Dota 2
Encyclopedia
Dota 2 is an upcoming action fantasy strategy video game
being developed by Valve Corporation
. The stand-alone sequel to the popular Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
and The Frozen Throne
mod Defense of the Ancients
, it was formally announced on October 13, 2010 via the website of magazine Game Informer
. The game is currently undergoing a closed beta phase and is scheduled for a full release in 2012. Dota 2 will be released through both retail and download by Valve's content delivery platform Steam, on which the game has been developed to run exclusively for both game launch and update delivery. Dota 2 will operate
on Microsoft Windows
and Mac OS X
.
The game consists of session-based online multiplayer activity, with the primary objective of each match being for the teams to destroy their opposing team's fortified stronghold. Each player controls a player character
called a "hero", who is given the responsibility of participating in team combat, which generally takes place along a series of lanes that connect their opposing bases, lined with defensive towers. The gameplay elements are largely incorporated from Defense of the Ancients, with the game's lead designer, "IceFrog
", being the longest-serving and current developer of the Warcraft III mod.
element of traditional top-down perspective, while also incorporating the leveling and itemization system of a role-playing video game
. Players are pitted against each other as two distinct factions called the Radiant and the Dire. The Radiant is a faction based at the southwest corner of the map, while the Dire is a faction based at the northeast corner. Players assume the role of a "hero" - a strategically-powerful unit with special skills, who, through combat experience, may progress to a maximum level of twenty-five. The heroes' methods of combat are heavily influenced by their primary property, which can be physical strength, agility, or intelligence. The basic setup of Dota 2 places two strongholds guarded by defensive towers and waves of units which traverse the main paths leading to their base with critical structures called "Ancient Fortresses" at opposing ends of an evenly-balanced map with multiple connecting regions identified as "lanes", in which enemy units primarily traverse, while also combating the towers along the way. Players are split into two teams, each consisting of up to five players, to compete as the primary defenders for each Ancient Fortress.
The overall objective of each match is to battle through the opposing force's defenses, in order to arrive at and destroy the opponents' Ancient Fortress. Because Dota 2 is highly team-oriented, players must coordinate with their teams in order to achieve victory. The towers and stronghold defenses are invulnerable to attacks so long as the towers nearest to the enemy side still stand. Periodically, groups of weaker units commonly referred to as "creeps" are spawned, which move along their lane attacking any enemy unit or structure upon sight.
The currency of the game is gold, which is granted periodically, but typically accumulates at a more practical level by killing enemy units, which grants a distributed amount of gold to the killer's team, with the greater portion being retained by the killer themselves. A common technique utilized to prevent the opposing faction from accumulating gold from a kill is "denying", which constitutes killing an allied unit or destroying an allied structure and can be employed when the unit or structure it is about to be used on is close to death or collapse, respectively. Players also gain experience, which accumulates to gain higher levels. The greatest proportion of gold and experience comes from destroying higher priority forces, such as enemy heroes and towers.
, Valve's investment in DotA was sparked from the collective interest of veteran employees who had attempted to partake in team play at a competitive level. As their interest in the game grew, they began corresponding with DotAs developer, IceFrog, over a series of emails, inquiring what long-term plans the scenario's developer had. The emails eventually culminated in an invitation from Valve's project manager, Erik Johnson, offering IceFrog a tour of the company's facilities and as a result, claimed to have "hired him on the spot". The first public notification regarding the development of Dota 2 was a blog
post made by IceFrog, stating that he would be leading a team at Valve. No official word was given until its official announcement on October 13, 2010, when the website of magazine Game Informer
revealed specific details about the game and its development, creating traffic on the website nearly to the extent of crashing
their servers
. Later that day Valve released the official press release for the game. Erik Johnson addressed the confusion over the written form of the brand name, citing it as "Dota," rather than "DotA," due to its increasing context as a concept, rather than an acronym for "Defense of the Ancients".
