Category Archives: Insight

Reddit user denunciator chronicles stars of the past: 820, 2009

Written and researched by reddit user denunciator, this deserves more views! Very informative, and great writing style too. Click the links below to see the main reddit posts, definitely worth it!

The Raven’s Vengeance: EH.820

GL was one of the earlier teams in the history of Chinese DotA; then, everyone was unknown, everyone played on the same ground. Even then, though, 820 was already known as somewhat of a talent. With team GL, they took the qualifiers of the first LAN even there, CPL, by storm. Proud, arrogant, GL expected their road to be easy.

It wasn’t. Kicked down in the semifinals by HUST, a relatively new team, GL went into the losers finals – a nobody position for such a stellar team. Shaken by the loss, 820 learned the value of respect and stability.

…

 

A genius in his time: FTD.2009

09’s story started somewhat differently than most competitive players; in fact, he was a perfectly ordinary teenager. At least, ordinary by his standards – in 2005, he graduated from a top highschool and entered Zhejiang’s Biomedical stream with flying colors. Just like pupils of his age, studies became a past-time; love and gaming came first. To impress his girlfriend, he took up O2Jam; it was only after his breakup that his DotA career took flight.

…

 

 

 

[fluff] iG members pay the price to play with pop superstar JJ Lin

As reported last year, Dota2 has quite a few celebrity fans, one of whom is the Mandarin-language pop superstar JJ Lin (not to be confused with NBA star Jeremy Lin, who also plays Dota2). Recently, he’s been grouping with iG members. Today, a group of two iG members, Mr Lin plus his friend, along with commentator Beat_kid, appeared in ‘very high’ bracket matchmaking…

JJ Lin’s ID is [S.M.G]***Dark Knight, and he took his two International 2 champion teammates down with him as his Clockwerk went 1-14-5. What did he have to say for himself?

“don’t know how to play”

So, even the biggest names have things they aren’t so great at! 😛

This bit of fluff is not meant to be serious, please take all in good humor.

screenshots from: http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2111446657

 

 

Dota2 localization hits a snag? HippoVic has some ‘choice’ words for Chinese voice work thus far…

Welp, ‘choice’ words indeed. In some profanity-laced posts online, HippoVic, a key member of the localization team for Dota2, long-time member of the DotA translation team before that, lashed out on his Weibo accounts earlier, after apparently spending quite a bit of time checking on the progress of Chinese voice work for the game…

Edit: HippoVic has now revealed a few examples, as seen on SGamer, and they are indeed pretty bad translations. Overly literal translations, translations that miss the point, etc. So it is with this background that he is lashing out so violently…

Roughly, from bottom to top, the posts read:

  • “Must not flame… must resist…”
  • “Lacking culture and education is one thing, but resorting to Chinese idioms, such a damn embarrassment. I beg you all to not be so fucking stupid, okay, if you must be a dumbass then fine, but keep it to yourself, don’t make me fix your dumb shit. What have I done to deserve this?”
  • “Rework then, dumb shits! This is what you get for tormenting my ears!”

He has since deleted all but one post from his Tencent Weibo, but his Sina Weibo still has them up, along with another one that says “Thank goodness there’s still me to control quality, or else you bunch of stupid fucks would’ve fucked it all up”.

Previously, we reported that Dota2 would get full localization voice work in China… judging by this arguably extreme reaction, it would seem that the first batch of localization voice work hasn’t passed the test and will need to be reworked.

It is not clear if he is unsatisfied with the quality of the voice work itself, the actual lines and translations, or both. Opinions are mixed on the issue amongst Chinese netizens, with some people glad that he has high standards and is ostensibly trying to avoid the corny voice work that plagues many Chinese games, while others are questioning whether he has a right to so publicly call out others involved in the process.

 

 

Top 10 Stories in 2012 Chinese Dota

Original: http://dota.sgamer.com/201301/news-detail-160432.html

Dotaland note: Written by Felix菜刀刃, friend of Dotaland, and translated at his personal request — this is a look back on the last year of Dota in China, where so many things have changed, grown, and in some cases, disappeared… Looks back on teams, controversies, achievements, and a hint at Perfect World having their own ‘International’? This and more, read on below!

10 — Disbandment

Nirvana, sponsored by Loveen, winners of prestigious titles such as G-League in 2010, WDC, WCG China, once upon a time stood amongst the three giants of Chinese Dota, alongside EHOME and LGD. WDC, the World Dota Championships, catalyzed in part by Loveen, was a top three competition in Dota. Going into 2011, Nirvana and the WDC both entered a turning point, where Loveen, citing a new marriage faded out of the scene. In the beginning of 2012, Nirvana officially announced their end, with WDC being their swansong.

