[20:00] Welcome! The chat will start in a few minutes. Instructions will be given in a bit on how to participate. Thanks for your patience

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[20:04] Hello and welcome to the Dev Q&A with S2 Games! Those of us answering questions will be myself (Buro) the Lead Creative Designer, DOGKaiser the Lead Balance Designer, Idejder the Lead Technical Designer, Pandaroohoo, Wza, Seijim, Blacryu (art effects) from the HoN Design team, and Konran, the Director of HoN Operations.

[20:05] To ask questions, type /msg hon questionhere . Lets do this! Have fun!

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[20:09] ruin asked: will there be stats provided for midwars in match making?

[20:09] [S2]wza answers: there are no plans to add stats to midwars. We want to keep midwars a fun stress free environment and stats tend to make things to competitive.

[20:10] [SBT]Tedde asked: Gunblade is currently not one of the favored ranged carries. Is anything going to be done to help him out?

[20:10] [S2]Buro answers: Gunblade is one of a few ranged carries that don't see competitive play but still have a niche in public games. We make passes through heroes like this to see if there are any changes we can make to them to bring them into the scene more often and are currently working on a couple of different heroes in this regard!

[20:10] jammies asked: questionhere why hasn't nomad been adjusted for balance since (i believe) he was released? if there have been balances to him then there need to be more made

[20:10] [S2]wza answers: Nomad is currently in testing with quite a bit of changes. How many of them make it to live is yet to be seen. However keep your eyes peeled for changes to nomad.

[20:11] hamcake asked: HoN is a game with a huge amount of important game mechanics. What are your thoughts on giving balance attention to some of the rarely touched mechanics such as runes and jungle creeps?

[20:11] [S2]DOGKaiser answers: It is very important to improve upon mechanics in the game! However, they should always be done with careful consideration of everything that will happen from the changes. The near future may hold some of these changes :)

[20:11] Carelorum asked: Do you like your job? =)

[20:11] [S2]Buro answers: There is no other job I would rather be working :)

[20:13] jammies asked: questionhere why are you guys way more concerned about putting out new heroes rather than maintaining and correcting balance issues with characters and the game?

[20:13] [S2]Buro answers: We are at least equally concerned with balance as we are with putting out new heroes, we release balance patches very often (every other week) and are constantly looking to improve the balance of our game.

[20:13] WhyMonkeyKing asked: Will the forums ever include a balance review section? This would entail reasoning behind patches as well as general discussion (Between Dev's) on balance.

[20:13] [S2]wza answers: We have a lot of private forums with competitors and very solid hon players where we explain all our changes in detail. we gather their feedback and make adjustments accordingly. We have no plans on making these notes more public then we currently do,

[20:13] MateuszoFF asked: Hi! First I'd like to ask about technologies. Which programming languages do you use? Where do you store data?

[20:13] [S2]Idejder answers: We use C++ for our programming. XML and LUA are used for both hero/item scripting and interface work. We store data in .s2z files. They are compressed files that contain all of the sounds, art, and logic.

[20:15] gilly_ asked: how do you feel about the meta at the moment, and are you looking at any plans to forcefully change it, with buffs/nerfs/new items/heroes?

[20:15] [S2]wza answers: We will never force a meta change. Me and Dog make balance changes we feel are necessary and we leave the competitors to push the meta

[20:15] GLaDOS_ asked: do you ever get chance to play and enjoy your games or games from other developers

[20:15] [S2]Buro answers: We are gamers as much as we are game designers! We all play HoN on a daily basis, both in our test games and out. But we also play all sorts of games outside of HoN, I know quite a few of us are playing X-Com right now!

[20:16] vasefsa asked: I heard wza is really bad at magic, confirm/deny?

[20:16] [S2]wza answers: I am new to Magic but I am insanely good at it. I can confirm!!!!!

[20:18] vdrandom asked: Why does HoN client require Admin privileges in Windows?

[20:18] [S2]Idejder answers: Because of the way we patch, we require the admin level. With our new patcher we actually addressed that and you shouldn't have to always run the game with that level of permission anymore. The patcher itself might need it when it goes to run. Everyone's system is different, though, so exceptions happen.

[20:18] ae|wasted asked: Current competitive scene is dominated by having a hard carry in a team (tdl, fa, silh) - is there plans for new additions to these old hard carries since most of the new heroes are mid game heroes?

[20:18] [S2]wza answers: We do not determine heroes based on the competitive scene. More Hard Carries will come if thats your question and we always have many heroes in the pipeline. Im sure their is a hard carry out there

[20:18] Haargrot asked: Are there any Early game oriented items in the making? since HoN lacks somewhat those items

[20:18] [S2]Buro answers: This Friday we are releaseing a new set of items! While these items are more mid-late game, we are definitely looking to release new early game items as well. One of our next projects will very likely be one of these!

