#1 - Oct. 10, 2013, 7:19 a.m.
So, we’re going to take a different approach. In an upcoming hotfix, we’ll be removing The Crowd Chose You entirely, and replacing it with a new mechanic called Dampening. If a match should last for 10 minutes, all players in the Arena will begin to receive a stacking debuff that reduces healing done by 1% every 10 seconds. This will continue until one team is eventually able to claim the victory. In the extremely unlikely event that neither team has won after 20 minutes, the match will end in a draw.
We feel that this mechanic will have a much smaller impact on playstyle, team composition, and decision making than The Crowd Chose You, and thus result in more fun and exciting matches. We’re currently testing the hotfix internally, and will provide an update when it goes live.
================
Update: October 21st
Giving a heads up about the upcoming change to replace The Crowd Choose You with Dampening. Testing for the hotfix has completed and it’s currently scheduled to go live after with tomorrow's rolling restarts.
There's a known issue with the tooltip that will be corrected in an upcoming client-side patch. The description should read “Healing effects received reduced by X%”. This applies to all heals and absorbs. It does not affect the healing absorb of Necrotic Strike.
In addition to that, there is a hotfix that's currently undergoing testing (not ready yet) that will cause players picking up a Shadow Sight orb to receive a Faerie Fire effect.
5.4 Hotfixes: October 21
Battlegrounds and Arenas
- Arenas
- The Crowd Chose You has been removed and replaced with a debuff called Dampening.
- For Arena matches that last more than 10 minutes, all players in the Arena will begin to receive Dampening.
- Dampening is a stacking debuff applied to all players in the Arena every 10 seconds.
- Each stack of Dampening reduces all healing and damage absorption by 1%.
- If neither team has won after 20 minutes, the Arena match will end in a draw.
- Necrotic Strike's healing absorption is not affected by Dampening.