I was in a long distance relationship for over two years and gaming was incredibly useful for keeping in touch with my partner*. But not every game was a good fit, either because of relative game experience or temperament or any number of other things. So here are some of the games which worked and some of the games which didn’t. I’m going to explain them from my point-of-view because I don’t want to presume to know exactly what his experience was!

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Valve have announced the teams getting a direct invite to its Dota 2 competition in the Philippines; the Manila Major [official site].

The Manila Major is the final Valve-sponsored uber tournament for Dota 2 before the massive annual event that is The International. It’s the first year the Majors have taken place and some have worked out better than others but they’ve been a big deal and mark an attempt by Valve to be slightly more hands-on in terms of guiding the development of the pro scene.

So here’s who’s definitely off to the Philippines:

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Big Dota 2 [official site] patches are exciting for me. Even small changes can have huge rippling effects in the butterfly effect ‘em up that is Dota, so big patches rebalancing and reworking and adding loads are… I don’t even know. Looking at the patch notes for Dota 2 v6.87, I have no idea what shape the game will take now. Along with new items, nerfs and buffs, map layout changes, and all that, it gives teams a long-cooldown scan ability? I don’t know, man.

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After a few weeks with the Vive, I’m increasingly concerned that VR isn’t yet ready to support full-fat games; smaller-but-broader experiences yes, but a combination of resolution and performance woes hamstrings big huge things. Those concerns are lessened when it comes to watching stuff though. It’s great for that. Makes a good movie-viewer, does a VR headset, and stuff like TheBlu, wherein you’re a wandering spectator in a wonderland, remains glorious. And so this glimpse of a proposed VR spectator mode for Dota 2 [official site] has me nodding enthusiastically. Yes, this stuff will work. Interactive watching might just be the more likely near-future of this stuff.

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Hello. I’m going to talk about Valve’s ginormous annual Dota 2 [official site] tournament, The International, for a bit as tickets are going on sale from April 7th and dates for the competition have been announced and so on.

The International 2016/TI/TI6/The Now-Yearly Discussion Of Massive Crowdfunding Via Digital Wizard Hats – whatever you prefer to call it – will be returning to Seattle’s KeyArena from 8-13 August.

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The Shanghai Major will probably be remembered by Dota 2 [official site] fans as a master class in how not to run a tournament. But in the midst of the production omnishambles were some absolutely brilliant matches. Read on as we deliver you the highlights!

[Spoilers if you’ve not caught up, obv!]>

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Where to start with the Shanghai Major right now? I’ve been trying to pull some thoughts together after the firings and the Reddit threads and the statement from Gabe Newell over the weekend but perhaps it’s better to just run through the basic timeline for the Major’s major Dota 2 [official site] drama and just explain what the heck is going on:

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If there s one thing professional Dota 2 [official site] isn t lacking (besides lengthy pauses at the start of every game) it s tournaments; it s rare for a week to pass without some hype-casted LAN, online contest or qualifier.

The one about to start in a gigantic spaceship-shaped building in China, however, is no ordinary tournament – it s the Shanghai Major. Here’s what you need to know:

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I did spend a chunk of this morning gloating about how I was smashing Adam’s Devil Daggers times but, by and large, competitiveness is rare for me now. As I settle into my thirties, my days of jostling for frags are behind me, and I haven’t been passive-aggressive to Dota teamies in yonks. TELL THEM, PIP. Anyway. According to a recent report, this is common, and older folks seek competition in games less than younguns. It’s a flimsy report but a nice-conversation starter: how’s your competitiveness faring as you grow older?

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In mid-January of this year, Swedish Dota 2 team Alliance took top honors at the Starladder i-League Star Series tournament, which featured several of the current top Dota 2 teams, such as last year s International winners Evil Geniuses, as well as powerhouses like LGD and Team Secret.

I ll catch professional Dota 2 tournaments on most weekends, but watching Alliance take the whole thing made me happier than I d been watching the game in a long time. Not because of the prize money (which was quite large but far from the scene s highest), but because the team s triumphant return to form shows that Dota 2 stands on a more rock-solid foundation than many give it credit for.

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