Shortly following a Q&A by IceFrog on the website of Defense of the Ancients, elaborating on his recruitment by Valve, a trademark filing claim was made by the company on August 6, 2010. Steve "Guinsoo" Feak
, the original developer of the DotA Allstars variant and Steve "Pendragon" Mescon, the creator of dota-allstars.com and director of community relations for Riot Games
, expressed their concern that Valve should not trademark the DotA name, due to their views that it should remain as a community asset. On August 9, 2010, Mescon filed an opposing trademark for "DOTA" on behalf of DotA-Allstars, LLC, in order to "protect the work that dozens of authors have done to create the game". Rob Pardo
, the executive vice president of Blizzard Entertainment
, the developer of Warcraft III, expressed a similar concern, explaining that the DotA name should remain within the Warcraft III community, while soon afterwards, Chris Sigaty, StarCraft II
s Lead Producer, stated that a trademark dispute was not a concern, considering Blizzard and Valve's amiable relations. During the game's unveiling at Gamescom 2011, Gabe Newell explained Valve's perspective on acquring the trademark, which was that IceFrog wished to create a direct sequel to DotA and that players would likely recognize it as such.
As the sequel to Defense of the Ancients, the development cycle of Dota 2 has been concentrated primarily upon fully transferring the aspects of its predecessor to the Source engine, as well as building upon the core gameplay. Dota 2 recreates the factions of the Sentinel and the Scourge from Defense of the Ancients with the Radiant and the Dire, with cornerstone features of the characters' alignment reserved, while ultimately re-establishing the familiar qualities in a new form from Valve. Warcraft III composer Jason Hayes joined Valve to collaborate with Tim Larkin
for developing Dota 2s musical score. Character names, abilities, items, map design and other fine details remain virtually unchanged, but the integration of these features to the Source Engine allows for continued, scaled development to bypass limitations from the Warcraft III World Editor
. Further support for the competitive experience is developed through the use of Dota account matchmaking, which scales a player's automated placement in accordance to their estimated skill level. Non-computed and unranked practice matches are made available through the use of either human players, AI bots or solo games. In the debut Q&A, IceFrog stated that Dota 2 will serve as the long-term continuation of the mod, building upon the original gameplay without making too many significant core changes that may alter the overall experience. According to IceFrog, in order to further emphasize Dota 2s premise as a continuation of DotA, contributions will remain consistent from sources outside the main development team.
To accommodate Dota 2, Valve has worked to upgrade the Source engine to include high-end cloth simulation, as well as improved global lighting and improvements to Steamworks, which includes a wider expansion of utilities, such as player guides and the coaching system. Dota 2 utilizes Valve's Steam software in order to provide social and community functionality for the game. Steam accounts save personal files and settings on the online accounts using the Steam Cloud. Dota 2 also features multiple options of live spectating, in tradition of competitive Valve titles. The game host has the option to fill open slots with AI bots. Another option allows the host to determine if AI bots or other human players will be used to fill the vacated slot of a disconnected player. Valve is introducing a coaching system to allow for more experienced players to tutor newer players. The game will also feature tutorial sessions for further assisting players to mount the steep learning curve before competitive play.
To coincide with Dota 2s public debut at Gamescom 2011, Valve opened the sign-up for invites for the beta, with invites being sent out following the conclusion of Gamescom. During the debut, Gabe Newell revealed that Dota 2 would likely ship in 2012, despite original plans for a full release in late 2011. On September 23, 2011, Valve scrapped its previous development and release plans for Dota 2, which would have kept the game in its beta phase for over a year, in order to accommodate the full transfer of creative materials developed for the original DotA. The new plan described by IceFrog looked to release the Dota 2 beta at the nearest possible date and to implement the remaining heroes afterwards. At the same time, Valve announced that the non-disclosure agreement for the beta was being lifted, allowing testers to discuss the game and their experiences publicly.
's public opinion-based People's Choice Award, defeating other anticipated games, including Battlefield 3
, Diablo III
, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
and Guild Wars 2
.
, editor Michael Walbridge cited Defense of the Ancients as the most popular mod in the world, as well as one of the most popular competitive titles, with its strongest presence in Asia, Europe and North America. To ensure the transition of DotA players to Dota 2, Valve invited and sponsored of the most accomplished teams to compete and showcase the game's capabilities with its public debut at The International
, a global championship hosted at Gamescom 2011, with a grand prize of one million dollars. According to IceFrog, The International global championship will be an annual event, with a prize purse at least equal to the debut tournament.
Following The International, several electronic sports
tournaments have begun to transition from the DotA to Dota 2, including the Electronic Sports World Cup
, which is noted as being one of the most internationally-convergent competitions that maintained DotA a cornerstone title since 2008. DreamHack
, the world's largest computer festival, would also support Dota 2 in 2011, following a year without support for the original, on account of other competing action RTS titles, including Heroes of Newerth
and League of Legends
.
