The fall of the Dark Dota Empire

Text/Nagierfa Boatman

At 4 p.m. on March 9, the official blog of Dota 2 released the "Announcement on the Punishment of Players Who Interfere with Fair Play".

In the announcement, 46 professional players were banned by V Society and Perfect Esports for interfering with fair play, the vast majority of them Chinese players, including several Southeast Asian players.

Of those 46, 21 were banned for life, with the remainder suspended for anywhere from one to two years. Since the Chinese DotA is experiencing a crisis of confidence caused by fake matches and open hangings, this ban is considered to be the official response of V Society and Perfect to this turmoil.

After the end of TI11, the discussion of "small fish hanging" was very popular in the player community. "Little Fish Hanging" refers to third-party software used in the game files to illegally invoke the passive effect of the hero "Slac" move (i.e., extra health restoration when it cannot be seen by enemy players).

This additional vision information should not have been obtained by non-Slack players - "Little Fish Hanging" illegally increases the player's information dimension, which has a huge impact on the fairness of the game.

And because this call only occurs on the client, if the player's device is not scanned (which is not allowed in most games' user agreements), it is difficult for the official to judge whether to open and hang just through the game video, so "small fish hanging" can be said to be repeatedly prohibited.

Earlier this year, in the article "Huawei is not stuck, but it is hanging", I elaborated on the incident of Kunkun, the No. 5 of the "Kikuuchi" team that appeared on this year's Internet TI and represented Huawei, suspected of opening and hanging the hammer;

Kunkun's performance on the Internet TI

In the DPC S-Class match in China (that is, the highest level of the domestic league) that began soon after, the No. 5 XCJ of the Knights team in the early few matches of the tournament was ridiculously high in the success rate and abnormal performance in the position also caused widespread discussion in the circle, countless retired players in the service repeatedly looked at the "suspicious fragments", their judgments and reactions were sliced, and an endless dispute intensified.

The well-known "Dota 2" content author Outstanding Brother made a video of his suspicions about Knights and XCJ, and his fierce words attracted a lot of attention; The video was translated into English and circulated on the Internet, and it also set off a storm about China's professional competitions in foreign forums;

In addition, the self-media HOHO brother, who has been rooted in the Chinese DotA community for many years and diligently provides game-related information, announced that he withdrew from the circle because of this matter, which further intensified the anger of players.

After Knights and Ehome (considered to be suspected of fakes) eventually finished in the top four of the league and went to Lima Major, and both finished bottom of the group, this suspicion finally reached a climax because there was almost no room for offline matches.

Of course, the parties in the center of public opinion seem to be dismissive of this. They insist that they "did not open the hanging" and wait for the results of the official investigation, and everything will be revealed - until the day of liquidation.

Although Perfect and V are not definitive about the incident, the move to ban Knights for life also represents the official attitude towards the incident.

It is worth mentioning that before this ban on professional players, in February this year, V issued an announcement called "Dota will never allow plugins", mentioning that they set traps to lock many users who open and hook.

Although they technically can't check the past records, users who continue to open after the trap patch update are almost invariably executed - as for whether any of the players who were banned this time, we don't know at this time.

In the list of lifetime bans, in addition to the entire Knights team at the center of the storm, it is worth mentioning the number one Xu Ziyang (formerly ID: Lin), who is nicknamed the "Emperor of the Dark DOTA".

Lin Shen is considered to be a veteran of the industry in the operation of fake matches, and for many years, he not only "founded" the VGP known as the "Whampoa Military Academy", but also led fake matches in many A-level teams to make money by buying places and changing vests, and almost every outrageous fake match that appeared in the audience's field of vision was written with Lin God's name. He has been entrenched in the second and third tier teams of China's DotA for many years, and his arrogance is eye-catching.

After the ban list was released, someone wrote a Dark DOTA biography

Among the 46 people banned this time, there are a large number of well-known figures in the dark DOTA world. Including Ychen, Catyou and other players who have long been bad but have been "at large", they all ushered in a liquidation yesterday.

It is worth mentioning that due to the early expression of trust in his friend Feliciaoba (the player is also on the list of lifetime bans), which in disguise led to the attack of his extreme fans on doubters including Brilliant, the well-known player Maybe fell into the verbal criticism of angry netizens.

When justice is done, the surging emotions find their next outlet. Superbrother, who tried to put logic and reason, seemed a little overwhelmed in the wave of denunciation.

All in all, these IDs — and the Ehome Club that has run through the entire history of Chinese Dota — have been swept into the foul-smelling trash along with the largest ban list in history.

The Dark Dota Emperor and the generals he trained can no longer change their vests to brazenly compete in the second and third tiers or even the first line, calling for wind and rain, and fake competitions to accumulate wealth.

