'Players threaten to rape and kill me. It won't keep me from the sport I love'
manchestereveningnews.co.ukI always feel a bit weird talking about how much I like playing video games, I'm not sure if it's because it's something I picked up at university as a fully-grown adult; the gatekeeping that a lot of games enjoyers like to partake in (yes, you can still enjoy video games even if you only play Animal Crossing); or the gender bias making women a bit of a minority in the gaming world - perhaps it's all three.
Outside of work, I play a lot of games. In the last two weeks I've racked up almost as many hours as a full time job playing things like Stardew Valley, Cat Café Manager, and Breath of the Wild, but no game can ever come close to my main love, Dota 2.
The multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) sees teams of five go up against each other to try and destroy the enemy team's base building which is protected by a series of towers and each player.
It's horrifically complicated if you're new to the idea, but terribly addictive once you've got a taste. In the last six years I've spent more than 2,000 hours playing this game, playing nearly 3,000 matches with almost all of the 123 heroes available to play in the game.
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