It's difficult to say that the current Lee “Rich” Jae-won is one of the best LCK top laners. His roller-coaster consistency in the laning phase prevents that. There are times that he domin
With 18 years of competitive gaming wisdom at his side, Grubby has become one of the most popular Heroes of the Storm and Warcraft 3 streamers on Twitch. I asked Grubby about what makes someone good at Heroes of the Storm, whether or not the game is as "beginner friendly" as people think and what type of changes he would like to see in the game:
With Juked now three months into open beta, we decided to catch up with co-founder ChanManV. He walked us through the creation of Juked, how they manage to stay in touch with all the esports scenes, and what the future holds for the platform.
At League of Legends All-Star 2019, we had the chance to speak to the player about his journey to esports stardom, the change of pace between the Brazilian esports scene versus North America, and how his mentality has changed over the years.
Amy Walker, who voices Blizzard's Elise Starseeker, was interviewed by Inven Global's Nick D'Orazio at the 2019 World Cyber Games in Xi'an, China to give her thoughts on the new Elise card, provide insight on the work of a voice actor, and reminisce on some of her favorite characters she's voiced.
You'd be hard-pressed to find a character in Heroes of the Storm over the last few months that have had more requests to be reworked than Chen. The only "Pandamonium" that he has brought to the battlefield for the last couple years has been to the player piloting the panda who has a fondness for drinking brew. More often than not, Chen didn't feel impactful when dropped on the map. His death-by-papercuts damage output was a minor nuisance; his over-reliance on consuming brew to stay alive in fights wasn't particularly interactive; and when it came to the solo-lane, he was out-classed by many.
It's been nearly two weeks since it happened. Nick Young, a 22-year old from Virginia, hasn't touched Heroes of the Storm since. He has too much going on inside his mind. Funeral arrangements, a new living situation, everything around him rehashing old memories that cause him happiness and push him to tears with agony. They say the grieving process varies based on the individual. However, in recent days, Young has found comfort, support, and love within the unlikeliest of places. A location he can see but not touch. Feel the arms of others holding him but not hug back.
Currently, the Business Development Manager of Dignitas, one of the largest esports organizations in the world, Bakery's day to day roles drastically differ from when he rose to the top of the Heroes of the Storm scene during his playing days. Instead of grinding matches, dissecting replays and mastering his mechanical craft on the keyboard, Bakery's life now consists of overseeing ways to monetize the company via their website, merchandise, and social media platforms. Upon making an abrupt retirement announcement at the end of 2017, Bakery set his sights bigger than just being good at playing a specific game better than almost anyone else in the world.
Lee “Rich” Jae-won participated in the profile photo shoot for the 2019 LCK Summer Split. Not as well known to the League of Legends fans, Rich was recognized as the best ever player in
Chromie and reworks: name a more iconic duo. For the third time in the past 18 months, the long-ranged Assassin in Heroes of the Storm has been reworked to provide an overall better playing experience for those piloting and playing against her. The newest iteration of her kit, which can be found here, is one that the design team hopes might stand the test of time. Most Heroes in the game have not experienced drastic reworks, yet Chromie continues to receive attention from the development team. I spoke with Alex Neyman, Senior Live Designer, to shed some light on why it’s, once again, Chromie's time in the re-design spotlight.
Last week the Heroes of the Storm development team revealed the two newest heroes to receive an overhaul or “rework” to their existing in-game kits. One of them, the Support hero, Lucio, was released into the game back in February of 2017. Upon his entrance into the nexus, his healing output--thus his power level--was quite high. All a player had to do while manning the character was stay within range of his teammates while his healing and speed auras would do the rest of the work. Occasionally, if the team was in trouble, his Sound Barrier heroic would provide a massive burst heal that would either turn the tide in a fight or save the team long enough for them to scurry away to safety. Over time, through tweaks to his kit, the design team provided a more interactive experience when playing with and against Lucio. But, it wasn’t enough.
