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It's not just HOTS pro scene being removed that has people worried about the future of the game, it's the comment in the same post that they are moving developers away from the game to other projects. Now the remaining Devs say they are still working actively to make the game better, but it looks like the goal is more "moving towards sustainability" and suggests a slow and steady decline towards minimal updates.
Most pros will be forced to move on to other games financially even if they would prefer to stay. There will be less community created guides and content and streamers with these pros gone. GM level play will decrease even more in quality with most pros gone.
The reduction in devs will mean less balance patches, reworks and new heroes.
The game isn't dead today, and I'm not even suggesting that it will truly die to the point that they close the servers for good. However if queue times continue to increase, along with a reduction of content, then the player base is much more likely to decline than grow. With less players, making new content, becomes less profitable and less regular new content risks even more players leaving, so it can be a vicious cycle.
The concern is that eventually the queue times get to the point that many people won't bother even if it's their preferred game. Anyway we shall see. There is a lot of stuff to love about the game, but the support from Blizzard looks like something that is going to be steadily decreasing.
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Maybe a non-blizzard sponsored scene will grow out of the ashes of HGC?
I mean, there is a huge pool of viewers out there with nothing to watch, and some group could come in, organize that and probably turn a profit. Won't be as big production as HGC, but I'm sure there is a business model out there for turning a profit on an established situation like this.
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This makes me really sad.
Hard to see how this doesn't become the death spiral karazax alludes to.
Will probably keep playing until waiting times become silly.
Hard hit for pro-players/casters and other folk professionally invested. Hope they get out OK.
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Poland3756 Posts
On December 15 2018 02:48 Garbels wrote:
This makes me really sad.
Hard to see how this doesn't become the death spiral karazax alludes to.
Will probably keep playing until waiting times become silly.
Hard hit for pro-players/casters and other folk professionally invested. Hope they get out OK.
It's weird situation in which online game has to have esport or is dead
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I've followed HGC a little, mainly through watching VOD's. I've noticed some increased time in queue for Quick Match. I don't necessarily think switching focus from HotS as an eSport means HotS is dying. I've found the game fun throughout, despite some heroes/changes that I felt weren't that great. Overall the game has been a fun one for me and friends to just hop on, and have some fun. To me it doesn't have as competitive a feel to it as other MOBA's, so even while following the HGC was interesting, I never found the games to be as fun to watch as LoL.
I'm still going to play and enjoy the current new content they released, and look forward to seeing what they'll bring next year.
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If they just canceled esports it would hurt, but the moving of Devs to other games is an even bigger problem.
Here is their updated message
Yesterday, we announced a difficult decision—the HGC will not be returning in 2019 and we’ll be transitioning some Heroes of the Storm developers to our other game teams. While our extended Blizzard family working on World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Overwatch, and our unannounced projects will be getting an influx of much-needed, extremely talented Heroes devs to help them achieve their goals, it also means that we’ll need to change the cadence of support for Heroes going forward.
So, I’m sad. I’m sad because I love this team and this game that we’ve built together, with all of you, and this past year has been such a great one for Heroes of the Storm. The HGC had its best year yet and I was so looking forward to the 2019 season. On the game side, we’ve had a steady stream of some of the most sought-after heroes, amazing themed events, and impactful reworks. We also made meaningful progress on improving core systems and features across the game. We truly hit our stride in 2018, so I’m disappointed that some of the exciting plans we had for 2019 will have to change.
But all is not lost. The team that remains dedicated to Heroes of the Storm is a veritable Who’s Who of developers who have been driving every facet of the game from the very beginning—from people you know and have seen speak publicly about the game for years, to those who have poured their hearts into it from behind the scenes. In short, we’re continuing to develop the game with an incredible team that has the experience and passion required to support Heroes of the Storm well into the future.
The Heroes of the Storm team and I also have a unique opportunity to rethink things and reprioritize. Because now more than ever, our charge is to focus on taking care of you, our players, and to channel all our energy into keeping the game dynamic and fun. This means we’re still committed to regular hero reworks, themed events, and even new heroes. We’re setting our sights on the new goals and timelines for what we want to do with the game from here on out and we’re eager to share those plans as soon as they’re finalized.
So, I’m also excited. I’m excited for my teammates to bring their hard-won experience from making this game to the other teams at Blizzard to help their games be even better. And I’m especially excited for Heroes of the Storm to continue evolving with a renewed focus and purity of purpose.
Thank you for joining us on the journey so far, and please bear with us through these changes. Your feedback is as critical as ever, and continues to guide our priorities and decisions while helping us be better along the way.
Thank you,
Kaéo
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On December 15 2018 03:33 nimdil wrote:Show nested quote +On December 15 2018 02:48 Garbels wrote:
This makes me really sad.
Hard to see how this doesn't become the death spiral karazax alludes to.
Will probably keep playing until waiting times become silly.
Hard hit for pro-players/casters and other folk professionally invested. Hope they get out OK. It's weird situation in which online game has to have esport or is dead
It's also not true.
You can log into 10-12 year old online titles and still find a match as long as the servers are still running.
The entire incentive of a FTP game is that as long as people keep spending money on it, the company has every incentive to keep the servers up and keep making new stuff for it.
The whole esports or dead game thing is just a product of some weird nerd inferiority complex that needs every game they play to be popular and "relevant" whatever that means.
Not every game is meant to be an esport. Not every game needs to be.
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Now thats some bias hyperbole thread. Why do mods let that shit flow?
