At PAX today Blizzard announced their (sort of first) big foray into Heroes of the Storm, with a tournament called Heroes of the Dorm that targets players in college. There will be a signup period until March 26, after which there will be a large open tournament. The top 64 will play out from there in a single elimination, best-of-3 bracket with the top four attending a live event.
Also the last portions will be on ESPN, first on ESPN3 (their online portion) and then on ESPNU for the grand finals.
Here's the press release.
IRVINE, Calif.—March 6, 2015—Wrap up that term paper, because you’ll want to hit the battlegrounds with no distractions. Today, Blizzard Entertainment and TeSPA revealed plans for Heroes of the Dorm™—the ultimate Heroes of the Storm™ college tournament, offering an unprecedented prize pool where the winning team will receive free tuition for the rest of their college career. Currently in closed beta testing, Heroes of the Storm is Blizzard Entertainment’s free-to-play online team brawler featuring iconic heroes from more than 20 years of the developer’s rich gaming history.
Heroes of the Dorm will bring together teams of college students from across the United States and Canada in an epic showdown to determine the strongest scholars in the Nexus, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition at stake. Every competing team will get access to the Heroes of the Storm closed beta test in order to participate. Plus, everyone’s invited to show their school spirit—and compete for prizes of their own—by participating in the Heroes of the Dorm fantasy bracket challenge.
“College sports do great things for student athletes—they help pay for schooling, build teamwork and communication skills, and create lasting memories,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We believe eSports has the same kind of power, and this tournament aims to bring positive experiences like these to college gamers. We can’t wait to fill out our fantasy brackets and cheer on a new generation of eSports athletes as they compete in Heroes of the Storm.”
The Heroes of the Dorm tournament is open to active college students in the United States and Canada and will be played across three rounds of competition:
Open Qualifiers – Begin March 28
Single-Elimination Bracket Play (Round of 64) – Begins April 11
The Heroic Four live event to be held in late April
All five members of the first-place team will each enjoy up to $25,000 per year in college tuition for their remaining years of undergrad or graduate enrollment (up to three full years as an undergrad or up to two years as a grad student). Seniors and grad students with no remaining years of enrollment will receive one year’s worth of tuition to help repay student loans (or an equivalent cash prize if the student does not have any remaining student loans). Each player whose team emerges from the Round of 64 and makes it to the Heroic Four will take home a top-of-the-line gaming PC and officially licensed Heroes of the Storm peripherals and accessories.
To sign up, students should form a team of five players and register by visiting the official Heroes of the Dorm website, heroesofthedorm.com. Complete rules and eligibility requirements will be posted there as well.
Fantasy Bracket for Everyone
The Heroes of the Dorm tournament isn’t just for collegiate competitors—spectators can also create and share fantasy brackets to root for their favorite teams and partake in an epic prize pool valued at more than $25,000, including a $10,000 top prize for whoever predicts the final bracket most accurately, and top-of-the-line gaming PCs for the best five predictions. In addition, everyone who participates will receive a Heroes of the Storm in-game portrait, as well as opportunities to win high-end gaming PCs and a range of gaming peripherals. Check the Heroes of the Dorm website for complete rules and eligibility. Fantasy brackets will be available there starting on April 3.
In Heroes of the Storm, gamers can play some of their favorite characters from the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® universes, and team up with friends to battle other teams online. Heroes of the Storm features a variety of battlegrounds with multiple objectives that affect strategy in unique ways. In addition, players will be able to customize their heroes with a variety of skins, as well as special mounts that help them cover ground on the battlefield more quickly.
With multiple games in development, Blizzard Entertainment has numerous positions currently available—visit http://jobs.blizzard.com for more information and to learn how to apply.
Why have this when the game isn't even in public beta yet? New teams/whatever have roughly 20 days to 'train' and be able to compete against people who have been in the game since it's early development. Although I guess when you have a braindead game such as HoTS it doesn't require too much prep, still seems like a weird choice to me.
I'm sure the many viewers of ESPN 3 are going to be thrilled to watch it.
This is simply to gather the attention of college students, which are basiclly their target audience. Not to make people go back to school or for students to leave it. League of legends has a similar program. It helps the scene grow, I don't see anything wrong with it. (Except that they always exclude mexico when its super cheap to travel to the us from here).
So give it a rest. I'd wish sc2 or any game really had something silimar.
I'm sure other tournaments for "real pros" will follow, its beta after all ;P
Wow, Blizzard is marketing this game really hard. First they put up $30,000 for AfreecaTV BJs and now $450,000 to college students with later rounds on ESPN.
