Free To Pay

I received a Heroes of the Storm technical alpha invitation.

I believed the initiations were reserved for popular reviewers and streamers coupled with some conspiratorial NDA promotion incentive. After about 10 hours of play time, I can conclude that the game's approach is an interesting enhancement on the innate arcane mechanics of the action RTS genre. However the game's business model is completely reprehensible.

The good: There is no required indoctrination into the secret order of game mechanics. Gone are the intricacies rooted in Starcraft and Warcraft III foundations. For example, armor and magic resistance are direct values. Listed damage is exactly what an attack or ability will inflict, simple and straightforward. There are no awkward devices such as creep denial and all experience is shared by the team. Team level is a more direct indicator of successful play. At a very basic level, the game can be easily understood by a player new to the entire RTS genre. However, this cripples the game's potential for advanced strategy.

The bad: Heroes of the Storm attempts to counteract the removal of many contrived aspects with the introduction of map-specific objectives. Roughly every few minutes, a recurring event is triggered which prompts both teams to fight over some resource to greatly improve their team's power or impose a negative status effect on the enemy team. While this encourages active gameplay at some level, it eliminates a lot of strategy. The map objectives are so powerful that eventually any alternative strategy is nonviable.

Additionally, the simplification (removal) of complex RTS devices generates a very linear experience. With no option for items, players are left with the ability to choose a talent every few levels from a selection specific to their hero and level. These talents are somewhat versatile, but are rarely used in a reactive manner. Once chosen, they cannot be reassigned, so generally a premapped build is utilized without variation. And if there is any responsive adjustment, it is usually only at the level of one or two talents maximum. There is no method of a comprehensive set of reactive choices that result in engaged decision making.

The ugly: Heroes of the Storm will be free to play upon launch. The game will continue with ongoing support and development with a cash shop allowing players to purchase heroes and cosmetic modifications such as skins and mounts. Heroes may also be unlocked with an in-game currency, gold, that is earned by completing daily quests, challenges that are presented uniquely to a player every 24 hours. Players will only have access to heroes that they have unlocked or a set of heroes included in a weekly rotation. To unlock the current pool of 23 heroes, it costs $160.78 or 135,000 gold. Earning gold is a very slow process. Even low estimates calculate over 200 days worth of daily quests are required to earn enough gold to unlock the current hero pool, excluding any new heroes that may be released during that time.

Having heroes behind a paywall/playwall completely crushes the potential for Heroes of the Storm. At any pricepoint, locking heroes from play seriously harms the competitive viability of the game. Professional play is severely hindered where aspiring teams are unable to effectively employ strategies. But Blizzard is clearly targeting the mass market. Yet the casual playerbase also does suffer greatly from this system. It is an unethical predatory business model that relies on insincere tactics to keep the player compliant with excessive pricing. It deliberately exploits the mentally ill, such as those with behavioral addictions, while at the same time degrades gameplay.

The model is even more absurd when so many other systems in similar products have been proven to work extremely well. Dota 2 and Smite are excellent comparisons. Dota 2 has zero hero unlocks and all cosmetic items can either be earned with random drops, traded for, or purchased through either the cash shop or Steam Market. Smite has a flat $30 fee which guarantees all current and future heroes are unlocked.

At the bottom line, Heroes of the Storm has set a direct course into the free to play mass market cesspool.