Guide tips for a healthy Dota experience

Introduction

Well, most of us often concern about a series of miscellaneous things when play Dota. From how fat your hero is, how high your rank has climbed, how fancy your Armory looks and what level does your Compendium hold?

Well, you all forget to care about one thing YOURSELF

Dota is an infamous e-sport, and like all e-sports, it bears some traditional issues, mostly have to do with a real player's well-being in the long term.

In this short guide, I'll give you some general tips for a healthy Dota experience, and you can continue to care for what makes you so happy with, without falling short on the other sides.
This is my second guide, I intend to add this little pieces of advice to my next hero guide, but I think this would be long and that would be too much trivial stuffs for a Hero guide so I guess I'll make one separate chapter for it.

Remember: This is just my personal opinions, I'm not an expertise, or I don't intend to lecture anyone, :) but I hope this would make you handle your bad games better.

Void your emotions

What is this phenomenon?

People usually get emotional when losing multi-games in a row or getting trash-talked constantly during an already bad game. No matter how tough, positive and apathetic you are, these activities affect many players in a wide variety of ways, often result in a ****py mood, or worse like anger, frustration, and negative behaviors often follow suit in real life. Such as screaming to the person sitting next to you, or training your telekinesis skill with small things around :) or having a hostile attitude towards people totally unrelated to what happened.

Risks factors

Getting emotional when playing or after playing is evidently detrimental, and even more if it gets prolonged pass the ticking point when you think you could explode:

In-game risks:

- When you get trash-talked during a game, the first instinct of almost all players is that you will think a reply equally trashy to throw back at them. This process takes about 1 second, and it takes another second to type it down based on how long your words are, this means you get 2 second stunned to yourself!
- Paying attention to trash-talkers derives your attention from other things on the screen, especially the mini-map and juke spots when you suppose to retreat when not seeing anything there.
- Losing multi games will get you emotional and making you want to play more and more, and the result is: you will be more likely to lose more!

Real life risks:
Like I said above, despite the common Valve's in-game advice: "Remember, it's just a game" or "Everyone has good games, everyone has bad games". When playing Dota, you suppose to have fun, but ending up with an even worse mood than before you play is no-no-no good. These risk factors I derive from online source:
- Reserved attitude when back to real life
- Easily enraged, in long term can train a person to be hot-headed
- Deprive one's of realistic thoughts (they can't help thinking about their last games)

How to against this?

Mute the garbage:Unless you are playing in a lobby with all your friends, I advise you to mute all opponents during pub games or as soon as you spot a potential trash-talkers on the other team or on your own team. It's not worth prolonging communications with strangers through online games, but if they get on your nerves, sometimes the emotions will last, though they don't mean anything to you and vice versa.

Take a short break gradually: If you lose 2 or 3 games in a row, in most cases I advise you to stop and play another time. But if you still want to continue, I suggest you take some times off and cool down, like observing a popular games or replay, doing other stuffs on the browsers, or you can come here to read the rest of my guide :). Return to it when you feel ready and have no inner quarrels with the last games.

Call your friends in:Lastly, like they always say, Dota is better when playing with friends, sharing your frustration with the person next to you or through the chat is one of the best way to void your emotions. They've been in the same game and they know what pissed you off and they can easily understand and sympathize with your emotional outbursts, and that will cool you off quickly. Again, if you play at home or just hang out the pub lobby, I say it's not worth turning on the chat with the other team, and save you some time trying to reply their trashes. (which sadly seem to get more creative as time passes).

Calm down! I please

Side activities worth taking

What is this?

E-sports are generally like jobs in an office, it requires you to sit in front of the computer for a not-so-surprisingly-long period given the average length of a typical match. While office workers ease themselves by saying in their head "I got paid for doing this". The same couldn't be widely applied to most e-sport devotees, so what's the catch? You spent all day at school and work, and you have the right to tell yourself when playing Dota: "This is my treat of the day". But what makes your "treat" isn't very beneficial is the adverse effects people generally get when sitting in the desk for long hours in front of a screen. I will introduce to you some side activities worth taking between matches, before and after a general playing session. But first, let us move on to the Risk Factors.

