The History of Icefrog - Designer of DotA

This is the sequel to the last video, 'The History of Pendragon'. This video will be more focused on Icefrog. Enjoy!
Q&A 1 - www.playdota.com/forums/blog.p...
Q&A 2 - www.playdota.com/forums/blog.p...
Q&A 3 - www.playdota.com/forums/blog.p...
Q&A 4 - www.playdota.com/forums/blog.p...
Tryndamere on Pendragon - / ccbd0uw
Neichus AMA - / ama_with_neichus_guy_w...
Neichus About - / neichus_legendary_forg...
Icefrog Weibo - t.qq.com/icefrogdev

[@jackbrauer8300]

Icefrog is one of the nicest and most friendly individuals in the gaming community. He & Valve listen to the community and make Dota 2 greater patch by patch. I'm kinda happy that assholes like pendragon that steal contents and then even proceed to put ads up on the page for the content they stole aren't part of this great game anymore.

[@CCEmwe]

Not forget how at the start of league they defamed the name dota with the main banner on their website which put a lot of Dota mechanics in a really bad light and made them sound like bad designs, or how they nonstop say that heroes like Invoker are a "burden of knowledge" while having their game full of noob traps and other stuff. Or how they killed Bloodlines first(and arguable only/last) chance to be on a big competitive stage at an Intel Extreme Masters with threaten to pull LoL(at that time most watched IEM game) out of it.

[@elizerjayvillanueva5629]

why should be pinoys be ban were all not toxic

[@luckiixndr9660]

putang inamo ban

[@syvhne]

Except for nerfeding AM

[@syvhne]

True. Though despite of pendragon and tryndamere attacking ice frog, Pendragon never reveal his real identity. I yhink Pendragon still have some respect for him.

[@Polored1066]

Icefrog once replied to my email, I was asking him why nothing was done to make Visage more popular, as after his rework in the old days, he became OP, was nerfed to the ground, then nobody wanted to pick him anymore. The patch after y email, Visage became relevant again :D

[@NiGHTSnoob]

You get it, you clearly get it. I don't know if Pendragon and Tryndamere get it and are just pretending to be dumb shits, or if they actually believe the issue is about Pendragon leaving to work on League, but at least this video explains the real issue. To be fair, I wasn't playing DotA at the time this all went down, but I have multiple friends who were, and from what I understand, and what this video has backed up, is that the issue was never that Pendragon left for League. That's not what people are mad about, and the fact that he tried to argue that Ice Frog did the same thing with S2 games is ridiculous because that's not what the issue is. The issue is what he did to DotA on his way out. The fact that he sold the official DotA forum to Riot and replaced it with a League advertisement and attempted to lure all of DotA's playerbase over to League and kill it off. That's what people are pissed about, and no matter what he says in an attempt to cover his ass, it's so obvious that he's full of crap after that stunt that there's basically no way anyone who knows about it is going to ever trust him again. Ice Frog didn't do that. Even had he left DotA for good and gone over to S2 to make HoN nobody would've been mad at him, because he didn't try to kill DotA and force everyone to his new project. He would've just left it and moved on with his life, people could be a bitter over that, but no sane person would've been as furious as the were with Pendragon because what he did was deliberate sabotage.

[@falkenfluegel]

This Video and post is pretty old now, but i think if you look at it now, the whole thing becomes even more obvious as time goes on. The words "from players for players" from Riot of all developers just sounds like a sad joke, because what they do is the exact opposite. Riot ist always driven by money and all their decisions are made because of money. In everything they do they try to discreddit the competition, because they simply do not like competition. Just look at the way they manage the pro scene of lol and it should tell you all you have to know. All of their games are copies of other games, literaly none of them are original ideas. They even copied a dota2 custom map. As soon as they have copied a game they will start campaigns to make the original game look bad, even if they have to lie about it. All this while icefrog is still working with valve on dota and is still making interesting new additions and patches to the game every year, not having said a single bad word about the other people that once worked on the original allstars mod. The history of it all is right there and the whole story is there very clearly.

[@bruhbruh4635]

@@falkenfluegel dota chess was first right?

