For those familiar with pro Dota 2, skip to (5) to reach my solution, the following will set the scene and introduce the problem.
(1) First off for those who are unfamiliar, Dota 2 (Defence of the Ancients), developed by Valve, is an online game where players form teams of 5 to battle and destroy the opposition's base; see MOBA/ARTS. Also esports, but since you are reading this blog, I'll assume you are in the know of everyone exuding the general media. </side tangent>
(2) The top level of competitive play is featured over multiple tournaments rather than a league structure. Some tournaments are sponsored by Valve but the majority of them are sponsored by 3rd party organizations, in fact, before 2016, Valve only sponsored 1 tournament a year. This created an open system where any group of 5 players were able to form a team, and have a chance to compete at the top level in any given tournament. There is not an official ranking/standings for teams or a system to define what tournament will host top level play. What has developed is a system where tournaments with higher prize amounts attract the better teams, who are determined by pure competition and how they compare relatively to other teams.
(3) The scene was dominated by 3rd party organized tournaments (non Valve events). The top teams would constantly compete with each other in order to gain the respect of all the different organizers. There would be 3 to 5 tournaments a month hosting high level play since every team wanted to compete at every possible chance in order to maintain a livable income from their prize winnings (and team sponsor contracts in some cases). Unfortunately a problem emerged where mid tier teams, placing 6th or below, would shuffle rosters constantly in order to gain a small edge. Instability of rosters lead Valve to introduce the "Majors" series of tournaments in order to enforce their own regulations on rosters stability. They related roster stability with direct invitations to their events starting in autumn 2015. The large prize pool (3 million dollars as opposed to the average 100 thousand dollar prize pools set out by other organizations at the time) emphasized the importance of the Majors, and forced teams to hold their player line-ups together.
(4) Since the Majors' introduction, they have drowned out 3rd party events to the point of there being only around 1 event per month. The Majors' prize pool out weighs the chance to compete in other events for top level teams since they would rather train for the Valve Major. Valve has tried to combat this by limiting the number of Majors to 3 per year, instead of 4 (including The International), while also setting the precedent of directly inviting non Valve tournament winners to their Major, which will guarantee the invited team some prize money. Unfortunately these methods have not pushed all top teams into playing more 3rd party events, causing lower viewer amounts which in turn force these companies, and their money, away from Dota 2. A stagnant scene is not good, this is a problem.
(5) Professional Dota 2 could be fixed by more control from Valve. I love that the scene is natural and opened, we have had amazing events from this set up; all thanks to Valve's hands off approach. A bigger step needs to be taken along with the addition of the Majors to control the scene. No, I do not want a closed league that teams have to buy into or are only invited into, but I would like a tour system to be implemented by Valve.
(6) The Dota 2 Tour would end with the big event of the year, Valve's The International. Leading up to The International the year is filled with non Valve sponsored tournaments functioning as they always have, only this time, they are recognized as part of the tour. 3rd party tournaments can enter the tour given that they occur at a reasonable time. Points are awarded to teams based on how they place, and a public ranking controlled by the tour is created. Direct invites to Valve's tournaments and qualifiers are taken directly from the public ranking. Any team can enter the tour by competing in any event throughout the year, which they can qualify to through either public or closed qualifiers as determined by the tournament organizer. Valve's Majors can be used as an event that is guaranteed to have public qualifiers to ensure access for new teams. The points system would not over award top teams, but focus more on consistent top 8 finishes, to not allow for any 1 or 2 teams to over power the field.
(7) The tour not only promotes 3rd party tournaments, but also places importance on them. A team constantly playing in all tournaments placing 6th would be able to challenge the ranking of a team placing 1st at only 1 event, not only attracting tier 2 teams to improve to a reasonable goal, but also forcing tier 1 teams to keep competing to secure their position at future Valve events.
(8) The only differences this idea holds from the current format is that Valve will need to be public with their internal team rankings, and the distribution of ranking points from Valve is not as focused on tournament wins.
volvo plz
