Esports, and the motivations behind it are almost exactly the same as they are for traditional sports. People either participate for enjoyment, or participate to become professional. Personally, I have no intention of ever being a professional player for Dota2 but I still play it on at least a weekly basis. I feel like this is a majority of players who use it as a way to pass time, connect with friends or relieve stress. These games are not only extremely competitive and entertaining, but require so much of your attention that people will use them as opportunities to escape from their reality which is a pretty common reason behind why anyone plays a video game. If you don’t see the reason as to why play a video game if you aren’t going to be professional, ask the same question as to why there are city basketball leagues, bar league volleyball and other similar semi-competitive sporting leagues. The other half is to be the best out there and compete for money and fame. This is an extreme minority similar to traditional sports, which is why I believe it is not the main reason that a majority of players play these games. While 90% of players will watch professionals play and say “I could do better,” they usually will not take the time and dedication that it requires to become professional and ultimately give up on this path.

It is a viable, and in some stances better alternative MOBA game. Dota was the grandfather of all MOBAs, starting as a mod for Warcraft 3. The development team mostly left to make League of Legends, however one remained. Icefrog. Icefrog moved on to Valve to assist the development of Dota 2. Dota 2 is a better alternative to League for many reasons. The first is core mechanics. While League has some mechanics that I personally enjoy and wish were included in Dota, Dota by far has more features and mechanics. Pulling camps, dening, buyback mechanic, reliable/unreliable gold, and so many more. Dota by far takes the cake in complexity. It makes for not just a better eSport, but also a better game for everyone else. The game however is not very casual. When looking at the eSport scene, you instantly see a difference. In Dota, teamfights happen every couple of minutes, with so much happening that even the casters sometimes have issues telling all that is happening. Meanwhile, a look at League’s pro scene reveals hour long grind fests with a score of 3 to 2. Both games have “no room for error” but League, in my opinion, has less room for error. In LoL, if you die, that’s it. You have to wait the entire respawn timer. If you get team wiped, the game is over instantly. Dota has a “buy back” mechanic, where you give up a large sum of gold in exchange for a second chance at life. One thing Dota also has is that you lose gold on death. Every time you die, you lose gold and the enemy gains it. This makes death a bigger issue in Dota than in League. In the end, it’s all up to personal preference, however I’d recommend everyone give Dota a try.