WoW Weekly: Keeping the Flame Alive

WoW Weekly is a biweekly-ish, self-absorbed look into the things I've been doing -- or not doing -- in the game. From auctioneering and pet battling to mount farming and raiding.

Here we are again.

It's starting to look like Siege of Orgrimmar two-point-oh, sitting on nine months of no new content with nary a Legion release date in sight. Our guild has had Heroic Archimonde on farm since the middle of December, and I'd exhausted all content that personally interested me well before then. I'm not saying there's nothing to do. I'm saying that the options currently available to me don't appeal.

To be honest, I really didn't mind the Siege of Orgrimmar lull. At the time, our guild was in the end stages of a rebuild, and I was happy to use the time to continue recruitment while leveling alts and knocking out old achievements. I spent a lot of time on the Timeless Isle during those months.

I'm having a hard go at biding the time, this time around, for whatever reason. I've settled into the bi-daily routine of collecting garrison gold, but I wouldn't call it "fun." It's nice to not have to worry about paying for a subscription, but if I think about how the minutes spent in-game translate to real dollars...yeah, let's not go there.

But then, there's raid night. Where my temporary aversion to this game disappears, and I'm surrounded by a couple dozen of the raddest folks I've ever played with. Good guildies. Keeping the flame alive.

Ok, enough whining from me. Let's talk things just generally me:

Mythic Hellfire Citadel
The guild group made some serious progress on the Council fight last night. We're handling the earlier stage Reaps much better than we did on our first foray. Phase 3 came relatively consistently, but we've still got a test ahead of us.

Ironman
I've done a little bit of leveling with the monk over on Wyrmrest Accord; had a brush with death when a named mob I had to kill for a quest gave me a surprising amount of trouble. A couple more strikes would've seen Flasz joining his brother Glasz in the Annals of Failed Adventurers.

Gold Making
I've established a fairly consistent pattern of logging in twice per day to knock out garrison missions, once in the morning and once in the evening. Between profession sales and gold collection, I've just eclipsed 600,000g. As a point of reference, on January 27th of this year I was sitting on just over 300,000g. This means I'm more than keeping up with the average of 100,000g per month---and that's after I've paid for a WoW Token!

Podcast
Ooh! Yours truly was featured on The Starting Zone podcast's #WhyIWoW segment. We chat about what got me playing, what keeps me (hint: I already told you in this post), and a myriad of other topics.

Zarhym
One of Blizzard's veteran community managers recently announced he was no longer with Blizzard. A sad day. I met the guy once, and wanted to share some words.

Darkest Dungeon
In the WoD lull I'm currently going through, I've revisited my Steam library and pulled out the Darkest Dungeon. If you don't know what that game's all about, check out my first impressions.

Dear Zarhym

We had a bit of connection, you and me. You may not have felt it, but I did. You and I, we're around the same age. Some people think we look alike. Our love of Warcraft is a given, but we also share another passion: percussion. Because of these things, I felt I could relate to you a bit deeper.

I remember the first time I met you (proof is in the header image). It was during the evening on Thursday, November 7th, 2013. You were chatting with some folks outside of the Hilton in Anaheim on the night before Blizzcon, and my friend pointed you out. By then, I knew who you were and had a basic understanding of your role at Blizzard. My goal was to talk to as many employees as I could, so I headed over.

I addressed you by your full name---not your CM handle---and you repeated it back to me like you hadn't heard it awhile. Made me chuckle. I gave you one of my business cards that pointed towards this site. Maybe you trashed that card at the end of the night, or maybe you held onto it and peeped this blog once. Either way, I don't care---the fact you made yourself so present and available to the playerbase night after night, con after con, forum post after forum post, made a huge impact.

Zarhym touches my business card. 

You will be dearly missed.

You were engaging, witty, and passionate. As players, we could see it and feel it. I can't imagine work as a CM being easy: always on-call, late hours, all while bearing the brunt of perhaps less-than-cordial feedback from an equally...passionate...group of players. In my opinion, you set the standard. A man with your talents, brain-power and experience should have nothing but a bright, promising future ahead of him.

Best of luck to you, Jonathan Brown.

Chill Winston!

chillwinston.jpg (img:blizzard)

Title appropriate for reasons hopefully forthcoming. Header image appropriate because the title also references a line in my favorite Guy Ritchie movie and Winston just happens to be the name of a character in Blizzard's soon-to-be-in-beta FPS Overwatch. As you can see, if you're on the opposing side of Winston you're probably going to wish that he'd just chill out. Opening paragraph appropriate because this is probably going to be a rambling piece stating things I've said before using more words than I actually need. But I settled on a title and a header image before starting, so I'm feeling a minor obligation to finish it. I know, not many selling points to continue reading.

A few months back, I made a promise to myself to stop speculating about the design of World of Warcraft, and what Blizzard may or may not do by reading into what they're saying and not saying. So far I've kept my promise, even if I didn't speculate that much to begin with. Speculation, of course, isn't talking about likes and dislikes. Speculation isn't simply saying you don't like the fact it took so long for Blizzard to add flight. Speculation is saying Blizzard only cares about maximizing subscription dollars, and prolonging the leveling and end-game open-world content by prohibiting flight is one way to do that.

Speculation is forming a theory or opinion without firm evidence. Note the adjective; not a lack of evidence, but a lack of firm evidence. I alluded to my interest and study of the UFO phenomenon in the piece linked above; I spent several years researching the best evidence available to the public. As of this writing, ETs haven't landed on the White House lawn. Outside of that happening, the only way for me to know, to truly know, would be if I were a decidedly real secret agent with files of direct proof in my hand. I am not such a person, I must say.

There's a parallel here (you still there?) when it comes to speculation about what Blizzard is doing and saying. As is often claimed in ufology, the information possessed by those in the know is highly compartmentalized. The scope of what Johnny B. knows is not what Sally C. knows, and Ashley F. only speaks about what they've been authorized to speak about. The only way for me to know what Blizzard's up to would be if I were a drone on the wall in every single meeting. From CS to design, development, financials, organizational planning---all of them.

