The dynamic duo discussed recent developments and possible upcoming issues in the Dota world
On October 4, before leaving for his trip to Malaysia to join OG as a second coach/analyst for TI11, Sébastien “Ceb” Debs spoke in the Monkey Business podcast with Johan “N0tail” Sundstein and OG CEO JMR Luna. During the podcast, they discussed the chances of Valve not producing a True Sight documentary for this year’s The International, which would put an end to what has become a tradition over the last four iterations of the tournament.
Valve has recently come under fire from the Dota 2 community due to the Developer’s controversial decisions surrounding TI11. The first issue involved allowing PGL to accept a betting sponsorship for the Group Stages, while the second revolved around creating a loot box system to acquire broadcasters’ voice lines for this year’s Battle Pass.
Although the ruckus over the PGL matter has died down and the loot box issue was resolved by making the voice lines separately purchasable, the Dota 2 community has barely had a moment to calm down as another disappointing possibility is heading their way.
Monkey Business Podcast
On the most recent episode of OG’s Monkey Business podcast, the team’s CEO JMR Luna dropped the shocking bombshell that there’s a chance that Valve may choose not to make their iconic True Sight documentary for the Grand Finals of this year’s TI. The podcast — Episode 41 of the series — has been extensively quoted across news outlets since it aired, with quotes from the two most prominent faces of OG, two-time TI winners Ceb and N0tail, being shared widely.
Ceb has been a recurring guest on Monkey Business, and was present when JMR Luna brought up the depressing possibility of no True Sight this year. N0tail speculated that this is happening due to the changes within Valve, while Ceb commented that it would be heartbreaking if this possibility turned into reality.
Hearing the rumor, Ceb said with disappointment in his tone, “This would break my heart man, actually. I’ll pay money to help them (Valve) but oh my god Valve, what are you doing to us?”
During the discussion, Ceb also mentioned League of Legends, telling the audience about his experience playing the game during his charity stream and compared it to Dota 2. During this comparison, he mentioned that the way Valve treats Dota 2 players is so unfair that at one point, it feels like betrayal from the developers.
Ceb says, “I wish Valve would capitalize on how good of a game it is. I felt like a lot of people were complaining about the game and sometimes it’s fair and it’s not over the years and now I feel like we came to a point where it’s outrageous and demoralizing.”
Copyright: OG Esports
However, Ceb proceeded to mention that his criticism of Valve was not out of hate, but distrust, saying, “I don’t hate Valve by any means, like I actually like them a lot, but now I’m losing some of this trust.”
The Seemingly Bleak Future of Dota 2
After Ceb’s comment, N0tail also spoke about this issue, saying that this possible change confuses him as it could be counter-productive for Valve. True Sight has become something of a custom of Dota 2 and TI as it drives new players to try out the game every year. He said, “One thing for me is that you’re changing a ritual which could be good or bad, but I don’t see a reason why you want to change this right now.”
The all-time highest esports earner also mentioned that the massive reduction in the prize pool will also negatively affect the game in the long run. Speaking on the matter, he said, “I think with the decrease of the prize pool and no True Sight, the only way I could read this is confused and now you [Valve] care less because every True Sight there is an influx of players according to the statistics and this is as close they [Valve] get to advertisement.”
The possibility of not making True Sight this year would be akin to adding insult to injury. The unholy trinity of what is widely being touted as a subpar Battle Pass, a prize pool roughly a third of the last one, and no True Sight could spell doom for a game that has seen its player base dwindling over the last few years. Despite widespread talk of the rumors, Valve has yet to acknowledge or deny them. If the rumors turn out to be true, however, Valve will surely face major backlash from the Dota 2 community.