teacupcopter
Banned
What do you have to have done to get into this alpha? I keep waiting for a mythical invite that never eventuates but is there a way to have a higher chance at getting an invite? somewhere to sign up for it? etc?
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Heroes of the Storm Technical Alpha Thread: [Artifacts Removed]
- Thread starter fluffydelusions
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CommandThrower
Member
I'm really liking those changes. Arthas seems mighty fine now, and that makes me happy. Frozen Tempest now puts stacking slow debuffs by default? Excellent. Death Coil sounds excellent as well.
Last I checked, I still don't have access to the game. Well, keep making me eager to play it, Blizzard! This new patch looks awesome!
Last I checked, I still don't have access to the game. Well, keep making me eager to play it, Blizzard! This new patch looks awesome!
KojiKnight
Member
Do you live outside of NA? If so, you won't get an invite at this stage... Invites are limited to NA only... and even then the invites are limited.
It seems like there are a LOT but that's because this is a huge gaming forum, so it's easy to form groups invited into things like these.
(edit) So the changes they made to leveling has definitely worked. In the matches I've had, the level difference has rubberbanded a couple times and turned what would have definitely been stomps on us quickly turned around and vice versa. Not sure how the new system works, but it's obvious. Not sure if this is a good or a bad thing yet. I mean we won, which means we had to have turned it around... but it feels like we got a boost to get us back to there.
An alpha is for testing code and bringing in features. So I'm guessing it was a Tech Alpha before because the code they were testing was for the shop and for the heroes. With this latest patch they've updated the UI and even recorded new voices, so that's now at a respectable level for all parts of the game to be in Alpha and looking at tweaking, rather than just the basic gameplay/mechanic stuff.
I doubt we'll see them move it to the main servers until it's been feature complete for a while, and at that point we'll hit some form of beta. They also stated recently it won't be for a few more months that they'll move it over to the main servers.
KojiKnight
Member
Definitely. I spent a good portion of the pirate map trying to figure out where the coin counter got moved to... only to then forget a couple minutes later.
Did they include mappable hotkeys yet?
KojiKnight
Member
Not that I saw, currently on a different computer that hasn't finished updating so I can't double check.
awww nutz!!
4MrAnderson
Neo Member
Nope, not yet.
New UI is giving me a headache. It's better, but I can't find anything fast enough. I'm playing like it's my first day and tunnel visioning. I'm completely ignoring the mini map. And I feel like I have to relearn Hammer because of all the talent changes (at the very least, they also buffed her innate).
They also removed the character stats when you hit "N", which bugs me. I also don't feel like Tychus was really buffed well enough. They didn't touch Kerrigan. Illidan looks fun to play but now he's the only Melee Assassin without good burst, at least early. Li Li's ability to self heal feels like a nerf because now you have to play super, super safe. If you don't and get nicked, then you no longer heal any of your teammates for the next 10-20 seconds.
Basically, the patch feels like a redesign patch rather than a balance patch, and I was expecting both. The redesigns are a lot more radical than I expected too.
They also removed the character stats when you hit "N", which bugs me. I also don't feel like Tychus was really buffed well enough. They didn't touch Kerrigan. Illidan looks fun to play but now he's the only Melee Assassin without good burst, at least early. Li Li's ability to self heal feels like a nerf because now you have to play super, super safe. If you don't and get nicked, then you no longer heal any of your teammates for the next 10-20 seconds.
Basically, the patch feels like a redesign patch rather than a balance patch, and I was expecting both. The redesigns are a lot more radical than I expected too.
TurtleSnatcher
Member
Okay played a bunch tonight
New UI does take a bunch getting use to. Feels like the game is zoomed in. I wish it were pulled back a little bit as screen real estate feels a little too small for the game at the moment. Other than that, I really like the new UI. It did take me a while to figure out where the hell the Pirate Coin stuff was as well. Also the Level stuff on the top is really kind of hard to notice and the deaths of enemies is a little hard to notice as well.
I love the new models. They look great. Falstad seems a tad overly large and he flies really high up it feels like now.
I played some Murky tonight as well.
He is interesting for sure. Easily the most unique character in the game now. Even more so then Abathur. I think in team fights he can be really big if you spec slime. The DoT and slow is pretty insane. In games where you can do other things away from your team, he can spec Demo and become incredible at backdooring a team. We played a Blackheart Bay and didn't get a single canon turn in for about 10 minutes and we were even in forts against the other team because I was able to take out 4 Forts with his pufferfish alone and just moving my egg to different places.
Either way, really fun. Loving the new patch and changes. Good stuff Blizz!
EDIT: Murky's deaths give 1/4 the XP of a normal hero. Blizz CM confirmed to ZP on his stream.
New UI does take a bunch getting use to. Feels like the game is zoomed in. I wish it were pulled back a little bit as screen real estate feels a little too small for the game at the moment. Other than that, I really like the new UI. It did take me a while to figure out where the hell the Pirate Coin stuff was as well. Also the Level stuff on the top is really kind of hard to notice and the deaths of enemies is a little hard to notice as well.
I love the new models. They look great. Falstad seems a tad overly large and he flies really high up it feels like now.
