Recent reviews by The Internal

Review for Super Earth citizens:

Helldivers 2 is the best simulation of being a brave patriot ever released for Super Earth citizens, and you should feel a moral and patriotic obligation to buy copies for your entire family, both present and hypothetical. If you don't, you're clearly a calamari feasting traitor who wants an A.I. love interest to MURDER ALL YOUR FAMILY. Buy five copies. NOW. Do it for MANAGED DEMOCRACY!!!

Review for non-Super Earth citizens:

Helldivers 2 definitely has pros and cons. I played HD1 a little here and there, and picked up HD2 January of 2025 when it had its first decent sale. I hit max level around May after playing most days.

The heavy-handed satire of American inspired fascism / exceptionalism is arguably one of the better aspects of the game (if you actually think Super Earth is the good guy, you should probably do some serious re-evaluation of your moral compass), fostering some easy light role playing opportunities for even casual players.

Though you do run into a startling number of anti-social players in co-op games these days, the number of outright trolls in Helldivers 2 is surprisingly low.

The game play loop does get repetitive pretty quickly at end game, unless you make an intentional effort to mix it up. If you're using a mic (because you should since it's a freakin’ co-op game released after the year 2005), many max level randos are willing to try silly stuff, and buddies you make in the game will likely be even more so willing to try silly / dumb load outs or strategies.

As a long time burned out hardcore gamer, Helldivers is on the easier side of shooters. HD2 strives to ride the line between military sim and arcade shooter and honestly does pretty well. As a fan of tower defense games, the Helldiver series is unique in that it's probably the most successful tower defense / shooter hybrid out there (deviating from the moderately successful Sanctum and Dungeon Defenders, both which leaned more on the tower defense than the shooter component). Its difficulty scaling is also, quite frankly, one of the better implemented I've encountered (though arguments could be said that mutators on low difficulty and the current state of illuminate do muck the scaling up a bit).

If you want to play the game with your non-gamer friends, you can load up some difficulty 1 or 2s. If you want to play with your casual gamer friends but not be totally bored, difficulty 6 fills that niche. If you want near constant chaos that is best managed by folks being forced to work together and communicate / coordinate or are god-tier, level 10 with mutators exists.
If you're good at shooters, difficulty 10s do get somewhat easy and repetitive with competent players on mic who understand that team games require communication and coordination. Predator strain bugs can be pretty tough, even with experienced divers. Fire bots are more annoying than anything since Pyro devastators are still broken af (heavy armor + fire resistant gear + shield + full health while stimming = still dead to one shot from a low tier unit.. and they tend to travel in packs). Illuminate are... fine. I guess.

Greater variety to the mission types would be nice across the board.

As others have said, the actual shooting and stratagems largely feel pretty damn good. Despite Bethesda level bugginess (still), people are still playing the game because the devs got a lot of things right. The controls on mouse and keyboard are good. Most game sessions, you'll encounter at least a few moments that are cinematic af, and will often run into some peak gaming moments if you have a sense of humor and do some casual roleplay. You'll also sometimes inexplicably die and have zero ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ idea how or why.

Even though I got the game on sale, I've gotten hundreds of hours out of it (over 800 hours as of this posting). These days, I mostly play with a buddy or two I met in game and talk about whatevs while spreading democracy / grinding major orders, or drop down the difficulty to help cadets out and provide tips and explain game concepts that I wished I learned 40 levels earlier (some major gameplay concepts aren't addressed AT ALL. The devs clearly made broad assumptions about gaming knowledge of their player base, often quite poorly. (I.e. many cadets struggle to figure out how to start their first mission after training because the devs don't make it super-duper obvious that you have to climb into a hellpod. Also, the game doesn't mention holding the reload button to adjust weapon settings while on mission. You're welcome.).

HD2 also has one of the best implementation of in game purchases in the modern microtransaction era. Namely, you don't have to do any in game purchases if you don't want to since playing the game will give you the resources to unlock things in a reasonable time frame (especially if you make the time and effort to full clear the map on your missions).