[20:19] Skypher asked: With so many alt avatars available in the game with very diverse looks, I find it's becoming increasingly hard to distinguish heroes in the game both from the models but also when looking at the portraits. How will you keep the hero looks to just become a big pool of random skins?

[20:19] [S2]seijim2 answers: Adding new avatars is something we consider carefully to try to avoid confusion while still adding cool and unique looks. One of the ways we're considering to fix these issues is to use only the normal portrait icons for the scoreboard to help identify what hero you're playing against.

[20:20] cookie_ asked: what do i need to become sbt?

[20:20] [S2]BlacRyu answers: There is a thread on the General Discussion forums titled "Community Positions - How To Apply" that contains all the information about the requirements and how to apply for access to our SBT and RCT clients.

[20:21] whoami_ asked: What advice do you have for young people (high school, college) who are interested in pursuing a job in the video game industry?

[20:21] [S2]DOGKaiser answers: First realize that it is a job and does require work. Just playing games will not make you desirable in the video game industry. Most people get hired based on who they know and what they can provide to the company whether it be balance, design, art, programming, etc.

[20:21] Helium_Prime asked: questionhere Will Oogie be re-worked or nerfed??

[20:21] [S2]Pandaroohoo answers: Oogie is still relatively new to the game and we feel needs more time to settle into the community before we make a significant change. Some changes have been considered but nothing has been finalized yet.

[20:21] Shisno1 asked: Will be ther a anti Backdoor System ?

[20:21] [S2]wza answers: Backdooring was created in Dota when a player could run past the towers and kill the throne. To Back Door is to skip towers not skipping creeps. That fix was made in dota years ago and is in our game. As far as dealing with the current definition of back dooring. Well that's already protected, its called a homecoming stone which you should always have on you.

[20:21] GLaDOS_ asked: when you worked on your first game was it like a notch founding mojang type of story or was the company already foinded

[20:21] [S2]Idejder answers: Heroes of Newerth is not S2 Games' first game. Savage was our first game and the company has existed for many years before HoN was started.

[20:22] dobu asked: can we expect some updated artwork for the next big version jump? follow-up question: will it take long for the next major version (hopefully hon 3.0)?

[20:22] [S2]Buro answers: We are very excited for some new artwork that will shortly be coming to Newerth! Expect some large changes to HoN in the next 2-3 months!

[20:22] foxkeeper asked: [is there any way to find a team for hontour ?]

[20:22] [S2]Buro answers: Yes there is! Check here for more information: http://hontour.com/news/view/63/

[20:23] cortezz asked: will banlisting people have some effect in matchmaking in future?

[20:23] [S2]Idejder answers: It is unlikely that the banlist will change how matchmaking pairs people together. The reason is because people could abuse the system to force themselves to not get paired up against specific people.

[20:24] gaysse asked: are we gonna see a nurf to draconis any time soon?

[20:24] [S2]wza answers: Draconis has recently recieved the following nerfs: - Blazing Flight: Linger time lowered from 5 seconds to 4 seconds. We also have a few more in the pipeline that you guys should be seeing in the next few weeks

[20:26] <@[S2]Buro> We've just release a Dev Blog for our new set of items being released tomorrow! Check it out here: http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?456367-New-Item-Lightbrand-Launches-Oct-12!

[20:26] Yeti asked: Just how much of extra burden it takes to make the game Linux/Mac compatible? Any ratios on the user base of these platforms?

[20:26] [S2]Idejder answers: It is not so much a huge burden as it is a large time investment. We had to make a completely different graphical renderer and our update/patching process is vastly different on those operating systems. When we change how we do things on the backend we always have to do extra testing with these two OSs, so again it comes down to just more time is needed to make sure it all

[20:26] <@[S2]Idejder> it all works :P

[20:27] ANAL_KING69 asked: Yea, hi. Ummm basically just want to know if we can expect any bloodhunter changes in the upcoming weeks? I really want to use him for hontour and I feel like maybe witha small buff to his ultimate he may be useful. thoughts?

[20:27] [S2]wza answers: I love bloodhunter to but Milkfat has demanded that no more changes can be done to bloodhunter and I want to respect his wishes! :)

[20:28] Nin] asked: hi. I absolutely love the game. But I really have a big problem with the majority of the community. Everyone rages all the time, acts immature, flames, provokes. In my eyes, this is too common a problem. Do you have any solutions to controlling player attitudes outside of the player-report system?

