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If you haven't played/wrote off Heroes of the Storm, please try it again (here's why)
- Thread starter jetsetrez
- Start date
Maximus.
Member
The community is absolute garbage.
I loved the game, played it since beta. It is a real fun and polished game and the only MOBA that really stuck with me. As I got more into the game and ranked, it really stood out how poor the community was. Really made me dislike playing the game with people who don't want to play as a team or berate each other constantly.
Blizzard made a great game, but they can't make a great community.
SlickShoes
Member
What do consider good performance then?
I am running it on a quad core i5 skylake and a 4GB 960M, on high settings at 1080p it hovers around 60 and feels playable but then when certain things happen it drops to the 40's the 20's and generally struggles with 4+ players on screen.
If I then turn things down the framerate gets worse, with everything on low, sound channels down, spell effects down it never even reaches 60fps and it still fluctuates all over the place to a worse degree than running on high settings.
When so much of what happens is decided in team fights I can't deal with half second freezes and grim frame dips in those scenarios and it usually ends up in a mis click or stupid death.
I have read someone say it's tied solely to CPU clock speed and that my 2.3GHz quad core would be fine if it was even a 2.8 Ghz dual core. There is something off about the optimisation and it basically means if i play any character that requires precision I can be sure that the performance of the game will ruin any enjoyment.
Yoshichan
And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?
Zagara, Kael'thas, Murky, Sylvanas and Jaina were all ridiculously fun to play, yeah...
Thanks for the write-up, OP. You've secured my interest!
I'm totally new to MOBAs, but Blizzard has a certain style and quality to their stuff that's quite endearing, so I'm definitely gonna give this a shot. Glad to hear it's accessible.
I'm also a fan of SC and OW universes, so curious to see how those characters carry over.
OT2 is here for anyone that's interested. Seems pretty active.
I'm totally new to MOBAs, but Blizzard has a certain style and quality to their stuff that's quite endearing, so I'm definitely gonna give this a shot. Glad to hear it's accessible.
I'm also a fan of SC and OW universes, so curious to see how those characters carry over.
OT2 is here for anyone that's interested. Seems pretty active.
chillybright
Banned
Former lol player here. Tried Heros in open beta and this is exactly how I felt. I guess Blizzard wants to draw a different audience other than existing lol or dota players since there are too many design decisions that are in odd with the core idea of lol or dota.
I have played Dota 2 for 3070 hours, but I really got burned out on it. Have played maybe 15 matches this year. So I started to play Hots again a week or two ago. I used to play in beta and in preseason earlier. I find Hots to be much less frustrating than Dota. Biggest reason might be the community. Sure I meet an asshat or two occasionally in Hots, but it's nothing compared to Dota or even Lol that I also tried for few games. I think the shorter matches are a factor in this, maybe even the casual/simple nature of the game. The worst elitists stay crying in Dota or Lol. I think Dota 2 is best game of these three, it's most complex too. But it has come to a point that I want to avoid the frustration Dota brings. And it differentiates itself more from Dota than Lol does, so it feels that I'm playing a different game rather than just worse version of Dota.
At first I was bummed out by having to unlock heroes, but to be honest I don't need that many heroes to choose from at a time. With the free rotation heroes I have over 20 to pick from right now and those cover every role and playstyle possible. Just level up those free rotation heroes too to gain gold! Ofcourse Dota 2 still does this best with every hero available from the start. And even when the hero you are interested in isn't in free rotation you get to try them out without buying them, so you don't need to get heroes blind.
But yeah, I'll add another recommendation to this topic. Even if you aren't a fan of MOBAs and especially if you are mostly afraid of the complexity and community, Hots could be the answer.
Oh I want Haunted Mines map back :I Why did they remove it? Had 75% wins in there, loved it!
Yeah I think this was their only even slightly viable strategy. If even Dota 2 couldn't convert much of the League players, I don't think Blizzard had a chance either if they were going after all the same players. And this is a Blizzard game indeed. All of their games tend to be more easily approachable compared to their counterparts.