I did my first in game purchase around level 120 (max level is 150) since I hit the cap for medals and didn't have a new warbond to spend them on. As of this review, the general consensus seems to be Democratic Detonation and Steeled Veterans are the two best warbonds in the game, and should be the ones to aim for if you're new.

If you like coop, like shooters, like satire, or like the frequent incredibly cinematic action sequences (ever want to live in the world of Starship Troopers? This is the closest to that I've encountered) that can occur, the game is worth consideration. I'm sure it will go on sale again in a season or two as well, so that's worth considering as well.

If you're interested in game design, this is a noteworthy game to study. It basically turned the hand-holding tutorial of how to play a game into an enjoyable game in and of itself while maintaining solid art direction.
I finally got around to trying this with multiple non-gamers in four-plyaer co-op, and everyone had a lot of fun. It's easy for many gamers to forget that many games on the market just assume a strong understanding of game controls from their players, which leaves many potential players out in the cold. This game does a great job at avoiding that by being so gradual in it's implementation of game mechanics (while still being engaging) that total noobs with a modicum of eye-hand coordination can participate and have fun.
Worth picking up if you like couch co-op or are looking for ways to help your non-gamer friends get into some games.

I wrote this review after I obtained 100% of the achievements for the game, less than a week after launch.

As a long-time fan of the Homeworld series (and especially the revolutionary for it's time Homeworld 1), the 80%-85% metacritic review average is... pretty fair, honestly. Being a long-time fan, I got the collector's edition, and enjoy the little plastic ships I can put on my desk :P.

Homeworld 3 is a good, although not exceptional, game. The graphics for the newest installment are nice. The voice acting is well done. The sound and music are solid. The story is only okay / a bit of a departure from the previous games (including the prequel). It runs well at 4k max detail settings on a Geforce RTX 4090.

Criticisms you may have encountered are ones I'll echo; the controls aren't the most intuitive, and fans of previous Homeworld games may dislike how 3 automatically breaks down any selected units into smaller formations, rather than giving you the option to have your entire fleet flying around in one giant X formation. I was a little disappointed by the story / felt it didn't capture the sense of desperation and urgency of previous titles, but the amount of hate it's getting seems a bit undeserved since the story is merely decent.

The single player campaign feels relatively short, with "medium" difficulty being relatively easy by Homeworld standards, and "hard" feeling more inline with the difficulty of the previous Homeworld titles (I've played through the game in it's entirety at both difficulties). Even if you take your time and reload a few times, you can beat the campaign in a long day, or easily over a weekend if you happen to do that whole "sleep when you're tired" thing I've heard about.

I like the addition of the War Games co-op mode, where up to three players can progress through three semi-random maps with semi-random objectives... but I dislike that you're limited to frigates and strikecraft. Leveling up in War Games unlocks player icons and some additional fleets, but hitting max level (currently set to 35) felt a little lack luster / there wasn't any big reward. I would have loved to see the full fleet unlocked for hitting lvl 35, rather than being limited to a carrier as my mothership. Fortunately, the game supports mods and it looks like folks are already working to address this.

The various fleets you can pick from for War Games mode are reminiscent of co-op mode in Starcraft 2, in that it lends to some variety of playstyle. However, the semi-random artifacts offer a small selection of buffs which will likely influence what you end up building and playing more than the fleet you pick.

Skirmish is the "real" PVP mode, and isn't of particular interest to me, though I did do a round against bots for an achievement.

In conclusion; Homeworld 3 is a solid addition to the franchise. It looks and sounds nice, the story is okay, and the controls are a little clunky / take some getting used to... but it still feels like Homeworld. Glad to see the franchise still carrying on, and looking forward to seeing what they do with the promised year one releases.

Game was always buggy AF. New 25th anniversary patch is so broken that I can't get past the starting living room without a CTD on a top-end current-gen desktop (Ryzen 7950X3D, 64 GB RAM, Geforce RTX 4090, SSD drive, Windows 11, and a 4K OLED monitor). It took reinstalling the game from scratch and scrubbing all mods to get past the opening VIDEO to CTDs in the living room.

Currently unplayable.

