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<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="http://www.gameinformer.com/utility/FeedStylesheets/rss.xsl" media="screen"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"><channel><title>Dota 2</title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dota_2/default.aspx</link><description /><dc:language>en-US</dc:language><generator>Telligent Community 1.5.134.12297 (Build: 5.5.134.12297)</generator><item><title>Forum Post: DOTA 2</title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dota_2/f/9925/p/140936/1440219.aspx#1440219</link><pubDate>Sat, 12 Nov 2011 20:19:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1440219</guid><dc:creator>REDX555isawsome</dc:creator><description>&lt;p&gt;DOTA 2 is going to be pretty awesome&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>Blog Post: A New Way To Play Like The Pros</title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dota_2/b/pc/archive/2011/10/06/a-new-way-to-play-like-the-pros.aspx</link><pubDate>Thu, 06 Oct 2011 20:51:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1289896</guid><dc:creator>Adam Biessener</dc:creator><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/valve/dota/dota20814-610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Valve has given some insight into the ways Dota 2&amp;#39;s replays will go above and beyond what players expect in a &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://blog.dota2.com/2011/10/thats-worth-a-bottle-of-rum/"&gt;recent blog post&lt;/a&gt;. Most exciting is the &amp;quot;player perspective&amp;quot; camera, which lets you watch a replay as if you&amp;#39;re looking at a player&amp;#39;s screen. You&amp;#39;ll see their mouse movements, UI interactions, and everything. What better way to learn how the pros own so hard?[Excerpt]&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The Dota 2 team also shared its thinking on the &amp;quot;directed&amp;quot; camera mode, shown during the broadcasts of the Gamescom tournament, which has the system automatically place the camera where it thinks something interesting is happening. The idea is to give spectators a common view so they can share a viewing experience to talk about. It&amp;#39;s a nice thought in theory, but I came away from The International unimpressed by the implementation. I&amp;#39;ll take a skilled commentator&amp;#39;s manual control over the camera in a broadcast any day.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;You won&amp;#39;t have to dive into fansite forums to find interesting replays to watch, either. The game will have filtering built in, so for instance you can easily find the best videos to teach you how to play a new hero. This is huge; a game as popular as Dota 2 is bound to have a ton of content out there for it, so being able to quickly discover the best community-produced replays will be a massive help.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Finally getting some details on the much-hyped community features is fantastic. I&amp;#39;ve never had any doubt that Valve will nail the gameplay aspect of Dota 2 &amp;ndash; the team is pretty much straight-up copying Dota-Allstars &amp;ndash; but I have no such blind faith in the community support. This is a great start, though, and hopefully we&amp;#39;ll get more details on the coaching system and in-game rewards for community contributions that Valve has &lt;a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dota_2/b/pc/archive/2010/10/13/valve-s-new-game-announced-detailed-dota-2.aspx"&gt;talked about previously&lt;/a&gt; sooner than later.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>Blog Post: Behold The World Of DOTA 2 Through A Merchant's Eyes</title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dota_2/b/macintosh/archive/2011/08/15/behold-the-world-of-dota-2-through-a-merchant-39-s-eyes.aspx</link><pubDate>Mon, 15 Aug 2011 22:35:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1146625</guid><dc:creator>Tim Turi</dc:creator><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/valve/dota/dota2523-610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;There&amp;#39;s been a lot of buzz about big cash prizes for the best &lt;a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/08/15/league-of-legends-season-two-prize-dwarfs-valve-39-s-1-million-dota-2-tourney.aspx"&gt;League of Legends&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/08/01/if-you-were-better-at-dota-you-could-win-a-million-dollars.aspx?PageIndex=2"&gt;DOTA 2&lt;/a&gt; players, but it&amp;#39;s hard to get excited about those lofty rewards unless your the best of the best. Today Valve released something us average gamers can get enthusiastic about -- the DOTA 2 Gamescom 2011 trailer. This video showcases Valve&amp;#39;s trademark cg, giving players a look at the world of DOTA 2 through the eyes of a helpful merchant.[Excerpt]&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;[View:1111816323001]&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;While the &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.dota2.com/"&gt;DOTA 2 tournament&lt;/a&gt;   takes place this week at Gamescom, the anticipated action RTS doesn&amp;#39;t   come out until later this year. Be sure to stay tuned to Game Informer   for more info on the game coming from the convention, where it will be   playable for the first time ever.