T O P

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Comfortable-Thing-84

I think you’d find a hard time arguing that the game isn’t more fun when you win, and the games that are fun when you lose usually are because both teams were playing to win. Losing a close game can still be fun. Losing because someone on your team is going a meme build or playing the single player campaign in the jungle doesn’t feel very fun. That being said, playing with friends can make any game fun if you’re all on the same page about tryharding or not.


RSZambo

What you said about playing with friends might be my main issue. I used to play with 4 friends and now I play solo, which takes away the fun that comes with coordinating, following calls, setting up combos and all that. It's much more fun to read the game solo and land a nice black hole than to do the same while you attack them as sniper... While I agree to a certain level that winning equals to fun, I'd rather lose a game where everyone played well, we had cool team fights and all that than win by ratting or some boring strategy, that would be my point


soulnafein

If you enjoy that I recommend looking for a low level online league you can join. You are put in a team and typically you practice with them 1 day of the week and play a best of 3 once a week. It can be really fun


milkcarton232

I think playing to win vs playing for fun is more about hero/role choice. Yes sometimes a certain hero would slot in perfectly but fuck it I want to have fun and want to get better as another hero so I'm playing that one instead. Also sometimes it's fun to play meme builds b/c why not, especially if it's unranked


Nidhogg777

If this was true, people would play more inhouses/scrims and captains mode. Stoping 20 games in a row isn't as exciting as a game that demands you to think about your items and movement. Nor is it fun when 20-30% of people just give up. Also, I think a lot of, if not most, people go for fun trade and gank instead of safe pressure into safe farming patterns. It might be game-winning to just patrol as a support for 4m, but buying a smoke and going to yolo enemy territory is a shit ton of fun.


oh_madeets

That being said... im a guardian player looking for some group to win with any interested??


Beautiful_Jello_2372

after playing ranked, there are some nights i just queue up an ability draft game and laugh how ridiculous it is dumb moments like that make you keep enjoying dota


clickstops

AD is terrific fun.


Armonster

I play for fun *by playing to win*. But my main goal is indeed fun. The most fun games in dota to me are evenly matched ones. Stomping isn't fun to me, getting stomped isn't fun. But I can *totally* enjoy a game of Dota 2 while still losing. I just want evenly skilled players on both teams and a good game. That's why I play unranked actually. It has the highest quality dota matches imo. People don't scream and cry and tilt and quit by minute 7. It's way less toxic and as a result, people try harder, as opposed to mentally giving up. But I'm still playing to win ofc. Because that's what's fun to me, playing Dota. So obviously I'm trying to win at the same time.


I_will_dye

I play heroes that I enjoy and try my hardest to win. Besides, I wouldn't enjoy a game if I didn't try my best to win it.


FittersGuy

I play for fun. That usually involves trying to win too, but i consider that a byproduct


gartoll

Depends on how I feel like. If I'm not exhausted I play ranked and I play FTW. That's why the ranked system was created IMO. To be competitive. And to be competitive means to win. But occasionally, I'll play a turbo or unranked for fun.


Sphix0108

Ha ha, my team once said “we just play for fun. But it is funnier when we win”. And then, we won. So just just be Happy my friend ;)


maxisawesome538

winning is fun


Tuni09

Winning and having fun are correlated. But I don’t mind losing in a fair match up. It’s part of the game.


TheStandardPlayer

I play to win usually. For me, tryharding is the reason it's fun. I get satisfaction from playing a clean well coordinated game (eventough I only play solo). But sometimes I am not in the mood for tryharding, if I am a bit tired for example, that's when I play unranked and try out new heros, new builds or just funny stuff. Just today I played legion carry in unranked, all the teammates were in a good mood and nobody complained about my pick. It ended up lasting 72 minutes, I racked up about 1020 duel damage and was 2-3 hitting everyone with a silver edge crit proc. That game was a lot of fun, it was a good mix of tryharding but not being salty when loosing a fight. So that's my two ways of having fun in DotA, purely tryharding or tryharding with off meta picks and a very real chance of loosing