The Solaris Showdown DLC is currently a buggy mess, which prevents a current recommendation. As of April 29, 2024, the DLC crashes to desktop for many players when trying to load the final quest of the DLC campaign, with a fix of turning off raytracing and lowering shadow details being the only work around, for whatever reason (including on a top-end AMD 7950X3D paired with a Geforce RTX 4090). Almost all "exhibition" matches are broken due to the game not tracking kills / objectives, requiring players to load a previous save. Occasionally, similar bugs can be found in arena matches, such as an arena match in Solaris Stadium that requires you to kill 6 opponents... but only 5 spawn. A new mech and some new custom variants are welcomed, as are some of the new weapons.
Once the major bug issues are resolved, this DLC will be an easy recommendation. Until then, use at your own risk.

I seldom buy games when they come out anymore. However, I played the hell out of Armored Core on the PS1, PS2, and PSP. I even bought one of those grossly overpriced PS2 Link cables to be able to connect to other people's PS2s for "proper" dueling, so seeing the newest Armored Core launching on PC? Sure, why not. I also enjoy big stompy robot games, and recently played through both Battletech and Mechwarrior 5.

Having gotten 100% on the game / all achievements within a week of getting the game, I wish I'd waited for a sale. The graphics look nice on my high end gaming PC, and the game has been very stable. It's nice to be able to dig around in the garage and mix and match parts for your AC, and the "Barbie dress-up" part of the game (the painting and decals) is pretty decently done. There are far fewer parts to chose from than previous AC games, and the stats felt a little simpler than I recall, especially the fire control system options (no range listed). There's a fair amount of mission variety, but for a modern franchise title from what is now a major studio, I really was hoping for more for $60+.

There's no CO-OP, unless you count the bare-bones arena mode, so you can't really experience the game with friends. There's no way to join up with an ally to clear more difficult missions. Once you've beaten the arena, you've beaten that part. The game mode Arena is easy to defeat every time a new opponent is available to beat. I use the hardest arena bosses for testing loadouts, with decent loadouts regularly killing the top arena boss in around 30 seconds or less. There's also no real end-game content at all. Once you've beaten the story three times over, collected all the stuff in missions, beaten the arena, and S-ranked all the missions (protip: shotties and needleguns), literally all that's left is is the Nest (online arena), which is shockingly minimalist / bare bones for a modern game. No actual chat function. Maybe a dozen or so canned phrases you can send (almost none of which are useful). No auto-randomization of the map. No way to limit or encourage specific builds or weapons. You can't even title your arena. In Nest arena combat, there's no way to communicate anything. No marking targets. No calling out threats. Nada. It's a bit like toddlers playing soccer, as a result.

Weapon balance is pretty lacking, so once you get the VE-60SNA Stun Needle Launcher and the SG-027 Zimmerman Shotgun, you can effectively clear all the arena and S-rank every level, and be a threat in most Nest arena maps.

There are some new play mechanics that felt hamfistedly inserted in the game, and constantly break immersion. The worst new feature has to be the auto-lock system. Playing with mouse and keyboard, the auto-lock system is so poorly implemented that you'll see your target lock bouncing around to random targets for no apparent reason. I'll be desperately trying to target the thing in the middle of my screen charging right at me, only to have my AC randomly lock onto something totally off the screen and slightly behind me instead. There is no effective way to lock onto a target, since anything in the foreground, background, near, or far can inexplicably swap the targeting system to it. I noticed this immediately in the needlessly difficult "tutorial" (first) level. In fact, the very final boss fight (New Game ++) is the player versus the non-existent target lock system. That's literally the fight / what makes the final boss difficult... poor U.I. design was literally turned into the final boss of the game. The hardest part of the fight is trying to figure out why your fire control system won't keep targeting the boss.

Another level that was poor U.I. design versus the player was based around the decision to not include a real radar or map function into the game, paired with objectives not showing up when using the "scan" function that players are introduced to in the optional tutorials. The level was an exercise in frustration since it was easy to get lost, and figuring out where you needed to go was difficult to determine without a map or radar. The level itself was quite easy, but making the map player vs. poor U.I. design was an exercise in frustration until you could at least kind of memorize the layout.