PanDa, sponsored by a Hang Yu (this was PanDa’s second iteration), with Efeng as manager, established in 2012. Players under their tag included Hao, Mu, Yaobai, PanPan, 830God, and Sansheng. Their results were not bad, but then the boss disappeared, Efeng quit, three core players transferred to TongFu, and that was that — the team disbanded.

WE’s Dota team was established in 2011. At one point or another, they had new at the time, but now-familiar names such as Sylar and Veronica. After TI2 ended, their Dota players left one after another.

CLC’s Dota team, after a short existence including players like 357, ultimately disbanded after 357 returned to EHOME. Afterwards, the remnants of CLC merged with LOH to form Noah’s Ark. Following investors pulling out from NA in 2012, the team ceased to exist.

DT Club, once 3rd/4th placed finishers at ACE League, suffered an unexplained resignation from their manager, a loss of financial backing from their boss, their players floated off to other teams.

9 — Rebirth

“A thousand sails drift past the sunken ship, a thousand trees flourish upon the dying stump” — in 2012, though quite a few teams left us, new teams appeared to fill their spots and bring with them a new wind of hope. The most inspired of these is none other than LGD.int, where we must give credit to LGD.RuRu’s eagle-eyed wisdom for her skill in building another super-team in the hyper competitive Dota scene. And LGD.int’s performances so far have shown us all that Western players do not necessarily lack talent, they only need an environment to focus and train better.

Post-TI2, the biggest dark horse newcomer should be ViCi Gaming. Mostly comprised of new players, they first took the GosuCup by storm, only losing to Zenith and ending up third place. And then it was in the G-League group B, where they escaped death by eliminating MUFC, pushed LGD.cn to the limit, ending the year in a satisfactory manner.

Apart from that, there’s still the new as-yet-unnamed team led by ZSMJ and Ch, as well as a potential new team with LaNm. And then, there are rumors saying that former DT Club players have re-convened to fight anew in this new year.

8 — Perfection

After a seemingly neverending wait, Perfect World finally was confirmed as Dota2’s official Chinese partner. Despite many fans and industry people alike eagerly and impatiently awaiting this news, Perfect World played this to their own leisurely pace, perhaps with confidence in a long-term approach. While they prepared a new Dota2 official splash page and beta signups, Perfect World has also been ramping up recruitment in preparation. There are reports suggesting that Perfect World also has plans to hold independent large-scale events a-la Valve’s International, and perhaps this act could serve to disrupt the current balance between third-party events. Either way, no matter what comes from Perfect World, it will greatly influence the Dota2 scene as we know it.

7 — Reputation

For WCG, its name recognition is matched only by its controversy. As one of the key forces in early Chinese esports development, WCG holds an almost mythical reputation amongst Chinese fans. Yet, recent developments in gaming have almost left WCG behind, with WCG attempting a shift towards mobile games. And plus, as a modern-day esports giant, the new generation of Chinese gamers have the ability to look beyond what the Koreans can provide. Increasingly refined experiences and production from domestic competitions, plus huge moves from American gaming companies have left the Samsung-led WCG by the wayside.

This year’s World Cyber Games was held in Kunshan, China, and its production fully catered to the host nation’s tastes. Dota2 became a main competition, with its predecessor Dota included as an exhibition event. In Warcraft3, Ted’s Undead had a classic come from behind victory, and the Sky-Moon rivalry played out another emotional chapter; the whole of it meaning that viewers got more than enough. But still, the worries were apparent underneath the surface at WCG, and its future remains unknown.

6 — Surprises

G-1 League’s 4th Season quietly snuck up on us, and it brought with it China’s first Dota2 competition, a first for Chinese and English simultaneous broadcasting, the first Chinese competition with an in-game Steam ticket. Out of many firsts, what it served to do most was to set an example and kick off the future of Chinese — and even Asian — competitive Dota2. Even so, of course, there were many places for improvement; wonder what surprises the next iteration of G-1 League will have for fans?

5 — Breakout

As China’s longest standing and most well-known esports media organization, Gamefy’s 2012 wasn’t a typical one. In fact, it could be said that their summary for the year is a long list of achievements. The first season of G-League in 2012 managed to put on an exuberant celebration of a Grand Finals, despite being trapped between a spectacular ACE League debut, and a certain million-dollar tournament in Seattle. And speaking of TI2, Gamefy also successfully acquired broadcasting rights to the competition. Yet, not long after these successes, Gamefy commentator SnowKiss resigned controversially, leaving in her place a long series of accusations leveled at Gamefy and former coworkers there. Although Gamefy successfully cooled the situation down, the storm clouds from this incident remain difficult to disperse. Afterwards, Gamefy’s Daily Report show negatively reviewed WCG, and Chinese WCG media partner NeoTV responded, causing another wave of arguments and controversy in the public eye.

