I'm sure player retention is an important issue to any games company and people will move on and play other games. These are some of the more common complaints I hear and i'd like to know from new and veteran players alike, what is it that may put you off continuing playing?
Have voted with what would make me not return if I had stopped playing, which is Price and keeping up with a collection. Blizz has started being really greedy and pouring content without putting too much effort into it (most recently their decision to put unique voicelines/emotes for Jaina and Headless horseman after the players' reactions).
Considering, depending on what bundles you prepurchase, that you're paying almost or even more than on a AAA game, you are expecting some kind of content from what you pay, which translates in Hearthstone into getting your collection completed faster by spending less. Their duplicates rule made a big difference, but still needs improvements.
It was difficult for me to make a category for the fact that the game is a fair few years old now and that people play new games without being specific on why but your answer speaks for itself
What do you mean by stale meta? I have felt like leaving when new sets didn't really change the way the game could be played. I would say unoriginality in card design is my biggest concern.
In a way i think the cards are actually too "easy" to get. (I'm Free to play btw)
To clarify, the time i had the most fun with the game was in open Beta. No one had all the cards, every single game and deck was different and even if someone had a high end meta deck, you most likely wouldnt even notice because it was so rare.
The fact that people either spend a fortune on the best cards, or craft them leads to a game where you face the same 5+ Decks 90% of the time, and you have to do the same to stand any chance.
I miss asking my Self after seeing a loot hoarder or something: is it a Controle, or Combo or Maybe even slow/midrangy aggro deck? Should i play defensive or offensive now?
Right now, most of the time, you only need to see the class of the enemy and you could guess EVERY SINGLE CARD in their deck. :(
RNG is too common and in a game that wants to be an esport, it's just too much, for me should be just reduced to the topdeck (there are good cards like polket that can control it <3)
What do you mean by stale meta? I have felt like leaving when new sets didn't really change the way the game could be played. I would say unoriginality in card design is my biggest concern.
I couldn't really cover everything within a poll but I tried to encapsulate the usual points that i'd heard from friends and previously players. When I say stale meta, I mean how things narrow down to a few decks that perform better than anything experimental or anything beyond these few decks that doesn't perform which can be frustrating. This was the first card game I really got in to but it's clear that you can't avoid this. The internet exists and as soon as people find out what works best people will flock to it but hearthstone provides a place for creativity and to see your creativity get crushed might turn people away. So when I say stale meta, I mean a lack of room to play anything beyond a few decks if you hope to climb.
In a way i think the cards are actually too "easy" to get. (I'm Free to play btw)
To clarify, the time i had the most fun with the game was in open Beta. No one had all the cards, every single game and deck was different and even if someone had a high end meta deck, you most likely wouldnt even notice because it was so rare.
The fact that people either spend a fortune on the best cards, or craft them leads to a game where you face the same 5+ Decks 90% of the time, and you have to do the same to stand any chance.
I miss asking my Self after seeing a loot hoarder or something: is it a Controle, or Combo or Maybe even slow/midrangy aggro deck? Should i play defensive or offensive now?
Right now, most of the time, you only need to see the class of the enemy and you could guess EVERY SINGLE CARD in their deck. :(
I'm free to play too and always have been. I tend to have a 4-5 thousand to spend in gold come expansion but from what I see it's a lot easier to play F2P if you've been playing for a few years. F2P for a new player, especially one who isn't experienced in arena is just impossible. I was more targeting veterans in this thread but it is just as valid when it comes to new players and what puts them off early on. If I were to answer my own question I think it's the power level of cards which makes it as difficult to enjoy these days but I completely understand why it is the way it is. Hearthstone needs to create new powerful cards to keep people interested but inevitably diluting the game. I really admire what the current team have done in terms of keeping it alive
Not that what ppl think. It is not about the cards. Having cards in HS is not that hard. Do you think why lot of streamers and old players left HS? Because they dont have the cards, lol?
The problem is the game so boring atm. Low skill, RNG dependant and lack of interaction.
I voted post expansion balance, as Demon Hunter in and of itself was not a category.
the game has had balance issues for a long time, the introduction of DH was so poorly balanced it required multiple nerfs, and now we all have to just go on with this embarrassing new class. Old HS used to have class identity, it wasn’t perfect but they had their strengths and weaknesses and it was interesting to learn about how they competed with each other. Now a quarter of the classes are unplayable, resolving earlier balance issues must take DH into account, and that intriguing class identity is a thing of the past.
