BSJ thinks Dota 2’s matchmaking is broken for new players—but offers some easy fixes

For the longest time, Dota 2 has had the reputation of being an inaccessible game for new players. Dota 2 personality Brian “BSJ” Canavan brought some ideas to the table that he thinks might potentially be able to fix this long-standing issue in the community.

BSJ gave his insights on Team Liquid’s latest blog post, “Fresh Meat: Helping New Players in Dota 2“. In this post, Brian talks about how the game is inherently complex because new players have to remember several new concepts all at once. Additionally, the Dota 2 community is known for being toxic and unwelcoming to new players, which leads to a lot of learners quitting the game early.

BSJ talked about how the matchmaking system can be tweaked to alleviate this problem. He stated that players with a similar MMR (Matchmaking Rating) might not necessarily have the same level of skill. This is because some of them might have been playing for thousands of hours, mostly against the AI in bot matches, while others might have just started not too long ago.

Brian suggested that the matchmaking algorithm could be changed to match players of similar skill and with a similar number of matches played. This should level the playing field and let newer players get used to other newer players without being relegated to simple bot matches all the time.

Additionally, BSJ talked about how a reward system might incentivize newer players to reach certain goals within their matches. Features like the old Battle Pass’ system and Dota Plus’ challenges mechanic will lead players to want to hit milestones during their matches which will, more often than not, improve their gameplay choices.

However, he also mentioned new players shouldn’t get too hung up on challenges if it affects their gameplay, since certain challenges make players go out of their way to achieve something. This can end up hindering their timings and the way new players view the game going forward. Finding a balance between the two is the optimal solution here.

Finally, BSJ said that since Dota 2 offers so many choices in terms of items and heroes, experimentation will help new players improve. Through trial and error, players will eventually learn what works for their hero of choice and what doesn’t, which will eventually lead to improvement.

To catch up with BSJ’s thoughts and much more, the entire blog post with Team Liquid is a great read and is something that will help new and regular players everywhere.