So it was in this atmosphere that the new season of G-League began at the end of 2012. Unprecedented production quality along with unpredictable and exciting matches seemed to sweep away the haze of past disputes, finally helping Gamefy to break out from a series of negative events. In 2013, a reformed SiTV (parent company of Gamefy) thus must continue their role as one of Chinese esports forces.

4 — Professionalism

The ACE League, as a collaboration between the ACE Esports League and GTV Channel, provided Dota competition in its debut event. In the roadmap of Chinese esports development, the ACE League holds a milestone-like status. In terms of production and packaging, it’s erected a new standard for other competitions. But an awkward reality cannot be ignored, that is that half of the original participating teams have by now disbanded, and a second season of the league never materialized in 2012. In what way will ACE re-appear in 2013, all is still unknown to us now.

3 — EHOME

EHOME is (or was?) China’s oldest esports name. In many different events and games, especially Dota, they at one time or another represented the top China — or even the world — had to offer. In 2011, BurNing and KingJ left the team, and DK and iG arose, and EHOME’s kingly aura faded as it never had before. In 2012, EHOME made high-profile roster changes: DC as a coach, ZSMJ et al recruited to compete, yet no goals were achieved. Afterwards, old EHOME veterans 357, Dai, and LanM were recruited back into the fold, and because of rule-breaking in these transfers EHOME ultimately were excluded from the new ACE Esports Alliance — EHOME became the ‘Horde’ to ACE’s ‘Alliance’. After TI2, 357 and Dai joined DK, team lead 71 left, and EHOME once again fell apart. Rumors say that EHOME’s been bought by iG owner Principal Wang, but no one knows if we’ll see EHOME make another return.

2 — Royalty

As we review the Dota scene of 2012, we come to find that unfortunately, ‘mess’ is still a word closely associated with everything, to the extent that the China Esports Magazine of 2011 below can be used again for 2012 with little changes. Paid smurfing to boost Dota 11 platform account ladder rankings, Dota2 keys and profiteering, the “100% focused” statements, Taobao’s antics… from one side to another, insults, maneuvering, and politics covered everything from fairness to profits and everything in between. The end result of all this being, for better or worse, we saw many more sides of players, commentators, organizers, tournaments, and clubs than we would have otherwise ever known about. Interestingly, all of this seemed to die down quite a bit after TI2. Perhaps it was because everyone saw first hand that there’s a quality in professionalism, and there’s a power behind a million dollars.

1 — Crusade

Because of Valve’s million-dollar injection into The International 2, the competition was seen as a ‘crusade’ of sorts by players. The first International in Cologne was not particularly important to Chinese teams, with seemingly only EHOME taking even a week of time to prepare for it. But then, EHOME’s $250000 prize for second place had everyone waking up. CCM, who finished outside the top four last time had turned into this year’s iG. Equipped with the best training environment Beijing could provide, and having just taken a G-League championship, with a lead in the on-going ACE League, it could be said that they had all the forces of nature alongside them. In the end, they didn’t disappoint, and successfully planted the Chinese flag on the greatest stage of Dota2.

This TI2 also served to completely rewrite the order of the worldwide Dota scene. China’s iG began their dynasty, Chinese competitions transitioned to Dota2, and the former big three Dota competitions faded away, all while Dota2’s gravity shifted ever so much towards the East. All indications point towards the fact that with TI2 and iG’s title, a new age has begun.

Follow Dotaland on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Dotaland, learn more about Dotaland at the About page.

iG CEO Efeng recaps 2012

Original: http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4a69021b0101cmo3.html

Dotaland note: Really cool reflections on 2012 written by Efeng, CEO of Invictus Gaming, and before that, manager of PanDa. Looks into behind the scenes stuff, his reflections, happenings, events and more. Just an overall excellent read for anyone interested in going through the past year in Chinese esports.

“2012, a transitional year”

January, PanDa set out to Beijing for the WGT, a very important competition at the time. At the time, this competition would directly influence PanDa’s sponsorship situation in the upcoming year, so every player was going all out — it was such a heart-warming scene to see, because the atmosphere was one where you could feel every member of the club was in it together, with a willingness to fight for the club, and exceptional teamwork and togetherness. Sadly a miscue in the form of accidentally denying the Aegis meant that their goals were ultimately not achieved, yet in the end we all felt fulfilled in one way or another, Lyn took the SC2 title, Toodming took third place for the same, and in Dota it was a second place finish, leaving us as the best overall results as a team at WGT.