On March 07 2015 01:51 beesinyoface wrote: Why have this when the game isn't even in public beta yet?
Why not ?
Well when you have a giant tournament like this it's supposed to generate excitement towards the game. All of that hype is gone when people realize they actually can't play the game yet.
On March 07 2015 01:51 beesinyoface wrote: Why have this when the game isn't even in public beta yet?
Why not ?
Well when you have a giant tournament like this it's supposed to generate excitement towards the game. All of that hype is gone when people realize they actually can't play the game yet.
The target audience is college students tho, and those would get beta access for free, and the rest, can either get hyped and try to get key from streams (improving twitch numbers) or just buy a goddamn key.
Well correct me if i'm wrong, but you can only get keys if you sign up with a 5 person team right? Either way, that's some pretty wack logic but different strokes for different folks
On March 07 2015 02:08 rSado wrote: ...wait... a max of 25k$ per year? The Harvard / Cambridge dream is dead I guess.
If you needed money to go to Harvard, you probably got the money you needed from their financial aid department anyway. Need-based financial aid in the Ivy League is probably the best in the United States.
On March 07 2015 02:21 beesinyoface wrote: Well correct me if i'm wrong, but you can only get keys if you sign up with a 5 person team right? Either way, that's some pretty wack logic but different strokes for different folks
I assume you get keys with a 5 person teams and you probably need a .edu email address
On March 07 2015 01:51 beesinyoface wrote: Why have this when the game isn't even in public beta yet? New teams/whatever have roughly 20 days to 'train' and be able to compete against people who have been in the game since it's early development. Although I guess when you have a braindead game such as HoTS it doesn't require too much prep, still seems like a weird choice to me.
I'm sure the many viewers of ESPN 3 are going to be thrilled to watch it.
Tournaments I think are very effective marketing, Not many people are going to talk about the ad you ran on television, but if you spend your thousands and thousands of dollars on tournaments, then the playerbase are going to talk it up, and that hubbub is going to get interest when you have threads on TL, reddit, talking about and mainstream journalist sites/ esports journalist sites talking about every match. It makes sense to me why tournaments are going to be a huge part of marketing budget for upcoming games.
On March 07 2015 01:51 beesinyoface wrote: Why have this when the game isn't even in public beta yet? New teams/whatever have roughly 20 days to 'train' and be able to compete against people who have been in the game since it's early development. Although I guess when you have a braindead game such as HoTS it doesn't require too much prep, still seems like a weird choice to me.
I'm sure the many viewers of ESPN 3 are going to be thrilled to watch it.
Tournaments I think are very effective marketing, Not many people are going to talk about the ad you ran on television, but if you spend your thousands and thousands of dollars on tournaments, then the playerbase are going to talk it up, and that hubbub is going to get interest when you have threads on TL, reddit, talking about and mainstream journalist sites/ esports journalist sites talking about every match. It makes sense to me why tournaments are going to be a huge part of marketing budget for upcoming games.
Don't get me wrong - I think tournaments are great, I just think that if they pushed this game into open beta and gave the general population more than 2 weeks to compete it'd make for a greater impact but what do I know.
On March 07 2015 02:29 -Archangel- wrote: So Blizzard wants to show HotS on live TV but does not do something similar for SC2?!
heroes is clearly a superior alternative to broadcasted starcraft 2 and broodwar.
yes sarcasm
Technically, it is.
MOBA/ARTS market is far bigger than RTS market and has a lot more potential. Good business invests in the market and product with more potential to generate more revenues to them. Nothing is wrong with that.
On March 07 2015 02:29 -Archangel- wrote: So Blizzard wants to show HotS on live TV but does not do something similar for SC2?!
heroes is clearly a superior alternative to broadcasted starcraft 2 and broodwar.
yes sarcasm
Technically, it is.
MOBA/ARTS market is far bigger than RTS market and has a lot more potential. Good business invests in the market and product with more potential to generate more revenues to them. Nothing is wrong with that.
Ummmm Dota 2 and LOL are far bigger than other RTS games. The other dota clones don't come anywhere near those two, like five years ago making a 500k tournament was a huge deal and brought you massive coverage. Now... meh. A company like Blizzard should be pushing boundaries and innovating instead of playing a half-ass kind of catch-up.
I'm actually kind of unsure how blizz came to this prize-pool figure since they are paying out between $125,000 and $375,000. And thats only if ur tuition is at least $25,000 per year, which is not a universal thing.
