Heroes of the Storm Store Prices Unlikely to Change Before Launch

[Steven Bogos]

Heroes of the Storm Store Prices Unlikely to Change Before Launch

The prices for skins, champions and mounts in Heroes of the Storm's in-game shop will likely stay the same.

Blizzard's entry into the MOBA genre, Heroes of the Storm, has just entered the final stage of its closed alpha test, wiping all accounts and refunding all purchases. The good news is that no more wipes are planned before now and release, so you can make purchases without worrying about losing them before the game goes live. Unfortunately though, for those of you who were holding off in the hopes that the in-game shop's prices may go down, Blizzard has just told us that what you see is what you'll get, as the prices are unlikely to change.

When we reached out to a Blizzard PR rep to inquire about pricing, he told us, "As for pricing, it's unlikely that prices will change."

Just for your information, currently, on the store, "low cost" heroes that go for 2,000 in-game gold sell for $4.39, 7,000 gold heroes are $9.34, and 10,000 and 15,000 gold heroes are $10.99. Skins and mounts will set you back either $8.24 or $10.99 a piece, with the exception of the rainbow unicorn, currently sitting at $21.99.

I would strongly advise anyone planning on spending money in the game to take a look at the bundles, in particular, the Heroes Variety Bundle which includes 10 heroes for just $35. The deepest discount bundle is the Starter Bundle which has three heroes and a mount at a 77% discount for $5.49.

The latest patch also introduces Anub'arak, from the World of Warcraft universe, and Azmodan, from the Diablo universe, as new playable heroes. It also moves the game from its self-contained alpha servers to its respective players' home region servers, meaning that players can access their existing Battle.net friend list.

NB: All prices listed are from the Oceanic region store, as I am currently unable to access the North American store from my game client.

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[Ferisar]

The prices from the U.S. Client are essentially just one dollar lower. 15-10,000 Heroes are 9.99, 7,000 are 8.49, 4,000 are 6.49 and 2,000 are 3.99

But yeah, it's a bit lame, especially on the 15-10k prices because the 15k price will likely drop to 10k after a week, (much like League) but it kind of encourages just dropping a tenner on them, which I will never do. That's damn expensive for just buying unlockables.

On the bright side, earning currency in HotS until max level is quite easy, so, eh, I'm not too upset. Pricing isn't the primary concern right now, it's working on the actual game.

EDIT:
Also, as it is not mentioned in the article, the skins have variant pricing; some lower than others.

I believe it's between 4.99 and 14.99, generally based on skin quality.

Also, Master Skins are free with appropriate hero level + 10k gold.

 

[gamegod25]

Guess I won't be spending any money on that game cuz that's really lame.

 

[whycantijustdeletemyaccount]

Seems a bit steep, especially considering the two leaders in the field have a far fairer model. I always hear TB saying that only Valve could have a model like the one in Dota on account of their "unlimited cash" but surely Blizzard could implement something similar.

I was kinda hoping this would turn out well. I'd like to get into a MOBA but the LoL/Dota communities are way too toxic for a beginner. Anyone got a new recommendation now that this is set to be priced like an EA game?

 

[deth2munkies]

The 15k heroes are also $9.99 according to the NA client right now.

The problem is that everything here is incredibly overpriced even by LoL standards (Which I thought was hugely expensive). Other than the League "Legendary Skins" which set you back nearly $30 (they use "Riot Points" to obfuscate true money totals), you can usually get 2-3 things for $10 worth of points if you buy them on sale. In HotS, the $9.99 starter bundle is the only one under $10, even the ones including 1 hero and 1 skin. Most of them are 50% off the purchase price or less, and given how high the purchase costs are, that's not much of a bargain. The Starcraft bundle of 3 heroes, 1 skin, and 1 mount is $18.58, which is ~60% off, but still insanely expensive for what you get.

