Hearthpwn

I've played card games for some time now so I'm accustomed to reading a card and understanding how it triggers, what happens in what order and how a games mechanics will work. This game has so many instances of inconsistency. Things that could be resolved by very simple rewording. This post was what recently reminded me:

http://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/general-discussion/20928-silencing-druid-of-the-claw-ancient-of-war#c11

Those should work exactly the same. All they need to do is change the wording as described in the comments to fix it. There are other times, but I've played long enough to memorize exceptions and can't remember them at the moment.

They seem like simple changes, and there are many people more experienced than I. Why haven't they been fixed?

Honestly, they haven't been fixed because most players, such as myself, just don't care about them. It will be something that you may be surprised at the first time you see it, but after that, it just becomes another aspect of the game that you expect and plan around. 

People often come over to forums to gripe about them the first time it happens to them when they weren't expecting it, but just like everyone else, they get used to it. 

In a perfect world, they wouldn't be there, but our world is far from perfect, and I would rather Blizz spend time creating and balancing cards for the new expansion than touching up some old ones. 

Games like MtG have well-defined keywords which specify exactly what happens. It's necessary for MtG because humans are interpreting the rules, so they need to be told exactly what to do.

However, this isn't necessary for Hearthstone because the server interprets and enforces the rules. Having a lot of keywords could be a barrier to entry to Hearthstone, which is supposed to be fairly casual.

After a few expansions you can get a lot of keywords. Imagine dumping this MtG keyword list on a new player:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Magic:_The_Gathering_keywords

they aren't the same because one is an option between two minions (4/4 charge or 4/6 taunt) while the other is a buff (10/5 or 5/10 taunt)

similar cards, but not the same.

Quote from Milk_Monk »

Quote from buhzar »

they aren't the same because one is an option between two minions (4/4 charge or 4/6 taunt) while the other is a buff (10/5 or 5/10 taunt)

similar cards, but not the same.

how do you decide which is what when it is selection of two minions and when it is buff of minion? The logic of wording of both cards is very same: Choose one - <option1>; or <option2>.

Exactly. They are worded exactly the same. Yet one is treated as a transformation and the other a series of buffs.

Quote from Snow_King »

Honestly, they haven't been fixed because most players, such as myself, just don't care about them. It will be something that you may be surprised at the first time you see it, but after that, it just becomes another aspect of the game that you expect and plan around. 

People often come over to forums to gripe about them the first time it happens to them when they weren't expecting it, but just like everyone else, they get used to it. 

In a perfect world, they wouldn't be there, but our world is far from perfect, and I would rather Blizz spend time creating and balancing cards for the new expansion than touching up some old ones. 

It's less important for sure. I'll grant that. But It really can't be a hard fix. And I have gotten used to it also, as you say. It is just very odd to me. It's amateur is what it is. It surprised me to see that and that they haven't patched the things. Each time gets in my way once or twice is all.

Quote from Lametastic »

You don't need a list like that to fix most of the issues. The one posted just needs to use the word "Transform" to fix it. They use it on Hex already. Which is why the a silenced frog is just a frog without taunt.

Quote from ContentsMayVary »

Games like MtG have well-defined keywords which specify exactly what happens. It's necessary for MtG because humans are interpreting the rules, so they need to be told exactly what to do.

However, this isn't necessary for Hearthstone because the server interprets and enforces the rules. Having a lot of keywords could be a barrier to entry to Hearthstone, which is supposed to be fairly casual.

After a few expansions you can get a lot of keywords. Imagine dumping this MtG keyword list on a new player:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Magic:_The_Gathering_keywords

 

You don't need a list like that to fix most of the issues. The one posted just needs to use the word "Transform" to fix it. They use it on Hex already. Which is why the a silenced frog is just a frog without taunt.

But they aren't written that way... Which is why it's wrong. They need to use the words "transform" or "morph." They word the two cards the identical same way. All they need to do is write it like they do on Hex. Hex is right because it says "transform."

That's the opposite of logic. Based on what the cards say there is no transformation. It isn't a "rule." It's literally explaining what is happening when a card becomes an entirely new thing. Without that word, it is a buff. It literally makes no sense to make it into another card without that one word. It's just wrong.

Quote from Golden_Talos »

Quote from Lametastic »

But they aren't written that way... Which is why it's wrong. They need to use the words "transform" or "morph." They word the two cards the identical same way. All they need to do is write it like they do on Hex. Hex is right because it says "transform."

Why?  Why do they have to use words like ''transform'' and ''morph'', not only do these words not appear elsewhere in Hearthstone, but they seem to be adding a lot of complexity for the sake of a single example.  A little bit of logic will tell you why Druid of the Claw keeps its buff (Because it isn't a buff -- it's a whole new form)  whereas Ancient of War doesn't.  Adding unnecessary terminology into the game only complicates it further, and opens the door to even more confusion down the line.

Hex and Polymorph use transform.

It's consumerism, so it need not be so specific. You don't see Bill Gates or Doug Martin running around to tell people how everything works in precise detail, do you? The point of a successful modern game is that players play it and are never driven to ask why.

As for the Ancient of War alone, that mechanism is a reasonable way to balance, since it's stats might be too extreme to fight against.