Is it just me or is this game so boring now? The creativity is gone due to these new OP mini-sets from the last expansions. They are so OP that I literally only see the same 4-5 decks on repeat because nearly all other decks are now are obsolete and uncompetitive.
I walked away a week ago due to this and came back last night to retry…Guess what, it’s worse. I played 5 games and got Zerg DK twice, Druid Protos three times (20+ damage to the face in one round) and Mage protos to take 10+ dmg twice to clear the board and to the face in a turn. Wow so much fun…
I tried using an old Taunt Warrior deck. No chance.
At one point a few months back, 99% of the Shamans I faced were Asteroid decks, Warriors were all the same deck, and mages were all the same elemental aggro deck. Its all just predictable and boring. Today it’s all Zerg, protos and terran decks.
I’m literally on the verge on uninstalling this sinking ship from my computer. There is no more creativity, people don’t even build unique decks anymore… just the same new OP decks on repeat over and over. I’m sick of playing the same 4-5 decks 90% of the time and it’s because they are honestly so much more OP than anything before them…
I can tell what deck I’m facing within the 1st or 2nd round because they are all nearly identical card for card and I’ve faced them a dozen times before. For example,
If I see the Druid dropping a battlecry and Deathrattle minion early that gives +1 Attack…Oh I know exactly where this is going… Protos! get ready for 20+ damage to the face. Surprise! surprise!
This is a serious design issue and I really think that Blizzard are doing this on purpose to milk whatever cash they can from this ship before it finally sinks. Releasing ever more OP expansions that continually outdo the last expansion. Milking these whales so that they can really club seal anyone without these OP decks.
Spending money on these sets is practically the only way to stay competitive in this game and this is what Blizzard wants and no longer can hide it.
People abusing the best strategies available is not something new or exclusive to hearthstone. Recognizing a deck from a single card and predict the outcome because the meta is saturated is not the problem.
Just like the other examples you mentioned, last couple expansions suffer from uninteractive archetypes and combos, which are getting boring and bland for the user really fast, while getting more and more annoying every day for the receiving end.
That’s it basically, horrible core design but flashy to the bare eye.
People abusing the best strategies is not something new but wouldn’t you admit it’s more common now?
You may see the problem due to lack of interactions or archetypes, I see it as a lack of variety. Tomatoes… Tomatos. We both have the same conclusion. Its boring seeing the same decks over and over on repeat.
When I first started Hearthstone there was much more variety and my own homemade constructed decks stood a decent chance. This problem has only gotten worse and worse over time but this newest expansion really takes it to 100X because its clearly way more overpowered than any expansion before. Its just terrible design.
Because of these Op decks (Protos, Terran and Zerg) and the way they interact/play with certain classes (zerg=DK, Protos = Mage/Druid or even cleric and Shaman or Warrior with Terran) its gotten 10x worse.
I never see Zerg Shaman, Terran Death Knight or Protos Warlock, why is that? because the interactions with only certain classes make them obviously OP.
Its very poor game design. I’ts either Blizzard put the C or D intern team on Hearthstone game development or its by design to milk the hardcore base.
Because its illegal. You cant run protoss cards on warlock or zerg on shaman. The starcraft tribes are class-locked. Which is why its a boring meta. They printed some premade decks and left no room for creativity and deckbuilding.
I think the problem is that there are no ways to effectively counter these strategies. Taunt is irrelevant, healing is useless, mass dispell is gone and wouldn’t be super effective anyway. And you have to be lucky enough to have access to them when you need them.
I want to play cards that I think are fun and have interesting interactions, but this doesn’t really happen anymore. Years ago I made a deck that was only my favorite legendaries (standard) it was really fun! Now the matches are over so early on, I’d never be able to do this. I absolutely do not want to have to build an aggro deck or design a deck to counter a possible encounter with an OP deck type. I just barely play anymore and definitely won’t spend real money in game anymore.
I want to like hearthstone. I’ve played since launch day and I have had fun win or lose, but now, not so much. Been playing a lot more Balatro and non-Blizz MMOs these days.
A certain amount of bad balance in HS has been by intentional design as the devs scramble to incentivize players into buying ever more cards.
I wish their keystone developmental approach would have been to just to keep making the game better in ways that provided interactive and rewarding play experiences, because a very good game makes lots of money without having to resort to so many gimmicks and manipulations.
Ya, the constructed modes are fairly boring and unsatisfactory these days, which is why find myself spending more time playing other games (like Wordfeud) this week. The only incentive the devs can create for me so that I would want to spend money on HS once again would be to fix the game, because it’s in need of a massive overhaul.
