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Heroes of the Storm: 3 Months Later, I tried League again and....

Light of Korra··17 votes·11,162 views

Been playing Heroes of the Storm for over 3 months now, decided to try League again and... wow, League is slow, League is clunky, and League is just plain boring now.

I had this feeling of "nostalgia" itching away at the back of my mind, "Play league, it's been a while..."

Yet, when I got back here to try League again... I just felt, empty. The nostalgia is just that, nostalgia.

No amount of nostalgia can make League "fun" the way it used to feel, not after I've experienced something far better, in this case, Heroes of the Storm.

All my friends have since quit League and joined HOTS, and while HOTS has a long way to go to build up the numbers League has, it has already gained momentum unlike any MOBA I have ever seen.

HOTS has earned my fanboyism, it has taken what was once a foaming League fanboy and converted me. It took a while to finally get to that point, but I realize now, HOTS is just a far better, faster paced game, and there is no going back. Once you Enter the Storm, League will feel like an old horse with nothing to offer.

We are entering a New Age of MOBAs, things will never be the same again.

For those interested in a cool trailer preview, this one got many of my friends hyped up to play it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaxjC8V5j6M

P.S. Isn't it ironic, how an Open Beta trailer for a new MOBA has gotten more views, in less time, than a recent League LCS match between Cloud 9 and TSM? Made me laugh the first time I realized it, but I guess it's no surprise now.

83 Comments

YossarianSensei15 votes

I had the opposite experience

  • I reached Rank 1 in HoTS in less than 100 ranked games, but everyone still sucks ass. A gold LoL player can easily be a Diamond HoTS player because the game basically plays itself mechanically, all you need to do is not be retarded. Playing HoTS is like watching one of those old 'pick your destiny' movies except the 4 braindead tards on your team all have an equal say in your destiny.
  • Match making is nonexistent, it just teams up Diamond players with Bronze allies without blinking an eye
  • It's absurdly hard to make comebacks. Because there are no items, a level disadvantage is crippling - you lose all map pressure, all team fight ability, and all objective control. Also the fact that you fell behind in the first place probably just means you have more bronze players on your team.
  • It's impossible to solo carry; you're pretty much forced to queue in a group unless you're fine with dealing with literal Bronze allies in a Masters level game
  • The heroes are so imbalanced it's not even funny. Illidan Abathur combo makes Release Xin Zhao look like trash-tier.
  • There are a lot of gimmicky heroes that are absolutely toxic to play against - and a good amount of these are straight OP too
  • The community is somehow more toxic than League's
  • There's no All chat or emotes? You can Dance except that just stuns yourself for like 10 seconds
Light of Korra6 votes

I find it hard to believe you are Rank 1 making the kind of comments like "some heroes are straight OP." I have over 1000 games played now and have a good amount of experience learning to counter every Hero, there is no one Hero that is OP, and that is especially true in HOTS where the idea of teamwork is even more crucial. As far as ranking goes, it's pre-season, the game just came out. Once Season 1 begins there will be a lot more ranked players with better experience, and there will be placement matches rather than skill bonus.

YossarianSensei9 votes

Illidan + Abathur duo queue = free win TLV on Cursed Hollow = free win Double Promote comp = free win Sylvanas on Haunted Mines = free win Brightwing on almost any map = free win

It's really not uncommon for there to be heroes to sit at 60%+ win rate for weeks at a time.

It's even more hilarious that there aren't bans in Ranked, otherwise I'd say it's marginally possible to counter some of these picks.

Light of Korra6 votes

Goodness gracious you've got to be joking? You aren't rank 1 if you think any of those are a "free win" in ranked. Sylvanas may be a great pusher but she can't solo push your team to a win in ranked even on mines, or you risk the enemy team getting a 100 skull golem, and I assure you, a 100 skull golem will erase any gains your Sylvanas made skipping out on the mines phase. Abathur gives 15% attack speed only if he gets that talent, and you can easily counter illidan with CC. While TLV may have the advantage of soaking all 3 lanes for EXP, you also run the risk of your team getting steam rolled during Tributes since it will be 4 v 5, so while you may think that's a free win, it really isn't, you need to be there for team fights. If you're referring to TLV in other ways such as spin to win, then I agree the damage on spin to win is a little high, but that's why Blizzard is lowering it in the new patch. Double Promote comp? This would be one heck of a troll win if it ever happened. Brightwing is not a free win on any map, she is very squishy and her healing is automatic, so she doesn't even get to choose who gets healed unless she gets Blink, in which case it only has 2 charges, or 3 if you upgrade it at 20 but why would you do that instead of getting Stormshield.

