Tag Archive

MomoCon Announce SUDA 51, Warren Spector, Blizzard Talent As The Big Draws For 2018


Posted on May 3, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Anime conventions are pretty dang fun aren’t they? I’ve been attending conventions for at least the past 15 years – both as a fun activity with friends but also in a work capacity for coverage here. Anime and gaming fans in Atlanta, Georgia are going to have a lot to do at MomoCon This coming May 24th – 27th with the announcement of their special guests line-up.

SUDA 51 – the founder of Grasshopper Manfucture and creator of Killer Is Dead, No More Heroes and Killer 7 is joining representatives from Nippon Ichi Software (NIS) to make a mysterious special announcement. Perhaps with Travis Strikes Again coming out for Nintendo Switch this year we will see the first two No More Heroes titles on Nintendo’s hybrid handheld console?


Cossplay photo from MomoCon 2017 via MomoCon PR

Blizzard, not being content to just attend their own multi-day convention will be at MomoCon as well. Joining developers from the Heroes of the Storm Team and Overwatch Team are the voice actors for Mercy (Lori Pohl), Junkrat (Christopher Parson), Pharah (Lucie Phol) and Soldier 76 (Fred Tatasciore) will band together to defend the payload.. I mean help out with Blizzard’s selection of panels.

MomoCon 2018 takes place from Thursday May 24th through Sunday May 27th at the Georgia World Congress Center.

 


Lastly voice actors from a number of DragonBall fighting games from the last few generations of consoles will be on hand to share their experiences playing Akira Toyayama’s iconic characters. The voice actors from the latest Dragon Ball Fighterz, the Budokai series of games, Raging Burst and of course the Funimation dub of DBZ will be on hand. The recognizable voices of Sean Schemmel (Goku), Kyle Hebert (Gohan, Narrator), Christopher Sabat (Piccolo, Vegeta) and Josh Martin (Majin Buu) will all be present and sharing their experiences with attendees.

 


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Blizzard Celebrates Starcraft 20th Anniversary With Cross Game Promotional Event


Posted on March 6, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Blizzard has rolled out a whole wave of unlockable goodies across Diablo III, Starcraft 2, Overwatch, Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original Starcraft on PC. Each game has a different reward to claim ranging from small profile portraits to exclusive skins featuring Sarah Kerrigan (yay!).

Here’s a breakdown of what players of each tittle will receive should they login between today and March 31st:

  • Starcraft Remastered (full version) – Starcraft 20th Anniversary UI Skin.
  • Starcraftr II – A set of three user interface skins (one per race), a portrait and a decal.
  • World of Warcraft – /salute a Starcraft mini-pet and receive the “Salute to Starcraft” limited time achievement.
  • Overwatch – Sarah Kerrigan Ghost Skin for Widowmaker.
  • Hearthstone – Play the Starcraft themed Tavern Brawl between March 21st and 25th and receive 3 free Kobolds & Catacombs packs.
  • Heroes of the Storm – 20th anniversary Protoss, Terran and Zerg display pictures featuring artwork from the original game.
  • Diablo III – Dominion’s Revenge pet.

I’m a little disappointed in the Heroes of the Storm reward in particular. Considering the amount of Starcraft Heroes – like Raynor, Kerrigan, Tychus etc – you’d think they’d have something a little more substantial than three display pictures. Both SCII and Heroes of the Storm even share the same engine! Rumor has it the next revealed hero will be from the Starcraft Universe but the dev team could have done so muchg better here.

For more details check out the official Starcraft II site.

[Image via SubControllers on Flickr]


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Microtransactions Outpacing Game Sales Sets a Worrying Precedent


Posted on November 9, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

You might have already heard the news yesterday: Ubisoft mentioned on their Investor’s Call that “Player Recurring Investments” (read: microtransactions) have outpaced the sale of full price and discounted digital copies of their games for the first time ever. In terms of raw numbers of the 343 million euros the company made from their digital businesses 175 million Euros were the result of “Player Recurrent Investments” (which include microtransactions, add-on DLCs, Rainbow Six Siege Season Passes, subscriptions and those sorts of things). The 83% rise in microtransaction purchases over the past year for Ubisoft could signal the tipping point where small recurring payments within the AAA games we play outpaces traditional complete products for the foreseeable future. 

