Review of Related Literature and Studies Free College

According to Kevin Tok (in playing the game), two bases are placed on opposite corners of the map. Three lanes branch out from the bases, and armies for both sides will spawn along these lanes at intervals. The Sentinels are the red Night Elf based team located on the bottom left, and their opponents are the Scourge, the green Undead team located on the top right of the map. Both sides are vying to destroy the „Ancient‟ of the other; the World Tree is the Sentinel Ancient, and the Frozen Throne is the Scourge Ancient. Based on Tok‟s study, he explains the concept, the gameplay, the elements of the game, and its objective. Punit Lodaya, a game expert, describes the base consisting of towers and unit-producing ancients.

The units (referred to as „creeps‟ in games) are produced automatically on a regular basis, and they go to have a direct clash with the opponents‟ units, and the first fight usually starts at the center of the map. In addition, players get to control a special unit called Heroes, who are stronger than normal units and have special abilities. Each team can have a maximum of 5 players. Lodaya provided a more detailed description of the game, its elements, and how many players are involved. Another interesting study about playing the game is from Michael Waldbridge. He regarded playing DOTA as an „underground revolution‟. He said that “DOTA is likely the most popular and most discussed free, non-supported game mod in the world, judging by the numbers.” He said that like any other game, the concept is simple and its strategy. “The strategy focuses on levelling, getting hero kills, pushing the enemy‟s base with allied creeps and defending against the enemies.”

“DOTA is a delight to all who play it; it’s surprisingly addictive and even pastiche, mixing the highs and lows of gaming and gaming culture. DOTA’s quirks, governments, outlaws, and innovation show us that its’ much easier to renovate for the masses when the masses are involved. The vision of one leader alone is required, but never sufficient.”

-Michael Waldbridge, 2008.

According to JV Aquino, playing the game serves as a platform for youth to communicate. Teenagers who don‟t know initially each other can easily become friends through playing the game, because it provides a common topic for the teenagers to talk about. They can discuss the heroes, the items, and the tactics. Nair Neha argues that “It has been widely accepted that in playing the game, the team wins rather the individuals. Competitive DOTA is a completely different world in comparison to casual play, to a more extreme unlike less complex games. Because of this, it is much more interesting to watch. Teams always come up with innovative strategies and sometimes pull off amazing moves in matches that people have never even thought was possible. To the DOTA Community, that is spectator value, the complexity.” Neha gives a critical analysis of how DOTA has been evolving for several years. He shows that playing the game requires not only great teamwork and communication, but also creativeness and critical thinking on every aspect of the game.

He also noted that “DOTA is an evolving game because it is constantly being reworked and it changes constantly.”These studies show concrete evidences why the game is very popular in our country. Aside from being a strategy game, it is the game for the masses. The people are not only playing the game, but also they are helping the developers to improve the game. The final output of the game comes from the creative and innovative minds of computer gamers all over the world; that is its very big difference among any other games. Another factor why this game is become popular is the fact that it‟s free to play; you do not have to pay anything except if you are renting a unit in computer shops.

Also, by playing the game you can gain more friends to know and get along to develop social skills and self-confidence. If you want to know more about the game, please see Appendix 1. Jack Rodriguez wrote about the 25 signs of DOTA addiction. Here are some: 1. Whenever you lose a Dota game, you want to grab your weak team mate and punch him in the face. 2. Your left thumb is always on the alt button whatever you‟re doing at your computer. Maybe you want to check your facebook friend’s hp bar. 3. When you get amazed at anything you call it ‘imba’. ‘He scored 99 at his math test, imba!„.You also call things that annoy you, ‘imba‟. „That guy is imba, he is damn fat’.

The first factor why it attracts the youth is the type of game involved. Filipino gamers love strategy and action games compared to board and mini games. It has a very different gameplay compared among other games. Also, it is a multiplayer game; people can play with others up to 10 persons per game. It involves teamwork and cooperation to win the game. We know that it is very fun to play team games like basketball, volleyball and others; even back then when we are a child. Another difference of DOTA to other games is the production of computer-controlled creeps. The game does not focus only to heroes clashing, but also on how you control your lane by utilizing the creeps. The second is that it the game employs high quality visual effects. Aside from it has good graphics, the heroes controlled by the players have special abilities, either a special attack or a spell.

Heroes have their unique abilities or skills, which make playing the game fair and square. Heroes‟ spells are visually attracting, such as lightning attacks by the hero Zeus, fire attacks by Lina Inverse, ice attacks by Lich and poisonous attacks from Venomancer. Not only that, if you saw the ultimate skills like Macropyre of Twin-Headed Dragon, Epicenter of Sand King, Freezing Field of Crystal Maiden and Sanity‟s Eclipse of Obsidian Destroyer, you will surely enjoy using those skills that can make your desktop lag for a while. Some heroes‟ abilities and items create an aura that surrounds them. (The complete list of heroes are in Appendix 2.)These are the reasons why some players want to play DOTA; they want to escape in the real world they are living. Lastly, playing the game is free, except for the computer rental. Every computer shops here in the country have this game; it is easy to install and is portable. “Everyone love free, right? PC rentals here in our country is going cheaper and cheaper due to the exponential growth of the computer shops.” (Rudolf, Ryan. 2009)

