How many times have you or your team broken into a verbal/textual rage during a Dota 2 match (or be it any other MOBA)? Its not uncommon to even see teammates abuse each other if they’re on the losing side, in some cases, even in the winning side. Playing the blame game seems to be pretty much a MOBA player’s hobby, a jerky one at that.
Valve, who just implemented a successful reporting system in Counter Strike: Global Offensive, have implemented a new reporting in Dota 2 last month likewise, to counter abusive players. Valve has shared some details about how their system works in a detailed blog post on Valve’s offical Dota 2 blog.
This system almost instantly bans abusive players from voice and text chat, allowing them only to use pre-installed system commands such as “Missing middle” and “Need wards.” If someone is abusive, you can report that player and he will be placed in the no communication list for 24 hours. This system, as Valve reports, has worked well and has countered abusive behaviour. Valve claims they have seen a “35% drop in negative communication interactions” and “60% of players who receive bans go on to modify their behavior and don’t receive further bans.” These numbers are very impressive, and have seem to clean up the system.
I have had praise for Valve throughout, and that might also be evident from all the posts I’ve done on this website. This decisive action by Valve has again earned my praises. Valve acts quickly to the situation before it gets out hand. And part from that, on a more primal level, they’re an excellent game making company. Kudos!