Strategy video game
Strategy video games is a video game genre that emphasizes skillful thinking and planning to achieve victory. They emphasize strategic, tactical, and sometimes logistical challenges. Many games also offer economic challenges and exploration...
being developed by Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington, United States...
. The stand-alone sequel to the popular Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos is a real time strategy computer game released by Blizzard Entertainment on July 3, 2002 . It is the second sequel to Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, and it is the third game set in the Warcraft Universe...
and The Frozen Throne
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne is a real-time strategy computer game developed for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and Mac OS X by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the official expansion pack to Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, requiring Reign of Chaos to play...
mod Defense of the Ancients
Defense of the Ancients
Defense of the Ancients is a custom scenario for the real-time strategy game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, based on the "Aeon of Strife" map for StarCraft...
, it was formally announced on October 13, 2010 via the website of magazine Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
. The game is currently undergoing a closed beta phase and is scheduled for a full release in 2012. Dota 2 will be released through both retail and download by Valve's content delivery platform Steam, on which the game has been developed to run exclusively for both game launch and update delivery. Dota 2 will operate
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
on Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
.
The game consists of session-based online multiplayer activity, with the primary objective of each match being for the teams to destroy their opposing team's fortified stronghold. Each player controls a player character
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
called a "hero", who is given the responsibility of participating in team combat, which generally takes place along a series of lanes that connect their opposing bases, lined with defensive towers. The gameplay elements are largely incorporated from Defense of the Ancients, with the game's lead designer, "IceFrog
IceFrog
IceFrog is a game designer, known for being the longest-serving and current developer of the Warcraft III mod Defense of the Ancients. He is currently employed by Valve Corporation as the lead designer for Dota 2, the stand-alone sequel to the original scenario...
", being the longest-serving and current developer of the Warcraft III mod.
Gameplay
Dota 2 combines the real-time strategyReal-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
element of traditional top-down perspective, while also incorporating the leveling and itemization system of a role-playing video game
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
. Players are pitted against each other as two distinct factions called the Radiant and the Dire. The Radiant is a faction based at the southwest corner of the map, while the Dire is a faction based at the northeast corner. Players assume the role of a "hero" - a strategically-powerful unit with special skills, who, through combat experience, may progress to a maximum level of twenty-five. The heroes' methods of combat are heavily influenced by their primary property, which can be physical strength, agility, or intelligence. The basic setup of Dota 2 places two strongholds guarded by defensive towers and waves of units which traverse the main paths leading to their base with critical structures called "Ancient Fortresses" at opposing ends of an evenly-balanced map with multiple connecting regions identified as "lanes", in which enemy units primarily traverse, while also combating the towers along the way. Players are split into two teams, each consisting of up to five players, to compete as the primary defenders for each Ancient Fortress.
The overall objective of each match is to battle through the opposing force's defenses, in order to arrive at and destroy the opponents' Ancient Fortress. Because Dota 2 is highly team-oriented, players must coordinate with their teams in order to achieve victory. The towers and stronghold defenses are invulnerable to attacks so long as the towers nearest to the enemy side still stand. Periodically, groups of weaker units commonly referred to as "creeps" are spawned, which move along their lane attacking any enemy unit or structure upon sight.
The currency of the game is gold, which is granted periodically, but typically accumulates at a more practical level by killing enemy units, which grants a distributed amount of gold to the killer's team, with the greater portion being retained by the killer themselves. A common technique utilized to prevent the opposing faction from accumulating gold from a kill is "denying", which constitutes killing an allied unit or destroying an allied structure and can be employed when the unit or structure it is about to be used on is close to death or collapse, respectively. Players also gain experience, which accumulates to gain higher levels. The greatest proportion of gold and experience comes from destroying higher priority forces, such as enemy heroes and towers.
Development
According to Valve's founder and managing director, Gabe NewellGabe Newell
Gabe Logan Newell is the co-founder and managing director of video game development and online distribution company Valve Corporation.-Work:...
