Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft V4 - We're gonna be RICH! - Games

I've been saving my gold up for the last little while, to buy the last wing for Naxx. With this announcement, I'm not sure if I should bother now. Should I get them while I still can, or binge on a bunch of classic packs?

Guys, until we know about the content of the next expansion and the classic pack tweaks, [B][U]just play Wild[/U][/B]. Standard should only affect comp, new players, or decks that somehow doesn't lose much from the rotation. Hearthstone doesn't have the disadvantage of physical card games where everyone in your local card shop insist on playing Standard

[QUOTE=Mr. Crabsworth;49662294]It'd be funny if they didn't add any mechs, and Gorilla bot has a massive chance of pulling Gorilla bot. Emperor Thaurissan > into 3 cost summoning portal 1 cost Gorilla bot > 4 more 2 cost Gorilla bots. EVERYONE GET IN HERE. Yes, I am aware that would be an awful deck.[/QUOTE] Do we know if discover is actually affected by the format or can it still pull any card? (same questions for cards like Ram Wrangler, etc.)

I think wild is going to be unranked, and the only people who will play it will be people who want to try a gimmick or nostalgia deck.

[QUOTE=Kljunas;49663198]Do we know if discover is actually affected by the format or can it still pull any card? (same questions for cards like Ram Wrangler, etc.)[/QUOTE] The official site has a [URL=http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/blog/19995505/a-new-way-to-play-2-2-2016#faq]massive FAQ[/URL] that nobody reads. [QUOTE=Blizzard FAQ] [B]How will random effects work in Standard?[/B] Random effects (including summoning random minions or cards, the Discover mechanic, transformations, or any other similar effects) will only summon cards that are eligible for the format you are playing. Thus, random effects in Standard will summon only cards that would be usable in the Standard format. All cards are legal in Wild format, so such effects will function as they always have.[/quote] ---- [QUOTE=V12US;49663222]I think wild is going to be unranked, and the only people who will play it will be people who want to try a gimmick or nostalgia deck.[/QUOTE] Wild is still part of both ranked and unranked. The only thing majorly affected are tournaments. [QUOTE=Blizzard FAQ][B]How will Ranks work in Standard and Wild?[/B] When Standard format arrives, your current rank will be “split” and applied to both Standard and Wild in Ranked play. For example, if you are Rank 5 when formats arrive, you will be Rank 5 in Standard and Rank 5 in Wild. Afterwards, you'll have a separate rank and match making rating for each format, so you can earn ranks and hit Legend in both Wild and Standard individually. You’ll only collect ranked rewards at the end of the season based on the highest rank you attained in one format or the other, but not both. Regardless of which format you earned your rewards in, end of season bonuses will be comprised of cards that are usable in Standard format. Note that you’ll have one match making rating that is shared between both Standard and Wild formats when playing in Casual.[/QUOTE]

I am baffled that they're going to [B]remove content from the game that they worked really hard on.[/B] Like dude, can't you just have a "Legacy Adventures" button? This is more silly than "more deck slots is too confusing", jeez.

I wish cards like Antique Healbot would move to classic instead of being removed. :(

[QUOTE=Robber;49664342]I wish cards like Antique Healbot would move to classic instead of being removed. :([/QUOTE] I wish they'd balance cards instead of just straight up removing them from the part of the game they want to show off.

[QUOTE=Linda,Octopus;49664348]I wish they'd balance cards instead of just straight up removing them from the part of the game they want to show off.[/QUOTE] This, I don't get why Blizzard doesn't just do that. The whole thing is almost like they are admitting incompetence and simply refuse to do so publicly. What they are doing right now is a massive restructure that burns older players and risks having some leave en masse. Along with making it so old content is unusable in a 'E-Sports' scenario. If this keeps up I'm expecting Hearthstone only to be played by try hard 'competitive' cancer that is already slowly rising in the community. With the increased toxicity would keep new players away despite the lack of a real chat. They seem to have forgotten what got Hearthstone popular in the first place, the fact it was a casual game.

You're all forgetting that you can still play with the old cards, even on a ranked ladder league. Them making a Standard league will keep the game fresh. Would you really like to see Dr. Boom in 90% of the decks for eternity until they release a card that's even better than Dr. Boom?

[QUOTE=MrFlashcat;49664673]You're all forgetting that you can still play with the old cards, even on a ranked ladder league.[/QUOTE] "You can still play with old cards" feels more like a excuse more then anything else. The Dr.Boom problem would've been solved with simple balancing.

