Let’s Ask Valve to Solve the “Mid or Feed” Problem

Countless matches are ruined and a lot of toxicity is created in the Dota 2 community by a very common problem known as “mid or feed”.

The problem

You’re solo queuing for a game and praying you will random some great teammates and some really bad opponents. Preferably 4 Divine 5 boosters on your side and 5 account buyers on the other side, thanks!
Alas, you’ve found a game and you’re ready to go. As soon as the loading screen is gone, you’re spamming clicks on the minimap, marking your desired position. But (surprise!) you’re not the only player on your team who wants to play that role. In fact, you might be 3 people fighting for the mid or carry role and pretty soon, the friendly fire (aka flaming) begins:

Player1: “I marked mid first, fuck off!”

Player2: “Fine, I’ll feed.”

Player3: “I’m going mid. I’ve lost 8 games in a row because of stupid cores, I’m not gonna play support again. Ever!”

Player4: “Guys, just roll for it. Let’s not fight over who goes mid.”

Player2: “I’m not letting these idiots go mid. Just check their profiles: 370 and 390 average gpm.”

Player3: “Are you kidding me? Do you even know how those stats work?”

Player2: “Dude, stfu! I’m going mid no matter what.”

Player3: “Ok, muted, reported.”

Player2: “u2!”

Player5[all chat]: “gg, end. Afk.”

How many times have you experienced this scenario? It’s particularly frustrating when you’re trying to gain MMR and are doing everything you can to win. Too many games are lost before they even begin, and most of these losses are a direct result of internal strife caused by multiple people wanting to play the same role.
In some cases, two or more people pick the same type of hero and go to the same lane, with the intention of playing their desired role. In other cases, one of them just starts trolling and feeding. And even in the best case scenario, where a compromise is reached, the person who’s giving up their intended role will pick a hero that doesn’t fit the lineup (like Pudge), just to enjoy themselves. They may also be really bad at any other role except for their main one, or become toxic for the entire duration of the game, refusing to help the team and blaming the guy that “stole” their role for every little mistake.

“I can’t believe I let this guy mid! First you steal mid from me and now you feed! Their mid is 3 levels ahead of you! Ok, game’s over! Afk.”

The Solution

The “mid or feed” problem could easily be solved by implementing a feature that allows players to choose their desired role when queuing for a game. Other successful team-based games such as League of Legends are already doing this, and it makes their communities better by preemptively removing one of the main causes of toxic behavior.
This type of feature also allows players to get better at the game and learn it more quickly.
Dota 2 is a highly complex game that can demoralize beginners with its enormous number of elements. By letting people play their desired role over and over, they will reach a level of mastery within that particular role and this will give them a feeling of control, progress and satisfaction.
The downside of a role-selection feature when queuing for a game would be the increased waiting times, but as long as it’s optional and not mandatory, I’m pretty sure a lot of players would prefer this over fighting with their teammates at the beginning of each game.
Overall, a role-selection feature would greatly improve the players’ gaming experience and would also lead to a higher level of skill within the community. By letting players specialize (much like in all team-based games, eSports and sports), they will inevitably get better much faster and the whole community would benefit from this.

Conclusion

As experience has shown, leaving groups of angry young gamers to their own devices and hoping they will self-organize in a peaceful way is a recipe for disaster and toxicity. It makes the whole community an impregnable fortress to any outsider who might want to learn more about this beautiful game called Dota 2.
Just imagine a scenario in which you go to a friend’s place and all the people in that house are yelling at each other, swearing and so on.
You’re sitting with them at the table and the second you’ve done something wrong, they start telling you that you’re blind and retarded, and that maybe you shouldn’t have come there in the first place – “uninstall pls! Thx!”
Of course, there’s a long way to go from where we are right now as a community and where we should be.
But we can certainly start with little things that are entirely under Valve’s control.
And one of them is implementing a feature that will eliminate the “mid or feed” problem. So let us ask Valve to do this and maybe someday soon, we’ll have a much better game on our hands and a much better community to play it with!
Please share with your friends, any type of help is appreciated!

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