Whats the difference playing with BP and no BP?

[Orange]

Its been years since i left the gaming world...10 years to be exact.
I remember the days in Dota1 where we all just got together to try and kill/win/kill&win just for the fun of it.
But now...i return to the latest game of Dota2 and find myself being riddled by these Battle Points titled lobbies.
I've checked around and found very vague information specifically about the need for these...Battle Points and also any discussions about it either.
I do find games for 5v5 (without BP) to be very slow....because to me it seems like a BP farm/grind culture has been built into this game. Whats worse...you gotta pay for the BP.

My questions about the BP. Is it a one time pay off or is it a subscription? Any chance of a need to repurchase?
Without BP can we still have fun? We do still have access to all the characters and items and the game play is the same right? So why do we need BP?

Sorry if i sound like im ranting, but where i come from this BP thing feels like my fav waste-time game in my past has been raped upside down.

[Lahel]

It's a temporary thing, that's mostly for the purpose of getting items(cosmetics). It'll end in a couple of months, so don't worry.

Originally posted by Leong:

I do find games for 5v5 (without BP) to be very slow

I have no idea what this means.

Originally posted by Leong:

Without BP can we still have fun?

You're not having fun if you don't look cool while doing it. So no.

Yes, that's a joke.

Originally posted by Leong:

We do still have access to all the characters and items and the game play is the same right?

Yes and no. There is one in-game item exclusive to owners of the BP- the River Vial. When you use it it changes the appearance of the river for 15 minutes.

[Self Eating Goat]

To answer a few things, I am a BP owner and truly, i dont see a different in time on fionding a match. It usually takes me anywhere from 1-4 minutes to find a match in both BP and normal games (avg about 2 min). The BP does a few different things.
1. By buying it, 25% of what you spend is added the the prize pool of The International 16 (the largest tournament in Esports)
2. For the first time ever, the BP gives an opprotunity to reset ones MMR. (these are the BP only servers)
3. Gives you access to certain cosmetics that would otherwise be unavaliable (i.e. seasonal terrain, the lvl 125 permanent terrain, seasonal fountain effects, etc.)
4. Gives you early acces to certain cosmetics (i.e. immortals, emoticans, HUDs, music, etc.... all of which will end up on the market at some point.... but for who knows how much)
5. Opens quests. Currently, there are 3 quest paths to choose from with a 4th on the way for this BP. By completing a quest path to finish you can unlock a set for a character. The only exclusivity i see from the BP in this sense is that by completing all the quests at max difficulty, you can unlock a special color of the set. (i believe the sets are marketable but not sure if the special color is.)

The way BP's have been working is that they are a one time payment for the BP but expire in a few months. I belive there is like 80 days left on the current one or something close to that. By the model set over the past year, it looks like there will be 3 BP's avaliable each year. This is the first time there has been 3 (previously only one came out each year.)

As far as game-play goes, everything is the same. Owning a BP does not grant you more heroes, skills, items, etc.. Everything is the same.

There were a fe reasons why i purchased the BP.
1. It supported The International tournament which i get hyped for each year and love to watch.
2. It offered side-things to do in dota. Like to and win a game while completing a necronomicon lvl 3 by 25 min. Or by judging if my team has what i takes to wager 250 tokens (like betting). Or by voting for the hero i want to get the next arcana.... which obviously is IO!!!! WISP BABY!!
3. Its fun to see what items you will get! Theres a randon wheel you can spin for items at certain levles and what items i will get from treasures.

Overall, i purchased the BP because i like what it has to offer and loved the fact i was supporting the tournament. If i didnt buy the BP, nothing would change in my mind about dota.

Hope this helped clear up some of the questions you had about the BP.

[Orange]

Great! Thanks that was very informative!