My roommate about two years ago introduced me to WarCraft III. I played the game a few times and got rocked. I was utterly horrible. And then I found DotA. I liked the game and started playing religiously... and then I moved out.
Well I recently picked up WCIII and starting playing again. Naturally, I skipped straight to DotA. And in the few months I played I became quite good. I evolved from playing in public games to playing more competitively in a well-known DotA community: TDA. Well, a week ago I decided to try my hand at ladder again. And, low and behold, I was good at it. I was more in tune with my heroes and microed my units with my heroes much more effectively. I rocked in battle, thus picking up the slack from my inexperience in building/upgrading. That part was easy enough to pick up after 10 or so games, and now I'm simply owning in most every aspect. Albeit I'm no pro, but I went from zero-to-hero so to speak in a matter of a few days. All because DotA taught me how to effectively micro-manage.
DotA is a game of pure skill. Many say, "Noobs can't control more than one unit blah blah blah..." but the truth is controlling one unit super-effectively while others are doing the same can be much more difficult than controlling an army. And then when you have that whole army under your control (ladder) you are much more inclined to control each of those units super-effectively. And that makes you a battle-powerhouse.
Sure, ladder veterans already do that with precision and ease. But DotA is a great way to enter into the realm of WarCraft III. It's a difficult game of strategy for those who aren't familiar with the genre, and betters you as a player in the long run.
As for those, "ZOMG IMBA WTFHAX," people that say one item rules and if you get it you win, there is no item. All of the items are balanced. If you can rush yourself to a +60 damage item in 10 minutes while your opponent still has 2 +2 to all stats items, then you are the better player. If they were so great they would do the same. In truth, every character has multiple item builds. And about leveling, if you let a single player in your lane get 5 levels above you, you must be really horrible. The only way that is acceptable is if it's a lane with two people against one, where the solo gets 2x experience. In which case, two people are stronger than one, so you should've rocked him early anyway. It's your fault you're bad... no, "inexperienced"... don't blame your failure on the game being imbalanced.
DotA is a great game and for those who say it's not... odds are you tried and failed. Try harder next time.
[EDIT] Wtf? Ntrik? You were in my old clan! Clan Rosh. I left because of inactivity. I was like the first person to join. Hahaha! Random Google search for WarCraft III Avatars FTW!!!!!!
