At first glance it appears to be just a quality of life change but let's be serious here at look at it again.
How many things we don't have at the game because they would overhelm new players? What if new players would have time to learn about those things when they play other new players?
Now to the list:
1. Blizzard can print hero skins at a big frequency now because new players will still face the basic ones most of the time.
2. Blizzard can print new base hero power if they want now because new players will still face the basic ones most of the time.
3. Blizzard can go a little more crazy with card effects because new players will be unlikely to face they before learn the game enough. For example:
Start of the game:
Show your hero as a random hero of another class for the opponent until you play a class card or use your hero power.
And the list probably not ends here. Only god knew if blizzard understand this more than the item 1 that they are already putting into use but it still a really good thing.
1. Buy the bundle, grind out some packs, get promo cards, etc. 2. At 1600 dust, craft Whizbang 3. Trash the new ranks as people who aren't in the 'know' dink around with F2P decks.
Sounds like a blast. I'll give a try in Europe I guess.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Free to try and find a game, dealing cards for sorrow, cards for pain.
At first glance it appears to be just a quality of life change but let's be serious here at look at it again.
How many things we don't have at the game because they would overhelm new players? What if new players would have time to learn about those things when they play other new players?
Now to the list:
1. Blizzard can print hero skins at a big frequency now because new players will still face the basic ones most of the time.
No. More than likely if that's the case, they will make the heroes cost money. They still have to cater to non-new players as well.
2. Blizzard can print new base hero power if they want now because new players will still face the basic ones most of the time.
Again no. Blizzard has to balance the game for everyone involved. Which means, non-new players as well. Also, if they make new base hero powers for just newbies, it'll be confusing when they get to a rank that other players are at, and that base new hero power is gone.
3. Blizzard can go a little more crazy with card effects because new players will be unlikely to face they before learn the game enough. For example:
Start of the game:
Show your hero as a random hero of another class for the opponent until you play a class card or use your hero power.
- This is an adverse affect. Players need to learn what to mulligan for against a certain class.
And the list probably not ends here. Only god knew if blizzard understand this more than the item 1 that they are already putting into use but it still a really good thing.
People who know how to play the game will lose the interest at it some time and blizzard have control on what people will have acess with whizbang. It is not like it will continue like this after some days except for someone so sad that will pay for a new welcome bundle every time it reaches at 25 >ranks.
Today it probably have more smurfs than new players but it will not last long until most get bored of it.
1. Buy the bundle, grind out some packs, get promo cards, etc. 2. At 1600 dust, craft Whizbang 3. Trash the new ranks as people who aren't in the 'know' dink around with F2P decks.
Sounds like a blast. I'll give a try in Europe I guess.
Funny you mention about point three, there is one player who just had a match up against a warlock zoo deck (Not me, just saw this on the news page).
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
My Entry for this week's Card Design Competition - Season 8.16:
1.And what is wrong with cosmectics costing money?
People are to much self entitled about cosmectics and things like that. They are not important for enjoy the game and no one really have any right to angry about something like this despite of the price. If someone is so unhappy about it then just vote with his own wallet and not buy.
2. You understood it wrong. A base hero power is a hero power that you start the game with no need of a special effect. The most iminent reason for it to not exist is that it is part of how people identify a class.
But if you give new players time to learn the game it stops to be unreasonable to make they exist since older ones are not so naive.
- Nothing unless they do like what you said and release a lot (big frequency) at a time. Then yeah, no one wants to constantly shell out $50+ every time they release a horde of new hero skins.
People are to much self entitled about cosmetics and things like that. They are not important for enjoy the game and no one really have any right to angry about something like this despite of the price. If someone is so unhappy about it then just vote with his own wallet and not buy.
Self entitled? What?
2. You understood it wrong. A base hero power is a hero power that you start the game with no need of a special effect. The most iminent reason for it to not exist is that it is part of how people identify a class.
You said that Blizzard can print "new base hero powers". Why is that okay? If it's only for newbie players, they won't be able to take into account the already base hero powers that are there when they reach rank 25. Each hero IS identifiable by hero power. Priest heals. Mage has a free 1 dmg ping. Rogues have daggers. How can you not identify a class by their hero power?
But if you give new players time to learn the game it stops to be unreasonable to make they exist since older ones are not so naive.
1. Buy the bundle, grind out some packs, get promo cards, etc. 2. At 1600 dust, craft Whizbang 3. Trash the new ranks as people who aren't in the 'know' dink around with F2P decks.
Sounds like a blast. I'll give a try in Europe I guess.
