Hs is kinda expensive just to “enjoy a few games here and there”. If thats blizzards vision on hs then the price will have to come down. Thats last thing i say about it.
The things you said are somewhat true. Games are most fun When new and when learning the game. But hs is not the type of game that can settle for these short term casual players,they will never get to the stage of spending money consitently.
Something to think about.
2 Likes
Definitively, played are too demanding.
Google game design, crunch, and unions. Designers are treated like garbage.
There are certianly valid complaints to be had but more often than not with a few exceptions (tess nerf and attempt to not refund or revert it, lack of action on big priest, etc) I feel the issues with the game are greatly exaggerated. Most of the blubbering comes off as just that, blubbering. People treat the game like a job and take it way too seriously and take things way too personally. At the end of the day this is a luxury and any complaints you have fall under “first world problems”, so it’d be nice if people actually provided more level headed posts with some self awareness. Not saying you can’t have any emotional reaction but if you’re foaming at the mouth over a game you really need to calm down and check your behavior.
3 Likes
My replies are not directed to the posters but a sharing of my views on the subject
While the post title seems so, the context of the post wishes to view the subject at both angles and in between. More importantly, it seeks to bring more understanding to everyone. Feel free to input your thought.
As explained in the 1st post, there are limitations/ restraints that may not be understood by most players.
Using an example, there was a nerf/balance change prior to a scheduled tournament. Initial rules was that since the players had their decks locked in, not further changes are allowed. While there was a reasonable reaction to allow the decks changes later, it left the players with very limited time to react. (behind the scene, we can suspect alot of the complexity that can fit into the understanding of how it happened)
However, such limitations/ restraints should not be an excuse for a professional delivery.
While there are the usual ‘negative’ posts and such, there are also numerous valid posts and concerns that requires more attention and replies.
I believe a portion of players does enjoy the game as it is and have fun with it. However, there is also another portion that are not able to enjoy the game as it is, due to the possible valid reasons.
One of the major failing I observe, is the failure to keep in pace with the demand of its player-base, or other wise manage that expectation.
Like a popular restaurant, despite the long queue at it’s door, that can only serve 10 tables at a time. If it cannot manage it’s potential customers professionally, then the customers will naturally get angry and loses faith.
3 Likes
Fair enough! My opinion about how to approach this subject is something I feel strongly about, but as long as we’re in agreement about not shutting people down because “I’M OBJECTIVELY CORRECT ABOUT THE GAME”, I appreciate your encouragement of critical opinions. 
1 Like
Thank you. I believe we all have some valid views to share, only restricted by our ability to properly and clearly express them.
When we do take time to look at things in a cool down state and provide more details of our views, we can provide very worthy posts.
2 Likes
Why do they have an officially RERELEASED forum if they just look at Reddit anyway …
the closest to Achievements are back skins; no way to purchase them, not much of an achievement as you need to have been there at some specific time; more like an event prize;
Tournament mode, meh; you really can
just organize tournaments yourself without the need of altering the code;
visually, the game has been the same for all this time, except each expansion adds a new field with interactions;
in terms of presentation, I don’t know what could be altered in an appealing way; I stand that it doesn’t matter as much as offering a balanced, enjoyable and not as expensive product, which is why the playerbase probably decreased, other than stale and lack of developement on projects the developers stated they were working on (which doesn’t surprise me all too much as I could somewhat confirm how much ThundraRhinoEating Crab they make up and try to feed to their community, which is also partly why I stopped preordering).
May not be relevant but I heard that last year blizzard laid off a portion of its employees to only have the same positions offered to new recruits later on. To me the business model is definitely more profit driven than customer oriented.
On a subjectively level I consider game balance more important than meeting the deadline to have new products (I.e. expansions) rolled out.
I would much prefer if they could keep the same old model of 2 expansion and 1 adventure. The high cost is definitely the number one thing that drives players away. No, I don’t think the players are too demanding, as we are experiencing some of the same issues as we have in the past, albeit in different forms.
At the end of the day, I understand where the dev’s come from: rushing out a product in order to meet the deadline.
However, it is the business model that made it more demanding for the dev’s, not the players.