Risk factors

Emotional
- Feelings of guilt: Anxiety and Depression may be the clearest symptoms, though it does not appear as seriously as it sounds in real life for just playing an e-sport, prolonged hours of using computers for any purpose eventually cause these emotions to stir up.
- Euphoric feelings when in front of the computer: This is exceptionally true when playing e-sports, I got excited when picking a hero or when I'm about to begin the match before the horn sounds, it is a common feeling and though it should not be treated as a negative symptom, it is secretly suggested that you might favor your game time above everything else.
- Unable to keep schedules (No sense of time): Have you ever finished a match, then turned around to ask "What time is this?" and then yelled "Oh, sh*t"? A typical Dota match takes about 45 minutes and players are very unlikely to play only one match once turning the system on, or even two. In case you haven't realized this, a playing session of e-sports may be equal to half a working shift, not paying attention to time when playing may cause you a lot more trouble then just being late for whatever like school or work.
- Isolation (Defensiveness,Agitation): It is no surprised that people often own a funny mood right after turning off their computer, their perception for the outer world develops slowly and defensively. Any sudden events or slight disagreements can trigger a relatively defensive stance from their inside and they will most likely to solve the problems quite badly. This progress usually takes course of at least half an hour to disperse.

Physical
Backache
Headaches
Weight gain or loss
Disturbances in sleep
Carpal tunnel syndrome
Blurred or strained vision
No need to explain, too bad we don't have a fountain for ourselves to sit by or tangos to chew after playing. We just have to deal with these problems on our own, it develops slowly but surely over time and if you are a true e-sport player, it is advisable that you consider taking the following advices.

How to against this?

As troubling as it sounds, things in real life aren't that serious and probably you won't notice anything different looking at the mirror right now. Still, that's not to say you can underestimate these long-term consequences and I think the following tips may help you out.
- Control the light: Eye strain often is caused by excessively bright light either from outdoor sunlight coming in through a window or from harsh interior lighting. When you use a computer, your ambient lighting should be about half as bright as that typically found in most offices. Eliminate exterior light by closing drapes, shades or blinds. Reduce interior lighting by using fewer light bulbs or fluorescent tubes, or use lower intensity bulbs and tubes. If possible, position your computer monitor or screen so windows are to the side, instead of in front or behind it.
- Look away from the computer screen gradually: for at least 20 second for every 20 minutes, Okay :) I realize that this would be difficult when you need to focus on an averagely-45-minutes-long match, but you can do it when your hero dies :), just kidding. Tips from doctor often sound more serious than it actually is, if you are not doing anything particularly important, like waiting for loaders or just waiting for a friend to finish their games, reduce constant eye contact with the screen by the method above. It helps reduce strain vision and headaches.
- "Remember, stand up and stretch after matches": You probably saw the in-game advice from Valve: . It is highly recommendable, and as short as the sentence is, your health will expand much longer. I may adjust this sentence a little "Stand up and stretch after each match".
- Always check the time after each match: A glance at the clock on your wrist or on the taskbar costs you nothing and is quite important. It helps you know where you are standing and prepare to take off before engaging too deep into the fight.
- Get out of the house: A short walk along the streets or anywhere you want to go is all okay, as long as it is outdoors and without a screen. Walk in fresh air and breath more, it calms your nerves and slowly deprives you of your tiredness and brain fatigue from hard games.
- Don't play overnight: Hangover shouldn't be very harmful and you are totally allowed if you don't feel anything bad about it. But unfortunately, your teachers, parents and employers don't think so, and go to sleep on time is not just to please people, but for your own sake! They will be displeased if you show up late, of course, but no one is as miserable as yourself.

Take a look at the ideal position when using computer below:

Control your gameplay

What is this?

