You can win without paying it at all. But what I believe is that card games are not meant to be free, that includes Hearthstone as well. And you will not able to explore many deck archetypes with a low variety of cards you have, including many legendaries. Also, I don't grind for golds as I don't spend time a lot on Hearthstone...
But that doesn't mean paying is a solution, pay only when you looking for a specific deck(s) that can stay for a long time for meta or even fun. I just think grinding isn't a good solution at all especially if you're looking for more variety of decks.
I think you're not totally wrong, but you just see one side of the coin. As all the games where there is an option to spend money, a F2P player needs dedication: that's normal and I think no one with a functioning brain has ever complained about it. The problems are others: first of all, most of the times you don't get rewarded enough for all your efforts. Yeah, I know, a game must reward those who win and "punish" those who lose, but you can all agree with me that the 10 gold per 3 wins ratio is really obsolete, since it was set when the game was much cheaper and less competitive (?). Sometimes, you just don't get enough incentives to grind for another hour instead of doing something else. But maybe that's just a grudge of mine. Let's continue.
I definitely think that you can win without spending money, so HS isn't literally a pay-to-win game: you can read stories of players reaching high ranks and even Legend without giving Blizz a single cent. The problem is that, rather than pay-to-win, HS is really a PAY-FOR-HAVING-FUN-WHILE-WINNING: if you invest (or waste, based on your personal choices) enough money, you get to try multiple decks and even experiment wacky combos and stuff, something that a F2P player barely can do, given that you usually get 1/5 of the epics/legendaries of each expansion. That's a reason why netdecking is so popular: you want the best deck possible with the lowest dust cost, because not everyone is able to insta-craft a full RenoLock. And that's also why Rexxar has been such a scourge in these months: throw in a bunch of Classic and Basic cards, a couple of commons, two epics and a legendary for 3000 dust cost and, if you're not dumb, a golden epic at the end of the month. I know of friends that would have loved to play that deck for fun, but how can you do it when are barely able to win a game at ranks higher than 21?
Another point: grinding is fair, but it has to be tolerable. Nowadays, it's not always it: for example, I started playing after K&C release and the first remarkable achievement I've got so far is Rank 5 last month (and I haven't crafted a single card since Doomsday day 1, which was a common card lol). Most of the times, and for a lot of time, when you start playing you literally get crapped on by experienced players who farm wins at low ranks and stuff. I don't know if you guys can relate, but the Rank 20-17 zone is a living hell: you queue into golden heroes with (presumably) full collection playing Tier 1 decks more often than at rank 13, and that's a huge problem that may kill a lot of newbies' and F2P players' motivation. Why grinding if all you can feel is frustration and you can't feel the sense of progression the Devs talk a lot about? Is it a problem that can be solved by changing the matchmaking algorithm? Maybe, but right now that's the situation. and that's why people feel like they aren't motivated to grind.
In order to answer you last question, I've hoarded 8600 gold so far and I think I'll get to 10k right when the expansion hits, but that's what makes me think: I've gained resources with a lot of dedication in order to get myself a good spot for the new exp, but someone who has wasted their gold and now may have few to zero coins can just dump 80$ in the game and not only recover his disadvantage, but also get in a better position than someone who has been grinding for the last 4 months. Do you see my point? Money digs an abyss impossible to fill between F2P and pay-to-win players.
What I'm trying to say is that it's normal that there will always be a difference between a F2P and a pay-to-win collections, but it's just that the gap is too big and it keeps increasing.
I hope you got my point. I'm opened to replies and discussions.
The part I highlighted is where you invalidated your own explanation. What is this better position? If you grind and dedicate good gameplay to 4 months you will easily hit 8k+ gold. So you get to walk into the expansion with basically 100 packs (freebees and other gifts from Blizzard included). You paid $0 USD. They intermittently buy packs DURING the expansion, and walk in with 80 right now (This being the highest amount of packs ever offered for equivalently the most expensive pre-purchase ever released). You both get beyond 100 packs. MAYBE they get to 150 by the end of the xpac due to buying packs every time they get to 100 gold. But if they aren't playing as much and just buying in they are barely ahead of you. $80 USD, a premium game release cost in deluxe, and he is 1 potentially 2 or 3 legendaries ahead at best and has a few extra epics ahead of you, most of which won't see play. This "abyss" of a difference does not exist, and the small if even lead these people have over you is horribly over-costed. Pay to win doesn't exist. Pay to have fun is moderate, depending on how often you actually play.
