EPTTeamLiquid has covered Dota 2 since the second International, and since then the game and our coverage has grown beyond what a single shared site can offer. With TI4 on the horizon, we’re happy to announce that we’ll be launching a stand alone Dota 2 website that will allow us to take our forums and coverage to new heights.
LiquidDota.com is a TeamLiquid network site that will cover Dota 2 exclusively. The site will feature a Dota 2 banner and theme, an improved calendar and stream list, and several other forum and community features tailored specifically to Dota 2. We’re proud of what we are able to offer with a new platform and are very excited to have you visit!
Liquid`Nazgul
Transitioning TL into multi-gaming has been a huge learning experience. We've come to realization that it is just impossible to make TL function like a traditional sports site. The amount of information that we want to display to our users is too great, and the majority of our users come here for a single game and rarely make use of our customization options.
We'd like to cater our site to the interests of our users. For example, the new calendar on LiquidDota is specifically designed to suit Dota 2's proscene, and it functions far better without having to cater to other games. It would not have been possible to implement this on TL with multiple games.
TL was founded on a shared passion for Brood War, and everyone sharing the same passion greatly helped in forming this community. Although we always want people to feel at home enough to discuss other subjects, it is still important to have that shared base. By having a site for each game, we'll be able to build unique communities with a shared passion.
The new site is big news for StarCraft as well. TeamLiquid.net will now be a dedicated StarCraft site like it was before. We've spent a lot of time and energy on developing the features that will now be debuting on the Dota site. Once we figure out the bugs (and get a little bit of rest) we'll begin the process of implementing those features on TL.
Here's a list of the things you can expect over at LiquidDota.com:
+ Show Spoiler +
Banner
New banner custom made by Lip the Pencilboy
Calendar
Right Sidebar
Forum Changes
User Icons
This piece is a work in progress, right now you can choose heroes and we will be adding in a system for customization with items.
Mobile Version
The whole design is responsive and will work on mobile.
New banner custom made by Lip the Pencilboy
Calendar
- Events will have matches listed below
- We will show which of those matches is live
- Users can set the matches to live/done so that we can deliver what's live fast and up to date
- Once all matches of an event are set to done staff receives a warning message to check the event and possibly close it
- Live report links
- Liquipedia links
- Tournament logos
- 7-day and monthly calendar in style of google calendar
- The 7-day and monthly calendar will have filtering per team and tournament.
Right Sidebar
- Live events will have more info and thus take up more space. Partially because of this we have moved live streams to be above upcoming events. The live info is what people find most important and it should be above the fold.
- Upcoming events will have matches shown
- In the spot for Liquipedia we intend to show the tournament list from Liquipedia.
Forum Changes
- Pagination changed
- Favorite team logos changed
- Entire restructuring of the user info displayed
- Change in how to present the link to a specific post
- BBcode for hero icons example on TL
- Last edit is shown on mouseover of the pencil
- Redesign of quotes
User Icons
This piece is a work in progress, right now you can choose heroes and we will be adding in a system for customization with items.
Mobile Version
The whole design is responsive and will work on mobile.
Heyoka
My history with TeamLiquid is long and varied. I became involved first as a Brood War writer and then StarCraft II during a time of huge growth of all things esports related. I fell in love with Dota in 2011—much later than many—and we decided to bring Dota into the fold for The International 2. In the one and a half years since then, Dota has become my life. I've been continually blown away by the pure love for the game seemingly everyone in the scene displays, from pros to dedicated fans to my old college friends that play the occasional game when they have a day off. The word passion gets thrown around a lot but it is difficult to describe how intense the connection is between Dota and fan, this community is energetic in a way that reminds me of why I became involved in the Brood War community all those years ago.
In that time we've also realized a number of obstacles in helping people tap into that passion and their inner fire. As a site with multiple interests it has been difficult, our features are so detailed that it becomes an overwhelming blast of information very quickly. It is time for us to evolve, and LiquidDota is the way to let our community flourish in a new way.
I'm proud of what we built on TL and this is the next step in really bringing our Dota coverage and community to the a higher level. This is only the beginning, and as time goes on LiquidDota will only become stronger as we finish features to specifically let Dota fans express their love. I hope everyone is able to enjoy what we have done and where we're going.
riptide
As a writer, I was drawn to Team Liquid because it was home to the best Starcraft progaming coverage in the world. Many years later, as a TL staff member, I was delighted when we decided to cover the Dota 2 proscene as well. Today, just under two years into our Dota 2 run, we’re ready to take the next big step.
It is my hope and dream that someday soon, LiquidDota will be as synonymous with Dota 2 progaming as Team Liquid is with Starcraft. We know we’re not quite there yet, but we’re fully committed to making this the number one source for Dota 2 progaming news and we’d love to take you along for the ride!
