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[Greiger]

Bah makes me sad to see such discussion on the one MOBA I found I enjoyed.  I like not having to keep track of items and constantly having to go back, to buy some item or another.  I never liked having to go back to base and slowly walk my way back to the front lines every few hundred gold. 

I very rarely go B with brightwing and I like it that way.  I can just hang back for a bit until my passive heal brings me back up on hp while getting a chunk of my mana back since I'm not actively using my mana.  Having to go back just to pick up some item or another breaks up the flow unnecessarily in my opinion. 

Kill a character in LoL and you know they're just coming back stronger since they had a chance to pick up the next item they needed.  In HotS getting killed is actually more of an inconvenience and doesn't benefit them in any way.  Unlike dying in lol where it's "I died but at least I can pick up that infinity edge I needed now.  And if they decided to push while I'm gone I'll have an equipment advantage, if they B'd to shop we're just on even ground."

[Shadowlord]

Maybe they decided to quit and cash out while they were at it.

I wouldn't be surprised. Most MOBAs have a lifespan of months and Blizzard doesn't have the devoted fanbase that it once did. If you're the type of person that likes to cash out of games, now would be a good time to cash out of HotS.

Gimli was talking about LoL, not HotS. :V

[Cthulhu]

I dunno if they're ducking out exactly.  I used to say it a lot back when the Korean and Chinese pro scene first really took over and we started seeing Asian teams moving to America to sneak into the tournament against easy competition:  Americans tend to be really bad in the actual tournaments but almost to a man the high-level American players have profitable streams and youtube channels.  When you consider the amount of effort and money that goes into the tournament scene I dunno if there's really much reason for a lot of players to do it.  There's way more money in streaming.  Obviously a lot of people do both but there's also a ton of hugely successful non-pro players who I'd bet make a steadier and safer income than tourney pros.  Trick2g for example, may he burn in hell for what he's done to low-elo jungling.

[Cthulhu]

Finally gave the game a shot.  It's interesting but I dunno, I'd need to play more to get a real feel for it.  The lack of last hitting and stuff doesn't seem to have ruined the game as much as I expected, it's definitely changed up laning though.  I was always more into the zoning and trading aspects and pretty bad at last hitting and actual creep management.

Tried Valla and Malfurion in actual games, kicked all kinds of ass with Valla but the Malfurion game went pretty badly.  Heroes are definitely a lot tougher in this than the other games.  Valla was tough early on but pretty soon I was crushing everybody one on one, and Malfurion just never died at all, I think I only died twice before the final pushes.

[ZebioLizard2]

Finally gave the game a shot.  It's interesting but I dunno, I'd need to play more to get a real feel for it.  The lack of last hitting and stuff doesn't seem to have ruined the game as much as I expected, it's definitely changed up laning though.  I was always more into the zoning and trading aspects and pretty bad at last hitting and actual creep management.

Tried Valla and Malfurion in actual games, kicked all kinds of ass with Valla but the Malfurion game went pretty badly.  Heroes are definitely a lot tougher in this than the other games.  Valla was tough early on but pretty soon I was crushing everybody one on one, and Malfurion just never died at all, I think I only died twice before the final pushes.

If Malfurion isn't dying then they likely were having trouble's to begin with, his lack of primary burst heal and his main CC don't defend him as well as some of the others.

Though I can't wait for Johanna right now, she just looks so interesting..Even if we need more non tanks for Diablo.

[Cthulhu]

The biggest problem I'm seeing right now is that the huge team-centric nature of the game means while it's impossible to carry your team in the traditional way, it's very possible to carry the opposing team.

The only way to really individually influence the game is to make good calls and lead your team but right now I don't really see what the calls would be aside from "group 5 guys" and "do the objective."  Meanwhile if one player thinks this is league of legends the game is already over.  And since it's such a new game and so different from other dobos there's a ton of people playing it unbelievably bad.

[HopFlash]

some weeks ago I tried to play LoL. I thought: hey so many players play it you need to try.
first it was fresh and fun but then I learned (the hard way) that nearly noone in matchmaking for my low level was a noob like me. So there were the "normal" noob bashing...that made me angry.
I applied to a (multigaming)clan I know of and played some games and was trained a bit. It was more fun now (to play with friends).

then at work a friend of mine (who never played a moba before) talked me into trying out HotS.

And I really like it...more noob compatible, enough complexity for my playing timeslots (I can't hardcore gaming like many years ago ), more different maps and way more teambased (no lasthitting, item remembering but team levels).
And if you don't be interested in playing with other because they only make you angry, you can play against the AI (which can make you angry too ) and you level and making your quests too.
Prices for heroes are fair too...you can't buy all very fast but you can buy your favorites very early.

For balancing and stuff I'm not afraid that Blizzard will screw it up.

So...it's a little bit simplier than LoL but not trivial and perfect for me and my "casual" gaming.

[Folly]

The only way to really individually influence the game is to make good calls and lead your team but right now I don't really see what the calls would be aside from "group 5 guys" and "do the objective."

I'm probably still too noob to form an accurate opinion on the meta game...but so far, this hasn't really been my experience. Specialists, in particular, can wipe out a fort just as quickly as most captured objectives, making it dangerous to focus entirely on the objective every time. Also, many maps have multiple objective points, forcing you to choose which ones to go after and how many people to send to each. Capturing mercs, and defending against the enemy team's mercs, can often force the team to split up. Sometimes I like to dive deep pushing towards the enemy core if I'm playing a hero with good escape abilities, just to pressure them to divide their forces long enough for my team to capture an objective. It seems to me there's lots of room for creative strategy.

Anyway, my most recent self-imposed goal has become reaching level 5 with as many rotation heroes as possible for that quick easy 500 gold, and just to gain a better understanding of the mechanics of various heroes so I'll be able to fight against them more effectively. Yesterday I finished up Arthas and this morning I did Malfurion, now working on Stitches.

[Cthulhu]

Alright, holy shit.

This is unreal dude.  The people I'm playing with are so unbelievably bad it's really fucking with me.  Pretty much every game is dominated by multiple players who barely seem aware that they're playing a game.  Pinging is hopeless, talking is hopeless, I've seen people literally stand there in the wave hitting creeps while a teamfight rolls past, never even looking away.  I've killed people who never even tried to do anything.

And since the game is so team-centric, it's almost impossible to carry.  Like, I remember when things were this bad in league.  When things were this bad in league I was winning 9/10 games.

So I'm wondering if anybody still plays this and wants to queue with me for a while, duo our way through the open beta trenches until we get to the good tiers.  The game's actually really fun, it's just a complete disaster at low mmr.

[Folly]

Necrobump!

HotS just got it's 2.0 patch, including new heroes, new map, and a bunch of cosmetic stuff.
More importantly, they're giving away 20 free heroes just for logging in any time during the next month! Yay free stuff!

[Neonivek]

Now if only they would give me more of a reason to log in in general.

But it feels like a slog everytime... (one of the big reasons I don't even play Hearthstone is because of their ridiculously terrible log in system... "Win three games as a Paladin" yeah thanks... I'll just play the character I don't like)

Double bonus the 20 characters are the cheapest ones... so if you have been playing for a while you will typically own most of them... and if you don't... it is because you specifically didn't want them.

And the game is STILL too new heavy... I feel like as a fan of the games that D3, World of Warcraft (and Warcraft 3), StarCraft 2, and Overwatch are given undue priority.

---

edit: Actually I think this is even worse, they changed it to carrot and stick their audience... Which will work... but still.

I am uninstalling. I gave the game a fair shake to improve itself and the problems.

It considers this 2.0, this IS the "improved" version. Yet it just exists as a worse way to try to siphon money out of people and I just don't support that. I won't support games that are predators on their fanbase.

[Greiger]

I pretty much only play with a friend who loves mobas these days, because I staunchly refuse to play LoL and Smite after my first few matches.   At least HotS has some characters I like.  I'm not quite sure I'm using the term right but would brightwing qualify as a waifu?

Probably nice bragging rights to suddenly see my lv 20 bw boost to lv 54 overnight.  And they are certainly doing everything they can to make veterain players NOT feel screwed over with the exclusive vet lootcrates you are awarded retroactively and enough gems to buy a hero bundle, but I really don't like the gacha.  The gatcha is bad enough except they split the skins so each alt coloration is a diffrent skin now, so not only do they have a gatcha, they filled it up with garbage skins that are just alternate colors that you used to get just as a reward for being good with the char.

Really the only thing I was hyped for was the brightwing announcer, and she costs like 5 times as much as the other announcers.   Everything else was so much background noise.  I already have the skins I like for the chars I play (Brightwing, Dehaka, Falstad, Lunara, Lucio) and I generally don't like most of the other chars.  So the rebranding as heroes 2.0 is just a lot of hype with no substance.

[Wiles]

I just started playing the game again because I was lured back by the 20 free hero packs. I have to say I am pretty damned disappointed with the store changes. I might play for a bit but I sure as hell won't spend a dime on the game. I really hate this lootbox trend and refuse to spend any money on games that use them. If I want a skin I'd like to be able to buy it.

It's like if I went to the store to buy a t-shirt but instead of getting the one I wanted I'd have to enter some clothing lotto instead where I end up with a bow-tie and a pair of flip flops instead of getting the fucking shirt I want. It is such a predatory way to do business. I honestly think this shit should be illegal for children as well. They can't go to casinos and gamble but they can go online and gamble on digitial bullshit...

[Frumple]

Huh. Don't actually play, cause my comp can't run the thing worth a damn, but can't you still buy most/all things with whatever is that pops out from recycled duplicates? Do watch a streamer or two that play HotS, and from what I can tell the store mostly just ended up with more ways to get free shit, with not terribly much impact on direct purchase of (at least most) stuff. Net result of it being better for both free folk and dosh dropping critters, so far as raw loot acquisition goes.

... not that I don't understand the pathos about the loot boxes, mind you. Just that, from what I understand, the shift didn't really take away much so far as being able to buy skins. Worst of it so far as that particular complaint goes seems to be putting another step in the process of wallet to transient data acquisition.

Least seeing it from the outside, it's one of the less painful gacha type systems I've seen. Which puts it fairly high up so far as F2P monetization goes... though that may say significantly more about the other examples than it does about HotS, ha.

[Wiles]

Yes you can purchase skins with "shards" which you get from opening loot boxes. The problem is you don't seem to get very many. I opened 10$ worth of lootboxes and got like 20 shards (I had currency from leveling up). It cost 100 shards to craft a rare skin, 400 for an epic 1600 for a legendary.

I did get a bunch of stuff but I'd much rather be able to buy the one thing I want instead of getting 40 things I don't want. It's a garbage system that is designed to get you to spend more money.