No, the bundles are too expansive and this expansion isn't a revolution. I'd rather buy whole new game. Moreover Battlegrounds are probably not a tournament mode I wanted to get.
Just in a recent interview before Blizzcon, Ben Thomposon said about the game (in response to the incident), that "it should be “home away from home” where players should “leave your world outside and join this world inside where all are welcome.”"
If that's how he sees the game, the community sure doesn't. There is a clear "me against you" and "I am better than you"-mentality on a personal and even moral level going on. It also shows occasionally in discussions about decks (whenever a deck or strategy is labeled "braindead", for example), but it ALWAYS shows when it comes to "do you pre-order?", or "do you spend money?" for that matter.
Whether it is F2P players taking pride in not spending money, or big spenders that not only take pride in how much money they are spending, but will shame any who don't follow their example. These sentiments ALWAYS come up, and they are always shoehorned in when the question about pre-ordering (or just anything remotely related to money) comes up. And yes, I focus on the latter even though both sides like to play the moral card, because judging by the upvotes, it is rather obvious which one is in the lead here.
Some would be absolutely delighted to read this topic and the reactions. To paraphrase the by now somewhat infamous Torulf Jernström on the structuring and design of F2P games from his presentation at a game conference a few years ago (with the charming title "Let's go whaling"): "We are herd animals, we tend to do what all the others do. Especially when people are similar to us, the socially accepted way of behaving in your game should be paying. You want to tell people when somebody bought something, so that everbody knows, because then that becomes the socially acceptable way. You absolutely do NOT want to tell them that the majority of people in your game never spend money. That's poison! NEVER tell them that!" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNjI03CGkb4). In case that was too subtle: He means that in a F2P economy, players should push each other into paying (more and more) money, and implicitly, that they should socially exclude people who don't comply, thereby coercing them into paying as well.
I wouldn't say that Hearthstone is fully embracing that philosophy of fostering such an environment (even though some things like hero portraits and card backs are clearly informing other players of your spendings), but Ben Thompson either doesn't care or is unaware of how deeply divided the community is in that regard by now, when he says that. Hearthstone isn't exactly welcoming everyone, when some players zealously, in a twisted sense of loyalty, feel like they need to defend the interests of the publisher in heated arguments against those "greedy freeloaders", rather than enjoying to have so many people share their hobby and make others feel welcome.
This discussion shouldn't even happen. EVER. No one needs to justify or explain his or her spending habits, for whatever reason, because it is nobody's business here. And it's not a moral debate, or in any way open for debate, whether a player spends 1000$ a year, or 100$, or 10$, or nothing. Sure you can be interested in what others have spent or intend to purchase, but you can't be judgmental about it. To say the least, it should seem a bit iffy to you, if by that logic virtuousness can be obtained by a purchase.
Whether I am poor, or live in a country where the pre-order is too expensive, or want to make a political statement, or don't think it's worth it, or have bad (compulsory) spending habits and need to avoid microtransactions, or have already spent 5000$ on the game across the years and think it's been enough, I am free to not pre-order. I do not have to explain why, and hopefully never will.
Unless Blizzard (or rather Activision) should someday decide that the game will require a monthly subscription fee, everyone is in the right to spend as little or as much on the game as he or she likes, even if it is nothing at all. That is all there is to say. You'd think people would leave the financial concerns to the company that is knowingly and intentionally and for over 5 years, from the very start, very successfully offering the game for free.
Boy, this thread made me mad. And sad. As much as I criticise the game, topics like these (or rather what they turn into) really make me wonder what people I'm spending my time with. The game can get better over time, even though it might take a decade or two until I'm all happy with it. But I wonder what amount of patience I have to bring up until this community drops this super silly topic once and for all.
It's great value so long as you can budget yourself accordingly. And it makes it a LOT easier to do so when you have a day job. =)
I mean, I can see were some players would balk at a 80.00 price tag, just realize what you DO get with it when you buy it. Not only do you in fact get 100 packs this time, which is a hugely amount in favor of the player this time, (I'm not sure of exact maths but its more than the "fair 1:1 gold-pack ratio) BUT in addition you're guaranteed the random Golden Legendary minion PLUS mother effing Deathwing as a hero skin for Warrior! It's sick value that's truly in favor of the player base this time around.
Even the mini bundle is great value. For 50 bucks, you get 60 packs (which again, is more than the 1:1 pack-gold ratio in favor of the player), PLUS yet another free random golden legendary, PLUS a cardback.
