So there is definitely a flaw with this game and I thought it was netdecking for quite a while. While to some extent that is an issue it’s not as big as I thought. The big one is that this games match making above about level 20 makes playing the game absolutely miserable for new players. Most players won’t tough it out or continually comeback as I have, which I’ve only done because I was trying to pin down what was off about this game.
Once you reach a certain level, you’re going to be matched against players who have all the best cards in a deck. You simply can’t compete against these decks. There might be strategies and ways to do it, but as a new player you won’t have the cards. Create the cards with crafting? Good luck creating dozens of the high impact cards without shelling out a lot of money. There is simply no way to get competitive without shelling out hundreds of dollars by the time you reach rank 20 or so.
Do I think the game should be free? No, but putting newer players up against players who have such an insane advantage over them is just plain stupid. Most people will just think ranked is dumb and delete the app. Some might make a few small purchases for cards, but the lack of impact that has (even if they purchase a full box of cards) will just upset them. Even if someone buys a box, disenchants the useless cards and duplicates they will be lucky to create a single competitive deck.
I would have bought cards and continued to make in game purchases. Probably would have spent $15-30 a month. But the poor match making above level 20 made me stop. Why continue to spend money in a game that dumps you into matches in which you get slaughtered and stand absolutely no chance with the cards you have.
This game does more damage to blizzard than they realize. I was looking forward to the Warcraft reforged. I’m now going to wait and see what the reviews are. I have concerns that the game is going to have micro-transactions and be insanely expensive to play.
Play Arena? yeah I’m not into gambling and that’s skill based gambling granted it’s not for cash. If you don’t want to spend cash on the entry fees, then you have to play ranked to earn gold and you have to win.
Plenty of extremely cheap decks can easily climb to rank 10. Most players at rank 20 might own more cards than you if you’re new, but there’s usually a reason they’re still 20.
Though this concept is not outright shown to players, and do require solid deck-building knowledge most new players just cannot have right away.
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To add to this, some cheap powerful decks are capable of Legend if played consistently well enough, as seen here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CompetitiveHS/comments/cb4eq4/legendcapable_budget_decks_for_late_rise_of/
It is by no means easy, and I had trouble figuring out how to do so myself at high ranks, but if you just take that example and scale it back a little: you learn the game a bunch, stick to it for a while, and Rank 5 every month is more than achievable.
You don’t need the expensive cards to win and complete your quests, but they do provide a lot of additional fun and variety.
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And next week you’re going to have a different problem, and another after that…
You’ve yet to actually find one that isn’t a problem with card games in general. Ranked matches you based on your rank, nothing else. It has for five years.
Netdecking is not a Hearthstone problem, it’s a card game problem. Stop blaming other things for you not being good at the game.
When Uldum drops in going to be creating a new account and taking it from rank 50 as far as I can specifically to prove that you do not need to spend money like you claim simply because skill and research matter. I’ll be documenting it here. You’re more than welcome to follow along.
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or you just can learn how to play?
imo the problem is net decks. and the fact that blizzard rewards people for stomping newbs.
like they want to have a casual experience and only play 2 -3 games a week.
This is a stupid argument. You’re saying your problem is that Hearthstone is a card game. Both of these are issues all cards games have.
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net decking is not a problem in magic, yeah like 2 people do netdeck at my local shop. people just dont play against them. there is also FNM
“At your shop” and “in competitive play” aren’t the same thing. Go to a regional tournament, the top cut will most likely all be meta decks, or net decks as some people like to call them
Nobody net decks in shop play. What’s the point? There’s no reason to play the best deck, there’s no significant prizing on the line, no rank that matters. Play in a serious tournament environment and then tell me there’s no metagame in Magic after you’ve faced Bant and Esper in most of your matches
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what does this have to do with anything. i would expect at top level play of any competition that strategies would be simular. sports, cards games, board games.
Even 15 years ago there was netdecking in every other card game. It’s part of them. Nobody creates archetypes on their own, really. Core archetypes are already set up by Blizzard, then synergistic packages and tech choices are experimented with and the ones with less counterplay add up to what concludes as a stronger than average deck.
From my point of view, the problem would be when someone expects his homebrew to consistently outperform decks that have been proven to excel above the others by large amounts of players.
It’s one thing to desire a truly casual format (something the game lacks), but it’s also another to properly build and tech your deck to beat the meta. You can be a homebrew Legend player.
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Ranked is Hearthstone’s equivalent. So if you’re expecting a meta in competitive play for Magic, why are you not for Hearthstone?
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any BS reason people use to defend net decking at rank 20 or in casual.
ladder 20 =/= “comptive” play. that is a widely accepted but wrong rumour for this game. take gold rewards and golden portraits out of ladder, and see how many people still play for “competition”
In casual is lame and the closest to it you’ll see me doing is playing Whizbang. In ranked, even at rank 20, you’re playing the competitive format.
Most people would still play without gold or gold portrait rewards. Most people play because they want to see how far they can go on the ladder. Gold per win is a moot point, that’s in Casual as well. Gold portraits are also entirely pointless apart from looking cool, and you can get them anyway by using a Gold Whizbang or Zayle.
Rank 20 is still competitive play. That the players at those ranks are awful (with the exception of good players just coming back to the game after a long break, who remain above rank 15 for about ten games) doesn’t mean they aren’t competing for the next rank. This is not a widely accepted rumour, this is the definition of ranked play. There is a ranking system, that labels the format as competitive, period. You disagreeing doesn’t change that.
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sounds like a good reason to take the rewards out then.
Although unnecessary, the rewards are still a nice plus. Taking them out for that reason would be completely stupid.
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changing up the game with the purpose of making it better is not stupid. i think they should actually add a 3 mode for competive players. or make a 3rd mode that allows bans. right now forcing people to play against “competitive” players who are rank 20 is stupid.
How is taking out golden portraits changing the game for the best?
Rank 20 players are still competing once they press that Ranked button. Being low on ladder doesn’t mean you’re not on ladder.
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