Dota 2 patch launches, amusingly confuses everyone

Another Dota 2 patch has appeared, and this one has caused a brief moment of confusion.

So, okay, here are the patch notes: “Fixed a recent bug causing Spark Wraith to slow for less than intended” and “Fixed a bug with illusions gaining benefit from items not owned by the original hero.” Nothing problematic there.

What people may have forgotten is that the weekend saw a temporary change to the way Dota 2’s matchmaking worked, with parties only able to play unranked and – perhaps more notably – the unranked All Pick matches having the same pick/ban system as ranked matches, instead of everyone just scrambling for the hero they want or last picking something that annoys the shit out of everybody. This patch has reverted the matchmaking to the way it was before. It’s not exactly a surprise, considering we were even told that it was a temporary test just for the weekend, but I’ve already seen a few games where people have sat around not picking heroes and then wondering why everyone is losing gold instead of just one team.

Consider this a public service announcement: we’re back to the old style of unranked matchmaking again.

Personally, I rather liked the pick/ban system, not least because it meant for a lot less Invoker and Slark in my Dota 2 games. Those who really like heroes that are popular ban candidates, however, may be pleased by this return to the unranked roots.