Ben Brode on Randomness in Hearthstone, Karazhan Set, Magma Rager Dethroning
Dylan Walker of Yahoo Esports got to chat with Ben Brode at Blizzard HQ about One Night in Karazhan and Randomness in Hearthstone. We've recapped their interview below.
Quote from Ben BrodeRandomness
- Randomness is important for Hearthstone.
- Ben believes the consistency at which players are able to stay at high levels of play shows there is a lot of skill in the game.
- There is not a scale that goes from skill to random which you need to tune, the two can coexist.
- Discover is a great example of a random effect that adds skill to the game.
- Randomness can still feel bad, especially when you've played a long game and the game is decided on a random outcome. [Sup Yogg?]
- They're still learning what feels great with randomness, what feels fun, and what feels good for top level play.
Karazhan
- They try to add cards to new sets that will inspire players to try new things. Cloaked Huntress and Barnes are great examples.
- They added in a bunch of new 1-drops into the game with Karazhan and that's nice because games can feel different starting on your first turn.
BlizzCon
- They aren't ready to share their BlizzCon plans yet.
The Best of Times and the Worst of Times
- Muster for Battle was one of the best cards for some time.
- Magma Rager was dethroned as the worst card by a card "that is the most fun" but Ben won't tell us what it is because he doesn't want to see it removed from play.
Made a promise to myself to never again spend money in Hearthstone until Aggro and randomness is gone.
To be honest I barely even play anymore.
Play wild. Might be surprised at how much fun it can be. You don't have to do without. Just sayin.
I honestly can't remember the last time I saw a secret Paladin. Most of the decks I see are very diverse. Lots of the new cards mixed in to see how they work with the old stuff. I really enjoy it more than before.
People don't understand that Muster was insane in a different meta but in the current one it would suck because cards like Ravaging Ghoul and Maelstrom Portal are present in tier 1 meta decks. It would be kind of like Moroes now.
Suck is a strong word. I think you meant to say, Muster would be less insane.
So you're saying there's a card that is worse than Magma Rager but is played and players don't know it's bad?
I miss Muster for Battle.... My Pally just isn't the same without them.
Renounce Darkness??
It'sPurify, I'll bet
DETHRONED: I think the new worst card is Wisp because it steals its 1mana, 1/1 glory from the cute and adorable Murloc Tinyfin !!!!!!! (^-^)
Not every one has adventures.
Well of course it is Purify.
The only card that was removed from Arena choices before it was even released due to how bad it was. (record holder on how bad it is)
Since long time ago the worst card is Milhouse Manastorm...
Spoiler alert:
Magma Rager was dethroned by Am'gam Rager, which Brode thinks is so fun because it was his idea.
He says in the interview it was released a couple of years ago...