DotA community noticeably grown smaller within past 2 months
Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2018 8:22 pm
Hi All -
I notice in the past 2 months DotA games have grown a bit smaller. I was in lobby today and it took 5 minutes for a single person to join. That's obviously very rare, but it was the first time I ever saw something like that on ENT. I thought the game was glitched.
I believe one thing has played a role in this more than anything. Excessive ban lengths. Let me say right off the bat that I'm NOT blaming any mods or admins, but I just want to start a discussion.
Recently ban lengths have increased for many people, including myself. A relatively minor offense, like a single pause for example, can lead to a week-long ban. Another guy got banned 3 months for simply chatting (viewtopic.php?f=172&t=135554).
I think these bans fuel a cycle of inactivity. Some people have played thousands of Dota games, and know how to have fun and keep the players coming back. Some trash talk a bit and are funny, pumping up the opposing team. But they might get banned for various reasons. If that one player with thousands of games is removed, it causes a chain-effect. Games will fill up slower even if it's almost imperceptible at first.
Now I'm noticing Dota has definitely gotten a little slower with the rate of players joining (as evidenced by my slow game today with an empty lobby for 5 mins). What do people think? Could ban lengths be becoming excessive? Or is it a completely different reason?
I notice in the past 2 months DotA games have grown a bit smaller. I was in lobby today and it took 5 minutes for a single person to join. That's obviously very rare, but it was the first time I ever saw something like that on ENT. I thought the game was glitched.
I believe one thing has played a role in this more than anything. Excessive ban lengths. Let me say right off the bat that I'm NOT blaming any mods or admins, but I just want to start a discussion.
Recently ban lengths have increased for many people, including myself. A relatively minor offense, like a single pause for example, can lead to a week-long ban. Another guy got banned 3 months for simply chatting (viewtopic.php?f=172&t=135554).
I think these bans fuel a cycle of inactivity. Some people have played thousands of Dota games, and know how to have fun and keep the players coming back. Some trash talk a bit and are funny, pumping up the opposing team. But they might get banned for various reasons. If that one player with thousands of games is removed, it causes a chain-effect. Games will fill up slower even if it's almost imperceptible at first.
Now I'm noticing Dota has definitely gotten a little slower with the rate of players joining (as evidenced by my slow game today with an empty lobby for 5 mins). What do people think? Could ban lengths be becoming excessive? Or is it a completely different reason?