New Map Ideas: Thoughts; Comments?

General Discussion
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I would love to see more maps. The same few cycling over and over again becomes redundant and frustrating (not because the maps are poor, but because the objectives are too similar and the play is not innovative). I would love to see the Graveyard/Mines return, the objective required the team to play and respond differently than to static objectives and created elements for good team play (division of labour between gathering skulls, defending the boss, laning). And I’d like to see that insight return to HOTS, where it seems to be lacking (though maybe it’s been tossed around in the board room).

Map 1 – Uber Tristram
The objective is a circle of summoning stones (think Rakinishu) which appears in a set of three or four places (like the Cursed Hallows objectives). One hero must channel (and are at risk during the channel) for a set time, maybe 45 seconds, though the timer is held wherever the opposing team interrupts it (like Alterac Pass).

On winning the objective, a buffed (but randomly chosen) Diablo hero is pulled forth to wreck havoc for the winning team. This would take place for a set period of time (much like Aba’s clone ult). I’m thinking for 1.5 minutes (minus the time the opposing team managed to channel the objective). This would force the defending team into a 6v5 scenario, and it would require the winning team to adapt play styles to the random hero.

Map 2 – Cow Level
All minions are various cows. The objective: summon/become the Cow King. The Boss Mercs could be Failed Cow King experiments. I envision this as an imprint of Dragon Shire that procs as a 15% chance in the Dragon Shire rotation, rather than an independent map.

Map 3 – Starcraft Map that isn’t Braxis…
I’d love to see a Protoss-based map maybe involving warp shrines that allows a teleport to a secondary area of the map, collect the objective, and call down a beam assault.

Map 3 – Scourge or Burning Legion
Would love a Warcraft map taken right from any warcraft previous to WoW, in which the teams must also compete with a third AI entirely composed of units from either Scourge or Burning Legion types.

This map requires three bases. The usual two, and a third in the center that spawns either Scourge Undead or Burning Legion demons on all three lanes (from a keep/fort in the top and bottom lanes; these can be destroyed but the centre one cannot).

The objective is a sacrifice in which one hero must die, and the team must defend the sacrifice so that the objective can be completed. When complete the Scourge/Burning Legion temporarily aids the winning team (while the sacrificed hero has an additional 15 second spawn time to balance the won objective pressure).

Thoughts?

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I like these ideas. I’ve always whined on here about HotS needing more maps.

Map 1 is interesting but I feel like it might handicap your team if someone has to channel for 45 seconds which will mean its 4v5 for 45 seconds. That’s rough, but I really like the Diablo hero spawn.

Map 2 I don’t particularly dislike it, but I think map skins would be pretty cool (rainy mode, night mode, day mode, snow mode for starters and then more map specific depending on the map. Stuff like that where it affects the environment and the creeps changed according to the mode.) Really cool base idea.

Map 3 is honestly important. Zerg and protoss maps would be really awesome.

Map 4 would make me extremely happy. I would imagine it as if you complete 3 rituals, 3 waves of The Scourge (or Human, Night Elf, and Orc reinforcements) spawns down each lane, in a balanced way of course. I would tie it to the Battle of Mount Hyjal where you have a Night Elf, Orc, and Human base (the three lanes) against all scourge/burning legion lanes. Just my thoughts though.

Really neat ideas.

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A lot of people want a kinda off Rakshir duel off map, that is protoss themed

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It’s more like Volskaya Foundry with an added Hero (just like old Dragonshire)

I really like the Idea.
Maybe conquering the third base gives you an advantage (special buff) against the enemy team instead of sacrificing an own hero.

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I don’t want any new maps. People struggle to understand the ones we do have.

Having a million different maps is not new player friendly. Also, they said they weren’t making any new ones.