[@adeksahril]

@@bruhbruh4635 its dota custom map, and other company copying it

[@s0meRand0m129]

@@falkenfluegel bro, they even released Valorant a game which they created for the sole purpose of stealing away CSGO players from Valve

[@Mayoncheese]

In a world full of DLC and corrupt business practice there is the one shining star, Icefrog, who develops a game made by and for the community to this day. A true icon of game development, showing everyone that dedication and community involvement can save pretty much any game.

[@avgvstvs7]

League devs thinking icefrog is myth cause there is no way a single man balance a game like this fucking dweebs

[@bruhbruh4635]

Still true to this day.

[@donylubis317]

moral of the story : never insult a frog`s cat

[@E-Dh]

most of old dota1 players , already knew these stuff . however the majority of the dota2 playerbase does not . thank you very much for this sequel , it really helps new players understand why we're really defensive / attached to our game.

[@Hlidskialf]

I really apreciate all the work of Eul and Neichus but Icefrog is our lord and savior.

[@ciprianrobica4496]

He's like the Jesus of Dota, son of God which is GabeN founder of Valve.

[@Anghelnicolae]

neah, fuck Gaben, he's a greedy fuck

[@multiWitz]

greedy fuck yet steam sales everywhere.

[@Anghelnicolae]

multiWitz so? you think valve is losing money with those sales?

[@multiWitz]

Mjollnir no, but you still get games at cheaper price.

[@DBaker-ii3pc]

So interesting in retrospect looking back on those days...I was Terror13laze back in 2005-2008 when I was in Clan TDA. Haven't talked to Neichus or IceFrog in years, but it looks like everyone's done well for themselves. :)

[@TZJinzo]

Hi there. Any chance you could spare a few minutes on discord to chat about being part of Clan TDA? I am making a part two of this video and it would be great to have your input on this. Best wishes.

[@DBaker-ii3pc]

TZJinzo Sure! Let me know how I can help.

[@TZJinzo]

Join here and we could have a conversation on this, thanks! discord.gg/gAjusUN

[@omar199654]

can u pls tell me where icefrog from and where now he live pls thanks

[@pureevil29]

Jinzo, what do you think about Moba Allstars? The current biggest Moba Mod... since all other Mobas became basically comercial... if you could review it, it would be great! For me Moba Allstars seems a lot more like Dota 1 than even Dota 2...

[@astora3973]

Jinzo Inzo Nzo Zo O Og Rog Frog Efrog Cefrog Icefrog HI ICEFROG

[@MrMarbles]

this jinzo dude is icefrog, hes mocking us with his video.

[@reshanMnM]

Conspiracy theory, Who else would know so much eh?

[@johndale1872]

I knew it

[@killabee5810]

On the real, this is believe

[@nguyenbinhphuong1491]

lol, i used to beleive DotaCinema is IF

[@CountOulaf]

Word!

[@FellTheSky]

I would like to get more updates from icefrog. I recall one day i was navigating the dota dev forums, a random dud would ask something about when the next patch was coming, and icefrog actually reply him... we are talking about a 15k + pages thread, and he was watching WTF.

[@FellTheSky]

***** dev.dota2.com/showthread.php?t=107817&page=16982&p=1218412#post1218412

[@machicommentsection]

That kiddo is a blessed one being blessed with IceFrog's presence

[@jibranmahmood1628]

We're just lucky that Icefrog is not John Wick.

[@MoonKei]

I'm having a goosebumps watching this damn.

[@machicommentsection]

I'm having a goosebumps seeing you here

[@deuge]

I really enjoy your videos Jinzo, I've heard many fragmented rumours of this stuff - it's nice to have such unbiased information, your agenda is to spread the love of how dota came to be and it really comes across :)

[@TZJinzo]

A sincere thank you from me :) I'm glad you enjoy my videos, it always means a lot.

[@ruatfela5784]

Ice Frog The Dark Knight The nerdy protector He may be framed and hunted,but it's because he can handle it He is the hero we need Not we deserved. Hope he'll reveal his true identity before he pass away 😥

[@NGAi246Hui]

Like a bat

[@NguLucReviews]

These last 3 videos have been amazing! thanks for your hard work!