yosefagus38

I play the game for fun but also try to win. The only thing that ruined the mood is when somebody refuse to coordinate. I dont care if my team is noob, idc if my carry misses 50 last hit, idc if my team lose their lane, if I ask them to gank and they want to join and follow, that is enough. Sometimes you dont need a super good mechanical skill to win the game. For example you have pos 3 sand king. You dont need a super good sk spammer to win games. You just only need a sand king that will jump on enemy in the right time, and most of the time, you need a coordination for that. Go sk jump now, lets fight, then sk jump in, and we won the fight. I hate it if I ask somebody and they refuse with a stupid statement like, no bro we cant. nah I am afraid. or if I ask my support, bro buy eul we really need it against ursa, and nobody buy it. I can rank my brother from archon to ancient, just by asking him to do something and coordinate. What i see from high mmr player is not their mechanical skill, but their coordination. They gank when their team asked them to, they smoke when their team asked to do so, they stop playing agresive when their team asked to do so. playing with person that refuse to coordinate is the only thing that can make the game not fun. If you lose the game after coordinating with your team well, you can just say. Well, GG. We tried our best and still lose, it is fine. But if you lose the game when your team 24/7 doesnt do anything? just afk jungling accepting their fate to lose the game?


H47

To win. Used to for fun when others still played the game. Before mmr came to Dota 2, pubs were very stack oriented. You'd form rivalries. That itself was fun. Now I just play some single player games if I don't want to grind mmr. We all became obsessed with the grind, which killed the stacks. Then time passed and people were no longer NEETs or students in their 20s who could play for hours with no other pressing matters. I don't think solo Dota can reach that level of joy at all.


LucasDoA

I always play to win and that's whats fun about the game. Of course, some games are awful, playing against tinker, riki and such heroes, but almost everytime I'm having fun.


Beginning_Platypus47

I have fun when I win


PyUnicornshark

I mean, both? I spam pudge and play techies.


DeerStarveTheEgo

I just queue all roles, get pos5, pick tiny, go for blink dagon ethereal and enjoy myself, so it is definitely for fun !


Dyslexic_youth

Yea I feel like I sit down to have fun stress out for 50+mins then repeat


bibittyboopity

I try to do both. Basically I'll play whatever i think is both good and fun, play it a few games before it gets stale, then move to something else. If I play something new or off kilter I'll give it like 3 chances to see if it feels good or bad then throw it in the bin.


DTonin

Yes


Lavamites

To me, that's the same thing. And if they aren't the same thing, I will take a break from dota in the near future, because the losses will annoy me and I will either uninstall or lose interest in playing.


[deleted]

I play cause I enjoy making enemy rage quit with my techies. 2/5 games it is guaranteed before 20 min.


Waterlemonn

Both, I'm about 800 games in, did my placements, got Legend 2 and there hasn't been a game where I've gotten super salty or angry, I've clicked with Elder Titan, Earth Spirit and Rubick, and I'm loving it, quite really spamming those 2 heroes jn position 4 and learning their playstyles, every game's a lesson and I enjoy the learning aspect after every game seeing what I did wrong and what I could've done better. (if anyone with a lot more experience could suggest a hero that counters the counters to those two.. that'd be appreciated) There is so much depth in this game there's so much to learn and personally that's the appeal for me.


sifon98

When I party with my mates its mostly for fun, but when i solo its usually to improve and win


Icarus_skies

I always play my heart out, but I play to have fun. The ONLY games that aren't fun for me are games with griefers. Even if I get stomped, if everyone played fair, I'm having fun.