[20:28] [S2]Buro answers: We are very aware of this concern and have a few things in the works to get this fixed, hopefully they will be implimented in the next couple months!

[20:29] Banish asked: how long did it take to build the game from the beginning to the first release?

[20:29] [S2]Idejder answers: The game was in development for about 3 years before it's retail release. I believe about 18 months of that was spent re-writing and updating our engine.

[20:31] Osian asked: 1. New api service is close, as maide has announced already. I know that I am very excited about it :) I know that you can not tell exactly but could we perhaps get a rough estimate (pretty please) what is the status of it. Will new api service me release in matter of day, weeks or months?

[20:31] [S2]Idejder answers: While it is on the list, we are currently working on making sure HoNTour works well. :)

[20:31] Haargrot asked: is S2 looking into buffing(rework?) Spellshards anytime soon?

[20:31] [S2]seijim2 answers: Spellshards is an item we're considering to buff/rework.

[20:31] mablepon asked: Why did you choose to make hon completely free-to-play? Wouldn't a rotating schedule of free heroes like you had earlier be better for new players, accustoming them to certain ones before throwing more at them?

[20:31] [S2]Buro answers: We made HoN F2P in order to open our game to a larger community and we've added gated mode and made it the default option for new players since then to give them a limited hero pool to learn before they venture into the over 100 heroes we have already!

[20:31] Dirty_ asked: Hello there, This question is to whomever can question, Have you guys reviewed the patch from 6.75 Dota and if so, How do you feel about Dota2's approach to balancing their game? is there anything you from their balancing you would apply to hons heroes or at least share the same style in terms of for the most part buffing most things in the game?

[20:31] [S2]wza answers: yes we look at dota changes and we keep an eye out on what everyone in our genre is doing. However we shape our game without the influences of any other game on the scene. we do what we feel is right for hon and thats that.

[20:32] flp123 asked: in what programming languages is hon written in?

[20:32] [S2]Idejder answers: C++. XML and LUA for scripting and UI work.

[20:32] The_darkshendi_ asked: Is there any new alt avatar comming up?

[20:32] [S2]BlacRyu answers: We are releasing new avatars weekly. Look for new Halloween themed avatars to be released throughout the rest of this month!

[20:33] Ray__ asked: will the XML API come back ?

[20:33] [S2]Idejder answers: That is the current plan! No timeline on that though. Disclaimer: Plans change! haha

[20:33] VoteForGaryJohn asked: What do you think about stormspirit as the only non-absorbtion defensive item in the game? Do you think it is balanced? Are there any plans to rework it, and/or add in another item with similar defensive properties?

[20:33] [S2]DOGKaiser answers: Shrunken Head and Void Talisman are also non-absorbtion items to magical and physical damage but still allow the player to move around. No there are no plans on reworking it as it is one of the few things in the game that can prevent perma CC

[20:33] germ-x asked: when is SW going to get reworked and what possible changes have you already tried?

[20:33] [S2]wza answers: we have a few heroes that we are looking to rework or change in some way. Sand wraith has not evaded us. However testing reworks or massive changes takes a long time and we are trying to produce quality reworks some time soon

[20:34] Haargrot asked: there any heroes that S2 are unhappy about and that are in an need of rmk like the old Vindicator?

[20:34] [S2]Pandaroohoo answers: There are no heroes in the game that we as designers are unhappy with, however hero reworks are always being considered to improve the experience for both teammates and opponents

[20:34] flp123 asked: Is thee games hosted on linux-servers? what OS?

[20:34] [S2]Idejder answers: The game servers are hosted on Windows boxes. You can play on Mac, Linux, or Windows boxes. We have all 3 clients for you to download for free.

[20:34] jammies asked: what kind of feedback have you gotten on solstice? i personally feel he is in need a big nerf. i've found him to be very op in his current form.

[20:34] [S2]Buro answers: Solstice is doing very well right now and is currently being looked at for balance

[20:35] ^r asked: Is this Dog?

[20:35] [S2]Idejder answers: DOG HERE

[20:38] encaitor asked: When is Silhouette gonna be adressed? 2 Escapes, 1 reliable stun, 1 big nuke, 1 carry steroid, farming potential and 600 range?

[20:38] [S2]wza answers: Silhouette is another hero that is being watched closely. She has also been one of the heroes who has seen an incredible amount changes. But look at the next few patch notes carefully you might see something there!!!

[20:38] WAAAAdUUUUUp asked: I don't know if this is a stupid question, but I haven't been able to find out about this on the interwebz, so I was wondering: How many teams in total are going to be in the HoN tournament @ DreamHack Winter? And will there be more ways to qualify after the Destination Dreamhack?