So the end result of speculation is the same: there's an inherent inability to know, and speculation will only take one so far until it becomes an utterly exhausting exercise. We can get close to knowing, sure, and sometimes we even stumble upon an actual truth, whether we're aware of it or not. But in the end, I had to distance myself from the subject. I had stop visiting the message boards, certain websites, and curb myself from talking to anyone who'd lend their ear. Oh right. I'm not talking about UFOs here. I'm talking about Blizzard's intentions, their game design, and what they should be doing to make it the game that seems ideal for me.

I've been out of the Blizzard speculation loop long enough to where the thought of speculation on an announced design or feature has zero appeal. Then again, I accepted Warlord's lack of flight from the start, even if communication about when it would actually be implemented left a bit to be desired. But perhaps my disposition was different from the start, compared to those who were outraged by the announcements or the silence or both.

What I had to do with Blizzard, like I did with ufology, was to take everything I'd learned and experienced up to that point and form a belief. To find a solid rock to stand on amidst the sand I'd been mucking around in. I'd have to look at the past ten years I spent in the game, sometimes alone, sometimes with friends; ten years of quality entertainment, how times have changed, and what has remained the same.

What I realized is that the belief had been there all along, the same belief that drew me into World of Warcraft and the one that has positioned me as a gamer who plays almost nothing but Blizzard games: that Blizzard Entertainment brings, and will continue to bring quality gaming experiences to the masses. We've had ample evidence of this (outside of and including World of Wacraft) during the past two years especially.

My truth is a personal one. Mine and mine alone, and one that I won't force on other people. The truth is something they'll have to discover on their own---should they even feel the need to seek it---whether their truth matches mine or not. But if the truth for me wasn't what it is, I wouldn't be in this space. I wouldn't be writing this.

In closing, if I have one bit of advice, it's to take this all in---the state of Blizzard, its games, and gaming in general---within the greater context of everything that's out there. Day to day. Hour to hour. Minute to minute. If you're disappointed, frustrated, or angry, self-imposed exile can be a valuable thing. The truths out there aren't going anywhere. They exist independent of all of us.

If nothing else, try to look up from time to time. Expect nothing, and I promise you won't be disappointed.

Done Reading Between the Lines

It's no secret right now that there are quite a number of vocal players who aren't happy with Blizzard, mostly centered around with what's happening---or not happening---with World of Warcraft. Even if you discount the anecdotes from folks e-explaining why they've quit, why they plan to, or why they're currently unhappy but still playing, you're left with the three million very real people who chose not to continue their subscription from Q1 to Q2....for whatever reason.

We can't assign a blanket reason for why those players left. Not even a general "dissatisfaction with the game" works, as surely among those three million are folks who left due to time constraints, finances, or an entirely different reason unrelated to their view of the game. At the same time, a lot of people have given reasons to why they're not happy. Everything from lack of content, to the implementation of garrisons, the removal (and now reintroduction) of flight, the current state of PvP, the lack of representation in-game, lack of a story, confusing lore...I'm surely missing a bunch.

Right now, it's quite easy to survey the forums and social media and see throngs of unhappy players. If you are an unhappy player, you may look around and feel a strange tickle. Sure, maybe you're not happy about the further monetization of the player base while someone else left over the flying issue, but the common ground is that you're both unhappy. Even if your qualms revolve around completely different issues, there are many others who are unhappy, so in some sense, you must be justified in your observations.

Inevitably, since we can't point to any one single wrong thing about the game, it's assumed there must be something wrong with the game as a whole. And if there's something wrong with the core of the game, let's extend that to mean that there's something wrong with the core of the company. Simple logic, right?

All of a sudden you have Warcraft players who have become hyper-focused on Blizzard Entertainment, analyzing and criticizing every micro-move they make that doesn't address their main concern. Players who've not once pulled up a chair became outraged at the fact Blizzard will offer purchasable skins for their Hearthstone class of choice. World of Warcraft Q&A pushed back in favor of keeping Heroes of the Storm in the spotlight? God damn it, Blizzard. The COO leaves which obviously confirms things are going to shit? God damn it, Blizzard. Trying to suck me into your other titles through cross-promotional in-game items? God. Damn. It. Blizzard.

God damn it, Blizzard. Fix ___________________________.

Blizzard has noticeably started to spend more resources promoting their other titles, and I feel this is what many Warcraft players struggle with. I think it's quite telling that most of the criticisms I've seen about the company as a whole came from the Warcraft forums, or from Warcraft players on social media. For a decade now, Warcraft players have been Blizzard's darling children, and I guess it can be jarring when suddenly it feels like you're not. It's like the five-year-old who throws a tantrum after he learns that mommy is pregnant and he might not enjoy her sole attention. Even if we want to pretend that Warcraft is still Blizzard's baby, it's not the reality.

The reality, in fact, might be that Warcraft to Blizzard is like that 19-year-old son/daughter who you love to death but wish would just move out of the house, or at least go to college---but you don't have the heart to kick out. I'm not saying Blizzard is trying to kill Warcraft, but that maybe they're trying to make it the game they want it to be for the time we're in---and they're in---now. And I'd have to imagine that's an awfully tall order when you've got pushback at every single decision from one of the most passionate player bases on the planet.

Perhaps Blizzard have ascertained the MMO of yesterday is no longer sustainable in today's market. I think it's easily argued they have ample evidence in that vein. No one can truly know whether they're phasing out WoW, reinventing WoW, or just doing their best---other than what they themselves tell us. But it's a battle they'll never win, as they're continuing the develop a game they never thought they'd still be developing while being fought tooth and nail at every turn. Like, they're making this game because we still play it. They have a right to maintain their vision for it, and we have the right to vote with our wallets.

If this is what the demise of a video game company looks like...someone better tell Blizzard. But it might be difficult for them to take you seriously. In the greater picture, one cannot discount the tens of millions of players around the globe who are currently enjoying Blizzard games, many of whom don't know who Paul Sams is (and wouldn't care), haven't read a quarterly earnings report, and didn't even know one could fly in World of Warcraft.

Even if I'm not the most cynical of folks when it comes to Blizzard's intentions and business practices, I'm finished with the paranoid speculation. I refuse to look at every Heroes skin, store mount, Hearthstone sale, and content patch with a sinister bent, wondering what angle Blizzard is trying to fuck me from this time. Maybe that's putting on the blinders full-force, but in truth I've never once felt that way about Blizzard. 

