What burn?
<I don’t understand>
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Smaller team + focusing on other things now. That’s why we are getting less heroes now.
I was really surprised to see a blue reply on this and am quite happy with the answers ! I always knew that preparing a new hero would take long and the more we keep having the longer it will take because each of those new hero may potentially react differently with said new hero.
I honnestly dont mind waiting a few months in between every hero release of those are quality release 
i dont whats the persentage of people that think like i would on this but i rather wait months for a quality and fun character/rework than have a half …baked , character every 2 weeks.
You people are doing a great job and please dont take anything like that player was saying to heart !!
You made a great game and im enjoying this game on a daily basis !
Thank you again for all this
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Can anyone speak to the size of the developer team behind DotA 2?
Because they had 4 heroes released in 2014. 2 in 2015. 2 in 2016. 2 in 2017. Only a single one in 2018. And only one new one released this year so far.
Meanwhile, despite the cutbacks this year, Hots has released three heroes so far, not counting Deathwing.
Keeping it simple.
Programming isn’t difficult. If we strictly define ‘programming’ to mean putting together a functional character that a player can control and interact with the game environment… no, it’s not that hard at all. After all, concepts for new characters and reworks for existing ones show up on the forums all the time.
DEVELOPING is what takes time. You don’t just slap a character together, you playtest it. You have to make it so that a character based around sniping genuinely feels like you’re playing a sniper. You should be concerned with staying out of the immediate combat zone, landing skill shots, and you should be playing an assassin character. If you’re playing a mage character based around combo-ing abilities, have you made the combos difficult enough to chain that it requires skill, yet not so difficult that only players who’ve mastered the character can get any use out of them? Do they hit too hard? Do they hit too often? Sure, it’s fun to play a powerful character that outright deletes enemy heroes right an left, but it’s not so much to play against a character you have to effectively ambush in order to get into a fair fight with them no matter who you play and how you play.
I don’t know, but DotA still has significantly bigger hero pool. And that’s one of my biggest gripes. When I started playing, the hero pool was 1/3 of what DotA had, but we were getting heroes so fast, that it felt like we could catch up in just few years.
But then the release rate slowed down before we had even gotten to 100 heroes (which would’ve been a decent threshold to start slowing down), and then the release rate basically died.
If we already had 150 heroes, among which all of the most wanted, as well as some of the less wanted heroes, then I wouldn’t have mind getting even 2 heroes per year (as long as Thisalee Crow/Qiana Moonshadow is in the game).
Alas we have about half of DotA’s hero pool, and a dead release rate 
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Oh i’m sorry then. This wasn’t anything personal, you know… Just pls then don’t do it. It’s annoying.
the hero pool being realized over 12 years as a mod.
half the cast were effectual mirrors of the other side (cuz all-pick wasn’t the default mode) that were eventually reworked to be more unique.
So you mean to tell me that in order to achieve what they are doing, I’m not allowed to use tools, which are probably inferior to the ones they are using?
So in order to prove that it’s “easy” to make a hero, I’ll need to also make a game engine + an editor before that?
“Probably?”
The whole point was to prove that you have an idea what you’re doing.
If you have no clue whether your tools are stronger or weaker than theirs, then you don’t.
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You sound like a child who is losing some game, so is comming up with some rules, so they can win.
I’m calling the thread here. Here be Trolls. Ye have been warned.
There are multiple steps to creating a character.
The first one is conceptualizing it. (who is your character, what is their theme)
The second is programming it. (Actually building the character into a controllable state)
<<WereElf has yet to step past this second step. Point of fact, has actually refused to move past this point, and asserts that because they are able to complete the first two steps that his argument is proven.>>
The third step involves actually playtesting. (here you ensure that the character behaves as intended. Hand it over to other developers to try out and make sure it’s engaging, make sure there aren’t flaws you didn’t see. Ask yourself "Is this fun? Is this controllable character actually feeling like the intended Blizzard character? ")
The fourth step involves taking the data from the playtesting phase to make adjustments. (Change ability functions, move added effects from the ability itself to a talent. Remove some effects entirely.)
Then the third and fourth steps are repeated as needed until the team as a whole is satisfied with the result. (at this stage, the character must have it’s own model, sound effects, visual effects, alternative skins, etc etc)
The fifth stage involves readying the character to go live on the PTR for eventual release.
Programming is easy. Building a character that functions is easy. After all, you are not an actual HotS developer and you can RECREATE a character.
You are not making a new HotS character.
You are not playtesting that new character.
Go, do that, find other people to playtest, then tell us how long that takes.
<<This is where the rest of the thread is… OP isn’t budging past the second step.>>
Again, here be trolls. Ye Be Warned.
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And why should I do that? To prove my point? There will always be kids that wouldn’t accept my results, no matter what. And when the hero is done, is it gonna get implemented into HotS? NO! So why should I?
On top of that you want me to playtest it… by myself? You want me to involve other people in this meaningless project just so trolls can tell me how my arguments are invalid? No, thanks.
This could be avoidable if the playerbase would be asked. I’m pretty sure about at least one “okay” or “good” or “awesome idea” will came from them if you would asking the playerbase.
Mostly at reworks. I can’t say so good opption to rework as a kid who plays every day 3 hour with the same character. Asking them would be pretty cool.
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It’s almost like HoTs as a game requires more developers to work on it than those we currently have…
In the hero development department at the very least 
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That would be a good idea, yes. Otherwise, the original theory stands. You have no idea what you’re talking about.
That’s true. On the other hand, if you actually did something other than almost get the hero working and then give up and start talking about tools the devs “probably” have, you might find somebody who will believe you.
It’s disappointing to have this thread turn into the basic “I could do a better job, but I refuse to because it’s everybody else’s fault!” rant instead of actually going through the entire process and . . . proving your point.
Edit:
That’s an interesting, interesting statement from somebody who drops a challenge they purportedly accepted.
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First major patch.
Which is likely going to be the winter event.
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This is most likely the case. Not exactly what I wanted but it makes the most sense at this point.
Actually, yes. So you can prove your point. You haven’t done that yet.
Again, you’ve taken an already existing character and translate them into a system. That’s not all that is involved in introducing a character to this game. You want it to be, but trust me, the game would very quickly be abandoned by a playerbase frustrated with the entirely unstable meta choked with more heroes than they can come to grips with.
But really. DO IT. Seriously. I’m not trolling here. Either you prove your case and prove that a character can move from concept, to programming, to refinement, to release in a shorter time period than we’re currently getting… Or you confirm that these devs are genuinely doing the best they can. Furthermore, it would be especially informative to hear a gamers account of the different nuances behind putting a character together. The Blizzard devs can’t be too talkative about it for various reasons, which means that you guys could chart each step and show us what it could be like for them.
But, hey, if it’s too much work, it’s too much work… and that kinda sinks your ‘it’s too easy’ argument just by admitting it’s too much work to do properly.
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