For me, it started off with secret mage, aggro mech shaman and control hunter back in the TGT/LOE days. I was excited about playing new archetypes and goofing around with odd decks nobody else played. Then I started to get annoyed with decks I was seeing a lot. Even though I was super excited for the shaman cards for Old Gods, I refused to play cards like Flamewreathed and Master of Evolution when I saw how popular and overpowered midrange shaman was. I loved goofing around with pirates as a rogue before, but grew to loathe them when I saw the rise of pirate warrior. I continued to play ridiculous/underpowered decks like C'Thun Rogue, Zoo Priest, Value Control Shaman and OTK Priest partly because I found them fun but also partly because I took pride in sometimes beating these "meta decks" with my own goofy archetypes.
This behaviour continued well into JTU. Rogue Quest was supposed to be an insta-craft for me and was bound to be my new addition into my Thief Rogue I had been using to hit rank 5 with. But the day expansion dropped and I saw it in 50% of my matchups, absolutely annihilating everything I played, I instantly had a vendetta against it. I played some Exodia Mage at first but quickly devolved into playing things like Quest C'Thun Druid, Midrange Quest Mage, Pirate Weaponbuff Rogue, Deathwing Quest Handlock, and finally Elemental Control Quest Hunter while flaming all of the Quest Rogues, Quest Warriors, Pirate Warriors and Midrange Hunters I saw on the way.
It wasn't until today that I came to my sad realization: I had become a Hearthstone Hipster.
Pretty much my attitude has been that if you play a T1 or T2 deck, you deserve to get the emote spam when you lose or to get trolled on Hearthpwn. I was always superior to others because I played the decks that nobody knew about, that nobody else played. The second something I liked became popular (Silence Priest, Shaman as a class, Secret Mage), I dropped it and left it behind. Sure, I played for enjoyment, but the fact that I couldn't stand to play something that somebody else had, showed there was a bit more motivation. Some of it is a hatred of and stress toward mirror matches, whether in HS, WoW arena, League blind pick, Overwatch, etc. However, I think the primary motivation is to be an innovator and purveyor of unknown archetypes. This can sometimes make me (and others) come off like pretentious assholes (just like hipsters!).
I'm glad that I've come to the realization, and I'm not sure I'll change much in my preferences, but more in the delivery of my ideas so that I don't sound like some assclown wearing ugly-ass clothing, listening to garbage music, and claiming I'm superior because of that.
WhatAChamp, you'd have LOVED playing Magic : The Gathering during the early/mid 90's. This was before the popular adoption of the internet and, specifically, before the netdeck.
Everyone just played decks which they had created themselves. There was, of course, some knowledge of the metagame gained through experience in tournaments and also from reading Duellist monthly magazine (physically printed on ACTUAL paper!) but, by and large, everyone built their own decks from their own ideas.
Back then, deck design was a more significant skill than ability to actually play the game. The hobby appealed to mad scientists the world over and everyone felt far more attached to their decks than folks do today in Hearthstone or Magic or any other CCG in this age of netdecking.
WhatAChamp, you'd have LOVED playing Magic : The Gathering during the early/mid 90's. This was before the popular adoption of the internet and, specifically, before the netdeck.
Everyone just played decks which they had created themselves. There was, of course, some knowledge of the metagame gained through experience in tournaments and also from reading Duellist monthly magazine (physically printed on ACTUAL paper!) but, by and large, everyone built their own decks from their own ideas.
Back then, deck design was a more significant skill than ability to actually play the game. The hobby appealed to mad scientists the world over and everyone felt far more attached to their decks than folks do today in Hearthstone or Magic or any other CCG in this age of netdecking.
I'll stop now. I'm all misty-eyed and may blub.
Check out Wild. While there's some net decking, it's more free form especially in casual.
Wanting to make your own decks and experiment is not "hipsterish." It is normal. It is actually what makes card games fun. It is really the whole point of why card games are popular.
I like Hearthstone but net decking is not healthy for the game.
It's a depressing reality of Hearthstone that the amount of net decks (depending on how refined the meta is and how powerful the top tier decks are) can really push out the ability to create viable decks. Usually people blow this out to be worse than it is but last expansion it was really, really bad.
So unlike real Hipsters, if your creating your decks, you are the one who is healthy for the Hearthstone community keeping variety on the ladder and making the game playable.
In the old days of the WoW TCG, it was so much better than the miserable cancer-heap that Hearthstone has become.
