Would it be healthy for DOTA 2 to remove buybacks from the game?

[PapiBarsoap]

The ability to buyback should be Removed from DOTA 2. Buying back makes DOTA games longer, and makes the achievement of killing enemy heroes less rewarding.

The first issue with buybacks, is that in order to buyback heroes amass gold that could be spent towards items. When a hero buys their next item, they accelerate the pacing of the game. Whether the item that they are buying is an item meant for farming, fighting, or pushing the item contributes towards the end of the game. By amassing gold (sometimes over three thousand gold for a buy back) heroes delay their item acquisition for no reason.

The second issue with buybacks is that it robs teams of hard earned kills and plays. Taking down an enemy hero in the mid / late game is no easy feat, the fact that a hero is able to come back from the dead for a gold price is anti-fun. In DOTA, team fight victories lead to objectives and objectives lead to winning the game. A buyback kills this cycle: team fight victory leads to heroes buying back and coming back to life to stop the enemy from taking objectives, once again slowing the game down. It's even more frustrating for heroes with very long cooldowns because a perfectly executed ult feels cheapened by a buyback.

Thanks for taking the time to read. Let me know your thoughts below!

[[GRVTS]Fat Bastard]

You do realize that them buying back is a good thing for you, right? They lose gold, and if they die then you can just end the game. If buybacks were removed the comeback mechanics would be meaningless.

[s n a z z]

Without buybacks, there is literally no comeback mechanic. It would be like League where the moment you get a good snowball going, there's no way of stopping it. On top of this, it would have the unintentional effect of making games boring turtle-fests. The only reason teams ever attempt risky plays that would get them an advantage is because they know they have a buyback as a backup. Remove the buyback, and people would be too afraid of leaving the confines of their base if it meant one wipe would be the end of them. Why attempt to overcome the enemy on their side of the field where they have the advantage when you could sit on your side of the map where you have advantage and just wait to surprise them when they come?

You argue that these things "slow the game down", but dota is meant to be slower specifically because these slower mechanics lead to more interesting, and ultimately fun gameplay. How does a boring turtle fest where the first person who makes a single mistake loses the entire game sound fun to you?