Ellphi10 votes

LolOLloolololOLolololOLolollloolololololololoololololololooloolo

You realize Sylvanas is so broken on Haunted Mines, the meta is literally 'send 4 players to whichever lane Sylvanas is in'? I'm no Rank 1 player but that's just a stupid amount of influence for a single hero.

TLV and Promote are both already marked for a gutting next patch, so trying to defend their balance is a lost battle

Light of Korra4 votes

Actually they're only reducing the damage on "spin to win" for TLV and that was based on datamined patch not official notes, which is what I mentioned if you read, hence "spin to win" damage. You're obviously not very experienced if you think Sylvanas can win you the game by pushing a lane while 4 of your teammates get steam rolled in mines.

As far as Promote goes, it was almost never picked, and if you looked at the datamined patch notes you will see it's actually a buff. While it no longer has 3x health boost, it instead takes 75% less damage. 75% less damage adds up to a far higher EFC than 3x health points.

LaserDeathBlade5 votes

I'm not sure if you're trolling or not if you think that's how players use Sylvanas on Haunted mines

Narasimha4 votes

I'm not sure if you're serious or not. They're nerfing EVERYTHING about TLV. They're getting downright gutted. A bit deserved, although not to this extent. Well, atleast Stitches will have some buddies now.

Light of Korra2 votes

10 buffs and 3 nerfs is "gutted"? I think the damage will actually be higher now that Fury of the Storm will work on all 3 vikings separately, that's massive damage if you hadn't noticed. Datamined notes for reference: http://www.heroesnexus.com/news/1405-june-ptr-patch-hero-changes-battlefield-of

Narasimha3 votes

Look at this http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/blog/19803324/heroes-of-the-storm-ptr-patch-notes-june-23-2015-6-23-2015

Theres a lot more nerfs than just '3'. Have all your information before talking.

YossarianSensei4 votes

You must be in one of them ELOs where people still solo queue... and Lemme guess, you must think teams actually bother committing to a tribute fight on Cursed Hollow with TLV?

My experience with lower skilled players is they don't realize what good strategy is even if I type it word for word in chat and sent it to them with a smiley emoticon and a hundred bucks.

LaserDeathBlade6 votes

Are we going to pretend like it's not the same handful of heroes picked in high level play over and over and over and over?

There are champs in HoTS that just bring so much more to the table than their counterparts that it's unthinkable to pick another hero unless you're just not trying very hard to win.

Light of Korra2 votes

Ironically, people like you call Nova a "troll pick" in Ranked, and I have a 73% win rate in Ranked with Nova. Perhaps you shouldn't stereotype until you've got 1000+ games under your belt, and you will see that every Hero has an opportunity to shine in the right hands. As far as a small Hero pool goes, that will change as they add more Heroes, just like any MOBA. Right now we're looking at about 37 Heroes, with 3 more recently announced to come soon, so I wouldn't really complain about the pool of Heroes being small.

LaserDeathBlade4 votes

Congrats you can pubstomp with a pubstomp hero

Now bring your Nova into a 3.5k MMR+ 5 stack. GL HF

Dracid1 votes

{quoted}

I had the opposite experience

  • I reached Rank 1 in HoTS in less than 100 ranked games, but everyone still sucks ass. A gold LoL player can easily be a Diamond HoTS player because the game basically plays itself mechanically, all you need to do is not be retarded. Playing HoTS is like watching one of those old 'pick your destiny' movies except the 4 braindead tards on your team all have an equal say in your destiny.
  • Match making is nonexistent, it just teams up Diamond players with Bronze allies without blinking an eye
  • It's absurdly hard to make comebacks. Because there are no items, a level disadvantage is crippling - you lose all map pressure, all team fight ability, and all objective control. Also the fact that you fell behind in the first place probably just means you have more bronze players on your team.
  • It's impossible to solo carry; you're pretty much forced to queue in a group unless you're fine with dealing with literal Bronze allies in a Masters level game
  • The heroes are so imbalanced it's not even funny. Illidan Abathur combo makes Release Xin Zhao look like trash-tier.
  • There are a lot of gimmicky heroes that are absolutely toxic to play against - and a good amount of these are straight OP too
  • The community is somehow more toxic than League's
  • There's no All chat or emotes? You can Dance except that just stuns yourself for like 10 seconds

you must not know the game if you think its hard to make comebacks. the game is balanced around comebacks. 1 objective in the late game can win it for you. The Dragonshrine for example. a 25 minute dragon can win you the game if you can get it