At first I was bummed out by having to unlock heroes, but to be honest I don't need that many heroes to choose from at a time. With the free rotation heroes I have over 20 to pick from right now and those cover every role and playstyle possible. Just level up those free rotation heroes too to gain gold! Ofcourse Dota 2 still does this best with every hero available from the start. And even when the hero you are interested in isn't in free rotation you get to try them out without buying them, so you don't need to get heroes blind.
But yeah, I'll add another recommendation to this topic. Even if you aren't a fan of MOBAs and especially if you are mostly afraid of the complexity and community, Hots could be the answer.
Oh I want Haunted Mines map back :I Why did they remove it? Had 75% wins in there, loved it!
Yeah I think this was their only even slightly viable strategy. If even Dota 2 couldn't convert much of the League players, I don't think Blizzard had a chance either if they were going after all the same players. And this is a Blizzard game indeed. All of their games tend to be more easily approachable compared to their counterparts.
Perfo
Thirteen flew over the cuckoo's nest
Well a good thing of HotS is that matches are not long at all. Usually 15-25 minutes.
This is the one reason I can stomach playing and enjoy this compared to the other games in the genre.
It's also a massive love letter to Blizzard fans. I play Lost Vikings or Siege Tank when I play.
I played it sometime in the last 8 months, cant remember exactly when but a friend kept nagging me to try it with him because we used to play a lot of dota together.
I played it for 3 games, won all 3 and then stopped, I wont say that I hated it because I dont think it was actively bad, but the game just made me feel nothing. Hitting things didn't feel good, the heroes I was given access to were boring, team fights didn't feel like anything was actually happening in them, the map gimmicks didn't interest me (I remember a pirate map where you had to collect gold or something, some kind of forest map at night with plant monsters and one where both teams had a big statue or something and you get then to fight by holding capture points or something?), it was just so dull to me.
Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I'd actually played any blizzard games but none of them have ever interested me, all I know is I played as a devil guy who I assume is from diablo, a tank jeep thing and a space marine with a minigun which were probably both from starcraft and that I have no idea what they actually did now because the game was that forgettable to me.
I think I'm not the type of audience for this game as it felt like a moba for people who dont like or dont want to engage with the genre and as someone that came late to the whole dota thing and got hooked from my first game, it's just not for me.
That said I have looked at trailers for HotS now and then and there are some fun ideas like their ogre magi being controlled by 2 people, but not enough to make me want to try it again any time soon.
I played it for 3 games, won all 3 and then stopped, I wont say that I hated it because I dont think it was actively bad, but the game just made me feel nothing. Hitting things didn't feel good, the heroes I was given access to were boring, team fights didn't feel like anything was actually happening in them, the map gimmicks didn't interest me (I remember a pirate map where you had to collect gold or something, some kind of forest map at night with plant monsters and one where both teams had a big statue or something and you get then to fight by holding capture points or something?), it was just so dull to me.
Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I'd actually played any blizzard games but none of them have ever interested me, all I know is I played as a devil guy who I assume is from diablo, a tank jeep thing and a space marine with a minigun which were probably both from starcraft and that I have no idea what they actually did now because the game was that forgettable to me.
I think I'm not the type of audience for this game as it felt like a moba for people who dont like or dont want to engage with the genre and as someone that came late to the whole dota thing and got hooked from my first game, it's just not for me.
That said I have looked at trailers for HotS now and then and there are some fun ideas like their ogre magi being controlled by 2 people, but not enough to make me want to try it again any time soon.
It's pretty good. It's entertained me and my friends looking for a quick round of a moba-ish game. There is no denying that the content updates from Blizzard has been good. I just wish that there was less of that F2P grinding for new heroes and just some decently priced pack that gives you everything gameplay related (heroes) like in Smite, or just gives the heroes for free and focuses all income on cosmetics like in DOTA 2.
