IGN: Can you give me an idea of some of the possibilities you’re exploring? I know there’s been talk of shifting Yogg into Wild and just leaving the card as is. And then there’s obviously changes to the functionality of the card itself.
Mike Donais: Those seem like reasonable ideas. It’s also possible that, like, so many people love it that we don’t change it at all, so those three ideas are the leading candidates. Do something, do nothing and move it to Wild. So let’s just wait and see what happens. Lots of really good suggestions on Reddit too – we’re reading those suggestions and talking about the actual implications of those suggestions, because we want to make sure that people who love Yogg still have something to love, we want to make sure that the tournament scene is reasonable and we want to make sure that people who’ve had enough Yogg, they’re happy too. It’s kind of impossible to make all three of those goals succeed, so we need to figure out where we want to balance out.
About Tournament Mode:
IGN: I really enjoyed it. And now the obligatory question – how far off an in-game tournament mode do you think we are at this point?
Dean Ayala: We’re not really ready to talk about any of that stuff yet, there’s not really anything that is in development right now, but it’s something that’s always on our radar. In-game tournaments is something we’ve been talking about for, really, years. Everyone from the community has been asking for it, but there’s a tonne of features that are on the radar that we’re always thinking about – what’s the next thing that’s going to make the biggest impact to the largest amount of players? What’s going to be the most fun for everybody? So there’s nothing really to talk about right now on that subject, but it’s a really cool idea.
On Yogg: That's blizzard's "they are working on something but haven't solidified it yet" talk. They hate saying things that may change later on so when they are working on something they get VERY 'business speak'. Compare it to new classes which is a flat 'no' or tournament mode which is a 'it's interesting but not now'. When they get wishy washy, it's in development.
Which means Yogg is in consideration as is CotW. I'm betting SOMETHING will happen to it before Blizzcon. The idea of it going to Wild is interesting.
On Tournaments:
I heard another of Blizz state the problem with tournament mode: they hear people wnat it but nothing SOLID about what exactly the public wants in such a mode that they could provide. They don't want ot make a mode that a few people think they want that turns out to be crap for most people. Having seen companies who did exactly that I now understand the issue, especially since far FAR more poeple play the game causally than serious enough to really be big on tournaments, beyond watching their fan favorites play in them.
(note, the biggest issues right now going on in tournaments include the lack of big fan favorites in them. Thus making a mode all about random joes in tournaments may not be the big crowd pleaser that reddit/the forums make it out to be)
Honestly I'm starting to think that what's needed more is a Custom feature, similar to starcraft's map editor (though not as extreme perhaps.. or maybe it should be...). That could be more helpful for the casual audience (anyone seen how the Custom map scene turned out for Starcraft(2)/warcraft?) AND it could be later expanded into something useful for tournament makers.
Which means Yogg is in consideration as is CotW. I'm betting SOMETHING will happen to it before Blizzcon. The idea of it going to Wild is interesting.
Honestly, don't expect anything before Blizzcon. It's too close for such drastic changes. My call is that we'll see this after Blizzcon, maybe before/at the release of the next expansion.
Which means Yogg is in consideration as is CotW. I'm betting SOMETHING will happen to it before Blizzcon. The idea of it going to Wild is interesting.
Honestly, don't expect anything before Blizzcon. It's too close for such drastic changes. My call is that we'll see this after Blizzcon, maybe before/at the release of the next expansion.
Warsong is the textbook example. People raged about Patron Warrior in the Summer tournaments, then a month before Blizcon (and after last call) the nerf comes in. That was more insane than a Yogg nerf would be since patron warrior defined the entire meta at the time and we had no consideration of what patron would look like post-warsong. Bah that warsong would get nerfed was a surprise: people were expecting a nerf to Frothing or Patron itself.
But let's not forget that the year before in late september was the Leeroy and buzzard nerfs, which nuked Miracle rogue and just about every hunter deck at the time.
Yogg being changed wouldn't be some insane surprise on the pro scene. It would be a tradition at this point.
If they nerf or make Yogg a wild card, i want my 1600 dust back!
...when they make changes to a card, they give you 2 weeks where you can dust it for full value. An early shift to Wild is something that's never happened btut since it was unplanned I bet you'd get the full value treatment as well.
Which would be nice for me since I have 2 Yoggs (didn't save it expecting a nerf, just never needed the dust..tip: if you don't need the dust RIGHT AWAY never dust your cards, even the duplicates. You can always dust it when you need the dust and you score BIG if a card ends up nerfed)
(second note, the interview noted that blizzard has 15 cards on their focus meaning other cards may end up getting nerfed soon.)
This interview is the best example that hearthstone developers care about new players and money rather than veterans and consistent players. They know that new players will buy a lot of WotoG packs to get Yogg and thus won't really nerf it. They are just telling that cards are very strong but won't really change anything. Why? Well because they get money out of the packs players are actually buying. Trust me guys, we won't get rid of 4 mana 7/7, Tuskarr Totemic, Yogg or Call of the Big Boys until the next rotation (and even further beyond)
What does nerf really mean in a game when RNG wins matches? What good would that do?
Blizzard only nerfs cards that would MITIGATE RNG, this is why handlock was nerfed. It was cheap deck that doesn't rely on new expansion cards and pretty much could destroy opponents in any situation if played right.
Blizzard will only nerf cards that give trouble to their algos, that's it.
The reality is people want to see nerfs to FRUSTRATING cards to make them feel at ease, not that nerfing A or B card is going to make any difference on increasing your wins.
I would be angry if they moved it to wild without giving me full dust.
Anyways, I suspect the ~15 cards aren't going to be touched until the next rotation comes, barring Yogg.
