Category Archives: Other

Dotaland weekly recap: The two-week “not much is going on” version, Feb 14 — 27, 2013

Missed DOTALAND? Worry not — in the interests of keeping things, well, interesting, last week’s recap was skipped in favor of consolidating recaps in the face of a general lack of news and pieces to report on and translate. In the span of the past two weeks, with everyone still recovering from the once-a-year Lunar New Year holiday across Asia, happenings haven’t picked up much, but nonetheless, the world of Dota has provided just enough to keep us all on our toes.

A preview of G-League has us looking forward to March 9, SGamer brings us some humorous critique of the average Dota player, ZSMJ pops up again with rumors of his team joining VG, Perfect World continues their efforts for Dota2 in China with rumors of a TI3 qualifier, and finally, LanM pulls us into his world with some well-written accounts of his path so far.

Feb 18

Gamefy G-League preview, hype piece, by BBC

Not only does BBC appropriately hype up the upcoming G-League finals, but he also does so while giving some insight and reflection on esports as it has grown from his point of view.

Feb 19

SGamer’s Top 10 Factors Holding Players Back

A bit of a humorous take, this nonetheless covers many relevant topics in things to improve on for the average Dota player. Lots of good advice here, and some jokes, this makes a good read in case you’ve got half an hour and want to read something.

Feb 24

ZSMJ and team join VG? Perfect World to host TI3 qualifiers?

The rumors suggest that ZSMJ’s team will become VG’s second official competitive squad, following the breakdown of ZSMJ’s previously lined up sponsor. Perfect World is rumored to be planning qualifiers for TI3, to come complete with a substantial prize pool.

Feb 26

The Chronicles of LanM: “Stories of Yesteryear” [part 1-3]

A nine-part series penned by LanM himself, this is a sentimental, detailed, and personal accounting of his own path in esports. It touches on his struggles, where he’s coming from, and more. Another classic piece in esports insight, Dotaland will bring parts 4 through 9 in the next few days.

 

 

Dotaland weekly recap: Feb 7 — Feb 13, 2013

This week saw the Lunar New Year holiday kick off all across Asia. News has been slow. We had iG wishing us all a good holiday, a very well-written analysis piece of BurNIng, and the highlight of the week undoubtedly goes to the iG.YYF documentary. A sparse week in terms of quantity, but absolutely not lacking in quality. Read on and take a look…

Feb 9

iG wishes a joyous Lunar New Year to all

In this video, iG’s players, from every squad, wish all their fans a happy Chinese New Year.

Feb 10

DK.BurNIng playstyle and skills analysis

Following the iG.YYF playstyle and skills analysis (also translated on Dotaland, here), Gamefy brings us another in-depth look at a renowned player, this time in the form of one of Dota’s greatest carries.

Feb 11

The life and times of iG.YYF

For the holiday, and in anticipation of his appearance at the upcoming G-League finals in Shanghai, Gamefy produced an exquisitely-made video looking into YYF’s past. This was the highlight of this week, and rightly so.

Dotaland weekly recap: Jan 31 — Feb 6, 2013

Still a relatively slow week, as we’re now in the final days of the year of the Dragon. Next up is the year of the Snake, and our players and teams across China have all taken to their homes to celebrate the passing of the year with their friends and family. This week saw news of an earthquake and the perseverence of Dota players in the face of it, a video from 820, an analysis of YYF, and a few other things. Check it all out at Dotaland!

Feb 1

Earthquake uncovers best Dota teammates ever

There was a mild earthquake in China, and this guy’s teammates at the time played through it for the sake of finishing the game. Foolish? Perhaps, but the line between bravery and folly is thin.

Feb 3

Gamefy playstyle and skills analysis of iG.YYF

Pretty in depth look at the machine that is iG.YYF. A good read if you’re always looking to pick at the details of what make great players who they are.

Feb 4

820: Behind the Glory

In this video, where we’ve provided translated subtitles, 820 shows up and updates fans a bit on his latest tribulations and triumphs since his retirement.

Feb 5

Gamefy Best of 2012 vote

Otherwise known as the “iG team of the year 2012” vote. You can go vote for iG too, just click the link. Oh, and there are some other players listed as well, for some odd reason.

