Famous Dota 2 content creator BananaSlamJamma claims to have had an epiphany while visiting the Dota 2 Berlin Major. He addressed his viewers and the Dota 2 community alike about the community’s looming harmful exposure.
Brian “BSJ” Canavan, better known among the Dota 2 community as BananaSlamJamma recently addressed his viewers regarding the outspoken negativity portrayed by the community. One thing that has always been a major issue among new players has been the community stopping you from indulging. Be it asking the community about the game or simply joining it, somebody always states the grave dangers of playing the game, usually describing the initiation as “life ending.”
However, going through the video, all you see is how much BananaSlamJamma appreciated the Dota 2 fans present at the Dota 2 Berlin Major where he went as an attendee. Dota 2 has always been a game with a huge skill ceiling and with ever-shifting in-game meta, there is never an end to learning. But when it comes to describing the game or simply the community, the most outspoken remarks often are negative.
Contents
- BananaSlamJamma’s experience at the Dota 2 Berlin Major
- Banter and trolls of the Dota 2 community
- It all comes down to the player
BananaSlamJamma’s experience at the Dota 2 Berlin Major
BananaSlamJamma posted a video on his YouTube channel to show appreciation for all the love he received during his time at the Dota 2 Berlin Major 2023. However, the main goal of the video is to raise awareness against the vocal minority misguiding the masses when it comes to the community’s portrayal. He talks about how even though the community comes off as toxic at first glance, it is still a very small number of players who might or might not even play the game still.
According to him, being up close and personal with all the fans at the Dota 2 Berlin Major quite literally got him an epiphany. While speaking, you can see the visible happiness on his face as BSJ speaks about his joyous moments of meeting fans. According to him, all he received during that time was constant love and support. When talking about his perspective on the community’s portrayal, this is what he had to say,
“I think, what I leanred from this event[Berlin Major], is that how much the internet jades our perspective on almost everything. I myself for once thought the Dota 2 community was toxic. And it was only becasue you hear it all the time.”
BSJ has been a long-time content creator for both Twitch and YouTube. And all this time, just like any other creator, he also faced a lot of trolls and banter along the way which sometimes can affect the way you behave. And along the way of playing, he himself is bound to be matched with toxic players, to whom everything about Dota is negative. But he never let that dull his thunder. Rather he racked his brains a bit and came up with this conclusion,
“Most of my games are not that bad. And even if I have a bad Dota game which has a toxic player, that is still usually one, which statistically sums up to only 11% of all my games if only one person was toxic. And I feel like we are the quite majority that is getting derailed by the vocal minority.”
Visiting the major was such a turning point for him that he even encouraged others with positive mental attitudes (PMA) to seek out others like them. In order to build a more positive ecosystem around the community and help lift this toxic outlook.
Banter and trolls of the Dota 2 community
As mentioned before, like any other community, even Dota 2 has its clowns. While there are those who simply are looking for banter, others exist for the sole purpose of pissing you off. These people troll streamers across platforms just to get off of that moment’s power trip.
Twitch trolls and banters have been one of the many ways how spectators interact with streamers. Even in the case of BSJ, it comes in abundance. But at the major, BSJ was dumbfounded to see that someone literally came up to him of his own volition to apologize for being mean that one time on Twitch. This showed BananaSlamJamma how much depth there is in the Dota 2 community that remains silent.
While this is some issue simply pointed out from BSJ’s experience, there are many others who suffer the same fate. And it is very often that these hate comments and negativity are what get out on the internet, adding insult to injury. he even talks about how new players are often scared to join the game after hearing “the gurus” of Dota 2 explain the bad effects the game can have on you. BSJ speaks up regarding why the community is slowly shrinking saying,
“There is still a huge part of the community that is watching, supporting the games but are just not playing anymore. And even for the new players, they simply hear the rumors and they see us on Reddit when they ask Should I try Dota? And there are people like don’t do this, this wil end your life.”
He adds,
“Being at the Berlin major, I couldn’t see a single sould whose life is ruined. Instead there are people who love Dota 2 and that is the quite majority that never speak. So if youa re one, please speak out and help us uplift the community.”
It all comes down to the player
When battling against such negativity, there is one question you should ask yourself. Am I a part of the problem? If it is no, you feel like your impact on the game leans on the positive side, then that is the right way to go. And if the answer is no then there is one good solution. and nobody could quote it better than BananaSlamJamma himself. Keep it PMA, Keep it BSJ!
It really does come down to the player at the end of the day. There is only so much a single person, let alone BSJ can do. All he did is give a nudge to all the sleeping giants. But to get the Dota 2 community back on track, each and every player must start this battle on their own. As the video fades away, BSJ urges everyone who wants to see the community flourish again to pick up the baton and march on for glory.
I for one have been a long-time fan of the game. While my in-game rank has never been my strong suit, I never let that stop me from playing the beautiful game. Yes, I am not perfect either. We all have our moments of meltdown due to toxic players. But it is our choice to move forward and not let someone else’s bad deed affect others that make the difference.
