Valve takes on the task of making Dota 2 a newcomer-friendly MOBA

Since its 2013 release, Dota 2 has accumulated a massive cast of both playable heroes and actual players, both of which can sometimes intimidate newcomers to the major MOBA.

Valve has addressed both of these potential barriers through a couple of recent changes to Dota 2, with the goal of removing some of the "unnecessary challenges" new players encounter when jumping into their first few Dota 2 matches.

Part of the alterations made with newcomers in mind involves trimming down the game’s playable hero list from 113 to 20 for a new player’s first 25 games. The slimmed down list aims to arm newcomers with enough hero variety to learn the ins and outs of the game without overwhelming them with the full roster Dota 2 has gradually built up during the past four years. 

Meanwhile, the second change is focused on making sure new players don’t have their Dota 2 experience soured by a toxic player or bad social experience right off the bat.

When selecting players for any given Dota 2 match, the game typically examines both a player’s skill level and their behavior score and try to match players with similar scores.The new beginner system takes this one step further and places a higher priority on matching newcomers with teammates that have a longstanding record of good behavior.

Together these changes, which are already live in the game, aim to reduce some of the friction players feel when first booting up Dota 2 and help them make the most of the game's early moments.