I’m certainly not calling this the “death of the $60 game” or “the decline of games as a complete product” but there is no denying that over the past year major game studios have tried to forcefully inject smaller purchases into franchises that have not been known to use the previously mobile only lootboxes / battle crates / whatever you’d like to call them. What started with cosmetic item crates in Overwatch has quickly morphed into Warner Bros Interactive selling Legendary Orcs for real money in Shadow of War, players being able to purchase level-ups and weapon power in Fortnite‘s PVE mode and most recently random lootbox exclusive mount skins in ArenaNet’s Guild Wars 2.  

A slide outlining the “digital revenue split” between Digital Distribution and Player Recurring Investments.

Tempting players with the chance of highly coveted items, exclusive skins and other valuables for only a small amount of cash does sound an awful lot like gambling. Yes, there is no chance of getting “nothing” when you purchase an Overwatch loot box but the disappoint that comes when you open a box that contains nothing but duplicates, sprays and the occasional voice lines became such a meme within the community that the Overwatch team found it necessary to fiddle with the odds found within loot boxes so that duplicates are less prevalent. 

While I’m on the topic of odds – popular public contests like Mcdonald’s Monopoly, Casino tables and slot machines in British Columbia and other games of chance have to clearly outline the odds that a player faces before they make their decision.  The gaming industry has not faced threats of regulation when it comes to disclosing odds to players in North America yet but the Chinese government is well ahead of us and passed a law requiring game makers to disclose the odds of “random drops” within their titles. In the Chinese version of Overwatch you have the probability of one “legendary item” (the highest rarity) for every 13.5 loot boxes. If you try to roughly convert that to $USD or time spent depending on the calculations used you’re either spending $7.99 USD (for 14 lootboxes) or roughly 20 hours of gameplay time FOR THE CHANCE of unlocking a legendary item, not necessarily the one you want. 

Are we at a turning point? Only time will tell but here’s hoping that the discussions around microtransactions, gacha style loot boxes and random chances for real world money within gaming face some kind of regulations in the near future. I know personally I’ve spent a good chunk of spare change on loot boxes and microtransactions over the past year and I don’t feel any happier or better off since I did. It would have been nice to know that to get that Soldier 76 Grillmaster Skins during the first summer games would have cost me 20 hours of my life just for the chance… 

Pictured in the header: Overwatch’s loot boxes, Fortnite’s Llamas, Shadow of War’s crates, Tess’ Eververse in Destiny 2, Heroes of the Storm’s loot boxes and Guild Wars 2’s Mount Adoption Certificate. Embedded in this post is an amazing video by Jim “Fucking” Sterling, Son!

 


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Heroes of the Storm Volskyia Foundry Event Now Live


Posted on September 27, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Heroes of the Nexus shall assemble within the foundries of Volskyia Industries with the latest in-game event for Blizzard’s MOBA. Bringing a brand new Overwatch themed Map (Volskyia Foundry), the elder sniper Anna from OW, a brand new A.I system and an in-game Pachimari limited time quest this event is a substantial amount of content for a game that has such a frequent release cycle. 

New Hero – Ana 

Seasoned sniper Ana enters the nexus with her trust biotic rifle and grenades on hand to lend support to her team. Her basic abilities allow players to shoot syringes full of healing serum at friendly targets or inflict poisonousness wounds that deal damage over time to enemy units. Biotic Grenade can either heal friendly units for a large amount or stop enemy heroes from receiving healing for a limited time. Her passive trait is pretty interesting, it is almost like Lunara’s poison, in that it applies DOT (damage over time) to those hit. Unlike Lunara’s basic attack trait, Ana’s can stack up to five times on a single target.  

Here is a breakdown of all of her basic moves, trait and ultimate abilities: 

Healing Dart – First dart to hit a friendly hero heals for 250. 
Biotic Grenade – Heal Heroes in range for 175 + they gain an additional 25% healing for next 4 seconds. Enemies hit with Biotic Grenade cannot receive healing for 2 seconds and take 60 DMG.
Sleep Dart – Put an enemy hero to sleep for 3 seconds, Attacking the same hero with a basic attack from any source causes them to wake up.
Nano Boost (Ultimate)  – Ana recovers 200 mana, friendly hero affected by Nano Boost 30% spell power and their basic ability cooldowns have a refresh % of 150%.
Eye of Horus (Ultimate) – Fire up to 8 specialized rounds. Enemies hit with rounds from Eye of Horus take 175 DMG, friendlies hit by Eye of Horus take additional 300 points healing. Ana is not able to move while using this ultimate.  

