(before I start: please be gentle, and know that this is simply a wish list of mine that has been in my head, and I wanted to put it into words).
To Blizzard/Team 5,
I've been an avid Hearthstone player since October 2014, and I do enjoy the time I've invested. A plethora of changes have been made and every change seems to be to increase the health and longevity of the game. I'm also a Heroes of the Storm player (perhaps not for long...) and I was pleased when that game essentially went into a version 2.0 a year ago, and I would like to see Hearthstone undergo a similar change (my hope is that the base for HS is so much greater than Heroes that such a change would not be catastrophic).
With that said, here are some changes that I would like to see (with the note that I'm sure plenty of others have already suggested these changes in the past, present, and will do so in the future):
1. Move some cards from the Classic set to the Basic Set; keep Basic evergreen; then, move the Classic set into the Hall of Fame. Right now, you have the ability to nerf cards, which is powerful. However, with such a large card database, and many other expansions to come, it's time to consider giving the Classic set a proper retirement. The hope is that Standard will become even more diverse, as the prototypical cards found in every deck will no longer be available except in Wild. I haven't researched which cards to move, but I'm sure there are several candidates, keeping in mind to move cards into Basic that respect the identity of the class. With this move, I would also consider reverting some cards to their pre-nerf status only for mana cost, not for card text.
2. Adjust the deckbuilding rules for Constructed play. This is the one knob that hasn't changed since the start of the game, and while limitations breed creativity, options bring a diverse play pattern. Those changes are: deck minimum of 30 cards, maximum 40cards; continue to limit 1 legendary, 2 epic and rare class cards, but allow 3 common/basic cards. The first complaint may be that mill decks will no longer become viable, but the mill decks in HS are based on excessive card draw. There are very few actual mill cards printed (Gnomeferatu). Arena deckbuilding remains the same at 30 cards, which is expected for a Limited environment.
3. Increase the maximum mana crystals for each player. Players still receive one mana crystal at the start of the turn, until they reach 10. Then, every two turns after, that player receives another mana crystal until they reach 20 (the new maximum). It is expected that only Druids would reach this maximum based on their cards that generate mana. Speaking of Druids, this should not eliminate card draw based on maximum mana crystals. Therefore, at 10 mana, any card that would generate another permanent mana crystal would become a Choose One card, where the player can choose to gain the mana crystal, or receive the Excess Mana card, and then draw. Special note: Biology Project would always give mana crystals to the opponent; the player that plays the card gets the Choose One choice.
4. The Standard Brawliseum (and even a Wild Brawliseum) should be always available. Feel free to call it something else if you like, but the idea of being able to play in a competitive format at any time with a gold cost is absolutely what I want to see! Now, maybe this is what will be borne out of the soon-to-come Tournament Mode. If so, awesome. If not, this is truly worth consideration. You can open it as you do on Wednesday, and close it on Sunday. 5 days per week. Feel free to expand it if you want, by allowing us to enter with three decks, and at each matchup, the players ban two of the decks. Or, Conquest - best 2 out of 3, with one ban.
With these changes, my general hope is that the game thrives much longer. If none of the changes can be made permanent, then as a partial prize, it would be nice to see a Tavern Brawl rotate in with these changes, just to see how they would hold up. Until then, I'll continue to play and enjoy as I have.
Love these ideas. I kept wishing for more play modes, meaning not just Ladder and Casual. Having those two of course, but adding in some other meme type play mode. I know it would probably be impossible to implement and control, but i mainly only play fun decks that have no hope on the ladder, but can be really good. Im tired of all the bots and people playing ladder decks in casual for the quests. some place to actually be able to enjoy the nich / unique and odd ball cards that have no hope against rush / ladder decks.
What about a FREE *Wild* Brawliseum run each week as well?
I'd probably switch permanently to that mode, instead of grinding ladder and get tired before r10...
On the other hand, i don't get the purpose of 20 mana, and i think it would require a huge overhaul of the game for balance purposes, for a target i fail to understand.
These are really cool ideas. Point 1 seems to be happening slowly anyways, but the idea of classic cards moving to basic seems a given now, in order to make the new player experience better. They could totally be earned by levelling the character further, and rewarding for every level up, so that the golden versions aren’t missed.
I really like point 4, but I think it would bring some of the heavy duty nerd-rangers out en masse. As well as the whole complaint “p2w” brigade, who are already annoying as it is.
Point 2 would be awesome, really awesome. Talk about a way to instantly create more design space, with more powerful decks at the expense of draw consistency.
Let’s hope they trial some of these ideas someday and see how it works out. My gut says these ideas are all counter-commercial though, so chances are slim.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I wasn't planning on going for a run today. But those cops came out of nowhere.
