Hi there! Whenever a new expansion comes out, there is a rush of instant analysis. Although there is a running joke that every expansion is “the worst one ever” and the death of the game, in fact many are received quite well. However, part of the analysis is always recourse to the opinions of high-level players or influencers that I (apologies) have never heard of. The major component of such analysis is how builds X, Y, and Z are doing at the heights of the ladder, based on win percentages recorded to the second decimal place.
I am an average man, with an average life, etc. The criteria above don’t do much for me. Here is how I judge an expansion:
–What is the ratio of cards that I really enjoy to cards that annoy the fire out of me?
–Is there a single expensive card that the designers nigh-mandate must be crafted/purchased (which I’m not gonna) to do reasonably well in the new play environment?
–Does the expansion lead to players in Silver Standard (and Duels, because I’m a fan) using a variety of decks?
–Is there, if not parity between heroes, at least a fighting chance for 6+ of them to do well while providing a fun play experience on both sides of the table?
–Bonus points for breathing new life into an older deck concept, such as Murloc decks.
I’ve been ftp since the game launched and i can honstly say this “battle pass” system is the most disastrous thing they have done to the game to absolutely ruin ftp (took a break from the game prior to them introducing it). The experience system in that “battle pass” is designed around people buying the tavern pass. Because if you dont you are severely limited to what you can do. It used to be you could grind out 100 free gold from winning 30 games and with the quest system giving you enough gold for a pack a day average you were less dependent on card rng as you could actually grind. If you want more packs in this current state of the game you are forced to play on average over 50 games to get a single pack OR ofc spend money and ptw. The state of the game to me is either get good pack rng at the start of the expansion or you cant play standard at all.
Well it isn’t that much different from having to WIN 30 games. I would say that most players and especially ftp ones have a negative win rate. So those 30 wins might very well be 60+ games. Not to mention how unfair that sistem was with people who played control or BG.
Well I miss the old days when any deck that had a good curve used to be a decent deck, because that allowed almost anything to be viable. And because of that midrange experiment decks used to be a thing. But when a hyper consisten control deck or combo deck is in the meta, then midrange is dead. You either win fast or your deck is a ticking bomb that at somepoint is unstopable. And UIS made sure that those combo decks were way more fast that what they used to be.
I have been playing for 3-4 years and have never spent a dollar. Overall, the F2P experience has been great. I have never felt particularly card-poor, and I appreciate the variety of play experiences (solos, Duels, Arena, standard, brawls) that the game affords. Gold seems to arrive in dribs and drabs when I need it, and I can craft the occasional non-legendary card if a deck really depends on said card. I have never gotten into Wild (I get insta-smished) or Battlegrounds (the play experience makes me anxious), but I don’t feel like I am missing a lot.
The change a year or so ago in which card packs would “read” your collection to cut down on getting eight copies of a common was very F2P-friendly, and has led to some cheapo deck diversification.
I do play less when the meta seems tilted against F2P, such as with Frost Lich Jaina and the current 'lock questline.
this expansion, not only i’ve spent the most dust in the past couple of years to craft decks that i find fun, but i even play them far more than any other expansion.
Balance is important ofc in order to maximise fun (it’s not fun to autolose to some busted thing) but overall i think that it’s important to understand that balance is a means to an end, where the end will always be fun. Because this is a game first and foremost, and a game’s primary purpose is to have fun.
edit: and yup, i did forget to add that i too am f2p.
Henlo, another simple f2p gamer here that is thoroughly enjoying the latest expansion and all that it brings, be it new cards for me, or new challenging decks from other players for me to study and create counter decks for.