Hearthstone is not pay to win as I define it. I define pay to win as a game where there is digital content in the game that (1) provide a competitive advantage, and (2) is either only available for purchase with real money or is practically only available for purchase with real money because the grinding requirements to acquire the content without money are too formidable. HS does not have any such content.
The game has never been pay-to-win. F2P players can easily field 1-2 competitive decks each expansion. What paying money gets you is MORE competitive decks, and eventually bling.
At around $100/expansion you can basically cover ALL the competitive decks. That’s not an unreasonable sum.
I think you're not totally wrong, but you just see one side of the coin. As all the games where there is an option to spend money, a F2P player needs dedication: that's normal and I think no one with a functioning brain has ever complained about it. The problems are others: first of all, most of the times you don't get rewarded enough for all your efforts. Yeah, I know, a game must reward those who win and "punish" those who lose, but you can all agree with me that the 10 gold per 3 wins ratio is really obsolete, since it was set when the game was much cheaper and less competitive (?). Sometimes, you just don't get enough incentives to grind for another hour instead of doing something else. But maybe that's just a grudge of mine. Let's continue.
I definitely think that you can win without spending money, so HS isn't literally a pay-to-win game: you can read stories of players reaching high ranks and even Legend without giving Blizz a single cent. The problem is that, rather than pay-to-win, HS is really a PAY-FOR-HAVING-FUN-WHILE-WINNING: if you invest (or waste, based on your personal choices) enough money, you get to try multiple decks and even experiment wacky combos and stuff, something that a F2P player barely can do, given that you usually get 1/5 of the epics/legendaries of each expansion. That's a reason why netdecking is so popular: you want the best deck possible with the lowest dust cost, because not everyone is able to insta-craft a full RenoLock. And that's also why Rexxar has been such a scourge in these months: throw in a bunch of Classic and Basic cards, a couple of commons, two epics and a legendary for 3000 dust cost and, if you're not dumb, a golden epic at the end of the month. I know of friends that would have loved to play that deck for fun, but how can you do it when are barely able to win a game at ranks higher than 21?
Another point: grinding is fair, but it has to be tolerable. Nowadays, it's not always it: for example, I started playing after K&C release and the first remarkable achievement I've got so far is Rank 5 last month (and I haven't crafted a single card since Doomsday day 1, which was a common card lol). Most of the times, and for a lot of time, when you start playing you literally get crapped on by experienced players who farm wins at low ranks and stuff. I don't know if you guys can relate, but the Rank 20-17 zone is a living hell: you queue into golden heroes with (presumably) full collection playing Tier 1 decks more often than at rank 13, and that's a huge problem that may kill a lot of newbies' and F2P players' motivation. Why grinding if all you can feel is frustration and you can't feel the sense of progression the Devs talk a lot about? Is it a problem that can be solved by changing the matchmaking algorithm? Maybe, but right now that's the situation. and that's why people feel like they aren't motivated to grind.
In order to answer you last question, I've hoarded 8600 gold so far and I think I'll get to 10k right when the expansion hits, but that's what makes me think: I've gained resources with a lot of dedication in order to get myself a good spot for the new exp, but someone who has wasted their gold and now may have few to zero coins can just dump 80$ in the game and not only recover his disadvantage, but also get in a better position than someone who has been grinding for the last 4 months. Do you see my point? Money digs an abyss impossible to fill between F2P and pay-to-win players.
What I'm trying to say is that it's normal that there will always be a difference between a F2P and a pay-to-win collections, but it's just that the gap is too big and it keeps increasing.
I hope you got my point. I'm opened to replies and discussions.
The part I highlighted is where you invalidated your own explanation. What is this better position? If you grind and dedicate good gameplay to 4 months you will easily hit 8k+ gold. So you get to walk into the expansion with basically 100 packs (freebees and other gifts from Blizzard included). You paid $0 USD. They intermittently buy packs DURING the expansion, and walk in with 80 right now (This being the highest amount of packs ever offered for equivalently the most expensive pre-purchase ever released). You both get beyond 100 packs. MAYBE they get to 150 by the end of the xpac due to buying packs every time they get to 100 gold. But if they aren't playing as much and just buying in they are barely ahead of you. $80 USD, a premium game release cost in deluxe, and he is 1 potentially 2 or 3 legendaries ahead at best and has a few extra epics ahead of you, most of which won't see play. This "abyss" of a difference does not exist, and the small if even lead these people have over you is horribly over-costed. Pay to win doesn't exist. Pay to have fun is moderate, depending on how often you actually play.
