How alive is the so-called dead game “Heroes of the Storm” actually after a year? Cortyn is still playing – and finds that it is only getting better.
What happened to HotS? Shortly after BlizzCon 2018, Blizzard essentially “pulled the plug” on Heroes of the Storm. The entire official e-sports was shut down and the development team was drastically reduced. Even though it was already said back then that the team is more than just a “maintenance team”, the MOBA was declared dead by many fans. It was just a matter of time until it would be discontinued – so they thought. A year has passed now and Heroes of the Storm is still playable, new patches are released less frequently, but regularly.
What has happened since then? Although HotS has significantly fewer developers, new heroes and updates occur less frequently, there is still no standstill. There are always new balance patches or recurring events with small changes. The flow of new heroes has not ceased, although production has slowed down significantly. In addition to Anduin, there was also Qhira and most recently the long-awaited Deathwing as heroes.
Some things have even improved: Personally, I find that some decisions made over the last year have significantly improved HotS. I think it’s great that loot boxes can now only be purchased with gold or earned through playtime. I also think it’s awesome that the weekly brawl no longer switches between different modes, but every week the same mode is on a different map (everyone plays random heroes, there is only one lane – basically “ARAM” from League of Legends).
Seeing the positive in the negative: Even if this might be considered “nitpicking” by some, honestly, I like the slower development of new heroes. Other MOBAs, like SMITE, have lost me over the years because too many heroes appeared in a short time. If you took a 3-4 month break (say because of a new WoW expansion), returning was overwhelming. Such breaks are not as bad in HotS because usually only one new hero has appeared.
What about the community? Of course, I can only provide my very subjective opinion here. But at least “it feels” like players have become much more relaxed. I have often experienced in the brawl that players play a “silly but fun” combo – we once managed to compete with 5 healers. We lost, but it was incredibly fun. In other modes, the people seem to be more relaxed and more willing to give tips. This may be because only people who truly enjoy the game are still playing and don’t want to scare off the last community.
Even in the subreddit for Heroes of the Storm, discussions are civilized and there are often posts where newcomers ask questions and many answers come together. Without e-sports and with a smaller player base, everything seems to have become a bit friendlier.
Sure, sometimes there is that one strange guy who insults everyone because he considers himself the cream of the crop. But that is the everyday life in every game. If you simply block them consistently, it doesn’t hinder the enjoyment of the game much.
By the way, there are hardly any wait times unless you absolutely want to play the newest hero. Generally, a match is found in just a few seconds.
Is the game still worth it? From my personal perspective, I would definitely say: Yes, it’s worth it. The balancing of many heroes has been greatly improved and the innovations of recent months are sensible. A new change to the experience points is currently being tested in the live environment. The team no longer automatically receives experience when they are near dying minions. Instead, the minions now leave experience orbs that must be collected. This leads to new, strategic gameplay because you can no longer “leech XP” from a distance.
In summary, HotS is still a worthwhile and interesting game a year after its supposed “end”, as long as you don’t plan to get involved in e-sports. For that, you should rather look for 5 games you can really play professionally.
Of all the MOBAs on the market, it is still the game I want to dedicate my free time to the most.
Have you checked in to HotS again in the last few weeks? Or have you completely written off the MOBA?
