I keep thinking about how Riot Games are soon to have a LoL:
- MOBA
- MMO
- Card Game
- Autobattler
and the perks that come with that. First off, it’s no longer LoL (MOBA)'s burden to tell the narrative anymore. There are canonically alive & dead champions/heroes in that game. So the focus is simply having fun and playing the game. It also means that players who love that universe can easily navigate their way to any of the other games within that universe. This is also huge for Riot Games as it means money stays within that ‘ecosystem’.
So when comparing it to Warcraft, Warcraft has:
- MOBA (sort of)
- MMO (WoW)
- Card Game (Hearthstone)
- Autobattler (Rumble)
if HotS got rebooted, had ‘Warcraft’ slapped in the title (“Warcraft Heroes” or something) and we could leave behind all of the confusing and convoluted Nexus “lore”, I think what would be left would be a game far more ‘free’ to have fun. Crossovers could still happen in a similar fashion to how they do with Overwatch; events, anniversaries, and promotions.
Gameplay-wise there would be little changing mechanically. I can imagine most if not all of the Heroes that aren’t Warcraft would have a fairly easy time being converted to a Warcraft alternative with all abilities staying mechanically identical. Couple off the top of my head:
- Nazeebo ->Sen’jin.
- Gargantuan → Darkspear Juggernaut. Ravenous Spirit → Loa Spirit, etc.
- Nova ->Alleria Windrunner.
- Cloak → Void Veil. Holo Decoy → Shadow Apparition. Precision Strike → Power of the Rift, etc.
- The Butcher → The Butcher (Highmaul).
- This one’s such a low hanging fruit lmao. Everything matches thematically.
- Raynor → High Tinker Mekkatorque.
- Raynor’s Raiders → Gyrocopter Minis. Hyperion → V-07-TR-0N Aerial Assault.
- Tyrael → Tirion Fordring.
- Judgement → Ashbringer’s Judgement. Archangel’s Wrath → Final Blessing
These are just spitball ideas. But the point is that everything you love about HotS would persist. To drum up some hype, this could happen similarly to how SMITE 2’s launch has happened. That game is launching with 1/5th of the original’s roster, but sure enough every couple weeks a new cluster of “Gods” are added, and along with them comes QOL changes, new improvements, and more.
Also similarly to SMITE 2, this Warcraft HotS reboot could use a token/loyalty credit system. To explain, for SMITE 2, the equivocal value of everything you owned in game for SMITE 1 is granted to you as currency. This is so, depending on how you feel about certain hero/skin changes, you can buy back heroes, and skins, etc. Additionally, the more money spent on SMITE 1, the more of a loyalty credit you get. Which means everything you buy with new money (and not the granted currency) is discounted by 50%. This means if you spent lots of money on HotS, you would get that same dollar-value’s worth in HotS reboot, plus an additional currency that grants a 50% store discount on everything for a time. In doing so, this system means that SMITE 1 players could theoretically get a lifetime 50% discount on the in-game store on everything they buy if they never fully spent all of that bonus currency.
All in all I think this idea works wonders for HotS-enjoyers, and helps further expand the Warcraft franchise to the same heights League of Legends is at. It means no worrying about the “Nexus”, or realms, or convoluted lore. It’s just as straightforward as the original DoTA Allstars was in WCIII. Doesn’t matter if a character is dead or not, they can still become a hero (just like how it currently is for HotS). Players who enjoy Warcraft Rumble, WoW, Hearthstone, can now find a fresh, new entry to the Warcraft IP. One that scratches the itch of HotS, one for disgruntled LoL and Dota 2 players, and HotS-enjoyers. All while effectively using the Warcraft branding to make people realize HotS had the sauce all along, and now it can be enjoyed by many more.
By re-branding HotS with a Warcraft IP, it serves many benefits:
- Gives Games media & reviewers a new reason to re-review the game like as if it was new new.
- Makes its relevancy within the Warcraft ecosystem far more evident to newcomers and veterans, meaning, much like how Riot do with LoL’s games, it keeps people in that community for longer, and all games thrive that way.
- Provides a very fresh, very nostalgic alternative for disgruntled/bored LoL/Dota 2 players
- Gives HotS new life while keeping the best parts of its gameplay exactly the same
- Guaranteed to appeal heavily to Classic WoW players and Warcraft RTS hardcore players.
- It also means Blizzard/Warcraft beats Riot/League of Legends to the punch by having an all encompassing franchise that spans across the 4 aforementioned game genres.
The list could go on but I think the point is made. I love this game dearly, but I understand that all that remains of it are the players who loved it enough to stick around. It is depressing how many newer WoW and LoL players haven’t even heard of this game, or don’t even realize HotS is about Warcraft/Diablo/Starcraft.
While in the eyes of some, this may seem blasphemous, I think having Diablo/Starcraft crossover skins during those games’ anniversaries and such would be great opportunities to recycle much of the non-Warcraft assets. Crossover skins like Terran Marine Rexxar, King of Blades Arthas, etc are great examples of how crossover events could still plentifully satisfy fans of Diablo, Starcraft, and Retro Blizzard too.
All of this comes from a place of love. I miss this game getting new content like it used to, and despite getting small updates here and there, it is beginning to fade into obscurity as of late. It also very clear that Microsoft are taking notes from Riot Games and how they manage their golden goose franchise. It is in Blizzard’s best interest to become “Warcraft studios” similarly to how, outside of Valorant, all of Riot Games’ other games are within the League of Legends universe.
And lastly (and most importantly), a reboot like this would mean we’d finally see Arthas get that visual update & rework 
