Introducing The New Game Director For Heroes Of The Storm

[Nerraw]

Working at Blizzard is the coolest. Our leaders support us in making the most awesome games I have ever played. We are encouraged to take the time we need to make them awesome, and then to keep improving them for years after they go live. We sometimes get exciting chances to work on other projects, too. I’m going to take one of those chances to try something new at Blizzard.

This was not an easy choice to make. I still play Heroes five nights a week, and sitting in the bullpen surrounded by this team has been the most intensely creative experience of my career. But one thing that’s making this decision easier is knowing the future of Heroes is in the right hands.

Over the last few months, I have been transitioning my responsibilities to Alan Dabiri, a 20-year Blizzard veteran and a fellow Heroes of the Storm fanatic. In fact, since StarCraft entered the Nexus in September, the Heroes team has been releasing some of our best content to date all without my daily involvement and I’ve been thoroughly blown away with what they have delivered. For those who haven’t seen him on BlizzCon panels or doing interviews, Alan has had a hand in nearly every aspect of Heroes since the beginning, both in his role as our technical director and as part of the team’s collaborative development process. Alan is also a passionate member of the community, and he’s always in touch with what’s happening on Reddit, in our forums, and wherever you’re talking about Heroes. He’s been relentlessly working to make Heroes better for years, and I’m excited that he’ll be continuing to push the game forward as game director.

The Heroes of the Storm team is one of the best game teams I have ever had the honor of serving on. I cannot believe how much work and love went into turning what started as a tiny mod into the epic experience that it has become today. And the team just continues to pour their passion, dedication, and expertise into patches, updates, and awesome new game features. 2017 is going to be a huge year for Heroes of the Storm, with new Heroes, Battlegrounds, a massive progression update, improvements to our ladder and matchmaking systems, new social systems, new Brawls, and more.

I would like to say a special “Thank You” to everyone in the Heroes community who continues to support us and challenge us to make Heroes better, including everyone who has shared feedback with us on our forums, Reddit, esports sites, and strategy sites, and anyone who has ever sent me a Tweet. You’re the best, and your dedication and passion has made being part of the Heroes community and working on this game a blast.

While my day-to-day responsibilities might take me away from working on Heroes, I can guarantee I’ll always be watching Heroes esports, cheering on Alan and the dev team, and geeking out about the game. And if you’re looking for me, you can find me playing Ranged Assassin or Support in the Nexus.

- Dustin Browder

https://us.battle.net/forums/en/hero.../20752455206#1

[Darkeon]

Maybe pushing the game in a new, fresher path. Eagerly waiting for the fruits of this new direction.

[DesoPL]

Wait... Dustin is retiring from team? If i good understand?

[Nerraw]

Wait... Dustin is retiring from team? If i good understand?

He apparently hasn't had anything to do with the game for months already. So what we've gotten this autumn appears to be all from the new leadership.

[Deleted]

Lead change for HS as well this week. Some rumors they assemble senior guys for a new IP.

I like Browder, both his public appearances and (mostly) the direction of the game under his wing.

[Ryme]

I'm really going to miss Dustin, I've no idea how good a game director he was but I think we can all agree that the game is leaps and bounds better than it was a year or two ago. He was also fantastically active on social media and answered tons of people's questions.

That he hasn't had much involvement since Machines of War does alleviate my concerns though, so looking forward to seeing what Alan can bring to the nexus.

[Frozen Death Knight]

Dustin Browder became my favourite game director at Blizzard during his time working on HotS. A bit of a shame to see him leave the position, but I am also looking forward to the new project he's going to work on. I think the game is still in good hands though, since the developer team has been hitting it out of the ballpark with the updates done to the game since its launch.

[DesoPL]

I just hope new director will consider that casuals as well are players in HOTS. After yesterday rankeds i had enough and i must say loud what rewards for those who don't play rankeds are ridiclous!

[Frozen Death Knight]

I just hope new director will consider that casuals as well are players in HOTS. After yesterday rankeds i had enough and i must say loud what rewards for those who don't play rankeds are ridiclous!

Not sure what you mean by that. If you are not participating in competitive, then why should you get rewards that are meant for the people who do participate?

[DesoPL]

Not sure what you mean by that. If you are not participating in competitive, then why should you get rewards that are meant for the people who do participate?

Yesterday i barely did those 10 placements for mount, because most players takes rankeds too serious and they forgot it is only game. Also from events such last Machines of War you got only portrait wtf?

I can't afford every month to buy for RL money mounts, and rankeds are not helpfull.

[Keile]

He apparently hasn't had anything to do with the game for months already. So what we've gotten this autumn appears to be all from the new leadership.

Still, going to miss Dustin. He was easy to contact and would almost always reply back to tweets and such in regards to questions/suggestions about the game.

He kept the communication line open a lot more than the other Blizz devs have.

[Deleted]

As a fellow casual, I think the reward structure is quite fair. If we're lower than plat, we get nudged into TL, which might in the end be good for both the game and players, as TL has the potential to be lots of fun with a decent group. What's needed are better options for clan and group organisation.

And as for taking it too seriously; as a silver leaguer I should have no grounds to complain, but my last three TL games were with a guy last season HL bronze 5, this season not ranked yet. First game he took Nova first pick and just locked her in without a word; second game he took Hammer and played her how people play her vs AI. He went 1 kill 11 deaths in a short game and was dead during every single objective. I'm reasonably patient when it comes to grouping in video games but if I had needed another game, I would have looked for a new group.

tldr. Bad experiences can happen. Developer influence on that is limited.

[apepi]

I'm really going to miss Dustin, I've no idea how good a game director he was but I think we can all agree that the game is leaps and bounds better than it was a year or two ago. He was also fantastically active on social media and answered tons of people's questions.

That he hasn't had much involvement since Machines of War does alleviate my concerns though, so looking forward to seeing what Alan can bring to the nexus.

Yeah. The HotS storm team is so good at listening to people's feedback. Not only they listen and respond, but because of it they change the game. Heroes get more buffs(Art charge anyone?), bugs get fixed, heroes get nerfed, and we got an Azmodunk skin out of it!

I will miss Browder, he has been one of my most favorite game directors....but honestly he might be one of the only game directors that I actually pay attention to anyways.

[Frozen Death Knight]

Yesterday i barely did those 10 placements for mount, because most players takes rankeds too serious and they forgot it is only game. Also from events such last Machines of War you got only portrait wtf?

I can't afford every month to buy for RL money mounts, and rankeds are not helpfull.

That is not a good reason to be perfectly frank. 10 games are seriously not many at all. If you can't even bother doing the bare minimum for the reward, then it stands to reason that you should not get it. I played almost 400 games this season alone in Hero League and I will still just get rewarded the same mount as people in some of the lower brackets while being in Diamond 3. Getting the basic ladder mount is not even remotely hard.

[ro9ue]

I thought he was really good. Frankly I think the stuff plaguing HotS as a game( lack of popularity and buzz) has more to do with the established titans of the genre DOTA and LoL overshadowing it and not the game itself. HotS is a solid game all around.