Get 5 Free Heroes in Heroes of The Storm's Nexus Challenge

[Steven Bogos]

Get 5 Free Heroes in Heroes of The Storm's Nexus Challenge

Play games with friends during Heroes of the Storm's Nexus challenge to get free heroes, and an exclusive Overwatch skin.



Blizzard has just announced its biggest Heroes of The Storm giveaway yet: the Nexus Challenge [http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/blog/20327397/team-up-to-conquer-the-nexus-challenge-11-4-2016]. Up for grabs are five free heroes, an in-game mount, and an exclusive Overwatch Genji skin. To get that phat loot, all you have to do is play the game with a friend between November 15 and January 4!

If you play 15 games with a friend during the Nexus Challenge period in Co-op vs. AI, Quick Match, Unranked Draft, or Ranked mode, you'll get the following rewards:

Overwatch:
Oni Genji Skin
Oni Genji Portrait
Oni Genji Spray

Heroes of The Storm:
Zarya Hero
Oni Genji Portrait



If you play 30 games, you'll get some additional rewards:

Heroes of The Storm:
Auriel Hero
Greymane Hero
Kerrigan Hero
Li-Ming Hero
Orochi Hovercycle Mount
30 Day Stimpack

It's a pretty big bounty of heroes and cosmetics that you can get simply from playing the game. Blizzard did not state if players who already own all of the reward content will get any additional rewards, but in the past [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/168295-Heroes-of-The-Storm-Free-Hero-Promotion] they have made accommodations for such players.

Click here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/blizzcon%202016?os=blizzcon+2016] to check out all of our coverage from BlizzCon 2016!

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[SlumlordThanatos]

It's a pretty big bounty of heroes and cosmetics that you can get simply from playing the game.

Playing the game with a friend, you mean.

Thing is, none of my Battle.net friends are really interested; the ones that used to play HotS aren't interested in going back, and the ones that didn't still have a bitter taste in their mouth from the whole "talent gating" thing it used to have.

I'm just waiting for Blizzard to cut their losses.

 

[Steven Bogos]

It's a pretty big bounty of heroes and cosmetics that you can get simply from playing the game.

Playing the game with a friend, you mean.

Thing is, none of my Battle.net friends are really interested; the ones that used to play HotS aren't interested in going back, and the ones that didn't still have a bitter taste in their mouth from the whole "talent gating" thing it used to have.

I'm just waiting for Blizzard to cut their losses.

Seems like an overly harsh reaction to free stuff. If you head over to the r/heroesofthestorm subreddit i'm sure you can find some people to play with!

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

It's a pretty big bounty of heroes and cosmetics that you can get simply from playing the game.

Playing the game with a friend, you mean.

Thing is, none of my Battle.net friends are really interested; the ones that used to play HotS aren't interested in going back, and the ones that didn't still have a bitter taste in their mouth from the whole "talent gating" thing it used to have.

I'm just waiting for Blizzard to cut their losses.

Seems like an overly harsh reaction to free stuff. If you head over to the r/heroesofthestorm subreddit i'm sure you can find some people to play with!

I think I misspoke.

I don't like HotS. That means that I very intensely dislike these cross-game promotions that Blizzard seems to have a thing for recently. If I don't like one of their games, I don't like having something like that Genji skin dangled in front of my nose in order to try to get me to play it. And considering that this is the biggest event yet, it seems to me like a transparent attempt to get the playerbase to return to games whose numbers are lagging behind.

Needing a friend to play it with is like rubbing salt in the wound. Chalk it up to a personal quirk of mine: trying to get me to do something that I truly do not want to do only succeeds in annoying me.

Mercifully, the only thing I really wanted was the Priest hero for Hearthstone, and all I had to do was get a code off of Reddit.

 

[Steven Bogos]

It's a pretty big bounty of heroes and cosmetics that you can get simply from playing the game.

Playing the game with a friend, you mean.

Thing is, none of my Battle.net friends are really interested; the ones that used to play HotS aren't interested in going back, and the ones that didn't still have a bitter taste in their mouth from the whole "talent gating" thing it used to have.

I'm just waiting for Blizzard to cut their losses.

Seems like an overly harsh reaction to free stuff. If you head over to the r/heroesofthestorm subreddit i'm sure you can find some people to play with!