[20:38] [S2]Idejder answers: 10 teams will be attending. Sadly there are no more ways to qualify Destination dreamhack

[20:40] Angels-Mela asked: Have you fixed most of the bugs in Hon? I remember when I played it months ago it had plenty of.

[20:40] [S2]Idejder answers: We have taken a lot of time to fix a lot of bugs and issues with the game, so give it another try and things should be a lot better!

[20:41] kokoko asked: I feel like the mechanics of the heroes are always the same. Could you not create new features, like, an aoe spell that makes heroes slide (reverse of a slow), or heroes that can create "buildings" like tremble, but with new features ?

[20:41] [S2]Buro answers: We are always looking to answer new and unique mechanics to HoN, and we have definitely been adding new ones! An aoe sliding area is something we've had in testing before and has certainly not been ruled out for a hero, the same with creating new and unique "buildings"!

[20:42] The_darkshendi_ asked: What do u think about different HoN mods,including texture alternations etc...?

[20:42] [S2]BlacRyu answers: We love modifications of course! For those who don't know, I was a modder for years before I was hired to work here at S2. I mostly played around with changing hero's textures and spell effects. I did it all for fun, but my passion eventually led to me being hired by S2, so if you are interested in modding you should definitely give it all you've got!

[20:42] encaitor asked: Do I need to reapply on the forums if I want to be moved from RCT to SBT? Or can I just try to join a tryout?

[20:42] [S2]wza answers: You can send a private notification to de_troyed who handles all SBT to RCT transfers

[20:42] Tharuler asked: How do you feel about the new lockpick system, has it given you the new dynamic you were looking for?

[20:42] [S2]DOGKaiser answers: Yes it has given a new dynamic we were looking for and has caused players to evaluate their picks on a very different level. Lockpick still has a ways to go but some of that will require a shifting meta (not a forced meta) for it to really shine.

[20:43] Hei asked: Do you think lightbrand will change the current meta?

[20:43] [S2]Buro answers: It is extremely difficult to tell whether or not Lightbrand will affect the meta-game. It will not be purchasable in tournament mode for a little while right after its release, but it definitely has the potential to spark a shift in the way many heroes are played.

[20:43] Chrushi asked: Are you planning more Heroes changing with day/night?

[20:43] [S2]wza answers: We have no plans on looking into the day/night system with any heroes.

[20:43] Lolfail__ asked: Who do you see picking up Lightbrand and its built items? Especially the Grimoire that only seems to increase raw damage with little utility. How will it be preferred over items like Hellflower, FWS and Sheepstick?

[20:43] [S2]seijim2 answers: Any int hero looking to carry may pick up Grimoire of Power. It helps you farm much faster similar to how a runed cleaver can be a good pickup on a melee carry.

[20:43] [SBT]Tedde asked: Are there any plans to improve the graphics on the buildings ingame? The huts and towers tend to look outdated compared to everything else ingame

[20:43] [S2]Buro answers: There are indeed! :)

[20:44] Artagel|Talen asked: What do you intend to do as a developer in order to make the beginner experience more tolerable - starting people at 1500 just doesn't work out, casual wont teach them how to play and midwars is just a fun mode, there has to be some better way to allow people to ease into the game than this

[20:45] [S2]Buro answers: This is a very large concern for us and a couple of our current projects are designed to remedy this issue. Look for an overhaul to the new-player experience in the near future of HoN!

[20:46] jammies asked: how can you abuse the banlist feature? the whole point of it is so you don't have the people on your banlist in the game you're playing. why wouldn't it not carry over to matchmaking so you don't get stuck with people who ruin the game for everyone?

[20:46] [S2]Idejder answers: Think about if you were, for example, a very highly ranked player. You could put people who you feel are better than you on your list so you don't have to play against them. This is counter to how we want the system to work.

[20:46] Muxas asked: Do Buro miss RCT crew?

[20:46] [S2]Buro answers: I do miss my RCT days :)

[20:47] FalcoT asked: What has been the hardest hero to balance properly so far?

[20:47] [S2]wza answers: We feel like Silhouette and Sandwraith have been the hardest to balance.

[20:47] FaKiE asked: To buro... where is the long anticipated donkey hero?

[20:47] [S2]Buro answers: I have been working tirelessly on creating a donkey hero, but my efforts have so far not been fruitful!

[20:50] _anton asked: Any ETA/update on the lags that appears for .EU players?