[@AnonymousQuote]

With how big eSports are getting, these stories may actually be taught in schools one day.

[@tidiz]

You dear Sir have earned my eternal gratitude, because of these extremely great series of videos about the history of the greatest game, game genre of all time and it's original and influential creators. I really like the way you put this all together without putting too much your own opinion in it, but just stated the facts and gave something to think about. Thank you a lot! Keep up the good work and hopefully we'll see and hear more this stuff from you.

[@TheBloodsin]

i'm early gotta make a dota joke league of lowskills hahahaha

[@TZJinzo]

LOL. This actually made me laugh for a while. Looool...

[@DaRkOzoraX]

haHAA

[@roylukito9632]

+TZJinzo make top 10 most easiest heroes to play pls

[@roylukito9632]

+TZJinzo btw i love ur videos

[@ushankaboy7439]

Because lol means laugh out loud kms

[@nicoleleah9734]

The Father of Dota - Eul The Prodigal Sons of Dota - Guinsoo, Pendragon, Lothar, IceFrog. The Savior of Dota - Gaben.

[@Mxnecromancer]

back during dota allstars I had the fortune of working on the forum moderation team. I was young and naive but I had the opportunity to speak to neichus while he was working on the big v6.0 release. Neichus is an incredibly intelligent individual, but was unfortunately very stressed out at the time trying to prep 6.0. Guinsoo kinda left him with a lot of changes he wanted to see on the release but, kinda dropped the ball and decided to invest his time on other things (mostly just WoW) he was kind enough to allow me to beta test a few variations on the beta. each change had HUGE calibration fixes on the maps design, Him and IceFrog worked really hard to make something work out. Pendragon on the other hand, I hate that guy _; maybe it was just my personality clashing with his but I have never met a more disingenuous individual in my life >_>; If you want to take anything I say with a grain of salt, I don't blame you. this is just a youtube comment after all. but Its been many years since I really spoke about this kinda stuff publicly. felt like a good place to leave the conversation :3

[@Mxnecromancer]

Maybe It was just me being a bit uncertain how to speak to him (I was a shy 15yr old kid at the time :S) but I didn't really get the chance to hold a conversation with Guinsoo. I did sit in during a chat with Neichus, Guinsoo, Penny and Terrorblaze once. wasn't anything mindblowingly interesting but I guess it's worth saying xD Terrorblaze isn't exactly a super known individual, for all the trash he talked, prolly for the better XD but he was the guy responsible for the concept of Bloodseeker,

[@Aversatrix]

I am really glad someone did research about this thing and collected all those informations. You told more than I knew I dont know, so I hope you will keep up this thing and you will continue with dota history and stuff around it

[@Skunkamola]

Thank you for the history lesson man. You're doing a great job.

[@KlabauterManiac]

The way you pronounce advertisements is.. unordinary. EDIT: i just now found out MY way of pronouncing it was wrong.

[@MrEueu89]

I pronounce it as "ad-ver-tease-ment"

[@zayedabdulla123]

ad-ver-tize-ment for me ( i think english and american differ)

[@TheWallsocket]

They do differ in pronunciation between American English and British English. The American pronunciation is now being used by 1/3 of Brittons as well as most Americans, so I would say if you had to choose the "correct" one would be adver-TIZE-ment www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8305645/The-conTROversy-over-changing-pronunciations.html

[@rockeith97]

This video was really convincing and great in quality. Looking forward to your next. As always, keep up the great work. :-D

[@ammaralmulla5728]

The quality of the videos keep increasing, keep up the great work!

[@konsmgullick2407]

your contents are truly amazing... watching these videos felt like discovering my lost identity. Keep up the good work.

[@D1ttu]

You are one of the most Underrated KZbinrs I've ever seen. You really deserve more subscribers

[@Twilightsnail]

You have so accurately recounted fairly all the details of this situation. I really appreciate what you have done.

[@srivatsasubramanian5378]

You actually did a great job . please make more videos like these .

