The “Still Beta” meme became relevant again during the Chinese qualifiers for The International 2025. In a match between Xtreme Gaming and Yakult`s Brothers, Zhou “Emo” Yi on Queen of Pain encountered a critical error. Activating his ultimate, Sonic Wave, on a character with Aeon Disk resulted in Emo`s hero instantly taking lethal damage. After respawning, the hero was left with 1 HP and became uncontrollable. The pause lasted about an hour. Organizers then rolled back the match by several minutes, causing Xtreme to lose some of the advantage they had gained. This incident reignited the discussion about the problem of bugs in official matches and how tournament organizers (TOs) should handle such situations.
Dota 2 is so “not beta” that the game has two distinct categories of bugs: those that are widely known, and those that remain hidden until a certain moment. The first category is certainly easier to manage. More attentive TOs initially list known exploits that are forbidden in their rulebooks. Violating these rules can lead to sanctions, including disqualification. Sometimes TOs have to update rules mid-event, for example, if a patch between stages introduces new vulnerabilities. However, overall, this mechanism is understood and established.
When TOs explicitly prohibit certain exploits or publicly announce bans on specific heroes or items (because they are currently linked to a bug), it simplifies the process and provides clarity. While even here TOs can sometimes act inconsistently (as in the case with NAVI Junior), there is at least an attempt to create a system.
But more often, we encounter errors that are either little-known or completely unknown to anyone. They usually happen accidentally, after which the game pauses, and the TOs panic, unsure what to do, while viewers argue about what decision would be fair.
Such situations typically have two branching paths, starting with a choice like deciding whether a bug fix is possible or if a rollback is necessary.
When it`s a Valve event, such bugs are usually fixed quickly, as happened with Somnus at TI 2023.
But if a Valve employee has already gone home, quick (or any) action becomes difficult. This was the case, for example, in a recent match involving Aurora, when Nightfall on Doom encountered a bug that prevented him from buying back.
The example with Nightfall is illustrative. The problem isn`t that organizers couldn`t restore the buyback button for the Aurora carry; it`s that they inherently lack a clear understanding of what to do in such a situation. The Queen of Pain bug falls into the same category. Yes, this error was reported months ago, but it wasn`t widely known, meaning TOs were not prepared for it.
Each time, TOs start engaging in dialogue with teams and proposing options for resolving the situation (or simply staying silent and flipping a coin in their office to decide something themselves). Obviously, two opposing teams will never reach a unanimous agreement. After all, for one side, a rollback of a few minutes might always be beneficial, while for the other, it might be detrimental. Not to mention the viewers, who also have their preferences (or worse, bets). As a result, this always turns into a prolonged farce where someone will always be unhappy with the final decision.
The point is that rules with such vague phrasing can be twisted however one wants and as much as one wants. There isn`t even a semblance of systematicity. It`s clear that TOs leave themselves room for maneuver this way, but the drawbacks are too numerous. Yes, it`s easier to draft such a rulebook and hope things go smoothly, and if not, to solve problems on the fly. But wouldn`t it be better to create a clear protocol of actions for such situations? Of course, it`s impossible to write one for every single bug, but a general, understandable sequence of actions can be developed.
Based on the situations that have already arisen in recent years, such a protocol is feasible. It would eliminate all sorts of disputes and speed up decision-making time. Yes, the created rules might not be perfect, but players would at least know why a particular decision was made, and viewers would understand what to expect. But for now, we have what we have.
Finley Holt