HoN 2.0 S2 Q&A

[[S2]Idejder]

This is for a collected place for all of your questions about HoN 2.0 and everything within. We will be answering to the best of our ability all questions.

Things just to get out of the way:

Release Date?

From the Article: Barring any last-minute issues, Heroes of Newerth 2.0 is scheduled to go live on or about December 13, 2010. It is a free update to all players, so if you own Heroes of Newerth, you're getting the 2.0 update without any additional charge.

How much is X? And how long will it take me to grind for it?

No information on specific prices and no information on how long it will take to 'grind' an Alternate Avatar for a hero. Numbers are still being tweaked, so we don't want to give out wrong information!

If we think of more obvious answers I will throw them in this post.

Ask Away!

Answers so far:

Will there be an option to avoid seeing/hearing other peoples skins and sounds?

There is no option for this at the moment.

If you get coins for kills, why should I not ks everyone?

Coins are given for large kill streaks (more than Bloodbath) and Annihilation. The person that got these events are not given the coins, the whole team is.

Team effort!

Do you have to watch Maliken running around as a pimp?
Are you really gonna change the minimap to a LoL style map, with those green ugly LoL-like dots?

The minimap is changing to be more interactive. You can hover over building to see their health, wards to see their time left, and heroes to see their health/mana/inventory.

Overall it's a vast improvement.

Can we still play the game we know and love now? We don't HAVE to play this 'casual' game all the time?

Right, Casual is an optional mode just like any other.

Will we get coins retroactively?

No, coins will not be give for past wins. Only future wins using Matchmaking.

Is Casual Mode replacing Easy Mode?

Not so much as Easy Mode is being removed.

Will these cosmetic changes have the potential to confuse what me about what hero I'm looking at? For example, in the Myrmidon video there is a hero I can't identify. It could either be Soulstealer, Nymph, or a new hero. Will this sort of confusion be something that happens once and never again?

We have tried to keep the alternative skins and avatars as close as possible to the original hero in tone, color, and size so that the confusion is at a minimum. So far we think we have done a great job and once you see a hero ingame it is obvious which one it is. The one 'farthest' away from this is the Scorpion, since it just has nothing to do with the original model but was highly requested.

Will 'Casual Mode' stats be included with our other stats (like EM currently is) ?
Sub-question: Will EM stats still be included with NM stats?

Casual Mode is going to be listed as separate stats for Matchmaking games.

1. Will coins be shared between normal account and sub account. If I unlock a skin on my main account will it be available on my sub account (and other way around)?

2. Will we be able to gain coins in no stats games?

3. Are you planning to record leaves in "no leavers" no stats games?

1. Yes, coins and everything in the store is globally shared through main and sub accounts.

2. You only get coins from Matchmaking games.

3. I don't think how nostats games work are changing.

Will there be a pebbles alternate avatar?

Not yet!

How does our PSR, our KDR, pretty much everything we already got translate into MM and the Gold System?

I believe that the MM stats are being reset, though your TMM might be influenced by your PSR slightly at the start so there is some separation. We are still deciding how initial placement will work.

Are the models shown on the screenshots the only skins being released on 2.0 launch?

The artists just finished another avatar, so no

First of all I would like to say that I like the ideas but then thing is that there is so MUCH in once.
I don't know why people are complaining about the shop? I think it's a nice way of earning some money etc.

What I don't like is Casual Mode, I think (from reading) it will be worse than EM.

Anyways, good work S2. Btw, have some questions.

1. Will there be a BreakyCPK announcer?
2. Will no stats games give you leaver?
3. Will Match awards come anytime soon?
4. You've said that taunt will be available for everyone, when is that? And will we have to buy it from the shop or ?

Casual mode is not like EM. EM rewards you with gold for doing nothing. In casual mode, this isn't the case.

1. No, but this is an interesting idea
2. We didn't change anything about how this works from the current system (so no).
3. Match awards will be integrated into the progression system.
4. Taunt will be an item in the shop.

How will you stop people from purchasing a new skin (or grinding it) and then releasing it as a mod?

We won't. In fact, we don't mind if you do. To go further on this, you don't even need to grind out the avatar, because it will already be on your computer when you download the patch. Like all mods though, it will be local. The fun part about alternate avatars is that other people can see them too.

The achievements will be implemented on HoN 2.0? If yes, they will count as a way to earn coins?

We do not have achievements in the traditional sense; instead, we will have career goals that you can achieve to make coins. These goals are recursive and can be obtained multiple times.