But even so, if they don't find their relationship with the spinach farmer (which is very difficult, to be honest), most of them will not be punished by the law.

Not to mention the consensus that "Lin God has bought a house in Shanghai by eating vegetables", the damage and corrosion of the environment of Dota 2 in China over the years has been immeasurable.

With Aq before and ZC in the back, more or less participating in fake matches and spinach has caused many talented players to lose the opportunity to show their strength; And there may be countless teenagers who give up their dreams because they are lost in money.

The consequences have actually been done. This year, with the retirement of some older generation players and the reorganization of teams, the competitive level of domestic "Dota 2" is showing a clear downward trend.

Not to mention the dismal record of the just-concluded Lima Major Chinese Legion (after all, the players of the overseas team were almost half BAN this time), even last season's DPC match had a faint smell of rookie pecking at each other.

The Lima MAJOR group stage ended, and the two Chinese teams were out at the bottom

People cursed Shiro and pointed at his entry and violent death that did not meet everyone's expectations, but they did not know that in the gap between the rice circle economy around first-line star players and the dark empire that shrouded second- and third-tier players, when the space for competition was compressed, when the soil of development was polluted, the matter of "playing out" itself was already a small miracle.

It must be pointed out that the second- and third-tier matches of esports are linked to fake matches, and there is far more than Dota 2 in China. In fact, in the cognition of many "League of Legends" viewers, the matches of the minor league LDL are full of various fake matches;

And the rumor of BO in 2021 is the epitome of this problem - after participating in fake matches in the secondary league and being promoted to the top league, he had to continue to eat because of the past handle being coerced by the dealer, which is almost the same as Aq's story.

BO caught in the fake race storm in 2021

A few years ago, I interviewed a group of players who failed to become pro for various reasons. At that time, longing for the aura of a star player and dreaming of a rising top was a trait shared by the so-called "Internet addict teenagers".

Today, both clubs and training institutions are committed to using experience classes of various names to dissuade quasi-professional players who are not talented enough, but there are still huge problems in the supervision of second- and third-tier professional competitions in the industry.

In the long, even hopeless training, the time of waiting for the right version and the right teammates, these teenagers who have become professional players but are treated very differently from the first-line players, it is too normal for them to go astray in the face of the temptation of teammates and even clubs.

In a game where most spectators don't care (but gamble dogs do), and in the desperation of trying hard but not being able to stand out, persistence is commendable, and the fall is not an accident.

At a time when the commercialization of e-sports is getting bigger and bigger, how to regulate the shadow behind the starry shine is a big problem. Transforming the packaging of first-tier teams into a fan economy is a quick way to get a quick return, but ignoring the situation of second- and third-tier professional players can be said to be exhausted.

This permissiveness made them more and more blatant, from fake matches to hang-ups, from the second league to the top league, and finally came to the day of destruction.

Whether you are a Korean or a Southeast Asian, there will always be a day to leave. If Chinese esports collapse in the twilight one day, the long-term negligence in the supervision of first-line players will be the first ant on the causeway - and even now, this land that cries out the sweat of youth is already in ruins.

After this large-scale ban, will the Dota 2 professional environment usher in the dawn of clear sky? I don't think I can assert that yet.

But at least for a short time to come, we'll be able to see almost "absolutely real" matches.

It is worth mentioning that after this ban, 4 of the 9 teams in the original Chinese DPC A-level league were "justice enforced", plus the two teams that were relegated to the S level, and the upcoming next season competition instantly had 6 more places, and these places will be born through auditions.

Luna, the official commentary of "Dota 2", called on everyone to sign up enthusiastically on Weibo: "If you reach the sixth, you will have a bonus of 7,000 knives, and if you can't get it, you can be considered a professional!" ”

And a friend of mine is said to have found a team and started preparing for the audition. The care that everyone cares for him is like this: "Don't play fake matches, if you fight, remember to call me to buy a house." ”

V has always had an ambiguous attitude towards the club. They are always willing to lie down and do nothing, and then look forward to a Ti fairy tale from grassroots to champion. This process obviously doesn't work at all – players can play like this, but the game can't.

The soundproof house that was useless in Singapore and almost had an accident in Lima was the result of their rot.

Fortunately, the "fishing" in February and the large-scale ban in March (it should be noted that there are players who have never played in the Chinese division in this ban) have some "return from vacation" results.

On March 9, 2023, with the "death" of the emperor, the Dark DOTA Empire ushered in the nominal collapse.

I hope that in future competitions, we can see the "getting better" pie drawn last year gradually realized; And the next time Dota 2-related news comes out, it's best to have nothing to do with Dark DOTA.

　　Also: When to change the 1 skill of the new hero I was scared for 6 seconds in a row, hit the wall of Mars 8 times, couldn't do anything, died in place, the game experience is too bad, it is recommended to weaken it urgently, thank you!