[20:50] [S2]Idejder answers: We have been working with our hosting centers to clear up any issues that are arising. Usually the delay is from a bad routing node or hosting companies. We send a lot of packets with our game so it takes a company time to adjust.

[20:50] TomTomsen asked: Will there be new staffofthemaster-buffs added to all of the heros someday?

[20:50] [S2]Buro answers: Ideally most if not all heroes would have a unique Staff of the Master effect and we are going to be slowly adding new effects to heroes.

[20:50] PanzerXIII asked: What is your opinion of the concede function? I feel that it only takes away from the experience. That one specific other game is removing the ability to concede, and many say it's improved the game. What do you think?

[20:50] [S2]Pandaroohoo answers: There are both ups and downs to allowing or removing the option to concede. The concede feature allows teams to save time and frustration when they feel the game is no longer worth playing but sometimes at the cost of the victor's enjoyment. We are not looking to remove the system entirely however we are looking to make a significant change to it.

[20:52] Lolfail__ asked: In the Lightbrand video, you said "burning light" and "frozen light", yet in the post it says "searinglight" and "frozenlight", which is correct?

[20:52] [S2]Buro answers: The video was created earlier, and the item has since been renamed to Searinglight and will be going out with that name tomorrow!

[20:52] Gopher42 asked: What engine does HoN use?

[20:52] [S2]Idejder answers: Our own custom in-house engine. We have been working on it for years and updated it significantly for HoN

[20:52] Haargrot asked: When are some of the newer heroes going to be released to the lockpick pool?

[20:52] [S2]Buro answers: Tomorrow! =D

[20:53] GLaDOS_ asked: from the start to end how long on average does it take to code a patch

[20:53] [S2]Idejder answers: That depends on the patch. Some of them are quick and art-based, others have a lot of deep-level changes that require hours of testing for those features alone.

[20:53] thedopefish asked: I don't have a question right now, but I wanted to say thank you for your commitment to cross-platform support. hon has become the go-to game for many of my coworkers and friends largely because we're a mix of windows, mac, and linux gamers. Thanks!

[20:53] [S2]wza answers: Thank you very much sir your words mean a lot!

[20:54] Anghkor asked: Scale of one to fun, how good of a time are you guys having right now?

[20:54] [S2]Pandaroohoo answers: Were having a blast =D, Most of these questions are rather fun to answer.

[20:54] GLaDOS_ asked: are you going to do a halloween event (adding quests and other items for halloween)

[20:54] [S2]Idejder answers: You will see tomorrow when Halloween overtakes Newerth! FrakenKongor returns!

[20:55] The_darkshendi_ asked: Will the update shceldue change from friday to Any other day?

[20:55] [S2]Idejder answers: Currently no, we have our whole schedule worked out to patch on Friday mornings

[20:55] thedrizzt asked: [have you thought about adding a mana stealing attack modifier item? now that oogie has that ability, i feel it should be brought into the game somehow.]

[20:55] [S2]Buro answers: We have no current plans of an item doing this, but it is an interesting idea!

[20:56] mafiozos22 asked: anybody here?

[20:56] [S2]Kros answers: Yep!

[20:58] Cvein asked: Will you be making more balance patch-type videos as you did with Honcast like 'back in the day?' Or will it be mostly stuff like this?

[20:58] [S2]DOGKaiser answers: Hopefully we can with the new studio :)

[20:58] zid asked: Does grimoire essentially deprecate spellshards?

[20:58] [S2]Buro answers: Grimoire certainly has some overlap with spellshards, however they do each have a different role in the game. Also look for a tweak to spellshards to help it out a bit in a couple weeks :)

[20:59] Reldnahc asked: Who is the tallest S2 staff member?

[20:59] [S2]Kros answers: Probably Buro

[21:00] kokoko asked: any new announcer pack on the way ? :)

[21:00] [S2]Buro answers: We have a very sexy announcer pack on the horizon~!

[21:01] Thenewplague asked: will you be able to fix the bug where heroes manage to get over cliffs if they are blocked etc?

[21:01] [S2]Kros answers: Its a tough problem to solve in that we don't want people getting legitimately stuck. Its something we look into fixing when we can though!

[21:01] TheMeister asked: EA avatars (the very old ones) are becoming exceedingly rare. Even more so then Gold Collection avatars. Is there a slight chance that these avatars could be released for a high gold price (800) for a limited time?

[21:01] [S2]Buro answers: I don't believe we have any plans of re-releasing these.

[21:04] WAAAAdUUUUUp asked: Thanks for the answer, but I'm afraid you misread my question. I asked what possibilities of qualifying will there be AFTER Destination Dreamhack, if any? And what teams are currently qualified? Are coL and tdM the only ones, and then there will be four from Destination Dreamhack, but where will the remaining 4-5 teams come from?