The characteristic of Dota is thrilling effect, intense combat and fast-paced actions. In overall, it is a game that should not be treated casually, and more important, it is not a game to be played for fun or just killing time despite Valve's in-game reminder "It's just a game". Firstly, because "killing time" here can be counted by hours, and the perspective of serious players has long accepted that Dota is identified by more than just a game, and the game itself has also outgrown its natural entertaining purpose so long ago, even before Dota 2. So what is the point here? As much as you may joke about Valve's reminder and waive all sorts of purposes Dota can serve, unless you are a professional player competing global tournaments and actually making money out of it. Dota is just a wonderful aspect of your life, and you may have more of such aspects, the ones you should pay equal or even more attention to.

Risk factors

I want you to write down a list of 5 things that matter most to you at this point, I'm sure Dota will be very likely to be in this list. Then I want you to have a look at a typical day of yours and list down what your usual routine is, then determine approximately how much percentages of your time is spent on each of the above 5 things, or any of them didn't have time spent for at all. If Dota happens to claim the most proportion, I will not be surprised and I think your routine needs adjustment.

Dota is an endless potential MMORPG, just like a sport, it will never stop growing. So even if you don't play it, it won't fade. But if you don't look after yourself, sorry but you won't pose similar talent to thrive. That's not to say playing Dota is negative. It is a cultural game that deserves a handsome amount of worshipers.

But what I'm doing here is worrying about the worshipers, not the game. You may have heard the cyber bully towards gamers like "No life" or "Game addicts". Yes, you have joked a lot about it, I did too. But I want to change that perspective, and prove that a real e-sport players poses equal value and qualities of an office worker, or whatever they call "standard", or a president :X (Yep, That's possible :)). But it's true, people (principally most adults and some proud hypocrites) is having a bad impression for e-sport and its players, though it is widely accepted everywhere and proves to be no less intriguing and practical like outdoors sports.

I want to give some of my personal advices as a post-addicted gamer and I want produce a gaming community that Dota is a major part, not just an interest, in your life, too. If none of the above matters to you and you return to your games shortly with little of this is held in your mind, I can relate :). Though it's not hurt to take a look at my tips below, right?

How to against this?

Place your gaming time in your schedule: Hey, who said playing games is not productive or serious? It 's like planning your leisure time, and putting your gaming period into your list and keeping track of it so you won't lose balance when you sink too deep to your screen.
Make the most out of Dota: Hey, I'm writing a guide,right?, I'm practicing my writing skills and English, I'm devoting my time to literature and productivity. I also read about damage and heal statistics and how armor reduction stacks and calculates, I'm actually studying Math here and playing my games at the same time. For some people, they can even do more, they are designing items set for their heroes. Okay, most of us may not be able to reach this state of the art :) but you are good at Dota, right? Why not trying some other ways to use your knowledge and skills of the game beside just playing?
Team up: Spend less of your time soloing and try arranging playdates for your team and groups. Your ranks doesn't matter much. It is the fun, the atmosphere, the cooperation and your team calming each other down after a bad match is what count.
Ranked matches should take up only 70% of your game time: Or less, ranked matches are often more competitive and put more pressure on gamers since it affects a number highly represents our level and gives us the opportunity to face tougher opponents as our skills level up. You can even meet Miracle :>. But nevertheless, I once completed 6 consecutive ranked games and my head was like on fire when done. Despite many of my friends kept saying: "Man, you're weak" or "I played 12 hours of ranked matches", okay I admire your strength and durability but you are not treating your "temple" the way it should be, if you want to keep playing the games with joy. You should look at Lanaya, she protects herself so well that no damage or words can pierce her :>.
Remember to look at your list again: Dota is just one thing out of the whole important list of yours, right? Upon finishing playing it, don't go to sleep right away. Take a glance at it, and see how well you have handled other purposes. If the others on your list did not receive the deserving amount of caress, then I suggest you take some times tomorrow re-planning your whole day. If possible, it's not hurt to take a day or two completely off Dota, like any sports, you need time to recreate and relax after a long period of training, it helps your brain and body to stretch and restore your mana before getting back on track tomorrow. IT'S COLLABORATE TIME.

Oops, this is a sign that you should take a break before retrying, though this player seems to maintain averagely 3 matches a day only, that's good on the side.



END OF MY SECOND GUIDE
I hope you have a fun day with Dota and remember to stay healthy after the matches, okay? :)