Valve is already selling selling the fall 2015 Compendium at two tiers: a $3.99 entry pack and one for $9.99. The packages will put players into the Compendium in Dota 2 to allow them to earn Compendium coins, partake in the coin wagers and earn new treasures and goods in the game.
The free-to-play game's fall season is officially underway and the Compendium is a way to get gamers spending money in the cash shop and getting engaged in the community aspects of the competitive atmosphere that surrounds the popular MOBA title.
The fall Compendium is detailed over on the official Dota 2 website where it's explained that wagers can be made before matches, so players who bet on certain matches can walk away with a bounty of coins depending on what the wager is. Players are even encouraged to wager on their own matches to earn extra coins and cash them out to unlock new and rare items from the treasury.
It's noted on the site that whatever is spent on the fall Compendium is applied strictly to the 2015 fall season and the items and coins are only good to be redeemed for items up until January 15th, 2016. This prevents bookies from stockpiling coins during one season and then attempting to wager and cash out during a season where they think they can earn better item rewards.
To be honest the whole wagering and betting community attached to some of Valve's games like
[[ ah ref http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Counter-Strike-Global-Offensive-Operation-Bloodhound-Now-Live-72130.html ]] Counter-Strike and Dota 2 is still something I have a hard time wrapping my head around. Every single inch of it looks like gambling, especially considering that in the case of Counter-Strike people walk away with the ability to earn rewards and sell items with real-world value.
Then again a lot of these cash shop expenditures from players also goes toward Valve's competitive e-sport tournament scene where the pot for games like Counter-Strike and Dota 2 reaches up into the tens of millions.
In fact, the last International that took place this past summer saw a pool of $12 million up for grabs. The money was pooled from the Compendiums that Valve rolls out on a seasonal basis.
For those of you worried about possible pay to win schemes, Valve doesn't roll like that. The compendium is mostly for cosmetic upgrades for the characters and the weapons that they use.
For instance the Tribute of the Piercing Beak treasure will unlock the ability to earn a weapon that can be upgraded with the permanent special ambient effect. There's also Tribute Upgrade Infuser that can be used on items unlocked from the Piercing Beak treasure to upgrade them with the special ambient effect.
There are different levels of treasures and coin bonuses that can be unlocked through the Compendium. You can check out the full tiers for this fall season's items by paying a visit to the official Dota 2 fall Compendium website. Dota 2 is available right now following a pretty big overhaul and an upgrade using the Source 2 game engine.
