Valve has added a new anonymous mode to Dota 2 which blocks and limits interaction with others. It comes as a much-needed effort to stamp out abuse and toxicity.
Dota 2 has always been a toxic place, which is odd since the community is so passionate and dedicated. Valve has tried to make the game less toxic throughout the years. They’ve done everything from making the game more inviting for newcomers to adding an avoid player feature.
Unfortunately, nothing has seemed to work. Dota 2 is arguably the hardest competitive game on the market. It’s hard to learn and even harder to master. The games are long, and one small mistake can be the difference between a win and a loss. What’s more, the ranked grind is not for the faint-hearted.
When using Anonymous Mode, players will still be able to play in all forms of online matches, but they won’t see avatars, nicknames, or in-game chat messages from people that they haven’t added as friends. This will be a great way to avoid chat spam and other obnoxious methods of attention-grabbing and self-advertising that a lot of players do in game chat.
But blocking messages isn’t always enough. It’s not uncommon to meet the same toxic players again in different games, and their presence alone can be enough to throw you off your game. But now with anonymous mode turned on, you won’t even know they’re there.
The second tool is designed exclusively for the Battle Pass owners as it adds on the top left of the screen a Guild quest tracker which is especially helpful for those who are in guilds of level 3 or higher and are able to work toward completion of more than one guild contract during a game.
At a time where unexpected stories of harassment and sexual assault are creeping up every now and then, it’s an important time to put a check on online harassment too. Probably Dota 2’s anonymous mode is one of many new features that Valve will implement to help stamp harassment and toxicity!