Well: not completely. I'm considering the average F2P player, while I'm stubborn by nature in everything I do. There are some days where I feel like the game is so unsatisfying that I'd like not to open it, but I have to farm my 6 daily wins.
What I want to highlight is the amount of grind F2P players have to do endure in order not to fall behind. As I said, grinding is fair and normal, but 10 gold for over an hour of gameplay may be excessive in some situations.
You can certainly play viable decks without paying. People always fail to factor in the TIME it takes to grind out meaningful amounts of gold, though, and the corresponding VALUE of your time. In that context, the game if one one of the least rewarding digital CGs out there.
I'm sorry but it is pay to win, just saying that you can win without paying does not change that fact.
Buying packs gives you a significant advantage in choices and greatly reduces the neccessary grind to be able to utilize everything the game has to offer (all the available cards). You have to look at it from the perspective of 2 complete new players where one buys packs and the other doesn't.
But here is the thing, it is a ccg, they are p2w by design and there is no way around it unless you make it B2P and have all cards unlocked from start or only a free progression system that you are unable to hasten by paying.
If you can't deal with the fact that this is the nature of the genre of CCGs then you are looking at the wrong category of games to play.
I think you're not totally wrong, but you just see one side of the coin. As all the games where there is an option to spend money, a F2P player needs dedication: that's normal and I think no one with a functioning brain has ever complained about it. The problems are others: first of all, most of the times you don't get rewarded enough for all your efforts. Yeah, I know, a game must reward those who win and "punish" those who lose, but you can all agree with me that the 10 gold per 3 wins ratio is really obsolete, since it was set when the game was much cheaper and less competitive (?). Sometimes, you just don't get enough incentives to grind for another hour instead of doing something else. But maybe that's just a grudge of mine. Let's continue.
I definitely think that you can win without spending money, so HS isn't literally a pay-to-win game: you can read stories of players reaching high ranks and even Legend without giving Blizz a single cent. The problem is that, rather than pay-to-win, HS is really a PAY-FOR-HAVING-FUN-WHILE-WINNING: if you invest (or waste, based on your personal choices) enough money, you get to try multiple decks and even experiment wacky combos and stuff, something that a F2P player barely can do, given that you usually get 1/5 of the epics/legendaries of each expansion. That's a reason why netdecking is so popular: you want the best deck possible with the lowest dust cost, because not everyone is able to insta-craft a full RenoLock. And that's also why Rexxar has been such a scourge in these months: throw in a bunch of Classic and Basic cards, a couple of commons, two epics and a legendary for 3000 dust cost and, if you're not dumb, a golden epic at the end of the month. I know of friends that would have loved to play that deck for fun, but how can you do it when are barely able to win a game at ranks higher than 21?
Another point: grinding is fair, but it has to be tolerable. Nowadays, it's not always it: for example, I started playing after K&C release and the first remarkable achievement I've got so far is Rank 5 last month (and I haven't crafted a single card since Doomsday day 1, which was a common card lol). Most of the times, and for a lot of time, when you start playing you literally get crapped on by experienced players who farm wins at low ranks and stuff. I don't know if you guys can relate, but the Rank 20-17 zone is a living hell: you queue into golden heroes with (presumably) full collection playing Tier 1 decks more often than at rank 13, and that's a huge problem that may kill a lot of newbies' and F2P players' motivation. Why grinding if all you can feel is frustration and you can't feel the sense of progression the Devs talk a lot about? Is it a problem that can be solved by changing the matchmaking algorithm? Maybe, but right now that's the situation. and that's why people feel like they aren't motivated to grind.
In order to answer you last question, I've hoarded 8600 gold so far and I think I'll get to 10k right when the expansion hits, but that's what makes me think: I've gained resources with a lot of dedication in order to get myself a good spot for the new exp, but someone who has wasted their gold and now may have few to zero coins can just dump 80$ in the game and not only recover his disadvantage, but also get in a better position than someone who has been grinding for the last 4 months. Do you see my point? Money digs an abyss impossible to fill between F2P and pay-to-win players.
