I know people occasionally get bored with the game where there are days when neither constructed nor arena seem appealing. People try to change it up on casual, but even that doesnt really do much. I was then thinking that a good way for Blizzard to avoid burnout and letting things get stale in between releasing new cards is to create a new ladder purely for fun. It would be a Weekly Ladder, with rotating themes that completely change the game. Some themes that I thought up:
Homage to MTG - all minions regenerate to full health at the end of every turn.
Third Rule of Fight Club- all weapons are banned (sorry rogues) and all minions get +1 attack -1 health when played (sorry paladins).
Taunt OP - minions with Taunt also get Divine Shield.
Spellpower Power - minions get attack buff equal to their spell damage
Give Priests a Chance- Life can be gained above 30.
Whos Keeping Count? - Decks can now have up to 200 cards (still only two of any one).
There Be Dragons - all dragons cost 1 less mana to be played.
Why Should Mages Have All the Fun? - Flamestrike becomes a neutral card that can be used by all classes.
(The last theme can be reused for all classes, with Innervate, Tracking, Blessing of Kings, Power Word Shield, Deadly Poison, Hex, Soulfire, and Fiery War Axe all having a turn being a neutral card).
And any other fun and zany rule changes to Hearthstone that you can think of. Of course there would have to be a condition that quests cant be completed on the Weekly Ladder. Still have to go play Ranked, Casual, or Arena for that. Im really curious what peoples thoughts are on this suggestion, or if you all think its just not worth the trouble.
I think Hearthstone would benefit from eventually having a sandbox mode, where you can set all the rules yourself. You'd be able to create tournament settings as you wish and then have people play under your rules, whatever rules you can think up. Best thing is if you were also able to add your own art work for self created heroes and cards. That way you can truely set up whatever game play you want.
The mode could then also be used to make scenarios, like the PvE encounters that are coming with Naxx, or puzzles, that people can show others and have them play through. Basically like any game with user created maps/scenarios.
It's not something that can be easily done or should be spent time on, but eventually I can see this being something that helps the community. :)
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I'd love if there was a "fun" mode where there was different rules than in the normal modes. Perhaps alternating between the suggestions the OP posted?
Unlimited is a fun idea, it would really push the power level of what can be done and you'd have some really interesting combinations. Secrets mage with paladin and hunter secrets, all weapon pirate warrior, savage roar token shaman, etc. Would really encourage creativity until someone found the most broken thing possible.
A lot of your themes look like they'd just debalance the game to make one class or category of cards more powerful. I think it would be better to have to have universal effects that hit each character more equally - like planeschase in MtG.
Themes would be fun if they weren't too crazy or punishing for certain classes or deck styles. Themes would have to give any player an oppertunity to be a victim of any given theme or as well as take advantage of it. Planeschase in Magic: The Gathering was very fun. I think the biggest drawback would be development - resources to come up with, test and impliment a good variety of fun themes would probably be better spent elsewhere, unless they do it in tandem with expansions - a new "Theme Mode" that tied in with the expansion theme.
I would like to see a draft mode (like Arena) for friend list/casual play. And/or a mode where every draw is random (within reason). Something fast & fun without the pressure of having to construct a competetive deck to have fun - and a way for people with large card collections to be on the same level with newer players who aren't familiar with the meta.
Also wouldn't mind seeing 2v2 or FFA casual play eventually. Tournament modes like best of 5 or 3-deck elimination would be fun too.
I actually have been thinking of something little different but similar. Have another standard ladder where hero's start with 40/50 health and you can have 35/40 card decks. So it was basicly a control ladder where rush was not a viable option.
That way we could see alot more priest and even great legendaries like Ysera, Malygos, Jaraxxus or Deathwing have more play because right now they aren't use in any standard decks because the game is too fast for them.
I didnt propose a 2v2 game mode because Blizzard already said they plan to include that along with a Friends vs Boss mode. As for dealing with balance issues with the themes, I dont think its possible. Blizz already has their hands full keeping the game balanced with the official ruleset. Thats why even though some themes would be unbalanced towards some classes, the themes would change week to week, so no one's favorite class gets punished for too long. Or if a week is too long, we could change themes every 3 days instead. Ten themes a month vs 4 is not too bad.
As for unlimited, I thought about it, but wouldnt that get so broken and repetitive real fast? I would imagine it wouldnt take long before everyone runs the exact same cards in their decks for all the most powerful combos (preparation + flamestrike seems like a no-brainer). Its why I proposed just taking single spells from each class. Though maybe picking a single class, and having all their class cards become neutral would be fine as well.
I know people occasionally get bored with the game where there are days when neither constructed nor arena seem appealing. People try to change it up on casual, but even that doesnt really do much. I was then thinking that a good way for Blizzard to avoid burnout and letting things get stale in between releasing new cards is to create a new ladder purely for fun. It would be a Weekly Ladder, with rotating themes that completely change the game. Some themes that I thought up:
Homage to MTG - all minions regenerate to full health at the end of every turn.
