Blizzcon is the annual Blizzard gaming convention to promote its games such as Warcraft, Starcraft, Heroes of the Storm, Diablo and Overwatch. Since 2005, the Convention venue is the Anaheim Convention Center in California.
2018 was a special year for Blizzard post the success of their inaugural Overwatch league. The game publisher is rapidly putting up big numbers when it comes to either acquiring sponsorship money or getting new non-endemic to esports organisations to invest in the segment.
There were multiple announcements during Blizzcon 2018 pertaining to Blizzard’s games. Some games received new characters such as Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm. Blizzard also decided to release the remastered edition for Warcraft 3, one of the oldest and famous games from their kitty. In addition to this, they also announced the Diablo Mobile, a mobile version of the hit franchise.
Orphea: Heroes of the Storm new hero
Orphea is the latest Heroes of the Storm character, one that has been a long time coming. Teased in several comics and in the HOTS Lore, it was no surprise to see Orphea’s release. It is the first hero that will not be an existing member of the Blizzard universe.
Orphea is the daughter of the Raven Lord. She is aptly called the Heir of the Raven court. She is the 83rd character to join the game. According to the lore, Orphea was born within the nexus.
Rejecting the dark power her father had begun to consort with, Orphea tried to run away from the Raven Lord’s influence. But after witnessing King’s Crest fall to his machinations, she was convinced she needed to stand and fight. She now vows to protect the innocent–as a Hero of the Nexus.
You can check out more details of Orphea here.
Changes coming to Heroes of the Storm.
Blizzard has also detailed multiple changes coming to Heroes of the Storm. They want to reduce the ‘Snowball effect’ where one team can simply run away with the game. Providing changes to the meta is important to keep the game afresh and ensure great competition amongst all.
In order to reduce the early game impact in the game, Blizzard will reduce the priorities and advantages that teams acquire. While pushing and gaining objectives still have their own set of advantages, it won’t be as rewarding as before. Blizzard has removed the Direct power advantage and instead will provide them with a different incentive.
Instead of power advantages, the game receives changes in how experience distribution works. Right now, taking down buildings and objectives provides an experience boost, which is easy to snowball in the mid-game. With the new changes, the XP boost from objectives is drastically reduced. As a sort of compensation, the passive experience gain is increased by 15%. There are also changes coming to the armours and matchmaking.
Blizzard is going to focus on ensuring a role-based matchmaking for HOTS. Players who queue for rare roles will be provided with a bonus experience. These changes will go live with the first Major Patch update post-Blizzcon 2018.
https://thepicks.com/esports/news/2018/11/02/blizzard-goes-the-mobile-route-with-diablo-immortals/
https://thepicks.com/esports/news/2018/11/02/ashe-is-the-new-overwatch-hero-while-echo-might-make-a-comeback-to-overwatch-in-the-future/