I'm well-versed in conspiracy theories. I know how Confirmation Bias operates. I understand how physically and mentally exhausting it is believing the government is actively hiding the reality of an extra-terrestrial agenda.* I've done my research there, but it's something entirely different with Blizzard. I don't need research, because I have personal experience: ten years of engaging entertainment. When I look at others' dissatisfaction, and what reads they get from Blizzard's action or inaction, it sometimes feels like we're playing two different games. Sometimes you just need to agree to see things differently, and part ways.

This is me parting ways. This is me accepting what Blizzard is offering for the time being. I'm still playing, and still enjoying it. Maybe it doesn't hold me for several hours per night like it used to, but maybe that's not a bad thing. At the end of the day, when I ask myself "Am I having fun?"

The answer is still yes. Seems foolish for anyone to try to convince themselves otherwise---whatever their answer may be.

*I'm not saying they're not hiding one. 

What Heroes of the Storm Gets Right

Img: Heroes

I'm one of those jerks who was granted access to Heroes of the Storm early on in the technical alpha. Now that Heroes is officially live, and having played hundreds of games solo and with friends throughout the alpha and beta, I thought I might explore why Heroes of the Storm is the perfect MOBA for me. If you can identify with some of my reasoning, it may be the perfect MOBA for you---even if you've not played one before.

Prior to Heroes, my MOBA experience was with League of Legends. There I reached summoner level 23 (aka still noob) before I decided I wasn't enjoying the game enough to continue playing. With Heroes, Blizzard offers their own approach to gameplay elements which up til this point have become signatures of MOBAs. It may be too much of a departure for purists, and this may be partly behind the reason Blizzard would like us to refer to the game as a "hero brawler" instead of a MOBA.

Still, as with what we saw with World of Warcraft over ten years ago, and Hearthstone more recently, this is what Blizzard does best. I feel their iteration of a MOBA gets it right.

Match Length

The shortest match I've played in Heroes of the Storm ran about ten minutes, while the longest match ran about thirty-five minutes. Quite a variance, I know! In contrast, the shortest League of Legends match I've played lasted around twenty minutes, while the longest dragged on for over an hour---an even larger variance! But it's not the difference between the longest and the shortest matches that attracts me, but rather the average length of each match. Generally, one can complete two matches in Heroes of the Storm in the time it'd take to complete one game in League of Legends. And this is important to me as it relates to the perception of risk vs. reward.

Risk in this case signals time-invested. Reward signals any number of things: a win, XP gain, fun had, etc. Being able to play two games in a forty-minute period vs. one increases the overall sense of reward. Even if you aren't winning, you're gaining experience, both in the virtual and literal sense. Matches in Heroes rarely feel like they're dragging along, even if your team is clearly behind, because they tend to be over so quickly. You generally have a decent idea where the teams stand in relation to one another by the twelve minute mark of the match, though, just because one team is far ahead doesn't mean the match is over.

Opportunities for Redemption

Heroes of the Storm requires teams to make intelligent choices throughout the game. Even the team who's three levels ahead of their opponent late into the game isn't guaranteed a win. Some might not see this as fair, but I think it facilitates exciting gameplay---or at least the potential for it---from match start until one of the team's cores is finally destroyed. One of the reasons League of Legends ceased appealing to me was the feeling of utter futility and uselessness when you and your teammates fell too far behind to win, yet the match carried on for another twenty-five minutes.

In Heroes of the Storm, the game's truly not over til it's over.

I've been on both sides of matches where one team has an 18 vs. 15 level differential only to have the leading team get cocky and blow the match. There's a built-in catch-up mechanism to help a team lagging far behind: they will gain experience at a slightly faster rate based on the level differential to prevent them from getting too far behind---which is nice, if not too dramatic. I've also been on both sides of matches where the winning team finished five levels ahead of their opponents, so the catch-up mechanism only goes so far.

With the increased length of resurrection timers after late-game deaths and the increased power of Heroes at high levels, a well-coordinated wipe (killing all players on the opposing squad) by the trailing team is enough to steal away a victory. Granted, it's something easier said than done.  

Emphasis on Teamwork

In League of Legends, there's a lot of emphasis on laning, which essentially means a player adheres to a single lane on the map to clear out minions in order to gain experience. The concept of last hitting---delivering the killing blow on a minion or champion--- is a big deal as that's how players gain experience and level up throughout the match.

While the concept of laning still exists in Heroes of the Storm, less emphasis is placed upon it. Experience is still gained from killing minions and champions, but the experience is shared across the team. In a sense, early game laning can be even more important in Heroes, as that's where teams can achieve an early level jump on their opponents if they're covering the map well. With players not gaining an individual bonus from kills (save for a few champions that can choose a talent to benefit from this), they're encouraged to be more map-aware and respond to the actions of the opposing team and their teammates alike.

Because of this, team fights tend to happen earlier and more often compared to League of Legends, something that makes the game feel fast-paced right out of the gates.

Random Maps with Objectives

To date, there are seven different Heroes of the Storm maps with another slated to be released soon. Unlike League of Legends, players don't choose the map they'll play on---it's randomly decided by the game. While everyone surely has their favorite and least-favorite maps, the variety staves off monotony I often felt while playing League of Legends.

Additionally, the difference between the maps goes far beyond window dressing. Each map has a unique, game-changing objective that must be responded to by both teams to secure victory; each of these objectives feels distinct compared to the others. As you can imagine with setup, overall team strategies from map to map wildly vary which keeps the games exciting and fresh, even when sitting down for a two-hour play session.

Champion Design

Easy to learn, difficult to master is something we hear Blizzard cite from time to time, and they've delivered here. Blizzard's champions are designed to fill one of four specific roles: Warrior (tank), Assassin, Support (healer), and Specialist. Blizzard clearly lists each role every champion fills on the character select screen, making it quite simple to choose a character you want to play, or better yet, assume a role your team needs.

While Blizzard very briefly played around with the idea of an in-game item shop to Heroes, they quickly decided it wasn't what they wanted. In reality, it adds a certain level of complexity to the game; a level of complexity that essentially requires some pre-game research to discern the most advantageous item builds for a given character. Another way to describe that level of complexity? A barrier to entry.