“How come I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”

February, PanDa moved their team base to Nanjing. Upon arriving in Nanjing, I commented, “How come I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” The weather there in February was very cold, PanDa’s new base was located next to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall, everyone arrived on time. But because it was so cold in the dorms, our entire Dota team chose to sleep on the floor in the training room. Thinking back a bit now, the scene was quite moving… despite the conditions, there were few complaints at all. At the time, all Hao had to say was “I only want results this year, nothing else”; no one could predict what might happen afterwards. This month, I was very disorganized, and the club’s direction ended up creating a gap between the boss’s wishes. Mr Yu, the boss, was constantly un-contactable, our monitors at our new base did not support Dota2, our players couldn’t practice, Lyn’s salary went unpaid. Plus I had family issues back at home, my relationship wasn’t going well, so my emotions were frayed and all over the place, and all of a sudden I wanted to just get away and take a break… and then I managed to talk with Mr Yu, who said he would deal with the club’s problems as soon as possible, and I went to Hangzhou to clear my head and heart, and ultimately decided to resign from that position.

Compared with WE’s ups and downs in no less than the past 10 years, where regardless of financial, sponsors, or any other problems, they always stuck closely with one another and ultimately were rewarded with glory, just one month of missed salaries and everything fell apart, it was something that made me think quite hard.

March, I had resigned from the position of manager for PanDa. PanDa was the club that I had put the most blood and sweat into at the time, and so the decision was extremely hard to make. But the situation at the time led me to no other choice, and afterwards I began a life in Beijing of playing poker. At that time, when chatting with Old Liu we came to the topic of iG. In 2011, iG had actually approached me, but at the time I was putting everything into PanDa and so I had laughed it off. Yet now, I had no job, and had not given up on esports management, so I was immediately interested. The conflict at the time was between going on to play poker professionally, or to come back to this industry that I was familiar with. I chatted with many people, asked their opinions, and decided to go to iG and give it a try. I still felt I could contribute something, and additionally there was another big reason, that at the time I could only keep to myself. At the end of the month, Yaobai (of PanDa) suddenly messaged me on QQ, said he was done with his work with the team, he hadn’t been paid, Mr Yu was out of reach… I tried to talk with him about it, but he said he was really upset, and wanted to just leave, at least until people were paid again. At the time no one thought too much of it, and it just happened. Who would have expected this all to lead to the earthquake that was PanDa disbanding. And so it was a series of events, and fortunately in the end nothing terrible happened, everyone managed to find a stable new place to call home. Thinking back, PanDa at the time was solidly in the ranks of top4 Dota teams, and its SC2 team ahd Lyn, Toodming, Ash, and its sponsor situation was stable. Compared with WE’s ups and downs in no less than the past 10 years, where regardless of financial, sponsors, or any other problems, they always stuck closely with one another and ultimately were rewarded with glory, just one month of missed salaries and everything fell apart, it was something that made me think quite hard.

April, I officially joined iG, and began my professional manager career with them. IG’s Dota team, ever since SMM hadn’t achieved much in any way, and were undergoing a fierce practice regime. The NGF competition at the end of the month everyone felt must-win, yet in the end iG lost to LGD, who had barely trained. ChuaN cried tears of real sorrow below the stage, yet it was just that type of atmosphere that let me know that this was a team that was destined to achieve results, because of that hunger for victory, one that exceeded anyone else’s.

One loss after another drew them each closer to one another, and the arguments and disagreements of wayward days lessened, in its place there appeared more trust and understanding.

May, the ACE League began. A glorious new page in the history of esports, ACE League is to-date the most ambitious and large-scale project and competition, and was also the hope and dream of every team that joined hands in the alliance. That month, iG started training on Dota2, starting at a worldwide Dota2 team ranking of 447. So it was under these conditions that YYF began his 30 games per day training regime. One loss after another drew them each closer to one another, and the arguments and disagreements of wayward days lessened, in its place there appeared more trust and understanding.

June, iG’s management had stabilized, and a formerly messy situation gradually calmed down. This month, because of internet issues, the decision was made to move the LoL team to Shanghai, and after that iG’s YY channel (a live audio streaming platform, popular in China) went online, marking an effort to build up our Fan Club project.

July, was CCG, and iG’s SC2 team getting crushed to wrap it up. But perhaps because of just this devastating loss, iG’s SC2 team became more motivated. On the 15th, at CCG’s evening reception, I met a girl.

On the 29th, we arrived in Seattle, and five days later, iG were up on the stage of the finals. When NaVi typed out GG, we all broke into tears.

August, on the 5th, the whole team arrived in Shanghai, for what could be said to be the most important competition of the year for iG — G-League. Fate finally smiled upon us, and iG successfully took the first big title of the year, thus writing the first chapter in our Dota team’s glorious journey. Teams under me had taken Warcraft 3, SC2, and FIFA championships, and watching them accepting their winnings up on stage was truly an emotional event for me; it could be said that we finally achieved a goal of ours. On the 29th, we arrived in Seattle, and five days later, iG were up on the stage of the finals. When NaVi typed out GG, we all broke into tears. As they waved Chinese flags on stage, and as they hoisted the Aegis of Champions up high, we all knew that that 447th-ranked team from three months ago were the ones now standing on top of the world. Additionally, we would continue the glory, TI2 undoubtedly became iG’s most meaningful competition of the year, yet the reason I labelled G-League the most important was because winning G-League was what gave the players the confidence and desire to win more, ultimately serving as the door to triumph for the team.

