I'm uncertain if this is a cry for help or if this one of those self-acknowledging posts where the OP has come to realize that they're not the cream of the crop and are completely OK with that fact.

In case this is actually a thread in which you're looking for some advice, I'll go ahead and write some shit now. It's probably gonna be long and I cba with spellchecking.

First of all, I just want to say that 242 hours of Dota is not a lot. It's not even close to being a lot. I have ten times that amount and I probably rank in the middle of the pack of the playerbase in terms of hours spent on the game. So if you're thinking that you might as well give up because you're at a certain level after 242 hours, then you might want to think again. You're only out of infancy and in the toddler phase of getting the hang of Dota 2.

Second of all, it doesn't matter how good you are or were at other games. Fuck those other games. Those other games aren't Dota and thus they are completely irrelevant to actually getting better at Dota. Just because you suck at Starcraft, Hearthstone and CS doesn't mean you have to suck at Dota.

Third of all, I'm gonna tell you my story.

I started playing Dota 2 in late 2011 after being lucky enough to receive a beta key from a friend. I had no idea what the fuck dota was supposed to be and I went in with zero expectations. I found myself loving the game and all the variables it provided and I sucked. Really badly. I continued sucking throughout the rest of 2011... And 2012... And 2013... And 2014. Here in 2015, I still fucking suck. I just suck less.

My spark for Dota 2 caused me to get all of my friends onboard. I literally spent hundreds of euros on beta keys back when they were not hanging off the trees, just to get my friends into the game. I watched them struggle and I watched them suck, but I also helped them out. Started easing people into Dota, taught them the basics and later on the more advanced stuff. My Precursor's Bloodstone has like 12 gift counters on it and I've walked at least 10 of those people through the game. Hell right now I'm basically coaching a dude who just started playing in late 2014.

I started out sucking ass at Dota 2, but through just playing the game and absorbing information like a sponge (which was fun to do, because I love the game), I suddenly found myself at 5k MMR without even trying. It did take me 2500 hours, but I'm here now and there are still a million things I can improve on. Knowing your limitations and weaknesses is one thing, but please try not to put yourself so far down that you don't even feel like improving.

Just play Dota man.