59: Chapter 59 Alternatives

9:00 AM.

Old C's stream started on time.

Ever since the incident where he forgot to turn off his stream, his reputation had taken a massive hit. However, his technical foundation in dota was still there, so he managed to retain a good number of die-hard fans.

Besides that.

The impact of that incident was indeed too significant, so there were still a large number of trolls in Old C's stream.

But perhaps...

Because dota 2 was entering open beta and they couldn't allow people to stir up trouble, the Douyu moderators had banned many accounts recently. Those still able to speak in Old C's stream were basically his die-hard fans.

Today, even his stream title had changed.

"dota 2 Open Beta Day 1, let's go, go, go!"

Less than ten minutes after starting, the number of online viewers had stabilized at around 150,000. While it couldn't compare to before, there were still plenty of viewers.

The bullet chat was scrolling rapidly, mostly filled with veteran dota players and Old C's fans.

"It's finally here!"

"Old C, hurry up and get in the game!"

"How are the graphics? How's the optimization?"

"Still at work, can only watch the stream to see how dota 2 actually is."

Old C clicked on the dota 2 client, and the dota logo on the login interface rotated slowly on the screen.

Nine o'clock was also the official launch time for the dota 2 servers.

Soon.

Old C logged into dota 2.

"The graphics have definitely been upgraded."

He nodded in praise.

The brand-new game graphics immediately stunned the stream. Although there had been gameplay previews in the previous trailers, the evolution of the graphics after actually entering the game still surprised many people.

If one only looked at the graphics...

dota 2 and dota were almost games from two different eras.

After that, he wasted no more time.

Old C entered a game and picked Shadow Fiend for the mid lane.

The laning phase began, and Old C's fingers flew across the keyboard.

Last-hitting, denies—every operation was etched into his muscle memory.

By the third wave of creeps, the opponent made a positioning error. Old C's Shadow Fiend landed a precise Shadowraze, followed by an auto-attack, and then another Shadowraze.

First Blood.

Because the haters and trolls couldn't speak, the bullet chat was full of praise.

Even if a stray comment occasionally floated by asking Old C how dota 2 compared to league of legends, it would be immediately banned.

"dota 2 feels exactly the same as the first generation; veteran players can jump right in seamlessly."

Old C leaned back in his chair, stretched his wrists, and murmured.

"The graphics are upgraded and the hero models are reworked, but the core mechanics haven't changed."

He gave a rare, serious evaluation.

"Denying is still there, losing gold on death is still there, and item recipes follow the same logic."

"This is dota, just an evolved version of dota."

"It gives veteran players everything they wanted."

"If you want to play an upgraded version of dota, then this is the game you want. Aside from the positive graphical improvements, it's not much different from dota."

The bullet chat was in unanimous agreement.

"Exactly, this is what a MOBA should look like."

"The graphics are so much better, and the skill effects are cool too."

"I'm watching the stream on my phone and playing the game on my PC. I've already played three matches; I can't stop."

On the first day of the open beta, it wasn't just Old C.

Almost all streamers on Douyu and Huya were streaming dota 2.

It was everyone, not just the gaming section streamers.

This was because...

Penguin wanted to expand the audience for dota 2. One of the biggest drawbacks of dota 1 was its outdated graphics; many potential players found it hard to accept dota 1 because of how it looked.

Now that the graphics had evolved, Penguin naturally wanted to retain this group of potential players.

In addition to the streaming, Penguin's cross-promotion activities were even more exaggerated.

Various Penguin software simultaneously launched crossover events: log in to get Q-Coins, play a certain number of matches to get gacha tickets for other games, invite friends to register for limited-edition items, and so on.

With Penguin's scale and ecosystem, this massive marketing campaign made dota 2 appear in almost every corner of the internet.

The entire internet's traffic was flooding toward dota 2.

...

Shenzhen.

In that familiar internet cafe, Liu Yang and A-Shui sat side by side.

Both computer screens were displaying dota 2.

To play dota 2 as soon as possible, the two had arrived at the internet cafe early in the morning and secured the two innermost machines.

Liu Yang was controlling Anti-Mage, last-hitting in the top lane, while A-Shui was next to him playing Shadow Fiend in the mid lane.

The graphics of dota 2 were indeed much stronger than the first generation; the hero models were exquisite, and the skill effects were flashy enough.

A-Shui's mid-lane Shadow Fiend scored a solo kill at level three.

"It's alright."

He stretched his fingers.

"The controls feel similar to dota 1; there's no barrier for veteran players to pick it up."

Liu Yang was also ahead of his opponent by over a dozen last hits in the top lane.

But the expression on his face wasn't exactly one of excitement.

They played two more matches, and they won both. The last match was even a complete stomp.

After all, they were veteran dota players, and A-Shui had an extremely high talent for gaming, so it was easy for them to snowball and expand their advantage.

Their records looked great.

But neither of them had that 'can't stop playing' feeling.

After the third match, Liu Yang leaned back in his chair and let go of the mouse.

"What do you think?"

A-Shui pushed his keyboard forward and remained silent for a moment.

"It's okay."

"It really is just a perfect upgrade of dota 1. People who like dota will definitely like this game too."

He paused.

"But it's just missing something."

"I can't quite put my finger on what's missing, but it just doesn't have the same feeling as the league of legends closed beta."