Chinese Dota2 beta codes steadily approaching

Players can now check via a page provided by Perfect World whether or not they’ve made it into the first two waves of beta invites.

Best teammates ever: Dotaers play through an earthquake in Liaoning, China

Original: http://dota.sgamer.com/201301/news-detail-162944.html

Dotaland note: Thinking about ragequitting? Think again. Read this story of Dota players that played through a recent earthquake in China, as told by one of their teammates in that game…

What would you do if there was an earthquake? It would seem that the first thought in most people’s minds would be to escape to somewhere safe, yet there are also those whose answers to this question may be a little less typical: first make a post on weibo, or withdraw savings from the bank, or call their significant other… Well, last week there was a 5.1 magnitude quake in Liaoning province. Fortunately there were no casualties, but we’ve since learned that in the midst of the shaking, at least one Dota player refused to leave his game and persisted until the end. What an amazing teammate!

The happenings as described by one of their teammates in game:

“At the time I happened to be playing Dota on the 11 platform. Where I was, in Dalian, had no shaking from this quake so I didn’t know right away that there had been an earthquake. However, due to my lovely teammates, I quickly learned of it.”

“The opposing team was Weaver, Warlock, Skeleton King, Lion, and Keeper. We were Alchemist (me), Storm Spirit, Silencer, Centaur Warrunner, and Jakiro. Their Keeper had been following me in lanes since the beginning of the game, wherever I went, he went. And the Lion and Weaver would also visit me from time to time, the result being that I died three times right off the bat, so I went straight to the jungle afterwards to play some single-player with the jungle creeps.”

“Fortunately, our Storm Spirit was beastly, and kept us close; the match went on quite evenly. As the game went on and respective tactics came online, under the leadership of our Storm Spirit bro, we slowly gained an upper hand. Later on though, our Jakiro disconnected, and with Weaver and Skeleton King as two late game carries on the other side, I began to have worries in my heart.”

“It was when I was again in the jungle fighting off a crowd of creeps that it happened: our Centaur Warrunner let out a cry of ‘earthquake!’. I was confused at first, there are ten heroes here and there’s no Sand King?? Is this a new way of referring to some other tactic? And then our Storm Spirit and Silencer both echoed this statement, and I finally understood that there had been a real earthquake outside.”

Key points of chat screenshot:

Alchemist: “where are you guys located?”
Centaur: “Shenyang” (Liaoning province)Storm: “Liaoning”
Silencer: “Shenyang”
Centaur: “After we finish this game, I’ll rush downstairs”

“Seeing this, I was touched; what professionalism, dedication! Centaur Warrunner bro, you are gambling your life to play Dota here!”

“Realizing that I had originally lost hope after our Jakiro disconnected, and then seeing this dedication, I was more than a little bit embarrased with myself. Silencer added on to the brave face my teammates had put up, boldly stating ‘What is there to fear? I’m on the 29th floor and I’m not even scared’. Truly amazed, I imagined in my mind a wobbling room on the 29th floor of a tall building, with my teammates risking their lives for Dota inside the room. That is truly dedication! These are godlike teammates! And I suddenly found an infinite spring of energy within me! Lothar’s, Mjolnir, Skull Basher, with smoke we successfully ganked a Weaver.”

“After that, under the leadership of our six-slotted Storm Spirit, our Silencer with Aegis, with me tagging along, we sucecssfully broke all three lanes of barracks. These three teammates of mine in this game have really left an impression on me. This was gambling with their lives to play out a Dota game, godlike teammates! To them I say, I hope you are all safe and sound!”

PS: Even though the spirit and dedication displayed here was admirable, it is still recommended to get to a safe place first in times of natural disaster.

 

 

Dotaland weekly recap: Jan 24 — Jan 30, 2013

It’s been a bit of a slow news week, with the big Chinese New Year holiday beginning to ramp up for the next two weeks or so. iG announced some special holiday events, including an upcoming YYF documentary, ChuaN started streaming on Twitch, and VG picked up PIS/YaphetS… sorta. The official Chinese Dota2 website also went live, so there’s that too.

