and challenges to earn more cosmetic items. Dota Plus replaces the Majors Battle Passes by making rewards independent from timeliness. More and exclusive cosmetics will continuously be added to Dota Plus as well. A feature called Plus Assistant provides players with various advice, such as how to best use abilities and real-time items, based on "millions of recent games at each skill bracket," the update's posts says.
Another new feature called Hero Leveling allows players to earn a new currency called Shards for rewards like items sets and relics, which track hero-specific accolades and show them off to other players.
Dota Plus also gives members access to play in weekly tournaments, called Battle Cups for free. Non-members can participate, but it costs $0.99 for a ticket. The membership itself costs $3.99 a month, but discounts apply for 6- or 12-month memberships. Battle Cups also now offer 20,000 shards for teams who win.
For more on the nitty-gritty of Dota Plus, head here.
[Source: Dota 2 on Twitter]
Our Take
While Dota Plus is a neat idea for the core crowd, Plus Assistant should not be dependent on a paid service. Everyone should have the right to be shown how to improve. It not only helps the players get into a good groove, but it makes any game more fun when you're playing with people who have a better grasp on things, especially in a strong team-focused game. With games like Fortnite taking reigns on what players are active in, it's more important than ever to rake in newcomers.
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