Toby "Tobi Wan" Dawson is a professional commentator for esports site JoinDOTA. He covers DOTA and now DOTA 2 matches and tournaments, and is considered to be quite entertaining. Unfortunately, the commentary he was caught making while playing in a live-streamed public match over the weekend is not so much entertaining as it is inexplicably racist.
The comment, as seen in a screenshot, was: "have you heard the expression..lame as a ni**ers baby?"
He later apologized on the JoinDOTA forum, explaining, "it is not ok, that is rage combined with [the other player's] jokes to create a completely inappropriate comment which I am sorry for making."
Interest in DOTA 2 continues to ramp up as the game, published by Valve, runs in beta. Tobi Wan was a commentator at Valve's official tournament, The International, when it debuted at Gamescom last year. This year's tournament will take place at PAX Prime in Seattle at the end of August.
Valve is explicitly trying to encourage civility and good behavior in their multiplayer communities. The best time to make sure that DOTA 2's community grows to be a positive influence on the game is now. While the usual arguments are raging, the community seems to agree that even in the heat and adrenaline of competition, some language is out of bounds.