Third Rule of Fight Club- all weapons are banned (sorry rogues) and all minions get +1 attack -1 health when played (sorry paladins).
Taunt OP - minions with Taunt also get Divine Shield.
Spellpower Power - minions get attack buff equal to their spell damage
Give Priests a Chance- Life can be gained above 30.
Whos Keeping Count? - Decks can now have up to 200 cards (still only two of any one).
There Be Dragons - all dragons cost 1 less mana to be played.
Why Should Mages Have All the Fun? - Flamestrike becomes a neutral card that can be used by all classes.
(The last theme can be reused for all classes, with Innervate, Tracking, Blessing of Kings, Power Word Shield, Deadly Poison, Hex, Soulfire, and Fiery War Axe all having a turn being a neutral card).
And any other fun and zany rule changes to Hearthstone that you can think of. Of course there would have to be a condition that quests cant be completed on the Weekly Ladder. Still have to go play Ranked, Casual, or Arena for that. Im really curious what peoples thoughts are on this suggestion, or if you all think its just not worth the trouble.
I think Hearthstone would benefit from eventually having a sandbox mode, where you can set all the rules yourself. You'd be able to create tournament settings as you wish and then have people play under your rules, whatever rules you can think up. Best thing is if you were also able to add your own art work for self created heroes and cards. That way you can truely set up whatever game play you want.
The mode could then also be used to make scenarios, like the PvE encounters that are coming with Naxx, or puzzles, that people can show others and have them play through. Basically like any game with user created maps/scenarios.
It's not something that can be easily done or should be spent time on, but eventually I can see this being something that helps the community. :)
If you see a bad post on the forum use the report function under it, so I or someone else of the moderation team can take care of it!
I'd love if there was a "fun" mode where there was different rules than in the normal modes.
Perhaps alternating between the suggestions the OP posted?
I want to play a format where you can play any of the cards for any class.
Unlimited is a fun idea, it would really push the power level of what can be done and you'd have some really interesting combinations. Secrets mage with paladin and hunter secrets, all weapon pirate warrior, savage roar token shaman, etc. Would really encourage creativity until someone found the most broken thing possible.
A lot of your themes look like they'd just debalance the game to make one class or category of cards more powerful. I think it would be better to have to have universal effects that hit each character more equally - like planeschase in MtG.
Themes would be fun if they weren't too crazy or punishing for certain classes or deck styles. Themes would have to give any player an oppertunity to be a victim of any given theme or as well as take advantage of it. Planeschase in Magic: The Gathering was very fun. I think the biggest drawback would be development - resources to come up with, test and impliment a good variety of fun themes would probably be better spent elsewhere, unless they do it in tandem with expansions - a new "Theme Mode" that tied in with the expansion theme.
I would like to see a draft mode (like Arena) for friend list/casual play. And/or a mode where every draw is random (within reason). Something fast & fun without the pressure of having to construct a competetive deck to have fun - and a way for people with large card collections to be on the same level with newer players who aren't familiar with the meta.
Also wouldn't mind seeing 2v2 or FFA casual play eventually. Tournament modes like best of 5 or 3-deck elimination would be fun too.
Give priest a chance? :D you want games that can go on for over an hour then? Their healing is OP as it is!
It would be cool to see some sort of hosting mode where you can lay out certain rules, which would be visible to any takers.
I actually have been thinking of something little different but similar. Have another standard ladder where hero's start with 40/50 health and you can have 35/40 card decks. So it was basicly a control ladder where rush was not a viable option.
That way we could see alot more priest and even great legendaries like Ysera, Malygos, Jaraxxus or Deathwing have more play because right now they aren't use in any standard decks because the game is too fast for them.
I didnt propose a 2v2 game mode because Blizzard already said they plan to include that along with a Friends vs Boss mode. As for dealing with balance issues with the themes, I dont think its possible. Blizz already has their hands full keeping the game balanced with the official ruleset. Thats why even though some themes would be unbalanced towards some classes, the themes would change week to week, so no one's favorite class gets punished for too long. Or if a week is too long, we could change themes every 3 days instead. Ten themes a month vs 4 is not too bad.
As for unlimited, I thought about it, but wouldnt that get so broken and repetitive real fast? I would imagine it wouldnt take long before everyone runs the exact same cards in their decks for all the most powerful combos (preparation + flamestrike seems like a no-brainer). Its why I proposed just taking single spells from each class. Though maybe picking a single class, and having all their class cards become neutral would be fine as well.
Thanks for all the feedback guys.
i would love to play innervate + preparation + nourish in the same deck ^^ hunters mark + backstab sounds fair too xD