Heroes of the Storm 2.0

[Chazore]

 

Today Blizzard announced what is arguably its biggest update to Heroes of the Storm yet. Dubbed "Heroes 2.0", the update will completely revamp the game's account progression systems and cosmetic rewards, including adding Overwatch-style loot chests filled with new announcer packs, in-game sprays, and more. 

"We weren't a great free-to-play game before," Heroes of the Storm production director Kaeo Milker told me. "I think we were a really great game, but we weren't really a great free-to-play game." The 2.0 update is a significant change in strategy for a game that has previously locked nearly all of its cosmetics behind real money paywalls. Access to those extras have now been opened wide up, and Milker says he thinks "the barrier to entry is really low now."

The cornerstone of the change comes from Blizzard's decision to uncap hero and account leveling, which previously stopped at 20 and 40 respectively. Now both numbers can just keep going up, and your account level is simply the sum of all your hero levels combined. Milker said the goal was to introduce "frequent meaningful progression with rewards." The hero leveling experience curve has been significantly lowered as well, where before it could take up to 15 hours to get a single level up with a hero between levels 10 and 20, Milker now says it will only take two or three hours at most.

(A comparison of the XP gaps between levels in the old system and the new one.)

Each time you do gain a level, you are now rewarded with a loot chest containing four items. You'll also get special loot chests guaranteed to have higher rarity items at certain leveling milestones, as well as hero-specific chests to make sure you get skins or items for the heroes you are playing more often than others. "It's a lot of loot chests that you're going to get," as Milker puts it, even if you don't purchase any with real money. 

Just like Overwatch, the items in chest have various rarities and can include current things like skins or mounts, as well as any of the newly introduced cosmetics items (listed below). You'll be able to spend regular in-game Gold to reroll the contents of a loot chest, but you can also still buy specific cosmetics outright by purchasing a new currency called Gems. Otherwise, you can craft items with another new currency called Shards, which you get from loot chests and duplicate items. Milker told me that "there was a lot of content that [free-to-play players] just couldn't even touch," and that this was an opportunity for them to unlock that stuff for an audience that simply didn't want to spend money. 

The new content being added significantly expands what players can expect to get from those chests too. The cosmetics being added with the 2.0 update are:

• Battleground Announcer voice packs that change all but the unique map announcements to the voice of a specific hero (yes, including Murky).
• Hero voice lines which can be equipped and used mid-match, similar to Overwatch.
• Sprays which also function similarly to Overwatch and can be placed on the ground anywhere on the map.
• Hero-specific Emojis that can be used anywhere you can type in the game, including mid-match. Every hero has a full set for themselves, and standard text emoticons are automatically replaced if you have the Emojis for the hero you are playing unlocked.
• Banners which will now be automatically planted on the map whenever you destroy a fort or take an objective.

These join currently available items in loot chests like portraits, skins, mounts, and even heroes themselves. Skins and mounts will have their three color variations broken apart, each becoming an individual collectible rather than tied to your level, and there will be certain things you can only find in loot chests like the newly announced Prime Evil Diablo skin. Players have been wanting things like this Diablo skin and announcer packs for a long time now—and it turns out Blizzard has been wanting them too, as Milker mentioned that they've "wanted [announcer packs] so much that we've been recording them from the very beginning of the game."

All of these changes are coming with another long-requested addition in the form of a new hero called Cassia, who is based around the Amazon class from the original Diablo—specifically the Javelin build of an Amazon. The Heroes 2.0 update isn't too far off either, planned to hit the PTR later today before going live sometime toward the end of April. You can read more about all the progression changes here. (Though it's currently 404ing for some reason.)

Source: PCgamer http://www.pcgamer.com/heroes-of-the-storm-is-taking-its-cosmetics-out-from-behind-a-paywall/

 

 

I'm liking the idea of the progression changes, especially when you reach level 10, ebcause beyond that it would take hours and hours to reach the next level, which also ended up with some requiring the use of Stim packs (XP/Gold bonus increases for a set period of time). I'm also loving the changes made to cosmetics, so I can craft what I want and even buy into announcer packs (which Starcraft II already has, as well as Valve's Dota II Moba).

I recently jumped back into Heroes and decided to give probius a shot and needless to say, I'm having fun with the game once again, and with the changes around the corner, it's only going to get better.

 

Full gallery from the PCG article:

 

Update: 

 

FLAUNT YOUR HERO PROWESS WITH HERO MASTERY TAUNTS!

Over the course of Heroes of the Storm’s history, we’ve always enjoyed implementing different ways for players to show off their personal accomplishments, which is an idea that has manifested in a variety of forms over time. From more recent features, like MVP and commendations, the “on fire” system, and personalized stats, to mainstays like ranked play leagues and tiers, seasonal rewards, hero and master portraits, and master skins.

On Master Skins

When we originally added master skins to Heroes of the Storm, they were intended to help you flaunt your depth of experience and time investment with your favorite heroes. However, when we re-evaluated master skins, we realized that there were several places where we could make improvements.

Master skins created situations where players had to choose between unlocking a hero or unlocking a master skin, which was a battle that heroes won far more often. Additionally, once players purchased a master skin, they’d then have to choose whether to use it or another skin in-game. This meant they couldn’t visually display their prowess with a hero in-game if there was a non-master skin they liked better.

These issues combined resulted in far fewer players unlocking and using master skins in-game than we had expected. Most players who had access to master skins did not unlock them, and most players who did unlock them would not primarily use that skin during their matches.

 

In Heroes 2.0, we decided to move to a new system that highlights your prowess with your favorite heroes so that you don’t have to make those difficult decisions.

Introducing: Hero Mastery Taunts

With Heroes of the Storm 2.0 on the horizon, we’re excited to bring you a new method to flaunt your dedication to the Heroes you own: Hero Mastery Taunts!

 

Whenever you issue an in-game taunt using a hero who has reached level 15 or higher, which is equivalent to level 10 in the previous progression system, that hero will now display unique “mastery” visual effects overhead. The hero will also play their taunt animation, as well as the voice line you selected for their loadout. Mastery taunts won’t stop at hero level 15, either. Their visual effects will continue to evolve across several tiers, becoming more epic as your hero reaches new heights in the progression system!

Initially, only mastery taunts that unlock at hero level 15 will be available when Heroes 2.0 arrives to the live version of the game on April 25. However, we’re planning to implement additional mastery taunt tiers in future patches that unlock at Hero Levels 25, 50, 75, and 100. In addition to unlocking mastery taunts, players who already owned master skins prior to Heroes 2.0 will retain those skins, and permanently gain access to both of their skin variations after release day.

 

We’d like to apologize that we did not unveil hero mastery taunts with our initial communications around Heroes of the Storm 2.0. We missed including this feature in our announcement, and we hope that the above information will help clear up some of the confusion surrounding the removal of master skins as a progression-exclusive reward.

 

As a final note, we’d like to thank everyone who has shared their thoughts about Heroes 2.0 with us thus far. In particular, we’ve received quite a bit of feedback surrounding Loot Chest rewards for veteran players. We’re still actively discussing everything you’ve sent our way this week, and will have more information on this topic to share with you soon.  We hope you’re having a blast with the Open Beta, and that you’ll continue to share constructive feedback about all things Heroes 2.0 with us on the official Heroes forums.

 

Source: http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/blog/20638785