I played some Murky tonight as well.
He is interesting for sure. Easily the most unique character in the game now. Even more so then Abathur. I think in team fights he can be really big if you spec slime. The DoT and slow is pretty insane. In games where you can do other things away from your team, he can spec Demo and become incredible at backdooring a team. We played a Blackheart Bay and didn't get a single canon turn in for about 10 minutes and we were even in forts against the other team because I was able to take out 4 Forts with his pufferfish alone and just moving my egg to different places.
Either way, really fun. Loving the new patch and changes. Good stuff Blizz!
EDIT: Murky's deaths give 1/4 the XP of a normal hero. Blizz CM confirmed to ZP on his stream.
Sigismundo
Member
Not quite. He is very very similar to Pudge from Dota.
ah okay thx friend
Yeah I creamed him as Raynor. Poor guy never became a factor. I dunno why they nerfed him so completely.
The new UI blows.
KojiKnight
Member
Had the new version crash on me for the first time, and my suspicions were proven!!
They finally removed the last of the traces of Starcraft 2
(edit) And holy crap, yeah Falstad's new model is awesome.
They finally removed the last of the traces of Starcraft 2
(edit) And holy crap, yeah Falstad's new model is awesome.
I just want to know who thought it was a great idea to pop up the chat in the very damn middle of the screen. I can live with the other UI changes, but that is a problem.
Also playing against a Murky that just mindlessly pushes your buildings is the worst kind of gameplay experience. I really hate seeing him in games.
Also playing against a Murky that just mindlessly pushes your buildings is the worst kind of gameplay experience. I really hate seeing him in games.
KojiKnight
Member
Other interesting changes: You can no longer quit to lobby. If you quit the game, it closes the game (and it gives you a lecture about how horrible of a person you are).
Fun fact, if you quit this way you STILL can't join another game (loading the game puts you back into your last game) until it's over.
Had someone 60 seconds in complain about the team being bad and leaving, then near the end of the match see the "'Douchebag X' has reconnected." Bliz be trolling those quitters.
Fun fact, if you quit this way you STILL can't join another game (loading the game puts you back into your last game) until it's over.
Had someone 60 seconds in complain about the team being bad and leaving, then near the end of the match see the "'Douchebag X' has reconnected." Bliz be trolling those quitters.
Yup he has like no damage and by the time you use your skills enough to get it respectable, you're already dead.
TurtleSnatcher
Member
yeah but it is a bad way of playing as he apparently still can feed xp if he dies and ressurects via egg.
haha awesome.
They need to turn up the exp from 1/4 of a hero kill then because I don't notice the effect in game, and it doesn't seem to counteract how much experience he gains from nonstop pushing over your buildings.
I mean, it's not that you can't counter it, it's just having to babysit your buildings against an enemy you can't really kill is not really the most enjoyable way to spend your time.
hahahah good!!
KojiKnight
Member
Agreed, though I've gotten used to it at this point so I'd likely keep it the same (okay, maybe like 10% smaller).
Wish I could play more, but my connection is being wonky as all wonking hell. Got my cable provider coming out in an hour or two to replace their shitty modem.
Yeah I think 10-15% smaller would be perfect for me.
GamerKingFaiz
Member
I just received an email saying I won the HotS PAX Pack giveaway.
I wanted to make sure it's not a phishing email. Has anyone else gotten one? The email is from contest@blizzard.com.
I wanted to make sure it's not a phishing email. Has anyone else gotten one? The email is from contest@blizzard.com.
I think that's a scam
TurtleSnatcher
Member
Unless if you did this...
http://www.heroesofthestorm.com/en-us/news/13474203/the-paxpack2014-giveaway-is-now-live
But if you didn't then yeah scam
http://www.heroesofthestorm.com/en-us/news/13474203/the-paxpack2014-giveaway-is-now-live
But if you didn't then yeah scam
KojiKnight
Member
Oh god one of those days... "Win a match" 4 losses in a row... Last match Diablo got mad because I told him quite nicely that he shouldn't be using his knock back attack to send our enemies away so they can escape certain death.... so he went AFK in spawn for the rest of the match, except to move his mouse when the warning came up.
njean777
Member
That's actually pretty smart, they should keep it that way.
I wish I could make a macro for telling Diablo players to stop knocking people away from me.
Also anyone seen this? http://www.heroesnexus.com/news/1119-founders-pack-ride-into-the-beta-test-on-a-wolf
Looks like people will be able to buy their way into the beta.
KojiKnight
Member
Despite what the article says, they also did this for Starcraft 2 and Heart of the Swarm (part of the rewards for preordering them, I know I did for both)... The only two games in recent memory that they haven't done this for was RoS and Hearthstone.
Diablo plays should open with the suplex and THEN charge to push people away from friends.
I feel cheap playing Gazlowe and rushing their base. Most people don't know how to handle it.
KojiKnight
Member
I'd take gazlowe any day of the week over Murky... Murky is a cheap-ass mofo... you have to have someone dedicated to taking him down or he sneaks off to an empty lane and bombs towers.
No doubt. I was in a Murky and Gazlowe game. The enemy team stood no chance.
