nice :D

Great post admin!
Looking forward to reading more blogs from ya.

Great post and great read!

You know I would be interested on what draws people to Dota 2, and what kind of gaming background they had too. I loved playing strategy board games very young like Checkers/chess/Stratego then when I moved to computer games it was Command and Conquer, then Warcraft, Starcraft, etc.

I love the balance, rules, teamwork involved in a game like this. I could play plenty of high end games, but I am drawn to this due to the infinite possibilities.

This is also known as Wu Wei. A paradigm of Taoism, Chinese teams used to be masters of this non-action style of playing, sometimes even going forty whole minutes before doing anything.

I know what you mean, i have had games where i am "in the zone" and just rock super hard.

Glad you mentioned Super Hexagon! Just found out i still have it installed on my PC, and when i tried it again... Damn, reflexes are still there.
Nice post btw!

Can you link some kind of video of your game? I want to see, that awesome centaur stun!!!!! *.*

Match ID?

playing with an emotional state of mind also makes players to be under-performed
keep calm everyone!:)

I can't share the reply for the match I've described - it was a passworded private lobby, as any games in the StarLadder series are. For anyone interested in some Visage gameplay by me, you could check http://dotabuff.com/matches/324503537 this one. It is not against a coordinated team or particularly strong players, but it could be fun to watch, and has a couple of decent game moments.

http://www.twitch.tv/arafrdm/c/2927157 some epic centaur stuns) Russian Commentary though. =/

Great post!

I really like your idea of immersion.

Hope you're safe in Ukraine.

I really liked this post.
It is well written and I can say that I have experienced the same to a smaller degree than you, but still similar.
I agree that the mindset is really important and it helps you focus and perform really a lot better than even you would expect.

So thank you for the nice read and keep on bringing us great insights :)

An spiritual side in Dota 2, that sounds Great!

A very interesting and informational read, enjoyed it waaaay more than I expected

GJ.

I can say much much more, but i will not, because I am lazy. But I can give an example of correlation of games like at your introduction - when I just started to play Dota (2005-2006), I tried to play WC3. And so as more experience and success I've got in WC3, I could show more performance in Dota. Especially on hard "multi-touch" heroes like Chen. But now meta is changed and I don't play WC3 since that 2006, so actually my comment isn't really helpful because now tricks and things are much different, but still what I meant is that Dota 2 isn't unique game which stayed apart from all others, but all the games can give you different experience which you can use also in Dota 2 (or in the other game if you wish).

Once it had been said: "All things are interconnected". So enjoy your experience everywhere and everytime and don't forget to use it in all the situations.

ps: sorry for mistakes, i am Ukrainian too, so English isn't native or even familiar language...

Nicely written.

TO add to MrG's comment:
I occasionally (though nearly none at all recently) play League of Legends too, and if it's good for something, it helps you practice coordinating chaotic, hectic and very fast teamfights, what with most LoL fights happening in only a few seconds and almost every hero having some kind of blink based skill.

I'm a support player, and play in defensive positions in IRL sports, and have found that they link very closely to this state-of-mind that you mention. MY dota state of mind is terrible, as I've not really been able to refine it, as I have with my sports. You make an interesting statement when you say "I turned off all the announcers and unit speech so I would not get distracted. The only thing you need to hear are your teammates and spells."; personally I play really pacey music and base all of my timings off of it to get a full sense of what is where, when (if that makes any sense outside of my head).

Anyways, a very interesting read, and I'm definitely going to try to develop my mindset into a very relaxed one, maybe even attempting the lack of sound method.

As always, good luck, have fun and never stop progressing! :D

Very good post!

I love you.

great read

Nice one ty very much

Good article!

I'd also like to provide feedback, though it's not on this topic: You have previously mentioned your liking of the Dotabuff community, which left me a little baffled. While you can find several interesting posts on the forum, it's general atmosphere it very toxic. Interestingly it's the same players again and again who are causing this with childish name calling (even whole threads for that sole purpose), insults ("autist" is very in vogue lately) or other bullshitery (your MMR is lower than mine, therefore you are not allowed to post).

I think that even minimal moderation could improve the forum's usefulness.
It's understandable if noone is available for that time investment, though... or maybe you actually like the "energy" that's flowing in there ;-)

awesome post.

i think you captured the depth of what's going on really very well.

and few people do.

it takes time to uncover things below the surface and even more time to put it into practice through training.

thanks for sharing all of this with us.

and take care in ukraine :)

Ukrainan Stepmania and danmaku player? Greetings from Mother Russia.
And thanks for the post, it was very useful.

@Everyone

Thank you for really nice feedback - you have no idea how much I appreciate your kind words - reading through them literally makes my day!

@Socram

Sorry for the late response - was really busy these last 20 hours. With two new blog posts coming today I had very little time to spare. And since it is now undergoing Proof Reading and Editing (credit to eggs - http://dotabuff.com/players/56615691, without him you would encounter a lot more grammar mistakes in my posts, and they wouldn't be as fluid), I can now respond.

As I have said here: http://dotabuff.com/topics/2014-01-23-new-blog-post-comming-tomorrow I really like the community developed around Dota 2 - not only because I absolutely love the game, but also because it brought together a lot of like-minded people.

While some of the individuals in the community do express quite a bit of "childish", "abusive" behaviour, for a brother of a 15 year-old girl and a 5-year old boy, it is not of a big concern - kids will grow up at some point, even if it takes 20+ years for some individuals.

If anything, I think the more mature part of the community should behave appropriately. Responding in the same manner will only create a vicious circle of constant toxicity and will prevent a lot of people from having fun, both on our web site and in the game - something I personally do not want to happen.

I agree that the forum could use more moderation, but nothing will prevent people from creating new accounts to keep on trolling. So, in my opinion, a wise approach of non-involvement in the vicious circle, with valid remarks on the topics, rather than continuity and promotion of toxic behaviour, is preferable.

There might be some amendments to the forum in the future - sub-categories and "sticky" posts is something I would personally really like to see, but at the moment the whole team is very busy at creating and maintaining the amazing web site we use. One of them was the addition of the blog a lot of people (I hope) enjoy.

I hope that at least partially answers your question.))

Good Luck, Have Fun!

Really nice Post!

I also recognized that the mental state has much influence of my game.
I have games where i got some tards and i notice myself flaming and chatting them cuz they feed 0:5 after 5mins Offlane.
usually that games getting lost and my performance wasnt that good at all.

there are games where i also have tards, but i have a mate and we say: dont flame, dont chat, mute them and make ure own game. dont think, just play the game u would (in hard cases, like u would without them in team. if they go in 1v5 leave them, dont try to help)

the games like mentioned last were always better. ofcourse that doesnt mean they were 100% win guaranteed, but my performance was still good. Let the Flow get you!

Yes, Dota2 "unagi" is indeed quite hard to achieve on a consistent basis. It's also important to note that the opposite state of mind of the "flow" is worth keeping in check, this is where one is too distracted/tired/sad to pay attention to every detail that the game requires players to stay in tune with to achieve victory.

That was a nice read with some extra social commentary at the end which is always welcome.

Nice post, I remember going through that when playing stepmania and PIU, match ID?

Added Russian Translation. As always - thanks for kind feedback!

It reminds me of when I play sports, the game is all you think about and the adrenaline of a goal or final stretch on the track makes you do things you never thought possible

Great post! Helped me out a lot!

Amazing post packed with information. Definitely one to take your game to the next level!

Lovely post, stuffed with usefullness!

This is really good.