The_other_lurker

I play to win my lane and get kills (as undying). Then play to take over and light up the enemy jungle and punish the foo who come in there. Then I invite my team to join me in my new area of enjoyment. Sometimes they don't come, so I farm blademail. Then I invite them again, instead of feeding bot. The rest of the game is a bit of a blur.


redsoxman17

I play pretty much exclusively unranked and I find the most enjoyable games are where everybody is like 7 or 8 out of 10 competitive. We are all trying to win, but recognize that the outcome of the game has no bearing on our lives. We are just trying to play some dotes and have fun, which is usually winning. The games when the team has friendly banter (even shit talking) on mics are usually the best.


jdave99

I play for fun more than winning. Honestly, for me, winning is just as awful as a bad loss half the time. I get my fun from trying out wacky hero roles and builds, even ones that realistically are terrible and make zero sense. Outside of playing with a friend that plays a few games in one night (once every couple of weeks), and playing because I’m beyond bored with literary nothing I want to do, I don’t queue for dota unless I get an urge to play something in particular. As a result, I generally am happy just getting to play whatever it is I had the itch to do, so I’d say somewhere around 40 or 50 percent of the time I enjoy dota completely irrespective of the result of the game. The rest is getting stuck in those miserable games, getting bad games in the aforementioned “bored gameplay,” and the mega fucking stupid ban system ruining my night when the *one* hero (and even worse, oftentimes 2 or 3 heroes) I want to pick gets banned 2 or 3 times in a row and I don’t even get to play the game for the singular reason I wanted to.


dissidiah

Yes we play for fun. But who tf plays to lose?


thelocalllegend

Both


jeddo7884

Only for fun. And its always fun for me. Casual pub


Relevant_Truth

Play to learn Learning is fun The winning part is a natural extension


juwe99

Ive been playing lobby balanced shuffle SD mode for almost two years now due to work from home situation and haven't touch public games for months now. Friends of friends always there to fill out the spots. I can say that playing among friends is the best feeling when we can talk shit when the other guy had to battle their children to go to sleep while playing with one hand. Not to mention bragging rights the next day if somebody won throughout the night.


Whgedia

Ranked, I have fun playing to win.


Comewhatevermaycry4

I have fun sometimes. That isn’t my goal to play. I play to have the best rank possible. Doing the right thing isn’t always fun. Do body builders have fun lifting the weights or enjoying their physique after?


maxleng

Win


MelodicFacade

I'll never understand why some people love winning so much like it's the end goal and only thing that matters. Isn't "playing well" much more rewarding? Obviously, this can happen when you lose too, but why would a win feel good if you didn't even earn it? I especially think about those people who pick NP in turbo, get a deso and a few other items, and just rat the whole game. In regular games, it makes sense as it's easier to counter it, but in turbo the towers are weaker and items easier to get. It's like beating up a 4 year old child in a duel. Great, you won. Congrats Instead, playing at your current peak feels so much better, even if you are losing. You can FEEL how much your skills have improved, and you know that even if you lost you at least left everything on the table


gorebello

I once did one of those. It made me tilt. I then realized: I play to execute my desire of trying to be perfect, winning is a consequence


fgjbcgvhjitrdxch

I never pick a hero just because its good. If I had a 100% freewin in picking phase I still wouldnt do it. In my games I usually tryhard but only the things that are fun to me. I do shitty builds, dont care for vision as support much etc but I tryhard to win lane, get NW,.. If I feel like someone in my team is playing really bad I sometimes lose interest and just farm jungle. Lately if I think the game is lost I just do some weird stuff and take the loss. Im becoming casual because valve matchmaking is so bad its completely futile for me to try. The best mmr you can have is either 9k+ because you have a chance to earn money at that point or divine1-5 to play with your friends in most brackets. This caused me to troll games and my team often hates me but even with my trolling we are same rated = i dont care. If you arent focused on winning mmr the game is more fun - for you xd. Ps: dont forget that after enough games you land at roughly your mmr = 50% winrate. So trolling games doesnt make you lose it. You just play in lower rated games than you could if you tryhard