&lt;/p&gt;  </description></item><item><title>Blog Post: Behold The World Of DOTA 2 Through A Merchant's Eyes</title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dota_2/b/pc/archive/2011/08/15/behold-the-world-of-dota-2-through-a-merchant-39-s-eyes.aspx</link><pubDate>Mon, 15 Aug 2011 22:35:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1146624</guid><dc:creator>Tim Turi</dc:creator><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/valve/dota/dota2523-610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;There&amp;#39;s been a lot of buzz about big cash prizes for the best &lt;a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/08/15/league-of-legends-season-two-prize-dwarfs-valve-39-s-1-million-dota-2-tourney.aspx"&gt;League of Legends&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/08/01/if-you-were-better-at-dota-you-could-win-a-million-dollars.aspx?PageIndex=2"&gt;DOTA 2&lt;/a&gt; players, but it&amp;#39;s hard to get excited about those lofty rewards unless your the best of the best. Today Valve released something us average gamers can get enthusiastic about -- the DOTA 2 Gamescom 2011 trailer. This video showcases Valve&amp;#39;s trademark cg, giving players a look at the world of DOTA 2 through the eyes of a helpful merchant.[Excerpt]&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;[View:1111816323001]&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The anticipated action RTS comes out later this year. Be sure to stay tuned to Game Informer for more info on the game coming from the Gamescom convention this week.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>File: DotA 2 Leaked Screens</title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dota_2/m/dota_2_media/1143490.aspx</link><pubDate>Sun, 14 Aug 2011 14:23:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1143490</guid><dc:creator>Jeff Cork</dc:creator><description>Here's another screen from the game that have apparently been leaked online</description></item><item><title>File: DotA 2 Leaked Screens</title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dota_2/m/dota_2_media/1143475.aspx</link><pubDate>Sun, 14 Aug 2011 14:08:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1143475</guid><dc:creator>Jeff Cork</dc:creator><description>Here are a pair of screens from that game that have apparently been leaked online</description></item><item><title>File: DotA 2 Leaked Screens</title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dota_2/m/dota_2_media/1143474.aspx</link><pubDate>Sun, 14 Aug 2011 14:08:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1143474</guid><dc:creator>Jeff Cork</dc:creator><description>Here are a pair of screens from that game that have apparently been leaked online</description></item><item><title>Wiki: DotA 2 Guides</title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dota_2/w/guides/default.aspx</link><pubDate>Thu, 21 Oct 2010 20:19:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1041</guid><dc:creator>Anonymous</dc:creator><description>Guides for DotA 2</description></item><item><title>Wiki Page: DotA 2 Guides</title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dota_2/w/guides/default.aspx</link><pubDate>Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:19:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1652</guid><dc:creator>admin</dc:creator><description /></item><item><title>Group: Dota 2</title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dota_2/default.aspx</link><pubDate>Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:19:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:989</guid><dc:creator>Anonymous</dc:creator><description /></item><item><title>Forum: DotA 2 Discussions</title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dota_2/f/9925.aspx</link><pubDate>Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:19:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:9925</guid><dc:creator>Anonymous</dc:creator><description /></item><item><title>Files: DotA 2 Media</title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dota_2/m/dota_2_media/default.aspx</link><pubDate>Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:19:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:9926</guid><dc:creator>Anonymous</dc:creator><description /></item><item><title>Blog: User Reviews</title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dota_2/b/user_reviews/default.aspx</link><pubDate>Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:19:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:9927</guid><dc:creator>Anonymous</dc:creator><description>User reviews for DotA 2</description></item><item><title>Blog: DotA 2 - PC</title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dota_2/b/pc/default.aspx</link><pubDate>Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:19:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:9928</guid><dc:creator>Anonymous</dc:creator><description /></item><item><title>Blog: DotA 2 - Macintosh</title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dota_2/b/macintosh/default.aspx</link><pubDate>Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:19:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:9929</guid><dc:creator>Anonymous</dc:creator><description /></item><item><title>Blog Post: Valve's New Game Announced, Detailed: