I've been really enjoying the inhouses these past weeks, especially with all the new people have come lately. However, I feel we can make the inhouses experience even better than it currently is, especially for some of the newer players. So here is my personal suggestions, and I hope you wil all join and make your opinions heard.

* Ask too much, rather than too little. Communication is key, especially if you are new. Lack of skill is never frustrating, but lack of communcation can be. Don't know what items to get as carry? Just ask. Don't know how to stack or pull? Just ask. Would you like a gank or a help for push? Again, just ask.

* Games are usually better, if each team has a captain. It's been my experience that people generally have a better time, when there is one (more or less) experienced player who try to direct the battle. That player doesn't need to be Dendi, just to have an idea and know how to execute it. This gives alleviates the too-many cooks syndrome with multiple experienced players (We should do X! No, Y! What? Clearly We should Z!) and gives new players a clear idea of what to do.

* Be inspired by competitive games, but don't copy them. Many of the competitive picks or strategies only work because every player knows that they are supposed to do. A solo offlane Tidehunter can work in competitive games, but if the person playing tidehunter has never played solo offlane versus a dual lane, he's going to have a horrible time because neither intuitive or easy. My point is that doing more sophisticated strategies can be rewarding, but the chance of failure is high, so take that into account.

* Try to coordinate items. It's always a good idea to discuss who gets courier, wards and mekansm.

* Read about the chinese farm distrubtion system and learn it's implications. (link here: http://www.dotatalk.com/fdp/). Essentially, some heroes need farm more than other's, and carry-style heroes usually have priority. This also means that as a support in an organized game, you will be quite poor unless you gank or pull well.

* The object is to have fun! Wanna do some awesome, weird combo like Kunkka, Sand King, go for it! Wanna try to jungle Luna or Doombringer, sure go ahead. Just remember to tell your team mates and discuss it with them.

This is great post Gambit! I think you highlighted one of the hardest things for a new person to do, ask questions. It's hard to join a new community and immediately start to ask questions, but as Gambit said, this is how we can help! If we don't know what kind of help you need, we can't provide it! Many of you know my roommate is part of the group, and I got frustrated with him because I kept asking him to stack and pull, and he would not say anything and do nothing. After the game I went up to his room and he simply said, "Dude, I have no idea what stacking and pulling is." Instantly my frustration was gone and I explained it and why it's important. Asking for help is NEVER a bad thing. That's what we're here for, to learn and get better together .

I've played a game or two with a lot of the new people, and you're all awesome people to play with. Seriously, every game I've played over the past few days has been really fun (even that Lina game with that Omniknight...seriously, screw omniknight).

In general, games are more fun when everyone is talking.

Gambit, as always, your other points are valid as well.

Great post! Although I might play a little devil's advocate here and say that most truly new players aren't going know what half of these buzz words are. We need to flesh out DotaU a bit more and get a vocab section in there for noobs that explain what things like stacking and pulling are. My point is that what you don't know, you don't know. So some people might not know to ask about such things.

I think these are all good points, and as a noob, its always good to be reminded of them. Sometimes i find myself so focused on last-hits, that i just completely ignore the map.

The biggest issue I have with communication in-game, is that I have no idea when to start ganking, when to push towers, when to team-fight ect. I would imagine that I will learn these things over time, but sometimes I do find myself standing around not knowing what to do. I think the "captain" idea is good, as long as that captain is not me.

I think a great example of this was a recent game I played as a Jungle Dark Seer. We had a more experienced person spectating the game as a "captin" to help out us Noobs. Though we got stomped pretty bad, it was good to have someone teach me on-the-fly how to jungle Dark Seer. He would say things such as "ok guys did anyone check so-and-so items?", "remember to call missing lanes", "how is the ward situation", ect. I found that format was very informative/helpful for me.

Do you recall who it was watching? I'd like to get with them and expand this format more, this sounds like a great way to frame a new game.

Thanks,

I want to say it could have been Uno? not positive....DOTA doesn't record private matches does it?

If I could hear the voice I would probably place them, as terrible as that sounds.

It was most likely Uno

Dota does record private matches. If he was a caster, then he'll pop up as an audio option.

oh ok, i can confirm when I go home then......unless you are bored, then it was my most recent loss with Dark Seer.

What's your steam name? I can dotabuff it maybe.

Nah, private matches will only show up in his client. I think I remember jumping into that channel the other night and hearing Uno giving advice.

Great post, Gambit!


I'd also like to add... let's *please* remember that these are for learning and for FUN! When people are being openly frustrated with the rest of the team, it ruins the atmosphere and morale for EVERYONE. Constructive criticism is great, but if you are just venting passive-aggressively it literally adds nothing to the game other than spreading the unhappiness around. NOT FUN

I'll be passive aggressive whenever I want . (this is a joke)

Another good point, I know I'm guilty of yelling an expletive or two during matches and usually apologizing right after! I'm doing my best to not do that anymore though!

I think we've been getting better and better at engaging new players when they get in and giving off an immediately friendly atmosphere, and that is very important. New members to our community are much more likely to start asking questions and requesting help if they've had a few laughs and feel comfortable with us.

I'd just like to echo what Zap mentioned. The game where I believe it was Uno watching giving people, giving them tips on what to watch for, how certain characters work etc. was a big help.

Trying real hard to disagree with you hear but cant. Well said!

We will have to discuss how to organize more games like this, as it seems to have been a good experience for everyone involved.

I am a little unsure if we are talking about the spontaneous IHs during the week, or the scheduled IHs on Sunday. In either case, lets assume that each team has an experienced person acting as captain. As Alverez and fallen have pointed out, new people may be either too embarassed/shy/etc or simply not know what questions to ask. The burden rests upon the captain to try and get the conversation going.

The issue of frustration during IHs is a reoccuring one, and I believe the official response remains the same: our community as a whole needs to buy into the "friendly and respectful" message and self-regulate as adults. Frustration is inevitable, and it isn't simply an on/off switch. We need to point it out and ask what we can do to help (carry constantly getting ganked? more wards... etc). At some stage you will realize who you enjoy playing with and who you do not We cannot change people that do not want to change, so avoid them. If there is a serious problem, though, contact one of the staff. We want to be an inclusive community, but this community is a privilege and not a right.

Finally, thanks for the kind works zap and radav. I think the spectating coach can be a very effective tool in building up good habits and game sense, although it isn't a replacement for one-on-one coaching and analyzing replays. I envision continuing that format every Sunday in the learning IHs, and having the other coaching stuff available on different days. It does need to be more organized, though.

Guys, stop building up Uno's ego. Soon we're not going to be able to swear on the forums. Then, the background will be changed to lollipops and gumdrops. All will be peaceful for a bit, but an uprising will occur. That uprising will raise it's voice louder than Uno's dulcet, calming tones. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

I actually forgot what I was typing, I was thinking of Uno's soothing voice. Way to be an awesome coach dude!

Uno's face

My face any time I get to play a few games with Uno: