Home General Discussion

Heroes of the Storm

polycounter lvl 11
Offline / Send Message
Bigjohn polycounter lvl 11
http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/games/heroes/

Or at least I think it's a DOTA game.


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eThSo670cas"]The Game Formerly Known as "Blizzard All-Stars" - YouTube[/ame]

Replies

  • ZacD
    Offline / Send Message
    ZacD ngon master
    Yeah All-Stars was a Dota-like. It's going to be a hard genre for Blizzard to break into. They really need to release it as a stand alone game instead of a Starcraft 2 mod.
  • AtlusZMH
    I thought that was their plan for this anyway?

    I heard they took some devs off of Titan to work on this. Hopefully they're taking it seriously. Its got all their franchises in one!
  • ZacD
    Offline / Send Message
    ZacD ngon master
    I don't think Blizzard has ever been publicly working on this many games at once, Hearthstone, Starcraft expansion, Diablo expansion, Heroes of the Storm, project Titan, it'll be interesting see how Blizzard juggles all of these.
  • AtlusZMH
    I'm sure a couple of Blizzard minds are working on the movie, too.
  • IchII3D
    Offline / Send Message
    IchII3D polycounter lvl 12
    Wasn't DOTA also supposed to be getting added to World of Warcraft as a battleground? I remember it at Blizzcon a few years back. I assumed a DOTA focused battleground could possibly be the centre piece of there next expansion. But that's winging it a little, I'm sure we will know more at Blizzcon in a few weeks :D
  • mats effect
    I think this has been in the works for sometime its just got a new name.
  • ambershee
    Offline / Send Message
    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    I'm not sure whether to 'eh?' or 'meh'.
  • Spudnik
    Offline / Send Message
    Spudnik polycounter lvl 11
    I think this has been in the works for sometime its just got a new name.
    Correct, this was first Blizzard Dota, then Blizzard Allstars, both conceived as Starcraft 2 maps. Seems they're rebranding again and going standalone.
  • dfacto
    Offline / Send Message
    dfacto polycounter lvl 18
    What the hell? Terrible animation like this should not be associated with Blizzard.

    And Blizzard is way late, they might as well not even bother. They had the chance to essentially print money if they'd properly taken DoTA over in the War3 days, but they fucked that up and it's too late now. LoL and DoTA 2 have the market.
  • fearian
    Offline / Send Message
    fearian greentooth
    dfacto wrote: »
    What the hell? Terrible animation like this should not be associated with Blizzard.

    It's already associated with Blizzard. This was made by the creator of a very popular Starcraft 2 animated series. Blizzard gave him their blessing to continue using their IP in his 1 minute youtube shorts and I guess this is a nice tie in for the dedicated starcraft community - who are probably the most likely to start playing a Blizzard developed MOBA.
  • dfacto
    Offline / Send Message
    dfacto polycounter lvl 18
    And for everyone else it's a complete headscratcher and looks like they're slumming it. The thought counts, but so does professional presentation...
  • uncle
    Is this a joke? I mean, it looks like 2-man indie production.
  • Isaiah Sherman
    Offline / Send Message
    Isaiah Sherman polycounter lvl 14
    It is not a joke, and no, it does not look like a 2-man indie production because you didn't see any gameplay.

    The animator has done several Youtube pieces of Starcraft fan animations, many of which are quite hilarious (and have millions of views).

    They are using the animator's fanbase as an augmentation to their marketing. Cheap and efficient!
  • praetus
    Offline / Send Message
    praetus interpolator
    These videos are pretty old but it shows some of what they were working on before. Blizzcon schedule shows we'll be seeing and learning some more about it then.