In a similar vein to MtG, decks were frersh and surprising - there were some amazing decks with even more amazing counters that sprung up. The meta was shifting all the time and it never felt stale and boring like HS often does (and the original fear I verbalised way back in the beta when it kicked off).
More than anything, Hearthstone's biggest drawback and reason for sucking so hard at times when compared to other card games is the frankyl bizarre decision to force players to sit there and wait while the opponent takes their turn. Apparently somebody in the design team thought that no interaction with the opposite player was the best interaction... Good job, that man! Get that designer a cherry-coated P45 stat!
WhatAChamp, you'd have LOVED playing Magic : The Gathering during the early/mid 90's. This was before the popular adoption of the internet and, specifically, before the netdeck.
Two things: you would have loved playing D&D on pencil and paper in the fifth grade (circa 1980). All you needed was an excuse to skip whatever fun thing everyone else was doing and hide under the bleachers for some half-elf illusionist fun with 18 charisma because hey, if everybody in your fantasy world finds you amazing, it won't even matter that you're playing alone.
That was the first thing.
The second thing is I didn't realize I've been a hipster all my life. I thought they just wore funny clothes and underachieved on principle.
Thanks for that.
PS I do exactly the same thing in HS. Goofy anti-cancer decks. I truly fear that murlocs are going to dominate the meta soon because I love them but if they are popular I'll have to abandon them. Because playing something popular would destroy my sense of self-worth.
Its funny, I'm the same way. I loved priest and shamen back in GvG and TGT. I thought I liked the priest play style... then dragon OP and priest was popular. Boom never played it. I had a fun pirate warrior before patches and small time buccaneer came out. It was fun and mediocre.
The deck that i have been playing for the last 3 updates is ramp druid and i love it. I just hope it never becomes tier 1 or 2 because i know no matter how much i like the play style I'll find something else no one is playing.
What is your card back? I can't find one that's "distressed" enough for my hipster calling.
Also, these are glory days for the hipster players. You can play whatever has your fancy, habitually underachieve, and then still reach legend due to the sheer number of players.
Wait, let’s lobby for Hearthstone to not take away stars on ladder when you lose, just add them when you win. Everyone gets a participation trophy! Feel free to underachieve and blame any shortcomings on the hostility of competition and the collective patriarchy.
....Because playing something popular would destroy my sense of self-worth.
This is the psychology behind hipster's behaviors. It is not about being an innovator or a pioneer, it is a about identity. It is about the idea that you are special and don't want to do what the masses do. It is much deeper than a preference for playing a video game. It is linked to your real life personality.
I congratulate the OP for observing this behavior and accurately identifying it. You should go with your observation even deeper to find more traits of this kind of personality.
WhatAChamp, you'd have LOVED playing Magic : The Gathering during the early/mid 90's. This was before the popular adoption of the internet and, specifically, before the netdeck.
Everyone just played decks which they had created themselves. There was, of course, some knowledge of the metagame gained through experience in tournaments and also from reading Duellist monthly magazine (physically printed on ACTUAL paper!) but, by and large, everyone built their own decks from their own ideas.
Back then, deck design was a more significant skill than ability to actually play the game. The hobby appealed to mad scientists the world over and everyone felt far more attached to their decks than folks do today in Hearthstone or Magic or any other CCG in this age of netdecking.
I'll stop now. I'm all misty-eyed and may blub.
I really think I would have (except for the money sink that it is). You're right that the internet really helped spreading successful decks around in games like these. Even a game like Diablo 3 is just people finding out which build is the best and then copying that. It's definitely not all bad, but I do love the idea of everyone just being total goofs. I always play my friends using the most bizarre decks possible just to get some laughs.
Wanting to make your own decks and experiment is not "hipsterish." It is normal. It is actually what makes card games fun. It is really the whole point of why card games are popular.
I like Hearthstone but net decking is not healthy for the game.
It's a depressing reality of Hearthstone that the amount of net decks (depending on how refined the meta is and how powerful the top tier decks are) can really push out the ability to create viable decks. Usually people blow this out to be worse than it is but last expansion it was really, really bad.
So unlike real Hipsters, if your creating your decks, you are the one who is healthy for the Hearthstone community keeping variety on the ladder and making the game playable.
You're right that the desire to be innovative isn't hipsterish. Like I said, I started out fine but then ended up just being elitist about certain archetypes and decks to a ridiculous level. It's more that I developed into being like that out of something that was initially just my trying to have fun. I'll still keep being goofy but I may have to let myself take a spin at the new silence priest since I loved it so much last expansion. I guess the true test for me would come if Thief Rogue became T1 as that's my all-time favourite deck.