I feel like the mana crystal section (Especially concerning buffing druid's mana ramp), wouldn't be the funnest. I think that the 10 mana maximum is part of the fun of the game. However the deck building, brawliseum and classic set recommendations are all very good (Though instead of making standard have that deck count, maybe make a rotating type of new ladder (Make something along the line of tavern brawl, but competitive and rotates between different modes each month, One month could be this new "unlimited" format, the next month could be a brawliseum, etc. I think having this mode that chances each month like this could be really fun.
So, basically, Hearthstone: The Gathering. I mean, I would play that, for sure, but I think cards are just not balanced for that. This woulf make cool tawern Brawl tho. Or maybe just another mode.
I would love if the made the rotations so that we only had 3 expansions at anytime. So everytime a new expanion came along, the oldest rotated out. Right now I feel like several cards are in the game for to long and Blizzard have problems with certain cards and balancing them. It would also make it so make it so we have a fresh meta.
Usually when I see threads like these on this forum they're just people whining about stuff, but these are all genuine good idea's that would make the game super interesting. (if you could go to 20 mana they would probably have to do something to some spellpower cards and stuff like that tho) :P
I also want to add that would be cool if there was a Whizbang only mode, maybe not getting a random deck, but the only decks you can choose and play against are the preset decks. Probably wouldnt see too much play, but atleast it would be a mode where everything was some what controlled and balanced.
You suggest they change the gameplay by increasing mana to 20 maximum, deck slot to 40 and 3 common/rare in decks. I dont agree with those cuz there are no cardgames that change their gameplay and also i think that they would have to balance everything from the start, something that could break the game even worse.
I totally aggree on upgrading the basic set cuz for new players its really hard to play and win with those basic neutral cards and also it would be nice for everyone a fresh basic set its been the same till beta. But moving classic set into HOF would make things harder for f2p players. The game would become to expensive to try and stay competitive.
Also it would be really nice if Brawliseum was always available.
Some new visuals also would be nice a new main menu or a new collection something like a total visual upgrade.
Points 1 and 4 both seem viable options, and I see no reason not to do them. I worry that Blizzard would screw up which Classic cards to move to the Basic set, but that shouldn't be a reason not to attempt this.
Points 2 and 3 though, are just too massive a shift in design to be viable. Both fundamentally change how the game would be played, and all current cards would need to be viewed under a new lens to see if they become broken in this new system. That's a lot of balancing work to do. Theoretically, they could just push these changes live and ask the players to figure out which cards are broken, but I imagine that would not go over well with people, so they'd need to do it internally, which is both a huge amount of work and not something they've been traditionally the best at.
On review, I also don't know about the mana expansion. I think my initial thought was that with more mana, the games may speed up a little bit, as more cards could theoretically be played in later turns. However, it would significantly reward classes with powerful card draw and does nothing to bolster decks that already play out their hands before 10 mana.
So, basically, Hearthstone: The Gathering. I mean, I would play that, for sure, but I think cards are just not balanced for that. This woulf make cool tawern Brawl tho. Or maybe just another mode.
So you caught on to that lol! I don't think it's a secret that a lot of HS players have roots in other similar card games. And I do agree - there seem to be some very strange decisions with card balance. They've admitted they design more for fun and not so much for balance.
Points 1 and 4 both seem viable options, and I see no reason not to do them. I worry that Blizzard would screw up which Classic cards to move to the Basic set, but that shouldn't be a reason not to attempt this.
Points 2 and 3 though, are just too massive a shift in design to be viable. Both fundamentally change how the game would be played, and all current cards would need to be viewed under a new lens to see if they become broken in this new system. That's a lot of balancing work to do. Theoretically, they could just push these changes live and ask the players to figure out which cards are broken, but I imagine that would not go over well with people, so they'd need to do it internally, which is both a huge amount of work and not something they've been traditionally the best at.
Wow, thank you for replying! I think we all have fear that Blizzard doesn't know how to drive the car at this point, we just hope.
I did back off entirely on the mana expansion (Druids op, heavy card drawing classes also op, aggro suffers). Would you agree that HS needs a Public Test Server, so that we as players CAN actually solve these issues and present data? There's such a large community out there now that there can't possibly be a shortage of players willing to provide feedback.
Points 1 and 4 both seem viable options, and I see no reason not to do them. I worry that Blizzard would screw up which Classic cards to move to the Basic set, but that shouldn't be a reason not to attempt this.
Points 2 and 3 though, are just too massive a shift in design to be viable. Both fundamentally change how the game would be played, and all current cards would need to be viewed under a new lens to see if they become broken in this new system. That's a lot of balancing work to do. Theoretically, they could just push these changes live and ask the players to figure out which cards are broken, but I imagine that would not go over well with people, so they'd need to do it internally, which is both a huge amount of work and not something they've been traditionally the best at.