In Heroes, you don't spend talent points as the game progresses to unlock and increase the power of champion abilities as in League of Legends. Instead champions start the game with their three base abilities (sometimes a fourth, depending on the hero) and will select a Heroic Ability upon reaching team level 10. Every three levels players are given a talent choice that often results in augmenting or improving a certain ability. Generally, these are fairly simple to understand and select on the fly. Still, knowledge of the champion's overall toolkit and its options as it relates to the team's needs can provide opportunities to create an advantage---and can involve some research. While I do believe this setup runs the risk of creating cookie-cutter "best" builds, I feel the most competitive teams out there will choose their talents in a way that benefits the whole group.

Progression

It always feels like you're making progress in Heroes of the Storm. Even when you lose matches. Like League of Legends, players gain experience towards leveling up their account as well as towards leveling individual champions. There's a constant stream of unlocked rewards for the account up to max level, and there's a constant stream of unlocked rewards for leveling up individual champions as well.

On top of that, Heroes offers daily quests that reward gold. Most of these are along the lines of "Play 3 Games as a Warcraft Hero" or "Play 3 Games as a Support Character." The best part of the two examples I've offered is the word play. The game does feature one daily quest that requires players to win 3 games, but the gold reward is greater as compensation for the challenge. A new daily quest is offered each day, and players are allowed to have up to 3 quests in their log at any given time. Super cool, because if you're not playing every day, you can still reap some serious gold rewards. And I should probably mention that gold is how players can purchase new Heroes without spending real money.

Are you playing? How's it been thus far?

Overwatch Impressions From a Guy Who Loves Blizzard but Dislikes Shooters

Img: Blizzard

I figure the title's the best place for the full disclosure on this one. I have to reach back over ten years to find the last instance where I spent a good deal of time with a first-person shooter. That was Timesplitters 2, and I played the hell out if it. Before that there was Wolfenstein 3-D and Doom, but that's literally the extent of my experience with shooters.

Then, Blizzard announces Overwatch and I immediately wrestle with the dichotomy of my disdain for shooters and my love for Blizzard. Another team-based FPS. Hrmph. And in Blizzard fashion, a playable demo awaited. I've heard people mentioned Team Fortress 2 in the same breath as Overwatch---I can't speak to that. Seriously: I have zero frame of reference when it comes to the present-day state of these kinds of games. So I queued up in a line that turned out to be much, much longer than even Blizzard anticipated---there were Blizzard employees acting as stanchions, since the area they'd initially cordoned off wasn't nearly large enough to hold all of those who wanted to play.

TL;DR: it was a pleasant surprise. Looks like I'll be playing a shooter for the first time in over ten years.

The game is set up with two teams of six, one team having the role of Attacker, the other of Defender. To be forthright, I had little sense of what was going on in this regard. Luckily, my two friends and I were matched up with nine other players, six of whom had already declared themselves a team. Thankfully, the "team" willingly split up and we were guided by a dude who'd obviously been queuing all morning---he assisted us with character selection based on our familiarity with first-person shooters. He suggested a couple of characters to me who did damage, but ones where precise aim wasn't as critical to the success of the character.

I chose Pharah first, an attacker. The precise-aim-not-necessary advice wasn't quite accurate, and I didn't do too well in this match in which we were the attacking team. However, this wasn't because the game played awkwardly; it was 100% operator error. The controls themselves were pretty slick: aim with the mouse, and press the left-button for the main attack. Shift used her "Jump Jet," allowing her to hover or fly. WASD functioned as movement keys and Spacebar caused the character to jump. Her other two abilities, Concussive Blast and the ultimate Barrage were attached to the E and Q keys, respectively.

So you can see player controls are very similar to what you'd find in a mashup of an FPS and a MOBA-style game, and thus should feel relatively familiar to a player with even novice experience in these genres. The game itself is fast-paced, and to someone not used to playing this way, it was absolutely frenetic. I did feel a bit lost and ineffective as Pharah, though she seems like a character who, once you have a handle on, can be absolutely deadly. We ended up winning this match, despite my lack of skill hampering the team.

However, once we assumed the role of defending team, things changed. First of all, I got the impression that the defending teams in these matches have the advantage: during the minute or so countdown prior to the match starting, the attacking team is cooped up in a locked room, waiting for the doors to open. Not so with the defending team. They are free to roam the map and set up their positioning prior to the match's actual start. I don't know if this is a standard attribute of these sorts of games, but I felt it placed the defending team in a better position to be victorious. That, and the fact that the map objective we were tasked with defending sat behind a choke point that happened to be nearby to where our characters spawned after death.

Secondly, I discovered Bastion, who quickly became my favorite character (granted, I only tried three in all). This little robot has the ability to heal itself, remotely deploy mines across the battlefield, and coolest of all, transform into a powerful turret. I camped myself in partially shielded area and ripped through my opponents. We won that match as well, and I even earned Player of the Match which immediately convinced me that Bastion will see a significant nerf in due time.

And you know what? I'm just going to stop this post right here; the fact I'm even writing about a shooter right now---you'll just have to trust me when I say it's gotta be good if I'm taking the time to jot down some thoughts on it. It's a Blizzard game, after all: fresh, engaging, fun, intuitive, and challenging all in one. If you love shooters, or if you've generally stayed away from shooters for most or all of your gaming life, this is a game you need to check out.

Additional gameplay tidbits:

• Not bound to one hero per match---players have the ability to select a new hero in the spawning area they return to after death
• Heroes have distinct roles (each with unique abilities): offense, defense, tank and support
• A full match lasts approximately 15 minutes
• Many additional heroes and arenas to be added in the future
• Currently no plans for a solo campaign; story elements to be developed outside of gameplay

Feckless Leader's Blizzcon 2014 Takeaway

Definitely room for another banner next Blizzcon.

Five days and approximately 25 total hours of sleep later, I'm back at my desk in Wisconsin after having a wonderful time in sunny, warm California. A friend of mine asked me to dish him the highlights of the convention and I was at a partial loss---I'm still processing everything. Overall, it seemed bigger, even though according to attendance numbers it was in line with Blizzcons '13 and '11. When pressed, there are a handful of things that stood out to me. Find those below.

