Big Changes to Matchmaking, Stealth & Camera Mechanics Now on PTR

The Heroes of the Storm PTR has been updated with a host of big ticket changes coming to the game in the near future. The changes were announced earlier this month at Blizzcon, including new match-making mechanics that will rank players by tactics and performance rather than on a pure win-loss ratio.

Other game additions / tweaks that are available for testing:

• Hanzo - Overwatch's Shimada archer arrives in the Nexus, though not playable until November 27th.
• Battleground objectives will not appear for 90 seconds to give players more time to set up lane dispersion
• Numerous tweaks to maps
• Regeneration Globes are able to be snagged by either team after 3 seconds if not claimed, though despawn time has been reduced to 6 seconds
• Attacking structures don't have ammo, so they won't ever run out. However, minion damage is reduced and vision range has been increased. 
• Standalone Towers have been removed, though the other structures around where they stood have had health, granted XP and damage increased to compensate
• Forts and keeps will reveal Stealthed Heroes through "true sight"
• Minion damage is increased 10%

One of the biggest changes is in how Stealth works:

Stealth players will now become “Invisible” after remaining still for 1.5 seconds.

• Invisible Heroes will not display the Stealth visual effect and can still be removed from Stealth by taking damage. This includes Heroes under the effects of temporary Stealth effects such as Samuro’s Windwalk or Tyrande’s Shadowstalk.
• Additionally, Heroes cannot become Invisible while occupying a capture point, such as Braxis Holdout or Mercenary Camp Beacons. Instead, they will retain normal Stealth visual effects.

Lastly, the game camera height has been "significantly increased in order to provide more visibility of the battlefield". HUZZAH!

You can read the full update note on the Heroes of the Storm site.