Heroes 2.0 has resulted in a lot of good things for the game. Twitch.tv viewership has never been higher, the hero diversity in the HGC is healthy, and the general consensus on r/heroesofthestorm has been largely positive.

However, over the last two weeks, one topic in particular has struck a nerve: Battleground rotation exhaustion.

With only 6 Battlegrounds available to play out of a possible 13, players became tired of playing the same Battlegrounds over and over. This was especially frustrating for experienced players, as the large Battleground diversity and the amount of viable heroes has traditionally been one of Heroes of the Storm's best selling points.

Heroes veterans that have recruited friends during Heroes 2.0 have been hard pressed to explain why more than half of the map pool is unavailable in all game modes, especially when among those maps are fan favorites like Dragonshire, Tomb of the Spider Queen, and Haunted Mines.

Blizzard responds

Despite the growing complaints, Blizzard still stands by its reasonings for limited Battleground rotations. In their official blog post, Blizzard hinted that 13 Battlegrounds can be “too much of a good thing”, citing a concern for new players “feeling overwhelmed by the growing number of Battlegrounds.” The upcoming solution to this problem are the following changes that represent a middle road between both concerns:

- Available Battleground per rotation will be upped from 6 to 9.
- Only three map rotations will happen per season.
- New players will always play their first game on Cursed Hollow.
- New players will gradually be introduced to all 9 Battlegrounds.

The new rotation featuring 9 Battlegrounds will start next week and feature the following Battlegrounds:

- Cursed Hollow
- Sky Temple
- Braxis Holdout
- Hanamura
- Battlefield of Eternity
- Warhead Junction
- Haunted Mines
- Tomb of the Spider Queen
- Infernal Shrines

The reaction to this news is, understandably, mixed. Veteran players still feel they are having their play experience needlessly limited, while some new players don’t understand why some Battlegrounds seen in HGC are not available in normal play.

What do you think?

Does the idea of Battleground limitations make Heroes more interesting, or do you think all Battlegrounds should always be available to play? Let us know in the comments section what you think!