Update on Climate Phenomena Anomaly

[GriM-2561]

Please if possible, next time you think of something similar that reinvents the entire game, consider introducing a custom map on live servers so you can gather more feedback ahead of patch launch (since PTR has population and matchmaking problems and does not really serve a purpose except for targeted bug hunting).

XP anomaly was a complete mess at first but eventually it managed to improve the game as a whole. Weather addition wasn’t that horrible either but I’d rather not have it included at a cost of performance issues. This addition also introduced dozens of game breaking bugs and unintended interactions which no one realistically could could catch in single week, let alone fix the majority of them.

Looking forward to the map changes since we can only ban characters and not game worlds. This could be an amazing update that could put a spotlight on some of the less played heroes and underutilised talents. Hopefully it will allow you to expand the ranked map pool as well if community reception is positive. Many unique themes, tilesets and objectives is why I prefer this game to its competitors. Character pick priority is different each time overall making it a less mundane experience.

Haunted Mines for quick match until then?

[SlabBulkHead-11385]

Yeah but you get what they’re meaning… If they want to use rhythm as a metaphor for releases… Why doesn’t it work?

[Sapph-2827]

Thank you very much!

[IHATĔIDIOTS-1854]

i am okay with the weather, JUST MAKE IT CONSISTANT. like for Deathwing for example, he gains the shield weather affect but the other 2 don’t affect him

[Keynomaru-1512]

Okay now change EXP back too.

[Melke-1420]

Who says the team soden’t listen to us

That said HOTS team
Please bring this weather anomaly back every so often in the Brawl setting

[Hoku-1399]

@Cydra

Unfortunately, we’ve found that these changes were too disruptive to the normal flow of the game, and they didn’t add enough fun factor to account for how much they impacted the player experience.

This was the main issue for me, well, that and the frame drops. I do appreciate the creativity displayed in the anomalies so far, but sometimes it did feel like the “fun” factor was not always there. For example, I find the core mechanics added in the last anomaly to be an entertaining flavor change that does impact the game a bit, but not at the expense of fun. The climate effects were just too imbalanced between heroes and maps to really be fun, outside of the gorgeous visual effects of the rain and snow.

I am looking forward to new ideas from the development team, and I truly appreciate that you all not only listen to our feedback, but are willing to explain the thought process behind some of your decisions. I hope to see more of this kind of post in the future!

[TuskedGerman-1572]

Dang, I really enjoyed these effects and thought some of them brought a fun element to the game. I agree with a poster above that the stealth one felt like an indirect stealth hero nerf. However, I feel like switching the visual effect to a graphics option while allowing those with toasters to just keep track with the emblem that was already present would be preferable.

[Vindicare-1638]

It was a foregone conclusion that these were not going to last. Glad it took you guys only about a month and a half to get rid of them, they clearly weren’t adding much positive to the game.

My question though is that if we want to do random “themed” events like these, why can’t we just use the brawl function for them like we used to? Why are brawls stuck as just ARAM week to week when they have the potential to spiced up with more variety?

This anamoly didn’t work and was rejected mostly in ranked games where the disruption was too negative. In a brawl environment, that disruption wouldn’t be viewed the same way.

[MurlocAggroB-1893]

I really liked the lightning anomaly. It gave a little bit of lane clear to heroes who normally didn’t have much. You had the choice to take advantage of the lightning strikes and play bold for a moment to get some farm, at the risk of exposing yourself a bit. That part was fun.

That said, I heavily disliked the other two, so I won’t miss it. Of course, the framerate issues trump everything else, and I’m happy to see a fast response to them.

[Hoku-1399]

@MurlocAggroB-1893

I really liked the lightning anomaly. It gave a little bit of lane clear to heroes who normally didn’t have much. You had the choice to take advantage of the lightning strikes and play bold for a moment to get some farm, at the risk of exposing yourself a bit. That part was fun.

And then you did a brain fart like me, and while fleeing for my life, ran past a merc camp just as the lightning showed up.

Splat.

[Forrest-1959]

I’m glad it’s leaving all the maps, but I am sad to see it go cold turkey like this. If they make a new map focused around it exclusively, I think it would fare far better. Fingers crossed for an Eye of the Storm WoW Map.

• 2 lanes
• the flag is a payload
• the towns/forts are based off of each capture zone
• ALL the Anomaly weather effects + some newer and even crazier ones could happen on that single map. Cycling through, or random pattern.

If any place would be good for that, I think it would be Netherstorm.

[AnimRideBike-1263]

Good decision, since it generated drops of fps and that is very annoying making the game unplayable. Focus more on balancing what you already have and not adding unnecessary things to the game please.

[MisMagius-11316]

For me the Weather Anomaly didn’t really feel that important, like it wasn’t something I got incorporated into my mind along with the map, also needing higher setting to get a biggest visual impact was quite sad… (Mist p.e.).
The concept was really good, but in practice it didn’t feel that awesome…

[Skelephant-1333]

I’m not too sad to see this one go, but I am sad for everyone who worked on it. I still think the idea could be fun in a brawl if taken further. Leaving snow on the ARAM map seems fine, or having it some weeks in the brawl rotation. I’m super excited to see what happens with the map updates. If Haunted Mines is on the table, I’d be even more excited. I think it’s still the coolest design. Thanks for all the work y’all do in making my favorite game so amazing!

[Xoxin-1445]

@Cydra

We still plan on regular gameplay updates, and will continue to experiment with ways to make Heroes a better game, so you can count on that still happening. In the future, we want to take a bit more time and release updates only when we feel they are in a more polished state, and we want to give the members of the Development Team the freedom to explore certain longstanding issues that we think are important to the community. For example, we’re considering large updates to maps that we feel could use some design improvements.

I am extremely happy to see the devs realise anomalies aren’t what the game needs and to prioritize appropriately.

[Arcanis-1167]

The climate anomaly should not be seen as a failure as an idea. I think it has excellent potential for it’s own game style! Imagine you have two teams fighting over the north and south pole and upon claiming those territories for long enough they got a climate buff for the team! Snow shields, lightning shields or temporary stealth just for them vs the enemy not getting those buffs. Would be a cool brawl idea to try I think!

[NewsCenterTH-1596]

I Thank for this was really terrible if you didn’t decide to remove it literally ruining the game experience to many player’s. very good decision!

[SkullyPirate-1156]

Weather anomaly was fine as a weather-themed Brawl alone. I am glad though it is removed because people are experiencing issues with it in game.

If possible you can introduce the weather anomaly again in a new battleground in the future. Also it would be nice if you’re going to test anomalies, have them be in the PTR for a month. Yes, not a lot of people playtest in PTR but maybe if you give some reward (gold, protrait etc) to PTR playtesters, then you may get enough people to play the PTR and get a good enough data feedback to decide to put the new anomaly into the live servers or not.

[Avatar-1990]

Perfect response. Thanks Blizz!