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Are the models shown on the screenshots the only skins being released on 2.0 launch?

Nope, there are more!

Dear S2:

Will you give bonus coins to your loyal gold shielded customers who purchased the game before it was released, thereby saving you from bankruptcy and putting you on the road to the immense wealth you enjoy today?

Best regards,

aeternitatis

Dear Aeternitatis,

We haven't decided anything about pre-purchased accounts yet. We will let you guys know.

Best regards,

S2

can you give any more info at all about how the map maker will work and be implemented?

We will release a larger post about the editor later.

1. Will "Match Awards" be released with HoN 2.0 and will each award give any coins?

1. Sort of. There are 'awards' at the end of the match for certain things and these give you coins. Every match will reward you with coins (if it was a matchmaking match)

Idejder; I know you said that coins are shared across sub accounts, but if I have 2 accounts (paid the full $30 for each) will I be able to somehow send or gift my coins between accounts?

Also would be a good idea to do so if people want to gift coins to friends and such.

You will not be able to share purchases between your separate accounts, since they are not connected, but you will be able to purchase coins for friends/other accounts.

how is the map editor going to work and will map submission be similar to dream hero creation?

Will a custom map mode ever be intergrated so maps dont need S2 aproval?

Cheers.

DREAM will encompass maps soon.

Why did HoN choose to go this route? Will this mean with more funds we can expect faster hero addings?

A lot of people, including those on other forums, are making the supposition that we're doing this for financial reasons--this isn't true. We're doing this with two primary goals in mind:
1. Getting more people to play HoN.
2. Getting people who play HoN to play it more.
Everything in 2.0 has been designed around those two ideals.

70

I hope you test before patch this time

Both internal and the testers are doing a lot of it now! They are enjoying it thoroughly.

71

How are the new model's animations? Majority of the players should be used to how a hero moves by now. Obviously if you've changed the model drastically (like magmus for example), their animation is going to be different. Basically it might conflict with something like animation canceling in attacks. Do they have the same delay between attacks and frames in their animations?

We didn't change any timings on attacks or spellcasts for teh alternate skins or avatars. They have the same cast points and delays as normal, so playing a new skin should not throw you off at all.

72

Now for the question. Idejder, can you shed a light on ways of getting coins, besides killstreaks?

Some examples:
Winning, Losing, getting a "Quick Victory", playing games consecutively, Bloodlust, Immortal, Annihilation, and you get bonuses when you hit certain lifetime marks for Total Wins/Assists/Wards Placed/Smackdowns.

There will probably be more added later.

77

1. Will TMM have game options? Or will it strictly be BP?
2. What are the new items being released?
3. How will the community created maps be implemented into the game
4. Is nigma making a voice pack?

1. It will have a choice of 5 game modes (AP, AR, SD, BP, BD) and you can 'thumbs down' two of them. You can also pick region and map.
2. Spellshards and Trophy Belt!
3. More information on this later.
4. Not that I know of...?

Will it be possible to have some of the cool features if you ain't rich?
I don't have time to read every information that have been told

Everything--and I mean everything--in the shop is purchasable through playing the game. This will never change. So just play the game a lot

How many randoms (nons2) participated in the HON 2.0 beta?
Surprised there were almost 0 leaks.

A lot! We got some awesome feedback from them.

So lets say a team of 4 wants to play a 5v5 matchmaking game (with +1 pub) is that possible or is it only n V n games solely?

That is possible. In fact, the matchmaking system will favor 4+1 vs 4+1 over 4+1 vs 5 or any other combination.

WTF?
I can't play the mode I actually want to play?
Sigh s2... sigh

There was a lot of debate about this, but what it came down to is queuetimes. We would rather a really fast queuetime and the mode be one of a few over just one mode but a queuetime up to many times longer. It is no fun to sit there and wait, but it is fun to play.

Getting people from click button -> into game is the most important part.

104

And how will this work as we already have those stats? You said you won't award coins for stats we already earned, so does that mean someone who starts from clean account without stats is going to have more coins cuz he will hit those marks and we won't as we already hit them?

I believe that those stats for Matchmaking are being reset, so everyone will start at 0

grey name. your opinion is now invalid until you earn enough coins to purchase a new name colour

(it was a joke, as I think the name colours wont be available on the forums anyway)

You would be thinking wrong . Name colors will be available on the forums.

So, "HoN of Legends" basically?

You guys have really gone downhill with this whole originality thing since Savage. =/



So.. what happened in the last two months from when Maliken said this:

Disgusting.

