Can anyone suggest why Battlegrounds is still in BETA? It has been like this for a long time and has seen changes in terms of content but no real big mechanic changes.
Will it ever be the full working game (not that I think it isn't) and any ideas that could change between now and then?
It’s all a ruse, because it’s clearly not in beta. Blizzard just leaves it as “beta” to keep players disillusioned. They think it’s beta so it’s associated with a game that’s new. In, there have been many auto battlers before
I suppose they keep it in beta for a year, just for the sake of it, like "if we don't feel like changing anything within a year, we are never going to". I don't think the mode will see any big mechanical changes anymore at this point. Theoretically speaking, the mode could still expand quite a bit though.
A rather obvious thing that I sort of expect would be seasons or any sorts of goals, or giving your MMR any kind of meaning. Having all players grind it out until they eventually reach a 10k rating feels very "beta".
If they felt ambitious, they could change gold management and minion cost to make "economy"-playstyles a bit more relevant. Generally, encouraging and supporting different playstyles would be nice. Right now, 90% of all players play it exactly the same way. The system really doesn't allow more variety. If you don't play it like everyone else, there's a good chance you'll just drop out quickly, and there's not all that much else to explore. For example, it would be cool if you could have damage split when you lose, or reduce the amount of damage you take, or can obtain health regeneration in the lategame with a very specific kind of build. I think having some sort of "turtle" playstyle could be interesting.
They could also design minions more towards checks & balances, like dragons being generally favored against murlocs, and murlocs being favored against mechs etc. Generally, tribes should feel a little more distinct. Recent additions have helped to give some tribes a specific playstyle, but there are still a lot of "whatever" minions in the pool. Demons, Dragons, Mechs and Beasts all have a "give a minion of this tribe +2/+2" unit. Playing Mechs or Dragons feels too similar for a large portion of the game, like until you are well into Tier 5 or moved to 6. Also, with the current system and such a heavy emphasis on stat pumping, switiching or adapting your build is way too punishing, to a point that it's rarely ever even worth considering.
I generally am not too happy about the fact that 80% of a game is just going for stats, and doing strategic plays only starts to matter once you are in the top 3 or 4. There are a few weird things you can do along the way, like losing health for a Battlemaster or doing a big Khadgar turn. But then again, Khadgar highlights another problem, that some players raise their FPS limit or restart the game to have longer turn timers, so that players with less powerful machines are at some disadvantage.
I think the "ghost"-turns are also not a good solution. It depends on luck who gets to play the ghost, and the player doing so effectively gets a free turn to improve his build and stay out of harm, while other players get kicked out. It's too big a factor in who places in the top 4. I don't know of a good way to fix this, but "get a ghost and get first, or get an active player and die" is not really fun.
Heroes largely feel too similar to each other. While every hero plays a little differently, many of them will end up with exactly the same kind of build. As polarizing as it is, I think Deathwing is a pretty cool design, because he has a very obvious strength and weakness and benefits a lot more from token generators. Pyramad, on the other hand, has some extra synergy with Micro Machine or Maexxna, but his hero power mostly just gives him a slight advantage on a build that you might as well play with Nozdormu, or Malygos, or Rafaam etc. Playing with and against different heroes oftentimes makes little difference.
Just a few suggestions for how the game could change or improve. There's probably a whole lot more that could be done, but I'd be surprised if even one of these things is getting addressed before the mode will officially be out of beta. Except maybe for the MMR. That's just too obviously an "under construction" sign.
some great ideas you have suggested. I doubt you are a game developer or paid to think of these ideas and would love to see them implemented but agree that I doubt they ever will. Thanks again for your time and effort in your reply it was a good read and hopefully food for thought to some one at blizzard maybe.
Hi all,
Can anyone suggest why Battlegrounds is still in BETA? It has been like this for a long time and has seen changes in terms of content but no real big mechanic changes.
Will it ever be the full working game (not that I think it isn't) and any ideas that could change between now and then?
Cheers
It’s all a ruse, because it’s clearly not in beta. Blizzard just leaves it as “beta” to keep players disillusioned. They think it’s beta so it’s associated with a game that’s new. In, there have been many auto battlers before
Because their still making core gameplay changes like minion pools
I suppose they keep it in beta for a year, just for the sake of it, like "if we don't feel like changing anything within a year, we are never going to". I don't think the mode will see any big mechanical changes anymore at this point. Theoretically speaking, the mode could still expand quite a bit though.
A rather obvious thing that I sort of expect would be seasons or any sorts of goals, or giving your MMR any kind of meaning. Having all players grind it out until they eventually reach a 10k rating feels very "beta".
If they felt ambitious, they could change gold management and minion cost to make "economy"-playstyles a bit more relevant. Generally, encouraging and supporting different playstyles would be nice. Right now, 90% of all players play it exactly the same way. The system really doesn't allow more variety. If you don't play it like everyone else, there's a good chance you'll just drop out quickly, and there's not all that much else to explore. For example, it would be cool if you could have damage split when you lose, or reduce the amount of damage you take, or can obtain health regeneration in the lategame with a very specific kind of build. I think having some sort of "turtle" playstyle could be interesting.
They could also design minions more towards checks & balances, like dragons being generally favored against murlocs, and murlocs being favored against mechs etc. Generally, tribes should feel a little more distinct. Recent additions have helped to give some tribes a specific playstyle, but there are still a lot of "whatever" minions in the pool. Demons, Dragons, Mechs and Beasts all have a "give a minion of this tribe +2/+2" unit. Playing Mechs or Dragons feels too similar for a large portion of the game, like until you are well into Tier 5 or moved to 6. Also, with the current system and such a heavy emphasis on stat pumping, switiching or adapting your build is way too punishing, to a point that it's rarely ever even worth considering.
I generally am not too happy about the fact that 80% of a game is just going for stats, and doing strategic plays only starts to matter once you are in the top 3 or 4. There are a few weird things you can do along the way, like losing health for a Battlemaster or doing a big Khadgar turn. But then again, Khadgar highlights another problem, that some players raise their FPS limit or restart the game to have longer turn timers, so that players with less powerful machines are at some disadvantage.
I think the "ghost"-turns are also not a good solution. It depends on luck who gets to play the ghost, and the player doing so effectively gets a free turn to improve his build and stay out of harm, while other players get kicked out. It's too big a factor in who places in the top 4. I don't know of a good way to fix this, but "get a ghost and get first, or get an active player and die" is not really fun.
Heroes largely feel too similar to each other. While every hero plays a little differently, many of them will end up with exactly the same kind of build. As polarizing as it is, I think Deathwing is a pretty cool design, because he has a very obvious strength and weakness and benefits a lot more from token generators. Pyramad, on the other hand, has some extra synergy with Micro Machine or Maexxna, but his hero power mostly just gives him a slight advantage on a build that you might as well play with Nozdormu, or Malygos, or Rafaam etc. Playing with and against different heroes oftentimes makes little difference.
Just a few suggestions for how the game could change or improve. There's probably a whole lot more that could be done, but I'd be surprised if even one of these things is getting addressed before the mode will officially be out of beta. Except maybe for the MMR. That's just too obviously an "under construction" sign.
They are continually releasing new cards to standard though and this is a "finished" game.
some great ideas you have suggested. I doubt you are a game developer or paid to think of these ideas and would love to see them implemented but agree that I doubt they ever will. Thanks again for your time and effort in your reply it was a good read and hopefully food for thought to some one at blizzard maybe.
Just interesting how they still have this game in Beta but are putting out a new mode soon.