It holds true that games like Dota 2 require skills in order to be successful. But as the technology around video games advances, players are introduced to apps, software, or features that allow them to analyze data and learn from it. Case in point, an extension called Overwolf has been a go-to tool for some players, providing them with more insights into how the game should be approached.
By essence, Overwolf gives players the ability to see their opponents’ most-picked heroes once a match gets loaded. This allows users to ban these heroes their opponents love playing, forcing them to go for picks they are very uncomfortable with. Imagine a player who loves to play aggressive-type heroes like Phantom Assassin or Troll being forced to go for the more subtle types. As a result, their performance in the game is affected.
The extension, however, has been a controversial topic in the Dota 2 community. While some think it is a great tool to have, others simply see it as a means to cheat.
Players who justify using Overwolf believe that there is nothing wrong with an extension that utilizes public data. As long as players give the go-signal and share their statistics via third-party tools, the extension can easily get to them. While players can manually grab the same information, the method itself is excruciating and can take some time to complete; whereas the extension does everything in seconds.
There are players though who like to keep their data to themselves by adjusting their privacy settings. Unfortunately, reports suggest that despite tweaking the said setting, there are tools capable of ignoring Valve’s privacy protocols for the game. So even if players turn off public match data sharing, those tools can still work.
Obviously, using public data is still in the gray area, but how tools like Overwolf get access to this data and provide it to users is what makes it look like a cheat. In a match where a player is using the extension, there is another wondering why his favorite heroes got banned.
Sure, the extension is free and everyone can access it, but not every player in the community is up to date with the latest trends in the game. As such, extensions like Overwolf will continue to provide some an advantage while impacting the overall performance of others in a match.