Casual mode does not compromise normal mode in any way whatsoever. It is new, unrelated content that will be kept separate from normal mode both in terms of matchmaking games and statistics. If you're a normal mode player like me who balks at the thought of touching anything but, then you'll be fine after 2.0 just as you are fine now. But if you're an EM player who is shunned for playing a mode you enjoy, then you should also rejoice the fact that casual will be just as fun, but still teach you the necessary skills required to join the big boys.

S2 is a PC game developer. We are not a console developer, mobile developer, or anything else of the sort. We are still doing things old school--dedicated servers, scaling graphics, multi-platform support, free updates--in an age where other developers charge for the most basic of amenities like map packs (remember when those were free?). Everything we put in front of you for 2.0 is purchasable simply by playing the game--something you probably already enjoy, given your number of games played. You could choose to ignore the shop completely, mod out all the alternate skins, and just pretend 2.0 never happened--but you should still be happy that we will increase the community size of the game, streamline the features so far, and continue to provide. You should also see this as a giant step forward, one giant step of many to come.

And if anything, you can go crush some of the noobs that will surely flock over

120

Will there also be changes to Powerup-runes, spawn-times, ward-cooldowns to support ganking more instead of entering a gank sufficient item such as striders?

We have some cool ward and powerup ideas, but the only thing we are doing for now is wards will be sold in stacks of 1 instead of 2! All price and timing was changed accordingly, obviously.

122

So the whole team gets coins, if one person gets bloodbath/immortal/annihilation?
couldnt this lead to a lot of flaming when a support dares to get a kill accidentially?
wouldnt it be a lot better for the overall harmony to earn team-coins, if the team as a whole is on a killing streak, "the legion is owning" and stuff like that?

i fear that some people try to bend the games in a way that give the most coins, which might not always be the best for the fun.
Exxageration: Chronos kda: 50-0-0 all others kda: 0-x-25

Well there is a fine line to walk here. On one hand, you can make it based on just the one hero, but the downside is everyone would play a carry and then just try to get these events for themselves. The team mode has the downside of if someone ruins or is derping and messes it up, then rage ensues. We want to promote teamplay, so we went with the team mode version over the solo version.

Also I am not sure if Bloodbath is actually split. The others are, but Bloodbath might be individual. FIGHT!~

125

Well in that case.

Grey names get out, your opinions are invalid until you earn enough coins to purchase a new colour for your name.

If you purchase icons ingame, those should show up on the forum too. =]

129

If spellshards make spells crit, I'm no longer playing.

Think more like the SpellPen stat from WoW.

135

If our leave % is too high for MM are we boned and have to get a new account? or will all the stats be reset when the patch comes out.

If you have a high leave % right now, you will need to either earn it down or stat reset to play matchmaking.

144

In the article they mentioned you even get rewarded "coins" for leveling up. How will this work when your account is already on a high level. Seeing how it's much harder to level up then.

The same goes for example if there would be rewards for having played x games etc. How will this go for players that already have that x amount games played?

I believe level is being reset, since it doesn't do anything right now anyway.

Was a bit sketpical after the last post that S2 was just doind the "CASH IN" way that pc is gaming.

But this idea we can have the skins for free as "local" mods is perfect. Infact it makes me want to part with my money out of respect for them.

Impressed

If we were going for cash, we'd make a Devourer fart app for IPhone
But yes, we are not sacrificing the modding community for the sake of the store. Many of us at S2 have been playing PC games for a long ass time and that shows in how we develop HoN.

Thanks for the promising stuff S2, some quick questions:

• How does the map editor compare to the one in WC3? Can you adjust skills and create new heroes and scripts? Is it just for editing terrain?
• Any significant changes to normal gameplay regarding your new design goals?
• There was some talk about integrated tournament system. Any comments on that?
• Can you play the new map on MM?

Nice job with the game recently, show Valve what you can do!

1. The map editor is for terrain only. Heroes and skills can actually be edited through notepad (they always have been); it's pretty easy to understand!
2. As you and others have probably noticed in the Myrmidon video and 2.0 preview, there are some new items. So yes, there are some changes being made. For the sake of brevity (and possible changes), we won't discuss them here. Look for them in the upcoming 2.0 dev blog and patch notes!

I think Hon 2.0 is a good idea, but for the skin, can your artistic team keep the general tone of the game consistent?

This is very important. Some of the effects/skins make this game loses its atmosphere. I will be sad if I see party zephyr uses his ult. And a guy dresses up like MJ walking around. How can we put a Disco in Newerth that deal damage?