September, iG’s management changed, with Old Liu leaving. Looking back on the year, he has absolutely been an amazing mentor and friend to me. I’ve truly been lucky, every time I enter a tough period, I always meet someone who can give me a hand up, so here I truly thank Old Liu for his unwavering faith and trust in me and his help. On the 14th, iG took the ACE League’s first season championship, taking home the year’s third major trophy. On the 19th, the team headed back to Xi’an for WCG qualifiers, and were very lucky in that the FIFA team took the Xi’an regional title without training at all beforehand. At the end of the month we learned that Leiyu Esports had met problems with finances, and after contacting them we were able to give a whole new face to our CF team by signing their former members, and the new team repaid us all by winning the CFPL.

October, all of iG’s teams officially made the move to Shanghai, settling in the Xujiahui district. The various teams thus began another phase of dominance, achieving 3 golds, 1 silver, and 1 bronze at the China region WCG finals, to place as the best team present. And, in the beginning of the month, that girl I had met at CCG became my girlfriend, and apart from that I devoted all of myself to the business side of things.

November, a month of business development!

December, iG took the Dota and CF titles at the WCG World Championships, putting a perfect end to the year. The LoL team began to undergo planned changes.

This past year, a year of joy and sorrow intertwined, endless challenges, changes and rebirth, ends with a gladness that I went on with my original dreams and didn’t go down the path of poker. There are too many memories, I’ve learned more than ever, and it’s ultimately been a very lucky year of the dragon for me. Thank you to all the friends who came to celebrate my birthday at the end of the year, I’ve never had one with so many people. Hopes are that next year will go smoothly for all, that the team and the ACE League can achieve all goals and ambitions, and that everyone does well!

 

 

iG on their way to selecting a second Dota squad: “Hundred battles makes a god” — the iG second team selection series

As noted here, iG is in the process of recruiting a second squad to their Dota2 section. This is a nation-wide recruitment effort sponsored and in partnership with Lenovo, promoting the Y-series gaming laptop. Lenovo is also providing an overall cash prize pool of over 35000 RMB (over 5000 USD) to top teams.

According to this, signups ended on Dec 19, 2012, and the online portion of competition took place from Dec 20 to Dec 30, 2012. The top 32 produced from this can be seen in brackets here.

Next, from matches played in this bracket, iG players and coaches will select a small group of their own favored players and invite them to a ‘Masters Training Series”, taking place from Jan 7 to 9, 2013. During these three days, the selected players will be trained and coached by iG players and coaches for the next and final stage.

Lastly, iG Dota2’s current team will meet with a final group and hand-pick ten players, who will be invited to the “Lenovo Y-series iG New Year party”, on Jan 9, 2013, where they will face off against each other and the winning team of 5 players will officially win the title of “Y-series iG reserve team”, earning the right to represent iG club in future competitions, as well as taking home cash prizes.

For all the detailed rules and regulations, go here. Just like the 242-team university tournament that recently ended, this series is also using Dota 6.74c.

 

 

242-team university Dota league in China

Let’s take a look at the Chinese Dota scene beyond the big-name flashy teams that we see at major tournaments…

Organized in a grassroots fashion by forumgoers on Baidu’s Tieba forums, a 242-team Dota league and tournament for university and college teams took place this month, partially celebrating Baidu Tieba’s 9th anniversary, and partially to bring together the massive grassroots fanbase of Dota in China.

According to this link, teams representing many major universities and academies around China, plus many other teams from lesser schools and colleges, participated in the first group stages, played at a Best of 1 format.

Speaking of grassroots — this was organized entirely through coordination between the “Universities and colleges” forum on Baidu Tieba in collaboration with each individual school’s forum, plus the “Dota” Tieba forum, and picked up by Baidu themselves, who chose to feature and support this event as one of the ‘Tieba 9th Anniversary events‘.

Prizes for the winners are as follows:

1st place team: 5 x Polaroid digital cameras, 5 x Tieba commemorative 9 year desk calendar
2nd place team: 5 x B7 Speaker system, 5 x Tieba commemorative 9 year desk calendar
3rd place team: 5 x Multifunction tool box, 5 x Tieba commemorative 9 year mousepad
4th-8th place teams: 5 x Laptop stand, 5 x Tieba commemorative 9 year mousepad

To help teams and forumgoers spread the word, they also gave out promotional posters to the top recruiting forums.

