Ang Defense of the Ancients (DotA) ay isang strategy video game na kasama sa kategoryang "multiplayer online battle arena" (MOBA) mod (modification". Ginawa ito para sa video game na Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos at ang expansion, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. Ilinabas ang unang version ng DotA noong 2003 ng isang gumamit ng isang pangalang “Eul” (pseudonym).
Objective/ Layunin: Paano maglaro ng DotA?
Dalawang teams ang lumalaban sa isa’t isa sa DotA kung saan ang bawat player ay may hawak na isang character (o hero) na pwede niyang piliin. Ang layunin ng laro ay sirain ang “Ancient” ng kalaban o katunggali. Ang “Ancient” ay isang bantay sarado na gusali na nasa magkabilang dulo ng map (mapa). Nagtutulungan ang mga heroes ng team, at meron ding tumutulong na mga creeps (o Artificial Intelligence o computer controlled fighers) sa bawat team. Pwede rin i-level up ang mga heroes gamit ang gold upang bumili ng equipment.
Bakit sikat ang DotA sa pinoy, lalong lalo na sa mga kabataang Pilipino?
Ang batayan ng kasikatan ng isang laro ay kung gaano ay gaano kabilis ito makaakit ng bagong manlalaro at gano kagaling ito mapanatiling “hooked” sa laro ang player. Narito ang mga posibleng dahilan ng kasikatan ng DotA:
Una, mahilig ang mga pinoy na may kasama at mag-socialise o makihalubilo sa iba at magkaroon ng bagong mga kaibigan. Kaya’t gusto ng mga pinoy sa mga larong may kasamang ibang miyembro sa isang team. Isang multiplayer game ang Dota kung saan maaaring maglaro hanggang 10 players sa bawat laro. Kaya’t, tulad ng basketball, mayroong teamwork at pagtutulungan ang kailangan upang manalo.
Pangalawa, pwera sa masarap laruin ang DotaA, hindi mahirap laruin ang game. Kahit 10 taong gulang na bata ay pwedeng matuto at sa katunayan ay madaming bata ang makikitang naglalaro ng DotA sa mga computer shops.
Pangatlo, mahilig ang mga pinoy, lalo na ang mga lalake, sa mga action games at high quality visual effects. Maganda ang graphics ng laro, tulad ng mga heroes’ spells nina Venomancer (poisonous attack), at Lina Inverse (ice attacks), o ni Zeus (lightning attacks). Pwede rin pumili ng heroes na may iba’t ibang special abilities.
Pang-apat, mura lang maglaro ng game. Mula P10-30 lamang ang ibinabayad sa computer rental sa paglalaro (minsan mas mura pa kapag member ng computer shop o may off peak hours, o promo)
Kadalasan mga isang oras ang tagal ng bawat laro, ngunit kapag malakas ang isang team at mahina ang kalaban, maaaring mga kalahating oras o 30 minutes lang at tapos na ang laro. Sa mga naa-addict sa laro, mahigit 10 rounds minsan ang linalaro nila na minsan ay umaabot mula maghapon hanggang magdamag at madaling umaga. Karamihan sa mga na addict sa laro ay mga kabataan lalo na ang mga lalake.
Understanding who we are is probably one of life’s largest questions. Some may think traditions are old and no longer relevant, and that they are unnecessary during these modern times. However, exploring cultural heritage offers a robust variety of benefits.
When all is said and done, who are you, if you don’t know anything about where you come from, about your origins, your family, your language, your own culture? In certain instances, when others try to assimilate us or when we integrate too much into mainstream society we lose these unique elements. We should be open to learning about these elements of our identity.
Culture can give people a connection to certain social values, beliefs, religions and customs. It allows people to identify with others of similar mind sets and backgrounds. Cultural heritage can provide an automatic sense of unity and belonging within a group and allows us to better understand previous generations and the history of where we come from.
When you're working in an international environment, you need to make a real effort to understand the cultural backgrounds, beliefs and attitudes of the people around you. If you do not, you would likely struggle to get things done and work well with others. Thus, self-reflection is important to the cross-cultural learning process. Without understanding that everyone has a culture, and that knowledge of one’s own culture is crucial, we have a tendency to reduce learning about culture to a manual-based approach, applying lists of dos and don’ts too rigidly and in the process stereotyping. Self-reflection begins with gaining knowledge about dimensions of culture and learning to apply these informed generalizations to our own culture. We thus develop a baseline for making effective comparisons about cultural differences and understand better why we respond in different situations the way we do.
Therefore, we develop our self-esteem and identity within a particular cultural context. In other words, without a clear cultural identity, we would experience confusion and isolation.