Also, Battlerite just got released which kinda does away with everything unnecessary and focuses on constant exciting team fights. So I've been mostly playing that now.
Also, Battlerite just got released which kinda does away with everything unnecessary and focuses on constant exciting team fights. So I've been mostly playing that now.
Maybe that's why I liked it more than other MOBAs. Still, I don't like the MOBA formula enough to not play other things.
I'd rather be playing single player games, or Splatoon or Overwatch. It's not that HOTS is bad, it's just not good enough to displace the other games I like.
mcz117chief
Member
I tried it but the game is just way too expensive. I don't feel right playing a game for free as I always spend at least a couple of bucks in the in-game store but HotS is exceptionally expensive and that is coming from a person who has spent around $200 on League.
sobaka770
Banned
Heroes of the Storm is by far my favourite moba after years of LoL and then DotA2.
There's no denying that DotA2 and LoL have larger complexity in terms of overall mechanics, but, at least, in my opinion, most of these mechanics are just there for complexity's sake. It's not even last-hitting, it's the concept of: jungling, runes (LoL), secret shop, stacking creeps, denying that are not only counterintutive, they add outward complexity, instead of focusing on the basic complexity of teamwork, map movement, attacking and defending.
When I see an instrinsically-complex game, I think of Rocket League which has very basic mechanics but the depth lies in the interaction between the players and the ball which requires a huge amount of mastery.
In my opinion, major Mobas are now so complex that by the time you master the surface-level skills, like last-hitting, you don't really learn the coordination, team-based work, things that I think a good competitive game should be about. That's where HotS excels.
Sure, it's so much easier to pick up a hero in Heroes of the Storm and play him-her rather well after a couple of games. There's no complex timing of attacks, proper item builds or strategies to learn. However, what it means is that the players can now focus more on working together as a team instead of spending hours practicing mad Io or Sniper skillz. It's just a totally different game at this point, much faster one and honestly, quite stressful.
Just to add on what's changed recently: many new heroes and older heroes with reworks now have a solid outplay potential. You can now show off your skill a bit more with questing talents which usually tap into a person's individual Hero mastery. The game is slowly turning from prolonged sustained teamfights towards a more visceral combat with much faster blow-ups and clutch-plays. I think that the current direction is good as individual's contributions are more rewarding.
There's no denying that DotA2 and LoL have larger complexity in terms of overall mechanics, but, at least, in my opinion, most of these mechanics are just there for complexity's sake. It's not even last-hitting, it's the concept of: jungling, runes (LoL), secret shop, stacking creeps, denying that are not only counterintutive, they add outward complexity, instead of focusing on the basic complexity of teamwork, map movement, attacking and defending.
When I see an instrinsically-complex game, I think of Rocket League which has very basic mechanics but the depth lies in the interaction between the players and the ball which requires a huge amount of mastery.
In my opinion, major Mobas are now so complex that by the time you master the surface-level skills, like last-hitting, you don't really learn the coordination, team-based work, things that I think a good competitive game should be about. That's where HotS excels.
Sure, it's so much easier to pick up a hero in Heroes of the Storm and play him-her rather well after a couple of games. There's no complex timing of attacks, proper item builds or strategies to learn. However, what it means is that the players can now focus more on working together as a team instead of spending hours practicing mad Io or Sniper skillz. It's just a totally different game at this point, much faster one and honestly, quite stressful.
Just to add on what's changed recently: many new heroes and older heroes with reworks now have a solid outplay potential. You can now show off your skill a bit more with questing talents which usually tap into a person's individual Hero mastery. The game is slowly turning from prolonged sustained teamfights towards a more visceral combat with much faster blow-ups and clutch-plays. I think that the current direction is good as individual's contributions are more rewarding.
I played Like 10-15 games some months ago and and I always felt like killing people or dying didnt really matter (because of the lack of gold) and also since I played 7 years of lol the movement felt really weird.