YossarianSensei1 votes

A decent team isn't going to let you get to late game

A 2 lvl deficit is such a massive disadvantage that you'll just be shut out from any map objective and usually lose in under 15 minutes

It's not like League where if other lanes are losing you can farm well and stall out the game, if you're behind in HoTS then the other team will just demolish you in every aspect

Only Play Darius1 votes

{quoted}

  • There are a lot of gimmicky heroes that are absolutely toxic to play against

Never played the game but I read Nova's passive and it seems like a straight-up superior version of Evelynn's passive. Is it that kind of shit that you are talking about when you say gimmicky?

YossarianSensei1 votes

I was thinking more along the lines of The Lost Vikings and Abathur

But yeah Nova's passive is gimmicky AF as well. It serves no purpose outside of absolutely destroying low level noobs - against beginners and uncoordinated teams she is the most pubstomping beast of a hero imagineable. But any skilled player can see through her cloak as plain as day and destroy her. And because because there are no wards in HoTS, she doesn't even get the benefit of sneaking around like Evelynn.

Edyr42010 votes

i love HotS more than league but i dont have much heroes, and im too poor to buy some new heroes. -better balance -i dont have to see the fkn face of riven,fizz,vlad,annie... -alot more maps -fast gameplay but without all this "EVERYONE HAS INSANE MOBLILITY" balance mentality of riot. -the heroes are all from blizzard games -tanks are acutally tanks -more buildings -no items, well its not that great but its a lot easier to balance stuff btw. if blizzard will release grom hellscream i will instantly delete lol and switch to HotS again.

TheRakkun2 votes

I think league has more interesting mechanics, more interesting looking champs, items add a lot to gameplay especially when playing from behind, blizzard games aren't really good IMHO, probably does have better balance i'll give you that, but in HoTS the maps are basically the same but with a different announcer and an added gimmick

Saianna7 votes

The only problems i have with HotS are:

  • every map is bit too easy to steamroll. Get map objective and suddenly you have pushed alot. It's not all that terrible, but sometimes it just makes games bit less fun.

  • champions prices.. You really have to grind there for a mid-top champion. LoL is bit easier.

Rest? Far better than LoL

FastAsHeck1 votes

i agree with the steamroll, but if it wasnt there we would ahve endless games (its a siege breaker). i'd like a map without special objectives though, just for a bloodbath.

you get 20 gold (30 if you win) per game, and top tier champions cost 10000. but there are quests which give a lot of gold, ranging form 200 to 800 and you get a new one daily. so its not that bad, in fact i think its easier to get a 10000 hero in hots than a 6300 champ in league.

imho the main difference is that in league, individual skill matters more. in hots you cant get fed individually, so teamwork is the main factor in winning. this isnt a bad thing, but it makes the game appropriate for a different group of players.

Saianna1 votes

Someone in HotS forum made math and final verdict was something like:

"It's faster to farm for HotS champion than LoL champion, BUT you cannot miss even 1 daily quest"

Yeah, in HotS you cannot carry, but unfortunately 1 player missing (afk/dc) will make you lose just as miserably as in LoL.

FastAsHeck1 votes

hey at least the afk player becomes a bot, and you can also ping them to follow you which is bettr than having them sit in base like in lol

LaserDeathBlade7 votes

Trashy matchmaking and hilariously broken heroes aren't my concept of a good MoBA.

Zarxis1 votes

{quoted}

Trashy matchmaking and hilariously broken heroes aren't my concept of a good MoBA.

Which MoBA are you talking about, exactly? They all seem to have some broken (broken-good and broken-weak) heroes and bad matchmaking.

Personally, my main gripe with League is that it feels like I'm playing in a beta version of a game after trying other popular MoBAs (Smite, DotA2, HotS). Skillshots are less reliable, targeted abilities seem to have problems with overlap priority, pathfinding is absolutely horrid, champions die mid-flash every other time one flashes, ongoing champion-specific bugs (ex: Darius' bleed damage, Azir, etc.).

If Riot's upcoming skillshot and pathfinding revamps (and the new NA server network) don't provide significant improvement to the most basic of mechanics in this game, I'll have very little reason to continue playing (I only play LoL now because of my friends and the nostalgic value some champions have). I'd rather not play a game that makes me feel like I'm fighting the game itself, rather than the enemy team.

