Frostivus has landed in Dota 2, and until January 15, players will be able to enjoy a special event laden with gifts and rewards. In a new blog post published on the Dota 2 site, it was revealed that some massive steps have been taken to improve the game in the last week, including an enormous ban wave against cheaters and ‘smurfs’.
In case you’ve never heard the term, smurfs are experienced players who create new accounts to play against lower-ranked users, rewarding them with easier matches that aren’t representative of their skill level.
Enormous Wave
In the blog post, the team revealed that an end-of-year ban wave has washed over Dota 2, and in it, 65,594 smurf accounts were permanently banned.
Not only that, but ‘a significant number’ of griefers, cheaters, and other malicious operators were also banned from the popular MOBA title:
King Kringle broke his ban hammer off in some well-deserving asses last year. He’s spent the year constantly reforging and testing it on various smurfs and in-game baddies, and now he’s ready to rechristen it with the blood of the naughty.
While we usually do most of our bans and penalties behind the scenes, it’s become something of a Frostivus tradition for us to pull back the curtain a little bit and talk about this ongoing work. And so: This holiday season, we hope you look forward to some cleaner, friendlier, fairer games, free of the 65,594 smurf accounts we’ve taken action against this week.
Besides the smurfs, we’ve also dropped the hammer on a significant number of high-MMR griefers, players who try to have fun at the expense of others, exploiting bugs, trading wins, and otherwise undermining the competitive challenge that is at the heart of every game of Dota.
From now until January 15, Dota 2 players worldwide are invited to participate in Frostivus, a limited-time event that yields massive rewards for the average user. The list of rewards includes the new ‘Spirit of Frostivus’ ability and access to the ‘Frostivus Forge’.
In the Winter 2024 Heroes’ Hoard, users can pick up a whopping 17 item sets.
Do you think Valve has a handle on the smurf issue in Dota 2? Let us know on the GPlayr forum.
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