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i really love your ideas, and i’d like to add one more that was in my mind for a while:

the elemental planes!
you begin as one of the four elemental lords in the 3 laned map, and the obj is an errand for the respective elemental lord you serve. the core is sulfuron keep for ragnaros in the firelands, a swirling vortex of water for neptulon in the abyssal maw, therezane’s throne for…u guessed it , in deepholm , and the throne of the four winds for al’akir in skywall. after obj, the elemental lord marches midlane and two other elementals in the other lanes. ( obj is very hard to get )

-therezane disables structures around her the entire time, but is the weakest.
-al’akir sends heroes too close up in the air, stunning them for 3 seconds. mediocre strength
-ragnaros deals the most damage and has the most health
-neptulon summons little elementals for every hit.

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I would argue with your suggestion (that players don’t understand the maps we do have) is not tackling the issue of game stagnation but poor choices by players (engaging at different levels: some pay attention; some compete; some just want to kill stuff at the end of the day because playing not winning is more fun; some are just bad).

But if you play frequently, and play the same maps over and over for months, they get stale. Compounded with other more immediate frustrations, such as player toxicity, poor balance, etc… the game begins to flounder.

I’m not saying that we need a million maps. Maybe each quarter swaps out a new map for an old one, maybe that map stays swapped out for 6 months and gets pulled back into rotation later in the year. Over a year we get two new maps and the order is reshuffled every four months, instead of an event that offers little merit other than a few cosmetic skins.

The larger issues still need to be considered, for sure. But I think the game would be a little more animated at the basest level, the virtual world you move through. And, I think, sometimes fixing issues in development can be augmented by rolling out new, well-planned aspects to the game, rather than blindly pinning the tail on what you already have.

Events are sometimes fun, but sometimes tiring/pointless/irrelevant. New heroes are hit-and-miss depending on power creep and how often old heroes get neglected: but they shake up the arena.

Why not also shake up the arena itself?

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Well that’s why this game needs a more in depth tutorial. I also think they should categorize the maps based on the objectives and how the map works. I think doing that will help people understand. Adding new maps wouldn’t affect new players. There are 80+ heroes. There’s a lot to learn anyway. Adding 5 more maps isn’t going to kill anyone.

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I really like the Mount Hyjal and Map modes too. Imagine Infernal Shrines with random modes that change where/what the mercs are? 60% of the time it’s normal the other 40% of the time is a whole new match experience.

I really like the Mount Hyjal idea. And the Zerg Protoss ones. Zolskaya is fine (though I would love the mercs to be reversed, one side has siege on the top, one on the bottom). Braxis is one of my favourites. The objective requires attentive play and cooperation, and the outcome (in a good game) is really interesting if both teams play well and each release a tonne of zerg.

45 seconds might be long, but I anticipate it being interrupted and contested for longer, as on Alterac. 30 seconds might be too short to allow a good retaliation (though, honestly, if you wipe on Alterac before the objective you’ve pretty much lost it anyway). And it isn’t too hard, unless you’re outplayed, to interrupt a channel. So 30 seconds would probably work fine.

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I feel kinda bad because I feel like I changed the original intent of OP’s ideas lol.

Anyway…

I always loved this mission in Warcraft 3. Its so epic. Seeing it in HotS somehow would just make the game that much better for me.

Yeah I think it should be like Alterac. You channel and if you get attacked it cancels it but keeps the time you already put in when channeling. So if you channel for 20 seconds, you now only have to channel again for another 25 instead of starting back at 45 seconds. I believe this was the OP’s original idea but in case it wasn’t, I think this is how it should be.

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No worries. It’s a collaborative post. What else is the point of a forum (Greek, Roman, etc…) if not to share ideas.

I think 25 seconds is too short a time in consideration that the objective would add a hero to the team for a short time. And that leaves less time to contest the objective properly. Also, a good match up in Infernal Shrines or Braxis takes a lot longer to complete the objective if the players contest well.

I remember a lot more Footmen Frenzy and Tower Defence on custom maps than much of the storyline game play of W3FT. But Hyjal was awesome. Having maps that force more opportunity for game play and game design, I think, is more important than facilitating team fights and objectives.