One or Two small jokes are Great. Three to Five. It's ok. Above five mix and match? That's too much. It's like everything is a joke.

Make your skins consistent please!

This was actually a huge concern that we had. The vast majority of our avatars will not break the illusion of verisimilitude. The ones that do (Pimp Slayer, for example) are not so far off that they'd make the game look like a hodge-podge of modern pop culture references. We would never go so far to make a space marine with a BFG, for example. Trust me in that we share your concern regarding this issue--but also trust me that the alternate avatars will do nothing but make the game more fun. Crazy avatars will also be harder to obtain as well, so you'll likely not see them very often

In the article they mentioned you even get rewarded "coins" for leveling up. How will this work when your account is already on a high level. Seeing how it's much harder to level up then.

The same goes for example if there would be rewards for having played x games etc. How will this go for players that already have that x amount games played?

Player levels will be reset. All rewards will also be recursive--so you are rewared PER x number of wins, rather than hitting a milestone for a total number of wins.

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Will lifetime marks be retroactive? Will it count all games played (including no stats) in all modes in normal and matchmaking games?

No, the 'markers' for games played and such will be only from Matchmaking games I believe, and those will be reset to 0 when HoN 2.0 comes out.

If matchmaking does everything and is the only mode that awards coins, what is the intended purpose for public games?

Practice, arranged games, tourneys, pubstomps :P, and general inhouses. Basically what it is now, without having to spend 40 minutes to find a game if you just want to play one for fun.

Will there be any other ingame UI changes besides the improved minimap?

Yes, the scoreboard and voting system in the upper right got overhauled.

How will HoN 2.0 affect the compatibaility of current mods? Will it add or reduce the scope of what future mods can do?

The scope of mods will be about the same, but it will break probably every mod out there for a day or two since I think every interface file in the game has changed so far.

Will there be alternate courier skins?

Not yet, but hilarious idea!

Will there be skins for non player controlled models, such as buildings and creeps?

No, or at least not yet.

Will there be a way to exchange/gift coins? This could allow for the gambling of coins for extra added intensity to games.

Yes you can gift coins to other people on the website. Gambling, huh... Interesting idea...

Will the release of HoN 2.0 on the 13th come with any new heroes?

No, we are on a more 'strict' hero release schedule and Myrmidon is coming out this Friday to stick to that schedule.

Will cash payments take paypal?

Yes on the website.

Will DREAM be incorporated into to UI?

Not the ingame UI, or at least not yet.

170

Micro-transaction similar to LoL and a few MMORPG's? Sounds fine.

Just please don't restrict some heroes to buy only(or level etc) like LoL does. No one wants a new account that can only play Demented Shaman and Ophelia

As long as Coins for leveling up is associated with a MM stat reset then SWEET. TMM? I haven't played MM more than 3 games because I roll with 2 other most of the time for stats(can't play support with 1300psr pub chronoses..).

As a whole I think HoN2.0 will get another 30 dollars out of me over the next year.

Just please for the love of god don't restrict heroes like LoL. I'll /slit

All heroes will always be playable at all times, we have no plans to restrict which you can play. So you can breathe easy.

Oh and Christmas is coming up... you know you want a new hero skin or two~!

177

What steps are being taken to prevent abusing the game to earn coins? For example, say one team is getting rolled but they have a griefer who refuses to concede. The winning team decides not to push and win because they want to farm kills in hopes of getting coins.

How are you handling team matchmaking for large groups, particularly during off hours? Assume you have a team of 5 1800/1900+ players join matchmaking together. There is no other group of 5 players logged on remotely close to that skill level. Will that group just not be matched? Will, after a long enough waiting period, TMM just assign 5 random 1700/1800s against them to get rolled?

There is nothing we can really do to stop general ingame trolling like that minus the RAP system if they do something bad. Concede is there for a reason and we are going to be adding thing (I think) where after half an hour you can concede with 4 instead of 5, so that should help that situation.

A team of 5 with all 1950+ at 5 AM might have a hard time finding a game. There is not much we can do about outlyers but the system will try to match them up with others after a long enough time. There really is no solution to the super high players. Other matchmaking games (WoW, SC2, etc) have the same issues, where the top players either end up playing the same person over and over or no game for 20 minutes.