Then there's $25,000 fantasy prizing and i guess the last $50,000 is in "gaming pc's"? seems like very big a stretch lol.
On March 07 2015 03:58 Sn0_Man wrote: I'm actually kind of unsure how blizz came to this prize-pool figure since they are paying out between $125,000 and $375,000. And thats only if ur tuition is at least $25,000 per year, which is not a universal thing.
Then there's $25,000 fantasy prizing and i guess the last $50,000 is in "gaming pc's"? seems like very big a stretch lol.
PCs + acessories for 20 people can eat up a good portion of 50k depending on what they go for
It'll be sponsored shit from like ibp or w/e and cost them half the "value" if they end up paying more than half the $450,000 towards just prizing i'd be surprised.
well, sure, but that allows them to add the full value to the prize pool. Like if they add Bnet money or Hots hats. It's not that hard to inflate it by a few thousand dollars by doing that kind of stuff.
On March 07 2015 03:31 zeo wrote: Now... meh. A company like Blizzard should be pushing boundaries and innovating instead of playing a half-ass kind of catch-up.
Mind me, but Blizzard has never been about innovation, but polishing gameplay aspects of already existent genres.
On March 07 2015 01:55 Liquid`Nazgul wrote: Will pros go back to being in college in order to get it paid for? Will the college students that win this quit their education to pursue being pros?
Lol, my thoughts exactly. This is amazing though, makes me want to install Heroes now :O
On March 07 2015 02:29 -Archangel- wrote: So Blizzard wants to show HotS on live TV but does not do something similar for SC2?!
The Blizzcon finals for 2014 was on ESPN3 along with the rest of the Blizzcon events.
It makes sense for them to be throwing these kinds of massive tournaments now while the game is still in beta before it gets to release. They want to hype it up as much as they can especially considering that the two games they are directly competing with already have a dedicated following.
This move makes a lot of sense from a business perspective. Don't try to take it as anything other than such.
It was the same reason they were promoting big HoTS Beta tournaments when WoL was still around. These kinds of tournaments generate hype which in turn generates sales of their product.
blizzard going all "this is a casual game, we don't want to push any competitive scene, we will let the community decided if it is worth" during the last blizzcon and now sponsoring a 450k usd tournament
On March 10 2015 11:18 pedrlz wrote: blizzard going all "this is a casual game, we don't want to push any competitive scene, we will let the community decided if it is worth" during the last blizzcon and now sponsoring a 450k usd tournament
lmao
It's actually a very cheap form of advertising tbh
On March 10 2015 11:18 pedrlz wrote: blizzard going all "this is a casual game, we don't want to push any competitive scene, we will let the community decided if it is worth" during the last blizzcon and now sponsoring a 450k usd tournament
lmao
to be fair, it's not a professional tournament :-P
On March 07 2015 02:26 Leeoku wrote: Blizz is already screwing up compared to Riot games (I'm a participant in the NACC, the equivalent of what this thread is for LoL)
1)The qualifiers are during exams 2) That's less than a month to prepare. If they want to attract new players, should have done it in January
Interesting, 6200 players? Thats way more than I expected. Valla highest picked Hero? It doesn't surprise me, she is one of the best designed heroes in the game, she'll most likely always be top tier. ETC highest wwin rate sucks though, I hate ETC and can't wait until they nerf him into oblivion
Also interesting to see Haunted mines and Blackheart bay being at the top of the picked maps after Dragon Shire, I'd have expected cursed hollow to be higher than those 2 at least.
Blizzard taking the same "casual" approach again. Their definition of casual is synonymous with a "retard." I remember their excuse for not giving "big maps" and "far spawn" in WoL is because they were afraid the casuals might get confused. By dumbing down everything (removing minimaps/abilities) in the cast, they pretty much bone all their current viewer base and even confuse new people who won't be able to keep up because there are no minimap or anything, just a bunch of heroes shooting shiny things once in awhile.Blizzard behind as always in terms of production, no wonder Valve/Riot are kicking their ass.
On April 13 2015 08:27 phodacbiet wrote: Blizzard taking the same "casual" approach again. Their definition of casual is synonymous with a "retard." I remember their excuse for not giving "big maps" and "far spawn" in WoL is because they were afraid the casuals might get confused. By dumbing down everything (removing minimaps/abilities) in the cast, they pretty much bone all their current viewer base and even confuse new people who won't be able to keep up because there are no minimap or anything, just a bunch of heroes shooting shiny things once in awhile.Blizzard behind as always in terms of production, no wonder Valve/Riot are kicking their ass.