Dota 2</title><link>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dota_2/b/pc/archive/2010/10/13/valve-s-new-game-announced-detailed-dota-2.aspx</link><pubDate>Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:59:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:555701</guid><dc:creator>Adam Biessener</dc:creator><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/valve/secret/announce610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The   rumors and speculation can cease. Valve is making Dota 2, we&amp;#39;ve played   it, and it&amp;#39;s already amazing even though it&amp;#39;s not coming out until next   year. And we haven&amp;#39;t yet laid eyes on Dota 2&amp;#39;s biggest innovation: a   radical approach to integrating the game&amp;#39;s community back into the   gameplay itself.[Excerpt]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:medium;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;What&amp;#39;s a Dota?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dota   2 takes its name from the Warcraft III mod Defense of the Ancients, a   drastic change to that stock real-time strategy title, which pits two   teams of five players against each other in highly competitive,   40-minute or longer matches. Unlike most RTSes, DotA has each player   controlling a single hero who levels up and stockpiles gold to purchase   powerful equipment and consumables. As computer-controlled armies   continually spawn and rush the enemy&amp;#39;s base, players are responsible for   using their powerful heroes to turn the tide of the battle in their   favor.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;DotA quickly gained massive popularity on Blizzard&amp;#39;s   Battle.net service, with the growing community utilizing user-created   channels and the rudimentary custom game browser to connect players. As   mods tend to do, it branched into several variations as time passed.   Eventually, one rose to the top: &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.getdota.com/"&gt;DotA-Allstars&lt;/a&gt;, originally created by Steve &amp;quot;Guinsoo&amp;quot; Feak (now employed with Riot Games designing &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.leagueoflegends.com/"&gt;League of Legends&lt;/a&gt;). Allstars is currently maintained and updated by &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.playdota.com/forums/blogs/icefrog/"&gt;IceFrog&lt;/a&gt; (who declined to give his real name), who was hired by Valve in 2009 and is now working on Dota 2.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/valve/secret/dota2_onesheet_bloodseeker.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;DotA   enjoys such unprecedented popularity for a number of interconnected   reasons. The game has a skill curve as long and as wide as   Counter-Strike or StarCraft; expert players dominate matches with   lesser-skilled individuals solely through manual dexterity and hard-won   knowledge. Extensive upgrade paths allow players to combine items into   more powerful versions, gaining thousands of hit points or powerful   life-stealing attacks. Team play is hugely rewarded; though the map is   large enough for all ten players to spread out and fight creeps on their   own without anyone engaging anyone else directly, late-game play is   almost invariably centered around giant 3v3 or even 5v5 team fights. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The   mod has benefited from excellent, long-running support in the form of   constant updates that add new content or address balance issues. Said   balance is good enough that no dominant team composition or strategy has   ever taken hold for long. The heroes are varied enough that a match   featuring different team rosters can take on an entirely different   character from the last.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The enormous following generated by   DotA&amp;#39;s deep gameplay is unprecedented. Today, years after its release, a   third-party site hosting an update can get hammered by more than six   million downloads in a day. The mod spawned a new subgenre, commonly   referred to as &amp;quot;action-RTS,&amp;quot; that contains two successful commercial   games in League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth (and the unfortunate   flop Demigod) as well as DotA-Allstars itself. Valve Corporation, the   company beloved for its Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, and   Left 4 Dead series as well as its outstanding Steam digital distribution   and matchmaking platform, is making its entry into this still-growing   genre next year with Dota 2.[PageBreak]&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/valve/secret/dota2_onesheet_drowranger.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:medium;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;What Does Valve Bring?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Valve&amp;#39;s   approach to Dota 2 is unusual in that the gameplay itself is remaining   almost entirely untouched. &amp;quot;Our first reaction is to assume that [design   elements are] there for a reason,&amp;quot; project lead Erik Johnson explains.   &amp;quot;IceFrog is one of the smartest designers we&amp;#39;ve ever met. He&amp;#39;s made so   many good decisions over the years in building the product. He virtually   never makes a decision that doesn&amp;#39;t have some reasoning behind it and a   way to pick apart the logic behind it.