The lack of communication from Valve is hurting teams who have submitted their content for Team Bundles in Dota 2. Into The Breach, No Bounty Hunter and many other teams have submitted their content but are yet to hear from Valve.
Well Intentioned, but still point of controversy
A little over a month ago Valve released the Team Support Packs as part of the DPC season. The idea behind the packs was to allow the teams to make creative voice lines, sprays, and loading screens that people could purchase to support their favorite teams. The packs would give half of the profits to the teams who made them. This was especially good for tier 2 and 3 teams who have no organizational backing. The packs would last up until a few weeks before The International tournament, which at the moment, is up in the air. But the bundles are not without their problems. Today, multiple teams have come out with complaints about their experiences submitting their packs for review, and the lack of communication from Valve.
One of the most talked about issues with the packs was the price range. The Bronze Pack includes a badge next to player names that showed which team they were supporting, costing 2$. The Silver Pack includes the badge as well as 3 sprays and emoticons, for $10. And finally the Gold Pack includes the Bronze Pack and Silver Pack as well as voice lines and a loading screen for $20. Some people have felt that paying 20$ for content that is temporary, is a steep price for consumers.
ITB Asks Valve for direction
This leads us to the second biggest problem, that in many ways relates to the cost problem. Not every team has a bundle or was able to get their bundle into the game. Some teams simply did not get send their required sprays, voice lines, and loading screens on time to get them into the game when the bundles first dropped. However, there are some teams who say that they sent everything in but have received no contact from Valve.
Enter Into the Breach, a new esports organization from the U.K. that has recently forayed into the Dota 2 esports scene. Playing in the WEU lower division DPC, they have been getting quite the number of views on their matches. According to ITB, they rushed to get their bundles done, commissioning “indie artists” and “paying them extra for speed” in order to submit their team pack. As of today however, they have no bundle in the game, and have received no direction, nor a single peep from Valve.
No Bounty Hunter is also not pleased
Into the Breach is not the only team to complain. EEU lower division team No Bounty Hunter also took to Reddit to give their two cents on the issue. “Eduard” a representative from the team stated that they also had trouble communicating with Valve to get their bundle in the game as well: “Despite being a month since we uploaded all the required materials for our supporter pack, it's still not in the game…”
According to Eduard, the teams were directed to contact TO’s from their respective regions, in their case Dreamhack, to fix any problems. When they attempted to contact them, the TO’s had no idea how to fix their problems and received little to no advice from Valve. The team then contacted PGL one of the big TO’s and were told to “be patient” and then later that something was wrong with the pack that they had to fix. Having since fixed said problem, they have still received any communication from Valve.
An issue for much of the Tier 2/3 Scene
No Bounty Hunter also mentioned in their post that this is an issue that has affected other teams as well, including Team Bald, Winstrike, 5 Man Midas, and others that they listed. Both ITB and NBH have seemed to point out that most of these issues stem from a lack of good communication with Valve. ITB in particular has suggested that these issues could be resolved with the introduction of “community engagement organizer” which they say people “have been screaming about for years.”
The support pack debacle may not be as important to some of the top tier teams, but for small organizations, and teams without even small backing, these supporter packs are part of their livelihoods. ITB mentioned that even high viewership on the streams does not constitute “tangible benefits” for these tier two and tier 3 teams. All in all, it seems as though Valve may have to look into improving their contact with teams, and working harder to support more than just tier 1 Dota.
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