There's no way to customize your bundles, so if I wanted to get the 3 heroes I play the most: Nazeebo, Falstad, and Tassadar, I'd have to buy the Nexus Bundle for $39.99 (8 heroes, 4 skins, 2 mounts). It's the 2nd greatest value after the Starter bundle, but still insane for what I'd normally pay for a game like this (hell, for $10 more, LoL let you buy every single hero out there early in its lifespan, this is roughly 1/4 of the current roster, which is expanding).

I just don't think at these prices anything is worth buying, especially when gold/xp is so accelerated this week due to the alpha coming back.

 

[Ferisar]

Seems a bit steep, especially considering the two leaders in the field have a far fairer model. I always hear TB saying that only Valve could have a model like the one in Dota on account of their "unlimited cash" but surely Blizzard could implement something similar.

I was kinda hoping this would turn out well. I'd like to get into a MOBA but the LoL/Dota communities are way too toxic for a beginner. Anyone got a new recommendation now that this is set to be priced like an EA game?

The sad reality as far as toxicity goes is that it will still be there. Right now, the most I get out of HoStorm games is no one saying anything at all, or a simple gl hf, but even then the frequency of bad mannered games in which people talk shit (myself included) is pretty telling. It's hard to have a playerbase with a cool head in a competitive space, sadly, especially in games where your team is as relevant to winning as you are. Heroes is unlikely to be different on that front.

Once more people will get a hand on the game, we'll see the same exact player-to-player interaction as we do in LoL or DotA 2. It's a bit

As far as pricing goes, I'd recommend checking it out anyway. The in-game currency isn't that bad to earn while leveling. I've no idea how bad it is as of this patch, but it was decent beforehand. Alternatively, there's always like forty other MOBAS to stumble over. Smite, that-justice-league-one, Strife, HoN (if anyone outside crickets still plays the game), etc etc. It seems to be the hot new thang.

 

[whycantijustdeletemyaccount]

.

 

[synobal]

Huh well I can't imagine activision would let them do less. Can't say the game has micro transactions though, it just has transactions.

 

[prpshrt]

They cant be serious... They do know about a couple so called games called "League of Legends" and "Dota 2" right? There is no way in hell they'd be able to compete with either of the two. For more casual user friendly play they can go to LoL where they pay SIGNIFICANTLY lower or if they want a faster paced hardcore game they can go to Dota 2 which is completely free. Honestly getting the feeling monkeys are making the business decisions up there. All hail lord gaben.

 

[Vigormortis]

And this is why I stick to Dota.. the gme that started MOBa and the one that's nice enough to actually give you ll the heroes for free. Thank's valve.

And this right here is why I actually despise most other games in the genre.

Locking playable characters and core features behind a pay-wall does NOT a "free-to-play game" make. It is the very definition of pay-to-win.

So...sorry Blizzard, but you can fuck right off. This pretty much cements my disinterest in Heroes of the Storm.

Good day to you.

 

[Vigormortis]

Yup.. now some games do this ina reasonable way...Awesomenauts restricts a few characters to their starstorm expansion but the heroes are all balanced enough that the new ones aren't op.. a couple are underpowered actually. LoL i hear rotates the free heroes over time... but DOta2 does it the best;; all heroes all the time... all game modes all the time. The only thing you pay for are announcer packs and hats

I'm honestly not a fan of the League of Legends method either. It, at best, feels only slightly less egregious to me. And in the end, it still relies heavily on either a sizable monetary investment or an even larger time investment; the latter of which makes the game far more grind-y than it need be.

Neither of these are what I consider "fun".

Awesomenauts is an exception, to a degree. Since it has such a limited roster of characters, and limited team sizes, it becomes much easier to balance around them. As a result, having characters locked in expansion packs isn't inherently bad.

 

[Ticklefist]

I'm guessing Azmodan still doesn't need his siege weapons?

