It's not that the game is addicting, it's just that there are no decent alternatives.

Dota 2 is basically the intellectual version of the moba games. Instead of just being based purely on twitch "skills" which require as much intellectual ability as closing popup spam windows, in Dota you have to use at least some tactics and strategy. Other moba games are like playing Pong on high speed. Dota is like playing chess. The art of gaming is simply dead for big brains. 20 years ago there were tons of games that required brainpower because PC gaming back then was by nerds and for nerds, but then the corporate suits took over and were like "broaden the appeal to we can make more sales" so everything got dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. My mom asked me if I was "having fun" playing Dota, and I looked at her in disgust to even consider that sentence a valid question. I don't have FUN playing Dota. This game routinely pisses me off and makes me rage. However, when I stomp the entire enemy team and crush them so utterly I can hear the lamentations of their mothers, I feel satisfaction. I spent weeks grinding MMR. The vikings had a word for this. They called it Valhalla. Endless war. Endless combat. Knowing only victory and death. Bathing in the blood of your enemies. You hit 3K MMR and bask in glory and rewards, and think: what should I do now? Should I get in my Honda Fit and tour the local strip mall for my Triumph? Should I microwave some tendies and throw myself a great Feast? But there is only one option. There is only ever one option. To Battle! Various cultures have alternatively described the gameplay loop of Dota 2 as their vision of Heaven or Hell. It is both.

It's not that the game is addicting, it's just that there are no decent alternatives. Dota 2 is basically the intellectual version of the moba games. Instead of just being based purely on twitch "skills" which require as much intellectual ability as closing popup spam windows, in Dota you have to use at least some tactics and strategy. Other moba games are like playing Pong on high speed. Dota is like playing chess. The art of gaming is simply dead for big brains. 20 years ago there were tons of games that required brainpower because PC gaming back then was by nerds and for nerds, but then the corporate suits took over and were like "broaden the appeal to we can make more sales" so everything got dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. My mom asked me if I was "having fun" playing Dota, and I looked at her in disgust to even consider that sentence a valid question. I don't have FUN playing Dota. This game routinely pisses me off and makes me rage. However, when I stomp the entire enemy team and crush them so utterly I can hear the lamentations of their mothers, I feel satisfaction. I spent weeks grinding MMR. The vikings had a word for this. They called it Valhalla. Endless war. Endless combat. Knowing only victory and death. Bathing in the blood of your enemies. You hit 3K MMR and bask in glory and rewards, and think: what should I do now? Should I get in my Honda Fit and tour the local strip mall for my Triumph? Should I microwave some tendies and throw myself a great Feast? But there is only one option. There is only ever one option. To Battle! Various cultures have alternatively described the gameplay loop of Dota 2 as their vision of Heaven or Hell. It is both.