LaserDeathBlade1 votes

HoTS

In LoL you'll get matched occasionally with players on tilt or other trolls, but you'll never be matched with someone who's ELO is significantly different from your own

An average team in HoTS on the other hand will usually consist of 2-3 Plat/Diamond players and the rest are Silver/Bronze - which is fine, if it didn't happen in ranked.

Zarxis1 votes

Do you mind telling me why when my friends and I attempt playing as 5 (usually a team of a bronze, a gold, and 3 silvers), we get matched against plat+ players on a regular basis? The matchmaking system underestimates just how valuable a high elo player (better than anyone on my team) is when in control of a carry or assassin, and/or a group queued together causes the matchmaker to severely favor the enemy team (not "slightly," as Riot would have you believe).

I won't claim that HotS has a good matchmaker, but don't try to tell me that League's is any better.

LaserDeathBlade1 votes

Are you talking about normals or ranked?

Because I've never been in a Ranked LoL game where there was more than 1 division of league difference between the players

League doesn't even let you duo queue more than 1 division away anymore either

Zarxis1 votes

Normals (Draft 5s and ARAM) and ranked 5s (does that difference restriction apply to ranked SR teams? I don't think it does, though I'm not sure my team has played since the difference restriction was brought in).

I know for sure that there were major variations in solo rankings (ex: a team of 1 bronze, 2 silvers, a platinum, and a diamond) within team 5s before the difference restriction was introduced— within my team's experience, at least.

I haven't had quite as much trouble in solo/duo ranked, but it's not rare for my [silver] partner and I to see a platinum.

Lost In Time6 votes

Then I play Dota 2, come back to League, and it seems like this game is on crack.

Relativity, my dear Watson.

MacDthree5 votes

The only thing I can't get used to in HotS is the lack of items. I know that they did it to be different and such - but I just can't get used to not being able to counter build anymore. While you can get different abilities, and play with a different skill set (which is a really sweet idea) I still miss the wards and boots, and magic resist abilities that league gives.
Character balance wise, HotS has LoL beat hands down. Can't even argue that - but they also have far fewer champions. Ask anybody who played league for a long time, it USED to be balanced. Before we had a shit load of champs.

Calibretto95 votes

Man, I couldn't disagree with the OP more. Was in the closed beta for HOTS for over a year, maybe even more when I think about it, and that game never had my attention.

  • The removal of last hitting removed an integral part of MOBA's in my opinion, and one that is not only satisfying but one that gives the player a lot to do.
  • The hero pool bored me to tears and I love Blizzard games. Something about already knowing everything about the heroes gave it a "been there, done that for the past 10 years" feel. Thrall/Kael'Thas/Janna again. Hooray. /sarcasm
  • While the graphics are absolutely polished and the heroes look great, the style never grabbed me like League.

All in all it's a solid game, but it does what Hearthstone did for card games: Takes a very deep and rich game style and simplifies it for those who aren't interested in the intricacies of the genre. I am absolutely 100% okay with this - I loved Hearthstone having never played magic. However, I love MMO's and having the tougher parts of the game sanded down for ease of accessibility turned me off.

I will say one huge pro is the shortness of games. A quick 20 minute match is fantastic. Sometimes the Rift can be exhausting when you're in a grueling 50 minute match.

Knight SoIaire 4 votes

i just cant digest horses (jimmy raynor and his stallion)

i wont lie i barely play lol compared to what i did in the past since the game seems like dev's just dropped it and they pretend to try to fix this (reworks) just to keep it alive somehow while creating some content (chromas skinns new champions ... ward skinns summoner icons) that is bought for rp with the mindset of "it has to make money" ... so new champions arent bound by any design constraitns to make them work in the current game ... instead they are made to be fun and attract the players the most ... while skinns chromas and other buyable stuff is clearly made in bigger quanities and better quality

which is counterproductive ... since the pile of old crap becomes a bigger pile (increased by every new champion that just works better than many old counterparts) of worse crap and this pile is harder to miss

i wont go to hots ... i just dont feel like handling another moba (and the horses ... gaben please)... im enjoying cs go quite nice also my pc is a potato so hots might just drive me into depression

but its a fact ... riot doesnt give lol the proper care they should

maybe once ill get a better pc ill go to starcraft 100% sure that ill get doom4 and dark souls 3 besides that cs go is a worthwhile game ... where everything that is not ballanced correctly is available for both sides and in the end its skill that matters (also solo carrying is possible)

effyboo4 votes

Meh... I don't like the hero design in Heroes of the Storm, there are a lot of stupid cheese comps that just are not fun to play against.

