DPC main problem
Author: Hawk Live LLC
Last updated:
More than a year has passed since Valve announced a new season of Dota Pro Circuit after the break, which ended with the long-awaited The International 10.
On November 10, the developers updated the DPC rules and clarified some controversial points. Despite attempts to fix something, many problems still remain. And one of them is the schedule.
What is the problem
From the side of the audience, it seems that the matches are going well, without interruptions. Sometimes two matches at the same time. Therefore, the question arises, what is wrong here. However, players, organizations, and even talent have noted this problem from the start.
The fact is that if you look at any team, then it has only one match per week in its schedule. And if a player sits at a bootcamp, then he simply loses a lot of time.
Moreover, it makes planning and holding other tournaments impossible. But one DPC season lasts approximately two months, between which the players have a short break.
Teams can't rest or earn more money. At the same time, the organization has to keep the players at the bootcamp for a long time during the season.
Quincy Crew carry, Yawar «YawaR» Hassan about Dota Pro Circuit format:
I really dislike it. You only play one game per week for some reason and I don’t know what they were trying to do there. They were trying to improve the Tier-2 scene or something but that doesn’t really help anyone. You play for two months and then you end up getting $20,000 per team which means nothing if you are living in the USA.
I don’t know what they were trying to do with the DPC system. They took away the thing Dota had like a lot of LANs. There used to have around two LANs every month which kept people motivated and hyped. Nowadays, you have four games a month and most of the games aren’t even that amazing. That’s because in NA there aren’t that many good teams to be honest, so it’s very hard to stay motivated. Basically, we are only paying for TI at this point. We are just training for TI for the whole year. There’s nothing to do. There are no LANs. There are no more games and you only have one series a week
The current DPC format is also exhausting the players with its length, as said by B8 captain, Danil «Dendi» Ishutin:
The DPC format is quite difficult for me after all. It's hard for a month and a half to constantly get in shape, work nonstop, look for strategies and so on, because everyone is on an equal footing, everyone wants to show their maximum. Everyone between each official game is planning some strategies that will be used for the next official games, and in general, the work is carried out 24/7. It was much easier before, when there were some short races of 5-7 days and then breaks. That is, you prepared for these short races, gave some result or did not, and then there was a break, where you could train in a more light mode, be productive, and so on.
The manager of Team Spirit Dota 2 roster, Dmitry «Korb3n» Belov and carry, Illya «Yatoro» Mulyarchuk, were invited to the New Year stream of the RuHub studio. Many events and problems were discussed, among which of course were the problems of the DPC system.
Korb3n noted that the players and team staff, due to the schedule of matches, do not have time for personal life:
With a schedule like that, you just don't have a life. You came, lived here for a month and a half, then left for ten days. Then came to the bootcamp before the major and to the major. Then you left again for ten days, and again you came. In a year, it turns out, you will live a month. One and a half, at most
The manager also criticized Valve for not fixing problems:
The other problem is that if you win the league and the first Major, you do not guarantee yourself a place at The International - this is already degradation.
And also, if you take the top 9 in the Major, where the 16 best teams in the world, you will not get anything. And for the eighth place you will receive $12,5 thousand. Minus taxes, minus the share of the organization, divide it into the players, you will receive less than the average salary in Moscow for such a wonderful tournament
In fact, Spirit's manager said what YawaR was talking about. The DPC season is very extended, the prize money in the league is small, and you can get nothing at all for the Major. And at the same time, there are no other tournaments or there are few of them and they are held in between the seasons.
The International 2021 champion Illya «Yatoro» Mulyarchuk also spoke about the DPC. Like Dendi, he noted the exhausting bootcamp experience for a long time:
I’ll speak for myself - it hurts unbearably when you play one game every ten days. And all this time you have to sit for two months at the bootcamp. And you are sitting, played one game, won - yes, cool, let's wait 10 more days.
…
It's tiring, I might say.
…
As if deliberately did it for joke over us
Solution
Team Spirit's roster manager, Dmitry «Korb3n» Belov, has previously suggested a solution to this problem. It was written about this earlier in the article «Dota Pro Circuit soon».
In short, he proposed the following. For example, only Division I would play first in the region. And instead of the conditional 6 weeks, the games would last 2-3. And in the rest of the weeks Div. II teams would play.
Thus, the length of the season for the teams is reduced. Less time will be spent on bootcamp, tighter schedule of games. The teams will have more free time.
If they play all the games in 2-3 weeks instead of 6, then the remaining time will be absolutely free. It can be spent on preparing for a major, media activity, or just to give the players an opportunity to relax. This is what all want.
It will be possible for other tournament organizers to hold their own tournaments. Thus, it will be possible to either once again see the matches between the top teams of the regions, or to give an opportunity to train and earn some money for Tier 2-3 teams.
If you think this is difficult to organize, then look at China. Due to issues with COVID-19, which prevented the return of players and teams from Bucharest, where TI10 was held, the match schedule has been changed. Exactly as described above.
At first, the second division teams of China played, and at this time the players from the Division I were solving their problems or having a rest. During this time, PSG.LGD even managed to investigatigate, suspend and returning to work the Dota 2 coach, Zhang «xiao8» Ning.
The results of CN Division II are already known, and the players now have a huge amount of time to rest and train. After all, they no longer need to sit at the bootcamp and wait for DPC matches. They also do not need to go to the major, which means that they are completely free until next season.
And on January 3, viewers will see matches of the top teams in China, which are rested and charged for the game. And, as mentioned above, they will play for 2-3 weeks.
After that, some of them will prepare for Major, if it will be at all. After all, information has already appeared that the major may not take place.
This was first mentioned by streamer Yaroslav «NS» Kuznetsov, and later confirmed by the Russian-speaking commentator and co-founder of Maincast studio, Vitalii «v1lat» Volochai:
We talk a lot about the fact that there are a lot of money in TI and less in the Major. We are now literally in a situation where there are 45 days left until the Major, and no one knows who will hold it. I honestly say: I do not know who will held it, I have no idea. I've contacted almost everyone I know, and I don't know who. Or no one answered me honestly, but everyone answered me.
Hopefully Valve will fix all their problems sooner or later. And then not only the audience, but also the teams will be able to truly enjoy Dota.
