If you have played Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm, one of the first things you’ll have noticed is that the game has no in-game items whatsoever. This is a very different approach compared to what the developers behind League of Legends and DotA 2 have done and while many believe that this is to help make the game easier and more approachable, there is another reason behind it.Speaking to VentureBeat in an interview, Blizzard’s Phil Gonzales stated that by not introducing in-game items, they could create new and interesting heroes that would not have to rely on items in order to be useful to their team and help them win the game. An example he gave was Abathur, a character from StarCraft who is more of a support hero than anything else.
Instead of items, Blizzard has turned to offering heroes various talents to choose from. “When we were exploring just what kind of game we were making, well, a lot of these games have item shops. But when we did it, we thought, wait, Arthas has Frostmourne. Why would he need to buy a fire sword? That’s why we started exploring the talent system, to enhance what’s already there for the characters.”
Based on this statement, it seems that gamers who are holding out for the possibility of an in-game shop to purchase items for your characters will be disappointed. Maybe in a few years Blizzard might change their mind, who knows, but for now that will not be the case.
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