The other new mechanic that was a step backwards is ACS overload, which is a poorly justified sci-fi jargon for "stun." A popular Esport title (DOTA2) recently lowered all the stuns in their game because there's something absolutely not fun at all at hitting buttons in a video game for 5 to 10 seconds, only to have absolutely nothing happen until you die. Even more silly, if you get an ACS overload in midair, it stops you in mid air / gravity and momentum cease to exist. Within 24 hours of launch, it was apparent that the weapons which caused ACS overload the fastest were the OP weapons for the game, making the energy builds I historically enjoyed somewhat moot. To add insult to injury for us long-term AC fans, the formerly uber Karasawa laser rifle in this game is quite "meh."

I did like the rework of the U.I. where weapon heat was shown right by whatever the target lock happened to have gone to.

The largely tacked-on / non-existent story is par for the course for AC, but had a little more depth than previous versions. The inclusion of a disembodied waifu was kinda weird though, I gotta admit. It was a bit disappointing that there's no real "good" ending, but that kinda makes sense considering you're a friggin' murderer for hire. The voice acting was pretty good. The music was solid.

Despite being a fan of the series, finding some pleasant nostalgia here and there, and appreciating the game's sense of speed, two significantly poorly done U.I. choices (non-functioning target lock with mouse and keyboard and no real map or radar) were massively immersion breaking and frequently took all the fun out of what otherwise would have been a cool experience. With a few simple changes or additions, this game could have been a timeless classic that brought Armored Core to the masses. Instead, it's near-zero replayability will likely relegate it to a "one and done" for fans of the series or developer.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Buy it on sale if you like big scifi robots.

I decided to finally give the game a real go with patch 1.62 on my new Geforce RTX 4090 powered gaming rig at 4k ultra settings and raytracing turned on. The game regularly stutters and has immersion breaking low frame rates, but the side missions and events around town have been a fairly fun distraction. I had my street rep over level 30 before I began doing any of the real main quest line, which was a moderately entertaining grind. Interacting with the main and official "side missions" (not just fixer quests and NCPD quests) has been pleasant, with obvious thought in story and animation being given to them. The game's poor optimization and lack of much going on in and around the city by NPCs have been detractors, but the game is otherwise pretty expansive and has an interesting world. Worth picking up on sale.

