Heroes of the Storm received a new loot mechanic with Update 2.0 that strongly resembles that of Blizzard’s hero shooter Overwatch. However, this small addition changes more about the gameplay than one might think.
A few weeks ago, I wasn’t very convinced by “Heroes of the Storm 2.0”. In my opinion, the pompously chosen name was inappropriate for an update that essentially only revised the loot mechanic and added a few fun emojis, spray paints, and announcers.
Now HotS 2.0 is finally here, and after a night of playing, I must say: Heroes of the Storm 2.0 changes more than just the loot!
Heroes of the Storm 2.0 – Less can be more
Yet, my first contact with HotS 2.0 was rather disappointing. I had logged in with anticipation for dozens of loot boxes, but in the end, I only had a meager 13 boxes – 5 normal and 8 epic. Somehow, I had expected way more with over 80 levels in total. And both Schuhmann and Cortyn had much more loot than I did!
But opening the boxes was just as much fun as I had anticipated and thanks to a few tactically clever rerolls, I soon had various purple items and even a legendary angel skin for Diablo. Although I hardly ever play him, the skin still looks cool.
HotS 2.0 – Blizzard in a generous mood
My first batch of boxes brought a better yield than expected, and so I eagerly set to work earning more boxes. Thanks to the mega hero box, I had now unlocked almost all characters in HotS and could therefore go all out. So I dived into the fray with various heroes and soon earned a few new boxes with even more loot.
Through the many games, I soon completed various quests and received a lot of gold, which I used again for rerolls to optimally exploit my loot boxes. It was simply fantastic! No matter what I did, I was rewarded! And I also had fun playing, because Heroes of the Storm is by no means a game I dislike.
Heroes of the Storm 2.0 – Positive reinforcement through loot
The many rewards motivated me even more to give my best and try as many new heroes as possible to earn loot with them. Don’t get me wrong, I played HotS back then with enthusiasm as well, but at some point the air was out because there simply wasn’t much to gain.
Sure, every now and then there was a master skin or a ranked reward, but most of the time the reward for the efforts was only plain gold, from which one could eventually buy a hero. However, I had eventually played all the heroes I liked, and thus the gold reward became less and less attractive over time. What I like much more are animated unicorn logos, catchy phrases for my heroes, and Li-Li as the cute announcer!
HotS 2.0 – Rewards make better players
Visible and usable rewards simply feel good and activate deeply rooted feelings of happiness within me. This subconsciously makes me a more ambitious player and changes the gameplay feel in Heroes of the Storm. I used to play HotS occasionally because it was simply fun, but I never played it more than once a week.
Now I can hardly wait to log back in, because there are so many cool items that I don’t have yet but would love to have. And since I therefore inevitably have to try completely new heroes (like Diablo), which I previously enjoyed less, I keep finding “hidden treasures” that I like better than I initially thought.
In this state, Heroes of the Storm will certainly keep me engaged for many weeks. But what do you think of the “new” HotS? Do you feel more motivated and ambitious with the new rewards or do you need no additional rewards to play a game with full enthusiasm consistently? Let me know in the comments!
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