I quit for nearly 6 months after AoO and only came back to look at the new expansion. I still play, but won’t spend any money on any of it.
Nothing can fix this game and there are several reasons.
1. Boring. How? You literally see nothing but the top two Meta decks from every class over and over again for months on end. Streamers and netdecks destroy this game minutes after an expansion releases due to them publishing the best decks for laddering on day one which kills over 80% of the other cards from that set and destroys any creative test deck period for players.
2. Deck trackers/HS Replay stats. Because most people are too dull and can't win without some kind of an edge, we are also forced to run trackers on top of HS thus removing any sense of organic draw. And again the people that play HS only for the best most degenerate decks ruin it for creative and fun seekers.
3. Too many duplicates of high-powered cards generated mid-game that were originally (and correctly) designed not to exceed 2 per game, 1 per Legendary which is obviously game breaking.
4. Way way WAY too much game swinging rng.
5. Obnoxious and annoying MMR system for casual and ranked play. Let people run into randos.
6. A now practically useless Classic card set due to powercreep and the lack of desire by Blizzard to buff older sets.
7. Badly broken class balance/identities...recently made much worse due to the recent inclusion of the poorly designed Demon hunter who was clearly designed to sell packs and not to balance/harmonize the classes.
i think it mainly is because there is deck limitations. they are there for a reason but when discover is added to the mix suddenly you can play 3-4 maybe even 5 copies of the same card
A big reason as to why i stop playing for periods of time is because i feel like half the classes have infinite value. Take face hunter for example. Face hunter used to be a deck that had high burst damage but if you could respond and not die they would run out of cards and lose. But blizzard desided that essentially a 2 mana 1/3 draw 3 was a good option. I enjoy the game during most matchups but it isnt fun to die at turn 5 with nothing you can do about it, just because you drew bad.
I left after the Blitchung ban and didn't return until after his suspension was over and I just uninstalled again because the metas have been pretty much shit ever since I got back. Massive powercreep forcing even more massive powercreep has made it so I dislike facing 75% of the decks and can't find a deck I enjoy that's vaguely competitive. Be it the disgustingly powerful DH launch and the broken amount of draw/generation in the game atm, I walked away. Again.
I'm sure player retention is an important issue to any games company and people will move on and play other games. These are some of the more common complaints I hear and i'd like to know from new and veteran players alike, what is it that may put you off continuing playing?
Have voted with what would make me not return if I had stopped playing, which is Price and keeping up with a collection. Blizz has started being really greedy and pouring content without putting too much effort into it (most recently their decision to put unique voicelines/emotes for Jaina and Headless horseman after the players' reactions).
Considering, depending on what bundles you prepurchase, that you're paying almost or even more than on a AAA game, you are expecting some kind of content from what you pay, which translates in Hearthstone into getting your collection completed faster by spending less. Their duplicates rule made a big difference, but still needs improvements.
For me the biggest factor is not in the pool.
Aging, the game is running for years.
It was difficult for me to make a category for the fact that the game is a fair few years old now and that people play new games without being specific on why but your answer speaks for itself
What do you mean by stale meta? I have felt like leaving when new sets didn't really change the way the game could be played. I would say unoriginality in card design is my biggest concern.
it's too much difficult enter now in HS because costs too much
Basic and classic set need to rotate
need more interaction standard wild ( like small rotation for changing meta)
In a way i think the cards are actually too "easy" to get. (I'm Free to play btw)
To clarify, the time i had the most fun with the game was in open Beta. No one had all the cards, every single game and deck was different and even if someone had a high end meta deck, you most likely wouldnt even notice because it was so rare.
The fact that people either spend a fortune on the best cards, or craft them leads to a game where you face the same 5+ Decks 90% of the time, and you have to do the same to stand any chance.
I miss asking my Self after seeing a loot hoarder or something: is it a Controle, or Combo or Maybe even slow/midrangy aggro deck? Should i play defensive or offensive now?
Right now, most of the time, you only need to see the class of the enemy and you could guess EVERY SINGLE CARD in their deck. :(
RNG is too common and in a game that wants to be an esport, it's just too much, for me should be just reduced to the topdeck (there are good cards like polket that can control it <3)
Follow me, i do some sexy/lewd arts:
IG: @ewil.inside
FB: Ewil Art
DA: ewilinside
I couldn't really cover everything within a poll but I tried to encapsulate the usual points that i'd heard from friends and previously players. When I say stale meta, I mean how things narrow down to a few decks that perform better than anything experimental or anything beyond these few decks that doesn't perform which can be frustrating. This was the first card game I really got in to but it's clear that you can't avoid this. The internet exists and as soon as people find out what works best people will flock to it but hearthstone provides a place for creativity and to see your creativity get crushed might turn people away. So when I say stale meta, I mean a lack of room to play anything beyond a few decks if you hope to climb.