Oh I thought they kept the maps small because if small maps are balanced all maps are balanced. Not gonna search for WoL threads now though to proof it.
Disliked the missing informations as well. But it was meant for non heroes viewers so the information would have confused them as much. So I think they did a good job. Anyway there is currently a trend of minimalistic UI going on. So it can happen.
On April 13 2015 08:27 phodacbiet wrote: Blizzard taking the same "casual" approach again. Their definition of casual is synonymous with a "retard." I remember their excuse for not giving "big maps" and "far spawn" in WoL is because they were afraid the casuals might get confused. By dumbing down everything (removing minimaps/abilities) in the cast, they pretty much bone all their current viewer base and even confuse new people who won't be able to keep up because there are no minimap or anything, just a bunch of heroes shooting shiny things once in awhile.Blizzard behind as always in terms of production, no wonder Valve/Riot are kicking their ass.
Oh I thought they kept the maps small because if small maps are balanced all maps are balanced. Not gonna search for WoL threads now though to proof it.
Disliked the missing informations as well. But it was meant for non heroes viewers so the information would have confused them as much. So I think they did a good job. Anyway there is currently a trend of minimalistic UI going on. So it can happen.
The problem is the casters were often saying "oh and at the bottom lane it looks like etc. is happening" yet we are only seeing what the camera is focused on. In brood war, I rely on the minimap to give me a lot of information such as map presence, positioning, number of bases, and small engagements. The heroes minimap would deliver that as well. Also, why isn't there a kill counter on the screen. I know hero kills in a sense are less important, but it's exciting information for the viewer.
On April 13 2015 08:27 phodacbiet wrote: Blizzard taking the same "casual" approach again. Their definition of casual is synonymous with a "retard." I remember their excuse for not giving "big maps" and "far spawn" in WoL is because they were afraid the casuals might get confused. By dumbing down everything (removing minimaps/abilities) in the cast, they pretty much bone all their current viewer base and even confuse new people who won't be able to keep up because there are no minimap or anything, just a bunch of heroes shooting shiny things once in awhile.Blizzard behind as always in terms of production, no wonder Valve/Riot are kicking their ass.
Oh I thought they kept the maps small because if small maps are balanced all maps are balanced. Not gonna search for WoL threads now though to proof it.
Disliked the missing informations as well. But it was meant for non heroes viewers so the information would have confused them as much. So I think they did a good job. Anyway there is currently a trend of minimalistic UI going on. So it can happen.
The problem is the casters were often saying "oh and at the bottom lane it looks like etc. is happening" yet we are only seeing what the camera is focused on. In brood war, I rely on the minimap to give me a lot of information such as map presence, positioning, number of bases, and small engagements. The heroes minimap would deliver that as well. Also, why isn't there a kill counter on the screen. I know hero kills in a sense are less important, but it's exciting information for the viewer.
there was a kill counter. you can see TD (takedown) count besides the forts count.
On April 13 2015 08:27 phodacbiet wrote: Blizzard taking the same "casual" approach again. Their definition of casual is synonymous with a "retard." I remember their excuse for not giving "big maps" and "far spawn" in WoL is because they were afraid the casuals might get confused. By dumbing down everything (removing minimaps/abilities) in the cast, they pretty much bone all their current viewer base and even confuse new people who won't be able to keep up because there are no minimap or anything, just a bunch of heroes shooting shiny things once in awhile.Blizzard behind as always in terms of production, no wonder Valve/Riot are kicking their ass.
Oh I thought they kept the maps small because if small maps are balanced all maps are balanced. Not gonna search for WoL threads now though to proof it.
Disliked the missing informations as well. But it was meant for non heroes viewers so the information would have confused them as much. So I think they did a good job. Anyway there is currently a trend of minimalistic UI going on. So it can happen.
The problem is the casters were often saying "oh and at the bottom lane it looks like etc. is happening" yet we are only seeing what the camera is focused on. In brood war, I rely on the minimap to give me a lot of information such as map presence, positioning, number of bases, and small engagements. The heroes minimap would deliver that as well. Also, why isn't there a kill counter on the screen. I know hero kills in a sense are less important, but it's exciting information for the viewer.
there was a kill counter. you can see TD (takedown) count besides the forts count.
The basic overlay had Team Names and Team level iirc. I guess I need to look better if I missed it. I was playing heroes while watching
EPT