As of today, the competition has ended and we know that 21 teams advanced from the group stage, these 4 teams made it to the semi-finals, and these 2 teams made it to the finals, with team Cndy taking the title.

Interestingly, it seems the version of Dota they used was 6.74c.

 

 

Meet Vici Gaming

Original: http://dota2.replays.net/page/20121228/1765339.html

Vici gaming photo shoot: http://dota2.replays.net/pic/page/20121228/1765334.html#p=1

Dotaland note: Meet Vici Gaming! This should be all you ever wanted to know about the players for this new and upcoming Dota 2 team, and then some. Very well-produced, impressive stuff.

Team name: Vici Gaming esports club

Abbreviation: VG

Team introduction: Club established September 21, 2012. Based in the city of Hangzhou, in Zhejiang province, China. VG is short for Vici Gaming, the meaning behind it is “I conquer”. The club currently has a Dota2 and LoL squad; the LoL squad is currently under construction. In the future, VG’s goal is to build a dynasty of a club, provide opportunities for more competitors to challenge their dreams, and we welcome more esports lovers to join our family.

Team members

Manager and team lead: VG.PandaPanPan

Players:

VG.Fenrir (captain)

VG.Cty

VG.Xtt

VG.Sydm

VG.Fy

Official Weibo: http://t.qq.com/vg5200

Past honors: GosuCup Dota2 Season 3, third place

Team 2013 motto: Conquer our dreams with skill!

Manager and player introductions

__________________________

Personal info

Name: Panpan Zhang

From: Yichang, Hubei

Birthday: Jan 24, 1989

Blood type: O

Horoscope: Aquarius

Height: 180cm

Weight: 70kg

School/university: Esports Academy

Favorite quote: “Far away now”

Life motto: “What can I believe”

Favorite person: characters I can portray from games

Favorite singer: none

Favorite actor: xB (Dotaland note: rOtk of DK)

Favorite sport: Dota

Favorite pastime: Dota

Gaming info

ID: PandaPanPan

Best hero: Crystal Maiden, Vengeful Spirit

Best position: Support

Mouse: Any

Keyboard: Any

Favorite Dota team: Now it’s definitely my own team

Favorite Dota star: None

Favorite Dota item: Blink Dagger

Favorite Dota mode: AP

First Dota version: 6.48

Favoriate Dota version: 6.51

Other games enjoyed: None

Thoughts and understandings of Dota: If you jump, you lose!

Personal weibo: http://t.qq.com/zpp3531163

_____________________________________

Personal info

Name: Tianyu Chen

From: Taizhou, Zhejiang

Birthdate: Dec 16, 1994

Blood type: O

Horoscope: Sagittarius

Height: 178cm

Weight: 62.5kg

School/university: VG esports academy

Favorite phrase: “I love you”

Life motto: By the time you’ve locked your sights on one person, you’re already behind

Favorite person: My best friends

Favorite singer: Girls Generation

Favorite actor: Fan Bai

Favorite sport: Badminton

Favorite pastime: watching movies

Gaming info

ID: cty

Best heroes: Anti-mage, Queen of Pain, Morphling, Invoker, Shadow Fiend, Templar Assassin

Best position: Carry

Mouse: Steelseries Sensei

Keyboard: Cherry (switches)

Favorite Dota team: none

Favorite Dota star: none

Favorite Dota item: Mask of Madness

Favorite Dota mode: OMG

First Dota version: 6.56

Favorite Dota version: they’re all about the same

Other enjoyed games: Starcraft 1

Thoughts and understanding of Dota: Attitude determines a team’s success or failure

Personal weibo: http://t.qq.com/q838474678

______________________________________

Personal info:

Name: Junjie Tong

From: Changde, Hunan

Birthdate: Oct 21, 1986

Blood type: AB

Horoscope: Nope

Height: 168cm

Weight: 55kg

School/university: None

Favorite phrase: “Smooth player”

Life motto: “Everything is possible”

Favorite person: Qin Hao

Favorite singer: Jacky Cheung

Favorite actor: Louis Koo

Favorite sport: Football (soccer)

Favorite pastime: Listening to music

Gaming info

ID: sydm

Best heroes: Beastmaster

Best position: Solo

Mouse: Razer Deathadder

Keyboard: Cherry (switches)

Favorite Dota team: VG

Favorite Dota star: VG.Fenrir

Favorite Dota item: Blink Dagger

Favorite Dota mode: CM

First Dota version: 6.51

Favorite Dota version: 6.51

Other enjoyed games: Counterstrike

Understanding and thoughts for Dota: Team trust and understanding is very important.