Exactly how feel. There is no sense of gameplay or anything. You really don’t get any satisfaction, like “well I lost the game, but it was really fun while playing it.” The games are over in 3 turns with pirates and for people that can draw all their cards in one turn it over with no game play.
It leaves you very unsatisfied.
I agree 100%. The game is at it’s worse point it’s ever been in the years I have played.
I keep coming back after a week or so as a habit (kinda hoping the meta changes slightly) and after two or three games I realize it’s a mistake. The game is so boring right now because of these new OP decks on repeat (protos + zerg + to some extent Terran)
Is there even a defense (apart from massive amounts of armor) against the Mage Protos doing 12 damage to the board and your character twice two turns in a row??? WTF
I mean 48 damage to your character and clearing your board twice two times over? Who let this card get past the early stages of playtesting?
Another is the Protos Druid doing a 25+ damage attack very easily without much work. With easy access to charge minions and divine shield all over the place.
I play the Warlock and so don’t have easy access to armor, apart from through starships and it’s never enough.
Don’t even get me started on Death Knight Zerg reborn spam…
The game has devolved into 3-4 competitive decks that are so OP that they obsolete all other decks before them. Try playing any old custom decks against them and you might as well auto-concede turn 1.
I honestly think it is probably just a small group of whales that keep the game afloat.
95% play for free and the 5% deep pocket whales will buy everything keeping the game running.
Games like Black Desert Online depend on whales.
Indeed, some players, often referred to as “whales,” spend significant amounts of money on games like Black Desert Online (BDO). These players invest heavily in in-game purchases, sometimes spending thousands of dollars on items such as cosmetics, pets, and buffs2. There are even reports of players spending over $100,000 to achieve top-tier gear.
It’s fascinating how the gaming industry has evolved to accommodate different spending habits and preferences. Do you play BDO or any other games?
free to spend your money however you like, but I am also free to call people that spend like that on a game, stupid.
I play BDO from time to time. I have never spent money on it. I do not spend money on F2P games. Only once, with this game and the golden Gelbin. In hindsight, a stupid purchase.
But that is my whole point. Creativity and home-made decks are no longer an option at all lately because of the enormous power creep we saw this latest release. This type of power creep has created the ideal condition that now everyone just plays the same decks over and over.
Six months ago I could make my own deck and stand a 50% of winning against all-comers. I always gained a great sense of satisfaction every time when beating the newest meta with my homebrew deck.
Fast forward to today and the meta is OVERWHEMINGLY dominated by OP pre-constructed decks that are all exactly the same with zero creativity and more importantly zero need for creativity.These Decks are so OP they practically play themselves. Whether it was bought in the shop or copied from some power gamer internet list, IDK but it’s always the same, so much so that I feel like I am playing the exactly same players over and over on repeat. No more surprises, I literally know exactly what they are doing and what cards to expect.
My last games where 1) PROTOS Druid 2) PROTOS Druid 3) ZERG Death Knight and 4) TERRAN Shaman. Next cycle of 5 games will probably be 2x Zerg DKs, 1x PROTOS mage ect ect… It’s all just so predictable and boring.
I literally just spam the “WOW” chat button all game when facing these replica decks to demonstrate my total disgust at the lack of creativity on show before me… I have to find the character that says “Haven’t seen that before” just so that I can spam that all game so they really get my point.
I’m lucky to get a game (out of every five) of last releases’ Paladin or even Asteroid Shaman or Elemental Mage. Barely anyone plays these anymore because the new decks are just so OP.
Doesn’t anyone have a sense of pride for creating their own decks anymore? Everyone just seems to cut and paste the best new deck available and are shameless in victory.
Every 50-100 games or so I see a whale play a unique deck that I’ve never seen before that absolutely trounces me, but I can respect that because at least the player took the time and creativity to create that monstrosity himself instead of using the copy and paste option.
Apples and oranges. The best homebrewers are the ones who create the netdecks and the best homebrewers often create independently the same netdecks or at least very similar ones because the good combinations of cards are very finite (especially in Standard).
Hence this is a “your homebrews are bad” issue and not “all homebrews are bad” because after all netdecks were homebrews that became memed.
That’s exactly why I think this is happening. It is surely a sign of desperation by Blizzard to make sure they milk as much money as possible by releasing OP pre-made decks in the shop.
Alternatively, this will alienate the casual players like me and you (like we are seeing now) to the point where eventually all there will be left is pay-to-win whales facing off against each other with exactly the same deck with the only difference in victory being who manages to get the big win card off first that they payed $20 for.
so they really get my point.