Jan 24

G-League finals to feature MC HotDog

The famous rapper to make a headlining appearance alongside big name rockstar Zhang Zhenyue, announced the week before

iG special events during Chinese New Year holiday

Over the upcoming week-plus Chinese New Year holiday, iG and its players will be bringing fans various specials. ChuaN first streamed on the Chinese YY platform (and Dotaland provide a quick and dirty guide to accessing that), and is now streaming semi-regularly on Twitch. 430 also streamed on YY, and there’s a YYF documentary coming too.

Official Dota2 Chinese portal site is now live

The drums of the Chinese influx into the world of Dota2 beat ever closer, as the official site, by Perfect World, has gone live. It features a full set of forums, beta activation and signup links, lots of artwork, and translated versions of hero descriptions as well as the Dota2 comic by Valve, “Are We Heroes Yet?”. Interestingly, it also seems that Perfect World has been putting resources into developing guides and detailed descriptions for players looking to learn, which could prove to be a valuable resource in the future.

Jan 25

What are they up to now? Retired pros SJQ/Crystal and 820 open up a snack shop

According to this news, their online shops selling computer peripherals were so successful that they partnered together and opened a shop selling snacks — mostly the sort Chinese gamers would welcome during a long gaming session. Interesting little bit of fluff.

Jan 28

Vici Gaming picks up pub team Greedy, featuring a certain PIS/YaphetS

The word on the street is that this ‘second squad’ of VG’s will, for now, only play in online Dota1 competitions. So it isn’t a complete comeback by PIS… but, for the optimistic fans out there, it is a start nonetheless.

 

[fluff] What are they up to now? Retired pros SJQ/Crystal and 820 open a snack shop

Original: http://dota.sgamer.com/201301/news-detail-162348.html

We all know that SJQ/Crystal and 820 have had Taobao web shops, but until now they’ve been limited to selling computer peripherals. Now, it seems their business there has been good, and so after a period of discussion, they’ve expanded into the new territory of selling snacks and foods…

a kind of dried pork jerky

pistachios are very important

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

 

 

Dotaland weekly recap: Jan 16 – Jan 23, 2013

Well, we expected this week to be relatively quiet, but it really wasn’t. This week started off with two brand new teams being announced. Coincidentally, they’re both “RS” team names, so don’t get them confused! In that regard, Dotaland has you covered, as we translated their debut announcements and in the case of one, translated an interview with RisingStars’ manager. This interview revealed one tidbit that led to the biggest news of the week: that ZSMJ’s as-yet-unnamed new team has completed its roster.

In non-team related news, there is stuff on Dota2 localization, Chinese official server beta date, and more, all on Dotaland!

As a side note, next week will mark the 150th post in the less than five months since Dotaland started. A big thanks to everyone for your enthusiasm and readership, and here’s to more Dota!

Also, new Dotaland Twitter up and running. All new posts will be updated there, as well as any other random things. Follow and spread the word!

 

Jan 16

New team, RisingStars Gaming, announced

Bringing old members of Noah’s Ark and DT^Club back together for another go at Dota2 glory.

Jan 17

More localization hurdles for Dota2 in China

The week before it was dissatisfaction with localized and translated voice work, this week it’s bumps in the visuals of Dota2…

Jan 18

LanM is back, with new team RattleSnake Gaming

Alongside Kabu, Luo, and more!

Jan 19

Chinese Dota2 local server beta confirmed for March

Pretty much as the title says, we will be seeing a limited beta for the official Chinese servers in a few months now.

Jan 20

iG members play Dota2 with pop star JJ Lin…

…results are not pretty.

Jan 21

Interview with new team RisingStars manager Cc

Lots of insightful stuff into the new team, and a small tidbit of news that led to our next post…

ZSMJ’s new team roster complete

We already knew about ZSMJ, chisbug, and Z-god’s two friends from Dota-like game ‘Zhensan’, but the fifth player was never confirmed until now.

Jan 22

Redditor denunciator chronicles 2009, 820

Well-written, well-researched, these give an overview of the rise of some of Dota’s greatest stars.

Dotaland weekly recap: Jan 2 — Jan 8, 2013

We have no less than 5 interviews from G-League this week. In addition, we have two spectacularly insightful pieces recapping 2012, direct from insiders in the Chinese Dota scene. And in other news, iG’s reserve team event continues, and Tencent crowns iG.Dota the Best Esports Team of 2012. All this and more, below!

