DotA's Brick Wall and how it relates to everything

I finished a Calculus 3 test today. 8 questions, with 1 sure lost and 6 sure gains. One question of the 8 is in a trench - which is, I think it is right but it doesn't feel concrete at all. As per experience, that's going to be a question I got half-right: either a right answer and messy steps, or great steps and wrong answer, or a fudgy something that deserves decent points but not a full pretty mark.

And surprisingly enough, this applies to DotA's state of "I'll be so-so forever", and just about everything else.

Contrary to popular belief, this guy and the Admiral are really good friends in the fray

How so? Well, after playing DotA for years, I realised I didn't get that much better. Sure, I know a couple tidbits here and there, but some stuffs slip my mind whenever I play. Like watch for the depth of that tower dive. Or don't be too greedy and chase that near-death Bounty Hunter too far. In fact, I just found out that you can buy Energy Booster in the side shop, just about 3 or so weeks ago!

Yer sly, sly dog.

So what's the deal with the DotA Brick Wall (where you think you're an OK bloke but you're less than an OK bloke but not yet a debacle)? Well, like that fudgy Calculus question, it starts with you. People never become hard enough on themselves on most things, or at least that's how I see it. We always avoid blaming ourselves, even when we consciously try not to. I play DotA thinking that I know a lot about it. I do my Calculus thinking that I can ace this test with a perfect 10. Well, that's just thinking. Knowing and living it is a different matter altogether. Unless you spent solo bot matches training those creep-block body bouncing, or your nights making sure every Calculus question in that book is dead meat under your pen - you're not going to be even average.

Read Purge's well-known "Welcome to DotA 2, you suck" post. He knows things. And yes we suck.

First thing that you should learn about DotA is that there will always be things to learn about DotA. Always. You know that you can deny the tower at 10%? Well bottom lane Radiant has that jukey-juke-juke path that is a bastard of a half circle and a drunkard, right near Tier 1 tower. Stay in the middle of that pesky arc of trees, use your Sniper to take the tower before the enemy gets the deny, and maybe, maybe, hyhy won't flame you. There's tons of other paths that you should remember too. Or how to use that Quelling Blade right and block the jungle flow like a pro.

Or how about the fact that Zeus has the highest hero damage per second in patch 6.8? Or that is 6.8, the highest stat gain of the grunt-making snot-spewing club-mashing Bristleback is actually Intelligence, not the primary Strength stat?

Ima gonna get smart real soon m8. Real soon.

Oh and the patches. Even before you get to know the more arcane secrets of the game, there's a patch. The last one gave Lich the forever-bounce ultimate, Lina the Scepter upgrade through-magic-immunity magic, or that melee Illusion Rune boys now take 200% instead of 300% damage. The game twists and turns and meta changes faster than Tidehunter can say "Kunkka!", and there's nothing you can do about it.

So start studying whatever it is you're going to try and gain success in, especially those things with a large brick wall (a.k.a "trench") - like DotA, Calculus, or Engineering Math. Before even blaming something else "the support sucks" "there was no review session" "why do we even have to do this", get started with polishing yourself.

The world is going to twist and turn just like IceFrog's whim in the patches. There's never going to be a real stable "meta" in the test. Or the juke path you choose to avoid your boss is actually not that good after all. And I guess hyhy will still flame you since you didn't stay in them darned bloody trees. Hopefully less.

Since we are still on the subject of "finger pointing" maybe this guy can give you some, er, pointers (ba-dum-tss!!)

But hey, after getting a mediocre 2750 or something MMR solo, even after years of happy playing, I guess that's one of the good things you get out of DotA. There's no pay-to-win short-cuts. There's no learning-everything. But there is always clear rewards for self-improvement, peace of mind for those who choose to practice instead of blaming things, and chances for even the lackiest of lackeys should they join the flow and accept the changes.

Hell, I got decent with Puck, one of those heroes that I used to avoid a lot. Thanks to that Blink Dagger mana-free update!

And who am I kidding.

Be it DotA or Calculus, you will still blame something or someone. Just hopefully keep it at a rate of "sometimes".

Meanwhile, Invoker still thinks that he is the raddest dood in all of the 7 Kingdoms.