What I'm trying to say is that it's normal that there will always be a difference between a F2P and a pay-to-win collections, but it's just that the gap is too big and it keeps increasing.
I hope you got my point. I'm opened to replies and discussions.
The part I highlighted is where you invalidated your own explanation. What is this better position? If you grind and dedicate good gameplay to 4 months you will easily hit 8k+ gold. So you get to walk into the expansion with basically 100 packs (freebees and other gifts from Blizzard included). You paid $0 USD. They intermittently buy packs DURING the expansion, and walk in with 80 right now (This being the highest amount of packs ever offered for equivalently the most expensive pre-purchase ever released). You both get beyond 100 packs. MAYBE they get to 150 by the end of the xpac due to buying packs every time they get to 100 gold. But if they aren't playing as much and just buying in they are barely ahead of you. $80 USD, a premium game release cost in deluxe, and he is 1 potentially 2 or 3 legendaries ahead at best and has a few extra epics ahead of you, most of which won't see play. This "abyss" of a difference does not exist, and the small if even lead these people have over you is horribly over-costed. Pay to win doesn't exist. Pay to have fun is moderate, depending on how often you actually play.
Well: not completely. I'm considering the average F2P player, while I'm stubborn by nature in everything I do. There are some days where I feel like the game is so unsatisfying that I'd like not to open it, but I have to farm my 6 daily wins.
What I want to highlight is the amount of grind F2P players have to do endure in order not to fall behind. As I said, grinding is fair and normal, but 10 gold for over an hour of gameplay may be excessive in some situations.
Yeah no one agrees that 10 gold per 3 wins rewards the player, but thats far from being the "abyss" of a difference between spending money and not in this game. Plenty of people see arguments like yours and start the "Make the Game Cost Less Tirade". I think Hearthstone is in as healthy a price-point as its gonna get. Look I totally understand that as a grinding, daily player you are feeling a bit unrewarded. Brother/Sister I am right there with you... I spent too much money on this game compared to other games to still not have access to some of the decks I'd like to try (full list not budget), coupled with playing daily to an average of 70-80 gold per day for going on 2 years. Truth in the matter is there is a tipping point and you just have to reach it. This game can be free to play- full collection (standard). It just takes some time and long dedication, but if you really love the game it isn't impossible, nor is it a pay wall.
It's not pay to win... it's definitely pay to play. I think that the real issue is with how MUCH you get to play. If you buy the 80pack launch package + single player, you're paying almost $100USD, every 4 months, which will net you between 3-7 legendaries. You'll also be missing tonnes of epics. You'll have enough gold to make maybe 2-3 full proper decks.
Then if you want to go meme-ing, you have to REALLY spend your dust carefully, which is a shame. If I spend $300 a year, i should be able to meme to my hearts content.
1. You can have all the cards you want f2p, it just take time. It is not like you have to pay extra 20 dollar for a Pay-only version of Pyroblast that deal 12 damage to face or cost 8 mana. Lol
2. Playing More expansive deck doesnt mean you win more in this game, it actually quite opposite. The best decks in Hearthstone history usually only have low to medium total dust count. Expensive control decks never have more overall winrate than the best much cheaper aggro decks
I only pa because if I want to play different decks I can I don’t really care about ranked last month I got 15 that was a first I probably my last time I barely play cause the player base are bunch of little kids that either can play the game right or are asshole.
I can say it's not because all I do is pay and I lose all the damn time! But really, you just have to be good. Something I personally don't have time for.
it's more like "pay to skip the amount of rage you have to endure"
Which is one on the definitions of pay to win.
Just because something is possible without paying does not automatically put it away from pay to win.
If you can unlock every card in the game on day 1 by spending money that is pay to win regardless if if can win without it. But that is also the nature and definition of CCGs.
By your logic the lootboxes in SW:BF 2 is not pay to win because you can still unlock them by an insane amount of playing (80h minimum of playing with a wall of X amount of points you can earn per day) then more hours for special powers (not something that make you win if you aren't skilled enough to use it).
No, I'm sorry but CCGs are pay to win by definition regardless what anyone says, just not in the way that you are 100% guarateed victory because you payed.
Any game that offers advantage to a paying player is p2w.In hs that advantage is the variety and adaptability of decks. You cannot sugarcoat it.
Is that a bad thing?No it is not.
Can you reach legend without spending a dime?You certainly can.I have stopped counting the times i reached and i have not spent a single penny.
