Update: Added note about Golden Gelbin not being disenchantable.
State of the Game
A great read from the Hearthstone team on the current progression of Hearthstone. Last night we pointed out that the Official FAQ was updated with the announcement that players who spend real money during the Beta will receive a Golden Card when the game releases. The Golden Card has now been confirmed to be Gelbin Mekkatorque. Gelbin will be available through normal in-game methods such as random discovery or crafting after the beta is over, but not in his golden form. The Golden version of Gelbin will not be disenchantable.
Originally posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)So, many of you have been asking about how development on the Hearthstone beta has been coming along. Rightly so! We’ve had previews of new cards and features for a few months now, but haven’t talked a whole lot about how overall progress is going and, more importantly, how that lines up with getting the game into your hands.
To start with, we hit an important milestone last week when we finished implementation of all features planned for the release of the beta. A few of the things we just wrapped up include:
- A revamp of the Arena, including a new rewards system
- Lots of quest tuning, particularly for new players
- UI updates to make it clear what the next basic card you’re destined to unlock will be
While we’re psyched to have wrapped up feature development, it doesn’t mean we’re done quite yet. Our overall focus has shifted onto fixing bugs and improving our infrastructure so that it can support a larger number of players. We’re making good progress, and while we definitely won’t fix every bug before releasing the beta, we do think it’s important to address any issues that would pull focus away from the core game experience. What that means is that we’re not days away from launching the beta, but we’re not months away either. At the Hearthstone announcement we committed to going into beta testing before the summer was over, and the team has been pulling out all the stops to make that happen. Sometimes that has meant ditching meetings to fix a gnarly bug, and it’s often meant working long hours to get that additional layer of polish in. It’s a pretty intense time, and what keeps us going is that we’re just as excited as you guys about the release of the beta. Here’s a quick snapshot of some important scientifically derived metrics from the last week alone:
- Bugs marked “fixed”: 187
- Golden cards added to the build: 30
- Boxes of donuts eaten: 2
A lot of our discussion so far has been centered on the North American beta, so we just wanted to mention to players in Europe, Korea, and Taiwan: your feedback on the game is equally important to us! We are thus planning a dedicated beta in these regions with fully localized builds. These will follow the start of the North American beta test as closely as possible and we’re looking forward to hearing your thoughts! We’ve mentioned previously that you’ll be able to spend real money in the beta to purchase card packs and Arena entry. Now, it is a beta, so we don’t expect everything to be in tip-top shape quite yet. With that in mind, we previously noted that as a thank-you for helping us test the in-game store, we’d be offering a special token of appreciation to beta testers who make a real-money in-game purchase during the beta test. We’re pleased to reveal that that gift will be a golden version of Gelbin Mekkatorque, which will be available throughout the closed and open beta tests. When you purchase card packs or an Arena ticket in any phase of the beta test, you will be granted the golden Gelbin Mekkatorque; he won't be available through crafting or getting a lucky hit inside a card pack. Once the game has released, you can still craft a regular Mekkatorque if you save up enough arcane dust.
One last point on the beta test: while we’re going to kick it off with a relatively small number of invites, we’re going to gradually roll in more and more players over time. If you don’t get in initially, don’t worry too much, as new players will be brought in frequently. In fact,everyone who’s interested in playing Hearthstone during the beta period will be able to get in when we transition to an open beta test a bit later in the testing cycle. All you’ll need to do is create a Battle.net account if you don’t already have one, and download the client, and you’ll be set to go! No invitation necessary!
Although our top priority is getting the beta out for Windows and Mac, we haven’t taken our sights off the iPad. In fact, the team hit an awesome milestone with our iPad development not too long ago with our first end-to-end test of cross-platform play. One of our team members jumped into the Hearthstone App on his iPad, saw his Battle.net buddy who happened to be playing on the PC, chatted with him and then went head-to-head in a vicious cross-platform duel. For the record: iPad 1: PC 0.
As we’re getting closer to the beta launch, one thing we want to reiterate is that Hearthstone started out as an experiment for a different approach to game development at Blizzard. While the game has grown a lot since then, it’s important to us that we continue to test out new ideas as the game makes its way towards release. That means working with our community team to try a bunch of different approaches for blog posts, news updates, and content we’d like to share with you all. Some of these updates may provide just the information you wanted. If so, awesome . . . tell us about it. Others may not hit the mark or speak to what interests you most. Tell us about that too. You definitely have a part to play as we move into the final phases of Hearthstone development, and we're probably going to have some misses along the way, so share your thoughts and help us make Hearthstone awesome!
We’re listening!
I found it quite interesting that I saw 20 people in this picture, when the team was only 15 people when the game was first introduced. Something changed (for good or for bad).
And beta is beta. I'm resigned to the fact it will come at some point, with bouts of wanting it so bad I could scream. Those are passing fleeting moments though, and I'm okay with how things are going on the whole. I'd still rather have a somewhat polished game then an eventful beta with lots of bad builds and bugs.
I realised the same thing :D 20 people. Not sure what it means though.
That is a suspiciously small amount of donuts eaten.... I think fibs are being told.
So if the beta gift for purchasing things is just this card, then what is the hearthstone promotion that rewards the wow mount?
So looking at the calender I'm gonna guess the 27th of August for a small closed beta. Then mid to late September for open beta. Then its blizzcon. They will announce the game launch there as they are always scrambling for things to talk about.
Nice update. I'm guessing closed beta will start like August 28th then. I'd expect at least a few of those closed beta people to stream on Twitch or put up YT videos of their play experiences. This is exciting. I think the golden card is a nice little touch for those who participate in beta. Other people can still craft one, but they can't get the golden version. I like it. Not sure I'll play the card, but I'll probably toss it in early on just for fun while I don't have any better cards.
I'm also glad they've figured out the PC and iPad cross play stuff. That would have been completely lame if it was released on iPad but as a separate entity from the PC/Mac versions.
This is my personal opinion on a timeline:
What it means for me........I know I won't be privileged to be invited to closed Beta (I've only been invited to 1 closed Beta by Blizzard and that was for Wrath expansion) and I will have to wait until Blizzcon time to actually play the game.
If those people doesn't make sure there is at least one Hearthstone stream up 24/7 I will break some necks.
As for other things. I find it weird that there will be a golden legendary that you never ever will be able to craft or get. While I wouldn't craft that card for a long long time, I still find it weird as you would probably guess that you could craft every single golden legendary. An alternative art card would make more sense compared to removing the opportunity for other players to get something they expect.
Probably 99% of people will dust Mekkatorque when the real thing starts hehehe
unfortuantely it won't be disenchantable
dammit -_-
Open beta will probably be the shortest phase of beta- lasting a week or so before release.
Ok so if all goes smooth, a date between 10-20 september for the beta. Seems clear since they say not days (not so early), not months (not so late), in any case within summer. So the options are very few, as I said, better take the idea of a wait till 10-20 september beta release......
Will be the final game up for the end of 2013? Well let's hope...........
So... this is good or bad news ?
Bad news for people who thought beta was this week.
Good news for people who want the beta to eventually come out.
blizzard has realesed any content that I was waiting for a long time right when I couldn't play them, like finals and whatnot. I2m sure they will wait for beta until school and exams starts or people have to work after their summer vacation
Open beta, that is good news I am always worried I won't be lucky enough for closed beta.