New Map  Volskyia Foundry 

Travel to the futuristic tundra of a Russian foundry in this brand new Overwatch map for Heroes of the Storm.  Unlike the currently pulled from rotation Hanamura map, Foundry has only one objective active at a time. With a small King of the Hill style objective point – each team must strategize effectively to control the objective or risk losing it to their opponents. Just like in Overwatch a contested point can go into a nail-biting overtime. Your team’s reward for holding the control point? The ability for two players at once to control a giant mech and march it straight to the enemy base. 

Pachimari Collection Quest 

For the next little while, a personal favorite of mine – Overwatch’s little Pachimari plush – will be collectible in Heroes of the Storm. At the start of a match, dozens of loot boxes will spawn on the field and the team that collects the highest number of Pachimari during those opening seconds are rewarded with progress towards the event quest. Not only do these event boxes contain “legendary” gold Pachimari but a “Pachimari MVP” is crowned before the gates come down to begin the match! 

 

What do you think of this HOTS event? Let me know in the comments section!


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Last Week of Nexus Challenge 2.0 Rewards 10 Overwatch & HOTS Lootboxes


Posted on May 17, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Fans of Heroes of the Storm and Overwatch on PC can snag 10 loot boxes for each game if they’re willing to play 5 HOTS 2.0 friends between now and May 22nd. Complete some matches with your pals and cross your fingers that last hero in your collection or epic skin drops from of these gratis loot piñatas.

Nexus Challenge 2.0 is part of a larger marketing push for Blizzard Entertainment’s MOBA which saw a major reworking of its cash shop, hero purchasing, item unlocking and the inclusion of Overwatch style Loot Chests. For a more in-depth look at the major changes that came with the HOTS 2.0 rollout including new heroes, Genji & D.VA read our previous coverage.

All four weeks worth of Nexus Challenge 2.0 quests will be available until May 21st and must be completed in order to earn that week’s rewards. Console players of Overwatch are also able to link their console Overwatch account to their Battle.net launcher in order to earn the week four loot boxes on their platform of choice.

Here is a brief rundown of the Nexus 2.0 unlocks:

Week 1

  • Orochi Hovercycle HOTS Mount
  • Oni Genji Banner
  • Oni Genji Spray
  • Oni Genji Portrait
  • Oni Genji Skin / Spray and Icon in Overwatch

Week 2

  • Busan Police Hovercycle mount in HOTS
  • Police D.VA Skin in Overwatch

Week 3

  • Overwatch HOTS Hexagon mount
  • Officer D.VA Banner, Spray and Player icon in HOTS 2.0
  • Officer D.VA Spray and Icon in Overwatch

Week 4

  • 10 Loot Chests in HOTS 2.0 (one Rare)
  • 10 Loot Boxes in Overwatch

In my previous coverage of the recent Quake Champions Beta I’ve touched upon some of the huge pitfalls with in-game random loot boxes and how they prey upon the same psychological techniques & exploits as slot machines and other forms of gambling. Other authors have done far more exhaustive research into the topic such as IGN’s Nathan Lawrence who spoke to experts in behavioral psychology at the Video Game Addiction Treatment Centre about the implications and mechanics of in-game RNG loot boxes. This is a topic I’m planning on covering in a series of future articles on our site but Lawrence’s article is an in-depth and fascinating look at how exactly these boxes trick our brains into hoping for that rare drop when the numbers tell us there is less than a 1 in 100 chance we could see it.

Speaking about how receiving that 1% or less rare drop just once reinforces the impulse to purchase more drops in the hopes of duplicating previous success Emil Hodzic from the Videogames Addiction Treatment Centre told Lawerence that:

“Then that dynamic of the gambling – the poker machine motivation system comes in – whereby, you get one really good skin or emote one time and it wants you to [get] more. Over time, the interest and the attachment and the drive for what you get from that loot drop can definitely increase, especially when they’ve got the seasons thing, like [a] Halloween [event].”