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Oh sure thing! I appreciate your kindness and understanding. I just think derailing is wrong and as much as I’ve done it, it sucks to have someone’s post out glow the main thread.

I’m not sure you understood what I meant. Keep the total channel time 45 seconds, but if a hero channels 20 seconds and someone stops them, they shouldn’t have to start all over. It should keep the 20 seconds banked and not make them have to channel for 45 seconds all in one channel. Just my opinion. I guess we’d have to see how it played out and adjust it from there.

I loved Footman Frenzy. And I agree, but there should be a balance between how much PvP and PvE there is.

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For that first one I’m imagining a large objective you can channel on where people channel like on Alterac pass when you delay, where progress is made through out the entire channel rather than channel completion.
So you can stutter-channel and weave channeling into combat and still make progress.
And then make it so each hero that is channeling can contribute.
So if the whole team channels it’d only take 9 seconds total instead of 45.

I’ve always wanted a map with generators you could destroy/repair that make walls or bridges to shift the map around.
It’d fit well for a Protoss map.

I’d like a map like Haunted Mines, but with 3 layers.
And each layer would be a lane, maybe 2 lanes in the middle one.
Certain actions around the map would affect the lane beneath/above.
Like being able to attack something to create temporary vision blocking steam vents on the layer above, or provide vision into the layer below by walking near a hole, or maybe spawn weak xul-style skeleton mercs in the lane above by destroying tombs.

I guess I just think more map interaction would be cool.

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At least let them return the mines. Many have already forgotten what kind of map it is. Or suddenly the developers shall quietly does remove it from the game at all.

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The issues here, is that

  1. More maps doesn’t give you more to enjoy, since you cannot pick which map you end up on.

  2. You cannot practice on a map, because, again, you can’t chose to play on it. You could play 7 games before ending up on that map again. Which likely won’t be on the same day. So your last game on it isn’t exactly fresh on your mind.

  3. More maps does not equal more variety. A lot of people get frustrated because they keep ending up on a map they don’t like. Variety involves choice.

  4. A new map wouldn’t add anything much to the game, and wouldn’t solve any of the current issues. We currently have 13 maps. I don’t see that the game would be significantly worse if we had 11, or significantly better if we had 15.

I cannot speak to game stagnation because I don’t believe there is any. Heroes get re-worked, metas changes, new heroes come up, mechanics change etc. The game doesn’t stand still.
Every new map added would mean each map gets played less. So player’s mastery of them get even harder. There are no in-game map tutorials, and people can’t be bothered to look them up. They assume they know everything and they fail.

On MoBAs that essentially have a single map with different paint jobs. Players are unlikely to be playing the map wrong. Because they always do the same thing. It isn’t logical to say that a new player having to figure out 13 different maps will have zero impact on their efficiency. For it to have no effect isn’t possible.

When I play on Towers of doom. It’s extremely rare to have more than one other person on my team who knows how to play the map properly.

On rare occasions where everyone on my team does. We always win. Even with a lesser comp.

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That’s a really cool idea. It’d be a cross between Hanamura and Battlefield of Eternity. Even better if that’s the map we can get Void Thrasher Bosses and Void Rift merc camps.

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Hey. Yeah. Mutli-hero channel to reduce the overall time would be great. In the case of a pre-objective wipe there wouldn’t be much to react to on respawn, but there rarely is anyway. At least, not with Alterac. But the team dynamics might shift as well to facilitate different combat strategies too.

I really like the idea of multi-level map. Each lane being above or below could use a warp spot to take you back to the core area, and each warp is protected by a fort. That way the overall structure doesn’t change in terms of minions and lane pressure but the lane interaction between heroes would be really cool.

Mercs could all be a warp-in/warp-out thing: do a quick teleport to a floating platform, beat them, they warp into lane and trash!

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Variety doesn’t necessitate choice.
But maybe it could be possible to have map vetos.

You mean pushing right? :3