 

[Paragon Fury]

They cant be serious... They do know about a couple so called games called "League of Legends" and "Dota 2" right? There is no way in hell they'd be able to compete with either of the two. For more casual user friendly play they can go to LoL where they pay SIGNIFICANTLY lower or if they want a faster paced hardcore game they can go to Dota 2 which is completely free. Honestly getting the feeling monkeys are making the business decisions up there. All hail lord gaben.

Blizzard knows what they're doing.

They have massive name brand recognition, more experience than everyone in LoL and DotA2 combined, and are setting out to make the kind of MOBA that people want to watch - not 40 minutes of PvE or splitpushing cheese but good 20 minute matches of straight up team vs. team fights and objective control.

Also, DotA2 and LoL both have their own problems. DotA is not as terribly popular as people make it out to be (though it still is a great game) and is reportedly a money loss for Valve, not a maker.

League has several problems which are all coming to a head at once. The toxic community is finally starting to break the game down from the inside, Riot seems to have no idea what the hell it is doing in terms of balance or general direction for the game, it has several awful issues (games are often decided right at champion select) and the competitive scene is about to become China vs. Korea only because Riot refuses to put regional purity rules in place (this is what killed the interest in competitive Starcraft for the most part).

As long as Blizzard remembers regional purity rules for Heroes and focuses on what makes it fun (the team fights, characters and combat) they'll do just fine.


Now......what is the cheapest way for me to get Nova+Muradin right when I get access to the game?

 

[Grumman]

I was kinda hoping this would turn out well. I'd like to get into a MOBA but the LoL/Dota communities are way too toxic for a beginner. Anyone got a new recommendation now that this is set to be priced like an EA game?

If you don't play Ranked, League of Legends is fine. I know that there are toxic degenerates who play the game, but the only time I've really run into them was when I tried the April Fools Day gamemode and they had oozed out of their mudholes to do the same.

 

[shintakie10]

Still not sure what the problem is with the prices. 5 to 10 bucks has never really felt like a huge money sink to me. Hell, I probably wouldn't be able to spend more on Heroes than I ever had on Hearthstone even with the higher prices.

Edit - And buyin the bundles just makes it cheap as shit. 3 heroes for 12 bucks? 10 heroes for 29? Those prices are easily comparable to LoL's model

 

[XenoScifi]

Can these hero's be earned over a period of time with in-game currency? If not this is a poor choice for players and will funnel out casual players. To me this will encourage more of an elite player base willing to spend a bunch of money into the game and segregate others away. Using PlanetSide2 as an example of shop items, SOE made it possible to obtain everything (minus the gold skins) of every weapon. Granted you will spend quite some time doing so, it still left options to more casual players.
I only use this as an example and in now way advertise PS2 as a perfect product, but of a way to have a cash shop and give the player options.

Just my thought on the matter.

 

[Ferisar]

Can these hero's be earned over a period of time with in-game currency? If not this is a poor choice for players and will funnel out casual players. To me this will encourage more of an elite player base willing to spend a bunch of money into the game and segregate others away. Using PlanetSide2 as an example of shop items, SOE made it possible to obtain everything (minus the gold skins) of every weapon. Granted you will spend quite some time doing so, it still left options to more casual players.
I only use this as an example and in now way advertise PS2 as a perfect product, but of a way to have a cash shop and give the player options.

Just my thought on the matter.

Yes, there are varying tiers of costs within the in-game currency system that reflects the real-money costs. Getting gold isn't the worst when you start out, although I've no idea if they changed leveling not to give you a good amount of money anymore, though. If they did, it'll be a pain because the gold you get per game is pretty bad. Dailies/account levels used to be the easiest (and only) way to get gold.

Just as an example, by level 10 you'll have 5k from leveling gold, 200-500 from dailies, 500 gold per hero leveled to 5, and any amount you may have earned from playing games. So that's like... 8~K for a couple of hours of play. The problem comes from not being able to earn it that fast afterwards, especially if leveling won't be granting gold anymore.