Before LoE-Old Gods, I'd love to play Shaman as it was such an underrated class, and then it became cancer class in 2016, so I hated it.
During Kara until MSG, Priest was the worst class, and I'd love to play it until it becomes viable, then Dragon Priest happened, and I hated it.
Throughout second half last year, Paladin and Hunter went downhill, so I'd love to play them until UnGoro, Paladin became overpopular again and im already sick of it... Hunter is still fine i guess...
Whenever Rogue was stuck in the bottom 3 classes, I'd love to play Rogue, and now Quest Rogue happened....
I'd never expect to play Mage/Druid/Warrior that much because they're always top classes.
And you could expect how often I play Warlock now...
Same here, I've never played a tier 1 deck (besides patron) but not because of needing to be a special snowflake or anything. Rather, I simply don't see the fun or challenge in looking up a list that has explanations on mulligan/tech/matchups and just doing what that person says you gotta do to win. The enjoyment I get from the game is steadily building my collection so I can create interesting/ suprising decks to experiment with and refine.
My favourite cards in the game are ones that allow creative deck building, cards like The Curator and Steamwheedle Sniper. Creativity seems to just be necessary to the enjoyment of the game for some people. It's probably best to not feel too superior but that personally doesn't stop me from feeling a little disdain towards netdeckers. It's just the pursuit of instant gratification in winning as much as possible, however it is achieved.
On the other hand, hearthy wouldn't be nearly as big as it is without netdecking, so I guess it's kind of a necessary evil :/
For me, it started off with secret mage, aggro mech shaman and control hunter back in the TGT/LOE days. I was excited about playing new archetypes and goofing around with odd decks nobody else played. Then I started to get annoyed with decks I was seeing a lot. Even though I was super excited for the shaman cards for Old Gods, I refused to play cards like Flamewreathed and Master of Evolution when I saw how popular and overpowered midrange shaman was. I loved goofing around with pirates as a rogue before, but grew to loathe them when I saw the rise of pirate warrior. I continued to play ridiculous/underpowered decks like C'Thun Rogue, Zoo Priest, Value Control Shaman and OTK Priest partly because I found them fun but also partly because I took pride in sometimes beating these "meta decks" with my own goofy archetypes.
This behaviour continued well into JTU. Rogue Quest was supposed to be an insta-craft for me and was bound to be my new addition into my Thief Rogue I had been using to hit rank 5 with. But the day expansion dropped and I saw it in 50% of my matchups, absolutely annihilating everything I played, I instantly had a vendetta against it. I played some Exodia Mage at first but quickly devolved into playing things like Quest C'Thun Druid, Midrange Quest Mage, Pirate Weaponbuff Rogue, Deathwing Quest Handlock, and finally Elemental Control Quest Hunter while flaming all of the Quest Rogues, Quest Warriors, Pirate Warriors and Midrange Hunters I saw on the way.
It wasn't until today that I came to my sad realization: I had become a Hearthstone Hipster.
Pretty much my attitude has been that if you play a T1 or T2 deck, you deserve to get the emote spam when you lose or to get trolled on Hearthpwn. I was always superior to others because I played the decks that nobody knew about, that nobody else played. The second something I liked became popular (Silence Priest, Shaman as a class, Secret Mage), I dropped it and left it behind. Sure, I played for enjoyment, but the fact that I couldn't stand to play something that somebody else had, showed there was a bit more motivation. Some of it is a hatred of and stress toward mirror matches, whether in HS, WoW arena, League blind pick, Overwatch, etc. However, I think the primary motivation is to be an innovator and purveyor of unknown archetypes. This can sometimes make me (and others) come off like pretentious assholes (just like hipsters!).
I'm glad that I've come to the realization, and I'm not sure I'll change much in my preferences, but more in the delivery of my ideas so that I don't sound like some assclown wearing ugly-ass clothing, listening to garbage music, and claiming I'm superior because of that.
But do you wear ironic T-shirts and have a massive mustache?
Better to be the hammer than the anvil or the metal shaped between.
I hear you. I kinda do this in every game. Last time I got into an MMO, I looked up census data for it to find the least-played race/class combo.
More like being special snowflake than being hipster
WhatAChamp, you'd have LOVED playing Magic : The Gathering during the early/mid 90's. This was before the popular adoption of the internet and, specifically, before the netdeck.
Everyone just played decks which they had created themselves. There was, of course, some knowledge of the metagame gained through experience in tournaments and also from reading Duellist monthly magazine (physically printed on ACTUAL paper!) but, by and large, everyone built their own decks from their own ideas.