Personal weibo: http://t.qq.com/eterna7

______________________________________

Personal info

Name: Chao Lu

From: Shanghai, Shanghai

Birthdate: Jan 18, 1989

Blood type: O

Horoscope: Capricorn

Height: 168cm

Weight: 49kg

School/university: None

Favorite phrase: “Fuck!”

Life motto: “Everything is possible”

Favorite person:

Favorite singer: Kuraki Mai

Favorite actor: None

Favorite sport: Football (soccer)

Favorite pastime: Listening to music

Gaming info

ID: Fenrir

Best heroes: Leshrac, Bounty Hunter

Best position: Gank support

Mouse: Steelseries

Keyboard: Cherry (switches)

Favorite Dota team: DK

Favorite Dota star: None

Favorite Dota item: Blink Dagger

Favorite Dota mode: AP or clan wars (CM)

First Dota version: 6.48

Favorite Dota version: 6.48

Other enjoyed games: Diablo, Heroes of Might and Magic

Thoughts and understanding for Dota: Details and execution decide everything

Personal weibo: http://t.qq.com/Fenrir1989

_________________________________

Personal info

Name: Linsen Xu

From: Wuhu, Anhui

Birthdate: Feb 12, 1994

Blood type: Don’t know

Horoscope: Aquarius

Height: 175cm

Weight:

School/university: None

Favorite phrase: “Stop joking”

Life motto: “Experience is extracted from the results of suffering”

Favorite person: yxy

Favorite singer: Kim ji-mun

Favorite actor: Wenzhang

Favorite sport: Basketball

Favorite pastime: Sleeping

Gaming info

ID: fy

Best heroes: Rubick

Best position: Gank, support

Mouse: Razer Abyssus

Keyboard: Cherry (switches)

Favorite Dota team: LGD

Favorite Dota star: xiao8

Favorite Dota item: Bottle

Favorite Dota mode: AP

First Dota version: 6.59

Favorite Dota version: 6.74

Other enjoyed games:

Thoughts and understandings for Dota: Teamwork, understanding, execution

Personal weibo: http://t.qq.com/xls5013034

___________________________________

Personal info

Name: Xuntao Xu

From: Taizhou, Zhejiang

Birthdate: Nov 20, 1989

Blood type: This I don’t know

Horoscope: Scorpio

Height: 185cm

Weight: 80kg

School/university: Zhejiang Industrial University

Favorite phrase: “Kill! Go!”

Life motto: “I will not bow, I am not weak”

Favorite person: ZSQ

Favorite singer: Tanya Chua, Khalil Fong

Favorite actor: Brad Pitt

Favorite sport: Basketball

Favorite pastime: To go eat grilled meat~

Gaming info

ID: Xtt

Best heroes: Batrider, Darkseer, Bounty Hunter

Best position: Gank

Mouse: Steelseries Xai

Keyboard: Cherry MX3800

Favorite Dota team: FTD

Favorite Dota star: 2009

Favorite Dota item: Heart of Tarrasque

Favorite Dota mode: CM

First Dota version: 6.59

Favorite Dota version: 6.59

Other enjoyed games: Other than Dota not really anything else…

Thoughts and understandings for Dota: Dota is a team game, without a good team you cannot achieve good results, so trust in your teammates.

Personal weibo: http://t.qq.com/xuxuntao

17173 series: G-1 2012 bits and pieces — offline finals days (6)

Original: http://dota2.sgamer.com/news/201212/148391.html

Dotaland note: Felix菜刀刃 helped 17173 organize and plan the G-1 League earlier this year, China’s first Dota2 tournament. These bits and pieces are a series of his reflections and musings on the lead up to the event, the event itself, and surrounding tales. Dotaland translated an earlier entry here.

The fourth iteration of the G-1 League was also China’s first Dota2 competition. It was a first for simultaneous English and Chinese casts, and received high praise and support from Valve and IceFrog, and various foreign gaming media sites fought to get coverage of the event. It’s not exaggeration to say, then, that in terms of Dota’s development domestically, this G-1 League held milestone meaning.

This series documents from my own point of view snippets of the experience from planning and preparation all the way to the ultimate LAN finals, and everything in between, hopefully to bring a more complete and realistic perspective of the G-1 League. And the other hope is to acknowledge and give thanks to the hard work and dedication to esports, given by so many people.

November 17, day one of offline finals

The two days before competition resumed, our various finals teams had already gotten to Fuzhou to participate in the creation of a music video (Dotaland note: this video was the G-1 League theme song, performed by players). And because they had to play in the GEST final, Orange could only make it a day later, landing near midnight, thus missing out on the music video. Pikaxiu and other staff stayed up till 4 in the morning tweaking settings on the computers to be used in the finals, ultimately managing to stabilize pings around 60ms. It could be said that everything was progressing in a clockwork fashion.

