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[shiftplusone]

i hope that there are sprays, banners, etc for the collector editions of wow/d3/sc2 that they go back and unlock

the colors being craftable instead of unlocked with hero level is the only step back it seems

also isn't the amazon still a skin for nova?

 

[psyfi]

I think I might finally try this out.

 

[kirblar]

Mists of Pandaria.

was better than Cata and Warlords.

 

[Laieon]

I actually really like how easy and pick up Heroes of the Storm is to play. I also like the variety in the maps. Wish I had people to play it with, but out of League (which I played for years but no longer enjoy), DOTA (which I've tried multiple times and find the gameplay and art completely unappealing), and other random games in the genre, I definitely think HOTS is the most appealing simply for the shear variety in it's game play.

This may be the most unappealing game that Blizzard has ever made.

That's easily Hearthstone for me.

 

[JHoNNy1OoO]

They had me until "duplicates" and "shards". I'm sure the exact same garbage as Overwatch where they load up the items with useless emojis/sprays/banners and then once you reach a certain point instead of looking forward to the next opening you come to terms 3 out of the 4 items will be duplicates 90% of the time.

Might still dive back in if a couple of friends are still playing.

 

[Keasar]

is a cost increase actually happening? Because I have heaps of gold. I bought Ragnaros and some of my favorites like Anub'arak on a whim during the WoW mount event and I still have tons.

also the OP even SAYS that they aren't removing the ability to individually buy skins etc. So...huh?

Apparently you can still directly buy skins.

The thing is with loot boxes, they usually do what I talked about, in a game like Overwatch I can say have an eye for a specific Reinhardt skin that I want, to get it I can't just put money down directly and say I am done, I have to buy loot boxes with a infinitesmall chance of getting that one specific skin for the one specific character.

For the same amount you buy most skins, let's say 9.99, you buy 10 loot boxes and open them up and you get nothing but Rare (the first rarity level above common) stuff, some sprays, emotes, voice lines etc. that you don't care about, oftentimes you'll get duplicates even of stuff you already have.

Some people argue that you get "Coins" for the duplicates that drop, but they are a paltry small amount of the actual worth of the duplicate. So out of that 9.99 spent, you maybe got 100-125. If you get lucky, you CAN get more though Coin drops, but the big actually worth ones are rare. And as is often the case when I see one skin I want, that specific skin costs 1000 Coins, which means on average you probably spend instead 30-40 Euros to get enough boxes, to maybe get the skin you needed, if not instead get enough coins (maybe) to buy the skin you wanted in the first place.

Ta-dah, how to scam your players!
Followed then by the defence force talking about shit like "it's voluntary", "it's optional" etc. etc. when Blizzard and other companies in the same market use psychology to REALLY entice you to want to spend money on this crap, resulting in many players spending WAY more money than they should, not because they are dumb people, but because they suffer from poor compulsory control which companies take advantage of.

So whenever I see RNG boxes, I have some bloody issues with them.

 

[EndersAres]

You can play team league, unranked draft, brawls, and quick match with your friend.

Team League takes too long to get into. Probably spent 10 minutes in q the first time we did it. The other modes are horrendous trash and I would not wish for anyone to experience them. I kind of figured when they announced the duo removal experiment they were just taking it out. It wasn't an experiment. Doesn't really matter anymore, I've moved back to WoW. Still kind of interested in the day it comes out to see what retroactive rewards I get. Might be worth playing a game or two to see the new stuff.

 

[Mister Zimbu]

Heroes of the Storm's biggest problem has always been that people unfamiliar with it have thought of it as just another Dota/Leaguelike when in reality it is actually a good game

 

[Won]

I don't really see a problem with it. All they did was separate gameplay unlocks (gold) from aesthetic unlocks (the stuff dupes become).

Thinking about it, its the gems that ticked me of instantly. There are very few things I dislike more in the "games as service" world than asking me to turn my hard earned cash into Itchy&Scratchy money.

And that's on top of Overwatch stupid loot box/currency system.

 

[Dreavus]

Skins are sort of purchasable now so long as they are included in a bundle. That means most every new skin will be purchasable directly, but you can't purchase the old ones directly unless they get thrown into a bundle later.

From the site http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/heroes20/progression/#cashing-in

Oh okay, yeah this makes more sense to me as a business model. It's slightly worse than I thought for the player though.

It's going almost full "Overwatch loot box", except they are retaining the fact that heroes are bought individually, and they're holding on to their "new hero" skin bundles. Other than that it looks like most skins will need shards to unlock, which comes from duplicate boxes (Just like OW).

