As we reported last week, Dota Pro Circuit teams have suffered badly waiting for the release of Supporters Club packs. Missing out on vital revenue from the Supporters Clubs had caused many teams to speak out and look for answers from Valve.
However, teams could perhaps breathe a sigh of relief as the remaining Dota 2 Supporters Club bundles were released on Monday, June 28th. Among them, packs for Into the Breach and No Bounty Hunter, both teams who voiced their concerns about the missing content publicly. Top-tier teams, such as Invictus Gaming, and NA DPC finalists Undying, were finally given their due. And not a moment too soon, as teams receive 50% of Supporters Club bundles sales.
But the revelry at finally being able to secure some support for teams is being tarnished by the lackluster status of the releases. As the packs dropped, Dota 2 players, fans, and personalities noticed some issues.
First was the inclusion of a fan bundle for Pecardo Squad Gaming—a team disqualified from the DPC for match-fixing. Although, as per the team, their case remains under investigation by Beyond The Summit, a disqualified team having a Supporters Club was very suspect. The team’s bundle was quickly removed, but it was an omen of deeper issues.
Missing Tiers
In what was originally thought to be a bug, numerous teams in this wave reported missing tiers from their Supporters Club page. Supporters Club bundles have three tiers at different prices: Bronze ($5), Silver ($10), and Gold ($20). In many cases, either the Gold, or Silver and Gold bundles were missing. Given that these were the highest tier of support, teams were naturally concerned and took to Twitter to raise awareness.
Team Bald Reborn confirmed that they had submitted all requested materials, but the higher value packs were still missing. In total, seven teams are affected by the missing tiers of Supporters Clubs. This includes Aster.Aries, Execration, Fantastic Five, Hokori, Winstrike Team, Team Bald Reborn, and Team Mystery. In the case of Bald Reborn, the team is re-submitting their content and hoping for a later release.
Incomplete content for Dota 2 Supporters Clubs
However, even more teams are affected by a lack of uploaded content. This mainly effects the Gold and Silver tiers of the Supporters Clubs. Teams including Electronic Boys, D2 Hustlers, and Spider Pigz have a reduced number of items on their Gold bundle. Meanwhile, a total of half of the teams in the current release lack a full Silver and Gold tier in line with past bundles.
Previously released Gold bundles contained three voice lines and a pair of loading screens. Silver bundles contained three emotes and three sprays. In this latest release, many teams have just a pair of voice lines and single loading screen. Some are missing loading screens completely or just have a single voice line. Missing emotes and sprays are also common. Paul "Speeed" Bocchicchio of Electronic Boys explained that the team’s submitted voice lines were not added. Instead, two very brief, low-effort lines were added in their place.
As if to add insult to injury, Supporters Clubs will now only have a limited shelf-life remaining. In their initial announcement, Valve explained that Supporters Clubs would be available “until The International commences.” That gives the Supporters Clubs just weeks before they are removed from sale. With the clock ticking, and teams likely losing out on revenue due to their missing content, this is one more issue teams can hold against Valve.
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