None of y’all are addressing a SINGLE thing this player has mentioned. Every reply is basically a joke, and i wonder why any effort was even taken to post when everything being said is irrelevant, and in some cases, by those admittedly lacking true experience in the game.
Let me firstly note that i have played BG since its inception in late fall of 2019 and i have avidly played all 5 years, minus ~5ish months late 2023. I played all of the modes consistently (except Mercenaries; yuck) and passionately — to say i am familiar with the game is an understatement.
I have observed A LOT of changes to Hesrthstone, beginning when the Arena was revamped, with the singular legendary becoming first pick, that mode became 100% gate-kept and impossible. By AI, by hired goons, who knows? I suspect AI.
Shortly thereafter, at the same time Duos mode launched, i noticed some extremely peculiar behavior as well.
I am going to sum this up with only a few recent observations:
1): two days ago i went into duos mode (queuing solo). Turn 1: two naga (1/3) and one elemental (3/3) & a 1-cost spell occupied my tavern. I took a naga and froze. After Combat-1 , beginning turn 2, my tavern unfreezes, except it has changed. The second (1/3) naga was gone, and seemingly replaced with a (1/5) murloc, the (3/3) elemental and the spell remained, and it was refreshed with a second (1/5) murloc. Being astonished, and frustrated, as this was very strange, and feeling unsure if this was a bug or an indication that might allude to my strong suspicions i formed this year, i abandon my plan to stay on tier 1, and i upgrade my tavern.
My rando-“teammate,” who is every turn, sabotaging himself in a way that one can surely describe as “seemingly subtle, but blatant (selling 1 minion as the rope burns to the end every turn after turn 3),” is nothing of a shocker; as this is the typical behavior of my “teammate”in more than 80% of games with randos.
Well, by the end of turn 5 i am on tier 3. My board consists of these: a wrath weaver, a soul rewinder, the (1/3) naga, and actually ended up with two of the (1/5) windfury murlocs that originally haunted my 2nd turn. I end with what was most notably, the tier 3; 4-cost spell, that reads something along the lines of “Discover a minion of your most common type.” I froze for that spell, in order to get a triple on the following turn. So beginning of recruiting phase 6, I pick up the spell… again my board consists of two murlocs , one demon, one naga and one tribe-less. When I casted the spell, I kid you not - it showed me naga. And i about lost my marbles. As I was shuffling my hand and changing plans, my teammate is now trying to do his very best to obstruct my hand by passing me things at the worst of times as if aware when i am having trouble clearing my hand- and this is nothing new either.
Of course, the entire time we are losing health points because my “team” is compromised. But i keep pressing on. I’m not usually afraid to attempt winning by myself as I had done so before even when my duo had sold all of his things in the early game and didnt even CC out of spite. In this game, we lost on combat 6.
And before anybody wants to start rambling about nothing, let me just request formally here And now: if what you have to say here doesnt Acknowledge my experience is valid, doesn’t relate in any of their own experiences, or even just doesn’t have experience to begin with, PLEASE - kick rocks!
It is very clear OP is not here, to hear lines of opposition in the form of glittering-nothings, or why he’s somehow incompetent or incorrect, and neither am i. My perception of the events was crisp. My recollection of the entire experience is as accurate as needed to convey the example at hand, and in general this is true for my entire career playing Hearthstone; which raises many concerns as these implications are not fabricated.
In more direct regards to OP’s post - this season specifically - i have indeed noticed more obvious issues and signs of seemingly artificial game sequences. A land in which real statistics wherein skill and probability no longer dwell. Where logic and common sense are virtually not present. Upon reaching tier 3, and going upward, I will never see more than 1 or 2 current-tier-minions at any given time on any refresh, all game long and for the majority of games, there is about 75-90% of the time, but one team that just CAN not lose. No matter how you switch your board(s) up. anyone who truly knows the game, how to play it, and plays often enough while also typically maintaining awareness of the general aspects of a game as it progresses, will see these things today. At least in North America. I have never felt such a strong distaste for the game for these reasons. And its sad. when it was organic, when it was authentic i could hardly stop having fun. Now it feels like another game adjusted to operate “Vegas-style”), which knowing this happened to Call of Duty, should come as no surprise. But i really hoped this soulless ideology’s grasp would never think to corrupt Hearthstone.
If the negative implications about what these observations reflect are true, surely this is worthy of outrage… however, surely if this is true, the player base would seemingly be content in their delusion and ignorance, attributing their results to a skill gap or bad-luck is simple and requires no effort, no dedication, and no time. It is thus easier. indeed, it would be easier for me not to write this at all, and in my general discontent, why spend my time like this? Because it deserves consideration, not pettiness, empty headed mockery, or aversion. everyone’s voice in the community deserves to be heard and attended. Ask yourselves : if the majority of the community is being deceived, would this not be an injustice?