I bet a few will, but not many and probably things we weren't expecting. I'm thinking of the changes just before GvG.
As for Yogg...well I remember there was one time they TRIED to slip in a change without a refund: changing eaglehorn bow to no longer trigger off of opponent secrets. They thought it was small enough a change to not matter (IIRC). The community changed their minds VERY quickly and we were given our refund.
I can imagine them considering that Yogg-to-wild may not need a refund if it gets booted to Wild since you can still play it, then we all rage HARD and they go "oh #*$#)" and we get our refund.
As to whether they move Yogg t owild.. honestly I'd prefer a ban but I understand the desire not to open pandora's box. When the first post-release nerf came in, the forums were flooded with demands to change x and y and z cards. Once they ban one card, they will NOT be able to peacefully leave it at that. There are a lot of folks that would've demanded a C'thun ban when Old Gods came out and you can see now how unwarranted that would've been.
I'm not sure HOW you can keep the 'spirit' of Yogg while making him unpalatable for serious play but he's to interesting to see get the gutting treatment. A push to Wild may be the best solution, with a 'nerf refund' period as typical.
And honestly I think that's all that's really needed for Blizcon. Anything further can wait for the next rotation and be balanced for that.
If they do something to Yogg my money is on them removing his ability to cast certain spells that would be too beneficial. Personally, I don't care if they change him as long as I get my dust refund. Yogg is infuriating at times even when I play him. It's even worse when you're about to win due to your opponent being a bad player and then pulls out a big Yogg that completely changes the game in his favor winning the game.
I don't agree with nerfing yogg, but if they change it, make it only able to cast spells that can actually have targets. This makes sense with the wording of the card itself (targets chosen randomly), and eliminates cotw, twisting nether, secrets, flamestrike, etc etc. This would make the card unplayable, but at least it makes sense given the wording on the card itself.
About Yogg Nerf:
About Tournament Mode:
Much more at the link: http://au.ign.com/articles/2016/09/26/team-5-on-the-health-of-hearthstone
On Yogg:
That's blizzard's "they are working on something but haven't solidified it yet" talk. They hate saying things that may change later on so when they are working on something they get VERY 'business speak'. Compare it to new classes which is a flat 'no' or tournament mode which is a 'it's interesting but not now'. When they get wishy washy, it's in development.
Which means Yogg is in consideration as is CotW. I'm betting SOMETHING will happen to it before Blizzcon. The idea of it going to Wild is interesting.
On Tournaments:
I heard another of Blizz state the problem with tournament mode: they hear people wnat it but nothing SOLID about what exactly the public wants in such a mode that they could provide. They don't want ot make a mode that a few people think they want that turns out to be crap for most people. Having seen companies who did exactly that I now understand the issue, especially since far FAR more poeple play the game causally than serious enough to really be big on tournaments, beyond watching their fan favorites play in them.
(note, the biggest issues right now going on in tournaments include the lack of big fan favorites in them. Thus making a mode all about random joes in tournaments may not be the big crowd pleaser that reddit/the forums make it out to be)
Honestly I'm starting to think that what's needed more is a Custom feature, similar to starcraft's map editor (though not as extreme perhaps.. or maybe it should be...). That could be more helpful for the casual audience (anyone seen how the Custom map scene turned out for Starcraft(2)/warcraft?) AND it could be later expanded into something useful for tournament makers.
One does not simply walk into Mordor,
unless they want to be the best they can be.
every time blizzard Nerf . The card become totally garbage and useless
If they nerf or make Yogg a wild card, i want my 1600 dust back!
One does not simply walk into Mordor,
unless they want to be the best they can be.
I would be angry if they moved it to wild without giving me full dust.
Anyways, I suspect the ~15 cards aren't going to be touched until the next rotation comes, barring Yogg.
People who refuses to play aggro out of principle are even worse than people who play exclusively aggro.
One should seek to become a complete player and play all archetypes, including ones that he despises for whatever irrational reasons.
This interview is the best example that hearthstone developers care about new players and money rather than veterans and consistent players. They know that new players will buy a lot of WotoG packs to get Yogg and thus won't really nerf it. They are just telling that cards are very strong but won't really change anything. Why? Well because they get money out of the packs players are actually buying. Trust me guys, we won't get rid of 4 mana 7/7, Tuskarr Totemic, Yogg or Call of the Big Boys until the next rotation (and even further beyond)
Just remember the good times!
What does nerf really mean in a game when RNG wins matches? What good would that do?
Blizzard only nerfs cards that would MITIGATE RNG, this is why handlock was nerfed. It was cheap deck that doesn't rely on new expansion cards and pretty much could destroy opponents in any situation if played right.
Blizzard will only nerf cards that give trouble to their algos, that's it.
The reality is people want to see nerfs to FRUSTRATING cards to make them feel at ease, not that nerfing A or B card is going to make any difference on increasing your wins.
One does not simply walk into Mordor,
unless they want to be the best they can be.
If they do something to Yogg my money is on them removing his ability to cast certain spells that would be too beneficial. Personally, I don't care if they change him as long as I get my dust refund. Yogg is infuriating at times even when I play him. It's even worse when you're about to win due to your opponent being a bad player and then pulls out a big Yogg that completely changes the game in his favor winning the game.
I don't agree with nerfing yogg, but if they change it, make it only able to cast spells that can actually have targets. This makes sense with the wording of the card itself (targets chosen randomly), and eliminates cotw, twisting nether, secrets, flamestrike, etc etc. This would make the card unplayable, but at least it makes sense given the wording on the card itself.
Maybe if Yogg dies, it stops casting spells