, Valve's investment in DotA was sparked from the collective interest of veteran employees who had attempted to partake in team play at a competitive level. As their interest in the game grew, they began corresponding with DotAs developer, IceFrog, over a series of emails, inquiring what long-term plans the scenario's developer had. The emails eventually culminated in an invitation from Valve's project manager, Erik Johnson, offering IceFrog a tour of the company's facilities and as a result, claimed to have "hired him on the spot". The first public notification regarding the development of Dota 2 was a blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
post made by IceFrog, stating that he would be leading a team at Valve. No official word was given until its official announcement on October 13, 2010, when the website of magazine Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
revealed specific details about the game and its development, creating traffic on the website nearly to the extent of crashing
Crash (computing)
A crash in computing is a condition where a computer or a program, either an application or part of the operating system, ceases to function properly, often exiting after encountering errors. Often the offending program may appear to freeze or hang until a crash reporting service documents...
their servers
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
. Later that day Valve released the official press release for the game. Erik Johnson addressed the confusion over the written form of the brand name, citing it as "Dota," rather than "DotA," due to its increasing context as a concept, rather than an acronym for "Defense of the Ancients".
Shortly following a Q&A by IceFrog on the website of Defense of the Ancients, elaborating on his recruitment by Valve, a trademark filing claim was made by the company on August 6, 2010. Steve "Guinsoo" Feak
Steve Feak
Steve Feak, also known by the nickname of Guinsoo, is an American game designer, and was the previous designer of the popular Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne custom map DotA: Allstars. Currently he is employed by Riot Games in the making of League of Legends, a video game inspired by his previous...
, the original developer of the DotA Allstars variant and Steve "Pendragon" Mescon, the creator of dota-allstars.com and director of community relations for Riot Games
Riot Games
Riot Games is an independent video game developer and publisher based in Santa Monica, California. Established in 2006, Riot Games launched the stand-alone Dota game, League of Legends as its first title in October 2009. Riot Games obtained around 20 million dollars from venture capital firms to...
, expressed their concern that Valve should not trademark the DotA name, due to their views that it should remain as a community asset. On August 9, 2010, Mescon filed an opposing trademark for "DOTA" on behalf of DotA-Allstars, LLC, in order to "protect the work that dozens of authors have done to create the game". Rob Pardo
Rob Pardo
Rob Pardo is Executive Vice President of Game Design at Blizzard Entertainment. Previously he was the lead designer of World of Warcraft...
, the executive vice president of Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded on February 8, 1991 under the name Silicon & Synapse by three graduates of UCLA, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce and currently owned by French company Activision Blizzard...
, the developer of Warcraft III, expressed a similar concern, explaining that the DotA name should remain within the Warcraft III community, while soon afterwards, Chris Sigaty, StarCraft II
StarCraft II
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed and released by Blizzard Entertainment for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. A sequel to the award-winning 1998 video game StarCraft and its expansions, the game was released worldwide on July 27, 2010...
s Lead Producer, stated that a trademark dispute was not a concern, considering Blizzard and Valve's amiable relations. During the game's unveiling at Gamescom 2011, Gabe Newell explained Valve's perspective on acquring the trademark, which was that IceFrog wished to create a direct sequel to DotA and that players would likely recognize it as such.
As the sequel to Defense of the Ancients, the development cycle of Dota 2 has been concentrated primarily upon fully transferring the aspects of its predecessor to the Source engine, as well as building upon the core gameplay. Dota 2 recreates the factions of the Sentinel and the Scourge from Defense of the Ancients with the Radiant and the Dire, with cornerstone features of the characters' alignment reserved, while ultimately re-establishing the familiar qualities in a new form from Valve. Warcraft III composer Jason Hayes joined Valve to collaborate with Tim Larkin
Tim Larkin
Tim Larkin is the audio director for Cyan Worlds, a software company that produced the Myst series of computer games. While working at Cyan, Tim worked as a sound designer for Riven, and as a composer for realMyst, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst and Myst V: End of Ages.He has twelve years experience in the...
for developing Dota 2s musical score. Character names, abilities, items, map design and other fine details remain virtually unchanged, but the integration of these features to the Source Engine allows for continued, scaled development to bypass limitations from the Warcraft III World Editor
Warcraft III World Editor
Warcraft III World Editor is the official level editor for the real-time strategy game...
. Further support for the competitive experience is developed through the use of Dota account matchmaking, which scales a player's automated placement in accordance to their estimated skill level. Non-computed and unranked practice matches are made available through the use of either human players, AI bots or solo games. In the debut Q&A, IceFrog stated that Dota 2 will serve as the long-term continuation of the mod, building upon the original gameplay without making too many significant core changes that may alter the overall experience. According to IceFrog, in order to further emphasize Dota 2s premise as a continuation of DotA, contributions will remain consistent from sources outside the main development team.
