Hello there, Invader KIM here.

I recently got into Dota 2 last year, a little after it came out of beta due to my boyfriend playing during the beta. I played LoL for.. a couple weeks a year before that, but that ends my dota-like experience.

It's funny though, because I used to play Ragnarok Online, and still dabble there when nostalgia hits, and I remember people always mentioning Dota there back in 2004ish, but I never looked it up. What a missed opportunity! ;]

I've been playing a few months, but never really had the newbie experience... since my boyfriend, his brother, and a bunch of friends all play together with teamspeak so I played the introduction, a few games vs bots with them and I was off to people matches in record time. That seems to have it's downsides, as they're all different skill levels regardless of their levels so matching up with them is a hit or miss of whether or not we'll enjoy the match.

I've learned more by solo queuing matches, or playing with people I've met in matches... but it would be nice to play with more people who help out during the game, instead of just telling you you are building your character wrong.

I normally play supports, since most games no one picks them. I'm getting better with them, but it would be fun to not have to worry about supporting the team sometimes, and play some more fun carries or whatever.

I just found this site off someone's post in learndota2 on reddit, which I just recently started using, trying to improve my gameplay. fallenelf posted the link to your guy's website so I did the typical creeper thing and joined up.

I usually queue up in US west - english, but I can also do east if there's more people over there to play with. Usually go for Single draft, all random, least played to learn more characters, but the guys I party with usually like all pick so I throw that in there, too, but I find it more fun to not know if you can play who you want to play, and put people on a more even playing field in all random/single draft.

Anyways, here's my dotabuff: http://dotabuff.com/players/108998534

Hello invaderkim! Glad you found your way here. The best way to meet up with people is to hop on our teamspeak server (voice.dotanoobs.com) and introduce yourself to some people. The people with "DN" next to their names are admins and can help you get into a few groups if you're shy and the people with the "C" are either Coaches or people that are just good fun to play with .

If we can do anything to help you out, just let me know!

Also, I believe KreeJaffaKree will be here shortly for the Lady Doobs welcoming remarks.

Nice to meet you, kim! Always happy to increase the estrogen in our ranks! Kree usually sets up Ladies Night Doto on a Sunday evening, though since the doobs are multi-continental, there's usually people playing at most stupid hours of the day. Pop onto teamspeak and say hello to people

I will definitely hop on teamspeak when possible to meet everyone. Currently I only work on weekends and holidays, hoping to find a position with more hours but it's just been lots of interviews and no luck so far, so I'm usually on a lot during the weekdays for the time being. My boyfriend and I typically play together once he gets off work, and most of the time during the weekend if I'm on, we're playing together... usually with some friends on their teamspeak since they run their own server, so I usually have people to talk to/play with on the weekends.

The week, however is quite boring since everyone is at work, school, etc and playing with pubs is only bearable for a bit. I work monday since it's a holiday, but I'll probably be on afterwards.

A ladies night sounds like a lot of fun. I've only met a few other women on dota, though I'm sure there are more out there. I know I typically don't voice over pub games just for the typical responses you get when they realize you're a girl, haha. I can't wait to meet some more regulars to hang out with. I think we're set in our TS for this evening, but tomorrow I'll check your guys' out after work and introduce myself. Thanks for the tips on the different tags in there... it can be pretty intimidating to just jump in and meet a bunch of new people, voice to voice, haha.

Thanks for the warm welcomes!

Yo! Yea, I've been slacking on Ladies' Night, lately, but there are a few women around regularly. At least 4 off of the top of my head.

Best advice I can give you is to be wary of the advice you get from your fellow pubs in the lower levels. Remember, if you are new and they are in your tier, it's for a reason! Just knowing how bad you are is the most important thing if you want to improve at this game. (Because if you think you're good, why bother, right?)

Voice chat (as a lady) in pubs gets better once you're out of the trenches...

Anyway, hope to see you in TS!