Back then, deck design was a more significant skill than ability to actually play the game. The hobby appealed to mad scientists the world over and everyone felt far more attached to their decks than folks do today in Hearthstone or Magic or any other CCG in this age of netdecking.
I'll stop now. I'm all misty-eyed and may blub.
Wanting to make your own decks and experiment is not "hipsterish." It is normal. It is actually what makes card games fun. It is really the whole point of why card games are popular.
I like Hearthstone but net decking is not healthy for the game.
It's a depressing reality of Hearthstone that the amount of net decks (depending on how refined the meta is and how powerful the top tier decks are) can really push out the ability to create viable decks. Usually people blow this out to be worse than it is but last expansion it was really, really bad.
So unlike real Hipsters, if your creating your decks, you are the one who is healthy for the Hearthstone community keeping variety on the ladder and making the game playable.
In the old days of the WoW TCG, it was so much better than the miserable cancer-heap that Hearthstone has become.
In a similar vein to MtG, decks were frersh and surprising - there were some amazing decks with even more amazing counters that sprung up.
The meta was shifting all the time and it never felt stale and boring like HS often does (and the original fear I verbalised way back in the beta when it kicked off).
More than anything, Hearthstone's biggest drawback and reason for sucking so hard at times when compared to other card games is the frankyl bizarre decision to force players to sit there and wait while the opponent takes their turn.
Apparently somebody in the design team thought that no interaction with the opposite player was the best interaction... Good job, that man! Get that designer a cherry-coated P45 stat!
Its funny, I'm the same way. I loved priest and shamen back in GvG and TGT. I thought I liked the priest play style... then dragon OP and priest was popular. Boom never played it. I had a fun pirate warrior before patches and small time buccaneer came out. It was fun and mediocre.
The deck that i have been playing for the last 3 updates is ramp druid and i love it. I just hope it never becomes tier 1 or 2 because i know no matter how much i like the play style I'll find something else no one is playing.
What is your card back? I can't find one that's "distressed" enough for my hipster calling.
Also, these are glory days for the hipster players. You can play whatever has your fancy, habitually underachieve, and then still reach legend due to the sheer number of players.
Yeah I'm usually playing my gluten free shaman on starbucks.
I prefer the kale, quinoa and pumpkin spice hunter decks
I LIKED SHAMAN BEFORE IT WAS CANCER
Well it's not cancer anymore, so now it's cool to like again!
Wait, let’s lobby for Hearthstone to not take away stars on ladder when you lose, just add them when you win. Everyone gets a participation trophy! Feel free to underachieve and blame any shortcomings on the hostility of competition and the collective patriarchy.
This is the psychology behind hipster's behaviors. It is not about being an innovator or a pioneer, it is a about identity. It is about the idea that you are special and don't want to do what the masses do. It is much deeper than a preference for playing a video game. It is linked to your real life personality.
I congratulate the OP for observing this behavior and accurately identifying it. You should go with your observation even deeper to find more traits of this kind of personality.
i agree and kinda feel your point.
Before LoE-Old Gods, I'd love to play Shaman as it was such an underrated class, and then it became cancer class in 2016, so I hated it.
During Kara until MSG, Priest was the worst class, and I'd love to play it until it becomes viable, then Dragon Priest happened, and I hated it.
Throughout second half last year, Paladin and Hunter went downhill, so I'd love to play them until UnGoro, Paladin became overpopular again and im already sick of it... Hunter is still fine i guess...
Whenever Rogue was stuck in the bottom 3 classes, I'd love to play Rogue, and now Quest Rogue happened....
I'd never expect to play Mage/Druid/Warrior that much because they're always top classes.
And you could expect how often I play Warlock now...
Same here, I've never played a tier 1 deck (besides patron) but not because of needing to be a special snowflake or anything. Rather, I simply don't see the fun or challenge in looking up a list that has explanations on mulligan/tech/matchups and just doing what that person says you gotta do to win. The enjoyment I get from the game is steadily building my collection so I can create interesting/ suprising decks to experiment with and refine.
My favourite cards in the game are ones that allow creative deck building, cards like The Curator and Steamwheedle Sniper. Creativity seems to just be necessary to the enjoyment of the game for some people. It's probably best to not feel too superior but that personally doesn't stop me from feeling a little disdain towards netdeckers. It's just the pursuit of instant gratification in winning as much as possible, however it is achieved.
On the other hand, hearthy wouldn't be nearly as big as it is without netdecking, so I guess it's kind of a necessary evil :/