Nearly two weeks ago, one of the most popular, beloved and talented former professional players in the history of Heroes of the Storm esports, Thomas “Ménè” Cailleux, had enough. While streaming the game on Twitch, he began talking to his chat about his love for the title, regardless of the tough times it has been through lately, and, visibly frustrated, he began pleading for Blizzard to work with him, other former professional players and content creators to help improve the game. His rant, which was immediately clipped and put on the Heroes of the Storm subReddit, has garnered nearly 12,000 viewers and was one of the top posts for that week. His message though is one that has circulated throughout the pro scene for years: “Why hasn’t Blizzard worked with those who play the game at the highest level and have a deeper understanding of hero’s kits, battleground mechanics and what the game needs better than the vast majority of the player base? What is there to lose?”
Shocking news greeted Heroes of the Storm fans on December 14th -- the HGC, the official esports league for Heroes of the Storm, would no longer be held in 2019. It's natural that no tournaments are held when the popularity of the title falls short. However, the way that Blizzard announced the end of the HGC was quite shocking - not only because it came without warning, but also because it was very unlike Blizzard, who has a reputation as one of the best gaming companies in the world. Needless to say, this caused quite a bit of disappointment and anger. In just one announcement, Heroes of the Storm esports was wiped from the esports economy. Numerous people who were dedicated to HotS esports lost their jobs in just one day. Gen.G Jae-Won ‘Rich' Lee, who is known as the Faker in the HotS esports scene, also lost the chance to play on the stage.
Last Tuesday, the “best Heroes of the Storm player in North America” abruptly announced his retirement from the competitive scene after spending the last four years making a name for himself. Fan “Fan” Yang, a member of the first Heroes of the Storm World Championship team for Cloud9 issued a statement through his current team, Tempo Storm, regarding his decision to step down. His full statement can be found here. When Fan was approached by InvenGlobal to talk about his decision to move on from competing in the Heroes Global Championship (HGC) in 2019, he opened up a bit more.
When the task of reworking Stitches was handed to the development team and Crawford, they had a pretty good idea where to start and the issues he currently experienced. This was not the overhaul that Sylvannas recently experienced as his fundamental kit was made well enough back in the day that he just needed more things to do when waiting for his 16-second cooldown to expire on his Hook ability.
When the opportunity to rework one of Blizzard’s most famous or infamous characters (depending on who you’re asking), Sylvanas, was placed on the plate of Jackson, his mind immediately went to work. A high-level player himself, Jackson knew the task of turning a hero into an assassin was no easy task and the pressure was on. Unlike the rework Stitches recently received, this was not just tweaking a few abilities and having her play the same but have some quality of life adjustments. This was an overhaul and in preparation for this rework, changes were made back in April.
Heroes of the Storm caster Jake “SolidJake” Kulinski has a unique perspective that he is able to view the health of the competitive community from. One seldom seen and heard. As one of the casters of the amateur competitive scene, known as Open Division, SolidJake has experience seeing player’s careers blossom over time, the trails and tribulations they may endure along the way and understands the importance of having a strong bedrock to grow new talent in.
Being one of the strongest regions in the esports scene, Korea packs some of the strongest players for every esports game. A week has passed since the Finals. How have you been?Sake: I'm still trying
“What is a ‘Tank’ hero in Heroes of the Storm?” Not only is that the million dollar question within the game’s community but for the development team within Blizzard as well. In theory, the role of a hulking brute who can control the battleground while soaking up damage and dishing out crowd-control for teammates to abuse seems straightforward. Not quite. What about their ability to peel for teammates? How much initiation should they have within their kit? Are they better off in the solo lane where their sustainability can contest a hero such as Thrall? Do they have the tools to get out of danger that they put themselves in? These questions, in addition to the above theory of what makes a Tank, is a careful balancing act for the development team when looking to release a new hero into the nexus or tweak an old one. At the BlizzCon event in Los Angeles, California held last weekend, Adam Jackson, a Balance Designer responsible for making these difficult decisions, sat down with InvenGlobal to shed some light into the intricacies that go into creating this misunderstood role.
Kaeo Milker, the Production Director for Heroes of the Storm, foreshadowed a huge change to the game. They will be dividing the previous 4 hero roles into 6, and remove fort and keep EXP -- as he spoke about it, we could see how determined he was to fundamentally improve Heroes of the Storm. These changes, along with the addition of the HotS-original hero Orphea, shows that the world of HotS may expand even further in the future. As the Production Director for HotS, Kaeo Milker helps decide how and who to adopt from among Blizzard's many characters to add to HotS. We had the opportunity to talk to Kaeo Milker about the future plans for updates at BlizzCon 2018.