[Image Source]

I hope everyone who completes the Nexus 2.0 challenge enjoys their spoils for the amount of time that they’ve put into the game. Opening Lootboxes can be a fun experience but remember that all of the numbers behind the flashy lights and sounds have been calculated so that you’ll part with just another dollar or two in hopes of getting that epic drop.

Images provided from Blizzard’s official Nexus 2.0 website. Quote from IGN.com

 


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Heroes of the Storm 2.0 Launches With $200 of Free Content


Posted on April 27, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Blizzard has unleashed the largest update for Heroes of the Storm since their Multiplayer Online Battle Arena launched in the summer of 2015. After 22 months since the initial release,  HOTS’ loot system gets a complete rework, the in-game shop has been completely redesigned, changes to skins, dozens of brand new collectibles and two new heroes. To cap things off both returning players and newbies can score 20 free heroes and $10 of in-game currency for simply logging in.

Loot Boxes & Overall Progression

Overwatch’s popular loot box system makes its way to Heroes of the Storm with the recently release 2.0 update. To accomplish this brand new feature the development team have made changes to how items are purchased / earned in game, how player progression & heroes levels work and a discontinuation of real world currency pricing for skins & other cosmetic items.

Individual hero levels remain in-tact with HOTS 2.0 but now all of your combined previous hero levels are totaled into a new account “Player Level” which also features a level cap much higher than the previous limit of 40. Player Level is directly tied to the reward of receiving a loot box, every time your player level increased by one you are rewarded with one “common loot box”. Meeting specific progression objectives (example: level Valla to 15) will also reward you a loot box that contains a specific set of items for that hero. Lastly, there is rare and epic level loot boxes that are guaranteed to contain a high quality item – these are usually tied to certain player level progressions every 25 levels or so.

Discontinuation of Real World Pricing & New Currencies 

In the last version of Heroes of the Storm currencies were very easy to manage because there were only two: gold & real world prices on heroes/skins. With HOTS 2.0 things get a lot more complicated with the addition of two new currencies – Gems & Shards and the removal of the real world prices.

Here is a quick rundown of what the new currencies are used for and how to obtain them:

Gems – Purchased with real world currency in predefined blocks (minimum $5 purchase), can also be rewarded as a progression unlock. These are used for exchanging real world cash for heroes or loot boxes only, skins are no longer purchasable.

Gold –  Earned at the end of every match, can be exchanged for heroes or to “reroll” loot boxes, regenerating the content inside.

Shards – A brand new currency that allows players to craft unlockable that can only otherwise be obtained through random loot boxes. Shards are earned by unlocking duplicate items from loot boxes and prices on items begin at as little as 50 shards (you get around 20 shards per duplicate) or as high as 1600 shards for the most coveted items.

Free Stuff For Every Player – 20 Hero Packs!

Between now and May 22nd any player who logs into Heroes of the Storm will be able to select one of four themed free hero packs from the in-game store.  Each of these packs are based around specific roles that you’ll find in the game – Assassins, Supports / Specialists, Tanks / Bruisers or a “Flex” bundle which includes a little bit of everything.

Here is a rundown of all of the available bundles:

Assassins

  • Alarak
  • Chromie
  • Falstad
  • Greymane
  • Gul’dan
  • Kael’thas
  • Kerrigan
  • Li-Ming
  • Lunara
  • Nazeebo
  • Nova
  • Raynor
  • Sylvanas
  • Butcher
  • Tracer
  • Tychus
  • Valeera
  • Valla
  • Zeratul
  • Zul Jin

Support / Specialist

  • Abathur
  • Auriel
  • Brightwing
  • Chen
  • Dehaka
  • T.C
  • Johanna
  • Kharazim
  • Li Li
  • Morales
  • Lucio
  • Malfurion
  • Medivh
  • Muradin
  • Rehgar
  • Stitches
  • Tassadar
  • Tyrael
  • Uther
  • Zarya