167

Here are my questions

1. Are the skins going to be kept on every user's PC or loaded each time from server when joining a game?
2. Is the new update going to eat more ram/drop fps/unstable for users with low end PCs?
3. Have you guys did anything to improve performance for people with low end PCs aka cardboard PCs

1. Users have the skins on their end, but the server determines which you use in a game.

2/3. Actually it should increase performance and lower RAM usage and performance because we have a very robust resource-unloading feature that is added with this patch. This unloads all resources after a game is over so your RAM doesn't stay full and you can not crash from running out of memory. On top of that we are working on a fix to the streaming music that causes a lot of hickups and memory usage.

I can see people clicking on a carry as fast as they can when the hero select screen shows up to be the ones to carry and the rest having to play as support and other roles.

It would be great if at some point players, and S2 collaborated to make custom maps that included a lot of the best dream heroes that can't be included straight away on hon.

There is no more incentive to play carry in 2.0 than there is right now. Progression bonuses for killstreaks are distributed to the team, not just the player who obtained them.

Load times are going to be 10x longer with all the new skins?

No, load times will be the same. In fact, loading will be more streamlined now.

Just a quick suggestion... Will players be able to choose role before entering matchmaking? Will be pretty hard to win if u are a support player paired up with 4 other supporters.

No, you will not be able to select your role. Besides, trolls like me would just select "support" and then pick Sand Wraith and ricefarm ALL GAME BABY.

Question: I've noticed in MANY games in the last couple years the inclusion of literal killstreak rewards that give a nice advantage. Currently we get gold 0and gold for ending a streak. Sure we might get coins in MM, but is there going to be anything that directly effects the current game?

Maybe for the team doing so well or on a streak they qualify for a 0g set of wards or something like that.

We have interesting plans for rewarding players and teams for the long term that will trickle into gameplay. However, for the sake of 2.0, awards will be restricted to the "meta-game" rather than the "metagame"

Do team MM and single MM use 2 different player pools? Is it possible to end up having a 5 man team against 5 random people?

Also, any plans on adding to the shop a Peter Griffin "Road House" sound/effect instead of smackdown? I'd buy it.

@ the guy above me. When you have a killstreak, it usually means that you have an advantage over the other team. Giving in-game additional bonuses to people who get killstreaks would only make games more one-sided and comebacks harder. Ever tried to push when the other team has an AC-130?

The only way for a 5 man team to match against 5 random people is if they can't find a 5 man team, then can't find a 4+1, and et cetera. In other words, the system will always match you up with the most appropriate and fair group possible. Also, stop playing MW2 and go with Black Ops. Ghost Pro + Strela raping Hueys ALL DAMNED DAY!

Has the method of concede votes been changed at all?

what do the new items do?

Concede will remain the same for now. Wait for the dev blog and patch notes for more info about the new items!

Seriously, this is a complete garbage decision made by people who only see 1 side of the coin.

Why would I rejoice in the fact that now I have to play a slower game that isn't as fun as it's faster paced counterpart. The only reason I played EM was for the gold increase. It's what made the game more fun for myself and my friends. We did not like ending the game with hardly any items. We all played NM and decided we liked EM much better.

Instead, all you've done is tell everyone its OK to shun EM players and harass them even more on the forums over the next two weeks. That they were right and we were wrong.

Most EM players never cared about playing with the big boys.

Also, will I at least get a stat reset so I can actually play NM? CM sounds WAY too easy and like it will create more problems than EM ever did.

So I heard you like gold. In that case, you'll love casual mode more than you've ever loved EM. As an EM player, you should be happy. Casual mode provides the fun and reward of EM, but will reduce the stigma. Everyone I know who has played Casual Mode and lost the game has said that they still had fun losing the game and didn't feel frustrated afterward. While criticism is fine (and desired), give it the benefit of the doubt for now. Try it out before you decide to hate it for good!

In TMM will teams of 5 be forced to play AR/AP/RD/SD (BD and BP). Kinda seems like you're taking the picking phase out of the equation as there are always heroes that need to be perma banned due to certain issues that pop up as soon as the other one gets fixed.

All players using MM have the option of veto'ing two modes, including teams.

Do gold shields get bonus free coins when 2.0 hits?

Nope!

From what I've read, casual mode will be even more fun as there is no gold loss on death and you level faster.

Potentially this will make it faster too, certainly more action packed anyway.

That is, in a nutshell, the goal of Casual mode.

New avatars and new skins is cool and all, but it seems like S2 is making the game cater to the less competitive players. People who play in tournaments and compete at a high level honestly don't care for new skins.

