I’d say that chap with the gatling gun has a slight edge.
Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm MOBA is moving into a “technical alpha” phase, according to a new post from the developers. Participation in this stage of development will be “very limited” and is restricted to the United States at present, but with the intent to expand that pool of players over time as testing gets more extensive.
So, how do you give yourself the best chance to be involved with the alpha? The only genuine way is through an invitation email sent by Blizzard; and the only way you have a chance of getting one of those is by opting-in to the Heroes of the Storm beta through the Battle.net beta profile page.
“When prompted, you’ll need to download and run the System Check tool in order to attach your computer’s specifications to your profile and then check the Heroes of the Storm opt-in box,” it says here. You can read more about the technical alpha, and why it’s currently being restricted to the US, at the following FAQ.
The technical alpha is there for Blizzard to test out “how our infrastructure and tech will function across a much broader spectrum of machines and connection types,” so although Heroes of the Storm is said to be playable and sounds as if it has many of its final features in place, the main purpose of this period isn’t just to play around with the game. Anybody who gets an invite is likely to see “bugs and game features that are not yet implemented, as well as temporary sounds, user interface elements, and graphics.”
As soon as the technical alpha launches, Blizzard says the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) on posting videos, screenshots and all that jazz will be lifted. So expect to see a fair bit more information about the game flying around quite soon.