I think I misspoke.

I don't like HotS. That means that I very intensely dislike these cross-game promotions that Blizzard seems to have a thing for recently. If I don't like one of their games, I don't like having something like that Genji skin dangled in front of my nose in order to try to get me to play it. And considering that this is the biggest event yet, it seems to me like a transparent attempt to get the playerbase to return to games whose numbers are lagging behind.

Needing a friend to play it with is like rubbing salt in the wound. Chalk it up to a personal quirk of mine: trying to get me to do something that I truly do not want to do only succeeds in annoying me.

Mercifully, the only thing I really wanted was the Priest hero for Hearthstone, and all I had to do was get a code off of Reddit.

So let me get this right. You're upset that you can't get a FREE piece of (cosmetic) content for a game you play, because you don't want to have to play another FREE game to get it?

 

[sagitel]

It's a pretty big bounty of heroes and cosmetics that you can get simply from playing the game.

Playing the game with a friend, you mean.

Thing is, none of my Battle.net friends are really interested; the ones that used to play HotS aren't interested in going back, and the ones that didn't still have a bitter taste in their mouth from the whole "talent gating" thing it used to have.

I'm just waiting for Blizzard to cut their losses.

Seems like an overly harsh reaction to free stuff. If you head over to the r/heroesofthestorm subreddit i'm sure you can find some people to play with!

I think I misspoke.

I don't like HotS. That means that I very intensely dislike these cross-game promotions that Blizzard seems to have a thing for recently. If I don't like one of their games, I don't like having something like that Genji skin dangled in front of my nose in order to try to get me to play it. And considering that this is the biggest event yet, it seems to me like a transparent attempt to get the playerbase to return to games whose numbers are lagging behind.

Needing a friend to play it with is like rubbing salt in the wound. Chalk it up to a personal quirk of mine: trying to get me to do something that I truly do not want to do only succeeds in annoying me.

Mercifully, the only thing I really wanted was the Priest hero for Hearthstone, and all I had to do was get a code off of Reddit.

So let me get this right. You're upset that you can't get a FREE piece of (cosmetic) content for a game you play, because you don't want to have to play another FREE game to get it?

if it was 3-4 rounds, then no problem. but its 15 games. now i dont know how long the coop games take, but coupled with the obscene waiting times on unranked (quickplay, normal, whatever blizzard likes to call it) those 15 rounds might take upto 10 hours. thats a lot of time to do an activity someone doesnt like for a skin. even if its free. in a game that skins doesnt matter and not many people look at you long enough to care about it. even more 80% of people will have it so its even less worth it. overall it isnt worth it

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

So let me get this right. You're upset that you can't get a FREE piece of (cosmetic) content for a game you play, because you don't want to have to play another FREE game to get it?

For the sake of argument, let's say that you really like eating at Red Lobster. One day, Red Lobster kicks off a new promotion, where they offer to make your next meal free, but only if you go to Ruby Tuesday's and eat three meals there.

The problem with that is that you don't like Ruby Tuesday's. You think their food is disgusting, you don't like the atmosphere, and they have Pepsi products instead of Coke. You want that free meal because you really like Red Lobster, but you really don't want to choke down a plate or three of Ruby Tuesday's food.

I just never liked the idea of going and playing a game that I don't like (especially when they tack on the "friends" requirement; I greatly prefer to play alone) so that I can get goodies for a game that I do play. It just feels like a bunch of dudes in an office noticed that HotS' playerbase was dwindling, so they cooked up this promotion for no other reason than to try to entice some people back to a failing game.

I don't feel like Blizzard is trying to do their fans a favor whenever they're making us jump through all of these hoops. It just doesn't sit right with me.

 

[Xerosch]

This is... I'm actually OK with this. There are sooo many other promotions that are way more complicated and require more effort for far less. It's a good thing a friend of mine is on the same (very basic level) as me, so we'll try to complete the 30 game challenge.

I'm aware that I'm in a rather accomodating position and can understand if people are rather put off by the weird game combo.

Any word on whether the Overwatch rewards carry over to consoles? And do I just have to play the 15/30 rounds or win them as well?