A bunch on twitch. I dunno any good streamers though sorry.
Should be on twitch. Not a lot of viewers though.
KojiKnight
Member
No embargo, no NDA. Invites are limited to NA currently.
I was just watching a stream for awhile here: http://www.twitch.tv/forcestrategygaming
Game seems to move more slowly than Dota 2 (as in, the characters don't move and attack as quickly). I do like that match lengths seem much shorter than Dota 2 in general.
Is it not possible to buy items for your hero? Or is the customization as the game progresses strictly through leveling certain skills?
Game seems to move more slowly than Dota 2 (as in, the characters don't move and attack as quickly). I do like that match lengths seem much shorter than Dota 2 in general.
Is it not possible to buy items for your hero? Or is the customization as the game progresses strictly through leveling certain skills?
No items. You choose different talents every level.
Personally I prefer this, I absolutely hate Dota2's item system.
For streamers, I personally prefer:
www.twitch.tv/zp_tv ZP streams for 12-16 hours a day for aprox. 4-5 days a week. He's pretty knowledgeable and owns all the characters. He runs strawpolls most games to decide the next character he plays (so that he rotates through the characters while also going with the viewers' whims) but every once in a while gets into a 5man pick up group where he'll put on his try hard pants and be asked to play his best characters. The chat is also pretty fun to participate in.
www.twitch.tv/pookibur Pookibur is a member of a team that does regular practices every few days in the afternoon. I personally like the dude's style and his music, and he owns a majority of the top tier heroes. If you prefer you can check his team leader's stream, www.twitch.tv/cyasteve, but he usually pops into Pookibur's stream to chat if he's online anyhow.
http://www.twitch.tv/dunktrain He's either a fun guy or extremely obnoxious, depending on your disposition. Currently playing only the new hero, Murky, all weekend long. He's not the absolute best Murky player, I think, but he's definitely one of the best. I also like the fact that his opinions are often a bit different from the other streamers, but never exactly wrong. It gives you a different perspective. Sometimes CyaSteve pops into his stream and they'll go back and forth on some balance discussion.
There are also a number of players that have been playing from the first month but I don't really like watching them play. One example is http://www.twitch.tv/nickhots, who lets his mouse clicks and keyboard slamming get picked up by his microphone. I could make a list over the next few days but ZP, Pookibur, and Dunktrain are the only ones I subscribe to at this point.
www.twitch.tv/zp_tv ZP streams for 12-16 hours a day for aprox. 4-5 days a week. He's pretty knowledgeable and owns all the characters. He runs strawpolls most games to decide the next character he plays (so that he rotates through the characters while also going with the viewers' whims) but every once in a while gets into a 5man pick up group where he'll put on his try hard pants and be asked to play his best characters. The chat is also pretty fun to participate in.
www.twitch.tv/pookibur Pookibur is a member of a team that does regular practices every few days in the afternoon. I personally like the dude's style and his music, and he owns a majority of the top tier heroes. If you prefer you can check his team leader's stream, www.twitch.tv/cyasteve, but he usually pops into Pookibur's stream to chat if he's online anyhow.
http://www.twitch.tv/dunktrain He's either a fun guy or extremely obnoxious, depending on your disposition. Currently playing only the new hero, Murky, all weekend long. He's not the absolute best Murky player, I think, but he's definitely one of the best. I also like the fact that his opinions are often a bit different from the other streamers, but never exactly wrong. It gives you a different perspective. Sometimes CyaSteve pops into his stream and they'll go back and forth on some balance discussion.
There are also a number of players that have been playing from the first month but I don't really like watching them play. One example is http://www.twitch.tv/nickhots, who lets his mouse clicks and keyboard slamming get picked up by his microphone. I could make a list over the next few days but ZP, Pookibur, and Dunktrain are the only ones I subscribe to at this point.
TurtleSnatcher
Member
All good streamers listed here are good.
My notes on the streamers.
ZPs seems as of late seems to formulate his straw polls to around 10 heroes that he likes playing and stays far away from everything else. It makes me a bit bummed as you don't really get to see a whole bunch of characters played well.. only his select few he enjoys. Which is fine I guess since it is his stream. He is always informative though and explains his processes.
Pooki has been really good lately. I like how he incorporates all characters to his polls and explains everything with detail. He also explains his mistakes pretty well.
Dunk is great - I've actually played games with him. He thinks hes always right a bunch which can get a bit annoying but hes a really good player and understands the different bits that most may not understand.
I really enjoy NickHotS. I actually think he is the best. The sounds of his keyboard don't annoy me as I've been watching Starcraft for years and hearing that stuff all the time. He is probably one of the best players I think and I enjoy watching his games and him playing but he doesn't stream consistently which makes me sad.
I'm not a big fan of Soma as much. He is too 'dudebro' for me and just blanks out most of the time on some of his choices which is annoying. I like Elvine because he is just a nice guy to chat with and answers questions well but he spaces out into his own Skype and causes his team to lose on some moments because he is alt tabbed. Also I'm not a big fan of people that play with Supra because hearing him on Skype is like hearing an annoying 20 year old who doesn't get his way. I would never play with a guy like that.
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