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Incredibly disappointing 
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I didn't follow the HotS competitive scene, but i've been playing the game on and off since the beta, reaching Diamond 1.
Last break was like a year ago, and came back 4 months ago... and to be honest, the sate of the game these last months has been awful. HL queue times are higher than ever (I usually queue for like 4-5 min before getting a game), feeder/trolls/afk are present in a solid 25% of the games (let's not speak about flamers...) and the moderation system is an absolute joke. I've played it because it's what I look for, fast 20 min games with music/videos in the background and alt-tabbing frequently... but right now the game is a bit of a mess.
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On December 15 2018 03:33 nimdil wrote:Show nested quote +On December 15 2018 02:48 Garbels wrote:
This makes me really sad.
Hard to see how this doesn't become the death spiral karazax alludes to.
Will probably keep playing until waiting times become silly.
Hard hit for pro-players/casters and other folk professionally invested. Hope they get out OK. It's weird situation in which online game has to have esport or is dead
It's not necessarily the lack of esports, but I've always felt that mobas depended on the perpetual addition of content to hide a lack of real depth to the game. If this were true, then I can't imagine the game going on for long if Blizzard stopped releasing new heroes and maps.
I get a similar feeling about StarCraft 2's yearly balance overhauls.
But that's just my impression, I don't really know anything about the issue.
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On December 15 2018 08:12 Elmonti wrote:
I didn't follow the HotS competitive scene, but i've been playing the game on and off since the beta, reaching Diamond 1.
Last break was like a year ago, and came back 4 months ago... and to be honest, the sate of the game these last months has been awful. HL queue times are higher than ever (I usually queue for like 4-5 min before getting a game), feeder/trolls/afk are present in a solid 25% of the games (let's not speak about flamers...) and the moderation system is an absolute joke. I've played it because it's what I look for, fast 20 min games with music/videos in the background and alt-tabbing frequently... but right now the game is a bit of a mess.
Isnt this the copy/paste complain they use since League of Legends?
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On December 15 2018 10:26 killok wrote:Show nested quote +On December 15 2018 08:12 Elmonti wrote:
I didn't follow the HotS competitive scene, but i've been playing the game on and off since the beta, reaching Diamond 1.
Last break was like a year ago, and came back 4 months ago... and to be honest, the sate of the game these last months has been awful. HL queue times are higher than ever (I usually queue for like 4-5 min before getting a game), feeder/trolls/afk are present in a solid 25% of the games (let's not speak about flamers...) and the moderation system is an absolute joke. I've played it because it's what I look for, fast 20 min games with music/videos in the background and alt-tabbing frequently... but right now the game is a bit of a mess. Isnt this the copy/paste complain they use since League of Legends?
I don't know about any copypasta or whatever. This is my experience in the EU server for the last 3-4 months.
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On December 15 2018 03:33 nimdil wrote:Show nested quote +On December 15 2018 02:48 Garbels wrote:
This makes me really sad.
Hard to see how this doesn't become the death spiral karazax alludes to.
Will probably keep playing until waiting times become silly.
Hard hit for pro-players/casters and other folk professionally invested. Hope they get out OK. It's weird situation in which online game has to have esport or is dead
It's not the online game has to have esport....problem is all the devs are being moved to othe rprocjets. There won't be any new maps, heroes or balance patches.
Thats why people say the game is dead, not because there is no esport scene.
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Caldeum1977 Posts
On December 15 2018 20:50 Odoakar wrote:Show nested quote +On December 15 2018 03:33 nimdil wrote:On December 15 2018 02:48 Garbels wrote:
This makes me really sad.
Hard to see how this doesn't become the death spiral karazax alludes to.
Will probably keep playing until waiting times become silly.
Hard hit for pro-players/casters and other folk professionally invested. Hope they get out OK. It's weird situation in which online game has to have esport or is dead It's not the online game has to have esport....problem is all the devs are being moved to othe rprocjets. There won't be any new maps, heroes or balance patches.Thats why people say the game is dead, not because there is no esport scene.
Well this is just not true at all...
Yes some developers have been moved but they are not just stopping all patches and new content.
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On December 15 2018 20:50 Odoakar wrote:Show nested quote +On December 15 2018 03:33 nimdil wrote:On December 15 2018 02:48 Garbels wrote:
This makes me really sad.
Hard to see how this doesn't become the death spiral karazax alludes to.
Will probably keep playing until waiting times become silly.
Hard hit for pro-players/casters and other folk professionally invested. Hope they get out OK. It's weird situation in which online game has to have esport or is dead It's not the online game has to have esport....problem is all the devs are being moved to othe rprocjets. There won't be any new maps, heroes or balance patches. Thats why people say the game is dead, not because there is no esport scene.
Isnt it insane how many people are Insider? You can pretty much say whatever made up bullshit you want and its totally cool.
Fanfiction rules the Internet. Great
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On December 15 2018 20:50 Odoakar wrote:Show nested quote +On December 15 2018 03:33 nimdil wrote:On December 15 2018 02:48 Garbels wrote:
This makes me really sad.
Hard to see how this doesn't become the death spiral karazax alludes to.
Will probably keep playing until waiting times become silly.
Hard hit for pro-players/casters and other folk professionally invested. Hope they get out OK. It's weird situation in which online game has to have esport or is dead It's not the online game has to have esport....problem is all the devs are being moved to othe rprocjets. There won't be any new maps, heroes or balance patches.
Thats why people say the game is dead, not because there is no esport scene.
Just for the record, Blizzard made it 100% clear that that is *not* true.
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Well, if we all keep playing not much will change 
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EPT