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDOn9VR3XhY"]BlizzCon 2011 - Blizzard All Stars and Mods Panel (Full) - YouTube[/ame]

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBMN5stmv7o"]Blizzard All Stars Trailer - YouTube[/ame]
  • moose
    Offline / Send Message
    moose polycount sponsor
    Seeing what they did with Hearthstone, I can't wait to see what this has become and what it is. Little confused by the short, but *shrug* we'll see.
  • AtlusZMH
    It was all just publicity, as others have said, the animator is hugely popular with starcraft fans, to the point where casters will show his animations between starcraft tournament matches and breaks.
  • Spudnik
    Offline / Send Message
    Spudnik polycounter lvl 11
    Still, conventional wisdom dictates you put out a real trailer first and do a traditional reveal, then use the animation as tie in for Starcraft fans for them to connect to the new IP. As it is right now, as a casual Starcraft viewer and some one familiar with the animations, the whole thing left me pretty unsatisfied and disappointed since we got nothing but a name. Which has changed three times so far....
  • ZacD
    Offline / Send Message
    ZacD ngon master
    It's just a teaser before Blizzcon, I don't think it's a bad idea they are letting people know the name changed before Blizzcon, this way the discussion in a few weeks will be completely about the reveal, and not about the 3rd name change.
  • praetus
    Offline / Send Message
    praetus interpolator
    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ecv0bT9DEo"]Heroes of the Storm? Cinematic Trailer - YouTube[/ame]

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_fAkO3WOSY"]Heroes of the Storm? Gameplay Sneak Peek - YouTube[/ame]

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc4o15fQoFY"]Heroes of the Storm - Building the Nexus - YouTube[/ame]

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ETowT2Rhr8"]Heroes Skin Showcase - Heroes of the Storm - Blizzcon 2013 - YouTube[/ame]

    Tons of info from BlizzCon this weekend. I'm interested in seeing more.
  • NegevPro
    Offline / Send Message
    NegevPro polycounter lvl 4
    Initially I wasn't too excited because I hate games like DOTA but this one seems a lot more accessible. Shorter matches, more variety, and of course my favorite heroes! Can't wait to try it at some point.
  • Blaizer
    Offline / Send Message
    Blaizer interpolator
    What i like of this dota is how charismatic are all their characters. that's a great point for me because the characters in Dota 2 or LOL are very mainstream, generic and boring.

    The look of Diablo is very cool :D
  • Justin Meisse
    Offline / Send Message
    Justin Meisse polycounter lvl 18
    Blaizer wrote: »
    What i like of this dota is how charismatic are all their characters. that's a great point for me because the characters in Dota 2 or LOL are very mainstream, generic and boring.

    The look of Diablo is very cool :D

    Blizzard making a DOTA with all of their popular characters isn't mainstream?
  • almighty_gir
    Offline / Send Message
    almighty_gir ngon master
    At this point Blizzard are about as mainstream as it gets, art wise. That's not a dig at them, their art is fantastic.

    But it's very mainstream too.
  • LRoy
    Offline / Send Message
    LRoy polycounter lvl 10
    this looks great. love all the different skins
  • Blaizer
    Offline / Send Message
    Blaizer interpolator
    Blizzard making a DOTA with all of their popular characters isn't mainstream?

    Mainstream would be to "copy" the characters form other franchises like dota 2 and lol do. Blizzard is 100% original and genuine, give or take.
  • Isaiah Sherman
    Offline / Send Message
    Isaiah Sherman polycounter lvl 14
    My wife and I love LoL but the games are too long and we both suck at last hitting things, so it'd be nice to play a game where last hitting is not a factor and they didn't last an hour long.


    And yes, it's cool they decided to go with the D2 version of Diablo, because we all know D2 was the best.
  • Lazerus Reborn
    Offline / Send Message
    Lazerus Reborn polycounter lvl 8
    Some of the terminology like "nexus" seems too close to LoL for me... The diversity in gamemodes/maps looks nice though so ill hold my tongue till i've played it.

    Is it F2P?

    If not, i'll pass/
  • Sukotto
    Offline / Send Message
    Sukotto polycounter lvl 8
    It's gotta be F2P, if they want to compete with LOL and Dota2 then it HAS to be. If its not, thats one more handicap they have to face aside from being late to the party. I wonder what the business model is going to be. Will they go in the Valve direction and have community made content? Or make their own skins like Riot?

    The art style is nice and cohesive, painterly and vivid like WOW, but I just don't like some of the skins, at least the joke skins.
  • Isaiah Sherman
    Offline / Send Message
    Isaiah Sherman polycounter lvl 14
    Blizzard has always been strict with their visual content, I don't think they'd allow people to make custom art assets for the game.

