Greetings, Heroes!
We’re going to host a Hero Rework, Balance and Art AMA right here on /r/heroesofthestorm on Thursday, Jun 20, 2019! The Heroes devs will join the thread and answer your questions starting around 10:00 a.m. PDT (7:00 p.m. CEST) until 12:00 p.m. PDT (9:00 p.m. CEST).
We have the following developers on hand answering questions:
Sergey Morozov (/u/Blizz_SMorozov)
Johnny Waterman (/u/BlizzJohnny)
Oscar Vega (/u/Blizz_Vega)
Thomas Horwath (/u/Blizz_Thomas)
Andrew Kinabrew (/u/Blizz_KinaBREW)
Lana Bachynski (/u/Blizz_LanaB)
Adam Z. Jackson (/u/BlizzAZJackson)
Brett Crawford (/u/Daybringer)
Kaeo Milker (/u/KaeoMilker)
When posting multiple AMA questions: Please make an effort to post one question per comment. This will make it easier for others to read through the thread, and will help the devs focus on one question at a time. However, please feel free comment as many times as you'd like in order to get your questions posted.
You can start posting your questions right now, and we'll see you on Thursday!
Hey Kapulim,
At first glance, it appears like some third party program is trying to steal focus while you are playing, most commonly in-game overlays from third parties.
However, if you mind posting over on the Technical Support Forum they might be able to help in more detail!
Thanks for the report!
Huginncord
I swear someone on our team is leaking information to Redditors...
:)
It's like playing whack-a-mole, but there about ~50,000 potential holes that they can pop out of.
Good catch!
This is not intended. Will fix.
Hello!
I just wanted to pop in here and say that while I totally understand where you're coming from, the cooldown between being able to use Keg Smash and Breath of Fire is completely intentional, and I hope you get used to it over time as you play with Chen.
We went through quite a few iterations with this interaction, and one of the main goals we had was to drive more play and counter-play between Chen and his targets as much as possible. Since his Q is a point-and click ability with relatively little interaction and we were less comfortable with significantly changing it, we were really looking for a window of time between Chen diving a target and him being able to do the bulk of his damage to them. With this 1.5 second window, his opponent has an opportunity to juke the incoming Breath of Fire or use an ability to escape him, whereas Chen wants to weave in an auto or two and body block his opponent from getting away so that he can line up the Breath of Fire.
Since the combo is less guaranteed, it gives us a lot of leeway to make it more powerful compared to his previous iteration as well as add more potent talents that take advantage of the interaction, which we see as a big win.
Again, while I get that it takes some getting used to, I hope you give it a chance, as we found when we played with it over time it became more interactive and fun for both Chen and his opponents.
We've seen a lot of those concepts and they're all awesome. I love looking at them personally and have my favorites. Keep posting your ideas and rallying behind them. A big community backing has more weight in discussions on what skins we are thinking about making.
TLDR: Re: We need more Blizzard themed skins. We agree!
That's a pretty battle-weathered SKELETON if you ask me. You can miss the game winning combo anytime for me! :)
Spicier frame-perfect timing on that Helping Hand on Genji...
Those sorts of tools are super empowering and cool!
Making something (even a 5-10 minute experience) in an app like that will definitely teach you about game development, logical thinking, and problem solving, if not specifically about a programming language.
Gamemaker is another really good, approachable option.
GBStudio is cool too as a fun, easy to use tool for making Pokemon style RPGs.
There are so many choices available if you want to get started in games. I think as long as you are making something you are on the right track, no matter what you are using!
Hi @zdrf_!
I am a senior gameplay engineer on Heroes, so I might be able to help you out.
Learning any language is definitely a good start -- a lot of programming knowledge is transferable. We use C++ for most game production at Blizzard (many other companies in the industry do as well), so if you have the opportunity it would serve you well.
There are a few different engineering disciplines in games...
Tools engineers, server engineers, UI engineers, graphics engineers, and gameplay engineers (me!) all do different things with a diverse set of skills to support the team and help the game get made. Focusing on one or two of these that interest you could definitely help you narrow your field of study.
In my opinion, the best advice for anyone wanting to get into games in any discipline is to make games on your own. There are a ton of free engine options like Unreal or Unity that you can use to get immediately useful experience that any potential employer would appreciate.
One final piece of advice would be to not set your heart on one specific studio. There are a ton of companies making awesome games and any job in the industry will get you valuable experience and bullet points on your resume. Working at Blizzard is awesome, but I have worked at Wayforward, Double Helix, and Amazon, and I learned a ton at all of them!
Good luck on your journey!
Super cool. Color palette is nice. Tell your friend to keep it up!
Slick!
Well done!
I'm a really bad Chen. I apologize to everyone who has ever played with me when I was trying to get gud.
I know her!
These are super fun. My favorite is the Stormpunk concept. Well done!
Happy weekend everyone!
It is important to remember that pick and win-rates for talents can change drastically depending on the skill-level you are looking at. For example, we are often okay with a talent like Elune's Chosen being the go-to pick at higher levels of play, as long as Mark of Mending and Everlasting Light are competent picks for players in other skill levels.
Balance of talent-trees is an eternal struggle and we are always trying to improve them!
Thank you for taking the time to create these articles. I read them all and appreciate how much work goes into them. =)