Blizzcon Focus

Something felt different this year, and it didn't hit me until I woke up this morning: this was a very Warcraft-less Blizzcon. Blizzcons '08 and '10 also had no new WoW news, but I wasn't there---so it's hard to say if the impression I've been left with is accurate. And that impression is that Blizzard is moving away from Blizzcon essentially being a World of Warcraft Con to a true celebration of the Blizzard Universe. To me, aside from announcing a new IP, the tournaments (Hearthstone, Starcraft and WoW Arenas) were the big events at the convention. I can only imagine future Blizzcons will feature Heroes of the Storm tournaments, if not Overwatch as well when it's ready.

If this is the way Blizzard is evolving, I think it's a really smart move. While they will indeed support World of Warcraft for years to come, they'll need to diversify to maintain their presence as a titan in the gaming industry---and to keep players coming. And I think we've been witness to this in the past year or so especially with Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm. And of course now, Overwatch. Speaking of...

I did snap some shots of gameplay when I was spectating, but word on the street is I wasn't supposed to do that so...instead here's some art from the official site!

Overwatch

I plan to expand on my impressions of the half dozen matches of Overwatch I played in a separate post, but this was obviously a huge takeaway from this year's convention. Full disclosure: I avoid shooters (FPS) like the plague. My first experience was GoldenEye, and that game left me with such severe motion sickness that I literally couldn't play it for more than a few matches. In 2002, but a few years shy of discovering World of Warcraft, a friend introduced me to Timesplitters 2, which is a FPS with PvP and a campaign where the player travels through time in order stop a menacing alien race from effing things up. I played the shit out of that game: the complete campaign on each of the difficulty levels plus the vast majority of side missions and achievements.

Overwatch is going to be a very different game from what I've described above, but the point is that I felt a deeper connection to this game akin to what I felt with Timesplitters. Granted, part of the reason is that it's a Blizzard game---I trust them implicitly---but at the same time, I had a blast in the short time I spent with Overwatch. The characters are unique and engaging, the approach classic Blizzard: easy to play, but difficulty to master.

Anduin Lothar's armor from the movie.

The Warcraft Movie

I feel somewhat guilty talking about the movie given the fact if you weren't at the con, you won't be able to see what was revealed. They screened a short teaser trailer and also included a second clip to demonstrate the level of detail they'll be going into when it comes to characters/actors in the movie, this specific shot featuring orcs. It was screened in a special Dolby Atmos theater and security was tight. People may wonder how nothing was leaked, but given the threat of a $250,000 fine for piracy, and the men in black who strolled the theater as the clip played, it's not a surprise to me that the public won't see this til Legendary/Blizzard deem it ready. Though I'll say one thing: it looks good. Real good. If you want to know specifics, email me.

The fact that we're over a year away before we see this film hit theaters when held next to how amazing it looks right now gives me great, great hope. This film will be striking in its visual beauty, ala the same way Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings held us in awe. The lynch pin in whether or not this will be the beginning of a powerful movie franchise or the end of Duncan Jones' career will be how the story plays out. And based on comments during the movie panel, this is likely just the beginning of it all.

I have high hopes.

Pano of the Hearthstone Stage.

Hearthstone as a Growing Esport

I gained a sense of this when watching qualifying matches on Twitch during the lead up to Blizzcon, but it was something else altogether watching it go down in person. We spent more time than we probably should have watching the matches, if seeing as much of the con as possible was our goal. I really enjoy watching matches play out, seeing the professionals make decisions that leave me, as a novice, scratching my head. But then! Then you see how those choices play out and you realize you're watching players who are on a completely different level. I felt like I should've brought a notepad.

The set was beautiful, the fans were into it, and the casters were entertaining and spot on. Hearthstone as an esport is only set to get bigger in the years to come and I'll be interested to see how the upcoming expansion, Goblins vs. Gnomes, will affect the metagame.

What's Next for Blizzard? - Blizzcon Predictions

Predictions: if you're wrong, you look foolish, and if you're right, no one cares. So I've got nothing new to offer you here, just my own speculation. For something more tangible for those of you lucky enough to hear many of these anticipated announcements in-person at Blizzcon, check out my Blizzcon Guide for Noobs.

With Blizzard stating they've effectively cancelled the mystery-MMO we've come to know as Titan, it's left a lot of fans wondering what's next for the game giant. Let's keep in mind that cancelling long-in-development projects isn't uncommon when it comes to Blizzard. We have quite a bit of precedence for it, actually. Analysts are even seeing it as a strength. The action in itself mirrors the Blizzard philosophy of "make games they'd want to play themselves." And as CEO Mike Morhaime said in the Polygon interview, releasing a game that doesn't live up to their expectations isn't an option.

Many players were hoping for an update on Titan's progress at Blizzcon this coming November. Without that prospect, and the likelihood we won't hear much about "what's next" in Warcraft beyond what we already know of Warlords of Draenor, it leaves me wondering what we might see this year. 

Hearthstone

There's little doubt we'll hear something about the first expansion to their massively successful trading card game. If not at Blizzcon, then shortly after. The developers have even said as much. With a reported 20+ million players in the game, Hearthstone is slated to receive support for years to come, especially with the growing popularity of esports and its impending availability to the broader mobile market.

Blizzcon Prediction: Details on Hearthstone's first expansion which will introduce the Death Knight hero; firm release dates for availability in wider mobile market.

Starcraft: Legacy of the Void

We know there's one more chapter in the Starcraft II trilogy, and what that will look like is hinted at heavily at the ending of Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm. Full disclosure: Starcraft is probably the Blizzard game I play the least, so I know even less of what I'm talking about here than normal. Either way, expect to hear about Legacy of the Void at Blizzcon this year, but probably nothing about a release date.

Blizzcon Prediction: Trailer for SCII:LotV with a game release slated for 2016.

Heroes of the Storm

If MOBAs are your thing and you were lucky enough to get into the Alpha, you already know how much potential this game has. With Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard continues its tradition of expanding into new genres and kicking ass at it. I've played Riot's League of Legends and have a summoner near max-level, but there's something about the game that doesn't grab me. I've always been a casual, for-fun LoL player. However, with LoL, it takes a certain time investment---if you really want to progress---even as a casual player. 

Heroes of the Storm aims at broad appeal, like with Hearthstone, where they've created a complex game with a low barrier to entry. I feel it's safe to assume we'll get a vague release target (i.e. Q2 2015) at Blizzcon. My hope is that the game will transition to Open Beta shortly after, if not by the time Blizzcon arrives.