 

[PointlessKnowledge]

For the sake of argument, let's say that you really like eating at Red Lobster. One day, Red Lobster kicks off a new promotion, where they offer to make your next meal free, but only if you go to Ruby Tuesday's and eat three meals there.

The problem with that is that you don't like Ruby Tuesday's. You think their food is disgusting, you don't like the atmosphere, and they have Pepsi products instead of Coke. You want that free meal because you really like Red Lobster, but you really don't want to choke down a plate or three of Ruby Tuesday's food.

I just never liked the idea of going and playing a game that I don't like (especially when they tack on the "friends" requirement; I greatly prefer to play alone) so that I can get goodies for a game that I do play. It just feels like a bunch of dudes in an office noticed that HotS' playerbase was dwindling, so they cooked up this promotion for no other reason than to try to entice some people back to a failing game.

I don't feel like Blizzard is trying to do their fans a favor whenever they're making us jump through all of these hoops. It just doesn't sit right with me.

Blizzard is a buisness trying to make money by having people play their video games. It is in their best interest if you play all of them, as that is maximum profit.

They are making a deal to try and have that happen for them by enticing new players and players who have left to join a game that is struggling. Their plan is for it generate interest in the game to help it survive. They don't care about your personal enjoyment, if it occurs that is a bonus.

You might not like it, but they don't really care about that.

 

[RJ 17]

and they have Pepsi products instead of Coke.

Those dirty rat-bastards....

 

[Qizx]

So let me get this right. You're upset that you can't get a FREE piece of (cosmetic) content for a game you play, because you don't want to have to play another FREE game to get it?

For the sake of argument, let's say that you really like eating at Red Lobster. One day, Red Lobster kicks off a new promotion, where they offer to make your next meal free, but only if you go to Ruby Tuesday's and eat three meals there.

The problem with that is that you don't like Ruby Tuesday's. You think their food is disgusting, you don't like the atmosphere, and they have Pepsi products instead of Coke. You want that free meal because you really like Red Lobster, but you really don't want to choke down a plate or three of Ruby Tuesday's food.

I just never liked the idea of going and playing a game that I don't like (especially when they tack on the "friends" requirement; I greatly prefer to play alone) so that I can get goodies for a game that I do play. It just feels like a bunch of dudes in an office noticed that HotS' playerbase was dwindling, so they cooked up this promotion for no other reason than to try to entice some people back to a failing game.

I don't feel like Blizzard is trying to do their fans a favor whenever they're making us jump through all of these hoops. It just doesn't sit right with me.

Except the analogy is more "Hey you like our FREE food? Go try this other persons FREE food as well and we'll give you even more FREE food."

If HotS was a paid game then definitely it would be a super slimy thing to do, as it stands it gives people a chance to get free items and skins.

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

Except the analogy is more "Hey you like our FREE food? Go try this other persons FREE food as well and we'll give you even more FREE food."

If HotS was a paid game then definitely it would be a super slimy thing to do, as it stands it gives people a chance to get free items and skins.

Honestly, I could've picked that analogy better, but my point still stands.

It also isn't free; there are hoops to jump through. You want those goodies? Get a friend to come with you and invest a significant amount of time into a game that you both may hate. Fifteen games could take quite a bit of time, and unless you want to endure the abuse of your teammates and ruin the quality of other people's matches, you have to put in some effort, as well.

It makes sense from a business standpoint, but that's the core of my problem. It feels like a business decision instead of something the developers thought the community would enjoy.

It makes me feel like a number.

 

[Tiamattt]

It makes sense from a business standpoint, but that's the core of my problem. It feels like a business decision instead of something the developers thought the community would enjoy.

It makes me feel like a number.

Well of course it's a business decision, everything big companies do are business decisions and Blizzard is no different. You can look at just about every big cool promotion and have it "feel" like a business decision, because that's exactly what it is. Even if it's free content to keep existing players happy that's still a business decision to ensure that those players will spend money in the future.

The harsh reality is you are a number to them, so and I and so are all of my friends that enjoy playing this game. And you're going to be a number for what ever other game/company you decide to support, Nintendo, Valve, Sony, etc etc. That's the reality of it, and well if you're just going to look at it that way you're not going to have a good time. Which is why despite how harsh that reality is it really isn't that important, what is important is you enjoy how you spend your time. If you don't want to play HOTS, that's 100% fine. If you want to play a totally unrelated game that's totally fine too. The important thing is that you're enjoying yourself despite being a number because there really isn't a point dwelling on it.

