Recently, an experiment was conducted using two anonymous 6k+ MMR Dota 2 players that spanned 8 total months. A horribly striking insight was concluded from this.
Now, before details are made clear, we need to explain that we have no affiliation to the research conducted, no contact with the person him or herself, and no way to prove the claims as of now.
In a pinch, the study concludes: It’s free to play Dota, but not free to win.
So what they did?
The setup was of two guys. Equally experienced. Both gave equal time to the game, played in the same region, and pretty much stayed same throughout the initial levels (level 27 to be exact).
Both had very close MMRs (player 1 had 2115 and player 2 had 2174). It’s important to note that both started from a new Steam account, 0 MMR. They scaled uniformly.
After 27, however, player 1 picked up a considerable pace. His MMR scaled with a good rate.
Levels 36: P1 – 3053; P2 – 2323
Levels 45: P1 – 3825; P2 – 2784
Levels 53: P1 – 5248; P2 – 3097
Why this sudden MMR spike?
The whole experiment was, thankfully, controlled. There was only one difference between the two Steam profiles:
Player 1 had purchased 75 sets of heroes. Player 2 gave Valve no penny.
How was this MMR difference achieved?
Basically, after level 27, player 2 was constantly given teams that acted unprofessional. That includes bad communication, swearing allies, noobs, etc.
Player 1 experienced a 38.8% more chance of getting a better team lineup than player 2.
What do they conclude?
They conclude that in order to increase your MMR you can do two things:
- Buy from Valve.
- Be in crap teams and train the less experienced players, which indirectly helps Valve as well because those players, like all others, have a 11% chance to buy something from the Steam store.
Authenticity
How authentic is this study? No one can say for sure.
The original report is actually a public Google doc which you can find here: Secret of Dota 2 MMR Revealed at its Best!
One screenshot is attached that shows how good player 2 was as compared to his or her team (direct claim towards the bad lineup theory).
They’re keeping everything anonymous and that can be understood. But without proper match IDs, user bios, or more screenshots – it’s actually pretty difficult to not be tempted by the thought of totally discarding this money theory.
But as much as that’s tempting, the theory also makes quite some sense. There are a lot of players, Indians especially, who always complaint about bad teammates. And they have not purchased more than 5-6 sets.
The rest is up to you to decide. Keep in touch with Spiel Times for more gaming, technology and esports related information, news and stuff.
