14 DAY TRIAL // Heroes of the Storm is on track to become one of the biggest video games in the very successful line created by Blizzard, but it seems that the company needs to annoy some long-time fans in order to make the title accessible to as many players as possible.
Fans have noticed that the cigar that hangs in the mouth of Tychus Findlay in Starcraft is no longer present, and it seems that the development team was forced to eliminate it to make sure that it did not cross limits imposed by the Teen rating and by the fact that the experience needs to be offered in as many countries as possible.
In an explanation on Reddit, Blizzard says that it had two big options to deal with the smoking issue: simply remove the cigar or create two versions of the character and carefully choose when to show each of them.
The development team for Heroes of the Storm adds, "Making 2 versions means more data management, multiple duplicates of the asset (if we update an animation, it has to propagate to all versions) such as the the death ragdoll model, The facial animations, his morph into the Odin, and apply that process to every skin as well. This mountain of work affects multiple departments and has to be addressed every time we'd adjust Tychus."
By simply taking the cigar out of the picture, the game is easier to promote and the entire player base gets a unitary experience.
Video games need to deal with limitations imposed by various countries
Blizzard goes on to detail other situations in which it needs to deal with sensitive content, talking about Skelethur and the limitations posed when human remains can be shown, not to mention that the company also had issues with the license plate for Gazlowe.
Heroes of the Storm is a game that includes a variety of characters, and there are plans to add more, once it is fully launched.
At the moment, a beta version of the title is widely available, and the 1.0 version will be introduced on June 2.
Blizzard is also getting ready to hold a major tournament for Heroes of the Storm during its coming BlizzCon event.
The entire experience is free-to-play and is seen as offering a game experience that's more streamlined than that of more traditional MOBAs.
