since there are several pro players and industry-affiliated people here on TL I feel this is the right place to ask this question.
Is it known whether Blizzard is already in contact with pro teams about the transition to Hots? Will pro players be able to practice HOTS beta before other "normal" people? Are there maybe even some pros already playing Hots? Since Blizzard has started the contest for 250 Hots Beta keys I assume the release of the closed beta is pretty close. I'm sure though that this beta will cover far more than 250 people. Can any grandmaster speak out on whether Blizzard has already contacted gm players about beta invites? I heard Blizzard had randomly contacted people active in the blizzard forum to participate at the 1.5 alpha. Maybe something similiar is going on for hots as well.
Can we expect pros to stream beta games? I remember that when the WoL beta started NoNy was one of the first players to stream his ladder games. Will this be possible for Hots as well?
I doubt. From the interviews made during MLG, this weekend, almost no pro-gamers knew about all the new units.
Blizzard is being a little secretive about HotS. It wasn't possible to even photograph inside the HotS area. If they do let pros play HotS before everyone else, I think they wouldn't let them stream until more people has access to it.
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HeeroFX United States. June 11 2012 21:33. Posts 1953
I haven't heard anything. I think it is safe to assume, that people on the top 200 GM will all get beta keys, but they also will send them out to other people to test the game all levels. They won't just give the game out to pros so they can train in it, because blizzard is about selling a product, not an esport.
Na_Dann_Ma_GoGo Germany. June 11 2012 21:34. Posts 2870
I don't think you'll see a lot pro players / a selected few play the game before beta, which in my opinion is the right thing to do.
Get it into beta version and then have ALL the pros/players test the game and not just a couple ones.
WrathBringerReturns said: No no no. Sarcasm is detected in the voice. When this forum is riddled with stupidity, you think I can tell every post apart? Fair enough it was intended sarcastically, was it obvious? Of course not.
At this point aren't they kinda forced to open the beta to at least all the masters players? If only a selected few of competitive (and among them, pro) players were selected, it would give them too big of a head start at the release right? I think they're going to open the beta based on skill (maybe all top 8 masters + GM?), and hand out invites otherwise.
Just imagine if you gave access to beta to DRG, MVP and MC and not the other Korean pros. That would be like handing them free money for 2-3 months :D You can't even make the point that they can share a HotS beta account if they want, because it's against Blizzard's ToS. So my guess is that they will at least give beta to pros, but as it's hard to make out "who" exactly is a pro, they'll be forced to extend it to all highly competitive players.
Last edit: 2012-06-11 21:49:05
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reneg United States. June 11 2012 21:47. Posts 677
On June 11 2012 21:44 ZenithM wrote: At this point aren't they kinda forced to open the beta to at least all the masters players? If only a selected few of competitive (and among them, pro) players were selected, it would give them too big of a head start at the release right? I think they're going to open the beta based on skill (maybe all top 8 masters + GM?), and hand out invites otherwise.
IMO that'd be a ridiculous way of having the "semi-open" beta, because i feel like it'd alienate way too many of your customers. Think about how people would feel if they took a couple days off before the cutoff, and you fall to 9th or 10th place in your master's division?
I honestly feel like it's going to be a weird little situation, kind of like the d3 beta.
I don't think the current pros and tournament will immediately transition to HotS until the beta gets into some form of stable or balanced state. This means there's no need for pros to practice in the closed beta.
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Passion Netherlands. June 11 2012 21:49. Posts 1294
This would be ridiculously unfair to all those trying hard to become pro. Why give the current best players an additional advantage to retain their comfortable position?
If anything, Bronze players should be allowed to practise HotS a bit ahead of time.
On June 11 2012 21:47 pdd wrote: I don't think the current pros and tournament will immediately transition to HotS until the beta gets into some form of stable or balanced state. This means there's no need for pros to practice in the closed beta.
Oh yeah that's a good point actually. I just remembered IdrA said he would focus on HotS as soon as beta comes out.
Edit: How did they do for Warcraft 3 TFT, was there a beta too?
Is it known whether Blizzard is already in contact with pro teams about the transition to Hots?
It seems from the interviews that many pro players haven't even played yet. Though during that whole Kespa thing it looked like they were showing them HoTS.
Will pro players be able to practice HOTS beta before other "normal" people?
Teams might get a handful of invites right at the start of beta to give to their players, but its when the actual beta happens so really anyone can get in, but those teams will for sure have their players in at the start. I only know this from the way they handle WoW beta invites going to top guilds in each region. Not sure if the same applies to Starcraft.
Are there maybe even some pros already playing Hots?
Some are probably, but until Blizzard gives the okay to the media to start releasing info about it, we won't hear anything.
Since Blizzard has started the contest for 250 Hots Beta keys I assume the release of the closed beta is pretty close. I'm sure though that this beta will cover far more than 250 people.
Of course. Beta invites go out in waves randomly to those who have the current game active on their account. Blizzard also starts giving out keys to major community websites to use in contests and what not.
Can we expect pros to stream beta games?
Once Blizzard gives the okay to start leaking out info, yes. And the Starcraft 2 WoL scene will shift over into the Starcraft 2 HoTS scene. So unless players want to be behind, their practice will mostly be that, (given the beta doesn't last for a year and they just stick with WoL a little longer).
