Earlier today, a client update was released to deal with the severe server connectivity issues and DDoS attacks that have recently been plaguing online and offline tournaments.
File Photo: Players wait at Game Show League Season 1 as DDOS attacks continue.
Since the launch of professional DotA2, mainstream tournaments have been struggling with connectivity issues, mainly caused by DDoS attacks and server instability. Recently, players and the audience were forced to bear a lot of long pauses and, in many cases, abandoned or postponed games. The issue recently escalated significantly, with key matches of tournaments like ESL One, WCA and GSL being affected. For example, ESL One and WCA had to hold the matches locally to dodge the problem, hence affecting ticket holders viewing the matches on DotaTV. This had, invariably, led to dissatisfaction within the community, whether be it players or fans.
On October 10th, Valve released an update with some changes pertaining to the network and technology aspects of the game which will hopefully, address this issue. While some of the updates are directly aimed at preventing DDoS attacks, Valve also announced that they have also upgraded the server hardware of certain regions. The people who purchased ESL One - New York tickets have been compensated with an in-game item, while the replays of the matches played on local lobbies have been released. As far as in-game changes go, the patch only contains a few in-game tweaks. We can only hope the changes are enough to tackle the problem at hand, as connectivity issues are really harmful for the professional DotA2 scene and eSports in general.