Blizzcon Prediction: Open Beta announcement, new playable heroes including Vol'jin and Deckard Cain, target release date announced.

Diablo III

It's going to be quiet on the Diablo front this year. Reaper of Souls spent a good amount of time in the spotlight at last year's Blizzcon. Considering the title just released for console, I doubt we'll be talking about what's next in Diablo.

Blizzcon Prediction: Diablo does not play a major part at this year's Blizzcon.

World of Warcraft

I want to learn where we're heading after Draenor. And we will eventually, but it might not be at Blizzcon. If that's the case, it means we'll be talking about the expansion we've been talking about since last Blizzcon. Which seems like a rather drab prospect, given---on average---the type of player/fan you're addressing at an event like Blizzcon. Unless they've undersold the expansion to us this whole time (an admittedly difficult notion to swallow with just how much information we have) and are set to unleash new information that will send us into a frenzy. In a good way, of course.

I also think this is a great opportunity to show where the movie's at. Significant time was spent at last year's Blizzcon---Duncan Jones and some of his crew even had a panel, and I assume we'll hear more this year.

Blizzcon Prediction: They'll announce the next expansion; the one after Warlords, but details will be scarce so as not to spoil the ending of Warlords of Draenor. Why? I don't have a whole lot to back that up, but here's someone who took a stance and ran with it. The remainder of the time will focus on what we'll be seeing the week after Blizzcon when the expansion launches. As far as the movie goes, I don't believe we'll see the trailer, but feel confident we'll be shown a short scene.

Additional Titles

With the cancellation of Titan, might there be room for Blizzard to announce another project they're working on? On the other hand, given Titan's demise, perhaps Blizzard will be more cautious about how and when they announce their large-scale projects. I don't think we'll see a new title announced at Blizzcon beyond what's been discussed above. The timing of Titan's cancellation was more about tempering expectations: they didn't want anyone going into the convention thinking they'd hear about Titan. Conversely, announcing the cancellation of a title at such a major event simply wouldn't be wise.

That said, I bet we see Blizzard's updates to the Warcraft RTS games; perhaps not the whole lot, but I believe we'll see an updated Warcraft 3 engine including art assets, as well as the functionality that will tie it to our Battle.net launchers. 

It doesn't really pay to argue these points, as I've essentially pulled them from my bum. But are there any predictions you'd alter/add?

Leave 'em below. 

What I Hope to See in Hearthstone for iOS: Mobile Game Mode

Will we see Hearthstone for iPhone and Android by the end of this year like Blizzard mentioned back in April? No one's really saying much, including senior game designers. Personally, I expect an announcement along those lines at Blizzcon in November, where I assume we'll also hear more about the game's first expansion/booster (not to be confused with the recent Curse of Naxxramas adventure). And I'm hoping that tucked in with these announcements is a new game mode that's specific to mobile phones. What I'm calling Mobile Game Mode. I know, it's a terrible name, but just bear with me.

What would Mobile Game Mode look like? Basically, it's Hearthstone without the play timer. Think Words with Friends. And if you're not familiar with Words with Friends, I'd describe it as a casual game of Scrabble-lite played at the collective pace of the two players. Games can stretch out over several days, or can be over in ten minutes, depending on how quickly a player responds to his or her opponent's move.

In order to play Hearthstone on iOS (iPad) right now, the player must connect to a wireless network. Mobile Game Mode would be set up in such a way that, like Words with Friends, connection to a cellular network is all that's needed to support game play. Players can take as long as they'd like to make a move, and once they play, their opponent receives a notification that it's their turn to play. The cycle repeats until one of the heroes dies. I see this as being aimed towards casual play, and would be unranked so it couldn't be abused for player gains.

I've absolutely no idea at all what sort of server infrastructure would be needed to support it, but I can't imagine it'd required more than what Blizzard has right now. And if Zynga can do it, I would think Blizzard could as well.

The bigger question I'm left with: is this mode something that'd even appeal to players, or is it just something I'd like to see because of my affinity for Words with Friends?

I'm curious to know...tweet at me or leave it in the comments!

Heroes of the Storm 4.15.17 Alpha Build --- Hits and Misses

The environmental detail found in Heroes of the Storm is incredible...but that's for another post.

Heroes of the Storm recently saw what will probably be the first of several account wipes this past week. When servers came back up, players were greeted with some tweaks to the UI and game systems, as well as a slew of hero ability changes. I'm not going to get into the nitty-gritty of the heroes changes since I haven't had the opportunity to spend a great deal of time with any of them. Instead, I've identified some of the larger changes featured in this build and described what worked for me---and what didn't.

Hits

Increased Movement Speed
Patch notes indicated hero speed was increased from 4.0 to 4.4. While this doesn't really mean anything to me at the end of the day, I can report that there is a subtle difference in the speed of play. I can't say for certain if this shortens the average length of the game, but certainly it allows players to enter combat situations in less time than they could before.

While hero speed wasn't something I ever had a problem with, it seemed to be a fairly common complaint posted on the feedback forums. Surely this change is simply Blizzard testing the waters, but I wouldn't be surprised if it makes it live. Hopefully Blizzard will amass some quality feedback from players who felt the original style of play was a bit sluggish.

Improved Minimap Visibility
This was a relatively minor change as well, but a nice quality-of-life improvement. Blizzard seems to have lightened up the minimap shading so that the entire map is visible by all players. Of course, you cannot see where your opponents are unless you have teammates or minions near them. However, other MOBAs tend to add an annoying level of shading/shadows to cloak the sections of the map you and your teammates haven't yet "discovered."

This is a good move on Blizzard's part. Giving the minimap greater visibility doesn't offer an advantage to one team over the other. The map simply becomes easier to read for all players. I'd bet this change is here to stay.

Misses

Haunted Mines
This map's objective seems to be the most inconsequential compared to the objectives found on other maps. Essentially, there is a mine that both teams can enter at predetermined times in the game where they kill minions and collect their skulls. There are 100 skulls in all, and however many your team acquires will be used to fuel the health of a large golem that will barrel toward your enemy's base.