I remember that when the WoL beta started NoNy was one of the first players to stream his ladder games. Will this be possible for Hots as well?
Its all up to the player/team.
Last edit: 2012-06-11 22:01:56
The Wood League - Where a double gas opening can still mean a Marine/SCV all-in
On June 11 2012 21:47 pdd wrote: I don't think the current pros and tournament will immediately transition to HotS until the beta gets into some form of stable or balanced state. This means there's no need for pros to practice in the closed beta.
Oh yeah that's a good point actually. I just remembered IdrA said he would focus on HotS as soon as beta comes out.
Edit: How did they do for Warcraft 3 TFT, was there a beta too?
Well, WCG used RoC over TFT is all I recall.
I think Blizzard did their own "king of the beta" tournament for both RoC beta and TFT beta.
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Fueled United States. June 11 2012 22:00. Posts 1609
On June 11 2012 21:47 pdd wrote: I don't think the current pros and tournament will immediately transition to HotS until the beta gets into some form of stable or balanced state. This means there's no need for pros to practice in the closed beta.
Oh yeah that's a good point actually. I just remembered IdrA said he would focus on HotS as soon as beta comes out.
Edit: How did they do for Warcraft 3 TFT, was there a beta too?
Well, WCG used RoC over TFT is all I recall.
I think Blizzard did their own "king of the beta" tournament for both RoC beta and TFT beta.
On June 11 2012 21:44 ZenithM wrote: At this point aren't they kinda forced to open the beta to at least all the masters players? If only a selected few of competitive (and among them, pro) players were selected, it would give them too big of a head start at the release right? I think they're going to open the beta based on skill (maybe all top 8 masters + GM?), and hand out invites otherwise.
IMO that'd be a ridiculous way of having the "semi-open" beta, because i feel like it'd alienate way too many of your customers. Think about how people would feel if they took a couple days off before the cutoff, and you fall to 9th or 10th place in your master's division?
I honestly feel like it's going to be a weird little situation, kind of like the d3 beta.
They are going to hand out keys to a variety of skill levels, because they need to test the game at all levels.
Pros, however, will probably not play the beta too much because it isn't being used in tournaments and everything is still up in the air. Their practice time is much better spent on WoL until release, with the exception maybe of the lower tier of pros.
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but if it is only opened to masters+ players, they won't be able to notice what is difficult for the lower league. Just that that original mines in previous build, some low league players provided good feedback to blizzard people about mines dropped into mineral lines and losing everything within seconds just because they are not as fast as pros.
So I think they will have some sort of open beta hopefully
Fueled United States. June 11 2012 22:11. Posts 1609
On June 11 2012 22:04 ETisME wrote: but if it is only opened to masters+ players, they won't be able to notice what is difficult for the lower league. Just that that original mines in previous build, some low league players provided good feedback to blizzard people about mines dropped into mineral lines and losing everything within seconds just because they are not as fast as pros.
So I think they will have some sort of open beta hopefully
Is there a quote from Blizzard that only Master+ players are getting in? Though lower league players can give some helpful feedback, their balance feedback would have to be taken with a grain of salt.
Blizzard likes to have a good mix of computer specs when throwing out a wave of invites. Thats the only thing I could see them looking at when giving throwing out waves of invites.
The Wood League - Where a double gas opening can still mean a Marine/SCV all-in
On June 11 2012 21:50 ZenithM wrote: Edit: How did they do for Warcraft 3 TFT, was there a beta too?
Yes, a closed beta where keys were sent to a number of people. That was similar to the WoL beta, though at a smaller scale. As someone said, there were "king of the beta" tournaments, but "regular" tournaments still used RoC. It didn't matter very much, the beta didn't last very long and e-sports were not nearly as developped as they are now.
Last edit: 2012-06-11 22:15:08
Fueled United States. June 11 2012 22:13. Posts 1609
On June 11 2012 21:47 pdd wrote: I don't think the current pros and tournament will immediately transition to HotS until the beta gets into some form of stable or balanced state. This means there's no need for pros to practice in the closed beta.
Oh yeah that's a good point actually. I just remembered IdrA said he would focus on HotS as soon as beta comes out.
Edit: How did they do for Warcraft 3 TFT, was there a beta too?
I've watched that interview as well and it is part of the reason why I'm asking this.
He seems pretty confident to receive a beta key very early so I assume there would be some deal with the big teams. It starts at about 1:50 min.
On June 11 2012 22:04 ETisME wrote: but if it is only opened to masters+ players, they won't be able to notice what is difficult for the lower league. Just that that original mines in previous build, some low league players provided good feedback to blizzard people about mines dropped into mineral lines and losing everything within seconds just because they are not as fast as pros.
So I think they will have some sort of open beta hopefully
Is there a quote from Blizzard that only Master+ players are getting in? Though lower league players can give some helpful feedback, their balance feedback would have to be taken with a grain of salt.
Blizzard likes to have a good mix of computer specs when throwing out a wave of invites. Thats the only thing I could see them looking at when giving throwing out waves of invites.
no there isn't. what I meant is that some people think the beta is only for Master+ players because they can give better balance issues etc but as previous beta feedback has shown, blizzard wants the game to be OK balanced at lower league too.
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Baio June 11 2012 21:26. Posts 112