There's a lot to like and dislike about MechWarrior 5.
TLDR:
If you like big stompy robots and shooting things while occasionally making sure you’re not overheating, this game is worth grabbing on sale.
The longer version:
With just a little more work and application of common modern network play, this could have been a great game.
So, what are some of the oversights?
The game only offers a co-op multiplayer mode and can only be played by sharing a unique number with someone. There are no options to meet up with random folks on the internet to play a game. No matchmaking at all, in fact. No server lists. No “join a game.” No chat or voice communication function in game. Nothing. Zip. No competitive play either… presumably an intentional crippling of this game to not compete with their existing game.
For any game made after 2010, these omissions frankly seem incomprehensible. Instead of having a robust online system where folks could take on contracts to be a lancemate for other players and getting rated on their skill and affability, or bring in 4 to 6 of their own mechs, or buy and sell mechs with other players, or have their own custom loadouts saved in a unique hangar that didn’t impact the host, they went with what feels like a last minute grudgingly implemented minimal effort, just so they could slap “multiplayer” on the box.
Instead, the player hosting the game only has 12 slots for mechs to be used from their collection… often needing all 12 mechs when doing a multi-mission that requires fielding 4 mechs for 4 missions in a row without repairing or risking serious component damage and loss. Sure, you can store a nearly unlimited amount of mechs in cold storage, but it's expensive and time consuming to swap mechs in and out of cold storage to meet the demands of missions and lancemates. Instead of easily being one of the biggest selling points of the game if done right (especially with the word “mercanaries” in the name!!!), the poor online play implementation is a major fun squelcher.
Though the single player campaign is the core of the game, the A.I. is sorely lacking. Instead of utilizing a robust command system to compensate, the absolute bare minimum was implemented (attack marked target, follow me, go there, weapons hold / weapons free toggle… that’s it.) No marking multiple waypoints on the map. No setting ranged mechs to focus on attacking from a distance. No setting assault mechs to “share armor” or tank. There are some great mechs that, almost without fail, the A.I. will get blown to swiss cheese no matter what. Fortunately, fan made guides exist to help you minimize your lancemate’s incompetence.
There’s also a lot of hidden information that only diehard Battletech nerds would know that is simply not indicated anywhere in the U.I.. Battletech nerdom is great, but it’s not reasonable to expect casual gamers to know what mechs have better characteristics due to star league Lostech being in what variant… and without modding the game, that information is a mystery to the casual player. There are also different tiers of A.I. pilots that aren’t labelled or indicated and the reputation system is critical to game play, but also never explained in any detail.
Acquiring mechs isn’t intuitive either. You can save up to buy randomly generated ones at a shop, but early game / if you have low reputation, it directly effects your ability to “buy” salvage from the mechs you destroy. There’s no chance in hell of being able to get that cool assault mech you just killed… assuming it even shows up as something you can salvage. The salvage system is also never explained. The best way to make sure a mech shows up as salvageable is apparently to get a head shot on it, but mostly intact mechs are also impossibly expensive in salvage cost. If you’ve played Hairbrain Scheme’s Battletech game, the far less rewarding salvage system of Mechwarrior 5 is a shock. You can’t collect partial mech parts to assemble a new one. It’s all or none, plus substantial repair bills to boot. Instead, you’ll likely be cussing at the screen because your allotment of 15 salvage isn’t nearly enough for that 30 salvage mech you barely managed to take out.
Also unlike Battletech, there’s less mech customization available and hardpoints are more limited. You instead have to try to track down an entirely different mech that supports the loadout you want.
Three DLCs in, and there are still some immersion breaking bugs and design decisions. There’s no way to test a mech loadout other than going into a mission. There are turrets that spawn inside rocks that can shoot you. Occasional floating tanks and mechs. Trees can absorb a hit from the most powerful weapons in the game. The king crab assault mech bounces at half the speed in cockpit than it does if using an external / 3rd person (“drone”) view. Enemy AI will spam melee attacks if you get in range, but it’s pretty tough to get a melee hit in on them without losing half your armor. That’s just off the top of my head…
Your leopard dropship also can’t be customized nor upgraded. Unlike in Battletech, you’re stuck with the same slow repairs all game, with combat zones making cost and time worse. There aren’t any characters with backstories to really interact with. The ship is largely lifeless. After playing Hairbrain Scheme’s Battletech game, the lifelessness was glaringly obvious.
So… what are some things they did right?
The story is adequately done, mostly being told through the missions and campaigns you take on. As time progresses, new technology is released along with monthly news that helps flesh out the world. The voice acting is generally acceptable. If you like blowing stuff up with big robots, there’s a lot of satisfying moments in there. Gradually acquiring new mechs is fun, but a lot harder than it needs to be. Though there are obvious map pieces that are reused and mish-mashed together, there’s still a pretty good variety of mission types and map features to keep it interesting.
The “hero” mechs are fun. Many mechs have a variant (often the best variant) with fun, unique, or lostech quirks. For example, the long-range trebuchet medium mech has a hero variant that’s all about fast, short-range play.
There are plenty of times where you feel like a badass, which is something many games try and fail to do. Managing to take on mechs two weight classes above you without losing a limb, or finishing a quest chain with a cool reward feels great. Finding pleasant folks to play coop with who are crack shots at spamming headshots can also be a hoot, and I’ve managed to meet a few folks who were both competent and pleasant to play with via the game’s official Discord server… but I shouldn’t have had to in order to do co-op.
In conclusion:
In many respects, Mechwarrior 5 feels like they half-assed the critical game play element of the lancemates. Instead of letting online play be a fun exploration of being a mercenary lancemate for hire, it was a clunky poorly implemented mess. If the A.I. had been well done, it would have been far more forgivable, but they are instead barely passable. The feeling of being a badass in a giant clunky robot of death is still there, however, and can be quite fun despite the numerous flaws I’ve previously mentioned. There’s an extensive mod community, which I intend to explore after my first unmodded playthrough, but the game shouldn’t need mods to stand on its own. The mission variety is also enough that there’s a fair amount of replayability, even if you do start to notice the repeatedly used assets. All that being said, I’d be reluctant to suggest the game at MSRP, but worth considering for $20 or less. Recommended, with reservations.

