Warcraft III is the third title in the Warcraft series
of real-time strategy games developed by Blizzard Entertainment. As with Warcraft II, Blizzard included a free
"world editor" in the game that allows
players to create custom scenarios or "maps" for the game, which can
be played online with other players throughBattle.net.
These custom scenarios can be simple terrain changes, which play like normal Warcraft games,
or they can be entirely new game scenarios with custom objectives, units,
items, and events, like Defense of the Ancients.
The first version of Defense of the
Ancients was released in 2003 by a mapmaker under the alias of Eul who
based the map on a previous StarCraft scenario
known as "Aeon of Strife".] After
the release of Warcraft's expansion The Frozen Throne,
which added new features to the World Editor, Eul did not update the scenario. Other
mapmakers produced spinoffs that added new heroes, items, and features.
Among the DotA variants created
in the wake of Eul's map, there was DotA Allstars, developed by
modder Steve Feak (under
the alias Guinsoo); this version would become today's dominant version of the
map, simply known as Defense of the Ancients. Feak said when
he began developing DotA Allstars, he had no idea how popular the
game would eventually become; the emerging success of the gametype inspired him
to design a new title around what he considered an emerging game genre. Feak
added a recipe system for items so that player's equipment would scale as they grew
more powerful, as well as a powerful boss character called Roshan (named after
his bowling ball) who required an entire team to defeat.
Feak used a battle.net chat channel as a place
for DotA players to congregate, but DotA Allstars had
no official site for discussions and hosting. The leaders of the DotA
Allstars clan, TDA, proposed that a dedicated web site
be created to replace the various online alternatives that were infrequently
updated or improperly maintained. TDA member Steve "Pendragon" Mescon
created the former official community site, dota-allstars.com, on October 14,
2004.
Towards the end of his association with the map,
Feak primarily worked on optimizing the map before handing over control to
another developer after version 6.01. The new author, IceFrog, added new
features, heroes, and fixes. Each release is accompanied by a changelog. IceFrog
was at one time highly reclusive, refusing to give interviews; the only
evidence of his authorship was the map maker's email account on the official
website and the name branded on the game's loading screen. IceFrog now
interacts with players through a personal blog where he answers common
questions players have about him and about the game. He has also posted
information about upcoming map releases, including previews of new heroes and
items.
Defense of the Ancients is maintained via official forums. Users
can post ideas for new heroes or items, some of which are added to the map.
Players have contributed icons and hero descriptions and created the artwork
displayed while the map loads, and suggestions for changes to existing heroes
or items are taken seriously; IceFrog once changed a new hero less than two
weeks after the new version of the map was released. Versions
of the scenario where enemy heroes are controlled by artificial intelligences
have also been released. Mescon continued to maintain dota-allstars.com, which
by the end of IceFrog's affiliation in May 2009 had over 1,500,000 registered
users and had received over one million unique visitors every month. Due
to their separation, IceFrog announced that he would be further developing a
new official site, playdota.com, while continuing game development; Mescon
closed dota-allstars on July 22, 2010, citing dropping statistics and his new
passion for League of Legends as the reason for
its end.
Because Warcraft III custom
games have none of the features designed to improve game quality (matchmaking
players based on connection speed, etc.), various programs are used to maintain Defense
of the Ancients. External tools ping player's locations, and games can be
named to exclude geographic regions. Clans and committees such as TDA maintain
their own official list of rules and regulations, and players can be kicked
from matches by being placed on "banlists
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