I honestly felt that we are all using the Dr.Boom hate to not see the bigger solution here, but I'm just going to put forward my notion: If Dr.Boom gets nerfed, what do we do about his replacement? If Piloted Shredder gets nerfed, what about the next best 4 drop? Do we just restrain it to class cards? No matter who gets the nerf, there will always be this "best card for this drop" that people will whine about. Now, if formats kick in, surely rotated OP cards will just be replaced by the next OP card? However, imo it is a slight improvement over constant balancing: a) It paths way for new cards. Otherwise new cards either have to be OP or niche to see play. Otherwise it is abandoned in constructed. b) LoE is their best expansion yet, but how many cards see play in constructed. How many more powerful niche cards can they make? c) The whole "making the game more beginner friendly" is actually true. They have less expansions to worry about, less cards to look out for, and less pack variation to buy. d) It keeps the synergistic cards at bay. Designers don't have to worry so much about making a card accidentally combo-ing too well with already great cards. e) The developers can steer the meta easier with new expansions. f) Automatic "balancing" every year. It keeps people guessing on the "next best cards". Granted that they are not fully utilizing the digital platform to its fullest by balancing older cards, but they did say that they are reviewing classic cards. Let us first see what they are doing with them. But the sheer fact that Wild format exists means that if you don't like losing cards, you should stick to that. There is literally no change if you just imagine Standard format not existing. I for once actually agree with what Blizzard is doing here. It might not be the best solution, but it is a right step. (As long reprints don't take up 30% of a new expansion)

I only see one way for the format thing to work out. Some cards from GvG, or any other adventure/expansion that got phased out gets released on future expansions, so new cards don't need to be made to fill in the exact same role, you get rewarded for keeping vintage ones around and being a long time player too.

[QUOTE=SinjinOmega;49664820]"You can still play with old cards" feels more like a excuse more then anything else. The Dr.Boom problem would've been solved with simple balancing.[/QUOTE] unless you power creep the game will stagnate if you don't clear the pool of cards. it's not just about individual cards being too strong, after a while you just cant come up with new ideas that are within the power level frames of acceptable.

[QUOTE=Toyhobo;49665052]unless you power creep the game will stagnate if you don't clear the pool of cards. it's not just about individual cards being too strong, after a while you just cant come up with new ideas that are within the power level frames of acceptable.[/QUOTE] says who

[B]New Tavern Brawl released in NA and EU![/B] [B][U]BLINGTRON'S BEAUTOUS BRAWL[/U][/B] [I]"Blingtron is ready to rumble! He changes your hero power to "Get a random weapon." AND he gives you random weapons!"[/I] [B]Special Rules:[/B] For this Brawl, you will need to build a deck (again!), so get creative! Both players start with 30 Health and 10 Armor. Your Hero Power is changed at the start of your turn to [B]Cash Out[/B] (2 Mana | Get a random weapon.). This Hero Power can be overwritten by Charged Hammer. Whenever a weapon is destroyed, a new random one is equipped instead of the one trashed. [B]Cash Out[/B] is thus used to change your weapon in case you get something bad that doesn't fit you.

[QUOTE=Zukriuchen;49665055]says who[/QUOTE] Well, just look at the game right now. Only certain decks are played right now in competetive/ranked because they are the strongest, and ~50% or maybe even more of the card pool is unused because they cant compete. New cards constantly get unused because the older cards are just better, and if they made newer cards constantly better than older cards people would scream power creep. I mean you cant make a card better than doctor boom at 7 mana and you cant really outclass knife juggler or shielded minibot on 2 mana without them being way too strong. If you prune the card pool you allow some space for new cards to come in and actually be viable rather than forgotten.

[QUOTE=Toyhobo;49665160]Well, just look at the game right now. Only certain decks are played right now in competetive/ranked because they are the strongest, and ~50% or maybe even more of the card pool is unused because they cant compete. New cards constantly get unused because the older cards are just better, and if they made newer cards constantly better than older cards people would scream power creep. I mean you cant make a card better than doctor boom at 7 mana and you cant really outclass knife juggler or shielded minibot on 2 mana without them being way too strong. If you prune the card pool you allow some space for new cards to come in and actually be viable rather than forgotten.[/QUOTE] i don't get how any of that proves that balancing wouldn't work lol [editline]3rd February 2016[/editline] i "look at the game right now" and i see a game that has literally never buffed a single card

Hey, at least we're getting a huge Spring update, guess it's a non-adventure one like GvG and TGT. Let's just hope it doesn't fall flat like a certain tournament did.

