Welcome back friends!
I'm sorry for the delay in writing this post, but I realized a few things last week when I tried to sit down to write a true "Part 2". I was really struggling to find motivation to go through all of the Heroes and Hearthstone news bit by bit. There are plenty of places where you can get that information in a far better format than I can give you. And if I'm struggling to write it then chances are it's not an enjoyable experience for the people trying to read it. With those things in mind, what I want to do going forward is focus on giving my opinions and talk about the things I found most interesting. With that in mind, lets jump into the Heroes and Hearthstone stuff that got me excited.
Heroes of the Storm got the kind of news you would expect from a game with frequent updates. Lunara and Genn Greymane were announce for future release, and Cho'gall and the Towers of Doom map have, as of now, been released to the masses. I've only had a chance to play a few games on Towers of Doom and so far the map feels really strange. I like that the ultimate goal is different than that of any of the other maps since you don't push for the core in that way, but I still haven't figured it out. You're meant to fight over towers to make your altars fire more shots, but it's VERY easy for the other team to quickly retake a tower. My concern is that the struggle to take the towers isn't worth the effort most of the time, and teams will be better off focusing solely on team fighting over alters. I'm sure there will be situations where you can win a team fight at an alter and then hold off on capping while you take an extra tower or two, but time will tell. I'm really interested in what the competitive scene does with Towers of Doom and what heroes end up shining on it.
Now for one of my favorite parts of Blizzcon! Cho'gall was one of the heroes I predicted we would have announced at the con, but I don't think anyone had any idea that this would be what we ended up with. 2 players on 1 hero is something no other MOBA has done before and continues Blizzard's trend of trying to break the mold of heroes in interesting ways. Abathur is one of my favorite heroes to see in the hands of strong players. Other than the familiarity of the characters, the removal of items and last hitting as mechanics were the things that really drew me into heroes. In my opinion it's the things that Blizzard is doing differently with Heroes of the Storm that are the best parts of the game. Cho'gall follows that trend in a magnificent fashion. I don't remember the last time I laughed out loud this much in a multiplayer game. I had gotten to the point where I would check out the new heroes that came out and if they clicked with me I would get a bunch of games in, but if they didn't I would find myself getting easily distracted by Hearthstone or WoW. Cho'gall has made me want to play Heroes almost exclusively every time I open Battle.net. He's not the most competitive hero in the game but he is absolutely one of the most fun. I have had multiple moments of greatness where both heads were in sync and we managed to kill 3-4 enemy heroes almost single handedly. On top of all that, he was free. I got him because I ordered the Blizzcon Virtual Ticket (which I would have done anyway), but I can also give him to anyone who doesn't have him simply by playing 2 games together. So not only is he an absolute blast to play, he's free to anyone who wants him basically. Both Lunara and Greymane look interesting and I'm sure I'll have more to say about them once they release.
Hearthstone in a way had the exact opposite effect at Blizzcon. People predicted Ulduar, Icecrown, and Karazhan. Every single person was wrong. League of Explorers took everyone by surprise and continued to give Hearthstone an identity independent from Warcraft. We are getting brand new characters like Reno Jackson, Elise Starseeker, and Sir Finley Mrrgglton in addition to a more narrative experience throughout the Adventure. I think Blizzard does a great job when it comes to designing the encounters. League of Explorers is no exception with the Temple Escape and Mine Cart encounters. They are by no means difficult to complete but the flavor make them a fun change of pace. Originally I thought the cards were a little underwhelming. However, cards like Reno Jackson and Tunnel Trogg are having a big impact on the ladder. I'm not sure if I like what Reno Jackson decks are doing to aggressive decks and deck building going forward, but I can't argue with the strength of the card considering I have yet to lose a game at rank 7+ with Reno Warlock. Time will tell how much of a long term impact League of Explorers will have on competitive Hearthstone. What we have so far seems promising.
There are a couple other things I want to touch on quickly. First, I am a bit concerned that Overwatch is losing a lot of steam that it gained with the initial beta launch. Outside of a couple dedicated streamers the viewership numbers have plummeted and even an expanded beta weekend seemed to do little to keep the hype train fueled. With Blizzard unsure as to whether or not there will even be more heroes to announce eventually, I'm not sure what will help besides the release of the game and that is still a way off. Secondly, a ton of Legion information is being data mined from the alpha game files. Tons of item models and quest line information are coming out as a result. Be careful where you click if you are looking to avoid major spoilers. We are also getting hints at the Artifact weapon acquisition scenarios as well as every model and color for each weapon. These scenarios are very exciting and as a result I feel like I want to have each class leveled to 100 for the Legion launch for no other reason than to experience each one of these scenarios and story lines first hand. Each one looks like its very own version of the Warlock green fire quest and if that is the case players should be really excited.
Well that will do it for this week. Let me know what you think of a possible format change for the blog and if there is anything specific you want me to talk about.
Thanks as always for reading! Until next time,
Chris
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