Also the only friends that kept playing hots were huge blizzard fanboys and they say the characters are the only reason they play the game.
Also the only friends that kept playing hots were huge blizzard fanboys and they say the characters are the only reason they play the game.
Pilgrimzero
Member
Just started playing it about a month ago and been enjoying it.
I recommend trying it if you haven't already.
I recommend trying it if you haven't already.
Try some Vs. AI matches with other players. I have met some people in those that I eventually ended up playing with plus it's a great way to get familiar with the characters.
KojiKnight
Member
I have to ask, what in the hell kind of machines are you trying to use where you get bad performance? Even before the dx11 performance updates, I rarely had any real issues on my main pc (6300fx, 7870 Radeon) or my wife's laptop (mobile i5, 840M).
It's still running on a slightly modified 5 year old SC2 engine!
It's still running on a slightly modified 5 year old SC2 engine!
I enjoyed HOTS a lot more than other modern MOBAs. I'm no stranger to the genre and played DOTA for long before Frozen Throne even came out. But I just don't care enough to keep up with builds and counters in current DOTA 2. I don't find the game fun and I only played it because any game with friends is better than one without.
HOTS is still a game I'll only play with friends, but I liked that it was much more about playing well and having teamwork than memorizing stupid meta bullshit. I haven't touched it in a while but if I had to pick one game in the genre to go back to, it's a no-brainer.
The Blizzard fanservice is top notch as well, of course.
HOTS is still a game I'll only play with friends, but I liked that it was much more about playing well and having teamwork than memorizing stupid meta bullshit. I haven't touched it in a while but if I had to pick one game in the genre to go back to, it's a no-brainer.
The Blizzard fanservice is top notch as well, of course.
Imp the Dimp
Member
Played it a bit and found it super shallow compared to Dota and nowhere near as captivating and engaging. To me it seemed like a lazy attempt to get a share of the money printing MOBA market. The established games are way too good for such an average game to succeed. Games being shorter is about the only thing this game does better honestly.
Whiteblade999
Member
I played a few rounds and liked the idea, and then saw how much the heroes cost. $50 for a few heroes and skins? Wat. $30 gets me all the heroes in Smite, and they are all free from the get go in Dota 2.
Yeah I'll skip grinding out heroes. Did it for a while with League and that style isn't for me.
Yeah I'll skip grinding out heroes. Did it for a while with League and that style isn't for me.
The game is great, way more streamlined than stuff like DOTA or even League, which makes it far less overwhelming.
The only problem is that the game makes you pick your character BEFORE you match with your team mates. This often leads to the game sticking you with a completely fucked team comp. I can't even count the amount of times I've been matched with no tank or no healer.
The only problem is that the game makes you pick your character BEFORE you match with your team mates. This often leads to the game sticking you with a completely fucked team comp. I can't even count the amount of times I've been matched with no tank or no healer.
In quick match yes, not in unranked or ranked play. And in my recent experiences the game matches teams with no warrior and support heroes against similar team. Maybe not all the time, but this happened enough for me to be pleasantly surprised by it. And to be fair, even in Dota many people don't really look that much in team comp, they wait to be the last pick and then pick what they want not what team needs. I wish anyone who does this would just be the first pick and let others build the team around it.
Also im surprised to see so many comments about the game being demanding on hardware. On my 970 I can use the max preset called extreme (if I remember the name correctly). And before that I played the game with Radeon 4800. On low settings ofcourse.
Kaffeemann
Banned
Reinstalled it for the fourth time.
Played three matches.
Nope, never again.
I don't know why, it just isn't fun. Buy I also stopped playing League a while back, maybe MOBAs aren't for me :/
Played three matches.
Nope, never again.
I don't know why, it just isn't fun. Buy I also stopped playing League a while back, maybe MOBAs aren't for me :/
Very reassuring. Thanks for the great write-up! The comparison with Rocket League's "intrinsic complexity" is easy to understand.