So when it comes to set launch for me not only am I guaranteed 160 packs on the spot, but plus im also guaranteed to have 2 golden legendaries on opening day. Sounds pretty good to me.
I love Blizzard gaming and Hearthstone's latest expansion is my favorite thus far because of Dragons! Finally!
Hi, I have a question to all. I wanted to buy the descent of dragons (DOD) expansion pack. I have been using Amazon app from my mobile phone to make past purchases. But ever since DOD came out, my cards have been buggy (missing cards when I have the full 30 cards before DOD is added to Hearthstone etc) And now I realise I CANNOT buy any expansion packs with the Amazon app.. It just kept stalling (and having no reaction for a good 15 mins or more) - it just basically says waiting for authentication or something. I read that DOD has a lot of bugs and there will be an update maybe next week. But I want to make sure there is enough time before the expansion pack time limit is over. If next week the DOD update is just as buggy and Blizzard takes a long time to clarify, I will not have enough time to buy the expansion packs before DOD becomes officially live. Anyone can provide some advice? Or is there any Blizzard staff there that can help me??
(Basically I cannot buy expansion packs with Amazon app on mobile phone now but before DOD update, I can.
Whether it is F2P players taking pride in not spending money, or big spenders that not only take pride in how much money they are spending, but will shame any who don't follow their example. These sentiments ALWAYS come up, and they are always shoehorned in when the question about pre-ordering (or just anything remotely related to money) comes up. And yes, I focus on the latter even though both sides like to play the moral card, because judging by the upvotes, it is rather obvious which one is in the lead here.
I, for one, generally don't mention my spending unless it's relevant, usually in response to a question about pity timers or what it takes to complete a collection or other practical matters like that.
But I also don't hesitate to pass judgment on those who act like Blizzard has a moral obligation to make the game better for free players.
If you want to be proud of your f2p status and how well you've done without paying, that's fine. But it stops being fine the moment someone starts complaining that it's hard to play in Ranked as f2p or even mentions the phrase "pay to win."
The reality of the situation is that the game would not exist without paying customers, so it makes no sense to try to shame those who do pay with derogatory sentiments like these. I'm not saying the whales deserve any special gratitude, but less passive-aggressive hostility might be nice.
Also, let's please drop the myth that free players are somehow necessary to the game. If you are f2p, Blizzard sees you as a potential paying customer. That is the only reason they let you play for free. It has nothing to do with queue times or needing a critical mass of players or anything like that. If all the free players went on strike and it somehow did cause longer queues, all they'd have to do is tweak the number of ranks and adjust the matchmaking algorithm, and POOF, the queues would be short again.
This doesn't mean free players don't deserve respect as fellow players; of course every player deserves that. But anyone calling Blizzard greedy for any reason has completely lost sight of how the world works. Blizzard, like every subsidiary of every publicly traded company in the universe, is greedy by definition. "Calling them out" over that is just plain ignorant and pointless.
By the way, I don't mean to imply that you, Dunscot, do any of this. I'm only listing a few of the reasons a paying player might feel provoked into one of these discussions you dislike so much. It's not out of pride in one's spending; it's not an attempt to shame the less fortunate.
I agree that the community would be better off without such discussions, but that is a two-way street. This thread is one of the very, very rare situations when a paying customer initiates the conversation.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Why, you never expected justice from a company, did you? They have neither a soul to lose nor a body to kick." -- Lady Saba Holland
I have pre-ordered every expac since ungoro, but the game is so buggy and unstable now it's virtually unplayable. I am not spending $ for a broken game
I've already purchased both preorder bundles. That and the 8-9k gold I've saved up should net me every card in the expansion. I've been building my collection hard since I started Hearthstone just after the Boomsday expansion, and I now have a complete collection of all the standard set. I enjoy being able to play any deck or archetype possible, even the memes.
While I completely understand and empathize with the people choosing to not spend money on this game due to Blizzard's actions in the whole Blitzchung affair and the frequent balance and bug issues, I will not be joining them. Blitzchung knew what he was doing going in. He knew he would be punished. Blizzard definitely went over the top with that punishment, but it doesn't change the fact that he broke the rules. I hate what they did and the reasons they did it, but management decisions are not necessarily employee decisions. There are a lot of people working at Blizzard who had no input on this matter and many who, like us, despise how it was handled. Management will never take the fall for what happened. If Hearthstone were to collapse, the people most affected would be the people who had the least say in the whole debacle. Vote with your wallets if that makes you feel better, but honestly, it won't make a lick of difference to people who are so self assured in their own superiority that they really don't care what we think. Besides which, rage inducing as it may be at times, I really do enjoy playing Hearthstone, and I wish to see where it goes. My poor phone has survived so far, let's see how long it lasts.
