For many, Blizzcon brought months of endless alternate reality gaming to an end with the reveal of the new “Overwatch” hero Sombra.
Sombra’s release came after a campaign of months where fans investigated hidden clues—vying for any information around the mysterious character.
For the unfamiliar, an ARG in premise is a game that includes the real world in its method of storytelling. It’s transmedia storytelling.
Entire sites are employed with intensely dedicated fans working together through puzzles, emails and other tasks.
The downside? Months of ARG with Sombra killed my hype. It killed it, proceeded to kick my hype’s lifeless body and turned into just another case of video game “Are we there yet?”
The upside? Sombra really lived up to most of her hype. However, Blizzard as a gaming company really pushed it. There are only so many time-restricted ciphers to arduously crack for such little information in return.
This ARG was really working the fanbase. For something we do out of fun, the labor needs to have some sort of ‘payment’ for us to feel rewarded.
Sombra’s character is one that uses her intelligences to be penultimate hacker. The ARG was certainly fitting; it provided more information about her personality as a woman with her own objectives.
It certainly feels like the whole time we were just playing her game. The main factor to me was time. Sombra was known for months before her release, not only that but we had a pretty good understanding of her from the early clues.
Really, I don’t look forward to Sombra’s “thermoptic camoflague” ability adding stealth to the game. I’ll feel it out, though.
Her kit is very fitting, risk and reward mobility, trade-offs from flat offense to a coordinated risk assessed approach and being able to “hack” her opponents to disable their abilities.
Blizzcon had plenty of other reveals. “Diablo 3,” a game I waited 14 years for, will receive an additional story that serves as a throwback to the original I also played.
The mode will feature a 14 level descent through Hell that mirrors the original, including a filter to give us a throw-back graphically.
Much more exciting was the announcement of the addition of a new character class: the Necromancer.
I’ve made probably some 20 Necromancers in Diablo over the course of my time there. The Necromancer is a returning class from the second installment of the game.
I have concerns about the Necromancer class in “Diablo 3” despite my excitement. One of the existing character classes is a Witch Doctor, which has many abilities that were clearly inspired and transformed from the essence of the Necromancer in “Diablo 2.”
Both have summoned creatures, poison, spirits and the like. Blizzard promises a differentiation between the two. The distinction according to Blizzard will focus on gearing the Necromancer around three concepts: “Revival, Blood and Curses.”
This contrasts from the themes of the Witch Doctor class, which is focused on “creepy crawlies” and more cultish themes.
The Necromancer will be featured in as a purchasable “character pack” in the second half of 2017. That’s quite a ways off.
This year is the twentieth anniversary for the “Diablo” franchise. The most exciting change in my opinion is what’s known as the “Armory.” This new feature will allow players to have multiple sets of gear and set-ups for characters at the ready.
This is a change I can definitely appreciate, seeing as Blizzard opted away from the investment platform of skills and synergies. The characters now aren’t static in the way that previous games required written-in-stone investments.
The flexibility was a necessary change to match their ideological change.
“Heroes of the Storm” received two additional classic “Warcraft” characters this Blizzcon. An additional “Overwatch” promotion will run starting today until the end of the month.
To participate, play 15 games of “Heroes of the Storm” with a friend. Upon completing 15 games you will receive a special Oni skin for the “Overwatch” hero Genji.
Other “Overwatch” promotions will feature a new game mode that is one player against one player. Players can earn a set amount of loot boxes for playing rounds in the new mode that would otherwise require much more of an investment of time.
The new One Hero Limit rule that is already in place for Competitive mode play will be applied to Quick Play as well. “Hero Stacking” will only be an option for the new mode of play “Arcade.”
Barton Kleen
Executive Editor