Actually, you can't craft Whizbang until you're rank 25.
How many things we don't have at the game because they would overhelm new players?
Close to none.
The game's tutorial has not changed at all since the launch of the game in 2014. It was already bad back then. But nobody at Blizzard or Team5 ever considered it necessary to explain anything that has changed in almost 5 years to new players. Game modes, basic mechanics, things like card backs or set rotations, keywords, strategies, just everything is supposed to be figured out through playing and the occasional news from the official channel. If the devs ever worried about new players being overwhelmed at the start, they never addressed it. Or let's say, they think that providing information is more confusing than keeping things hidden and obscure. So, I don't think the whole "new player"-issue was holding anything back.
Their design philosophy still is, that everything should be as minimalistic and intuitive as possible, and they are adamant about this as ever. But it's not because anything else would make the game less friendly to beginners, it's because that's the identity of the game - "simple and fun".
If you expect the game to drastically change in any meaningful way anytime soon, you will be disappointed. I'm no fortune teller, but if Hearthstone still is around in let's say 5 years, my guess would be that it looks and runs pretty much exactly the same as right now aside from minor details.
I'd be surprised if they ever reconsider bringing old sets and aventures back to the in-game store and interface. They could just add a warning sign to prevent new players from accidentally buying cards for Wild mode. But that would require an extra button in the menu and possibly writing words that people would have to read, so I expect that this still won't be solved in another 3 years from now.
@AcePlayer None of this really makes sense, and/or I don't understand what you're trying to suggest. Can you explain?
How many things we don't have at the game because they would overhelm new players? What if new players would have time to learn about those things when they play other new players?
Are you saying that New Player ranks would allow for new features to get integrated same day because they play with those features as they play through the new ranks? They could introduce any feature to the game right now then if that's the idea because it wouldn't really matter when they deal with it. They deal with new features the next time they play, and there's no real need for easing the player into new concepts at any point. Some of us naturally just take longer to figure it out, and that's not really Blizzard's fault.
1. Blizzard can print hero skins at a big frequency now because new players will still face the basic ones most of the time.
Hero Skins, not Hero Cards, right? A Hero Skin doesn't really affect gameplay. You see it. It doesn't do anything. It's a graphic. This list item doesn't really make sense to me. Why do Hero Skins matter and what would New Player ranks have to do with the Hero Skins?
2. Blizzard can print new base hero power if they want now because new players will still face the basic ones most of the time.
Print a new base Hero Power for what? Are you talking about Blizzard introducing a new playable class?
3. Blizzard can go a little more crazy with card effects because new players will be unlikely to face they before learn the game enough. For example:
Start of the game:
Show your hero as a random hero of another class for the opponent until you play a class card or use your hero power.
... New Player ranks helping introduce players to new cards? If players are new and things can be confusing, why do New Player ranks matter when talking about new cards that have crazy effects?
1. Buy the bundle, grind out some packs, get promo cards, etc. 2. At 1600 dust, craft Whizbang 3. Trash the new ranks as people who aren't in the 'know' dink around with F2P decks.
Sounds like a blast. I'll give a try in Europe I guess.
Actually, you can't craft Whizbang until you're rank 25.
Yep, it seems he is missing. Deathknights are still there at least. The strangest thing is opponent rank is not shown - perhaps I make some friends to investigate. Also seems more like a brawl since most decks lack removal and the winner is determined by big minions. Hardly good practice for ranked play.
1. Buy the bundle, grind out some packs, get promo cards, etc. 2. At 1600 dust, craft Whizbang 3. Trash the new ranks as people who aren't in the 'know' dink around with F2P decks.
Sounds like a blast. I'll give a try in Europe I guess.
Actually, you can't craft Whizbang until you're rank 25.
Why not ? They removed him from the pool if you are a new player ?
OP, you are too hopeful about Blizzard improving their game client.
The game does not even have a basic UI for the in-game achievement system since the launch of the game. People have to resort to wikis or forums to see what they are. Simple things like Auto-Squelch option, in-game deck tracker and etc are not even implemented. Yet, you are excited for what? A plausible future game client improvements? Rein it back a little.
Money talks.
Hearthstone is not like Overwatch where they have so much money they can afford resources to improve the game client.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
JagBone's Wild Adventures! 3 Videos Per Week. Fun, wacky Wild decks and plays!
I am not very optimistic about the new ranks, mainly because there are way to many cards needed to have an enjoyable experience beyond rank 20 (or 25 in the future). The only difference will be that new players will run into the meta wall a little later. The 22 free Packs given out will do nothing to change that.
