Hearthpwn

So i had a warlock cursing my Glass Knight 4x times, which is 4-8= -4atk.

As i could expect, my minion simply showed 0 atk, and i believed it was the real value, since we never had negative atk in the game, afaik.

HOWEVER, when i buffed it with Steed (+2atk), my minion stayed at 0, proving the real value was actually still negative (-2 atk).

Now, besides my salt (this thing costed me the game), is it a bug, or is it intended?

I think they actually intended it this way so stuff like bloodlust and spikeridge also get influenced this way. Its a card thats supposed to let you survive against aggro.

I is like its need to be :) shaman bloodlust his minions and still have 0 atk. His minions had -8 atk but it will show as 0 because attack cant be negative :) if attack is negative will it heal attacked character? It should xd but attack is 0 but debuff is -10... 

Math: if attack is 10 that means hp (x) - attack (10)

Iff attack is -10 it would be x -(-10) which is x+10...

Sure, but if they allow negative atk values, then the card is really strong, much stronger than actually foreseen by the community, for it can negate its direct counters (buffs indeed).

I mean, it may be intended yet, but the fact it is an anti-aggro tool is not enough of an explanation for such an anomaly in the game (getting below 0atk).

Notice that at the very least, we are talking of a seriously misleading visual bug (as it was the case for me).

Sounds like a bug. I would not say negative numbers existed in HS before this.

Seems like a bug to me. :(

There is no negative attack.  What is happening is that all buffs get calculated in order in a single equation.  If the result is less than or equal to 0 then it becomes 0.

4 - 8 + 2 = 0

Not 4 - 8 = 0, then 0 + 2 = 2 (what you were expecting)

Not 4 - 8 = -4, then -4 + 2 = -2 (what this thread is claiming)

Anyhow Pint Sized Potion has worked this way too.  I was BMing one day about a year ago and both Pint Sized then (stolen) Blessing of Kings an enemy minion.  I was suprised that a 2 attack minion went down to 0 then back to 3.

Its not a bug, but rather unexpected interaction. It has been like that forever.

I think back in the day the most known case of this was when ppl were exploring interactions with Gorehowl, you could actually go to a negative attack with the weapon, if you used other cards like Heroic Strike to buff your hero's attack in a turn so you could swing with it, then Gorehowl lost one attack in the process and went to -1 (or further), which was visible, if you used another Heroic Strike next turn and you would only have 3 attack, not 4. But for obvious reasons, it only showed 0 attack, same as with minions in your scenario ;-)

It would be cool if you could attack with negative attack minions to heal stuff, but then play Auchenai Soulpriest to do damage again. Or if the negative damage healed you as a form of lifesteal.

This is correct and there is no minus value there. If 0 is the absolut minimum and your minions have a debuff that gives them -8 your Glass Knight has 4 Attackpower - 8 Debuff = 0 (remember zero is an absolut). If you buff him with 2 Attackpower he has 4 Ground Attackpower + 2 from buff -8 from debuff = 0.

There is no minus value at all. #mathematicrulz

Yes, i get that negative values exist.

But it is a bad inconsistency that negative is still shown at 0.

Again, in my case, i wouldn't have tried to buff from -4 to -2. I did it because i saw 0, and 0+2 was useful to me.

It does not happen very often, but if it puzzled me, you can guess about the average player.

They should either decide between negative values and showing them, or 0 cap.

It doesn't show a -2 value in it's attack as it implies that, if a minion attacks it, it'll be healed by 2.

To find the "true" value, you've got to calculate the active buffs and nerfs when highlighting the minion.

Quote from Lisca >>

This is correct and there is no minus value there. If 0 is the absolut minimum and your minions have a debuff that gives them -8 your Glass Knight has 4 Attackpower - 8 Debuff = 0 (remember zero is an absolut). If you buff him with 2 Attackpower he has 4 Ground Attackpower + 2 from buff -8 from debuff = 0.

There is no minus value at all. #mathematicrulz

Yeah that is also an explanation, but in practical terms, that was still a -4.

I mean, the issue is indeed in the minimalistic representation of the card (while the auras are correctly listed if you tap on it).

We are talking of details here, and it may be that i have a slight form of OCD, but i don't like a 0 that stays 0 after i apply a bonus. 

Well, at least i learned this thing exists, i guess.

Its intended. Many things in hearthstone have existed like this before, including thaurissan ticks and overload. 

The visuals can be misleading because the devs love the smooth UI (although admittedly I do as well). 

I think the underlying problem is not limited to UI, but to digital card games and digital games as a whole. The hardcoded 0 limit has a function of keeping crazy stuff from happening and futeproofing design: its impossible to know what effects and interactions with cost and attack future cards can have, so, having a ard limit of 0 helps the game engine to know how to act.

In paper card games, you can issue an new rule and count on the brains of the players to adapt play. In digital games, you have to code every change you make. As people often say, the simplest things to state are the hardest to code.

That said, maybe some tweks on the UI, like having a different color of 0 if the hard stop took place (ex: blue or red 0 for a negative result, and regular white 0 for a value which is actually 0), but this seems like too much of a corner case to use development resources. You may post this on a official forum to see the dev's opinios.