Why Dota 2 Is The Only Game That Does Free-To-Play Right

"I think it’s something that I’ve always been interested in, but it wasn’t until I got into college and met some people doing it that I actually took the plunge. I’m not even sure if I can classify my first "outing" as a cosplay, I threw some stuff together and did a Lady Vader back in 2012. I had fun though, and got a good look at what other people were producing, asked a lot of questions, and thought 'yeah, I really need to do this right


"My Facebook page is where I like to publicly flaunt all of my weird little successes and failures at cosplay. I love talking to people about whatever they may be working on and exchanging methods and ideas. Come at me b


World of Warcraft has been out for 12 years and counting and over that time, Blizzard has produced a massive amount of lore and history to serve as the backstory for player adventures. Trivial Pursuit: World of Warcraft features 600 questions, some of which will put even the most experienced adventurer to the test. The board is a custom Blizzard-approved design and players will take control of adorable Baby Murloc movers as they progress through the game. Categories to choose from include Geography, Player Characters, Lore, Loot, Enemies and Encount


Piracy has long been a scourge of gaming, affecting and frustrating both developers and players, for intertwined but different reasons. Game distributors have tried many things to combat piracy. It started with CD keys and progressed to DRM that limits the possible number of installations or requires internet access at all times. Some developers even include code that will glitch pirated games, leading to some truly hilarious resul


Who's a good Frostwolf? WHO'S A GOOD LITTLE FROSTWOLF?! This World of Warcraft Frostwolf Cub Plush is great for some holiday snuggling or as the latest trophy up on your wall of gaming collectibles. An official Blizzard Gear product, this pup's soft blue-eyed gaze will never betray the fact that it's seen some seriously harsh things on the battlefronts of Draenor and Alterac Valley while serving the Ho


Even if microtransactions might be backed by good intentions, that doesn't change the way they feel to gamers. EA's own Mass Effect 3 's day-one DLC had many fans up in arms —if the DLC was ready at launch, why wasn't it included in Moba Game Guide, especially since it contained a character many long-time fans of the series were dying to see? It's easy to be cynical; EA knew players wanted to know more about the mysterious Protheans and knew they'd be willing to pay money for it, so it's possible they changed their business model for more profit. That, coupled with the introduction of war resources that required multiplayer grinding for the best ending, microtransactions to get better weapons and characters in multiplayer, and the controversial ending, left fans of the series feeling exploited and skeptical for the fut


The one company that could make a significant impact on all of this is of course, Valve, the game's developer. But unlike Dota 2 , Valve has chosen to let other groups organize most of the marquee CS:GO tournaments, at least so far. If Valve were to weigh in on the matter, it would likely go a long way towards sorting out the current m

The third match saw some interesting picks with Medivh somehow making it through the banning process on the side of Buffalo. The composition of Cal Poly's team -- which includes, Genji, Abathur, Li-Ming, Johanna, and Blaze -- was questionable but, in some ways, works out for t

Dota 2 is free to play with no exceptions. The only items you can purchase are purely cosmetic. This makes it so everyone can have an equal experience with the entire game without paying one dime. If you want, however, you can purchase things such as outfits, environmental effects, announcer packs, HUD skins, loadings screens and couriers (an animal in Dota 2 that will bring you your items after purchasing them). You can purchase a battlepoint booster, which will increase the rate at which you level up for a certain amount of time. However, your level has no effect on the game. Dota 2 isn't stingy with these either, as it gives you a random cosmetic item every time you level up.


Laval continued to show their dominance in the third game securing the win and a spot in the Grand Finals. Again, UK showed some promise at the Tomb of the Spider Queen in the very beginning of the match but quickly changed once Laval gained momentum and UK missed way too many opportunities to really take the match. Too many times did someone on UK land a great ult, but had nothing to follow through w


As games like League of Legends succeed, developers and distributors look towards their success and analyze how it can be applied to their products. H1Z1 attracted a lot of recent attention for going back on their initial statement that in-game payments could not be applied to ammo or guns by implementing airdrops, a system that would allow players to pay a fee and have a plane drop off supplies that may contain weapons and ammo. The developers say that the possible consequences of these drops—attracting zombie attention, possible raiding by other players,and the rare drop rate of weapons—even out the potential for unbalancing the game. But players weren't satisfied, and many asked for refunds when the airdrops were announ