 

[Qizx]

Except the analogy is more "Hey you like our FREE food? Go try this other persons FREE food as well and we'll give you even more FREE food."

If HotS was a paid game then definitely it would be a super slimy thing to do, as it stands it gives people a chance to get free items and skins.

Honestly, I could've picked that analogy better, but my point still stands.

It also isn't free; there are hoops to jump through. You want those goodies? Get a friend to come with you and invest a significant amount of time into a game that you both may hate. Fifteen games could take quite a bit of time, and unless you want to endure the abuse of your teammates and ruin the quality of other people's matches, you have to put in some effort, as well.

It makes sense from a business standpoint, but that's the core of my problem. It feels like a business decision instead of something the developers thought the community would enjoy.

It makes me feel like a number.

It IS free though, yes you have to do something in a game to get it, but then literally NOTHING is free, and therefore the word means nothing. It's about as free as something can get when it comes to video games.

"Significant Time" from what I read VS AI games count too... So you could theoretically do these vs AI, easy mode, all push one lane. I've done that before and those games tend to take about 3-5 minutes depending on map. So you're looking at... 45 minutes to 1.5 hours.

It IS a business decision, almost everything every company does is a business decision. Companies NEVER do things just cause it's nice, just cause they want to do some good. There is always an ulterior motive, even the most seemingly altruistic things a company does is almost always a calculated response.

 

[Eric the Orange]

I'm just waiting for Blizzard to cut their losses.

I think the game may be doing better than you think. Maybe not up to blizzards standards, but In my personal experience I can find a match in about 1-2 minuets any time of the day. Which is about the same speed as I remember LoL matchmaking being (about 4ish years ago). That's not to say HotS is as Popular as LoL but that at least it has a regular player base.

 

[Steven Bogos]

I'm just waiting for Blizzard to cut their losses.

I think the game may be doing better than you think. Maybe not up to blizzards standards, but In my personal experience I can find a match in about 1-2 minuets any time of the day. Which is about the same speed as I remember LoL matchmaking being (about 4ish years ago). That's not to say HotS is as Popular as LoL but that at least it has a regular player base.

There's this narrative that HotS is failing because it isn't a very competitive game, and can't keep up with the likes of DoTA 2 and LoL competitively. But that doesn't mean that it's not popular with the regular old regular joes.

 

[Hawki]

Yeah, I'm not sure where this idea of HotS "dying" is coming from. Did anyone seriously believe that it would eclipse LoL or DotA? LoL is to MOBAs what WoW is to MMOs and Call of Duty is to FPS games. You aren't going to dethrone the king, no matter how hard you try. All you can do is carve out your own niche of the kingdom.

That HotS managed to carve out a niche at all, when the only MOBAs that remain in the zeitgeist are LoL, DotA, and Smite (maybe Paragon, I dunno), I'd call that a success.

 

[Wrex Brogan]

Yeah, no, I get what Slumlord is going for there - as great as it is to have all these fancy free games is, cross-play promotions is still kind of frustrating when it comes to being stuck playing a game you don't like to get something for a game you do. Like the Heathsteed in World of Warcraft - yes, it didn't take *that* long to get, but man, was it hard to get given my extreme dislike of Hearthstone (and the fact that on my internet connection it took something like 8 days to download Hearthstone).

Plus, I mean, what if you don't like Overwatch? Or don't feel like dumping the 60-100 bucks on it? Or hell, you really like Overwatch but can't get into HoTS (god I hate that abbreviation - are we talking Heroes of the Storm or Heart of the Swarm?) while this is going down? Shit out of luck then, fuck you for not playing BOTH of our games ************. Yes, I know it's most likely a marketing thing to get people into playing either Overwatch or Heroes, but if you don't fall into the realm of people who play both already it can certainly come across as a hard fuck you for not investing your time into ALL of Blizzard's games.

 

[Zydrate]

I'd like to participate but I don't really play Genji at all. It's a great skin and I'd like to acquire it as a sort of "Hey friends look what I managed to get a while back".