&amp;quot; This approach means that Dota 2   basically is DotA-Allstars with new technology.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;DotA-Allstars&amp;#39;   roster of 100+ heroes is being brought over in its entirety. The single   map games take place on is functionally identical to the one that you   can download for free today in the Warcraft III mod. Items, skills, and   upgrade paths are unchanged. Some hero skills work slightly better due   to being freed from the now-ancient Warcraft III engine, but Dota 2 will   be instantly familiar to any DotA player.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A few things will make   significant differences to players making the transition. Dota 2 uses   Valve&amp;#39;s Source engine, so the game is much prettier. Source itself is   getting a few upgrades, including improved global lighting and true   cloth simulation. Dota 2&amp;#39;s integrated voice chat is a huge step up from   having to set up your own Ventrilo server, and the speed of voice   communication is very nearly a requirement for a game as team-focused as   DotA.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;AI bots will take over for disconnected players, and will   be available to play against in unranked training matches as well.   However, don&amp;#39;t get your hopes up for a full-fledged single-player game,   though. Johnson says, &amp;quot;Our goal with the AI is just that their   experience isn&amp;#39;t destroyed just because one person couldn&amp;#39;t finish the   game.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The visual style is remarkable for retaining the somewhat   cartoony feel that the Warcraft III version of DotA-Allstars is built   around, while going in a few different directions. &amp;quot;I think there are   functional aspects to the art that are pretty significant to the   players,&amp;quot; Johnson muses. The environment, particularly in the forests   that fill in the map between the three lanes that the NPC armies follow,   uses a desaturated color scheme to give the colorful heroes and   abilities some visual pop. The sizable art team is putting a lot of work   into making the shapes and animations of each hero distinct to the   point that players will be able to instantly identify any hero they see   and quickly gauge the threat level of any situation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The game   will also feature a ton of custom voice work. You&amp;#39;ll get amusing lines   from heroes as they deny the enemy team last hits on creeps, and   champions who have backstory connections will trade quips when nearby.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The   bulk of innovation in Dota 2, however, is ancillary to the gameplay   itself. Valve is upgrading Steamworks (the company&amp;#39;s backend   technologies for matchmaking and other gameplay and community-related   things) to allow them to create in-game rewards for participating in the   Dota 2 community. The idea is to have everything a player does in or   out of game tie back into their online identity. Like the improvements   to Source, the Steamworks upgrades will be available to third-party   developers who choose to use Valve&amp;#39;s tools when Dota 2 launches in 2011.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At   a basic level, posting useful feedback or participating in constructive   discussions on the forums will contribute to your standing in the   community in a visible way. Valve doesn&amp;#39;t have the specifics on how this   will work nailed down yet. Will you get points that contribute to a   visible ranking, like a Gamerscore? Will your posts need to be   recommended by other community members to count for anything? What   counts as a constructive discussion? These questions are all being   actively explored at the moment. Valve assures us that the designers   have a slew of awesome ideas for how to implement rewards in a way   that&amp;rsquo;s visible to the rest of the community, but there are no details to   announce yet. &amp;quot;When we talk about this identity that exists inside and   outside the game, we don&amp;#39;t think we&amp;#39;re anywhere near it with what exists   on Steam right now,&amp;quot; Johnson admits.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If this was just about   getting points for posting comments, though, we wouldn&amp;#39;t waste your time   by telling you about it. Dota 2 goes much farther than that. Everything   from unlocking new skins for your favorite hero to getting a unique   title for writing a strategy guide is on the table. Valve has ambitious   plans (for which, again, there are no specifics to share) to host   everything themselves and provide the best framework for the community   to interact with each other. The idea is to reduce the social friction   inherent in having to dig around a bunch of different fansites and wikis   to find what you&amp;#39;re looking for.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ultimately, two things will make Dota 2 stand out: the coaching system and interactive guides. Read on to find out more.[PageBreak]&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/valve/secret/dota2_onesheet_lina.