[@golddoraemon]

Holy shit dude, your mandarin speaking skills is totally killing it! Haha..haha :D So much effort in your video, thank you once again. That sentence u spoke was absolutely on point!

[@gluee003]

If you go on his "weaboo"

[@sikandork]

He's ethnically Chinese mate

[@gluee003]

so am I

[@heskisinin]

Maybe he is ICefrog XD

[@franciscopickles9771]

did storm won the game? or epic come back?

[@leetrothschild7465]

Yeah lol

[@TZJinzo]

Sorry, there was no epic comeback. Storm won...

[@jaronocampo3366]

Time well spent, thanks for this kind of videos.

[@ajaykrsna]

You're really awesome and no one can deny that. Please continue your job and we are always there for you. Waiting for more videos

[@compleckz]

I love learning about the history of DOTA and the creators behind it. Keep these up!

[@johanz94]

this channel is going to get HUGE!! :D keep up the good work. Awesome stuff man awesome stuff

[@LuthfiHalimawan]

icefrog its wyk

[@agustintornaria6362]

Really like your videos, i love the way you explain things and share your knowledge with us. If you enjoy doing this videos you should definitely keep doing them. I'm sure your channel is going to grow because you're awesome dude. Keep it up, you're made for this!

[@joeldamminga7243]

This video is incredible. I've found myself curious about many of these things myself, and it is not an easy subject to research.

[@megytetrafauzanarnold7225]

well in the end dota 2 is the real free to play moba available, not league of legend, smite, hon, or anything else

[@MoleculeXmolecule]

Preach! I don't need to spend money to get characters that counter other characters. I just get them all at once and take my time to learn each one.

[@LilithOfTheNephilims]

very true, if you want to spend some money, you can, but it's nice to have all heroes for free ^^

[@Drebolaskan]

megytetra arnold very true

[@miragetv1718]

Yep.

[@rinkonoki]

I know I also hate to spend money to get characters, but honestly, that's one of the parts that makes LOL still being Highest player based MOBA because of money, time, and passion player use to get characters it;s make them can't just stop play the game and Riot know that and make a big update every season make lot of change remove some characters and items out and add some in. that make the boring player come back again even for a while. Still, DOTA2 also have something like that but not that level of what LOL did.

[@eddiechan229]

i dont usually leave comment, but u did well in putting all the part and parcel of the past into a full picture, appreciate.

[@thebalteringotter3132]

Superb video, superb narration, superb research. Have my subscription and a nice week.

[@gandalfjerk]

This channel is very unique. Its videos, besides interesting, are somewhat inteded for people with a more "mature" taste but still are very intertaining to people who are just curious. Keep up the good work and nice video as always!

[@TheWalper]

Icefrog must be Asian. I am pretty sure

[@dkz8654]

His wife is Asian

[@UCjNrKLyRJI-abFA8qiNo92Q]

His feed is originally in Chinese but he has a mid-east name, it's a fucking mystery

[@MrShuffle1999]

Its Abdul Ismail

[@marklorenz2002]

john anthony Esperanza ulol mo

[@dudlimp4714]

He could be me

[@maerzadmohamednazmi3233]

Love the videos Jinzo. The otherside of dota. I gave my thumbs up for this one for the Chinese at the end. Can't believe you pronounced it rather than straight up translating it.

[@formoon4017]

once I subscribed your channel it had 400 subscribers ,now its 3700, you're channel is growing so fast!congratulations!

[@ShesEmber]

i really enjoy these videos! please keep it up Jinzo! love your chanel :P

[@miraato-aj]

What if TZJinzo is IceFrog?

[@aruarian43]

was thinking the same thing while watching the video

[@ak47em]

+Trizzl Fizzl wykhrm is icefrog

[@aloysius9100]

i'm icefrog putrang ina mo ./.

[@fucku123hugo]

holy shit the last time i was this early, 480p wasn't even invented

[@salty_w3093]

promote this channel youtube ...why does this have only 7k subs...!!! this better tahn all those cringy stuff

[@MrLeifBeaver]

It was promoted on my account, I've subbed, so I think it will grow well now. The latest videos are really good and he's found a nice unique thumbnail style now too. The original thumbs from 3 months ago look terrible and looked the same as everyones elses. Well spoken and unique interesting content. It will surely grow.