[21:04] [S2]Idejder answers: There are none. After Destination Dreamhack there will be 10 teams and no more added. Not sure on the teams off the top of my head.

[21:05] wizard007 asked: are you going to rework/balance the heroes that you decided to buff/change on the survey earlier this year (chronos/gemnie/sand wraith)?

[21:05] [S2]Buro answers: Yes we are! Tweaking one or more of those heroes will be an upcoming project!

[21:06] WinterCore asked: How does the new items Lightbrand mechanisms work ? You gain stacking bonus damage per hit or per cast ?

[21:06] [S2]Idejder answers: When you have a Lightbrand and attack, it puts a DoT on the person you hit and everyone around that target. The DoT stacks up to 3 if you keep attacking. It is only on autoattacks.

[21:09] Kae_ asked: what hero do you think will be the next big thing to hit the competitive scene, and which hero might make a big comeback?

[21:09] [S2]wza answers: I have seen a lot of teams scrimming with Kinesis and for a hero making a come back id have to say Wildsoul. Wildsoul was doing work awhile back and the comp scene has finally brought him back which im glad to see. Wildsoul has a lot of verstility.

[21:10] Lodir17 asked: Who creates the music for the game - is it all pre-purchased or do you have a specific person to do the music for you?

[21:10] [S2]Kros answers: The majority of our sound work is done in house by [S2]SoundWizard

[21:10] Cvein asked: How many staff members are there in S2 now? How many does work for S2? How many was it in the start? =)

[21:10] [S2]Idejder answers: I don't know an exact number but in design there are three creative, two balance, one technical. Two Q&A and an effects designer. I know at the start when I was hired we had about 18 people and have easily tripled since then.

[21:10] kura125 asked: [What hero was for you the hardest to create ?]

[21:10] [S2]Pandaroohoo answers: Hard to say what hero was the "hardest" can't quite put our finger on one hero. Some were definitely more challenging than others however also more fun to work with. As for recent heroes, we found the balance of Ravenor to be very difficulty but the design achieved very easily but the opposite with heroes like Rally. We encourage you to watch our Dev Blogs to see the specific challenges we encountered when creating certain heroes.

[21:12] thePank asked: Could you guys please reference (in game) that votekicking is not a reportable offense, such as putting in a button alongside the other ones like "backdooring" stating it is not a reportable offense?

[21:12] [S2]wza answers: Back Dooring is not reportable but we have no plans on implementing anything in game to tell them of that.

[21:12] forzoltan asked: considering that the meta game goes through dramatic shifts and that often those shifts occur due in part to large nerfs on "Unbalanced" heroes (ie slither, midas, torturer, sand wraith just to name a few) these heroes are never(or seldom) often seen again in competitive mode. do you feel that such heroes have been re balanced properly even if we still don't see them on the comp scene?

[21:12] [S2]Buro answers: We believe that most of these heroes are in a good spot. Balancing heroes is a very difficult job, especially with changing meta, while one hero may be very strong in a specific meta game, when that meta changes it may shift out. One hero specifically that has seen nerfs is Hellbringer, and has since been rebuffed to his previous form but hasen't seen competitive play for a while since the re-buff.

[21:14] Haruhi_sos asked: Will urls ever be clickable/copy-able in the game interface?

[21:14] [S2]Pandaroohoo answers: Chat optimizations have been long awaited and is actually one of our projects in the works, i cannot say if this specific functionality will be available but the system as a whole is being looked at for improvement.

[21:16] TMM__ asked: Dear developers, A while ago, you promised to implement requeing with a group if the game does not form up. When are you going to chance this? Up till now, if the game doesnt start, you have to open the group again and have to invite everyone AGAIN

[21:16] [S2]Idejder answers: I actually heard Bangerz say he wants to make all the chat copy-able soon. Hurrah!

[21:16] <@[S2]Idejder> Wrong answer go me

[21:16] <@[S2]Idejder> sorry!

[21:16] Slipy_toad asked: Will there be any nerfs to moraxus? I am not a complainer just wondering if its ok to tank 5 people without items. He is killable in competetive, but there is still public

[21:16] [S2]DOGKaiser answers: Heroes definitely have their ups and downs in high and low games and it is difficult adjusting them for one without removing them from the other scene.

[21:17] spire asked: [Are there going to be any new items ?]]

[21:17] [S2]Buro answers: http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?456367-New-Item-Lightbrand-Launches-Oct-12!

