How to decide on a Dota2 concept
polycounter lvl 4
I want to start a conversation about Dota2 Workshop marketing.
I have some downtime which would allow me to take a shot at creating a Dota2 item. I love the art style and love designing weapons/armor but know almost nothing about the game. I understand that it's putting the cart before the horse but my primary question is, "What items are most likely to be purchased?"
My assumption is that, even if its a sweet looking piece and if it's actually approved, if no body plays the character I made it for it would be pointless.
Am I way off on that assumption?
On the chance that I'm not, is it as simple as looking at http://dotabuff.com/heroes/played and saying, "well, looks like Pudge is the most played player, guess I'll make an item for him."?
What things do you more seasoned players/creators weigh when deciding on a piece?
I have some downtime which would allow me to take a shot at creating a Dota2 item. I love the art style and love designing weapons/armor but know almost nothing about the game. I understand that it's putting the cart before the horse but my primary question is, "What items are most likely to be purchased?"
My assumption is that, even if its a sweet looking piece and if it's actually approved, if no body plays the character I made it for it would be pointless.
Am I way off on that assumption?
On the chance that I'm not, is it as simple as looking at http://dotabuff.com/heroes/played and saying, "well, looks like Pudge is the most played player, guess I'll make an item for him."?
What things do you more seasoned players/creators weigh when deciding on a piece?
Replies
Step 2: Do it.
With art, passion shines through more than anything else. If you make an item because you're passionate about the character/design/art you're going to produce a much better final product than if your goal is money/popularity/ratings.
Have confidence in your design -- if you like it, chances are someone else will too.
I've seen comments on items along the lines of "I never play [insert hero name] but if I had this item I totally would!" so you don't need to think about your item as an entity total reliant on any particular hero.
This link suggests that there are simply items that will get more page views based on hero popularity. http://www.esfiworld.com/dota-2-competitive-hero-tier-list-marchapril-2013/
I don't see anything on that site that suggests that.
Bronto is right, make something you're passionate about and people will pick up on it. Some of the most highly rated sets are for heroes that rarely see play in the pro scene but see decent play in the pub scene, ex: Dani's Disruptor and Lich sets, Anuxi's Naga and Mirana sets and many more
EDIT: aaaaaaand just as I posted that, MiTH Trust picked Mirana in the Eastern Qualifiers
Please keep the feedback coming.
If you know nothing about the game its hard to give you hints on what to create, simply because it might not cut it or it wont connect. With art and creative stuff its hard to "please" the market in a way to specifically create what the market demands on purpose. There are only a few who really are able to pull that off, it needs quite some professionalism and still LUCK. so dont bother with going that approach, i recommend getting involved rather than being industrial about such matters and just spit out items without any emotional touch to it.
but thats just a more complicated text of what bronto said, passion shines.
Any Pudge item will blow the store hence there's none right now,
so it's better to go with your own creativity.
[EDIT}
MechBgum, you raise a good point. Valve is ultimately going to take IP integrity into consideration which represents a variable that could nullify any careful planning.
Previously I tried to create sets or items for characters solely on the basis of their popularity or lack of items available but this month has been far more fruitful I think.
Playing to popular heroes is quite difficult too considering that from the link you provided almost 50% of the Tier 1-2 characters aren't available in the uploader.
I've tried to "play the system", so to speak ,when creating items....it didn't work. I made a Spectre set a long while back because there was a lack of spectre items. I though, "hey, no one else is making anything for her. If i crap something out it will get added for sure because there is nothing else to pick from....yeah workshop viewers saw right through my bullshit. It was uninspired and I didn't really give a crap about the character or design.
I've had far better luck when really digging into the character I'm working on. Thinking about their back story, looking at what has been done before, and spending time coming up with a really great idea. This isn't always a formula for success, but it does help.
Even then, DOTA is always in flux. The meta will change and a hero that is less popular may become a regular pick by pro teams and a go to hero may get pushed to the back.
Just do what you want to do for a hero that appeals to you and focus on quality rather than trying to play the system. The secret to getting picked is one part making your item awesome and one part luck.
I don't have the game in front of me atm, when you say "the uploader" do you mean that not all characters are available in the workshop?
Pretty much this.
I usually do a semi meditation when I want to make a new set. My mind falls into this weird dimension and shapes fall into place on a character. Usually a female character but I don't care who the character is or how popular they are, if the spark is there I run with it, if it isn't I try not to force the issue.
Sometimes the idea pops in but the fleshing out isn't there ( I had this problem today with a random chaos knight mount idea). That's where you need to turn that figment of your mind into something tangible and then assess if it is any good. Sometimes I get my idea out on paper and its shit. That's when you mix some brain power in with your intuition.
Think of art as a chaotic subconscious flow that you ride to get the spark you need. When you have it then you really get motivated to do the best you possibly can.
TL;DR, make what you feel you like, don't think too much.
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