Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: Defense of the Ancients, Defense of the Ancients 2, dota, DotA 2, Dota 2 Compendium, Dota 2 International, International Compendium, valve

Dota 2's Subreddit Used Memes to Get Valve to Release the Compendium

Dota 2 fans had been waiting for information on this year's International Compendium for so long they decided to take matters into their own hands. The Dota 2 subreddit started a penguin kidnapping meme as a way to put pressure on the notoriously closemouthed company, and the surprising thing is — it worked.

The International is the biggest Dota 2 tournament, and every year, Valve releases a purchasable pass called a Compendium that gives players access to a slew of bonus cosmetics, items, and features that are related to the tourney. Valve had teased this year's Compendium but hadn't confirmed any items or features, which led to the fans pretending to kidnap penguin couriers.

From IGN's report:

The chronicle seems to have begun with a post from user "battlefurywindrunner", who shared some images of Dota hero Bounty Hunter holding five penguin couriers hostage in a post titled "Don't play with me." "For each long insufferable hour without the compendium one of these little innocent cuties will die," reads the post, which was later edited to include a new image of the penguins, this time with one missing some health.

From here other users started to get in on the fun, most notably a user named "Clockwerkx", who started making memes of various Dota heroes getting involved in the hostage situation, at a rate of about one per hour. You can see the whole epic tale on Clockwerkx's Reddit user page, or in this post which brings them all together.

Shortly after the meme started, a post from the official Dota 2 Twitter account seemingly confirmed the Compendium will be coming sometime today. But that wasn't the only by-product of this goof. Reddit user "Possessimal" pointed out that the price of the Scuttling Scotty penguin courier has doubled on Steam's community market, and Scotty's creator, "Humanist_NA", made a post showing his appreciation for the meme which put his courier back in the spotlight.

The Dota 2 community is somewhat known for their antics, and they do have a history of creating bizarre memes to get their point across when they feel they've been ignored for far too long.

Valve released the Compendium Battle Pass information, and the rewards include the usual slate of cosmetics, chat emotes, items, prestige items, and even seasonal effects.

But honestly, I have to ask: won't somebody think of the penguins?

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