3 Likes
Maybe one of the isues is that hs wants to appeal to a very broad range of players.
Its been said before in this thread by other people:you cant always please everyone. That’s a very fair point and I fully agree with that. So why try to seek to please everyone? Why try to have a deck for each of the different types of players.
The young short attention span (no insult!) type of player that wants spectatular effects without having to think to much about the game has different desires then the hardcore ccg fan with a mtg background. Hearthstone tries to please both,at least that’s how I feel it is.
But that is impossible! Because while you can design individual decks that 100% satisfy those players desires,they will still all come together in the ladder environment. The hardcore ccg fan has to accept that a certain percentage of his games are against decks and mechanics that he does not enjoy very much.
And the same goes for the casual player. He has to accept that a certain percentage of his games is against decks that he hates but that satisfy a different audience,decks like quest rogue,raza priest and even dr boom warrior. This goes beyond the diversion into agro/combo/control. Its not so that hardcore fans hate agro and only like control. Hardcore ccg fans like agro as well but it has to be not to easy,not things like scales.
When trying to please everyone,in the end no one gets pleased for 100%.
I think this might be behind the numerous complaints about decks that come up after every single expansion. Every different group complains about the deck that they hate but that a different group does like. I don’t know,maybe I read to much into this but this feels like it could be an underlying reason for at least some of the complaints about decks,mechanics and archetypes.
2 Likes
This was one of the ‘feeling’ I have about the current (standard) game as well.
I am considered a newbie to CCG. HS appeals to me with it’s WOW background and the simplicity it has over other card games, built on basic fundamental such as resource management, value trading, strategic placements, etc.
However, my current observations about the game’s design is the increasing confusion players faces.
-
How many times are we face with a situation that we knew it is pointless to continue a game to it’s end?
-
Does those basic fundamentals even applies to any significance anymore?
-
How do players relate to statements made by Dev (past and present) with today’s game?
Using a simple questions:
What do player envision HS will be like in 3-5years?
What do Dev envision HS will be like in 3-5years?
Will they match?
While, yes, the fact that HS can appeal to a broad range of players, casual and hardcore (resulting in trying to please everyone means no one gets pleased for 100%), we must not let that be an excuse for not implementing features that have been long requested.
Fleshing out a proper achievements system can only benefit everyone, and will retain players, though, the effect is likely long term and won’t be seen immediately. There is so much more that could be done in terms of stat tracking/match history that is a standard in other CCGs, and yet I was disappointed when they announced that “stat tracking” in the Dalaran Heist was one of the “highly requested features”.
In the past year, Blizzard have made some unprecedented changes such as a whole set of buffs to cards, and we hope they are more receptive of making more sweeping updates to the game, since they’ve said they have done work behind the scenes that makes the game much easier to patch than before.
But will these changes just rub the players the wrong way, as yet another thing that’s trying to sell us content, rather than fixing the glaring missing features and UI that have been requested time and time again?
1 Like
I find that I have only a couple of real what I would call “gripes” about Hearthstone.
-
Developer communication is abysmally bad. Always has been. Communication is a big deal, and Team5 always seems to treat it as an afterthought at best. This is an area where Team5 can be legitimately criticized for doing a bad job.
-
Lack of new game modes for the game. CCGs are modular games by design, and are built to accommodate different rules and modes. Hearthstone hasn’t had a new mode for a looong time … but we’ve gotten several re-hashes of Dungeon Runs. Some of the Dungeon Runs have been good fun and there’s nothing “wrong” with them … but they are not really what players want. I don’t think people were really jonesing for the Dalaran Heist … and I certainly have very little interest in the announced Tomb Raid thing. So why do we keep getting Dungeon Run 2.0 game modes when players would be much better served with a Tournament Mode … “Fun” mode … “Pauper” mode … 2 Headed Giant … and a ton of other modes that are standard CCG fare?
The only answer that makes any sense is that Team5 is being kind of lazy and prefers to slap a new coat of paint on a mode they’ve trotted out already and can duplicate more easily. I wish I was wrong there … but I don’t see how.
1 Like