I recently replayed this on "normal" difficulty. I took my time, frequently stealing units like I did back when I first played through the original Homeworld.

The audio design is a definite standout. The music is exceptional, the voice acting is well done, the background radio chatter is often interesting and relevant to what's going on, and the sound effects are consistently satisfying. The backstory is much richer and more fleshed out than typical RTS fare, with the backstory DLC being worthy of consideration (and reminiscent of the exceptional original Homeworld user manual, one of the best ones ever put out when the practice of a paper manual was still the norm. It's worth looking up for media enthusiasts and gaming history buffs).

On "normal" difficulty (the middle tier difficulty) the campaign is pretty easy, even if you're kinda lazy like me and seldom do more than two or three battle groups (often 2 mixed unit groups, a harvester group, and Rachael). If I wasn't old and lazy, I'd probably have tried to make better use of support unit guard orders and dividing light and heavier units into a greater number of groups for more tactical play.

I do find the omission of any obvious "move together in a formation" orders somewhat annoying, especially considering how central to game play formations were in the original Homeworld (even if the formations may have felt more about visuals than actual meaningful impact on play... remember "claw" versus "X" versus "sphere?")

If you go into the game blind and don't look into any of the backstory, the campaign narrative will probably come across as somewhat interesting, though not super deep. The campaign narrative presentation, on the other hand, is very well done in terms of the in-game cinematography, soundtrack, fully voiced characters, and stylized cut scenes. The graphics have held up well, in spite of it being six years old.

If you like RTS games, this is a worthy addition to the excellent Homeworld franchise, and a solid introduction to RTS games for those who are new to the genre. Easily recommendable, and a mostly 2D feel that can prepare new players for the truely 3D combat in the Homeworld Remastered / original games.

A must buy when on sale, though not a bad deal at normal price if you have friends you can do multiplayer with.