Due to curiosity of Filipinos, many people are attracted and want to involve in playing the game because of its popularity. Many people testify to their friends that it is worth playing for. Others are even taught their friends and promoted the game. Based on my observation, it is easy to learn, it is fun to play, and it is user-friendly. Even kids 10 years and above knows how to play the game. These are the factors why DOTA stands out among other games. PLAYING DOTA IN AN INFORMAL SETTING laying DOTA has never been boring when it comes to playing with friends. Sometimes, this serves as the opportunity to bond with your friends. Playing the game does not only develop mental alertness, body coordination and strategy planning; it also develops your interpersonal skills and it fosters teamwork, leadership and camaraderie to be able to win the game. A normal round of playing time ranges from 40 to 50 minutes, depending on the strategy of the team.

If one team is good and the other is not, the game can last for only 30 minutes or so. If both teams have good strategies, the game can last for more than 1 hour. But because playing the game for just one round does not satisfies most of the gamers, they start another round again until they finish 5-10 rounds. If you encounter gamers like that, it is a sign of their addiction to that game. Sometimes, gamers are playing the game late at night up to 1am or 2am because they want to develop strategies and enhance their playing skills. Before Warcraft III and DOTA was released, computer shops were already built here in the country for the purpose of providing internet connection and offer services like printing, CD burning, and hardware repair. Computer rentals range from Php15 to Php30 per hour. The shops are still few way back year 2003. But after the release of the game and many people are involved in playing DOTA, the demand for computers is greatly increased.

It led to the growing industry of computer shops. As the demand continues to grow, people built more computer shops and business competition existed. That is the reason why the number of computer shops in the country is growing geometrically, and it opens almost every month. T P That is how the computer shop culture in the country has been started. Now, computer rentals range from Php10 to Php20 per hour, and even cheaper if you will avail promos. The competition between computer shops is very tight. This follows the transformation of computer shops into gaming shops. People are now going into computer shops just to play DOTA. The original objective of computer shops has been very misleading nowadays since they are now used for playing DOTA, not for accessing the internet. Computer shops are also instruments to gather DOTA players to show their skills there. Teams are also formed inside the computer shops since they enjoy playing with each other.

The purpose of forming the team is to battle other teams in their community. Playing DOTA in an informal setting has never been fun without trash-talking. So what does this mean? “trash talk. Noun: disparaging, taunting, or boastful comments especially between opponents trying to intimidate each other. – trash–talk (verb) – trash–talk•er (noun). ” (Merriam-Webster dictionary) “(also trash talking) noun informal: insulting or boastful speech intended to demoralize, intimidate, or humiliate someone, especially an opponent in an athletic contest: -he heard more trash talk from the Giants before the game than during the game -stop the trash talking and stop the violence verb [no object] (trash-talk)use insulting or boastful speech intended to demoralize: -their players do not swear or tussle or trash-talk (as adjective trash-talking) -the worst trash-talking team they had ever encountered Derivatives trash talker (also trash-talker) noun” (Oxford Dictionary) That‟s the exact meaning of the word “trash talk” and its usage in the Philippines. Opponents try to insult or boast the other team.

There are two means of trash talking: either verbally or through the game itself. It can be also in humorous manner (ex. “Hoy patalo ka naman eh, hahaha.”) It is also often used with hyperbole, a figurative language that evokes strong feelings (e.g. “Natutulog ka ba sa pansitan?”). It is fun to play the game with trash talking. Some also uses foul and strong words. For us Filipinos, trash talking in a humorous spirit creates a good atmosphere that is conducive for players in playing the game; there is an interaction between the two teams not only on their computer monitors, but also on communicating with each other. Generally, Filipinos used trash talk to make fun with each other. DOTA players also trash talk through the game itself. The game has chat feature that can send your message to your allies or to all of the players. Players usually use them to communicate with their teammates secretly, such that no other opponents can hear or read the message itself.

It is also used to discuss what the players are going to do; to continue farming or attack an opponent. Some players have also strategies on what message they will send. If a player sends “no top” to his allies, it means that there is no enemy on the top of the map; the enemy probably returns to his base to buy items or it goes to another lane to help his allies attack another enemy. When a hero controlled by a player dies, it has certain time to respawn; players use this time to say sorry to his teammates or to blame his teammates of lack of support. Being a Filipino, we tend to blame other people because they failed to do a certain task. Generally, the chat feature of DOTA has good features and should be used wisely. Pinoy DOTA Lingo is also used during the game. The players utter phrases and jargons that acts as a command on what they are going to do next. The most popular word in DOTA lingo is “imba”, short for “imbalanced”. They use this word to describe a powerful and skilful player.