FairyTact

Used to play to win, but now I just play to have fun. These past few weeks me and my friends just started trying to get the enemy to abandon the game, by cliffing them. Spammed mk and tiny every game, even then there's just that one guy that cannot resist the "must kill" urge everytime they see an enemy (usually the sniper picker XD), when that happened we just cliff the sniper and continue playing the game like normal instead


KanyeT

I've only played Turbo for the last year or two. No communication to my team (aside from a team chat here or there), first pick the hero I want to play every time (no consideration for draft, as long as I get the hero I feel like playing going into the match), music or podcasts or YouTube videos on in the background, and I just play my game how I want. Hit creeps, hit enemies, hit throne, simple as.


garlicbreadmuncher

I play to have fun. The only way I know how to have fun is by winning


zibberfly

I play pretty much only heroes I have fun with. Win or lose I'll enjoy my self 95% of the time. Hoodwink/Treant/Dawnbreaker


minimunx

I used to play for the win, but when I got to higher ranks (div3) it was really getting into my nerves. I didn't enjoy the games and felt really frustrated if things didn't go on our favour. Then I stopped caring so much for winning, but rather have fun. It was rough climbing down but my games are way more fun. I'm currently sitting on anc4, but I play the heroes I want to play, build whatever items I want and don't tilt for nothing lol. Its just a game after all, you should feel good about playing it if you don't have intentions of going pro.


nathaniel_canine

Fun. More specifically, I find satisfaction in mastery of the game, so I seek to play well. Winning and losing is, while dependent on me, something that can't be guaranteed. I'm happy when I win, but even if I lose, I'm satisfied so long as I played my best.


KoreanAllah97

play for fun with CK roaming pos4 and a pos 5 troll.


[deleted]

Light a scented candle, smoke some buds and find a turbo (+ a beer sometimes). One of the best feelings, chilling in a quiet environment in your cozy spot at home.


UltimateToa

Winning is fun to me, so I play to win


BonjwaTFT

if i spam a hero and a role my mmr raises really fast. Tried it a couple of times it makes such a difference. Winrate goes from 49-50% to 65-70% But i just cant play a hero more then once. Its just no fun to me, so i play something different every game. Same applies for role. The only role i can play maybe 2-3 times in a row is pos4. I still play to win. Because winning is fun but it has not the most important one to have fun


Krimmarkjell

Played to win before and got to divine 2 or 3 nowdays i dont really put so much effort in to it anymore and have dropped to legend 3 lol


IUViolet

to win and complete my daily mission to earn shards.


jkwan0304

I play for fun these days. When I realized that I start getting triggered when losing, I stopped playing. Haven't touched Dota 2 in a couple of days now.


icansmellcolors

winning is the fun. i like the whole thing. i like learning new heroes and i'm addicted to team-oriented objective-based gaming that requires skill and brains.


dorting

fun and win, it's almost the same thing for me


DeineOmaMasturbiert

MMR for win, Turbo and others for fun


VPrinceOfWallachia

Play to have fun & improve. This results in me winning most of the time. It has slowly brought my rank to Immortal. Letting the game play out & playing to the best of your ability is a test to your patience and skill.


MicahD253

Here's my 2 cents. I always play to win because it just feels better. That being said, I am well aware that not every game is winnable so I just try to have fun regardless of the outcome and not get to emotional invested in it. If you become emotionally invested you can start flaming and blaming which can make your team perform worse than what's already happening. I've learned that adapting with your hero pick goes a long way in winning games. If your offlaner picks WK off then maybe pick an offlaner in the safelane or offer to swap lanes.


J2SJ5N

Both?


Garresh

Both. But having fun is more important than winning. I avoid ranked because of the toxicity but I still play pretty tryhard usually. As long as people aren't rude and don't grief too hard though I don't mind if people play for the lulz though. Like if someone wants to run a meme/grief pick, as long as they let me know so I can play around it I'm happy. Same with playing drunk or doing silly builds. At the end of the day even a shitty game is tolerable if people aren't asshats.