It's fun at first when you play as a beginner, but when you climb the ladder it just becomes really stale

Ellphi4 votes

HOTS only feels fun if you play it casually, just like LoL. Once people get past the 'new player' phase and start playing Ranked, they'll understand that climbing in HoTS is actually way more frustrating than in LoL due to how the game and the matchmaking works.

I'm no HoTS hater, I love the game in fact. But it's not fair to say HoTS is some kind of magical MoBA promised-land when really every MOBA causes a lot of frustration when you start taking it seriously. I don't think ELO Hell is real in LoL or HoTS, but I will say I was absolutely unable to climb in HoTS without playing in a 3-5man premade.

MrSlowDie3 votes

Why the hell people advertising HoTS lately?

Knight SoIaire 4 votes

maybe they ejoy it

i dont play hots ... but i need to admit that fundamental parts of lol lose their quality which makes entire game just feel less fun to me and probably to other players

so they look for new sources of fun like any other player

MrSlowDie1 votes

Sometimes I enjoy something more than the old one so I move on. But I never post threads that advertising it and defending it with a full paragraph in every post.

It's strange, rite? look.. even I got downvoted because asking why they advertise HoTS

Knight SoIaire 1 votes

yeah but at the same time entire thread is at negative cuase people downvote it

actualy people dowmvote random stuff

you made a point and you got downvoted ... many other people here make even better points and score more dovn votes

meanwhile some guy makes a thread about something crappy and the thread itself is of low quality ... people upvote cause reasons

Mandang03 votes

Everyone's free to have their personal preference, but I doubt HotS makes a big impact on the MOBA scene or LoL's player count.

Personally, I tried HotS and have already quit just because it doesn't feel like my actions have any real impact in that game. Got killed? Got my team down 2 levels? Won the minigame this time around? None of it matters, just wait to see who wins the teamfight endgame and pushes to win all at once. There seems to be a large lack of meaningful decisions too, even besides the obvious lack of items. There's no sense of farming, enemy jungle camps are an afterthought to deal with, everything besides playing the map's minigame is usually a poor choice. I'm not surprised the game gets so many views when it just comes out, but I don't think it'll be anywhere near this a year from now.

canpan142 votes

This post is kind of useless considering you didn't really give any solid reasons to talk about. Basically just 'I like this game better, league suckz'. And how is an open beta trailer getting more views than a league match between c9 (who is crap right now) and tsm (who are alright) surprising?

I love league just as much as the next guy but i know there are problems. Just like HotS has its own problems. Go fan boy somewhere else or at least talk about specifics.

DrCyanide2 votes

*Dies in League. Figures out what he died to, starts planning purchases, purchases items that will help for the gold he has, keeping an eye on the map to help allies out.*

vs

*Dies in HotS. Keeping an eye on the map to help allies out, dying of boredom.*

I like not having to worry about last hitting, but honestly, HotS feels too much like a dumbed down version of League to me. I'm not sure what it is that turns me away, if it's the massive focus on global objectives, the lack of things to do while dead, or if I just haven't given the game enough time.

It also bugs me more than it should that I can't seem to all chat "GG" after a match. Maybe I just didn't look hard enough for the setting.

All that said, HotS definitely has features I'd like to see come to League (try before you buy being a big one). I think it's good for them to be a competitor in the MOBA genera to make League a better game.

Drunk Rummate2 votes

I have no faith in Dustin Browder's ability to design anything more complex than a potato with a straw sticking out of it after the butchering he did to Starcraft 2.

Android Cowboy1 votes

The community is a TON better in quality, as well, I forgot to mention. Queuing up there many times...... never ran into a salty player even on a losing team. LOL soloqueue is ridiculous in comparison. RITO should start looking over their shoulder, fanboys or not, HOTS isn't full of trolls and tards. Gnar

YossarianSensei2 votes

That's because LoL is more competitive

Vistha Kai1 votes

That's because LoL's competitiveness is tied to a bullshit system that doesn't promote anybody to get better and punish those who don't want to deal with it.

LaserDeathBlade2 votes

Oh man if you think League's ranking system is bad, just wait till you try HOTS ranked

Vistha Kai1 votes

If it's also only about win/lose ratio, then yeah.

LaserDeathBlade2 votes

HOTS ranked isn't even a ranking of your ability to play the game, for the most part it's a ranking of your ability to teach beginners how to play the game.

The matchmaking system cares very little about MMR variance, it just cobbles together matches based almost exclusively on average team MMR

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