The last year I’ve decided to utilize the mute all players option. I find that everyone is able to communicate just fine via pings and static in-game messages like “Back Up!”. Since muting everyone I’ve gained MMR and I’ve never enjoyed DOTA2 more. Anyone else feel this way?

To be clear – I am NOT complaining or trying to make a difference or thinking things will ever change. I've played DotA as long as I can remember (back when it was a custom game in WC3 – yes, I'm old) and toxic behavior has always been a core part of the game. It's not new or unique to DOTA2. I've got over 12K games of DOTA2 and, with all players muted, I've never enjoyed playing more than I do now.

Let's be real. How often do your teammates say positive or beneficial things during a game? Out of every ~10 games I'd say maybe one or two times can I recall anyone being productive or positive using mic or chat.

I've learned to be very good at communicating with my team by using static in-game chat lines and pings. "Get back!" is probably my most used. Honestly, I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything by not talking more or hearing what my teammates have to say (I can still see their pings and any static chat lines they use). If anything, I think muting all players and only using static lines myself has made me a better teammate too. Less prone to get upset and mic or type when I could be trying to win. I keep a solid 10K behavior score.

The only thing I miss (sometimes) is that random people on the internet can be pretty damn funny. Other than that I don't feel like it's impacted my game play or enjoyment of the game other than improving the overall experience greatly. Not that it matters, but if you were curious I'm a ~3.5K player. I don't like to play the same hero very often (no more than 250 games on a single hero with 12K games) which makes climbing rank harder, but really I just don't care much about MMR as I always preferred to play AR in DotA1. I'm in it for the love of the game 😉

Does anyone else feel this way?

P.S. PLEASE try to use your in-game static chat lines more often! If someone isn't responding to your comments or voice chat (even if you are being positive and helpful) it's more than likely they have all players muted and are NOT trolling or trying to ignore you!