Of course I have brought them - I always buy the preorder bundles just because it is such a good offer - then I don't waste my saved up gold on anything other than adventure chapters and arena.
I did, but already regretting it for Blizzard being too incompetent to fix bugs for weeks:
Squelch Bug, Reroll Bug, continuous Crashs especially in the new Mode, need to restart after starting a chat on mobile, which crashes immediately, regular removing of golden cards in the decks ...
What a confession of failure. Blizzard used to test their new content in the past, but nowadays dollar bills seem to be everything that is counting.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Control is like Chess - using your given resources wisely.
Aggro is like Russian Roulette - Hope to topdeck the right card/ hope for the opponent to topdeck the wrong card.
Parallels to the IQ of the players of both games are, of course, coincidental ;)
The last few expansions have been really mediocre (in my opinion) generating some of the most stale ladder seasons I’ve experienced. Aside from the half okay solo content I’ve only been playing to complete my daily quests. I see no reason to pre-order when the game has been so bad.
Then there’s Dropping £75 on a digital card game which has had little innovation since its release. Just take the recent re-release of old cards into the game...plus £75 buys you 2-3 new full priced games and you’re not even guaranteed any legendary cards etc.
So it’s a definite no from me.
Also, a lot of people here have apparently already preordered. That’s definitely their own decision. But in my opinion, it doesn’t actually help the game. Blizzard have been pushing some really poor content over the last few expansions and people blindly buying into another 130+ card push expansion just gives Blizzard licence to carry on with the drip feed of content. Why would they want to innovate when they can get away with pushing batches of 130+ cards every four months? Oh but they have battlegrounds now! Other developers have forced their hand - they would not have bothered had other developers not been successful with the format.
been pre ordering for a while,not doin the same now.the game has let me down a lot lately so as i see wich direction it takes then i decide if it's worth to invest more in it.
sad player here. :)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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No, the bundles are too expansive and this expansion isn't a revolution. I'd rather buy whole new game. Moreover Battlegrounds are probably not a tournament mode I wanted to get.
I have been waiting 5 years for this expansion! Already bought both bundles and will be crafting many golden legendaries this time around.
I stuck with Dragon Paladin(and Paladin just in general since beta) since its inception and it's all finally paying off <3
I am super hyped!
Just in a recent interview before Blizzcon, Ben Thomposon said about the game (in response to the incident), that "it should be “home away from home” where players should “leave your world outside and join this world inside where all are welcome.”"
"“[Hearthstone] was never intended to be something more than that,” he said. “It was never intended to be ‘me against you’ or ‘I am different from you’ other than what my deck looks like and what my strategy is.”" (from a Kotaku interview: https://kotaku.com/hearthstone-developers-wish-blizzard-had-handled-hong-k-1839616541).
If that's how he sees the game, the community sure doesn't. There is a clear "me against you" and "I am better than you"-mentality on a personal and even moral level going on. It also shows occasionally in discussions about decks (whenever a deck or strategy is labeled "braindead", for example), but it ALWAYS shows when it comes to "do you pre-order?", or "do you spend money?" for that matter.
Whether it is F2P players taking pride in not spending money, or big spenders that not only take pride in how much money they are spending, but will shame any who don't follow their example. These sentiments ALWAYS come up, and they are always shoehorned in when the question about pre-ordering (or just anything remotely related to money) comes up. And yes, I focus on the latter even though both sides like to play the moral card, because judging by the upvotes, it is rather obvious which one is in the lead here.
Some would be absolutely delighted to read this topic and the reactions. To paraphrase the by now somewhat infamous Torulf Jernström on the structuring and design of F2P games from his presentation at a game conference a few years ago (with the charming title "Let's go whaling"): "We are herd animals, we tend to do what all the others do. Especially when people are similar to us, the socially accepted way of behaving in your game should be paying. You want to tell people when somebody bought something, so that everbody knows, because then that becomes the socially acceptable way. You absolutely do NOT want to tell them that the majority of people in your game never spend money. That's poison! NEVER tell them that!" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNjI03CGkb4). In case that was too subtle: He means that in a F2P economy, players should push each other into paying (more and more) money, and implicitly, that they should socially exclude people who don't comply, thereby coercing them into paying as well.
