IceFrog: 'I'm sure you all will be as excited as I am'

On his blog, IceFrog answers questions from the community about his involvement at Valve and DotA in general. Statistical data on the overall distribution of players from different countries to discussions on new heroes and items, IceFrog gives us a broad sense of DotA as a competitive game and its trend in the near future. He also mentions his main priority when focusing on the development of DotA.

Recently, IceFrog answered several interesting questions on his blog (the fourth Q&A session) from several community members, including GosuGamer’s crew. The questions dealt from a broad array of topics around DotA.

Facts
Estimation of people playing DotA: 7-11 millions (excluding China)
Distribution among countries: 40-50% China
Recent prize money at tournaments: SMM ($32,000), ESWC ($24,500), an upcoming online event ($30,000)

IceFrog first talks about his involvement at Valve, expressing his satisfaction with the team of developers he works with and his influence in the decision making process. His main priority in the development of the game is ‘to make the game play quality the best it can be’. He also discusses the risks involved when releasing new maps; some mistakes that might not be immediately noticeable but that arise in the long run are the biggest problems. For example, in previous versions, some pro-gamers complained about DotA becoming a farming game rather than a dynamic ganking play style game; how three intels and two carries set-up could own the game lategame. Icefrog also mentions that the biggest difficulty lies not within the development of the game itself but in the accuracy to measure its success; ie feedbacks and comments from the community.

In addition, IceFrog discusses the development of the new map v6.68. There will be New heroes. One of them is Icarus, the Phoenix. A good news is that he is considering increasing the pool of heroes benefiting from Aghanim scepter. He says that it will be a gradually process but we can expect future heroes’ ultimate upgrades.

Finally, IceFrog addresses the Fan base community around different teams: he explains the pressure involved for their favorite team to outperform each time and win consecutive matches; hence how it can be frustrating when fans make quick judgment based solely on the results of a few recent matches. He underlines the fact that the teams have their own sense of pride and work hard to win; hence we as fans must respect that. A genuine fan support is the driving forces for the evolution of competitive DotA.

On an ending note:

What are you most happy about with regards to DotA? (from Artem)

-I am really thankful for all the support players have given this game, it is more than I could ask for. I see a vibrant community that, despite the very hard learning curve DotA has, grows through the dedication and passion of its players. That shows me how much more potential the game has and encourages me to work harder.

Links
IceFrog Blog - Source