In my opinion the only serious option to get new players into the game is to make at least the basic set and maybe even a couple of old expansions/adventures free. This way you could reduce the hurdle to get into the game significantly for a (probably) small sacrifice in sales (I even think that people might be more inclined to spend a little money to get up to speed than a shitton of money to survive). It's not without prescedence either, since this is what they are doing with WoW (selling the last two expansions while giving the old ones out for a small fee).
OP, you are too hopeful about Blizzard improving their game client.
The game does not even have a basic UI for the in-game achievement system since the launch of the game. People have to resort to wikis or forums to see what they are. Simple things like Auto-Squelch option, in-game deck tracker and etc are not even implemented. Yet, you are excited for what? A plausible future game client improvements? Rein it back a little.
Money talks.
Hearthstone is not like Overwatch where they have so much money they can afford resources to improve the game client.
Maybe you're correct but the game is going to a more agressive form of marketing than before and someone can hope that it causes a win/win situation where it not only gaves more money to blizzard but also result in more improvements for players right?
Atleast we will probably get skins in a larger scale now and despite of they being paid content it is a improvement for cosmetics fans that before not even had much options.
I got SRA from my frozen throne PvE, and notice that people really suck against control at these ranks. Not really a Priest fan, but it seems to clean up in this mode. All things reconsidered, this mode is fun, not like 25+, but actually interesting to play.
It's 5 stars per rank, but you do get win streak. It seems that around 45 or so, death knights are a required element to advance. I will probably need to dust everything to make DK Rexxar just because the other ones don't work so well without cards to support them, at least not Anduin.
Also, I got Whizbang from a Golden Kobold, the irony.
At first glance it appears to be just a quality of life change but let's be serious here at look at it again.
How many things we don't have at the game because they would overhelm new players? What if new players would have time to learn about those things when they play other new players?
Now to the list:
1. Blizzard can print hero skins at a big frequency now because new players will still face the basic ones most of the time.
2. Blizzard can print new base hero power if they want now because new players will still face the basic ones most of the time.
3. Blizzard can go a little more crazy with card effects because new players will be unlikely to face they before learn the game enough. For example:
Start of the game:
Show your hero as a random hero of another class for the opponent until you play a class card or use your hero power.
And the list probably not ends here. Only god knew if blizzard understand this more than the item 1 that they are already putting into use but it still a really good thing.
What will actually happen:
1. Buy the bundle, grind out some packs, get promo cards, etc.
2. At 1600 dust, craft Whizbang
3. Trash the new ranks as people who aren't in the 'know' dink around with F2P decks.
Sounds like a blast. I'll give a try in Europe I guess.
Free to try and find a game, dealing cards for sorrow, cards for pain.
Reply in bold.
People who know how to play the game will lose the interest at it some time and blizzard have control on what people will have acess with whizbang. It is not like it will continue like this after some days except for someone so sad that will pay for a new welcome bundle every time it reaches at 25 >ranks.
Today it probably have more smurfs than new players but it will not last long until most get bored of it.
Funny you mention about point three, there is one player who just had a match up against a warlock zoo deck (Not me, just saw this on the news page).
My Entry for this week's Card Design Competition - Season 8.16:
1.And what is wrong with cosmectics costing money?
People are to much self entitled about cosmectics and things like that. They are not important for enjoy the game and no one really have any right to angry about something like this despite of the price. If someone is so unhappy about it then just vote with his own wallet and not buy.
2. You understood it wrong. A base hero power is a hero power that you start the game with no need of a special effect. The most iminent reason for it to not exist is that it is part of how people identify a class.
But if you give new players time to learn the game it stops to be unreasonable to make they exist since older ones are not so naive.
.3. Same reason as item 2.
Actually, you can't craft Whizbang until you're rank 25.
Close to none.
The game's tutorial has not changed at all since the launch of the game in 2014. It was already bad back then. But nobody at Blizzard or Team5 ever considered it necessary to explain anything that has changed in almost 5 years to new players. Game modes, basic mechanics, things like card backs or set rotations, keywords, strategies, just everything is supposed to be figured out through playing and the occasional news from the official channel. If the devs ever worried about new players being overwhelmed at the start, they never addressed it. Or let's say, they think that providing information is more confusing than keeping things hidden and obscure. So, I don't think the whole "new player"-issue was holding anything back.
Their design philosophy still is, that everything should be as minimalistic and intuitive as possible, and they are adamant about this as ever. But it's not because anything else would make the game less friendly to beginners, it's because that's the identity of the game - "simple and fun".