    They might allow people to make custom maps / game modes, though. I think that'd give them an advantage.

    I also think if it is not F2P it will hurt them severely. MOBAs lend themselves to that payment method very well.
  • praetus
    Offline / Send Message
    praetus interpolator
    And yes, it's cool they decided to go with the D2 version of Diablo, because we all know D2 was the best.

    I'm pretty sure one of the skins is going to be the D3 Diablo as they use her in the cinematic. It'd be pretty weird if they didn't, but I gotta say I love the Murkablo skin.
    It's gotta be F2P, if they want to compete with LOL and Dota2 then it HAS to be. If its not, thats one more handicap they have to face aside from being late to the party. I wonder what the business model is going to be. Will they go in the Valve direction and have community made content? Or make their own skins like Riot?
    From what I saw from the various panels and Q&A entry is going to be free. It looks like they're going to charge for skins/alternate mounts. I think they're going the LoL route for pricing as it sounds like characters can be earned though playing or bought outright. They said in one interview that it is still up in the air but that is the vibe I got.
  • CapableWizard
    Offline / Send Message
    CapableWizard polycounter lvl 9
    This definitely looks interesting, I love playing League but the long game times and high skill cap make it difficult to keep up with. Making a more casual MOBA is an interesting choice but I feel like dumbing down the game will inherently bring a lot of unbalance - similarly lowering the skill cap will lessen your impact on the flow of the game which is really what gives League/Dota that competitive drive to keep playing. I'll definitely take a look if it's free to play but I really doubt it can catch up with the hugely popular competition unless it can successfully appeal to the casual market.
  • Isaiah Sherman
    Offline / Send Message
    Isaiah Sherman polycounter lvl 14
    ...but I really doubt it can catch up with the hugely popular competition unless it can successfully appeal to the casual market.

    I think too many people underestimate the "casual market." To me, a casual gamer is anyone that does not invest 3-4+ hours a day into a game.

    If they are able to bring in design elements that attract the larger masses, I would call that a win.
  • JacqueChoi
    Offline / Send Message
    JacqueChoi polycounter
    Blizz will make this game with a very low barrier to entry. Heck, already eliminating last hits, and 20min matches has me sold.

    I highly doubt they will even bother competing in the same space as DOTA 2 or LoL. It won't be a super crazy extreme hardcore game IMHO.


    Won't surprise me to see a very tutorialized style Single Player with heavy ability-gating. Interesting single player story etc.



    Very much looking forward to it. Some AMAZING talent on that team.
  • praetus
    Offline / Send Message
    praetus interpolator
    So, I got into the alpha last week and am loving it, as bad as I am at playing. So far I'm really having fun as Arthas, Diablo, and Falstad. Has anyone else been giving it a go? If you're interested in adding me I'm Nickelbeer#1752
  • ambershee
    Offline / Send Message
    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    JacqueChoi wrote: »
    I highly doubt they will even bother competing in the same space as DOTA 2 or LoL. It won't be a super crazy extreme hardcore game IMHO.

    They're not - it's a lot more casual; much like Hearthstone is to Magic: the Gathering.

    It's still another MOBA to me though, so I'm not yet keen on it. I'm also assuming it's free to play, which could influence my decision to in future.
  • praetus
    Offline / Send Message
    praetus interpolator
    ambershee wrote: »
    I'm also assuming it's free to play, which could influence my decision to in future.

    It is. They rotate six free characters per week. You earn gold by doing quests in game, which you can use to unlock other characters or you can buy them outright with cash.
  • Isaiah Sherman
    Offline / Send Message
    Isaiah Sherman polycounter lvl 14
    My wife and I will both be playing it when it comes out. Is there an ETA?
  • praetus
    Offline / Send Message
    praetus interpolator
    no release date that I know of. You can opt in to the technical alpha now and just keep an eye on your account/e-mail for an invite. I just managed to get in last week and a few of the guys I work with got in about a month ago.
Sign In or Register to comment.