In Heroes' previous build, players discovered that oftentimes entering the mine to collect skulls could actually put your team at a disadvantage. Ignoring the mechanic and playing the map as if it held no objectives was the way to go. From the looks of it, Blizzard tried to make the destructive nature of the golem more attractive to teams by increasing its health over the course of the match, but based on several matches played this week in the mines, I'm not sure they've gone far enough. Sick three or four members of your team onto the golem and it can usually be felled before it wreaks too much havoc---maybe that's OK with Blizzard. Either way, it makes me wonder if it still might be better for teams to ignore the mines and continue to push enemy towers unaided.

Lack of Robust Teamwork/Chat Functionality
I was hoping we'd see more communication functionality in this build. It'd be nice to see a League of Legends-style lobby at least in the pre-game, and possibly before the team selects Heroes. Blizzard's matchmaking system may be set up to create balanced groups, yet it'd still be nice if players were given some control over their team makeup.

Quest Rewards Restricted to Vs. Mode
The final "miss," and the most contentious of them all. Prior to Tuesday's build, players were able to complete daily quests for extra experience and gold in any game mode. This meant players could satisfy quest objectives like "Use X ability to do 20,000 damage against enemy heroes" while playing against the AI. Not anymore. As I write this, there's still quite a discussion taking place on the forums over this particular change.

Is the lure of daily quests enough to convince a more casual player to make a foray into Vs. mode? For a lot of people, the answer is clearly no. Another thing we aren't sure of is just why Blizzard has made this change. It could be something as simple as they need a greater pool of testers selecting Vs. mode and this is their attempt at enticement.

I don't care if you're for it or against it, but there needs to be intelligent reward systems for each of the play modes: Practice (you + AI vs. AI), Co-Op (you + players vs. AI) and Vs. (you + players vs. players). They don't have to be equal---in fact I'd argue the rewards should be the most attractive at the Vs. level---but they must be present for each mode. I'll be eagerly watching for Blizzard's reaction to the feedback on this topic. They've been doing a pretty good job about addressing players thus far.

Whether or not you're currently playing Heroes, do you have any thoughts on the recent round of changes?

Expect a BlizzCon announcement soon

Earlier this morning during a chat with a friend and fellow Blizzard enthusiast, we both were left wondering whether there was any precedence for not knowing if BlizzCon is or isn't going to happen at this point in the year. To me, it feels pretty late in the game. I was lucky enough to attend BlizzCons '11 and '13, and swore Blizzard announced the dates early on in the year. After some very light wiki-research, I discovered it's really not that late at all. In fact, we should expect to hear the official word any day now.

Thanks to Entropia for supplying the event months

While in recent years Blizzard's been in the habit of announcing BlizzCon in the first quarter, we haven't yet reached two of the dates on that list, and we're not far past March 25th. So really, just under half of all Blizzcon announcements happened right around this point in the year. So fret not, we'll have an announcement soon. However, there's a distinct possibility the announcement will entail the reasons why they've elected to not hold a BlizzCon in 2014.

Part of me would not be completely shocked if they decided to skip this year given everything Blizzard is working on. There's Warlords of Draenor to finish up and get out to players in a timely fashion, likely meaning the event would be rather light on WoW news. Heroes of the Storm is in the Alpha stages and seems to be a few months away from full release. Surely they're continuing to work on new assets and expansions for Hearthstone, Diablo and Starcraft. That's not to mention the new trademark they recently filed.

At the same time, when I had the chance to speak with Mike Morhaime at BlizzCon '13, he mentioned that the event is a highlight for them and that they don't like skipping years. Given that Blizzard actually wants to do it, combined with the fact they're celebrating the 10th anniversary of World of Warcraft as well as the 20th anniversary of the Warcraft franchise, I don't see how they could skip 2014. Plus, if they weren't planning on BlizzCon this year, I can't imagine what reasons they'd have to wait this long to tell us it's not going to happen.

What's your hunch?

Heroes of the Storm: First Impressions

Img: Blizzard

It's not often that I get to use the cliche "love-hate relationship," but when it comes to MOBAs and me, there's no better term to describe my feelings. Introduced to the genre but a few years ago via League of Legends, I find the style to be both fun and frustrating---mostly the latter. The learning curve can be quite daunting, random matchmaking can become a disadvantage in and of itself, and the player environment seems less forgiving and quick to judge compared to what I've witnessed in other online multiplayers. Thus, I was eager to see how Blizzard might add to their legacy in the genre.

Quite honestly, I expected Heroes of the Storm to be "Blizzard does League Of Legends." After receiving an alpha invite earlier in the week, I'm pleased to say that's not the case. While LoL and Heroes are competitors on the surface, and many comparisons can and will be drawn, Heroes offers a fresh perspective that will appeal to veteran MOBA players as well as those new to the genre. In other words, Heroes could do for MOBAs what Hearthstone did for TCGs.

Players of any MOBA-style game will find themselves in familiar territory with Heroes, but Blizzard's added their own spin resulting in a unique experience. I've only spent approximately five hours with the game, and I'm fairly noobish when it comes to MOBAs (my two-year-old Summoner sits at level 19), but there are a some things that I feel Blizzard really got right with their iteration in a genre that's only growing in popularity.

Team-wide Leveling

Immediately differentiating itself from League of Legends, Heroes of the Storm eschews individual hero leveling during the course of a match, featuring team-based leveling instead. Any experience earned via minion and enemy kills or structure destruction is awarded to the entire team. This is interesting because unlike LoL, this means no one on your team falls behind; in terms of relative strength throughout the duration of a match, there are no weak links---unless of course somehow your entire team manages to fall three or four levels behind your opponents.

This approach to leveling means there's less focus on grinding minions to get that "last hit," and more focus on truly working with your team, watching the map, and paying attention to enemy movements. There's less time spent claiming and remaining in a lane and more time being responsive to the map objectives and the battles your teammates are waging. It makes for a more exciting, dynamic experience.

While several players on the forums are requesting some sort of "last hit" incentive, I think they're missing the point of this particular design. Without an item shop (which I'll get to in a moment) and absent individual-based leveling, the need for a "last hit" reward in Heroes becomes moot---unless Blizzard decides to conjure up some sort of reward mechanism that fits within their current design systems. Personally, I don't see much room for a significant change here. Abandoning the "last hit" model was a conscious choice on behalf of the game's designers, and it works extremely well given the type of experience they're offering.