Some people say, “imba naman si Mineski!” which suggests that Mineski is very powerful and he dominated the game. Another popular jargon is “G.G.”, originated from Starcraft and short for “good game”. This word has many uses: if a team wins/loses, if a hero dies/pawned another hero. It is the universal word used in different situations. “NG” means nice game; ”GLHF” means “good luck, have fun”. “GLHF” is often used in tournaments. “TP” means “town portal”, an item that is used to teleport to another place near allies. “B” means back, which means to move back and do not fight the enemies. “Push” means to progress forward, in order to battle the opponents. “Farm” means to kill the enemies‟ creeps, to earn money and experience. “KS” means “kill steal”, used when a player steals a kill from another player by attacking the opponent last before it dies.

The word “awts!” is used when a player fails to succeed in his task; the Tagalog parody of the Engish word “ouch!” DOTA lingo is not only limited to events, but also in the items used in the game. For example, Mekanism is abbreviated as “Meka”, “BKB” for Black King Bar, and “DR” for Divine Rapier. Some Filipinos are fond of gambling and betting players in the world of sports, so as playing DOTA. Some teams must dominate other teams in order for them to earn money. Usually, “pustahan” in playing DOTA involves 2-5 players per team. The money at stake ranges from Php100 to Php5000. Not only who are playing the game is involved, but also other people watching the match and betting a player whom they think that will win. There are also some flaws in playing DOTA. Due to its high quality graphics, low-end computers might lag during the game, especially when the heroes cast their most powerful spells (can be executed by typing a single key in the keyboard) and can be the cause of interruption of the game.

Another hard thing in DOTA is clicking an item in the inventory before using it, while battling with enemies that require great focus. Good thing, DOTA now comes with DOTA Toolkit that allows user to customize the keyboard settings to use items in the inventory and also help a player cast a spell efficiently. Using the toolkit answered the needs of the Filipinos; DOTA becomes easier to play, so it became more popular. PLAYING DOTA IN PHILIPPINE TOURNAMENTS ecause of the big potential of the game, some people sponsor DOTA tournaments here in the country. They want to encourage people to play the game, and they also want to popularize it. Almost all of the competitions are held in public places like shopping malls or in private places like tournament rooms. Others do tournaments through Garena, which connects online gamers.

The usual registration fee ranges from Php100 to Php1,000 per team, and cash prizes ranges from Php2,000 to Php20,000 with freebies depending on how many teams are participating. The most popular event handler of DOTA tournaments is the Philippine Garena CyberCafe Alliance (GCA). Competitions are done through Garena itself. Any participating team must play in computer shops/internet cafès that is a member of GCA. Maximum of 2 teams are allowed per GCA Shop. The team must submit a registration form including their GCA Shop Name, ISP/Broadband provider of Shop and Bandwidth, Team Name (which is optional), Players‟ names (5 Players + 2 Substitutes), Garena User Names, and their User I.D. (UID). The registration fee per team is Php700. All players will receive freebies upon registering. The top team will get Php2,000 per player and Php10,000 for their shop; for the total amount of Php20,000.

The 1st runner-up will be awarded Php1,000 per player and Php5,000 for their shop; for the total amount of Php10,000. The 2nd and 3rd runners up will yield Php500 per player and Php2,500 for their shop; for the total amount of Php5,000. The competition had a single elimination system; meaning you will be knocked-out of the competition if you lost a game. After the single elimination, the final 4 teams will have their championship match that will be the best of 3 series. Games are now held in the tournament rooms, but over the Garena client. A winner is declared if they destroyed the Frozen Throne / World Tree, or if the opponent surrenders. If the game lasts for 100 minutes, the organizer shall stop the game and decide what team will win based on their performance. The match will begin with a coin toss or roll -100. The one who wins the coin toss or with the higher roll can pick either (a) Sentinel/Scourge side of the map or (b) First or Second hero selection from drafting.

Irresponsibility of the teams will not be tolerated (such as missing player, late game, etc.) During the game, proper attitude of both teams must be observed. Severe trash talking or verbal assault will cause the team‟s loss of the game or disqualification from the tournament. There will be no item and hero restrictions. Backdooring is not allowed. This means that players are not allowed to attack an enemy building without any creep wave. A warning or game loss is the sanction if backdooring happens. Deliberately trapping the opponent to trees is not allowed. The game must not be paused after the players selected their hero. Creep blocking is not allowed; meaning you cannot cast spells to slow your allied creeps or block the way. Creep pulling is allowed; meaning you can pull the neutral creeps to the lane so that the allied creeps will attack them that benefit the hero.

Bug exploitation is also not allowed. If the team incurred 3 warnings, the opponent will be awarded as the winner; the team will be disqualified from the tournament if they incurred 6 warnings. Any competitor found to have intentionally disconnected from the game will give that competitor‟s team a loss B for that match. Game saving is also done periodically. The referees‟ decision will always be final. GENDER EXCLUSIVITY OF PLAYING DOTA ajority of the gamers in the Philippines are male; because most of the computer games here are strategic. Male Filipinos seek adventures and challenges on games what they are playing. Since the release of DOTA, players have gathered in computer shops; most of them are male. But we do not limit playing DOTA for male only. Since it is war-themed, there are rare conditions where you can see a female playing it. But we Filipinos accept that all people are accepted play the game. Even if it is dominated by male, there is no gender exclusivity in playing DOTA.