My acquaintance with Dota 2 began in my school years. At that time, this game was just gaining momentum, although it already had an impressive fan base. The first games were very exciting: I literally didn't understand anything about mechanics, I didn't know how to properly "cheat" creeps, what artifacts and when to buy. But I was instantly captivated by the very atmosphere of the battles, where each of the five players in the team is responsible for a certain role, and the outcome of the battle depends on teamwork and coordination.
There are many heroes in Dota 2, and each one is unique. It took me a long time and a lot of matches to master at least a third of the available pool and learn basic teamwork. I've tried different roles - from harsh tanks on the first line like Axe or Bristleback to subtle support magicians like Crystal Maiden or Lion. Over time, I got a few favorite characters that I played most often: say, the trolling Juggernaut and the belligerent Sven, who are able to cut out quickly and efficiently.; the opponent, if they are properly "rocked" during the match.However, Dota 2 is much more than just a collection of heroes and items. She teaches important social skills: when you play with real people, you need to be able to negotiate, discuss strategy, criticize each other constructively and not break down if something suddenly went wrong. I've learned to listen to my allies, adapt to their strengths, and admit my mistakes. There have been situations when I've had complete strangers from different parts of the world on the same team with me (at least the same western regions), and I've had to negotiate in a mixture of Russian and English, explaining which line I want to take or how we're going to kill Roshan. All this, oddly enough, broadens horizons and teaches adequate communication.
As for the competitive aspect, I have never set myself the goal of reaching high ratings or playing on the pro scene. For me, Dota 2 has become primarily a source of pleasant memories and interesting stories to share with friends. Of course, there were times when the session dragged on until late at night, and I realized that I had to get up for school tomorrow morning. But it's at moments like this, when we take a "comeback" in a seemingly lost match, that you realize how multifaceted the pleasure of the game can be.If Dota 2 is primarily about strategy and a macro game, where teamwork is important, then Counter-Strike (especially Global Offensive) you can call it my reaction and endurance training. There are no longer long matches of 40-50 minutes like in Dota: the rounds are shorter and the pace of the battles is higher. Every shot, every turn of the corner can be decisive, and if you don't make an accurate shot in time, the consequences for the team can be critical.
I've always liked that in Counter-Strike there's a moment of surprise when you need to react like lightning to an opponent who appears. This forms certain concentration skills when you literally feel that you are not just playing, but are in such a "combat mode", watching every rustle and movement on the map. Like many people, I started with regular public posts and gradually switched to competitive match mode, where the game became more serious. Sometimes it wasn't easy to face the fact that you could be "humiliated."; The players are stronger, but that's what motivated me to learn how to shoot better, master spray control, properly deploy grenades, and use flash drives effectively.
With my friends, we often reviewed recordings of professional matches, and learned how to take key positions on maps like Dust2, Mirage, or Inferno. It has always surprised me that, despite the apparent simplicity, there are many tactical points in the game: from economic management (when to buy weapons, and when to do "eco") down to the intricacies of moving around the map so as not to reveal your location. Counter-Strike gave me a feeling of healthy adrenaline and taught me to enjoy not only winning, but also the moment when you just improve your skills, getting a little better with each round.However, the biggest layer of my playing time is associated with Path of Exile (POE), an incredibly thoughtful action RPG that amazed me with its unfathomable depth. I first came across it a few years ago: the game wasn't that popular back then, but rumors about its hardcore character development system were already rife in the gaming community. I was interested in the fact that POE was created in the spirit of the classic Diablo 2, which once hooked many players with its gloomy atmosphere, but at the same time the authors of Path of Exile added a lot of unique mechanics, turning it into something more than just a clone.
The main feature of POE is its huge passive skill tree, which rather resembles a huge network of intersecting nodes, and when you look at it for the first time, your eyes literally run away. Here you can develop not just a specific class, but combine properties that often transform your character into a unique combination of magic, weapon damage, and defensive mechanics. I spent a lot of time studying guides and watching videos of experienced players to understand how to optimally upgrade a hero, which skill gems to select, and how to correctly calculate resistance or block indicators.
Another great feature of Path of Exile is the constant leagues seasonal updates that add new mechanics, bosses, items and change the overall balance. Each league is a kind of new round of adventures: your character starts from scratch, you have to look for equipment again, bargain with other players again, experiment with new skills again. This constant reboot keeps the game from stagnating and turns it into an endless round of discoveries. Sometimes I spent dozens of hours just on "crafting theory", trying to figure out how to combine certain abilities to get a "powerful build" capable of killing the most difficult bosses like Sirius or Shaper.