Tanks / Bruisers

  • Alarak
  • Anub arak
  • Artanis
  • Arthas
  • Chen
  • Diablo
  • Dehaka
  • Illidan
  • Kharazim
  • Leoric
  • Muradin
  • Ragnaros
  • Rexxar
  • Samuro
  • Sonya
  • Stitches
  • Thrall
  • Varian

Flex Bundle

  • Abathur
  • Arthas
  • Azmodan
  • Brightwing
  • Diablo
  • ETC
  • Greymane
  • Johanna
  • Kerrigan
  • Li Li
  • Li Ming
  • Morales
  • Nazeebo
  • Rehgar
  • Rexxar
  • Sylvanas
  • The Lost Vikings
  • Tychus
  • Varian
  • Zul Jin

Two New Heroes and So Much More

If you’ve stuck it out this far into the article and aren’t totally lost – this is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the changes that Heroes of the Storm 2.0 brings to Blizzard’s MOBA. If your eyes wandered off the screen after $200 of free in-game items and immediately started downloading the game, I don’t blame you.

If you’re still with me – HOTS 2.0 adds Overwatch’s Genji to the roster. This cybernetic Ninja has similar abilities to the ones that he uses in Overwatch, the dev team have done their best to adapt these characters as faithfully as they can. Genji can throw three shurikens at once, traverse over terrain and unleash his ultimate ability – the dragon blade! Next week D.VA from Overwatch will also be joining the multiplayer battle fun and the second week of the cross over Nexus 2.0 challenge continues as well.

For all of the changes to HOTS make sure to check out their official website and let us know what you think of Blizzard’s improvements in the comments section as well.


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Heroes of the Storm: New Recruit a Friend & 2 New Heroes Announced


Posted on November 4, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Blizzard’s competitive Massive Online Battle Arena Heroes of the Storm has a ton of new content coming in the remainder of 2016 and throughout 2017. During the opening ceremonies for Blizzcon 2016 developers announced two new characters that will be coming in the following months – Varian & Ragnaros as well as a brand new arcade mode map Blackheart’s Revenge and all new recruit a friend campaign that has the potential to unlock 5 free heroes and a 30 day stim-pack.

Varian 

The former High King of the Alliance Varian will be the game’s first dual class hero – allowing players to customize their game play experience depending on which style of play they prefer – either tanking or becoming a nimble assassin. Varian will either wield his sword in one hand if playing a tank or split it into two for the assassin role.

Ragnaros

Hailing from the classic World of Warcraft Molton Core raid Ragnaros comes into the nexus in a future update. One of his unique abilities allows Ragnaros to take over a keep or fort and become a giant version of himself for a limited amount of time with a second set of abilities. It looks like this former raid boss will be a force to reckoned with once he hits the lanes.

New Recruit a Friend Event

overwatch_genji_skin

Running on November 15th until January 4th invite your friends to play with you in the nexus and unlock rewards in both Heroes of the Storm and Overwatch for both of you.

Completed 15 Games (Ranked, Unranked Draft, Quick Match or Co-op) and unlock the Oni Genji skin in Overwatch, a spray + player icon in Overwatch as well. For Heroes of the Storm playing 15 games will unlock Zarya as a hero and a Genji portrait for use in-game.

Complete 30 Games (Ranked, Unranked Draft, Quick Match or Co-op) and unlock Greymane, Karagin and Li-Ming in HOTS as well as the Orochi Hovercycle mount and a 30-day stim pack granting double experience and gold.

More information on this new Recruit a Friend campaign is available on the Heroes of the Storm Developer Blog.

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Blizzard Teases New ‘Heroes of the Storm’ Content’ With New ‘In Development’ Trailer


Posted on July 1, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Developers at Blizzard Entertainment aren’t wasting any time creating new content that will surely fill the nexus for the coming weeks or months. In the latest ‘in-development’ trailer we get a brand new look at two new heroes currently being finalized – Gul’dan and Auriel. New additions to the roster aside, Blizzard also showed off a number of new skins for existing heroes like Johanna and Mi-Ling as well as what will surely be at least two legendary skins.

New Heroes

Gul’dan, is of course, the former Orc shaman who hails from Draenor and was the founder of The Horde in Warcraft lore. He has appeared in several Warcraft games including Warcraft I, Warcraft II – he died during the events of the second game. He was an antagonist in the WoW expansion Warlords of Draenor and will be featured front & center in the upcoming Legion expansion.