[@salty_w3093]

MrLeif Beaver :) is jinzo chinese? also his voice is so calming

[@MrLeifBeaver]

I have no idea. I think he is. Very well spoken

[@Youkesama]

thanks @TZJinzo for the videos on the history of dota your work here is much appreciated. I played dota since 5.xx and I knew Iceforg from his email on the loading screen in the game and thats pretty much it. Now I know all the effort and troubles he went through to keep this game true to its self and transition it to a new generation of video games.

[@Marta1Buck]

in icefrog we trust

[@bayekofsiwa5847]

Liked your videos sir! They're all great!!! Subscribed!!!

[@LPVit]

thanks for making the video and bringing so much information together in one piece so people who just recently joined dota can find out about the history of its creation. +1 sub here and keep it up man, cheers! =)

[@Xanoz84]

I'm very grateful to you for making such high quality videos and being as unbiased as you can. I love the story of how Dota and Icefrog/Pendragon all happened but every time I find some information about it it's mostly skewed based on what game or side of the story the person heard first. I feel that you did a good job with telling the story but I cannot escape the feeling of it being in Icefrog's favour and that makes it hard to trust the information you give me. I hope I'm not coming off as an asshole, shitting all over your video. I just wanted to leave you with my honest feeling about it. :) Overall the video is a solid 8/10 for me in the end, thank you again!

[@aadharprasad2934]

Jinzo. I had been searching for weeks to find Dota content that did not revolve around the pro scene. You have been a godsend with your videos. Enjoyed your history trilogy and the lore wise ranking of heroes. Might I suggest a video that talks about in-game hero rivalries ? or the fact that Anti-Mage and Terror Blade were brothers in the og DOTA. Cheers Mate. Keep up the good work. I've subscribed and I look forward to watching anything else that you put out here.

[@RenzSLV]

have to admit. i'm now hooked on your vids man. you've given me a new reason to respect Dota

[@R4z0rEdge]

nice video , great job jinzo !!!

[@Zenatrix]

Great video there, i am playing dota for years but its my first time learning the history behind dota, really appreciate your hard work in making this video ^-^

[@asddap]

dude, after watching your vids.. you seriously deserve more views and subs

[@almost5198]

Damn bro u made me respect icefrog even more thanks for the history lesson.Appreciate it a lot. You earned yourself a subscriber :D

[@user-yp4lm4jq8u]

谢谢up主的视频，了解了很多的dota知识。一如既往的支持dota2支持if

[@edgeg7samsunggalaxy994]

God Damn...this guys video get better day by day...Good luck cheers from India mate!

[@xinoni2002]

Good Chinese pronunciation, the picture you show in the video is Tencent Weibo which was given up by Tencent. Now Icefrog use Sina Weibo more. And thank you for your video, very clear to learn the history.

[@martinsochor4461]

Wonderful video about such a, as it seems, complicated not perfectly clear subject. Thank you Jinzo!!

[@adityashrimali8561]

hey jinz! great videos. keep up the good work (y)

[@cpt.knabbergebaeck6522]

I really enjoy watching your videos, great work dude, keep it up! A video bout the most imbalanced Dota/ Dota 2 patches and ideas would be really nice, btw!

[@poipoi9087]

Oh, you mean the history of Bruno?

[@Gytiss93]

ahhh, yes Bruno is ICEFROG

[@LuthfiHalimawan]

how can?

[@Tomoxx02]

No, Icefrog is Bruno

[@1nf3ct3dTT]

i think u mean pgg?

[@ak47em]

wykhrm

[@caintic26]

3:35 CS LUL

[@kingram12345]

history of competitive dota ....might be a bit too much to ask though ! epic job you have done here

[@TheBeerification]

Hey Jinzo! Could you do a comprehensive video on the lore of DotA? What are the ancients? Dire and Radiant? Why is it such a timeless battle? What heroes with different backgrounds can fight each other and then fight alongside one another? What is it all about and what is in it for the heroes? I realize there might be nothing more to it, but the fact that each hero has a story automatically makes it significant to why we find them battling to defend the ancient.