The very atmosphere of POE also deserves a special mention. Gloomy locations, creepy monsters, disturbing music - all this creates the feeling that you are constantly in a world that is in danger of imminent destruction, and only your hero is able to save him (of course, if you have enough skills and patience). The game economy in Path of Exile is not tied to the usual gold, but is built around a variety of spheres (orbs), each of which has its own application in the crafting process. This further complicates the bidding process with other players: you need to know how much each sphere costs, how to correctly assess the rarity of certain items, and how to profitably conclude a deal.I've always enjoyed playing with my friends.: we were going to a party where everyone chose their role, for example, someone developed a tank with an emphasis on protection, someone did damage dealer with an emphasis on damage, and someone specialized in auras and group support. Running together on maps in endgame, when we descend into dangerous dungeons, is a great test of coherence and understanding of mechanics. Of course, sometimes it wasn't easy: high-level bosses and card modifiers could send the entire group to the death screen in a matter of seconds, but if we successfully coped, the emotions of victory were incredible.
Path of Exile is a game where you can literally "drown" in the variety and not notice how dozens or even hundreds of hours will pass. I don't consider myself a top player who aspires to get into the world rankings, but every time I enter a new league, I feel a sense of anticipation for new challenges and those pleasant moments when your build finally starts working properly, destroying hordes of monsters. It is this constant motivation to find the best equipment, to experiment new things, and to improve my skills that makes POE an integral part of my hobbies.
Besides games, I have another great passion - reading books. As a child, I often read adventure novels, then became interested in fiction, and over time my library expanded. Today, my favorite works are classic science fiction, all kinds of fantasy cycles, historical novels, and even philosophical works. But, perhaps, a special place in my heart is occupied by the Witcher saga By Andrzej Sapkowski.
I discovered The Witcher after I had already played some games in this universe, but I realized that the books offer a much deeper and richer plot, saturated with interesting characters, political intrigues and complex moral dilemmas. The main character, Geralt of Rivia, although at first he seems to be a typical monster hunter, in fact turns out to be a deep and contradictory personality with his own principles and internal conflicts. The world created by Sapkowski is full not only of magic and monsters, but also of cruel laws, injustices, issues of racial hostility and social discrimination. This makes the narrative much more serious than one would expect from a classic fantasy.
Reading The Witcher, I was amazed at how the author weaves philosophical overtones and irony into each of Geralt's adventures, periodically mixing legends and fairy tales with the everyday problems of ordinary people. Gradually, I became imbued with the fates of the characters, especially Ciri, who becomes something of a daughter for Geralt, and Yennefer, whose peculiar attitude to the world causes contradictory feelings. The saga is fascinating in its versatility: there is humor here, scenes of war and devastation are darkly described, and somewhere in between there is the eternal question of what is considered a "great evil".; and the "lesser evil".
For me, reading The Witcher has become not just a way to escape from everyday life, but also an occasion to rethink some things. Sapkovsky does not give unambiguous answers, leaving room for reflection. When I finished the next volume, I replayed the scenes in my head for a long time, analyzed the actions of the characters, argued with my friends about who was right and who was wrong. This is exactly the approach to literature that I appreciate: when a book not only tells an interesting story, but also encourages us to be critical of it, to look for hidden subtext, to argue, to agree or disagree with the author.
Of course, "The Witcher" is not the only work that I love. My home library has classics like "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury, "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes, the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien, and more. But it is "The Witcher" that I would like to highlight: this saga is a vivid example of how literature can go beyond "just fantasy" and become a philosophical reflection on the nature of good and evil, the role of man in the world, about love and devotion.
Thus, games and books are two huge parts of my life, which at first glance may seem far from each other, but in fact complement each other as a person. Games give me excitement, teach me teamwork, develop reactions, demonstrate the wonders of virtual worlds and awaken my imagination, and books allow me to take a step back, look at everything from the other side, and understand myself and others more deeply.
Dota 2 gave me communication skills and patience, Counter-Strike taught me to react quickly and appreciate every second, Path of Exile showed the depth of the RPG and the importance of constant character development, even if it it takes dozens of hours. And the fantasy saga about the Witcher forced us to reconsider our usual views on fairy-tale worlds and plunge into a narrative that touches on the most important issues of our lives.
All this together helps me to stay curious, not lose interest in new opportunities and look to the future with confidence that it will definitely not be boring. After all, when there are so many magical universes nearby - from virtual to book universes - where there is always a new adventure, new opponents, new unexpected plot twists and a new reason to think about yourself and the world.