 

[Zomba13]

On the one hand this is cool, on the other enjoy getting a billion dupes of shitty sprays and voice lines.

 

[Drayco21]

Love the game; excited for this!

 

[Sora the Cat]

I went back to the game last week (After a few years) and I'm having an amazing time with it. You guys should try it again, it's way better now.

Game is way less stressful than other mobas, I see less people getting into chat fights.

 

[Anoregon]

was better than Cata and Warlords.

This is objectively correct.

 

[Zafir]

Urgh. It's nice that bundled skins are still purchasable, but still. RNG crates blow for the player. Good luck trying to get anything you actually want until you just end up getting enough dupe currency to purchase it anyway.

Hated it in Overwatch. I'm sure i'll hate it in this too. I've spent a decent chunk of change on cosmetics in Heroes, but I won't buy crates. Sorry. Shit system which just goads you into spending more money to get the stuff you want.

 

[LordRaptor]

Heroes of the Storm's biggest problem has always been that people unfamiliar with it have thought of it as just another Dota/Leaguelike when in reality it is actually a good game

Actually its biggest problem is how insanely shallow it is in a bid for accessibility, and how little individual performance matters because "map events" are so overwhelmingly powerful there's little point in doing anything except roaming the map picking up cookies to activate them.

 

[jasminlovesyoux]

Heroes of the Storm's biggest problem has always been that people unfamiliar with it have thought of it as just another Dota/Leaguelike when in reality it is actually a good game

Lol this is my impression. Maybe I should give it a shot

 

[Sora the Cat]

Actually its biggest problem is how insanely shallow it is in a bid for accessibility, and how little individual performance matters because "map events" are so overwhelmingly powerful there's little point in doing anything except roaming the map picking up cookies to activate them.

It may seem it doesn't, but individual performance does matter, and now they actually reinforce that at the end of every match.

 

[Seiru]

Actually its biggest problem is how insanely shallow it is in a bid for accessibility, and how little individual performance matters because "map events" are so overwhelmingly powerful there's little point in doing anything except roaming the map picking up cookies to activate them.

Uhh you realize that you are fighting the other team for these map events, right?

It's like saying "Wow, Dota is really shallow because there's little point in doing anything except destroying towers and the ancient."

 

[scoobs]

Actually its biggest problem is how insanely shallow it is in a bid for accessibility, and how little individual performance matters because "map events" are so overwhelmingly powerful there's little point in doing anything except roaming the map picking up cookies to activate them.

Ya fuck teamwork and having an actual objective to do other than last hitting the most minions.

It's a different game than whatever you play DOTA/LoL, doesn't make it a bad game.

I wish everything didn't have to be a competition between MOBA communities. Gotta shit on the other games to make my investment in this game justified!

 

[LordRaptor]

It's a different game than whatever you play DOTA/LoL, doesn't make it a bad game.

I'm not saying its a bad game.
I'm saying it is very shallow.

Because it is.

There's just not enough to hold peoples interest longterm.
That's not "FUCK HOTS, LOL / DOTA RULEZ", that's observable fact from the playerbase size and its churn.

 

[clockworkinyou]

This may be the most unappealing game that Blizzard has ever made.

That's easily Hearthstone.

 

[Arkeband]

ALL-NEW WAYS FOR YOU TO GIVE US MONEY!!! ISN'T THIS EXCITING?!

edit: LOL that Amazon. Listen Blizz, we know what the D2 Amazon looks like, don't try to pull the boob over our eyes.

 

[Vaev]

Been taking a long hiatus from this game, but I'll be back for this for sure. Anyone else play frequently? I'm always looking for new friends to play with, already have a lot of really fun groups that I could invite to

 

[SRTtoZ]

Wow seems so much better than the current system.

 

[Jest Chillin]

I'm not saying its a bad game.
I'm saying it is very shallow.

Because it is.

There's just not enough to hold peoples interest longterm.
That's not "FUCK HOTS, LOL / DOTA RULEZ", that's observable fact from the playerbase size and its churn.

The only thing that's shallower is that you don't have to buy items/build cards/whatever other buy system MOBA's typically have.

The games are shorter (a good thing) and it forces more group fights over objectives (which is what most people enjoy more than last hitting minions). This isn't objectively better or worse than other MOBA's. Just different. The quick match time alone makes me prefer it but not having to buy stuff is great as well.