[21:18] Haargrot asked: Any plans on cleaning up the older originale models such as Legionnaire for alot of the older heroes have somewhat outdated compared to newer heroes?

[21:18] [S2]Buro answers: We do have a plan to re-skin a lot of the older heroes! These re-textures should be coming out as they get finished!

[21:20] Skyve asked: what is the likelihood of S2 going out of their way and attempting to incentivize less common strategies in the future (ie, by buffing/changing heroes to better fill certain niches that are useful to whatever strategy), rather than nerfing key elements of prevalent strategies, which is what has seemed to be the practice so far?

[21:20] [S2]DOGKaiser answers: With the coming of HoN Tour their will be dedicated patches in between seasons that should help shape new strategies. These patches will not only focus on balance but also attempt to improve the mechanics of HoN itself.

[21:21] Slipy_toad asked: By creating new heroes and their abilities, are you planning to create different shapes of magic attacks (like cone, straight lane, circle), it could affect the positioning of players ingame :p

[21:21] [S2]Idejder answers: We always are looking for cool and unique ways to accomplish the goals of a hero. New mechanics have both the benefit of being flashy and new and unique, but the downside of adding to the burden of knowledge a player needs to know in order to fight that hero. It is sometimes better to stay simple and easier for everyone.

[21:21] ChristofferH asked: Have you thought about making it easier for casual gamers to play more competetively, i.e. getting into a team and such!

[21:21] [S2]Buro answers: HoNTour is intended to help casual and competitive players get into the competitive scene! http://hontour.com/news/view/63/

[21:21] hamcake asked: Idejder can we get a more sane version number for RCT next week please

[21:21] [S2]Idejder answers: Sure, haha.

[21:22] FaKiE asked: On the topic of chat, are there any plans to fix the chatserver, implement proper irc-esque channel management, etc.?

[21:22] [S2]Deejay answers: Yes, but not in the near future.

[21:23] Muxas asked: Are we gonna see old mechanics back? such as kraken ult or engi turret

[21:23] [S2]wza answers: we do look at old abilities but I can say that old engi ult and Kraken ult will never see the light of day at least not in the same way they were.

[21:24] k44s asked: Any plans on making a queue system that replaces a disconnected player after a match is found? It's annoying that you have to group up and queue again for a new match instead of that player just being replaced by the next player waiting in queue

[21:24] [S2]Deejay answers: RE: Replacing disconnected players. It's a possibility once bots are released, but there's no definite plans right now.

[21:25] SupahNoob asked: Any leaks on stats for Lightbrand or the other new items? <3

[21:25] [S2]Idejder answers: Lightbrand gives 16 int and 3 regen. Fire+Light gives 16 Agi/Int, 14% movespeed, 20 Attackspeed, and 5 mana regen. Fire+Ice is 16 str/int, 10 damage, 5 mana regen.

[21:26] Haargrot asked: how are the Bots coming along?

[21:26] [S2]Deejay answers: Good.

[21:26] Skyve asked: any chances for a community inspired hero in the near future? or maybe a contest? :)

[21:26] [S2]Pandaroohoo answers: We have a dream and hero draft section both available to our community that is well kept by its contributors and moderators. We do look at the hero concepts and discussions regularly however don't have time to comment on them. The concept of one of our recent test abilities was actually inspired by one of your many commitments Skyve.

[21:26] horizon asked: With Lightbrand finally in a good place, is there any plans for spell-vamp in any other items? I was most excited for this mechanic and now it's gone...

[21:26] [S2]Buro answers: We ran into a lot of problems with the testing of spell-vamp on Lightbrand, It would be a really cool mechanic to add to an item, but would need the perfect implimentation. Imagine spell-vamp on Oogie!!!!!

[21:27] qexy asked: Is lightbrand an AM?

[21:27] [S2]Idejder answers: Nope! The slowing part of Frozen Light/ Dawnbringer is the Attack Modifier (as it currently is now for Frostburn)

[21:28] s3ph asked: Are there any smurfing discouraging systems coming in the near future? Besides that max accounts per IP? I believe using high player lvl filter (lvl 20) or so would help, What do you guys think about this?

[21:28] [S2]Deejay answers: We've definitely had some big discussions on ways to discourage smurfing and griefing. It's on our radar and we have some plans that we're moving forward on internally, but nothing that we want to talk about yet.

[21:29] BuSTeR_ asked: Hello, I would like to know if HoN might support low end computer such as the last generation of agp with integrated video?

[21:29] [S2]Deejay answers: We've just had two major patches that reduce HoN's system requirements. One of our programmers does actually run on a machine using an AGP graphics card, so it's definitely possible. It is below our posted system requirements, though, so we don't actually support it.

