“It hurts my eyes,” Dota 2 fans lament Lima Major production

The Lima Major has already encountered several production problems on its first day, and the Dota 2 community is already turning sour.

The Lima Major represents several firsts for Dota 2. It is the inaugural major of the 2023 Dota Pro Circuit Season. It’s also the first-ever international event to take place in South America. But sadly, it is not the first Dota 2 major to be free of flaws. Multiple production errors and poor graphic design have some esports fans claiming the stream causes them physical pain to look at. Here’s what fans are complaining about and how likely tournament organizer Epulze is to respond.

The first major problem fans have called out is the stream overlay. During transitions and between matches, the Lima Major stream uses a brightly colored moving backdrop with a geometric pattern. It’s not terrible by itself, but the lower quality of the stream can make it disorienting. One particularly irate watcher described the screen as literally hurting his eyes. The size of the stream relative to the overlay is also a point of concern, with a massive chunk of the screen unoccupied.

In addition, the Line C stream featuring Troels “syndereN” Nielsen and Shannon “SUNSfan” Scotten has run into multiple unexpected technical issues involving freezing streams and muted audio. Early in the day, both casters completely froze up during draft predictions, with more issues immediately following.

Lastly, multiple audio issues have plagued the stream since its start on February 22, 2023. One particularly notable example resulted in syndereN only audible in viewers’ left ears while SUNSfan appeared in both. Some viewers appreciated the surprise Dota 2 casting ASMR. Most didn’t.

Will Epulze fix Lima Major production issues before playoffs?

It’s unreasonable to expect zero production issues on the first day of the Lima Major, but host Equlze’s response could determine the legacy of the event.

Technical issues like the ones found on today’s Stream 3 aren’t unheard of, even at The International. However, current organizers are usually quick to address such issues. The audio and video problems are likely to get attention, though the low quality of the hub stream, along with the garish background, may be here to stay. Considering the multistream is exclusive to the group stage, the playoffs likely won’t feature it at all.

Unfortunately, Dota 2 already has a history with poorly-run majors. The champion for that category is the 2016 Shanghai Major, which involved firing a host with a Reddit post from Gabe Newell. The production staff for the event was also fired before it even ended. The Lima Major’s problems aren’t anywhere near Shanghai’s issues yet, but failure to fix issues could mar the event’s legacy in Dota 2 esports.