Wow, thank you for replying! I think we all have fear that Blizzard doesn't know how to drive the car at this point, we just hope.
I did back off entirely on the mana expansion (Druids op, heavy card drawing classes also op, aggro suffers). Would you agree that HS needs a Public Test Server, so that we as players CAN actually solve these issues and present data? There's such a large community out there now that there can't possibly be a shortage of players willing to provide feedback.
I think a Public Test Server for something like this - a fundamental mechanical change - could make sense. I disagree with a test server for unreleased cards, as that ruins the hype cycle and results in a stale meta immediately upon release, but for new features or fundamental design changes - hell, even just to introduce this as a new mode while retaining the current state of Hearthstone - that could definitely work.
(before I start: please be gentle, and know that this is simply a wish list of mine that has been in my head, and I wanted to put it into words).
To Blizzard/Team 5,
I've been an avid Hearthstone player since October 2014, and I do enjoy the time I've invested. A plethora of changes have been made and every change seems to be to increase the health and longevity of the game. I'm also a Heroes of the Storm player (perhaps not for long...) and I was pleased when that game essentially went into a version 2.0 a year ago, and I would like to see Hearthstone undergo a similar change (my hope is that the base for HS is so much greater than Heroes that such a change would not be catastrophic).
With that said, here are some changes that I would like to see (with the note that I'm sure plenty of others have already suggested these changes in the past, present, and will do so in the future):
1. Move some cards from the Classic set to the Basic Set; keep Basic evergreen; then, move the Classic set into the Hall of Fame. Right now, you have the ability to nerf cards, which is powerful. However, with such a large card database, and many other expansions to come, it's time to consider giving the Classic set a proper retirement. The hope is that Standard will become even more diverse, as the prototypical cards found in every deck will no longer be available except in Wild. I haven't researched which cards to move, but I'm sure there are several candidates, keeping in mind to move cards into Basic that respect the identity of the class. With this move, I would also consider reverting some cards to their pre-nerf status only for mana cost, not for card text.
2. Adjust the deckbuilding rules for Constructed play. This is the one knob that hasn't changed since the start of the game, and while limitations breed creativity, options bring a diverse play pattern. Those changes are: deck minimum of 30 cards, maximum 40 cards; continue to limit 1 legendary, 2 epic and rare class cards, but allow 3 common/basic cards. The first complaint may be that mill decks will no longer become viable, but the mill decks in HS are based on excessive card draw. There are very few actual mill cards printed (Gnomeferatu). Arena deckbuilding remains the same at 30 cards, which is expected for a Limited environment.
3. Increase the maximum mana crystals for each player. Players still receive one mana crystal at the start of the turn, until they reach 10. Then, every two turns after, that player receives another mana crystal until they reach 20 (the new maximum). It is expected that only Druids would reach this maximum based on their cards that generate mana. Speaking of Druids, this should not eliminate card draw based on maximum mana crystals. Therefore, at 10 mana, any card that would generate another permanent mana crystal would become a Choose One card, where the player can choose to gain the mana crystal, or receive the Excess Mana card, and then draw. Special note: Biology Project would always give mana crystals to the opponent; the player that plays the card gets the Choose One choice.
4. The Standard Brawliseum (and even a Wild Brawliseum) should be always available. Feel free to call it something else if you like, but the idea of being able to play in a competitive format at any time with a gold cost is absolutely what I want to see! Now, maybe this is what will be borne out of the soon-to-come Tournament Mode. If so, awesome. If not, this is truly worth consideration. You can open it as you do on Wednesday, and close it on Sunday. 5 days per week. Feel free to expand it if you want, by allowing us to enter with three decks, and at each matchup, the players ban two of the decks. Or, Conquest - best 2 out of 3, with one ban.
With these changes, my general hope is that the game thrives much longer. If none of the changes can be made permanent, then as a partial prize, it would be nice to see a Tavern Brawl rotate in with these changes, just to see how they would hold up. Until then, I'll continue to play and enjoy as I have.
Love these ideas. I kept wishing for more play modes, meaning not just Ladder and Casual. Having those two of course, but adding in some other meme type play mode. I know it would probably be impossible to implement and control, but i mainly only play fun decks that have no hope on the ladder, but can be really good. Im tired of all the bots and people playing ladder decks in casual for the quests. some place to actually be able to enjoy the nich / unique and odd ball cards that have no hope against rush / ladder decks.
What about a FREE *Wild* Brawliseum run each week as well?
I'd probably switch permanently to that mode, instead of grinding ladder and get tired before r10...
On the other hand, i don't get the purpose of 20 mana, and i think it would require a huge overhaul of the game for balance purposes, for a target i fail to understand.
These are really cool ideas. Point 1 seems to be happening slowly anyways, but the idea of classic cards moving to basic seems a given now, in order to make the new player experience better. They could totally be earned by levelling the character further, and rewarding for every level up, so that the golden versions aren’t missed.
