by Jeremy Waxman on Apr 17, 2015
The Heroes of the Dorm tournament has provided a lot of excitement and great play from the students competing, but it's been missing something important. Namely, seemingly vital information about the state of the game. Fans have been quite vocal about their displeasure regarding the decision to over-simplify the stream, and it seems Blizzard has heard their pleas. Originally, they had been attempting to streamline the viewer experience, attempting a minimalist approach. They did this largely since the finals will be broadcast on ESPN3, and wanted to take a more traditional sports-like route when designing the broadcast. Of course, what works for traditional sports doesn't always work for eSports, and the fans made sure that was clear.
For the quarterfinal matches beginning on Saturday April 18th, the stream will feature a minimap, which was the single most glaring omission. Below is an example of how it will sometimes be utilized:
Blizzard has stated they will be unable to make any other large changes between now and the grand finals, but this is at least one very important step. You can read exactly how this change will be implemented, as well as the original thoughts behind all of the design changes for the events, right here.