I wouldn't say that Hearthstone is fully embracing that philosophy of fostering such an environment (even though some things like hero portraits and card backs are clearly informing other players of your spendings), but Ben Thompson either doesn't care or is unaware of how deeply divided the community is in that regard by now, when he says that. Hearthstone isn't exactly welcoming everyone, when some players zealously, in a twisted sense of loyalty, feel like they need to defend the interests of the publisher in heated arguments against those "greedy freeloaders", rather than enjoying to have so many people share their hobby and make others feel welcome.
This discussion shouldn't even happen. EVER. No one needs to justify or explain his or her spending habits, for whatever reason, because it is nobody's business here. And it's not a moral debate, or in any way open for debate, whether a player spends 1000$ a year, or 100$, or 10$, or nothing. Sure you can be interested in what others have spent or intend to purchase, but you can't be judgmental about it. To say the least, it should seem a bit iffy to you, if by that logic virtuousness can be obtained by a purchase.
Whether I am poor, or live in a country where the pre-order is too expensive, or want to make a political statement, or don't think it's worth it, or have bad (compulsory) spending habits and need to avoid microtransactions, or have already spent 5000$ on the game across the years and think it's been enough, I am free to not pre-order. I do not have to explain why, and hopefully never will.
Unless Blizzard (or rather Activision) should someday decide that the game will require a monthly subscription fee, everyone is in the right to spend as little or as much on the game as he or she likes, even if it is nothing at all. That is all there is to say. You'd think people would leave the financial concerns to the company that is knowingly and intentionally and for over 5 years, from the very start, very successfully offering the game for free.
Boy, this thread made me mad. And sad. As much as I criticise the game, topics like these (or rather what they turn into) really make me wonder what people I'm spending my time with. The game can get better over time, even though it might take a decade or two until I'm all happy with it. But I wonder what amount of patience I have to bring up until this community drops this super silly topic once and for all.
Hi, I have a question to all. I wanted to buy the descent of dragons (DOD) expansion pack. I have been using Amazon app from my mobile phone to make past purchases. But ever since DOD came out, my cards have been buggy (missing cards when I have the full 30 cards before DOD is added to Hearthstone etc) And now I realise I CANNOT buy any expansion packs with the Amazon app.. It just kept stalling (and having no reaction for a good 15 mins or more) - it just basically says waiting for authentication or something. I read that DOD has a lot of bugs and there will be an update maybe next week. But I want to make sure there is enough time before the expansion pack time limit is over. If next week the DOD update is just as buggy and Blizzard takes a long time to clarify, I will not have enough time to buy the expansion packs before DOD becomes officially live. Anyone can provide some advice? Or is there any Blizzard staff there that can help me??
(Basically I cannot buy expansion packs with Amazon app on mobile phone now but before DOD update, I can.
I, for one, generally don't mention my spending unless it's relevant, usually in response to a question about pity timers or what it takes to complete a collection or other practical matters like that.
But I also don't hesitate to pass judgment on those who act like Blizzard has a moral obligation to make the game better for free players.
If you want to be proud of your f2p status and how well you've done without paying, that's fine. But it stops being fine the moment someone starts complaining that it's hard to play in Ranked as f2p or even mentions the phrase "pay to win."
The reality of the situation is that the game would not exist without paying customers, so it makes no sense to try to shame those who do pay with derogatory sentiments like these. I'm not saying the whales deserve any special gratitude, but less passive-aggressive hostility might be nice.
Also, let's please drop the myth that free players are somehow necessary to the game. If you are f2p, Blizzard sees you as a potential paying customer. That is the only reason they let you play for free. It has nothing to do with queue times or needing a critical mass of players or anything like that. If all the free players went on strike and it somehow did cause longer queues, all they'd have to do is tweak the number of ranks and adjust the matchmaking algorithm, and POOF, the queues would be short again.
This doesn't mean free players don't deserve respect as fellow players; of course every player deserves that. But anyone calling Blizzard greedy for any reason has completely lost sight of how the world works. Blizzard, like every subsidiary of every publicly traded company in the universe, is greedy by definition. "Calling them out" over that is just plain ignorant and pointless.