 

[Mupod]

I think we need more people dropping hot takes about how loot crates are Satan and ignoring the fact that you couldn't earn (most) skins at all before.

 

[SirPinkyNose]

Ya fuck teamwork and having an actual objective to do other than last hitting the most minions.

It's a different game than whatever you play DOTA/LoL, doesn't make it a bad game.

I wish everything didn't have to be a competition between MOBA communities. Gotta shit on the other games to make my investment in this game justified!

Are you implying Dota doesn't require teamwork nor has actual objective?
The only different HotS brought to the table is it is extremely simplified. End of story.
I'm saying this as I'm having HotS as my primary moba. I no longer have time to play Dota so I switched to this instead, but saying HotS actually has something other moba don't is just ignorance.

 

[LordRaptor]

The only thing that's shallower is that you don't have to buy items/build cards/whatever other buy system MOBA's typically have.

No, there are far reaching design decisions made across the board to make HOTS more accessible, which have the side effect of making it shallower.
For example, they wanted to remove 'bad choices' from levelups, which seems like a sensible goal, but by making all build paths viable, you make all build paths less meaningful.

 

[Zafir]

I think we need more people dropping hot takes about how loot crates are Satan and ignoring the fact that you couldn't earn (most) skins at all before.

I think we need more people dropping hot takes about how great loot crates are because you can get free stuff, and ignoring the fact they are effectively gambling.

 

[hampig]

I'm not saying its a bad game.
I'm saying it is very shallow.

Because it is.

There's just not enough to hold peoples interest longterm.
That's not "FUCK HOTS, LOL / DOTA RULEZ", that's observable fact from the playerbase size and its churn.

Your "observable fact" is more like a "how I feel." Hots came in way late, and super undercooked. It has a healthy playerbase despite this, and while it's not as deep as other mobas, I don't think that means it's a shallow game.

Are you implying Dota doesn't require teamwork nor has actual objective?
The only different HotS brought to the table is it is extremely simplified. End of story.
I'm saying this as I'm having HotS as my primary moba. I no longer have time to play Dota so I switched to this instead, but saying HotS actually has something other moba don't is just ignorance.

Hots brought shorter games, faster pace, and simplified the whole deal. The fact that you're playing it because you don't have time to play DotA kind of speaks to what Heroes is all about. That's what it brings I would say. Definitely nothing gameplaywise that's revolutionary though.

 

[Askherserenity]

Ya fuck teamwork and having an actual objective to do other than last hitting the most minions.

It's a different game than whatever you play DOTA/LoL, doesn't make it a bad game.

I wish everything didn't have to be a competition between MOBA communities. Gotta shit on the other games to make my investment in this game justified!

Oof...

I thought there would be some bigger gameplay changes other than just reward stuff. Why call out HotS 2.0? They're just introducing better ways to get money.

 

[Jest Chillin]

No, there are far reaching design decisions made across the board to make HOTS more accessible, which have the side effect of making it shallower.
For example, they wanted to remove 'bad choices' from levelups, which seems like a sensible goal, but by making all build paths viable, you make all build paths less meaningful.

That's not inherently true. At all. By making all build paths viable, you make it impossible to build wrong and be completely useless.

If the various paths are unique enough, they can be just as meaningful (i.e. Sustain healing path vs. Burst Healing, etc...). So viability in paths and how meaningful those paths are, are not intrinsically connected.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

was better than Cata and Warlords.

only one of those made me quit and felt like having a 2nd job.

 

[Sora the Cat]

Hots also adds little things other moba doesn't have, it's really different and I appreciate that. Also, as I said before, game is way less toxic and stressful.

 

[SirPinkyNose]

No, there are far reaching design decisions made across the board to make HOTS more accessible, which have the side effect of making it shallower.
For example, they wanted to remove 'bad choices' from levelups, which seems like a sensible goal, but by making all build paths viable, you make all build paths less meaningful.

Actually no. HotS builds are very stiff. Most heroes have several paths which they have to stick with or they will be significantly less effective. Assassin can only choose either burst magic build, burst physical build, sustain magic build or sustain physical build with some defensive skill thrown into the mix, and most only have access to 3 out of those 4 options. Defensive skills are also the same. Blind and armor counter physical, magic shield counters magic and heal/shield improve overall defense.
The major problem with this system is that there is no flexibility. Once you choose a build, you pretty much stick with it. You can't sell your items to buy another one to fix your weakness unlike in other moba, so if you choose one wrong talent you pretty much lose the game.