Heroes_1

Auriel is the heart of the five member Angiris Council in Diablo lore. She was present during the judgment of Inarius at Silver City during the events of Diablo III: Reaper of Souls. Not much is known about abilities within the nexus, perhaps she will provide commentary to fellow angel Tyrael.

Heroes_2

New Skins

The crusader Johanna gets enlisted with a cross-franchise skin, taking up the threads of the Spellbreaker unit from the Blood Elves of Warcraft III. Li-ming takes some time off from the nexus to enjoy some volleyball with this legendary skin complete with Volleyball outfit and the ability to spam an impressive number of balls during her ulti. Arthas might be trading in his usual cold icey aesthetic for something a little more cuddly with his pandarian inspired Mystic Kingdoms outfit as well.

Heroes_5

Heroes_4

Heroes_3

New Mounts

Several new mounts are also in development for upcoming patches including a re-release / color variant of the Cyberwolf mount, which to be honest is my absolute favorite even if it aesthetically clashes with almost everything else in the game. For those who prefer a more traditional four-legged companions, two new steeds are coming – the Crimson Hare and Demonic HellSteed!

Heroes_7

Heroes_6

Heroes_8

No release date for any of this content has been announced and, of course, we won’t have prices for any of these new additions until they are released. I know for sure I’ll be picking up the Obsidian Cyber Wolf on day one, maybe even Striker Li-Ming. How about you, fellow nexus dweller?


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Diablo’s Wizard and Necromancer Highlighted In New Heroes Trailer


Posted on January 22, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Heroes of the storm

Blizzard Entertainment’s Heroes of the Storm development team is ready to share some of the upcoming content they’ve been working on with players. In a brand new trailer we get an up close look at the models and skins for the two newest heroes – Li Ming and Xul  as well as brand new skins for established characters like LT. Morales, Jaina, Arthas and Illidan.

Do any of these new skins appeal to you? I thought Love Dr. Morales was kind of chuckle worthy and to be honest I am probably going to buy that Arthas skin day one even if I don’t play him all that often. As for the new heroes – I’ll have to wait and see what their abilities are before I can really commit.

Here’s a full breakdown of all the newly announced content:

HEROES

  • Li-Ming
  • Xul

SKINS

  • Crimson Count Arthas
  • Love Doctor Lt. Morales
  • Lunar Jaina
  • Lunar Illidan
  • Master Li-Ming
  • Master Xul
  • Serpent King Xul
  • Star Princess Li-Ming

MOUNTS

  • Star Chariot
  • Cloud Serpent
  • Lunar Dragon

[youtube id=”_JybO9iBECA”]

[Source]


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Heroes of the Storm 2016 Spring Championship annoucned


Posted on January 18, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

Blizzard is getting us started off right this year with the announcement of the official Heroes of the Storm Global Championship Circuit to start in the Spring

straight from Blizzard:

“As announced at BlizzCon, 2016 kicks off the new Heroes of the Storm Global Championship Circuit. The best teams from Australia/New Zealand, China, Europe, Korea, Latin America, North America, Southeast Asia, and Taiwan will be competing in a seasonal format, with each of the three seasons—Spring, Summer, and Fall—culminating in a Global Championship event. In total, more than $4 million is on the line in the 2016 Global Championship Circuit.”

blizzard

 

So there it is, hit the jump if you want to see all of the details on dates regions and prize pools. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to most people who followed Blizzard as they announced this at Blizzcon. All of this is a part of the global efffot that blizzard has put forward in order to attempt to globalize Heroes of the Storm.

Read More


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BrokenCast Episode #8: Game of the Year 2015


Posted on December 21, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

It’s that time of the year – the time when we reflect on all of the great games that have been released over the last twelve months. The year kicked off with major releases like The Order: 1886 and Bloodborne. By mid-year we saw the release of Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm and CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher III: Wild Hunt. By the end of the year we finally got several games that fans have been waiting years for – Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and almost out of nowhere Bethesda’s Fallout 4.

Joining the discussion for our last podcast of the year is:

Rae Michelle Richards on Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/Kitsune86
Fionna Fox on Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/Just_Fionna
Renee Gittins On Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/RikuKat
Kenny Keelan On Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/ourwindsong

We’ll be back with more podcasts in the new year!


