While Dota 2 fans often complain about The International Battle Pass, this year is different. The International 2023 Compendium has fans absolutely heated over a supposedly sparse content offering and a complete lack of skins.
Valve pulled the proverbial band-aid off the Dota 2 esports scene in 2023 by not running The International Battle Pass. This will likely see the event’s prize pool plunge and will ultimately take heaps of money away from pro players. The game’s publisher stated the plan was to redistribute the effort it invests into the TI Battle Pass across the entire year, but that doesn’t quite seem to be true.
That’s because the first major event since this was announced doesn’t offer what fans have proven to actually want. While the TI11 Battle Pass was packed with taunts, hero personas, and arcanas, fans don’t get any of those in 2023. In fact, they don’t actually get any skins for heroes at all.
Why are Dota 2 players mad over the TI12 Compendium?
Dota 2 fans are blasting Valve for the TI12 Compendium and the lack of skins or other cosmetic items.
While fans have been mostly quiet regarding Valve’s plan to walk away from the Dota 2 esports scene, the neutral response has likely stemmed from a willingness to see what the company offers instead. The first taste of that came with the TI12 Compendium and judging from social media, the only flavors that have come through are sour, bitter, and salty.
Fans have been labeling Valve as “greedy” en masse due to both the comparatively small rewards offered in the TI12 Compendium as well as the small prize pool contribution. There have been repeated calls on Valve to increase the TI12 Compendium’s contribution to the prize pool on social media, though this is unlikely to happen.
What do you get in the TI12 Compendium?
The TI12 Compendium lets players permanently unlock chat wheel sounds from previous years and earn stickers for teams and players competing at the event.
Valve stated that the plan for the compendium was to focus on Dota 2 esports and that was proven true. With the sole exception of unlockable teleport effects, every reward has a direct connection to The International 2023 or previous installments of the event. Alongside the stickers are chat wheel sounds taken from Dota 2 esports commentary as well as loading screens with the stained glass theme of TI12.
The most common reward will be stickers for teams and competitors. Fans unlock one player sticker every four levels and one team sticker every 10 levels. Stickers can be used in player profiles and on a hero to make it so they appear during the pre-match screen. While stickers are wildly popular in Counter-Strike, they haven’t caught on in Dota 2.
The top prize for the TI12 Compendium is the Collector’s Aegis, which is sky blue this year. The good news for players is that the Collector’s Aegis is much more affordable to obtain this year relative to the past. Players previously needed to spend around $1,000 in order to get it, but fans can now purchase all the levels they need for the TI12 Collector’s Aegis for under $200 without even playing the game. Those who doggedly play Dota 2 and perform well in the fantasy mini-game can likely get one with just around $100 worth of levels.