The finals venue was an indoor recording studio; the lighting, sound, and stage effects were all excellent, the only drawback was its limitations on viewer capacity. Last year’s G-1 finals were held in Shanghai in partnership with NeoTV. What this meant was that this was 17173’s first time doing this on their own, and relatively speaking, they lacked a bit of experience on the matter. According to Pikaxiu, in comparison with the goals he had set prior, he could only give this event 60 points out of 100, but taking into consideration 17173’s current abilities, that can be raised to an 80.

The second day’s atmosphere was charged and full of energy. Every inch of the venue apart from the stage area was packed with viewers. 2009 and Crystal (SJQ/laoshu) were at the complete mercy of scores of smartphones and their cameras. Our media section was squeezed off to a corner, where we had relied a flaky wireless internet connection. Despite the roughshod accomodations, all the media people there were still very passionate in their work. Especially worth mentioning here is 178.com’s Marbo, who used a handycam to record the entire G-1 music video, thus allowing fans a sneak peak of a ‘ripped’ version of it.

That night’s semi-finals saw LGD facing off against iG, and we saw Magnus. We saw his imba dodging ability, where facing even a three-man gank, Yao would still be able to escape safely. In the end iG seemed a bit clueless in front of LGD’s aggression, and without making much of a resistance they surrendered. Thinking about it, this result shouldn’t be too strange — iG had just finished WCG China matches, and had been busy with a campus tour, so they as a team would still be in an adjustment stage and thus a lack of form could be expected. What was commendable was the fact that despite this, their attititudes remained upbeat. In interviews and from the way they acted after their losses, a sense of professionalism and respect could be seen from them. I guess ever since their experiences in Seattle, they’ve grown a lot. And not long after this, they took the win at the WCG World Finals, displaying once again their aura of kingliness…

In the other matchup between DK and Orange, things were much tighter. Because at the time the two teams were using different internet connections at the venue, their ping was different. Orange had up to 200 plus ping, while DK seemingly only had around 100 ping. In the first game Orange were swept away with little argument, then in the second game when they figured out this issue, over two hours were spent on trying to fix it. At the last after the problem was just barely dealt with, another hour went by as the match went back and forth, culminating in a sad loss for Orange. As for the differing pings between the two teams, it was hypothesized that Orange’s line was shared with a neighboring office. The tests and setup prior to the matches had happened in the middle of the night, yet the matches themselves occurred during peak usage hours, so the high ping only presented itself then. This was something that we as organizers missed. In the end Orange were very patient, and didn’t have that many complaints.

After the day’s matches, a group of friends in the media went out to eat, and bumped into Orange’s players eating at a street-side stall. ChuaN, with friends from Malaysia, we could see that he was truly happy at the time. Old friends from the same places, meeting with tears in their eyes… couldn’t imagine them fighting each other to the death, right?

November 18, second day of G-1 League offline finals

Don’t know why, but the more exciting an offline event is, the more I remember of the bits and pieces outside of the matches. On the 18th the things I remember most were the tense atmosphere, the occasional yells; these are things that no replay would ever capture.

Mushi’s Outworld Destroyer towering like a god, figuratively putting an exclamation point on his professional career. After this competition he missed out on WCG and G-league alike, the rumors being that he had switched to LoL… The final was LGD against DK, and B-god sadly failed to save society. After the match he and his girlfriend quickly left the venue, skipping even the awards ceremony. DK manager Farseer’s expression as he stood in for him on stage was unpleasant to say the least; the last time Farseer had been like this would have to go back to 2011’s first G-League when DK lost 0-3, the opponent at the time I think was also LGD. And on the other end of the stage, after DK put out GG, xiao8 rushed off the stage and hugged team lead Nicho in a release of long-held emotion. In the end, where there are winners there will always be losers, and the stage of esports will not see any perpetual winners.

And so G-1 came to an end. Even though I have no intentions of singing praises and talking things up, but still reflecting back on our achievement here is very satisfying. In the esports world, apart from players, commentators, there are another group of people — competition organizers and planners. They are the staff that set up the night before, and when everything is over, it’s also them that clean up. Even though they may present a cheerful face, their responsibility is still heavy, and their work often goes unknown by everyone else.

The “My First Person View” G-1 League theme song released afterwards had many little emotions and moving parts. The lyrics and directing were done by Yaoyao. Post production was done by Pibao, with Pikaxiu the producer. The strengths of the G-1 staff team is that they’re full of creativity, and full of energy. If there is a good idea, they will go all the way to try to make it reality. Many things look hard to accomplish, but as long as there is a determination to go along with needed ability, then the chances of it happening are good. This is perhaps another layer of the meaning behind ‘compete to your heart’s desire’.

Yaoyao is leaving 17173 after this G-1 League, so let’s commemorate everything, including the end of this series, with the lyrics to “My First Person View“.