Matchmaking Scoop

The latest Hon Patch (1.02) unfortunately switched from using the always fun Banning Draft (BD) mode back to the oppressively boring Banning Pick (BP) mode for Solo Matchmaking.  If you love seeing the same heroes and bans every game, wasting an extra three minutes before the game not playing but making these turds of picks, or otherwise having a terrible experience then you are stoked about this change.  Sure BP might be the best mode for competitive team tournaments, but Solo Matchmaking should use a different mode, and BD was working great for it!  Support BD or at least something other than BP for Solo Matchmaking on Hon Forums.

Something else that was changed: S2 added a maximum spread to the games so you don’t end up in games with people whose ratings are really different from yours.  Now games can take 10 or more minutes to start instead of 1-2, and no more steamrolling noobs .  Check out some players I was placed with one game in the old setting:

A 1300 along with two 1200s and two 1000s; the kind of epic garbage that makes KingRaven’s Chronos look good.  Dumping on pubs this bad is most of the reason my ranked stats are 16-1 right now, and damn that shit was fun.

Alas, even with competition this terribad Clan Milk International’s leader, Milkfat, still felt the need to stack the teams to swindle some wins.  Private Investigator and Solace wannabe “Zerak” dug up some great dirt showing Milkfat stacking teams with his goons who would either try really hard or intentionally feed the way to a Milkfat victory depending on which team they ended up on.  (It’s pretty easy to get in the same matchmaking game with people you know by hitting the search button at the same time, since it is a not a popular setting yet.)  Check out this tantalizing excerpt:

But then you start to notice that the same two players are repeatedly showing up in this guys Match Making games “MadFred” and “PanMan”. And in every game where they’re not on the same team as Milkfat they feed to a more or less obvious degree, from grabbing 4 homecoming stones at game start to repeatedly port out and run into the enemy tower. Or just standing still whenever getting ganked by Milkfat.

What’s next for Hunter_?

Whether Hunter_ is punished for the CP allegations or Solace is ripped apart in a vengeful lawsuit will be determined by judges and lawyers in the next few months as this situation continues to play out.  Legal matters aside, what happens now for Hunter, one of the biggest promoters in Hon, as far as e-Sports is concerned?  His reputation has been absolutely demolished by this scandal.  But my guess is that he will try to return to the gaming community anyway, given how much of his life he’s already invested in it.
If he does make a return it will not be a pretty one, and there will be trolls heckling him for the rest of his stay.  Here’s what he needs to do:

First Disappear for a While

It shouldn’t be hard for someone as shady as Hunter_ to activate his Assassin’s Shroud and disappear into the shadows for a month or two until this whole situation blows over.  He took the right first step by resigning from eSports Media and not trying to defend himself too much on forums, which would just sink him deeper in the troll quicksand trap, but parts of his response are troubling: lying about Trojans being put on his computer, changing his account to “hakced” on GosuGamers to try and sell the idea that his computer was hacked (which it was not, it was key-logged by someone he willingly gave admin access to), well and of course denying everything and fabricating a complete bullshit story to try and cover his ass as usual instead of taking the blame for something he’s clearly at least partially responsible for.  Which brings us to our next point…

Be Honest and Don’t Manipulate

Deleting and editing posts to always look right, seducing people with far-fetched lies, and other shady dealings are hallmarks of Hunter_’s online persona and are the reason the communities he involved himself in were already so untrusting of his supposedly altruistic engagements in them.  Regardless of how twisted and perverted his private life may or may not be, behaving ethically and not by the “I can make up anything and cover up anything I want because there’s no way to prove anything on the internet” policy would make him so many less enemies to begin with and would be a lot more positive for the eSports community in general.

Apologize; Admit Fault

What Solace to expose Hunter_ is extremely unethical itself (Key-logging his computer, going through his personal email accounts, and sending out mass emails to his friends and family about his secret habits) and will likely put Hunter’s personal life through a hellstorm of shit that surely no human being deserves.  Some will argue that its okay to do bad things to bad people, and so a gross invasion of Hunter’s privacy is warranted by the complete lack of integrity in Hunter_’s conduct.

Nonetheless, many of the things in the Hunter Exposed article have nothing to do with Hunter’s personal life and are proven situations in eSports where he’s just been intentionally deceptive or clearly just had the mindset to lie his way to getting whatever he wants, whether its making up or exaggerating sponsors and prizes, telling Dota people how much he likes Dota after he just wrote an article about how hes happy it’s dying and good riddance, or just lying to the community about his motives for everything.  If he ever wants to return to eSports, he must finally take responsibility for some of his actions instead of just continuously trying to spin EVERYTHING he does into a good light.  His explanations in the past have NEVER added up, which is why there was so much distrust and hatred for him in the past Dota communities of TDT, GDG, DXD, etc.  If you stop trying to trick and confuse people into buying your bullshit, maybe they’ll buy it on their own accord because it’s some tasty bullshit, but you have to at least give your bullshit that chance to begin with.  That analogy was terrible, but Hunter’s response so far has just confirmed his shadiness and made him look worse.  If he finally takes some responsibility for his past wrongdoings in the eSports community, people can empathize with him and it will make Solace look like the bad guy for trying to ruin his life.

In conclusion, while the way Hunter_ goes about stuff IS extremely shady and always has been, the results of his interactions in the community, at least recently, have been as a whole positive;  Honcast is undeniably a great, free service for Hon players that wouldn’t exist without his hand in it’s making (even if that hand is doing bizarre, creepy things the rest of the time).  Truth is, his private life is none of our business and will be taken care by the proper authorities in due time if he HAS done anything illegal.  But as far as eSports are concerned, we can only welcome Hunter_ back if he changes his ways and stops being so deceptive and dishonest.

DRD gets Honcasted in revenge match

Dotally Rad’s own (Clan DRD) were out for blood after a unfortunate 27-40 loss to Clan BER in Game 1 of Round 2 of the Check 6 5v5 HoN Tournament. Two substitutions later (including removal of worthless lagger daggius), DRD went into Game 2 with guns blazing and crushed BER in a convincing 24-9 victory in front of, no doubt, MILLIONS OF HONCAST VIEWERS. What makes your balls tickle more, flawless initiation by Hammyton’s Magmus or a 21 minute Kuldra’s Sheepstick by Solace? I recommend fast-forwarding to 13:30 and 16:20 to witness genocide domination whilst announcers poop themselves in awe. Alternatively you can watch the first 10 mins and see Raven miss four stuns with Witch Slayer (roflpub), and that’s just while the Honcasters are watching his lane.

DRD went on to win Game 3 with a 40-23 score and advanced to Round 3. Thanks Honcast!

BREAKING NEWS : Weezy_ AKA Amaru accuses MH, gets shit on by solace, G dropped & rage quits

The great and almighty (and homeless apparently) amaru accuses solace of maphacking after going 0-8-0, farming 4 wraith bands & being level 8 a whole twenty minutes into the game.

Bringing a WHOLE new meaning to uncarriable, I don’t even think I’ve seen KaGGo be that bad 20 minutes into the game.

Then gets shit on & rage quits the game, obviously crying.

In other DOTA related news, Old Man Daggius loses crucial game to iFlee

Pyramid of G's

Sometimes innovation makes things so fun