For now popular Moba genre, it all started ten years ago, with a regular user card for Warcraft 3. For the time being, Blizzard Entertainment remained away from the genre, which in a sense itself gave rise to, but now the development Heroes of the Storm It is in full swing.
On the newly completed “close-up”, the head of the company announced that several new characters would be added to the game: firstly, old heroes The Lost Vikings, And secondly, the legendary leader of the trall and no less famous high-ranking ladies-Lady Jaina Praudmur and the leader of the renounced Silvan.
On this occasion, we caught Keo Milker , leading designer of the upcoming game, and talked with him about the ambitious plans of the company.
The path of the game was long and winding: from the user card for Warcraft 3 to the Blizzard Dota card for Starcraft 2 . After that there was Blizzard All-Stars, and now Heroes of the Storm. You are not in a hurry to master the now popular genre that has arisen thanks to your game. Why?
Our company is famous for the fact that we have harnessed for a long time, but then we cannot stop us. That is how the case was with Heroes of the Storm : we wanted not just to release another Moba, but to move the genre forward. Create a game that we can make only we.
It all started with a test moba card for Starcraft 2 , where we just wanted to show the capabilities of the game designer. But the card liked the card so much that we seriously thought about a full -fledged game. The development was inhibited not only by constant debate on how to realize the planned, but also for the strong work of the key team members. Then prepared for the release Diablo 3 And Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty.
Nevertheless, in fact, at all stages of development, we showed working prototypes and the press and the public, and it was their reviews that served as the main incentive to continue working on Hots.
During this time, the Moba genre has become very popular. Given the competition, what you are going to attract players, especially those who are not pleased with only familiar faces among the characters?
Yes, in order to truly gain a foothold, you need to create something truly outstanding and loudly declare yourself. I think in the past our company did this due to the fact that we always made games, which we were primarily interested in playing ourselves.
Trump cards Heroes of the Storm – well -thought -out settings of characters and completely unique types of cards. The parties last only twenty minutes, and in traditional Moba one game session can take for an hour. Clashes between team members begin in the first thirty seconds, making matches spectacular from beginning to end. The community is very, very much!
In other words, you seriously expect to turn Hots into e -sports discipline, behind which it is exciting to observe?
Yes, it would be great. It is one thing to attract players, and quite another – spectators. Judging by the reviews, we get very good. As for the competition, tournaments and demonstration matches are already in full swing, although it is still too early to consider Heroes of the Storm the prevailing discipline. Everything has its time!
Developers Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft tried to make the game as accessible to the general public. At the same time, she has incredibly deep mechanics. To Heroes of the Storm you have about the same approach?
That is, do we intend to create the same thing with Moba as Hearthstone – with card games? Yes, we can say so. Accessibility is our main guideline. We want newcomers to HOTS to be comfortable, but at the same time experienced players should feel at home. The teams will have very simple tasks, but how their characters are combined with each other, the way they behave on different maps, how they show themselves in contractions with enemies is where the most interesting thing lurks, and it is here that we invest the most effort.
► In the collection of Heroes of the Storm, the "Heavenly Temple" was added. The city soaring in heaven is made in the Egyptian style and full of oases and aqueducts.
There are more than thirty characters in your game, whose skills and strength differ very noticeably. Did you have difficulties with a balance in this part?
Surprisingly, no. Balancing we have, so to speak, in the blood, many years of experience are affected. Most of the team consists of Blizzard veterans that have worked in the company more than fifteen Warcraft 2 And Warcraft 3 , as well as both Starcraft.
Return to work on those who have already become native characters, and even encounter their forehead in the forehead – the rejection arises indescribable, and I am glad that we succeed without any problems, even Murloki feel great. Special thanks to our community that notes every little thing and instantly reacts to any minor flaws in the game.
► At the opening ceremony of BlizzCon 2014, new heroes were announced: Trall, Jain, Silvan and the legendary lost Vikings.
You need to continue to add new characters every few months. How many of them are planned at the time of official launch?
To be honest, we are by no means obsessed with numbers and do not chase the quantity. It is better to work out and endow the depths of those that already have. It is important for us that all skills of heroes, especially auxiliary, find the use of players. There is nothing worse than the skills "for a checkmark".
And we also do not want support fighters to sit in the bushes, waiting for an opportunity to help comrades. IN Heroes of the Storm All players every second directly participate in the struggle for the victory of their team. This is one of the main reasons why the party in the game is so fast.
► sketching the battlefield in style Diablo.
And whether you have ever visited you a desire to make something completely, very different from the game? Still, the idea “Put all the Blizzard celebrities with each other can be realized in many ways.
Heroes of the Storm It itself has grown from modifications and cards for other games. The idea to add to it the characters beloved by the public came later. We never talked about making a game specially, where all our “stars” fight each other or together save the universe. Hots becomes exactly the game that she thought, although it is great that she has a special place in the Blizzard Games Catalog.
► the tomb of Queen Spiders is another new map, which they just began to develop. The developers promise a huge and gloomy underground city with spacious halls, many frightening nooks – and a cloud of spiders.
And finally tell Royal Oak Casino me – is it worth it to expect a single campaign?
Oh, a great question! As I said, the backbone of our team consists of Blizzard veterans, who worked not only on the multiplayer modes of the company's classic games, but also on plot. They will definitely be able to create a decent campaign for Heroes of the Storm. Yes, and I will not be cunning, they are waiting not to wait for work on it. But now all our attention is aimed at the main component of the game – multiplayer. As soon as we deal with her, we will immediately proceed to all sorts of interesting additions. We certainly really want to do something similar.
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Now the game is at the alpha testing stage, and the closed beta test Heroes of the Storm will begin on January 13, 2015. You can leave an application for participation in the test here.