Team Match Making will be huge, but there still something missing. Oh ya, heroes that are actually decent. HoN needs more ranged carries that fit into tri lanes, does S2 have any intention to port any of the GOOD dota heroes?

I thought no one liked tri-lanes!

do you consider introducing a scrim mode into the matchmaking ( 5 mates vs 5 mates and BP)?
im fine with a round of BD every now and then but ap and sd is just rubbish if you want to have a serious match.

We may consider increasing the number of vetoes you get depending on popularity. For now though, you will be limited to two.

also pimp witch slayer should get a glock or a 9mm with new sound, not the blunderbuss or whatever

Come on now. Pimps don't go for the pedestrian. They want grandeur. Why does Lil Jon use a chalice and not a cup? Because he has bitches all over him. Why does Pimp Slayer use a blunderbuss and not a nine? Because he eats liches for breakfast.

I'm really looking forward to play TD's and troll & elves... good old times :')

is it gonna be possible to make those maps in the map editor?

btw, when are we gonna have a "map editor preview"... in the next 2-3 days please?

bought hon like 1 month ago and it's nice to see that u guys are working hard on it

thanks

Thanks for buying the game, and I'm glad you're enjoying it. The map editor will be out in a matter of weeks, and I'm sure we'll have a feature on it. I'm not very familiar with the editor myself, so maybe someone else can answer your questions.

Will there be any reward at all for players who have grinded so far? invested multiple hours into HoN?

No, we will not be retroactively doling rewards.

Shameless bump

EM and EM% are a thing of the past. Out. Gone. Forever. Cherish them whiel you can!

Hello S2Games, these are my questions:

1. Are there going to be any champion remakes or just changes (Ophelia)? So many features are being added.
2. Is there going to be a Female Dota Counterpart of Glacius and Pyromancer? (Aka, Rylai Crestfall and Lina Inverse skins).


Thanks if you answer them.

Even though we are releasing a ton of new content, this will not preclude us from revisiting old content. And yes, there will be female Glacius and Pyromancer skins... and some female versions of unexpected heroes

http://worthplaying.com/article/2010...images/288028/

English flag is wrong - either change its name to British or give the correct English flag.

Fixed this. The flag is now known as Flag- United Kingdom .

Will be there time limited offers in store? For example skin which will be available only during christmas and so on?

Thanks for answering!

Yes, there will be.

Come out come out wherever you are, Tobias! You said you would play an EM (I guess casual mode now) game if 2.0 didn't have Eevee, so it's just about time!

From Tobias::
I will keep my word and play an EM match.
For obvious reasons, the match will however have to be played before 2.0 is released.
::

[[S2]Idejder]

1. Has the MM queue been fixed so that Joining -> Disconnecting -> Joining -> Disconnecting -> Etc etc will no longer get you into a game faster than just Joining and waiting?

Yes. Players will load up almost all the map resources before they enter into the queue, and the group will only queue up for a match once all the other players in the group have finished loading.

Nome said that TMM will first try to match 5v5, then 5v4&1, then 4v3&2, etc. Does TMM weigh a team of five's average PSR as higher than five randoms? For example, a team of five 1700's is significantly better than five random 1700s, or even 2&3 1700s. Individually they may all be the same skill, but the team has inherent advantages such as better communication, designated roles for support/ganker/carry, etc.

The algorithm will always try to match up teams that consist of the same group make up (5 vs 5, 4+1 vs 4+1, 3+2 vs 3+2, etc), but it is just a preference the algorithm decides on based on the length of time the groups/teams have been waiting. There are no rules that teams with different group makeups will never be matched up against one another, just that it will do it's best to find a match with the same, or roughly similar group makeup for the first minute or two. After that, the algorithm opens up to allow other group makeups, and groups with a larger TMR spreads than it did in the beginning. Note that this also applies for inexperienced vs experienced teams. There are no rules governing that an inexperienced team will never play an experienced team, just that the algorithm will do it's best to place them into a match with another inexperienced team the first minute or two, and eventually place them into a match. The exact details of how we do the matching is confidential but the main goals were 1) make fair matches 2) keep queue times low.

