It’s easy enough to make a bot that can trounce a human player in a first-person shooter – just react faster and shoot straighter – but anything strategic presents a fresh set of exceptionally complex problems. To this day, few Starcraft or Dota bots could rival a decently skilled player or group, at least until now. AI research group OpenAI reckon that their Dota 2 bot team (dubbed OpenAI Five) is nearly good enough to give the pros a run for their money, and will be testing that theory this August at The International 2018.
In addition to these items, each of these treasures you open also offers increasing odds of receiving a rare Wraith King sword and skeletons, a very rare Golden version of the Dark Seer or Juggernaut items, or an ultra rare span of wings for Outworld Devourer. There's even a cosmically rare chance you'll unearth an Emblem of the Crystal Echelon.
All Battle Pass owners can find an Immortal Treasure II ready to unbox in the Armory, and you can earn more treasures by increasing your Battle Level. Check out a preview of the new items and custom effects from today's treasure over on the Battle Pass page.
In April, a study of loot boxes by the Netherlands Gaming Authority concluded four out of ten videogames considered fell foul of the country's gambling laws. And while specific games were not named at the time, the regulator body warned that "enforcement action" would be taken against any games that failed to meet legal requirements by June 20.
That's today, of course, and it now appears loot boxes in both Valve's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2 have been deemed illegal. As reported by tweakers.net (via Reddit), players of both games were met today with a message from Valve detailing the sanctions.
In May, we received two letters from the Dutch Kansspelautoriteit, stating that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2 contain ‘loot boxes’ that violate the Dutch Betting and Gaming Act. The Kansspelautoriteit accusation is different from how other countries think about loot boxes, so we hired Dutch legal counsel, looked at the recent Study into Loot Boxes published by the Kansspelautoriteit, and learned more about Dutch law. We still don’t understand or agree with the Kansspelautoriteit’s legal conclusion, and we’ve responded to explain more about CS:GO and Dota 2.
In the meantime, we have a threat from the Kansspelautoriteit to prosecute Valve if we don’t implement a remedy by June 20. The letters don’t tell us how to do that, but the Study into Loot Boxes does contain one rather simplistic statement:
"Loot boxes contravene the law if the in-game goods from the loot boxes are transferable. Loot boxes do not contravene the law if the in-game goods from the loot boxes are not transferable."
So for now our only practical alternative is to disable trading and Steam Marketplace transfers for CS:GO and Dota 2 items for Dutch customers. We apologize to you for this inconvenience. We hope that, after more engagement with the Kansspelautoriteit, they may refine their legal demands and we can find a solution that is less inconvenient.
This move follows Belgium's loot box injunctions, whose Gambling Commission also ruled against loot boxes in Overwatch, FIFA 18, and CS:GO in April. A deadline was not set in this instance, however it will be interesting to see how Belgian authorities proceed in light of the above.
It was a matter of time before battle royale got spun up from a top-down perspective. True, the surprisingly fun surviv.io was the first to get there – but that’s essentially a 2D port of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, and nearly as shallow as that description implies. Dota 2 is the first game to tackle the genre with a little more depth: I’ve been playing its Underhollow mode, with strangers.
I do not advise playing Dota 2’s Underhollow mode with strangers. (more…)
It seems the Netherlands' threat to prosecute video game companies over loot boxes has claimed its first victim: Valve.
Players of CS:GO and Dota 2 in the Netherlands were today greeted with a message from Valve saying the company had pulled item trading and Steam Marketplace transfers for both games.
Valve said the move was in response to the Dutch threat to prosecute video game companies who failed to alter their game's design by 20th June after it found some loot boxes were gambling.
Underhollow changes; * When defeated, heroes now drop the 3 highest net worth items they are carrying. The remaining items are converted and dropped as gold for their sale cost. * Significantly increased the amount of experience awarded for player eliminations. * Fixed invisible Roshan killing players. * Adjusted difficulty of a few combat encounters. * Added an initial stock time to dynamite of 60s. * Fixed heart being purchasable via its recipe. * Added localization.
The Underhollow, the Dota 2 battle royale with cheese mode that was announced in May, is now live. The new mode is available exclusively to owners of the 2018 International Battle Pass, a multi-level offering for Dota fans that also includes new modes, sprays, a Cavern Crawl, and other rewards.
The Underhollow pits eight teams of three players each against one other in a great quest for Roshefort, the rarest of all cheese located in the caverns beneath Roshan's lair. But the other cheese-chasing teams are just the start of your problems: Roshan himself is also that sharp, savory flavor, and his rambunctious roaming is causing the tunnels to collapse, slowly constricting the playing area.
The last team standing will earn a hefty bounty of Battle Points, which can also be claimed (in smaller amounts) by taking out opposing players and discovering treasures or cheese. (Which isn't to say that a good cheese isn't a treasure, but you know what I mean.)
The level 1 Dota 2 International Battle Pass goes for $10, while the level 75 is $37. You can also purchases levels separately if you want to upgrade your pass to take advantage of higher reward tiers. Full details are available at dota2.com.
What do you call a Dota 2 last-man standing mode? A battle royale with cheese. No, really – today the gates opened on the MOBA giant’s new Battle Pass-exclusive playmode, Underhollow. Eight teams enter a rapidly collapsing dungeon, and victory goes to either the last one left standing, or the first to sneak back out holding a legendary wheel of extra-mature cheese. It’s the kind of daft cartoon antics I’ve come to expect from Heroes of The Storm’s special Brawl modes, but don’t take that as a complaint – more of this kind of thing, please.
Roshan the Immortal has smashed his way into a labyrinth beneath his lair, driven to frenzy by the scent of the world's rarest cheese. In today's update, all Battle Pass owners are invited to follow his path and descend into the Underhollow, where a proving ground of teamwork and battle tactics awaits—along with a supply of Battle Points for those bold enough to seize them.
Party up with two friends or queue-met allies to navigate your way through this maze of monstrous hordes and vile traps. Work together to outwit and outlast the seven other teams each fighting to be the last group standing.
Each week you'll have new chances to earn Battle Points by winning a clash outright as the last team standing, killing any opponents during battle, or unearthing rare and valuable cheeses—such as the coveted Roshefort wheel. But remember: Roshan is on his own quest, and his frenzy is causing the Underhollow to collapse around him. You'll need to step quickly and choose your path wisely to have any hopes of escaping alive.