Hs should be more generous in order to make new player experience sustainable without spending a fortune.But old players ,especially those of us who are good at arena, are fine.I haven't played hs at all the last two months and i still have 3000 gold and 20000 dust if i destroy my redundant golden cards. Still this doen't excuse activision for being a shity company.
For me, P2W is about gaining an advantage over your opponent. Having a bigger collection doesn't give you an advantage it just lets you play more styles. Besides anybody can craft the few relevant cards to take part in the meta.
What do I need to buy (and how much) that will allow me to win every game I play? If this can't be answered, then P2W in Hearthstone simlpy doesn't exist.
If Hearthstone was Pay to Win then I would consitently finish top 100 Legend every month. And in the past it would have probably been top 10 because I used to spend a small fortune on this game.
Hearthstone is free to play but that is not 100% honest. Unless you have endless time to grind and slowly build a collection, the game for all intents and purposes is actually Pay to Play. If I didn't have the money to spend on the game I wouldn't want to play it. I would not enjoy being limited ito my collection and possibly only being able to play one or two classes.
Spending money on the game will get you the cards quicker but it won't make you better at the game. Trust me on this. You may win some games at very low ranks simply because you have better cards but that advantage disappears around rank 18 where almost everyone is running full meta decks.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Missing lethal since June 2015.
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
You can win without paying it at all. But what I believe is that card games are not meant to be free, that includes Hearthstone as well. And you will not able to explore many deck archetypes with a low variety of cards you have, including many legendaries. Also, I don't grind for golds as I don't spend time a lot on Hearthstone...
But that doesn't mean paying is a solution, pay only when you looking for a specific deck(s) that can stay for a long time for meta or even fun. I just think grinding isn't a good solution at all especially if you're looking for more variety of decks.
I like elementals and totems.
The part I highlighted is where you invalidated your own explanation. What is this better position? If you grind and dedicate good gameplay to 4 months you will easily hit 8k+ gold. So you get to walk into the expansion with basically 100 packs (freebees and other gifts from Blizzard included). You paid $0 USD. They intermittently buy packs DURING the expansion, and walk in with 80 right now (This being the highest amount of packs ever offered for equivalently the most expensive pre-purchase ever released). You both get beyond 100 packs. MAYBE they get to 150 by the end of the xpac due to buying packs every time they get to 100 gold. But if they aren't playing as much and just buying in they are barely ahead of you. $80 USD, a premium game release cost in deluxe, and he is 1 potentially 2 or 3 legendaries ahead at best and has a few extra epics ahead of you, most of which won't see play. This "abyss" of a difference does not exist, and the small if even lead these people have over you is horribly over-costed. Pay to win doesn't exist. Pay to have fun is moderate, depending on how often you actually play.
Hearthstone is not pay to win as I define it. I define pay to win as a game where there is digital content in the game that (1) provide a competitive advantage, and (2) is either only available for purchase with real money or is practically only available for purchase with real money because the grinding requirements to acquire the content without money are too formidable. HS does not have any such content.
The game has never been pay-to-win. F2P players can easily field 1-2 competitive decks each expansion. What paying money gets you is MORE competitive decks, and eventually bling.
At around $100/expansion you can basically cover ALL the competitive decks. That’s not an unreasonable sum.
Well: not completely. I'm considering the average F2P player, while I'm stubborn by nature in everything I do. There are some days where I feel like the game is so unsatisfying that I'd like not to open it, but I have to farm my 6 daily wins.
What I want to highlight is the amount of grind F2P players have to do endure in order not to fall behind. As I said, grinding is fair and normal, but 10 gold for over an hour of gameplay may be excessive in some situations.
You can certainly play viable decks without paying. People always fail to factor in the TIME it takes to grind out meaningful amounts of gold, though, and the corresponding VALUE of your time. In that context, the game if one one of the least rewarding digital CGs out there.
I'm sorry but it is pay to win, just saying that you can win without paying does not change that fact.
Buying packs gives you a significant advantage in choices and greatly reduces the neccessary grind to be able to utilize everything the game has to offer (all the available cards). You have to look at it from the perspective of 2 complete new players where one buys packs and the other doesn't.
But here is the thing, it is a ccg, they are p2w by design and there is no way around it unless you make it B2P and have all cards unlocked from start or only a free progression system that you are unable to hasten by paying.