All teams will contain a single group or a combination of groups, those groups are then combined together to form teams, and those team's TMR averages are based on the average of the group TMR's. This means a 3v3 teamA with large variation (such as a group with a 1300, a 1500 and a 1700) would come out to an average of 1500 and could potentially be matched against teamB (three 1500 players) with an average TMR of 1500. Obviously this is not our first preference when matching together two teams, but presently it is the way it will work. There isn't a really nice way to handle this situation without heavily increasing the amount of time teamA spends in the queue. We definitely don't want people to avoid playing MM games with their friends just because they are way better or way worse than their friend or because they know it will take a long time to find a match. That being said, I think you will find that on average most MM games are going to be very fair matchups that should result in some really fun games. Give it a chance first =) (I've always hated pubstomps). The bottom line is that that we will monitor this sort of thing and make adjustments as we get more data. If huge TMR variations between teams are causing significant gameplay issues then we can always account for the TMR variance among the team and factor that in when looking for matches.

As for whether or not the algorithm weighs the TMR for teams with different group makeups, there is current currently no such weighting. We have built in support to take other factors into account (KAD/XP per min/Games Played) but would only use those secondary stats in cases where there is a tie between multiple teams getting matched up. We did discuss whether or not we should weight the TMRs based on this, but have chosen not to for now till we have more data to support this. We will be logging and monitoring all matches that are played through the new system, and if we find the data lends credence to updating the TMR calculations a bit to create more fair game play, we will look further into making an improvement to the TMR calculation. Hopefully it goes without saying, but you can rest assured we will keep close eyes on the MM process and continue to tweak to ensure an optimal balance between fair matches and low queue times for everybody.


Disclaimer: Anything here is subject to change, I was just giving a rough writeup of what to expect and some basics of how the MM algorithm works. Enjoy. =)

Just got back from lunch, so sorry about the wait.

mmmm
STILL ****ING IGNORED ????????????
YOU SIR ARE ****ING IGNORING MY ****ING QUESTIONS
btw! i'll get reported for infraction like this so please answer my questions +D

These are very technical questions, somewhat unrelated to 2.0, and unfortunately I can't answer them.

So everyone EM % gets removed?

Yep.

As an almost exclusively solo player I have a couple questions about Matchmaking, the 2nd being more important:

1. Has the MM queue been fixed so that Joining -> Disconnecting -> Joining -> Disconnecting -> Etc etc will no longer get you into a game faster than just Joining and waiting?

2. I may have just missed something, or more information might be being held back, but are gaining Coins the "only" perk being added to Matchmaking? I ask because while I think that will work very well to persuade people to play MM, I also think that it can only work for so long for a couple of reasons.

One is that if the price of items in Coins is too low, everyone will buy what they want and then stop using Matchmaking again. On the other hand though if the price is too high, most people will either just pay using real money or essentially say "screw it" and not even try.

The second reason, related to their first, is that just adding more items ad nauseam likely won't be enough to entice people to continue to play Matchmaking either. For a worthy comparison, see Team Fortress 2. Originally they added 1 hat for each of their 9 classes; these were purely cosmetic, but because there were so few of them everyone generally cared about them, to the point of even trying to cheat to get them. Since then, they've added 81672 (roughly) more hats to the game, and now very few people actually care about them anymore. To swing it back to HoN, how much motivation is there going to be to play Matchmaking to get Coins to unlock your 3rd or 4th Succubus skin?

Basically I'm just concerned that everyone is going to play Matchmaking for a few months and then stop. Again.

1. Matchmaking as a whole has been completely revamped. The problem you mentioned should not longer exist.
2. We will always be adding content to the shop, not to mention content to the game in general. There will be no shortage of items for you to spend coins on. What we're aiming for with the new matchmaking is to provide a generally more streamlined interface to play HoN. Our goal is for matchmaking to be the PRIMARY way to play HoN. Matchmaking stats will be the reliable stats vs. public stats. Matchmaking games should be the way you look for a game over the custom game list. Our previous matchmaking was riddled with problems--we admit that. With the new revamp, we're aiming to roll it out with all features intact, and hopefully it will be problem-free (fingers crossed).

Will we still have access to our career hon stat totals or is everything being wiped?

Only matchmaking stats are being reset.

What is the desired goal of casual mode?

Are you trying to replace EM with something better - or are you trying to implement something completely different?

Casual mode is our answer to both players who are trying HoN for the first time, and for players who simply don't want the stress of playing a normal mode game. EM players should feel right at home, while normal mode players should still have a good deal of fun. Ultimately, we want to remove the stigma that comes with playing an alternate mode. There should be nothing to be ashamed of in playing casual.

another thing I am curious about is how will you select the skin you use. I'm sure you can swap skins and go back to default when you want to. (is this being added to the options menu?)

The hero selection screen allows you to choose and preview all available skins.

First off, thx for the preview. I'm really looking forward to it. I especially love that we will be able to show our support by buying stuff from the in-game shop.