First, a brief background for context. Of my four degrees, two were focused on media, including a strong focus on game development. I also have a graduate degree in education, and have worked as a non-traditional educator and youth mentor for approximately a decade. I've been a gamer since I was young and have worked on developing youth esports programs with emphasis on sportsmanship, effective and civil communication, and teamwork.
I've also been playing DOTA since it was an exciting new Warcraft III mod.
In the last month or two, Valve has effectively made DOTA2 practically unplayable as a competitive eports title. As a player with a behavior and communication score at or near 12,000 since they introduced the feature, I've been shocked to see my communication score plummet by roughly 4,000 points in the last month (my behavior score remains near 12k) from ranked play. Anecdotal evidence has indicated this is a recent and common issue, based on numerous conversations with other polite and communicative team players I've been matched with. I reported this bug to Valve, and have been met by the most unprofessional dismissiveness and slanderous accusations I've ever encountered from a gaming company (basically, "don't grief.").
Reasonable advice, except for the fact that I don't grief and I don't troll. I apply my professional experience as a military veteran and educator towards deescalation when teammates exhibit such behavior. When players insist on being toxic, I quickly mute, report, and move on.
In ranked play for esports titles, I am a proactive communicator regularly calling enemy movement, politely suggesting plays, calling for rotations as needed, politely recommending items for the team, etc. I know from roughly 30 years of online gaming and having played little league soccer that communication is critical to playing and winning team games.
In the last month or two, I've also seen existing problems in game noticeably worsen. I have my language preference set to English only, and only play on servers where English is the dominant language of the region (NA West, NA East, and EU West). Sadly, there's been a noticeable influx in ranked play of players queuing for English language who aren't capable of communicating in it, but that go a step further by raging at players who won't speak the language they are (Spanish, Portuguese, Phillipino, and Russian being the ones I encounter most). I've studied Spanish and Japanese at undergraduate level, but can't effectively communicate in competitive team games in either, thus not queuing in regions where they are the dominant language. If I were to queue for a language I don't speak in a region where it's the dominant language for any competitive team game, that would be intentional trolling since any competitive / ranked team game requires effective communication. I don't engage in trolling.
An even more pronounced trend has been people queueing for ranked raging at and muting anyone attempting to communicate, as is required for any competitive team game. This is a growing broader trend I've noticed across multiple team games in the last year, which I can only speculate may be a generational thing tied to the younger generations whose social development were negatively impacted by COVID. The noteworthy uptick in players attempting to play team games that require coordination and communication as a solo player experience in which they ignore all communication and coordination efforts has made gaming a lot less fun since I first noticed the trend. In DOTA2, this has translated to a noticeable influx of players who've raged at my communicating basic information like "pulling lane," "grabbing lotus," "being dove under tower, rotate bottom," "go on Dazzle," "please call plays before crossing the river," etc. in ranked play.
This issue is admittedly multifaceted, but part of the issue is Valve's failure to explain minimum expectations for ranked play. As an educator, I've learned that setting expectations is critical for pretty much any activity, and even more so for any sort of group or team work. Anyone who's played a team sport with any success will understand this concept.
Other critical skills needed for esports titles are pulled straight from traditional sports; being able to politely and openly criticize (i.e. "Gotta commit to the fight, buddy... our pos 1 pulled out with 100% health and the enemy got out with 5 HP after killing everyone else. Let's try not to repeat that next fight."), being able to make suggestions (i.e. "They're doing massive magic damage. Can our pos 3 maybe get a Pipe?"), making calls / plays before doing them rather than complaining after an engagement that wasn't announced (in lower tier ranked play especially, where players often need handholding), focusing on game objectives (i.e. promptly getting the tormentor after getting a solo pick off), understanding rudimentary game concepts (i.e. winning a team fight with 3+ enemy dead = push down towers / Rosh / objective focus... not farming in the jungle), rudimentary grasp of drafting / roles, etc.
Unfortunately, a shocking number of players in ranked play don't seem to grasp these concepts, and many rage at people politely pointing then out... in other words, low-key trolling in response to team players trying to uplift and help the team.
So, due to a lack of Valve educating the player base, an influx of players queuing for competitive ranked play that rage when others attempt to communicate and coordinate (as is required for any team sport ever), and no real demonstration of rudimentary game concept comprehension requirement for ranked competitive play, I now can't ping when I give an ally a tango or use a mic to call out critical information in a timely fashion. I have to play DOTA2 like I'm in the pre-ventrillo era, which isn't workable and puts me at a massive disadvantage.
In addition to customer support being insulting, they also refused to refund any DOTA2 purchases I've made after making competitive play unplayable / putting me at an intentional disadvantage.
DOTA2 is currently unplayable as a competitive esport, and it is immensely saddening to see the rapid enshittification of one of my favorite games. At it's core, it's a great game, but until glaring issues with the matchmaking and reporting systems are addressed, solo queue ranked play is effectively not working. People being penalized for actively playing competitive team games as a team game by folks who refuse any and all efforts at polite communication and coordination has ruined the DOTA2, and is increasingly ruining online team gaming as a whole. Valve is in a unique position to do something about it, and thus far hasn't.
Matchmaking has always been broken, but it's continued to get worse. An "ideal" match (according to DOTA+) doesn't mean polite, patient, and highly communicative players like me... It generally means maybe one or two players who will even use the radial coms menu and a troll pos1 or pos 3. There's nothing rewarding serious players attempting to play team games as a team, and there's no discernable penalty for casual players queueing ranked "for funsies" and refusing to make or respond to plays... a rudimentary and fundamental game concept for any team sport, ever.
Now, with the introduction of the com score bug and/ or influx of players raging against anyone attempting to play a competitive team game as a team, players who've modeled behavior for esports leagues are being penalized, and I expect an exponential increase in a worsening game state. Sad times.