Dota 2 will now have fan votes to determine next bug fixes

Dota 2 fans can now report glitches directly to Valve thanks to a developer-created bug tracker.

Valve software developer Jeff Hill has announced a new Dota 2 bug tracker for fans to report glitches. The move comes after a renewed discussion about Dota 2’s massive number of glitches. While most bugs have no impact on gameplay, Valve will have an easier time fixing them thanks to player reports. This move may help Dota 2’s reputation as an extremely buggy game. 

The new bug tracker is not in the client and is instead a public forum available on Github. The Dota 2 bug tracker provides a place for fans to report bugs along with screenshots or replication techniques. Valve will decide which bugs to tackle based on community voting. Considering Valve’s “show, don’t tell” style of development, fans may only learn which bugs are being worked on when they are fixed. Hill openly stated that transparency is a big part of the project and players can vote on which bugs Valve should work on next.

It’s worth noting that, since the forum is entirely public, some players are using it to request features like a surrender option or lower graphic options. This bug tracker is one of very few direct links between the Dota 2 community and Valve. It can potentially solve a lot of bugs, but its up to the Dota 2 community to take it seriously.

Does Dota 2 have a lot of bugs?

Dota 2 has a reputation for having a lot of bugs, but the majority of them are minor and Valve usually responds quickly to major ones.

Dota 2 is absolutely full of bugs if you go looking for them. The most common type of bug is broken cosmetics. Many upgraded skins, especially weapons, can revert back to normal under some conditions or disappear entirely. A lot of Dota 2 skin combos also have clipping bugs, and custom icons.

Also among the most prevalent Dota 2 bugs are those in the replay system. After rewinding or skipping ahead, heroes often have status effects or spell visuals active despite not actually being stunned or casting spells. Replay bugs are easy to get used to, and cosmetic problems don’t really affect gameplay.

But when it comes to massive bugs, Dota 2 has those in spades. The most recent game-breaker was a bug with Sand King’s Aghanim’s Shard that made him generate infinite Epicenter pulses. Before that, another bug caused Meepo’s Aghanim’s Shard to spawn infinite clones with separate kill bounties. A third bug breaks Snapfire’s ultimate ability, Mortimer’s Kisses, and can even crash the game if pushed too far. 

In the case of massive bugs, Dota 2 developers often remove the hero or item from matchmaking. Bugs involving server or game crashes usually result in a swift update to the match coordinator. While Dota 2 players do have to put up with lots of glitches, Valve can now do an even better job solving them thanks to the new bug tracker.