One question tho. You guys said that in the future SMACKDOWNs will be obtainable through other methods besides preordering the game. Will u put it in in-game shop or you have something else planned?

Thank you again and keep up the good work!

Taunt is indeed in the shop.

The fact that AR is in MM invalidates it completely as a reasonable way to play this game.
Otherwise great job!

Just veto it if you don't want to play it! The goal of MM is to encompass all ways someone may want to play the game. There are plenty of dedicated AR players who would be left out if we didn't include AR.

Will there be stability and bug fixes included too? Especially related to HoN crashing the computer?

Resource loading and unloading has been revamped, so hopefully that will solve a lot of issues.

1 question, but PLZ answer it:

If i buy hero models, only me can see this new magmus? Or ALL PPLS will see this model when i will play magmus ? And can i use old model if i want ?

Everyone will see your alternate avatars. There is nothing you can buy from the shop that will only be seen by yourself. Everything is for everyone to see and enjoy.

Right, let me state my question differently,

will it be difficult to get a hold of the Taunt ability as a non-prepurchaser or will every second doofus have easy access?

It will be difficult in that you'll require a good number of coins to obtain it. There will be no other requirements. The golden shield, however, can never be obtained by anyone else.

[[MYST]Jareth]

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Original Post by Jareth:
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Great idea, though I can immediately see a problem with the release date answer...namely that the article already claimed the 13th.

Best get that one corrected quick if it isn't the case.

Edit: Also seeing as it seems to be the question on everyones lips, will there be an option to just have the default sounds and skins for those who don't want to see the new stuff in game (not me)?

Edit2: Release date answer changed to reflect article. Yays.

[[incl]iAbuseNoobs]

Seems like HoN is improving

[pablofsi]

Will it come in December of the present year?

edit: date set by the op, so the question is void

[Evozer]

Will there be an option to avoid seeing/hearing other peoples skins and sounds?

[Soblane]

If you get coins for kills, why should I not ks everyone?


// You said release date is monday, dec 13...

[eNTe_eXe]

Do you have to watch Maliken running around as a pimp?
Are you really gonna change the minimap to a LoL style map, with those green ugly LoL-like dots?

[[TSTI]TestieSlave]

HoN 1.0 wont change at all? Stats, Gamestyle, etc, etc?

[SkullBoy]

Can we still play the game we know and love now? We don't HAVE to play this 'casual' game all the time?

After reading thorughly through the Q&A's, I am greatly looking forward to the patch.

I think it is adding some good things from LoL (yes, it does have some good parts to it) to the better game... HoN.

Some really good additions to the game that will add anther year onto my playtime no doubt.

Thank you S2, Thank you.

P.S If I beg more will you give me a gold shield? (: <3

[[REBL]MileyCyrus]

Great idea, though I can immediately see a problem with the release date answer...namely that the article already claimed the 13th.

Best get that one corrected quick if it isn't the case.

have to agree

I sincerely hope that article didn't leak an anticipated release date or a hopeful release date. because if it did, there will be a shitstorm on the forums come dec 13th if people dont have hon 2.0

I'd actually like for it to hold off a few days Having a final exam on the 14th and 16th could be troublesome.

fixd. thanks idejder

[eLeven]

how is the map editor going to work and will map submission be similar to dream hero creation?

Will a custom map mode ever be intergrated so maps dont need S2 aproval?

Cheers.

[[KG17]Midnightoil]

Article say 13th O.o

[[1CaF]BrownBanana]

Why did HoN choose to go this route? Will this mean with more funds we can expect faster hero addings?

[Faulkner]

Will there be an option to avoid seeing/hearing other peoples skins and sounds?

10character. Most important question. I'll be a lot less interested in this if other people can ignore it.

[[KG17]Midnightoil]

Will I get credit for the cash shop idea because I swear I was the only one who ever thought about it.

[[1o]Bob_Bobson]

Does Polly gets ANOTHER new skin?


Please say no

[Soblane]

Can you turn custom skins off?

[Viking`]

how are you going to deal with Casual Mode players joining in Standard Mode games? Just like EM nowadays, players get too suited to having extra passive gold and EM play styles and that makes them worse at standard mode, wouldn't this still have an effect on the standard mode games and depreciate the alternative modes values further?

[[Sirz]Captain]

Barring any last-minute issues, Heroes of Newerth 2.0 is scheduled to go live on or about December 13, 2010.

So... how did you say no release date Idejder?

EDIT: he fixed it.