To accommodate Dota 2, Valve has worked to upgrade the Source engine to include high-end cloth simulation, as well as improved global lighting and improvements to Steamworks, which includes a wider expansion of utilities, such as player guides and the coaching system. Dota 2 utilizes Valve's Steam software in order to provide social and community functionality for the game. Steam accounts save personal files and settings on the online accounts using the Steam Cloud. Dota 2 also features multiple options of live spectating, in tradition of competitive Valve titles. The game host has the option to fill open slots with AI bots. Another option allows the host to determine if AI bots or other human players will be used to fill the vacated slot of a disconnected player. Valve is introducing a coaching system to allow for more experienced players to tutor newer players. The game will also feature tutorial sessions for further assisting players to mount the steep learning curve before competitive play.
To coincide with Dota 2s public debut at Gamescom 2011, Valve opened the sign-up for invites for the beta, with invites being sent out following the conclusion of Gamescom. During the debut, Gabe Newell revealed that Dota 2 would likely ship in 2012, despite original plans for a full release in late 2011. On September 23, 2011, Valve scrapped its previous development and release plans for Dota 2, which would have kept the game in its beta phase for over a year, in order to accommodate the full transfer of creative materials developed for the original DotA. The new plan described by IceFrog looked to release the Dota 2 beta at the nearest possible date and to implement the remaining heroes afterwards. At the same time, Valve announced that the non-disclosure agreement for the beta was being lifted, allowing testers to discuss the game and their experiences publicly.
Reception
Following the first public showing of Dota 2, it won IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's public opinion-based People's Choice Award, defeating other anticipated games, including Battlefield 3
Battlefield 3
Battlefield 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by EA Digital Illusions CE and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released in North America on October 25, 2011 and in Europe on October 28, 2011 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and EA Mobile confirmed a port for...
, Diablo III
Diablo III
Diablo III is an upcoming dark fantasy/horror-themed action role-playing game in development by Blizzard, making it the third installment in the Diablo franchise...
, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the fifth installment in The Elder Scrolls action role-playing video game series, following The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion...
and Guild Wars 2
Guild Wars 2
Guild Wars 2 is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game in development by ArenaNet. Set in the fantasy world of Tyria, the game follows the re-emergence of Destiny's Edge, a disbanded guild dedicated to fighting the Elder Dragons, a Lovecraftian species that has seized control of Tyria in...
.
Professional competition
In a 2008 article of video game industry website GamasutraGamasutra
Gamasutra is a website founded in 1997 for video game developers. It is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb , a division of United Business Media, and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine Game Developer...
, editor Michael Walbridge cited Defense of the Ancients as the most popular mod in the world, as well as one of the most popular competitive titles, with its strongest presence in Asia, Europe and North America. To ensure the transition of DotA players to Dota 2, Valve invited and sponsored of the most accomplished teams to compete and showcase the game's capabilities with its public debut at The International
The International (Dota 2 competition)
The International is a tournament where Dota 2 is shown first time in public. It was held from 17 to 21 August 2011 at gamescom in Cologne, Germany....
, a global championship hosted at Gamescom 2011, with a grand prize of one million dollars. According to IceFrog, The International global championship will be an annual event, with a prize purse at least equal to the debut tournament.
Following The International, several electronic sports
Electronic sports
Electronic sports comprises the competitive play of video games. Other terms include competitive gaming, professional gaming and cybersports...
tournaments have begun to transition from the DotA to Dota 2, including the Electronic Sports World Cup
Electronic Sports World Cup
The Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
, which is noted as being one of the most internationally-convergent competitions that maintained DotA a cornerstone title since 2008. DreamHack
DreamHack
DreamHack is a digital festival, a local area network gathering with demo competitions, gaming competitions and more. It's arranged twice annually at the Elmia exhibition centre in Jönköping, Sweden and also twice a year at Expolaris Congresscenter, Skellefteå, Sweden and holds the world record ...
, the world's largest computer festival, would also support Dota 2 in 2011, following a year without support for the original, on account of other competing action RTS titles, including Heroes of Newerth
Heroes of Newerth
Heroes of Newerth is a free-to-play science fantasy, action real-time strategy game developed by S2 Games for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. The game was heavily inspired by the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne custom map, Defense of the Ancients and is S2 Games' first game title in the...
and League of Legends
League of Legends
The BetFred League of Legends was a darts tournament featuring some of the legends of the game of darts which commenced in May 2008. The tournament is broadcast on Setanta Sports in the United Kingdom....
.