#17 - Into the Nexus: “Title”
• Garrett • Kyle
Sponsors:
Into the Nexus is proudly sponsored by Doghouse Systems.com. If you use the code ITN at checkout, you will get double memory on your next Doghouse System!
Into the Nexus is also sponsored by TweakedAudio.com. The same code, ITN, will get you 30% off and free shipping on your entire order of noise-reducing earbuds from Tweaked Audio!
Intro: Welcome to Into the Nexus! The Heroes of the Storm podcast!
Patreon Announcement
Into the Nexus now has a Patreon page. If you would like to help support the show go to Patreon.com/ITN.
With the launch of our Patreon we will now be sticking around after the show once a month to play and record a game of Heroes with our Patrons.
- $1 or more gets you posted on our thank you page on Amove.tv
- $5 or more gives access to future Patron-only giveaways
- $250/month: We’ll drop the top of the show ads
- $500/month: We will stick around after the show EVERY week to play a game with our Patrons
- $1000/month: ITN Hangouts! We will start doing an extra episode a month where it is all call-in Q&A with our Patrons.
Zeratul SDCC figure giveaway
Tweet @ITNcast using #GetDetection for a chance to win this exclusive figure.
News
Blizzard Confirms Draft Mode
Heroes Senior Game Producer, Kaeo Milker interview from gamona.de
- The reason ranked play wasn’t considered important for the early stage of the Tech Alpha was because of the low amount of players.
- We will not see the ranked ladder implemented in the next couple of content patches.
- “The current plan is to implement a so-called Draft Mode as it is for example know from League of Legends (LoL).”
- This means that the preparation for a ladder match in Heroes of the Storm will work like this:
- You can only play with a fixed team* and you cannot select the "random hero" option.
- Both teams will see the full roster of the opponent teams. In LoL, then both teams can ban three heroes from being picked by the opponent in the oncoming match.
- From the remaining pool both teams then select their heroes. This is not done for the whole team at once, but one by one after another, meaning one side chooses a certain hero, followed by a hero choice of the opponent team. With this method each team has the chance to react on the particular hero choice of the other side.
Independent from implementing Ranked Play there is the internal ranking system used for finding a proper opponent. This system is already known from StarCraft II. It is called Matchmaking Ranking (MMR) and has been used since the start of the Technical Alpha. It is based on the following rules:
- The MMR of the player, which is influenced by:
- The win-to-loss ratio of all matches ever played
- The win-to-loss ratio of the currently selected hero.
- For complete teams: The cumulative MMR for the whole team.
- For incomplete teams: The "missing" players are selected such that the cumulative MMR is approximately the same as the cumulative MMR of the opponent team.
- For long queuing times, there are fallbacks implemented: This means, the above stated rules will be applied less strict or even dropped completely in order to find an opponent.
Links
Gamescom Heroes Interview
Heroes Senior Game Producer, Kaeo Milker
How did the Technical Alpha happen?
We wanted to change the way we think and work with Heroes. The game is constantly evolving, so we wanted people in as quickly as possible so we could get realtime reactions from them based on the changes we were making.
How do you choose which hero to add to the game?
Early on, heroes added to the game were added based on the artists. They wanted to make sure each Blizzard franchise was represented and now, they want to round out the variety of the roster. "If you want to play an Assassin, we want to make sure you've got a couple to choose from."
Why are mounts implemented when the maps are so small?
Our battlegrounds have objectives on them, so at a moments notice, you need to be able to get somewhere quickly. There were boots in Warcraft 3 which increased speed, and in other games too, but we felt mounts were a fun way of doing it and giving us another form of customization.
Is the game going to be on a console?
We're focused on PC Development. I like consoles, and what we've done with Diablo 3 in that regard. I play Heroes at home on my 360 controller and big screen, but there's no plans at the moment for consoles.
Links
Daily XP Cap Increased for Co-Op Games
We've finished deploying this update. Daily XP maximums for the Practice and Cooperative game modes should now be capped at 2.25 million XP, rather than 1.2 million. Thanks for your patience and apologies for the intermittent issues with queuing this evening.
Links
Customize Your Hot-Keys at your own Risk
Download at your own risk.
Links
Invites for Australia and New Zealand
Yes, there was an invite wave that rolled out recently which included a significant number of players from ANZ. Remember to check your Battle.net launcher to see if you have been invited as there are quite a few folks who have been given access but have yet to log in.
Links
Strategy
Tyrael
Links
- http://www.heroesfire.com/hots/wiki/heroes/tyrael
- http://www.heroesfire.com/hots/talent-calculator/tyrael#c9Q0
Emails
Ed
Hi ITN crew,
I'm not in the alpha, so my opinion only comes from an outsiders perspective for what it's worth.
I think the choice to force people to level heroes at least a little before having all the skills is a good thing for two reasons.
1. Intro experience for new people is a little less daunting
2. When a hero comes around in the free rotation, there is a built in incentive for completionists like me to try characters I've not played before - just to make sure I've unlocked all their skills.
Also, when you guys had this system thrown at you, you already had a bunch of characters. It was a major inconvenience because stuff you were used to having was taken away and hidden behind a grind. New people will only be faced with having to unlock the skills for one or two characters that they own initially. And again each time they decide to buy a new one. Not such a big deal.
So what do you think - am I on to something or have I missed the point?
Love the show, keeps me up to speed until I eventually get to play it myself.
Cheers,
Ed
Playboy Dave
Hey guys,
Love the show, and though Dills will be missed, you two more than make up for it! Ep.16 was a corker (yes I’m British, don’t hold it against me J…”corker” is good).
Anyway, quick question. Heroes is my first MOBA/Hero Brawler, having previously been a little intimidated by LoL and DOTA and the steep learning curve, I’m loving Heroes to bits. However, I hear DOTA2 has over a hundred heroes, but of course Heroes has a handful in comparison…so far. There’s clearly a lot of cross-over in terms of mechanics from one MOBA to another, do you see any specific skills/spells/mechanics from LoL/DOTA which haven’t yet found their way into Heroes? Items aside of course…. Can there really be enough unique abilities to make 100 characters feel different?
Thanks,
Playboy Dave
Outro
iTunes Thanks
- Mitchyd62
- Blahguy97
Patreon Thanks
- Daniel “Grayfire” K
- Kai
- Dan T.
- Mark B.
- Lee V.
- Carlaan F.
Patreon now up! Patreon.com/itn
Into the Nexus is a production of Amove.tv. You can see more about this and all the other A-move shows at Amove.tv. You can also email the show at ITNcast@gmail.com or continue the conversation over at forum.Amove.tv.
Catch the live show Thursday nights at 9pm Eastern on Twitch.tv/Amovetv. Mobile live stream provided by Alpha Geek Radio. Go to mobile.alphageekradio.com.
Follow the show on Twitter @ITNcast
Follow Garrett on @GarrettArt
Follow Dills @WillieDills
Follow Kyle @KyleFergusson
Thanks to Brian Griffith, the musician responsible for our intro music. He can be found at briangriffithmusic.com or @briangriffith on twitter.
NOMOONart.com for Garrett’s stream designs.
And Kyle where can you be found?
A-move Radio
Kylefergusson.com
Don’t forget to check out our sponsors:
Our code, ITN, will get you double-memory on your next Doghouse gaming rig.
The same code, ITN, will get you 30% off and free shipping on your entire order of noise-reducing earbuds from Tweaked Audio!