I mean call me a cynic, but this just looks like Blizzard "balancing" the game in a way that allows them to keep churning out piles of cards for you to buy, instead of revisiting old content that you won't have to buy twice. Kinda like planned obsolescence, or releasing a marginally improved sequel and shutting down the old servers instead of updating a game. You can still play everything in Wild of course, but I doubt they'll balance for that in the future and the community's not gonna focus on it as a result, so it's probably gonna end up being a side-mode like Casual or Arena, maybe mentioned when someone reaches double-legend or something.

[QUOTE=Zukriuchen;49665055]says who[/QUOTE] says the basic fact that you can't test how every card in a new set is going to interact with a constantly expanding library of existing cards. This lets them be more flexible with new mechanics without worrying as much about potentially breaking the game. Look at magic the gathering's standard versus legacy versus modern, for example.

[QUOTE=Itszutak;49665278]says the basic fact that you can't test how every card in a new set is going to interact with a constantly expanding library of existing cards.[/QUOTE] you mean like, by hiring people to just play the game

[QUOTE=Zukriuchen;49665191]i don't get how any of that proves that balancing wouldn't work lol [editline]3rd February 2016[/editline] i "look at the game right now" and i see a game that has literally never buffed a single card[/QUOTE] Yeah I don't know if they could have managed to keep the game fresh without formats, but they could at least have tried.

by that logic any game with a constantly expanding pool of characters/classes/weapons would be impossible to balance, except those exist, by the hundreds if not thousands

[QUOTE=Itszutak;49665278]says the basic fact that you can't test how every card in a new set is going to interact with a constantly expanding library of existing cards. This lets them be more flexible with new mechanics without worrying as much about potentially breaking the game. Look at magic the gathering's standard versus legacy versus modern, for example.[/QUOTE] But this is a digital game. If a card turns out to be unexpectedly OP they can nerf it post-release. They'll have to do that anyway to some extent since Wild is a thing, they won't let it become literally broken.

[QUOTE=Zukriuchen;49665299]you mean like, by hiring people to just play the game[/QUOTE] look, after a while its going to be too many cards to check [I]everything[/I] and more one turn wombo combos are going to be played in a flavour of the month style and blizzard will be forced to constantly nerf cards one after another.

if the best examples of balancing not working are a game that didn't balance its cards because it was physically impossible, and a game that is notoriously shit at balancing then sorry, i'm not buying it

[QUOTE=Noob4life;49664998]I honestly felt that we are all using the Dr.Boom hate to not see the bigger solution here, but I'm just going to put forward my notion: If Dr.Boom gets nerfed, what do we do about his replacement? If Piloted Shredder gets nerfed, what about the next best 4 drop? Do we just restrain it to class cards? No matter who gets the nerf, there will always be this "best card for this drop" that people will whine about. [/QUOTE] Or you can get to a point where there is no one 4 drop that is the best in every deck, but multiple 4 drops that you choose depending on your playstyle and common matchups. What's a better 4 drop, Yeti or Argus? The answer is "it depends." And that should be the answer for every 2 minions in every manacost.

Maybe it's naive of me to take what they say at face value but they didn't SAY they were doing this for balancing reasons, right? They said it was for new players to not have to go through a massive paywall to be able to be competitive Like, I'm not even that new anymore but my collection is pretty pitiful and being able to ignore two whole sets is going to help me immensely I'm not saying they shouldn't also take a crack at balancing Shredder and friends but I don't think that's the point

[QUOTE=NotAName;49665472]Or you can get to a point where there is no one 4 drop that is the best in every deck, but multiple 4 drops that you choose depending on your playstyle and common matchups. What's a better 4 drop, Yeti or Argus? The answer is "it depends." And that should be the answer for every 2 minions in every manacost.[/QUOTE] Let us be brutally honest here, this "balanced" state is literally impossible, especially with them shelling out more and faster content. The game's asymmetrical and complex beyond a-counters-b-counters-c, for a game to achieve the "perfect" balance is not feasible. Almost no matter what game you look at, there is always that one thing which is overall more favored than the others, and statistics can tell. Should they be at least attempt to work towards that goal? Totally. But that wouldn't make them more money. This is essentially their 2nd easiest way out.