[@ishraque3601]

omg I just found you and this is the channel I was looking for, I as in all these people who care much more about this game. Thanks for your videos you know all these mean a lot to us Jinzo. Let us know if in any way we can be helpful.

[@Emberrs]

I was not expecting jinzo to speak that chinese part!

[@edgardomartin8299]

Was it well pronounced or butchered? I mean, it SOUNDED like Chinese, but since I dont know the language.

[@jyun3102]

Hes chinese..

[@yehabon]

As a native, he was pretty damn on the mark. I was surprised. That being said, he is an american born chinese no? Probably speaks it at home with parents.

[@Kiddoliciouss]

his mandarin was quite on point

[@violordwanderer1584]

At least the Chinese part sounds good for me. You won't believe that his pronunciation is better than many native speakers.

[@lincolnmackay8975]

Thank you for keeping this very accurate.

[@regtrigger7535]

love your vids keep it up man

[@Flasheur]

nice vid, going directly for the Pendragon one.

[@azrael4728]

after watching the 2 videos i feel bad for being a league of legends player :( god bless icefrog

[@renielrareza5811]

This channel deserve more views up up 👍

[@dhruvstar410]

Thank you for making this :)

[@His0wnFoot]

Your videos are fantastic, you seem to do quite a lot of research. I name you the vsauce of Dota

[@dota2fanclub]

Thanks a million @TZJinzo, for the History of Pendragon and Icefrog. You are awesome dear.

[@dota2fanclub]

We have featured your channel on our channel, because we want the community to know the history of Dota2, the events, behind the curtain facts and you deserve the credits. Thanks once again for providing valuable information.

[@trentjun]

Please make a History of Competitive Dota!

[@oO_ox_O]

There is a video from one of the earliest matches on KZbin (long before 5.84 mind you).

[@omkarmayekar3223]

I am just loving your videos and your content is great! Binge watching all your videos right now. I wish you all the very best for your channel. I am pretty sure it will be one of the highest subscribed channels related to dota facts and generic information. Also, what is your MMR!!! :D

[@melarevanco]

That's what i call love and dedication for the game, programming it, fixing it, reading thousands of mails about it, this guy created one of the best games of all times. And as he said, he didnt get any money at that stage. Thats true love for a game.

[@skyyy9015]

Im still waiting that time when Icefrog finally showhimself to the World........

[@kurdapyoloyalismo7097]

tnx for this amazing sequence

[@phoenixdown7261]

You are like VaatiVidya of Dota

[@Chuwaca]

Fanfita de mela te mencionan en el vídeo PogChamp . Nice Icefrog history, he sent to us new hero in next month probably.

[@darkmasteron]

oh man this is hard to watch... nostalgia got all over me

[@gnibgayt]

There is a lot of room for improvement here! not saying that the video is bad, i'm just seeing a lot of potential for your channel. Keep it up! subscribed. p.s. maybe add some light background music?

[@sweetchelsalas1827]

I always learn something from your videos

[@vitorfray]

Icefrog... What can I say about this man, who I don't know, but love so much! I started playing Dota in 2006!

[@furelise38]

Great Vid dude

[@fadelgani4467]

great video here. thx a lot for enlighten us a bit. even tho we're still wondering several things that icefrog need to speak himself

[@leooel4650]

Nice mate, you are doing some research there! Gladly to help you with my subscribe and like.

[@yang1212]

this stuff is lit thanks for making this vid

[@asmerX100]

I guess icefrog is still upset with western dota community based on his words at 14:51 good job man next time maybe you should make a video about the history of competitive dota and few legendary players that ever played dota

[@thekarlk]

This is a history of Tyndragon half of the time. Did not learn that much about Icefrog though!

[@dudlimp4714]

I have never heard the name Guinsoo for a while. Its music in my ears.

[@Feroke]

Great and informative video. Thank you.