Liu Yang nodded and pushed his mouse forward.

"I feel the same way."

"dota 2 is indeed well-made. The graphics are good, and the controls feel great."

"But playing it just feels dull."

"Having to switch targets back and forth for denies every wave... after a few matches, my wrist is already starting to ache."

"Item recipes are a hassle too."

"Unlike league of legends, where recommended items are right on the front page, and you can head out with a one-click purchase."

A-Shui leaned back and stretched his neck.

After a moment of silence, he spoke.

"Actually, we didn't think there was anything wrong with these designs before; we even enjoyed them."

"If we hadn't played league of legends, we'd probably be immersed in dota 2 right now and think it's great fun."

"But after playing the league of legends closed beta, we feel that dota 2's design is a bit outdated."

"Only after playing league of legends did we realize how disgusting the gold-loss-on-death mechanic really is."

"The same goes for juking through trees in the jungle. Every time you enter the jungle, you have to be on edge."

Hearing this, Liu Yang sighed.

"True."

"These designs don't add depth."

"They add a burden."

A-Shui nodded.

"Two months."

"league of legends still has two months until open beta."

"Before then, we don't have any other games to play. dota 2 can serve as a substitute for now."

A young man waiting in line for a machine nearby overheard their conversation and leaned in.

He was wearing a t-shirt from the university next door and holding a bottle of Coke. He had been standing behind the two for quite a while.

He had come early because of the dota 2 open beta, but he didn't expect that because of it, so many people would come to the internet cafe that he still had to wait in line.

"You guys have played league of legends?"

Liu Yang nodded.

"We played it every day during the closed beta. We even shared one account between the two of us."

"Is league of legends really that fun? There were discussions online before saying that the people praising league of legends are all paid shills."

The young man was somewhat skeptical.

"I don't want to explain too much. When league of legends goes into open beta, you'll know after playing a few matches."

"league of legends is much more fun than dota 2."

Just as he said this, a machine became available, and the young man left, still half-believing.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the internet cafe...

Several college students who had never played a MOBA before were also attracted by Penguin's crossover event and logged into dota 2.

They usually only played casual and shooting games. Although they were interested in MOBAs, they never had the chance to play because of dota's outdated graphics.

This time.

Seeing the dota 2 open beta and the Q-Coin rewards, they decided to give it a try.

If it was fun, they wouldn't mind continuing to play.

And right now.

After a tutorial that was as rudimentary as it could be, they had just teamed up to start a match against bots.

They also knew that dota was difficult, so they didn't jump into matchmaking right away.

But the group...

Stayed in the fountain for a long time without heading out.

One of the freshmen stared at the item shop on the screen, his expression looking as if he were reading a divine script.

Rows upon rows of item icons were densely packed in the shop interface. Recipe paths were connected by thin lines, and items were categorized into three levels: basic, intermediate, and advanced.

"How do you buy these items? What even is a recipe tree?"

He clicked on the recipe for an item, and the page popped up with a long list of materials.

His classmate next to him was also bewildered and leaned over to look at his screen.

"Let me look up a guide."

He opened a web page and searched for a while, getting more confused the more he read.

The guides were full of abbreviations and jargon.

BKB, Mekansm, Scythe of Vyse, Blink Dagger—every term he clicked on led to another several-hundred-word explanation.

"Forget it, it's just bots anyway. We can win even if we play casually."

...

Twenty minutes later.

The college students' side was wiped out again by the easy bots.

Half of their screens were grey.

Their base was being leveled.

Because of the gold-loss-on-death mechanic, by the end of it, none of them even had a few complete items.

"This game is too hard; I don't get it."

Someone pushed the keyboard forward.

"I'm done after I get the Q-Coins. This is boring."

"Playing one match a day for the rewards is enough."

The classmate next to him also quit. The group clicked to claim their rewards and closed dota 2 without hesitation.

"Let's go back to playing CS. Shooting games are more fun after all."

Situations like this were constantly playing out in internet cafes all across the country.

However.

On the first day of the dota 2 open beta, with the help of Penguin's marketing momentum and crossover rewards, the number of incoming players was still incredibly high.

But how many of them would stay? No one knew.

At 11:00 PM that night, the official dota 2 Weibo account posted an announcement.

"On the first day of the dota 2 global open beta, the peak concurrent users exceeded three million."

"Thank you to every hero for joining us."

The number one trending topic on Weibo was, without suspense, occupied by dota 2's three million concurrent users on its first day.

The comment section was filled with nothing but positive reviews.

"This is the evolved version of dota. It gave veteran players everything they wanted."

"Graphics upgraded, control feel retained—this is what a true MOBA sequel should look like."

"I've waited three years just for this."

"Three million concurrent users. Who can break this record?"

"heroes of the storm? league of legends? They're all small fry in front of dota 2."

Amidst these overwhelming positive reviews, a few different voices were occasionally mixed in.

"This is my first time playing a MOBA. It's too hard to learn. Denying and gold loss on death are too unfriendly for beginners."

"Is there a simpler MOBA? I just want to experience this genre of game."

But these comments were quickly buried, drowned out by the sea of praise.

The daily active user data for dota 2 continued to climb over the following days.

Three million on the first day.

3.2 million on the second day.

3.5 million on the third day.

Every day was a new record.