Diverse Maps & Objectives

There are at least four maps in the current alpha, and each map has its own unique set of features and related objectives. When I heard about this firsthand at Blizzcon, it wasn't something I got excited about. After seeing it in action, I think it's genius! Like League of Legends, there are camps of mobs in the jungle on each map that can be fought for experience. However, Blizzard calls them "mercenary camps," and for good reason. Say you defeat a camp of wraiths. Not only does your team receive experience, but a handful of wraiths from that camp will rise up to join your team, heading towards the nearest lane to destroy enemy minions and structures unfortunate enough to be in their path. 

And the maps. Oh, the maps! Each is laid out in the familiar style with lanes to push and defenses to destroy, but they also have a related objective the teams can and should take advantage of to do some serious damage to the opposing side. In most situations, it would be folly to ignore these objectives---Blizzard's made them an integral part of each map, and the team that decides to ignore the map objectives hands the opposing team a significant advantage. So not only will you be pushing lanes and trying to make progress in the traditional MOBA style, but both teams' attention will be redirected at times when these objectives become available. Brief descriptions of the four:

• There are two towers that can be controlled by either team. If a team controls both towers, a statue at the center of the map is activated. If a player from the controlling team clicks the statue while the the towers are still controlled, that player turns into a huge dragon with two massively destructive abilities: a frontal-cone fire breath and a charge that punts opponents back to their base. 
• Every so often, many dozen undead minions spawn in a mine underneath the map. The teams head into the mine to clear these minions, creating a tally. After the mine is cleared, each team gets an AI-controlled golem with strength relative to the number of minion kills the team acquired. 
• Coins are collected from killing pirate camps and treasures chests that spawn (with an alert) at specific points on the map. Once a certain number of coins are acquired, they can be used to pay a pirate captain to shoot holes through enemy defenses. If you're carrying coins and you die before you can turn them in to the pirate, you drop those coins, leaving them for the enemy team to snatch up.
• Some sort of necromancer spawns "tributes" one-at-a-time at a pre-determined point on the map. Several seconds before the tribute spawns, both teams are shown the spawn point, giving them plenty of time to arrive before it spawns. Collect three of these tributes, and the necromancer curses the enemy team for a short period, essentially rendering their minions useless and their forts defenseless.

Smaller Maps & Shorter Games

When I say "smaller" and "shorter," I'm making a comparison to League of Legends---and I could totally be off in some of my observations here. Still, to me it seems like the maps aren't as large both in length and width. I found it quite a bit easier to move between lanes to assist my teammates, and with less penalty to the abandoned lane. As it relates to the randomly spawning objectives, this makes it so that each team has a fair chance at reaching them. 

I think the smaller maps, coupled with the objectives that can greatly assist a team towards victory, translate into shorter games (around 20 minutes). Personally, I feel this is the perfect length. The sweet-spot. When a League of Legends match eclipses the 35-minute mark, I start questioning whether my time has been well-spent. At that point, the only consolation for me is a win, and it's a small one at that. League of Legends is a game that you could try to squeeze in over the lunch hour, but you might not be able to finish. With Heroes, it seems you might have enough time for a match and perhaps a game of Hearthstone with some minutes to spare!

Items---Gone!

If not a brilliant approach to handling the game, it's arguably a friendlier design. Your hero is who he/she is with a handful abilities that you'll add to and/or augment over the course of a match---no need to worry about purchasing strange item combinations to counter your opponent's build. As you rack up minion and hero kills, you don't earn a currency to spend like in LoL. Instead, at every three team levels players are given a choice between "talents" that will alter certain hero abilities for the duration of that match, or with some heroes, provide a new ability altogether. You know exactly what's in your arsenal and based how the game is going, you can hopefully make an intelligent choice that will greater benefit your situation. 

I had to do some research in LoL before I found my character(s) of choice to be fully optimal in any given match. There were a handful of specific item builds that really needed to be understood to be a true threat out on the field. While there will always be room for research, it's not something I see as a requirement to be competitive in Heroes. Without items, you rarely need to return to your base, save to replenish your health and/or main resource, the management of the latter being the most important aspect for players to be concerned with during the early stages of the game.

Interesting Character Choices

There is a refreshing variety of character choices, both in complexity and role. From what I can see, most characters are hybrids and can be built up several different ways in any given match depending on a player's preference. For instance, the Barbarian can go full-on tank, full-on damage, or some combination of the two. Malfurion can go healer with minimal damage, damage-dealer with minimal healing, or settle in at a spot in between. When I played Malfurion, he ended up having five abilities by the end of the match instead of the traditional four. 

I wasn't aware of just how interesting character choices could be until I elected to be given a random character for a Vs Match (Blizzard's term for PvP games). I ended up with Sgt. Hammer, a siege tank that will be familiar to fans of the Starcraft series. I was overwhelmed by the volume and variety of talent choices I had throughout the course of the match---and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Sgt. Hammer seems like a complex hero that can be played in many different ways. I chose a tankier build, and by the end of the match I had seven abilities to choose from. A quick glance at my action bar and one may have thought I was playing Warcraft!

Conclusion

I'm excited to see how Blizzard shapes this title over the coming months. As far as gameplay goes, it feels pretty polished. The response I've witnessed from other players seems to be positive overall. If you head on over to the feedback forums you can read more about what other players are saying. As a novice when it comes to MOBA experience, I'm most interested to read what players think is wrong/missing in the game. Because from this vantage, there's nothing significant I can identify.

Blizzard took World of Warcraft and created an appeal that reached far beyond even their own expectations in a genre that wasn't widely appealing up to that point. I can't help but feel they'll do the same thing with Heroes of the Storm. Don't get me wrong---League of Legends is by far (and will remain) the most widely played MOBA. However, there's absolutely no reason why this game and LoL can't coexist. I guarantee you veteran MOBA players will play Heroes, while at the same time Heroes will have the drawing power and appeal to introduce new players to the genre. What seems to be a mantra at Blizzard applies to this title as well: easy to learn but difficult to master.

Right now, if given a choice between League of Legends and Heroes of the Storm, I will choose Heroes nine-point-five out of ten times. For me, it comes down to the dynamic maps, the shorter game times, and the low barrier-to-entry when it comes to choosing and playing a hero.

And to think, this should only get better? Well played, Blizzard. Well played.