Its the way they tied the netcode to the engine. So it you are located far from a server, the game stutters like mad. Horrible way to design it IMO.
King Gilga
Member
It's the moba I like most, which isn't saying much.
But everyone I know plays Dota 2 or LoL, and I only play mobas with friends.
And the F2P model is p bs for such a late comer, also contributes to lol/dota 2 friends not wanting to play it.
So yeah, no wonder it's a dead game.
But everyone I know plays Dota 2 or LoL, and I only play mobas with friends.
And the F2P model is p bs for such a late comer, also contributes to lol/dota 2 friends not wanting to play it.
So yeah, no wonder it's a dead game.
Haha, I do the same with Murky. Love that little Murloc.
But we're your friends!
Games are generally pretty short! Around 20-25 minutes on average, or 15 for a stomp.
I get a stable 30fps on low settings. I'd of course love 60fps on max, but consistent frame rate is vital. I really can't explain it, there must be some weird bottleneck issue or something, because my CPU is a crappy 1.6ghz dual core.
Woo, glad to hear it!
If you're a fan of SC, I think you're going to love HotS. It feels very similar, and there are a ton of great SC heroes. They just added Alarak and two StarCraft maps which are really awesome for SC fans. Also they only recently started adding Overwatch stuff, but Tracer is in and Zarya comes out tomorrow. There's a skin for Nova that turns her into Widowmaker, too.Love this post.
And they removed Haunted Mines because it was too easy to snowball and ended too quickly/easily. If you knew to push the lane your golem was on and had Sylvannas you were likely going to win. I liked the map too, more than BHB or Garden at least. But luckily both of those are out too. I'd like to see Mines return after a rework.Those are actually the two highest win rate heroes in the game at the moment, lol. Yes, Hammer (Siege Tank) is the highest win rate hero. Her AA build is really strong when played smartly.
That's okay! Try some AI games with human allies! They're still fun!
Honestly, I think they could do it. The level of competition wouldn't be as high, and they'd have to rework some heroes and change a lot of timings, but it could be incredibly fun on console.
Great post.
This is only if you play quick match.
They added unranked draft if you don't want to play ranked, which gives you all of the fun strategic benefits of draft but without the added stress. Most people only play quick match to try new heroes or play their selfish picks that they know they won't get in draft.*thumbs up*
Just wanted to give this thread one last bump on the chance it could get a little more visibility.
Also, Zarya and Braxis Holdout have been released. Here's Zarya's trailer if you're interested:
https://youtu.be/f7KPPdfRs-o
I really like her. At first people were saying she was the most underpowered hero Blizz has released at launch, but I think people just didn't understand how to play her/take advantage of her kit, and weren't building her right. They buffed her a day later, and instantly she had the highest win rate in the game. Then they nerfed her a bit again, and she still has the highest win rate, though not by as large a margin. I don't want to jinx it, but I'm like 9-0 with her so far, she's a lot of fun.
Also, Zarya and Braxis Holdout have been released. Here's Zarya's trailer if you're interested:
https://youtu.be/f7KPPdfRs-o
I really like her. At first people were saying she was the most underpowered hero Blizz has released at launch, but I think people just didn't understand how to play her/take advantage of her kit, and weren't building her right. They buffed her a day later, and instantly she had the highest win rate in the game. Then they nerfed her a bit again, and she still has the highest win rate, though not by as large a margin. I don't want to jinx it, but I'm like 9-0 with her so far, she's a lot of fun.
Aeonofgods
Member
Great write up. I really enjoy the game honestly. They put a lot of time and effort into their heroes. I love the Blizzard universes so a lot of them resonate with me. Played yesterday for the first time in a few months and had a great time with some friends. I really enjoy the aspects that make it unique like shared level/xp, no item buy, objective based maps. I would recommend trying and going in with an open mind. Most people turn away because of the stigma of mobas, but I think it's a great game that is worth playing. My favorites are Sylvanas, Karazhim, Valla, and Tracer