[21:29] Enderman asked: can you make more female heroes/skins have jumping boobs like ophelia's?

[21:29] [S2]wza answers: there is nothing wrong with more boobs but that is on our content team and im sure they have some boobalicious babes on the way

[21:32] Kae_ asked: is it a balance or technical issue that allows heroes to attack a hero with void tali activated, yet single target skills are unable to be cast on Shrunken Head hero

[21:32] [S2]Idejder answers: That was actually scripted to be that way. The firstion iteration of Void Talisman didn't even let you attack them. When you right clicked on them you just looked at them funny and stood there. It was really bad feedback, so we changed it to let you attack but always miss. This way you get feedback about what is happening.

[21:32] Slipy_toad asked: Last question from me for DOGKaiser (just because I like you the most). Do you think that Blitz is a bad hero as most of the players (also pro players) say? What would you change about him, what does he lack? I personally love that hero, he`s just a bit squishy.

[21:32] [S2]DOGKaiser answers: No, Blitz is not as bad as people make him out to be. He does however require a very different skill set and play style than many other heroes and gankers. Habits can be hard to break and is probably a large reason why Blitz is viewed as a bad hero. What would change on him is typically what you will see in patch notes :)

[21:33] Vr_ asked: how hard is it for a new player to start playing HoN off the bat, and join or be invited to a team?

[21:33] [S2]wza answers: Being a new player in hon can be a bit overwhelming. There is a lot to learn and most of it can only be gathered through playing over and over. However there is a lot of information on our forums and a ton of people on reddit who are always talking strategy and or ways to improve their game play

[21:34] BuSTeR_ asked: The last time I played hon was about 8 months ago, so the "AGP Patch" after February?

[21:34] [S2]Deejay answers: Our DirectX memory reduction patch happened a few weeks back, and the OpenGL/Mac/Linux patch happened last week, so give it another shot!

[21:34] MagicHereos asked: One simple question: I've never heard of S2games, and HoN. Could you say me one, in your mind best thing of your game and reason why I should check this game?:-)

[21:34] [S2]Buro answers: You should check out Heroes of Newerth because it provides an awesome pvp experience in which every single game you play will be unique and interesting!. You may customize the way you play completely differently from game to game allowing you to play whatever playstyle you enjoy most!

[21:34] Haargrot asked: are there any more items to come that will need Dancing blade , Snake braclet , Axe of the malphai ?

[21:34] [S2]wza answers: not currently no

[21:35] Tsutae_ asked: Did DreamHoN die or are you still looking at the heroes created by the community for inspiration/ideas?

[21:35] [S2]Idejder answers: We still look at DreamHoN and use it for a lot of ideas. It is not dead at all and still important to us.

[21:37] LekeFly asked: Downloading client with a amazing speed of 40KB/s.. OSX.. thanks! :-)

[21:37] [S2]Deejay answers: You're welcome!

[21:41] Ray__ asked: there has been a longstanding bug with the messaging system if you hand type a username with the wrong caption ( upper case / lower case ) and you dont see the response but you get the red number indicating a new message has arrived, but you canÄt see it

[21:41] [S2]Deejay answers: I haven't heard of that before. Can you send me reproduction steps, dj at s2games.com, and I'll take a look?

[21:41] Muxas asked: We have attack modifiers , will there ever be strong defense items to be considered as defense modifiers ?

[21:41] [S2]Pandaroohoo answers: The concept of a significant defense item could yield some creative results, the idea isn't foreign between our boots system, firebrand, magic armor or attack modifiers. We have to thank you for the idea, it is something that deserves a proper discussion for our design team.

[21:43] AnaL`oL asked: Why was Geometers bane changed on Magebane?

[21:43] [S2]DOGKaiser answers: We are looking to make illusions in general to be less effective with heroes abilities but still be able to apply them.

[21:48] Pollywank asked: I've noticed you run your site on some kind of forum board, but what do you use for the front page? Is it own made or do you use an CMS for that as well?

[21:48] [S2]Deejay answers: Everything aside from the forums is made internally, I believe.

[21:48] Boffaroffe asked: Plans/progression with LAN hosting/custom maps? I recall this was a hot topic like 3(?) years ago and you were working on it (2.0 will fix it)?

[21:48] [S2]Deejay answers: Nothing to report on currently.

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[21:44] Alright guys. We are going to end the Q and A session now.

[21:45] Thank you all very much for attending and thanks to S2games for doing this chat with us

[21:45] The channel will be unmoderated after a while

[21:45] Feel free to stick around talk about HoN

[21:45] Have a nice evening and untill the next!