I'm free to play too and always have been. I tend to have a 4-5 thousand to spend in gold come expansion but from what I see it's a lot easier to play F2P if you've been playing for a few years. F2P for a new player, especially one who isn't experienced in arena is just impossible. I was more targeting veterans in this thread but it is just as valid when it comes to new players and what puts them off early on. If I were to answer my own question I think it's the power level of cards which makes it as difficult to enjoy these days but I completely understand why it is the way it is. Hearthstone needs to create new powerful cards to keep people interested but inevitably diluting the game. I really admire what the current team have done in terms of keeping it alive
Not that what ppl think. It is not about the cards. Having cards in HS is not that hard. Do you think why lot of streamers and old players left HS? Because they dont have the cards, lol?
The problem is the game so boring atm. Low skill, RNG dependant and lack of interaction.
To hear F2P players brag how easy it is to amass a card collection and not give Blizzard a dime, I’m surprised the price category is winning.
Grammar is the difference between knowing your crap, and knowing you’re crap.
A .gif is worth a thousand words.
I voted post expansion balance, as Demon Hunter in and of itself was not a category.
the game has had balance issues for a long time, the introduction of DH was so poorly balanced it required multiple nerfs, and now we all have to just go on with this embarrassing new class. Old HS used to have class identity, it wasn’t perfect but they had their strengths and weaknesses and it was interesting to learn about how they competed with each other. Now a quarter of the classes are unplayable, resolving earlier balance issues must take DH into account, and that intriguing class identity is a thing of the past.
I quit for nearly 6 months after AoO and only came back to look at the new expansion. I still play, but won’t spend any money on any of it.
Nothing can fix this game and there are several reasons.
1. Boring. How? You literally see nothing but the top two Meta decks from every class over and over again for months on end. Streamers and netdecks destroy this game minutes after an expansion releases due to them publishing the best decks for laddering on day one which kills over 80% of the other cards from that set and destroys any creative test deck period for players.
2. Deck trackers/HS Replay stats. Because most people are too dull and can't win without some kind of an edge, we are also forced to run trackers on top of HS thus removing any sense of organic draw. And again the people that play HS only for the best most degenerate decks ruin it for creative and fun seekers.
3. Too many duplicates of high-powered cards generated mid-game that were originally (and correctly) designed not to exceed 2 per game, 1 per Legendary which is obviously game breaking.
4. Way way WAY too much game swinging rng.
5. Obnoxious and annoying MMR system for casual and ranked play. Let people run into randos.
6. A now practically useless Classic card set due to powercreep and the lack of desire by Blizzard to buff older sets.
7. Badly broken class balance/identities...recently made much worse due to the recent inclusion of the poorly designed Demon hunter who was clearly designed to sell packs and not to balance/harmonize the classes.
I think reducing the price of sets massively and staggering the release of cards throughout the 4 month cycle would help.
£70.00 will be the price of the new PS5 games, hearthstone should in reality not cost more than a full game of said value.
If they wanna make extra money sell cosmetics and skins. Heck even new emotes I would buy.
Is that a murloc? Yawn....conceede!
Why are many people mad with discover mecanic? Whats the problem?
> says HS is too expensive
> wants to frequently rotate sets to make the game even more expensive for standard players with a limited collection
*facepalm*
i think it mainly is because there is deck limitations. they are there for a reason but when discover is added to the mix suddenly you can play 3-4 maybe even 5 copies of the same card
A big reason as to why i stop playing for periods of time is because i feel like half the classes have infinite value. Take face hunter for example. Face hunter used to be a deck that had high burst damage but if you could respond and not die they would run out of cards and lose. But blizzard desided that essentially a 2 mana 1/3 draw 3 was a good option. I enjoy the game during most matchups but it isnt fun to die at turn 5 with nothing you can do about it, just because you drew bad.
I left after the Blitchung ban and didn't return until after his suspension was over and I just uninstalled again because the metas have been pretty much shit ever since I got back. Massive powercreep forcing even more massive powercreep has made it so I dislike facing 75% of the decks and can't find a deck I enjoy that's vaguely competitive. Be it the disgustingly powerful DH launch and the broken amount of draw/generation in the game atm, I walked away. Again.