Considering the rollback in operations for the MOBA Heroes of the Storm, fans were very likely eager to hear from the game’s devs. The first of several scheduled AMA’s with the team provided a number of insights into pending changes to heroes and ranked modes, as well as a word on the MOBA’s esports scene and overall community.
In terms of ranked play, the Hero League and Team League will merge in an effort to stymie Team League overpopulation and ensure a broad range of skill levels. This also works hand-in-hand with tweaks to placement, which will take in to account the highest Ranked Mode MMR from a player’s profile and normalizing it. If you’ve never touched Ranked Mode, there will be adjustments to try and ensure you don’t end up being dropped into a higher bracket. Ranked play will also see a new role system introduced, which lets players select two of their most preferred roles in an effort to make team building easier for everyone.
The devs also provided a brief acknowledgement of reworks incoming for the Support character Tassadar and the Warrior character Chen. Specifics on what’s being done to boost these two heroes weren’t shared, but there is mention of using the psychic abilities demonstrated in the Legacy of the Void cinematic as inspiration for Tassadar.
Finally, the devs stated that they’re eager to continue to support the HotS esports scene in any way they can, beseeching organizers and fans of events to reach out to the devs with ways the team can help. They also provided some simple advice on how to help the MOBA grow:
“Play the game. Bring a friend or four….Keep telling us what you love and, more importantly, what we need to do better. When we make something you think is awesome, spend your Gold or Shards or Gems on it. Be kind to each other and have fun together, because that’s what this is all about.”