Jan 3

iG promo series in the process of selecting an iG reserve team

A nation-wide tour of universities sponsored by Lenovo, iG is holding an amateur tournament where the winners, hand-picked by iG players, will have a chance to compete for the ultimate glory of wearing the iG tag in future Dota competitions.

Jan 4

iG wins Tencent’s Esports Team of the Year

Tencent, no without recent controversies against Dota2, held an end of year esports vote. The best team award went to iG, while YYF took second in best esports player.

G-League semi-finals interview with LGD.DD/Sc and LGD.Nicholas

Read some of the thoughts of LGD.cn after their narrow victory over VG to advance into the G-League semi-finals.

G-League semi-finals interview with TongFu.Sansheng

TongFu’s Sansheng shares some thoughts after defeating ForLove to qualify for G-League semi-finals.

Jan 5

G-League interview with LGD.God.int

LGD.int’s God talks a bit after their win over TongFu in the G-League, and also pokes fun at Brax.

Jan 6

iG CEO Efeng recaps 2012

The CEO of iG, former manager of PanDa, and general Chinese esports insider shares his thoughts and reflections on the past year in Chinese esports. Very insightful read!

Jan 7

Top 10 Stories in 2012 Chinese Dota

A look back at the Chinese Dota scene of 2012. Quite well-written and covers a lot too.

Jan 7

G-League interview with iG.Faith — full of confidence against LGD.cn

Faith speaks about their prospects of making it to the G-League finals, and a bit more.

Jan 8

iG.ChuaN will not allow LGD.int to win G-League

The ChuaN has spoken. He also answers some questions on iG’s teamfights and stuff.

Perfect World internal document suggests March beta for Chinese servers?

It’s a leak! Or is it?

 

 

 

Dotaland weekly recap: Dec 26, 2012 — Jan 1, 2013

This past week mostly revolved around news and interviews from the on-going G-League 2012 Season 2 Dota2 tournament, where DK unexpectedly crashed out after losses to ForLove and LGD.cn, iG crushed everyone, and more. Dotaland has so far translated six separate items from G-League, so check them out below.

Apart from that, the most popular piece was by far an introduction and overview of each of Vici Gaming’s members. The new team released promotional photographs, player bios, and more. Last of all, Dotaland exclusively researched and translated an overview of a large-scale grassroots collegiate Dota league in China, be sure to take a look at that as well!

Additionally, the end of 2012 also meant a look back at the Best of 2012 on Dotaland, with lots of quality reading material and insight.

Dec 26

LGD.Yao G-League interview: “It is a must-win against ForLove”

After their loss to LGD.int, and before an important match against ForLove in the G-League group stages

Dec 27

DK.Dai G-League interview: “We’re not in great form”

After losing to ForLove, Dai talks a bit about DK and their prospects

Dec 28

Meet Vici Gaming

Learn everything you ever wanted to know about Vici Gaming, the new Chinese team

Dec 29

LGD super fan…

Fluff — a bit of gossip revolving a ‘super fan’ of LGD’s

Dec 29

DK.Super G-League interview: “Axes killing courier was intended”

Super talks about beating LGD.int to continue their hopes in G-League, and comments on his Beastmaster kill of courier with axes in-game

Dec 29

G-League interview with LGD.xiao8, after LGD vs ForLove

LGD.cn defeats ForLove to keep their hopes in G-League group A alive

Dec 30

G-League interview with LGD.Sylar, after LGD defeats DK to take the last spot out of group A

Sylar reflects on their win; DK eliminated

Dec 31

242-team university Dota league in China

Organized in a grassroots fashion by Baidu Tieba forumgoers, the tournament was featured on Baidu, and included over 200 universities and schools across China

Jan 1

Gamefy G-League video recap

Video: check out the production quality… also, Zhou talks about his Divine Rapier versus VG

 

 

LGD has a super fan…

Original: http://gleague.gamefy.cn/view_27997.html

Dotaland note: She’s a well-known model in China, half a million followers on weibo, yadayada… If you watched the Chinese G-League stream last night, there was a brief segment there where they only described her as a ‘fan’ of Dota’. Supposedly, she’s xiao8’s girlfriend — a common belief amongst Chinese fans. Some other people claim that she also used to be ZSMJ’s girlfriend. Would explain her love for LGD seen here (specifically, LGD.cn)……

 

 

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