 

[Dreavus]

I think we need more people dropping hot takes about how loot crates are Satan and ignoring the fact that you couldn't earn (most) skins at all before.

Yeah that's a net positive as far as I am concerned. Tons of this stuff was pay ONLY, with absolutely no way to earn them no matter how dedicated you were. From that perspective it is only a good thing... for F2P players at least. I suppose if you didn't have a problem dropping money for lots of paid skins before this could maybe be seen as a downgrade of some kind. However, it sounds like paid currency will still be used for bundles, which is how many (all?) skins first make their appearance, so even those players don't have much to worry about.

Also, I thought most of the hoopla about Overwatch was because it is a paid product rather than F2P like HOTS is? What is the defense here? This is just a shift in their F2P business model really.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

There are now vastly more types of cosmetics in the game. Before you only had skins, mounts, and portraits. Now there are announces, sprays, emoticons, voice lines, and banners as well.

More common filler to pad the loot boxes you say? Super..

Though it's good that it's a F2P game and not a pay to play like Overwatch.

 

[nubbe]

This might be better than the old system

 

[Nokterian]

Can't hold all these updates and overhauls on every game right now from Blizzard. I am pretty excited about it, some serious stuff that i really like!

 

[Zafir]

Yeah that's a net positive as far as I am concerned. Tons of this stuff was pay ONLY, with absolutely no way to earn them no matter how dedicated you were. From that perspective it is only a good thing... for F2P players at least. I suppose if you didn't have a problem dropping money for lots of paid skins before this could maybe be seen as a downgrade of some kind. However, it sounds like paid currency will still be used for bundles, which is how many (all?) skins first make their appearance, so even those players don't have much to worry about.

Also, I thought most of the hoopla about Overwatch was because it is a paid product rather than F2P like HOTS is? What is the defense here? This is just a shift in their F2P business model really.

It's a positive for F2P players who have no interest in buying cosmetics.

Those of us who were willing to drop a few quid on a skin when it was on sale end up being shafted. With loot crate systems it means if you want a skin, you'll end up paying a lot more due to randomness. The pity systems in place aren't very good because you'll still be paying a lot before you get enough of the currency to get the skin through that way.

The other problem is, with this system I don't see there being sales anymore either. As bundles will already be seen as a "sale" in the sense you don't have to gamble to get it.

 

[Fixed2BeBroken]

I played alot of HotS and put a ton of hours into it and love the game....but my problem with HotS is Overwatch.

Can't find the time to play both it seems....Gotta choose one. I chose Overwatch.

 

[ISee]

When is this supposed to go live?

 

[Anoregon]

Apparently when this goes live, you will get crates for retroactive levels but it will cap out at 70 crates (the level won't cap at 70)

 

[Star Falcon]

Just as the game was getting stale for me... this is a nice breath of fresh air. I'll give it a try when it launches for sure. Diablo 2 amazon is a nice addition also.

 

[Hari Seldon]

Heroes of the Storm's biggest problem has always been that people unfamiliar with it have thought of it as just another Dota/Leaguelike when in reality it is actually a good game

The other problem is that people who play those games find heroes too basic. And a fuck ton of people play those games lol.

 

[Sora the Cat]

The other problem is that people who play those games find heroes too basic. And a fuck ton of people play those games lol.

I don't find any HOTS hero to be any less complex than the ones on LoL, tbh.

 

[jediyoshi]

Hopefully brings me back, I mostly stopped playing because of other games coming out.

The timing of the inclusion of banners is pretty funny, Paragon just added them this month

https://www.epicgames.com/paragon/en-US/news/really-this-time-banners-are-here

https://cdn2.unrealengine.com/Parag...-bab10baf30e71ed0322d7859442a4e98177f0d86.mp4

 

[Hari Seldon]

I don't find any HOTS hero to be any less complex than the ones on LoL, tbh.

All I know is what some buddies of mine said who are deep into League when I tried to get them to play Heroes. I myself definitely prefer to n00b it up in Heroes.

Edit: Not the heroes, I meant the entire game itself.

 

[Sora the Cat]

All I know is what some buddies of mine said who are deep into League when I tried to get them to play Heroes. I myself definitely prefer to n00b it up in Heroes.

Yeah I mean, some of them can be easy at the start, but at the end of the match with every passive and active skill into account, I'd say it's pretty much the same. DOTA heroes on the other hand are way more complex and requires some micromanagement abilities, they got that right.

Edit: Oh ok, I was just talking about the Heroes. Game is clearly way less complex.