By the way, I don't mean to imply that you, Dunscot, do any of this. I'm only listing a few of the reasons a paying player might feel provoked into one of these discussions you dislike so much. It's not out of pride in one's spending; it's not an attempt to shame the less fortunate.
I agree that the community would be better off without such discussions, but that is a two-way street. This thread is one of the very, very rare situations when a paying customer initiates the conversation.
"Why, you never expected justice from a company, did you? They have neither a soul to lose nor a body to kick." -- Lady Saba Holland
I won’t pre order or spend any money until the penalty/punish on Blitzchung and the casters is over.
So you will wait for 6 months and then you'll start spending money again?
I have pre-ordered every expac since ungoro, but the game is so buggy and unstable now it's virtually unplayable. I am not spending $ for a broken game
I've already purchased both preorder bundles. That and the 8-9k gold I've saved up should net me every card in the expansion. I've been building my collection hard since I started Hearthstone just after the Boomsday expansion, and I now have a complete collection of all the standard set. I enjoy being able to play any deck or archetype possible, even the memes.
While I completely understand and empathize with the people choosing to not spend money on this game due to Blizzard's actions in the whole Blitzchung affair and the frequent balance and bug issues, I will not be joining them. Blitzchung knew what he was doing going in. He knew he would be punished. Blizzard definitely went over the top with that punishment, but it doesn't change the fact that he broke the rules. I hate what they did and the reasons they did it, but management decisions are not necessarily employee decisions. There are a lot of people working at Blizzard who had no input on this matter and many who, like us, despise how it was handled. Management will never take the fall for what happened. If Hearthstone were to collapse, the people most affected would be the people who had the least say in the whole debacle. Vote with your wallets if that makes you feel better, but honestly, it won't make a lick of difference to people who are so self assured in their own superiority that they really don't care what we think. Besides which, rage inducing as it may be at times, I really do enjoy playing Hearthstone, and I wish to see where it goes. My poor phone has survived so far, let's see how long it lasts.
Ordered both bundles, the cost per pack ratio is just too good this time
how l
Of course I have brought them - I always buy the preorder bundles just because it is such a good offer - then I don't waste my saved up gold on anything other than adventure chapters and arena.
Wow
got the big one this time because I love the skin and theme. Also been having a blast with battlegrounds
I did, but already regretting it for Blizzard being too incompetent to fix bugs for weeks:
Squelch Bug, Reroll Bug, continuous Crashs especially in the new Mode, need to restart after starting a chat on mobile, which crashes immediately, regular removing of golden cards in the decks ...
What a confession of failure. Blizzard used to test their new content in the past, but nowadays dollar bills seem to be everything that is counting.
Control is like Chess - using your given resources wisely.
Aggro is like Russian Roulette - Hope to topdeck the right card/ hope for the opponent to topdeck the wrong card.
Parallels to the IQ of the players of both games are, of course, coincidental ;)
I guess so. If they have a great offer .
The last few expansions have been really mediocre (in my opinion) generating some of the most stale ladder seasons I’ve experienced. Aside from the half okay solo content I’ve only been playing to complete my daily quests. I see no reason to pre-order when the game has been so bad.
Then there’s Dropping £75 on a digital card game which has had little innovation since its release. Just take the recent re-release of old cards into the game...plus £75 buys you 2-3 new full priced games and you’re not even guaranteed any legendary cards etc.
So it’s a definite no from me.
Also, a lot of people here have apparently already preordered. That’s definitely their own decision. But in my opinion, it doesn’t actually help the game. Blizzard have been pushing some really poor content over the last few expansions and people blindly buying into another 130+ card push expansion just gives Blizzard licence to carry on with the drip feed of content. Why would they want to innovate when they can get away with pushing batches of 130+ cards every four months? Oh but they have battlegrounds now! Other developers have forced their hand - they would not have bothered had other developers not been successful with the format.
No because I never pre-order and I'm a F2P guy (yeah I'm that cool!)
Yes, the smaller one.
EU 11/2015+ , f2p 03/2021+: DH 143 /Dr 275 / Hu 637 / Ma 3146 / Pa 1052 / Pr 1000 / Ro 1537 / Sh 1246 / Wl 617 / Wr 565
dno yet.. when will it launch? :)
been pre ordering for a while,not doin the same now.the game has let me down a lot lately so as i see wich direction it takes then i decide if it's worth to invest more in it.
sad player here. :)