Noob life in Dota in Adventure Log [01]

So I’ve been playing Dota for 5 months now. I remember that entry I published back when I was a complete beginner. I didn’t know the majority of the items nor heroes, but now, they’re common terminology for me. I am not braindead anymore- I don’t auto-attack, I back off from unwinnable team fights, I can play various roles, etc.

I’ve met people through matches and ended up adding them because they seemed nice to play with. Imagine adding your enemy Pudge- the one who kept hooking you and kept killing you. I did because he called himself Dandi, and we laughed about it although we sorely lost that match. So now, our party is composed of me, Luther, Dandi, his ex, and our hardcore support friend.

But boy, do I find myself feeling noobish again. Our teammates have invested 1000 hours in Dota already, and I barely have 200. I actually didn’t feel our difference until I looked them up. I think it makes me insecure that I am numerically junior to them. They’re the type to die and type ‘LMAO YOLO’ which we find funny, and so I didn’t think of it as much as first.

I feel bad, really. Like how I’d specify where to place wards, like I’m some 5k MMR lord that people need to listen to. But I don’t do it because I feel that way, I do it because I feel that it’s needed. Sometimes, I end up typing strategies in chat when we’re behind. Nowadays it got me thinking whether I really should be making the calls, since I am not the most experienced nor skilled player here. I feel like I’m making a fool out of myself. I mean, they probably know more stuff than I do, but I’m the one who gives out strats. The one who has the lowest time spent on the game. It has something more to do with my INTJ trait, I think. I really like having strats especially when we’re losing, and no one’s typing anything on chat, anyway.

Skill-wise, I am sub-average. I am only good at last hitting with certain heroes. I am not a very good farmer. My game sense isn’t that well-developed yet. Without the in-game guides, I will not dare press the random button.

Knowledge-wise, sub-average as well. I don’t know the intricacies of counter picking, although I understand it generally. I don’t think I’ve ever dewarded before, nor initiated a smoke gank. Our lanes are always 2-1-2, and I find myself stuck in a lane until people start moving around. For this reason, I learned to love playing as Axe. I roam around more as him, and that freedom and feeling of usefulness is very liberating.

I ask myself- is my current level of skill on par with the time I’ve spent, or am I lagging behind? I mean, I’m not sure what’s to be expected of people with 200 hours of experience. I don’t want to be a burden to my awesome teammates because I really enjoy playing with them. I want to be able to carry them when they fall behind. I want to be good, both for my team and myself. I don’t want to use the excuse, ‘I only have 200 hours in-game, I’m sorry’.

Earlier today, we played a couple of games. I did terribly even though I played my usual heroes. I asked myself, ‘would those games be better if I didn’t have lag and hardware problems?’ The answer is an honest yes, but it won’t shoot up extremely to the point of getting a rampage. I just didn’t want to look like a retard while playing. Like when Io relocates me, and my hero ends up wandering around because he doesn’t respond to my right clicks.

Also, our 3v3. We should’ve won that. I manfought them as Huskar and won the skirmishes, but I can’t keep up the snowballing because damn you mouse. How do I farm? How do I chase heroes when the mouse just won’t give the damn command? I can’t wait to get my own gaming laptop and hardware someday. It would definitely make my life easier, but of course will not magically improve my gameplay whatsoever.

I have a nasty cold right now, and I should be in bed. But here I am, ranting about Dota past my bedtime. I hope this helps, though. We promised to play again tomorrow, and I really want to prove my worth. I hope I end up with a good PC unit at the cafe tomorrow.