Valve’s recent decisions regarding The International 2023 (TI12) and its talent lineup have left many Dota 2 fans scratching their heads. Instead of a traditional announcement, Valve chose to reveal the full talent list through the Dota 2 Compendium, without any official graphics. This unconventional approach has only added to the confusion surrounding the event.
On October 9, Valve shared the prices for the Talent sticker bundles, but players had to navigate to the “Talent” tab in the Dota client’s Compendium for more details. It took community figure Wykrhm nearly an hour to provide additional information about the broadcast lineup, leading to humorous memes about GoDz’s delayed photo loading.
While the method of announcing the talent lineup within the game itself is mostly seen as a joke, the Dota community has pointed out that these Talent bundles offer more content than the entire TI12 Compendium. This revamped Talent offering includes permanent voice lines, which can be purchased separately from the bundles. Additionally, 50 percent of all purchases go directly to the talent.
Interestingly, none of these purchases count towards the TI12 Compendium’s total, meaning 50 percent of the revenue likely goes straight to Valve. This has led to speculation that talent may end up benefiting more from TI12 than the players themselves, especially considering the current state of the event’s prize pool.
As of October 10, the TI12 prize pool remains stagnant and has yet to surpass $3 million. This is the lowest prize pool since TI5, trailing behind by almost $5 million. The lack of excitement surrounding the Compendium, due to its limited cosmetics and meaningful unlocks, has contributed to this underwhelming performance. The addition of voice lines as an afterthought does little to change the overall outlook.
Despite these disappointments, players can at least find some enjoyment in acquiring the voice lines before TI12 commences on October 12. However, be prepared to hear Slacks and Ephey’s voice lines spammed endlessly, as they are here to stay this time around.
Source: DOTESPORTS
