The Dota 2 competitive scene is paralyzed and stirred at the same time about the consistent DDoS attacks. People are fast with simple instructions, but good advice is not as easy as it looks. Now even Steam gets into the firing line.
Four G-1 League matches and one WePlay match have to all appearances been affected by DDoS attacks within two days. Once a default loss was given, twice the match was rescheduled. In one match the player was changed in mid-game and once the losing team noted heavy lag issues afterwards.
The G-1 League officials, criticized for their ruling in the EG-default-loss case, had to give a statement after having been powerless so far. While promising to get in touch with network issue professionals, their explanation was about blaming third-parties: "Apparently a western Dota 2 betting website is pulling the strings (it's obvious, but there's no evidence)."
Why could eSports betting even be a motivation for multiple-game DDoSing?
That is G-1's perspective. "A western Dota 2 betting website", that of course is a reasonably vague term. There are at least two websites who could feel accused by the G-1 statement. A considerably large sports betting website from Curaçao in the Carribean Sea called Pinnaclesports is offering bets for the top Starcraft 2, League of Legends and Dota 2 eSports competitions. For Dota 2, the DreamHack Invitational, the G-1 League, the joinDota Masters and The Premier League are in the mix for Pinnacle. The odds for the match scheduled for today, team dignitas versus QPAnDas are 1.435 vs. 2.850.
In principle, betting manipulation for eSport games by DDoSing a specific team to a significant disadvantage is possible. This is not an encouragement for trying this out. Betting manipulation is unsportsmanlike in any case, and most likely criminal in your country. However, Pinnacle is an example of real-money betting for Dota 2 games. As soon as there is money to be made, criminals might want to test their chances.
A non-real-money alternative for betting on Dota 2 games is Dota2Lounge. This website offers bets with Dota 2 items instead. It strongly opposes any possible accusations in connection with the recent DDoS attacks on Dota 2 players. As a sign of good will, Dota2Lounge will not have bets for tomorrow's G-1 League matches.
There will be no @g1league Bets for tomorrow!
— Dota2Lounge (@Dota2Lounge) April 15, 2013
Why is Skype probably not the only problem?
With the problems being existant, to whoever's stupid and unsportsmanlike behaviour we have to account that, people are fast with advice for the competitive Dota 2 players. The most prominent one is that just using another VoIP program than skype will solve the problem.
It doesn't seem to be that easy after all. Skype is not the only program with the ability to reveal your IP rapidly. The nowadays a bit outfashioned chat program IRC also enables attackers to access your system from the front door wide open. In Starcraft 2, the host of the HomeStoryCup, TakeTV, is one of the prominent examples in eSports who had to make this painful experience.
Apparently though, the one program no player can relinquish, Steam, seems to be another trouble-maker.
As dignitas' player Aui2000 pointed out on twitter, it's also possible to retrieve one's IP address by just attempting a VoIP call on Steam. In his case this rarely known backdoor has already caused an unpleasant amount of distrust, leading to some friend removals.
If you ever add random people on steam and they voice chat you (don't need to answer?), they can grab your ip. I guess I'm deleting everyone
— Aui 2000 (@Aui_2000) April 15, 2013
This backdoor method might require players to have their Steam Friends shut down while playing competitive matches. A certainly uneasy situation, as it significantly impedes joining private games in Dota 2.
What are league admins doing now?
So the question is how do the league admins react on today's and yesterday's problems? Dennis 'Holym4ster' Schumacher is a well-respected admin and responsible for the smooth run of the joinDota Masters, which is one of the Pinnacle-covered leagues. He hopes time will solve the problem: "I think we'll have to wait one or two weeks and then it's gone again. We had this like 3 years ago already." A well-established plan and clear instructions for players in the worst-case scenario? Even he doesn't have that.
Most likely, even if he would, enforcement would be a problem: In an intercontinental tournament, how could you ensure players have taken suitable and sufficient precautionary action against DDoS's without remote control? There are signs that even those steps which helped Starcraft 2 player Destiny back when he was DDoSed in connection with a unreasonable hate-campaign against him, they didn't help in our Dota 2 case this time. This doesn't strengthen the admin's position at all.
What have other eSports people been doing?
In case of the League of Legends team of MeetYourMakers, some of the proposed actions, however, did help in the end. According to team manager Sebastian 'Falli' Rotterdam, they have given up on popular programs, at least for the time of their official maps: "They now always use an extra Teamspeak server for their matches. Skype and IRC are shut down." Switching the Internet Service Provider to one where fast IP switching is actually possible also helped to ease the pain.
“
HolyM4ster: "I think we'll have to wait one or two weeks and then it's gone again. We had this like 3 years ago already."”One thing is certain: One way or the other, these DDoS issues need to be resolved. G-1 League is the most prestigious tournament in the first half of 2013. After a very successful Asia qualifier, it's Western part is now pretty much messed up, without it being the organisation's fault. AdmiralBulldogs's case in the WePlay match indicated that it's not a only a G-1 League problem, although the majority of the affected matches were G-1 games.
Let's hope player's protection efforts combined with the good will of betting organisations and the sure instinct of league admins will spare us from more Harry Potter chapters being read out loud in English, Danish, or whatever language they would have to get on stream next.
More information: Pinnaclesports, Aui's twitter, Dota2Lounge's twitter
