Hearthstone China Gets Replays, Deck Tracking, and Deck Recommendations
Thanks to /u/czhihong for providing the usual scoop of info from Hearthstone China.
First, China received tournament mode back in 2016.
China then saw the release of personalized yearly stats for the 2016 year at the start of 2017.
Next, China players got free Arcane Dust for purchasing card packs due to loot box regulations.
It was soon after that Khadgar made not one, but two appearances in the country.
Now, China gets one of the most requested Hearthstone features since we first learned about the game during Alpha.
Replays.
The Hearthstone China Replay Client
A companion desktop application available only to players on the Chinese servers has arrived which records your games and allows you to rewatch them in-client. You can share your replays with your friends through a unique replay code and the client even has a deck tracking tool alongside a deck recommendation tool.
- The client only works on Windows computers. No Macs, no mobile devices.
- Up to 200 replays are shown in the list.
- Replays can be paused, brought to a specific turn, and will show which cards are being highlighted.
- Featured decks display replays of the deck in action and allow players to comment on the deck.
- The deck feature also tells you how many cards and dust you're missing from completing the deck.
Here are some screenshots provided by czhihong. Photo credits go to 营地 Yingdi and NGA.
Client Press Release
Quote from Blizzard (Translated)Do you want to improve at Hearthstone? Have you always wanted to share and showcase the exciting moments and cool lethals in your games? The Hearthstone Official Companion App has been released for beta testing! Flawlessly integrated within the game, it can provide you with a plethora of actual game data.
Besides a deck tracker and a deck recommendation tool that have been greatly improved and optimised, the app can even automatically record all your exciting games!
1. One-click deck recommendation tool, know how much dust you’re missing right away
Once you enter the app from the main menu, you can browse through all the interesting and cool decks [My note: Sintolol and Tarei alert. Some of the deck names are hilarious btw] for all classes using the deck recommendation tool. The tool will immediately inform you whether you have the cards for the decks, and if not, how much dust you’re missing.
Once you pick a deck you like, you can immediately click to create the deck in your collection. No more scurrying around looking for deck codes!
2. Capture every second of your insane games
Did you just come back from one health and are bursting to share with someone? The official companion app automatically records every game you play and stores it on the cloud, ensuring that every single exciting moment is not missed.
You will be able to replay the games in spectator mode to view at your own time, any time. You can also share and favourite your replays. With this app, everyone can create their own Trolden videos!
3. Real-time card tracker to optimise your strategy
Every Hearthstone game is different, your opponents play different decks every game. Know thy self, know thy enemy, a thousand battles, a thousand victories. The app will help you record all cards your opponent has played, exact cards remaining in your deck, provide aides for secret guessing, and much more.
Download the feature-filled official companion app today! Your journey to legend has never been easier!
Note: The app is currently in beta, we seek your patience and understanding if you encounter bugs. Please submit your feedback and bug reports to the official forums.
The Spot Where the Poll Would Go
Usually, we post a poll asking if this is something you'd like to see. The answer is, of course, yes so including it seemed silly.
Just kidding, you're getting a poll! If you don't want to see a replay feature, tell us why in the comments.
Anticipating such client in other regions
World of Warcraft allowed/encouraged(?) legal third party add-ons, which didn't violate the TOS, of which many were eventually incorporated into the WoW client itself. It's quite obvious that at least a deck tracker and replays feature need to be included in HS asap.
Nice rogue deck you got there.
It looks awesome. Wondering if the other server will be getting this.
༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ Give it for World (EU, NA, ASIA)
Why China ?
Wow there are 480 votes for NOT wanting a replay mode? In Chinese we call these people 吃不到葡萄说葡萄酸
Good thing I am moving to Shanghai in August...now I just have to be able to read Mandarin.
p.s. does anyone know if when I move China if I will have to make a new account or will I be able to use the same account as in the US?
You ll have to make new account if you want to play on asian servers.
If you want to play on the Chinese server (the one operated by tencent, not the Activison Blizzard Asia server from the global client), you will have to register with some form of real id like phone number or QQ or some other social media. They have a different client and everything.
Source: been to China, had to buy Overwatch again to play on CN servers. Fortunately HS is f2p (jaykay?).
Thanks for the info man, much appreciated!
The article seems a bit misleading. Better to point out that these are NOT features made by Blizzard for China clients only, but rather features of a third-party application developed by Netease. In a certain sense, they are "almost" official, as Blizzard had to accept a sort of partnership with Netease in order to work in China, but since the software itself doing these things is not Blizzard's, it would be unfair to accuse Blizzard of giving things to China only.
Given that, of course all these features should have LONG been in the official Blizzard's client anyway ;)
NetEase seems to be doing an amazing job.
well. a lot of ppl are commenting that NetEase actually does a better job than Blizzard does. I am aware I might sound like a fanboy, but Blizzard is making the actual game... designing cards, balancing, artwork, etc. NetEase is just implementing additional features, that bar a few icons have no creative work being done behind them.
But, yes, all these features should be in the game by now, given how long hearthstone has been around...
I'm curious to see if these "features" frequently break as the Hearthstone client is upgraded over time. Unless Blizzard provided APIs that it intends to maintain, or unless the data this tool relies on stays relatively consistent, there could be hiccups along the way. Of course, it IS a Blizzard announcement, so one would think this will never be an issue.
I wouldn't be surprised if one day Netease suddenly cut ties with Blizzard and reveals a Hearthstone clone with improved features
China China China China China China. China is like that spoiled kid who gets everything while his siblings watch him jealously.
Except human rights.
China got tourney mode 2 years ago??? Hope it doesn't take 2 more years for tracker/replay to come to NA....
U.S. second class citizens