“Can be” is closer to the truth than “is”. You have to get lucky with multiple high-value quests and have access to multiple low-level heroes to hit milestones for Gold rewards. Unless you have a day off, you’re unlikely to be able to rouse up 10k in 24 hours (especially if you’re new).
I don’t believe that. HOTS is beloved enough for major players to make their own HGC-esque leagues out of nothing - which, if you’ll recall, is how DotA started its rise to prominence. If the game is good enough and the love is strong enough, all you need for the “full MOBA experience” is the monetary flow to sponsor development, balance, and official tournament organization. HOTS is obviously doing enough right for people to want to see it played at a professional level, so it can’t hurt to make it easier to get into and easier to spend money on.
Subjective feedback here, but I haven’t been running into that many report-worthy individuals.
True. But that can easily change once the game becomes more accessible.
HOTS is not and does not have to be like other MOBAs. People’s interest in the professional scene is proof of that.
True, and it could definitely use one.
What are you talking about? Stitches got plenty of new variants.
True, and I desperately want it to be.
HOTS is not comparable to older games because older games weren’t free. HOTS is, and you have to make your money somewhere. A free game being addictive and fun doesn’t generate the developer any money.
We’d have a lot more coming and a lot less going if the game was easier to stay on.
Thank you! I don’t post very often but when I do, I try to make it worth something.
The MOBA genre is losing players to simpler games like Fortnite because they’re exactly that: simple. They’re drop in, play for however long you want, and drop out. There’s no organization, no planning, just gameplay. HOTS netted a ton of MOBA fans because it was simpler than its competition without being weird about it like Smashmuck Champions, so obviously there’s a market for a casual MOBA. All HOTS needs to do is tap the market a little better (for example, by being better to its casual players by opening up the roster and making things easier to buy) and it’ll get some life back.
Giving up makes you weak. There’s no harm in trying and hoping for something better doesn’t hurt anyone, so I might as well.
Hello again. If HOTS was crap from the start, it wouldn’t have grown like it did - it would’ve died like Smashmuck Champions and the countless other MOBAs that tried to break into the genre.
Aaay, thank you! That means a lot coming from you.
I agree. They need the income to sponsor that kind of work first though.
That would be pretty nice, yeah.
It can’t be any worse with how flooded the item pool is with emoji packs, sprays, avatars, and banners that people don’t really care about. Adding a bunch of skins will at least give players more Skinergy options. Plus, Step 2 of the proposal involves “allow players to buy whatever they want with Gems at any time”, so if people don’t want to deal with the drop pool, then… they won’t have to!
I agree with your first statement up to a point. League was never on Steam, but it was free and it was the original stand-alone alternative to DotA.
Second point is definitely valid, but the market is becoming increasingly online and brick-and-mortar stores are dying a slow and steady death. Adding Blizzard Balance cards to stores might not be worth the effort.
Third point is valid, but can be helped. The original 20-hero bundles brought in a ton of new blood, so there’s precedent for player drives paying dividends. All Blizzard needs to do is care enough to make it happen.
Would you mind explaining why you consider “make things better for new players, make spending money on the game easier, and make more content that people want to spend money on” to be moronic changes?
Word of mouth does a lot more than you would think. League’s initial boom was because people tried it and told their friends - the initial advertising run wasn’t really that prevalent.
“HOTS won’t ever grow” is a defeatist attitude. Of course it won’t grow if you’re already convinced it won’t. I still have hope because HOTS gives me gameplay that isn’t available anywhere else, so I’m not ready to give up on it.
That said, I don’t think it’s the design team’s fault. HOTS has gameplay issues and QoL issues, but it’s not like its more successful competitors haven’t had those same issues (and in League’s case, had them for years).
Honestly, I would love for HL/UD to have an unordered pick like TL. Sure, selfish players can abuse it to instalock their given choice, but at least that way you’re not relying on someone being shoehorned into a role because they happened to be the last pick.