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:medium;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Riding the Skill Curve&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Getting   owned sucks. It doesn&amp;#39;t matter if you&amp;#39;re the victim of a headshot in   Counter-Strike, corner trapped in Street Fighter, or swarmed under by   Zerglings in StarCraft. Holding the short end of the skill stick in   competitive games like these is rough. This problem is compounded in   DotA and its clones by two factors. First, matches last around 40   minutes &amp;ndash; that&amp;#39;s a long time to spend getting your face kicked in.   Second, dying not only takes you out of the game while your respawn   timer counts down but also directly benefits the other team by giving a   big cash bounty to your killer. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At intermediate and higher   levels of play, having a poor player on your team who dies frequently is   worse than fighting with a man down, as the opposite team gets gobs of   gold for picking off the newbie. This has fostered a legendarily   newbie-hostile attitude within large swaths of the DotA community. As   fun and rewarding as the game is when you&amp;#39;re in a match of appropriate   skill level &amp;ndash; and it can be one of the very best experiences in gaming,   without exaggeration &amp;ndash; finding those matches has always been a   nightmare. It doesn&amp;#39;t help that the game is so intense that Valve had to   institute a &amp;quot;no talking about the match for an hour afterwards&amp;quot; rule   for its internal playtests. The recent commercial titles that more or   less cloned DotA have ameliorated this to some extent, but it is still   often a huge problem.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Valve believes that the solution to the   huge barrier to entry is threefold. The first, obvious solution is to   have excellent skill-based matchmaking for both individuals and teams.   Valve believes that the work going into Steamworks for Dota 2&amp;#39;s release   meets that requirement. Second, interactive guides will allow players to   do more than just read a guide for their favorite hero that has been   deemed helpful by the community at large. Valve plans to allow   guide-makers to tie their work back into the game by doing things like   highlighting suggested item purchases or displaying useful information   during a match.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Finally, a coaching system is being deeply   integrated into the game. By logging in as a coach, veteran players can   do their part to help out newer folks. Valve hasn&amp;#39;t entirely decided on   the specifics of how newbies and coaches will be matched up, but once   they&amp;#39;re together a few things happen. The coach sees the pupil&amp;#39;s screen,   and gets private voice and chat channels to communicate with them. The   coach probably won&amp;#39;t be able to take control of anything directly (once   again, the details are currently under discussion), but information is   power in Dota 2 and having a mentor whispering in your ear can make all   the difference in the world.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/valve/secret/dota2_onesheet_morphling.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Of   course, the pupil will be able to rate the coach&amp;#39;s helpfulness. Being a   well-regarded coach will have explicit in-game rewards, just like   writing useful guides, posting constructive feedback, or engaging in   interesting strategy discussions. If the overwhelming response to   Battle.net achievements is any indication, vanity rewards like these   will be extremely effective in channeling the community&amp;#39;s energies   toward positive contributions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Valve founder and boss Gabe Newell   thinks that ongoing service and value creation over a game&amp;#39;s lifespan   is the new reality of game development. &amp;quot;IceFrog was one of the smartest   people we&amp;#39;ve ever met about doing that, and he was doing it with both   hands tied behind his back, so to speak,&amp;quot; Newell says. The company plans   on approaching Dota 2 with the same dedication that won it the   fanatical devotion of the Team Fortress 2 community, pushing out dozens   of updates that do everything from adding new hats to fixing balance   issues to introducing entire new match types for free.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;quot;I think   the interesting thing is us adding a second layer where the community is   a service to each other. That&amp;#39;s the real shift that we&amp;#39;re trying to   build here. Valve is going to keep building software around Dota and   around the community and around Steamworks for Dota, but we&amp;#39;re also   going to build this system where the community can bring service to each   other and be recognized for it,&amp;quot; Johnson proclaims. With a solid   backbone of community-enabling systems and Valve&amp;#39;s legendary support and   technology behind it, Dota 2 has a chance to turn one of the most   popular mods of all time into a full game on PC and Mac that compares   favorably to any eight-figure-budget console blockbuster.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/valve/secret/logo610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description></item></channel></rss>