I really like point 4, but I think it would bring some of the heavy duty nerd-rangers out en masse. As well as the whole complaint “p2w” brigade, who are already annoying as it is.
Point 2 would be awesome, really awesome. Talk about a way to instantly create more design space, with more powerful decks at the expense of draw consistency.
Let’s hope they trial some of these ideas someday and see how it works out. My gut says these ideas are all counter-commercial though, so chances are slim.
I wasn't planning on going for a run today. But those cops came out of nowhere.
I feel like the mana crystal section (Especially concerning buffing druid's mana ramp), wouldn't be the funnest. I think that the 10 mana maximum is part of the fun of the game. However the deck building, brawliseum and classic set recommendations are all very good (Though instead of making standard have that deck count, maybe make a rotating type of new ladder (Make something along the line of tavern brawl, but competitive and rotates between different modes each month, One month could be this new "unlimited" format, the next month could be a brawliseum, etc. I think having this mode that chances each month like this could be really fun.
I would also love to see 2vs2 matches implemented. This would open a new world in this fantastic game.
So, basically, Hearthstone: The Gathering. I mean, I would play that, for sure, but I think cards are just not balanced for that. This woulf make cool tawern Brawl tho. Or maybe just another mode.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
New UI Design
I would love if the made the rotations so that we only had 3 expansions at anytime. So everytime a new expanion came along, the oldest rotated out. Right now I feel like several cards are in the game for to long and Blizzard have problems with certain cards and balancing them. It would also make it so make it so we have a fresh meta.
Usually when I see threads like these on this forum they're just people whining about stuff, but these are all genuine good idea's that would make the game super interesting. (if you could go to 20 mana they would probably have to do something to some spellpower cards and stuff like that tho) :P
Love keeping basic evergreen, increase the basic class card pool (not so much neutrals) and rotating classic out in exchange for a 20xx Core Set
I also want to add that would be cool if there was a Whizbang only mode, maybe not getting a random deck, but the only decks you can choose and play against are the preset decks. Probably wouldnt see too much play, but atleast it would be a mode where everything was some what controlled and balanced.
You suggest they change the gameplay by increasing mana to 20 maximum, deck slot to 40 and 3 common/rare in decks. I dont agree with those cuz there are no cardgames that change their gameplay and also i think that they would have to balance everything from the start, something that could break the game even worse.
I totally aggree on upgrading the basic set cuz for new players its really hard to play and win with those basic neutral cards and also it would be nice for everyone a fresh basic set its been the same till beta. But moving classic set into HOF would make things harder for f2p players. The game would become to expensive to try and stay competitive.
Also it would be really nice if Brawliseum was always available.
Some new visuals also would be nice a new main menu or a new collection something like a total visual upgrade.
Points 1 and 4 both seem viable options, and I see no reason not to do them. I worry that Blizzard would screw up which Classic cards to move to the Basic set, but that shouldn't be a reason not to attempt this.
Points 2 and 3 though, are just too massive a shift in design to be viable. Both fundamentally change how the game would be played, and all current cards would need to be viewed under a new lens to see if they become broken in this new system. That's a lot of balancing work to do. Theoretically, they could just push these changes live and ask the players to figure out which cards are broken, but I imagine that would not go over well with people, so they'd need to do it internally, which is both a huge amount of work and not something they've been traditionally the best at.
You can find me here! Good luck everyone!
I give this idea to the years in the Hearthstone forums . +1
Interesting ideas, sounds like 20 mana would make druids op asf tho...
On review, I also don't know about the mana expansion. I think my initial thought was that with more mana, the games may speed up a little bit, as more cards could theoretically be played in later turns. However, it would significantly reward classes with powerful card draw and does nothing to bolster decks that already play out their hands before 10 mana.
So you caught on to that lol! I don't think it's a secret that a lot of HS players have roots in other similar card games. And I do agree - there seem to be some very strange decisions with card balance. They've admitted they design more for fun and not so much for balance.
Wow, thank you for replying! I think we all have fear that Blizzard doesn't know how to drive the car at this point, we just hope.
I did back off entirely on the mana expansion (Druids op, heavy card drawing classes also op, aggro suffers). Would you agree that HS needs a Public Test Server, so that we as players CAN actually solve these issues and present data? There's such a large community out there now that there can't possibly be a shortage of players willing to provide feedback.
I think a Public Test Server for something like this - a fundamental mechanical change - could make sense. I disagree with a test server for unreleased cards, as that ruins the hype cycle and results in a stale meta immediately upon release, but for new features or fundamental design changes - hell, even just to introduce this as a new mode while retaining the current state of Hearthstone - that could definitely work.
You can find me here! Good luck everyone!