If you expect the game to drastically change in any meaningful way anytime soon, you will be disappointed. I'm no fortune teller, but if Hearthstone still is around in let's say 5 years, my guess would be that it looks and runs pretty much exactly the same as right now aside from minor details.
I'd be surprised if they ever reconsider bringing old sets and aventures back to the in-game store and interface. They could just add a warning sign to prevent new players from accidentally buying cards for Wild mode. But that would require an extra button in the menu and possibly writing words that people would have to read, so I expect that this still won't be solved in another 3 years from now.
@AcePlayer None of this really makes sense, and/or I don't understand what you're trying to suggest. Can you explain?
Are you saying that New Player ranks would allow for new features to get integrated same day because they play with those features as they play through the new ranks? They could introduce any feature to the game right now then if that's the idea because it wouldn't really matter when they deal with it. They deal with new features the next time they play, and there's no real need for easing the player into new concepts at any point. Some of us naturally just take longer to figure it out, and that's not really Blizzard's fault.
Hero Skins, not Hero Cards, right? A Hero Skin doesn't really affect gameplay. You see it. It doesn't do anything. It's a graphic. This list item doesn't really make sense to me. Why do Hero Skins matter and what would New Player ranks have to do with the Hero Skins?
Print a new base Hero Power for what? Are you talking about Blizzard introducing a new playable class?
... New Player ranks helping introduce players to new cards? If players are new and things can be confusing, why do New Player ranks matter when talking about new cards that have crazy effects?
Come visit my Card Emporium. Strange things, you will find inside...
Come take the test, if you're daring. Feel free to show me your results in a message.
Yep, it seems he is missing. Deathknights are still there at least. The strangest thing is opponent rank is not shown - perhaps I make some friends to investigate. Also seems more like a brawl since most decks lack removal and the winner is determined by big minions. Hardly good practice for ranked play.
Free to try and find a game, dealing cards for sorrow, cards for pain.
Why not ? They removed him from the pool if you are a new player ?
You can craft it, but its un-playable card.
from Russia with love
I'm impressed the devs thought about it.
OP, you are too hopeful about Blizzard improving their game client.
The game does not even have a basic UI for the in-game achievement system since the launch of the game. People have to resort to wikis or forums to see what they are. Simple things like Auto-Squelch option, in-game deck tracker and etc are not even implemented. Yet, you are excited for what? A plausible future game client improvements? Rein it back a little.
Money talks.
Hearthstone is not like Overwatch where they have so much money they can afford resources to improve the game client.
JagBone's Wild Adventures! 3 Videos Per Week. Fun, wacky Wild decks and plays!
Follow me on Social Media:
YouTube: JagBone| Twitter: JagBone | Instagram: JagBone | Video Thread: JagBone
I am not very optimistic about the new ranks, mainly because there are way to many cards needed to have an enjoyable experience beyond rank 20 (or 25 in the future). The only difference will be that new players will run into the meta wall a little later. The 22 free Packs given out will do nothing to change that.
In my opinion the only serious option to get new players into the game is to make at least the basic set and maybe even a couple of old expansions/adventures free. This way you could reduce the hurdle to get into the game significantly for a (probably) small sacrifice in sales (I even think that people might be more inclined to spend a little money to get up to speed than a shitton of money to survive). It's not without prescedence either, since this is what they are doing with WoW (selling the last two expansions while giving the old ones out for a small fee).
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
#JeSuisFieryWarAxe!
Maybe you're correct but the game is going to a more agressive form of marketing than before and someone can hope that it causes a win/win situation where it not only gaves more money to blizzard but also result in more improvements for players right?
Atleast we will probably get skins in a larger scale now and despite of they being paid content it is a improvement for cosmetics fans that before not even had much options.
I got SRA from my frozen throne PvE, and notice that people really suck against control at these ranks. Not really a Priest fan, but it seems to clean up in this mode. All things reconsidered, this mode is fun, not like 25+, but actually interesting to play.
Free to try and find a game, dealing cards for sorrow, cards for pain.
How many stars is there between the ranks starting from rank 50 ? Does it only take 1 star to get from 50 to 49 ?
It's 5 stars per rank, but you do get win streak. It seems that around 45 or so, death knights are a required element to advance. I will probably need to dust everything to make DK Rexxar just because the other ones don't work so well without cards to support them, at least not Anduin.
Also, I got Whizbang from a Golden Kobold, the irony.
Free to try and find a game, dealing cards for sorrow, cards for pain.