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Lunara The Deer Assassin Enters The Nexus


Posted on December 15, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

The latest hero to enter the Nexus is Lunara the deer.. Dryad centaur Assassin that hails from the Warcraft universe.  Her agile abilities allow you to poison your foes and extend the duration of this damage if you are quick enough. Likewise her ultimate abilities also allow her to literally leap over enemies, slowing them down, or allow her to unleash a damaging storm of vines at will.

Blizzard has released a spotlight video giving players a rundown of all of the abilities that this new hero has to offer alongside some counter strategies for those who are bound to face her.

She is currently priced at 15,000 Gold – so if you’ve been doing your dailies perhaps you can afford her – or $4.99 USD thanks to the end of year extended Black Friday Sale.

[youtube id=”4OqrfLfaOnc”]

Abilities

Natures Toxin (Passive) – Auto attacks poison enemies dealing 33 DMG + level modifier. Each additional attack increases amount of time poison lasts.

Noxious Blossom (Bound to Q) – After 0.5 Sec causes an explosion that deals 166 DMG + level modifier

Crippling Spores (Bound to W) –  Enemies currently afflicted by Natures Toxin have toxin duration increased by 3 sec + slowed by 40%.

WISP (Bound to E) – Spawns a Wisp to scout for you, lasts 45 seconds.

Ultimate Abilities

Thornwood Vine (Bound to R) – Sends forth a vine dealing 170 points of DMG + level modifier. Can have up to 3 charges.

Leaping Strike  (Bound to R) – Leap over an enemy slowing them by 80% and dealing 255 DMG + level modifier. Can have up to 2 charges.


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Heroes of the Storm: Towers of Doom Overview


Posted on November 25, 2015 by Fionna Schweit

Blizzard showed us at blizzcon their next map for Heroes of the Storm: Towers of Doom. Now they have released the official overview of the map. Its startling different from any of Blizzards other maps for HoTS though it still features a traditional lane play, players will not be able to damage the core, instead using a series of shrines on the map to activate their towers and oh it gets very complicated after that. I suggest you just watch the video.


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Huge Black Friday Sale Hits Heroes of the Storm


Posted on November 24, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

If you’re staying in this holiday weekend perhaps you might want to look into playing a few rounds of Blizzard’s addicting MOBA Heroes of the Storm. This weekend all of the mounts, skins and heroes in the Nexus are reduced by 50% (off of their cash purchase price, in game gold prices remain unaffected).

Blizzard has also released a limited time Second Chance bundle which allows you to gain access to some of the timed exclusive mounts from the game’s past. These mounts include the Lunar Tiger, Red Carpet mount and the Reindeer mount!

If you’re a really dedicated player within the Nexus then this is your only chance to grab the 365 day stim pack which grants you additional gold & experience for an entire year. Normally the stim packs are sold in 7 and 30 day allotments for $3.99 and $9.99 respectively. The 365 day stim pack is currently priced at $59.99 USD and will not be available after this weekend’s sale.

Personally I picked up the Ranger-General Sylvanas Skin for $3.99 – I just couldn’t resist the idea of having a living elf Sylvanas now that I’ve got her to a high level!

  • All Heroes, Mounts, and Skins will be on sale at a 50% real money discount
  • A new 360 Day Stimpack will be available at a deeply discounted price.
    • Please note: The 360 Day Stimpack is a limited-time item that will ONLY be available during the Black Friday Sale. 
  • A new Second Chance Bundle will be available with the following items:
    • Winter Veil Jaina Skin
    • Greatfather Winter Rehgar Skin
    • Reigndeer Mount
    • Nazeebra Mount
    • Lunar Tiger Mount
    • Magic Carpet Mount

[Source]


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5 Vs 5 Arena Mode Coming To Heroes Of The Storm


Posted on November 6, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard’s popular Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, will be receiving a 5 Vs 5 arena mode where the devs say anything can happen. This mode does not allow players to chose their heroes – instead your entire team is selected at random. Also there seems to be no real focus on objectives, instead this will be about player skill and pure combat.

Check out the new trailer for Arena Mode below – we will bring you more as it becomes available.

 


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