If you can't deal with the fact that this is the nature of the genre of CCGs then you are looking at the wrong category of games to play.
Yeah no one agrees that 10 gold per 3 wins rewards the player, but thats far from being the "abyss" of a difference between spending money and not in this game. Plenty of people see arguments like yours and start the "Make the Game Cost Less Tirade". I think Hearthstone is in as healthy a price-point as its gonna get. Look I totally understand that as a grinding, daily player you are feeling a bit unrewarded. Brother/Sister I am right there with you... I spent too much money on this game compared to other games to still not have access to some of the decks I'd like to try (full list not budget), coupled with playing daily to an average of 70-80 gold per day for going on 2 years. Truth in the matter is there is a tipping point and you just have to reach it. This game can be free to play- full collection (standard). It just takes some time and long dedication, but if you really love the game it isn't impossible, nor is it a pay wall.
It's not pay to win... it's definitely pay to play. I think that the real issue is with how MUCH you get to play. If you buy the 80pack launch package + single player, you're paying almost $100USD, every 4 months, which will net you between 3-7 legendaries. You'll also be missing tonnes of epics. You'll have enough gold to make maybe 2-3 full proper decks.
Then if you want to go meme-ing, you have to REALLY spend your dust carefully, which is a shame. If I spend $300 a year, i should be able to meme to my hearts content.
This game never been p2w because
1. You can have all the cards you want f2p, it just take time. It is not like you have to pay extra 20 dollar for a Pay-only version of Pyroblast that deal 12 damage to face or cost 8 mana. Lol
2. Playing More expansive deck doesnt mean you win more in this game, it actually quite opposite. The best decks in Hearthstone history usually only have low to medium total dust count. Expensive control decks never have more overall winrate than the best much cheaper aggro decks
I only pa because if I want to play different decks I can I don’t really care about ranked last month I got 15 that was a first I probably my last time I barely play cause the player base are bunch of little kids that either can play the game right or are asshole.
I can say it's not because all I do is pay and I lose all the damn time! But really, you just have to be good. Something I personally don't have time for.
well, correct it's not pay to win , really
it's more like "pay to skip the amount of rage you have to endure"
Which is one on the definitions of pay to win.
Just because something is possible without paying does not automatically put it away from pay to win.
If you can unlock every card in the game on day 1 by spending money that is pay to win regardless if if can win without it. But that is also the nature and definition of CCGs.
By your logic the lootboxes in SW:BF 2 is not pay to win because you can still unlock them by an insane amount of playing (80h minimum of playing with a wall of X amount of points you can earn per day) then more hours for special powers (not something that make you win if you aren't skilled enough to use it).
No, I'm sorry but CCGs are pay to win by definition regardless what anyone says, just not in the way that you are 100% guarateed victory because you payed.
Take my money blizzard.
Any game that offers advantage to a paying player is p2w.In hs that advantage is the variety and adaptability of decks. You cannot sugarcoat it.
Is that a bad thing?No it is not.
Can you reach legend without spending a dime?You certainly can.I have stopped counting the times i reached and i have not spent a single penny.
Hs should be more generous in order to make new player experience sustainable without spending a fortune.But old players ,especially those of us who are good at arena, are fine.I haven't played hs at all the last two months and i still have 3000 gold and 20000 dust if i destroy my redundant golden cards. Still this doen't excuse activision for being a shity company.
For me, P2W is about gaining an advantage over your opponent. Having a bigger collection doesn't give you an advantage it just lets you play more styles. Besides anybody can craft the few relevant cards to take part in the meta.
Simple question that answers this whole problem
What do I need to buy (and how much) that will allow me to win every game I play?
If this can't be answered, then P2W in Hearthstone simlpy doesn't exist.
If Hearthstone was Pay to Win then I would consitently finish top 100 Legend every month. And in the past it would have probably been top 10 because I used to spend a small fortune on this game.
Hearthstone is free to play but that is not 100% honest. Unless you have endless time to grind and slowly build a collection, the game for all intents and purposes is actually Pay to Play. If I didn't have the money to spend on the game I wouldn't want to play it. I would not enjoy being limited ito my collection and possibly only being able to play one or two classes.
Spending money on the game will get you the cards quicker but it won't make you better at the game. Trust me on this. You may win some games at very low ranks simply because you have better cards but that advantage disappears around rank 18 where almost everyone is running full meta decks.
Missing lethal since June 2015.