It feels a lot like World of Warcraft to me, which I like a lot. I assume this was their goal, and I think they've succeeded. Thematically it fits very well
I agree 100%. Compare Barrens artwork with the latest expansions is like compare Diablo 2 with Diablo 3. Less colorful and shining things and more simple and classic design.
Oh true that! I def agree with you. I guess i can (even if this is not the real reason) give blizz a pass this exp because of the quantity of cards introduced. Still though...iam every exp a lil bit more dissapointed with the art. At least there are some new mechanics going on.
And for people excusing the bad art for simplicity that barrens is a low lvl area doenst mean the art has to be this shitty. You can have amazing artwork with very simple lookin characters. For example the new pally card "conviction". Great pose, simple looking character, the background conveys a story.
They are not poorly drawn they just look like low level characters, because that's the point, this expansion's art is great and most cards are looking very good and detailed.
Every expansion there is someone saying the art is getting worse because they don't like the style or because of one particular cards that looks meh, but the technique is not getting worse and they don't know shit about technique anyway.
"barrens is such a rich area with cool views" did you even play world of warcraft or what ?
barrens is a hot and empty desert, and characters wear shit clothes and armors, there are beasts and quillboars everywhere and this expansion is totally taking advantage of that.
Do you even know how to draw ? I find it funny how some people critisize art style and claim it's "average" or "butchered" but their eye couldn't tell the difference between 2 artists
Overall Blizzard artists are extremely talented, and non-artist people shouldn't ever have the right to critizise art, because they can't understand what's behind it and can't be constructive about the critisism, all they see is "oh that's pretty, great artist" and "oh that's not pretty, shit artist".
Can you actually name cards from the barrens that you consider poorly drawn and tell us why precisely? It doesn't make much sense to critisize an entire expansion's art, be specific
I agree with you completely. It’s been plain and uninspired, I don’t get how anyone can claim otherwise. Barak Kodobane and Tavish Stormpike straight up look like commons.
It's the point.
Plain and uninspired is what you are at level 12 in the barrens.
You're saying barak kodobane would be a better art if he was wearing more advanced/fantasy armor ? That's why people like you shouldn't have the right to speak about art.
I could be wrong, but I get the impression that HS has been moving in a cartoonist direction for a while. Could be to appeal to a specific market?
So I looked at the 60 cards revealed so far. I counted exactly 2 cartoonish cards. Peon and Nofin Can Stop Us. You are wrong, but yes they are trying to appeal to everyone, children and adults.
I agree with you completely. It’s been plain and uninspired, I don’t get how anyone can claim otherwise. Barak Kodobane and Tavish Stormpike straight up look like commons.
It's the point.
Plain and uninspired is what you are at level 12 in the barrens.
You're saying barak kodobane would be a better art if he was wearing more advanced/fantasy armor ? That's why people like you shouldn't have the right to speak about art.
I could be wrong, but I get the impression that HS has been moving in a cartoonist direction for a while. Could be to appeal to a specific market?
So I looked at the 60 cards revealed so far. I counted exactly 2 cartoonish cards. Peon and Nofin Can Stop Us. You are wrong, but yes they are trying to appeal to everyone, children and adults.
Id actually say this is actually the best art in an expansion we've had so far. There are more cards which look very satisfying with their color combination and proportions than ever before for my taste. When I think of a well made card I think of Darnassus Aspirant and Temporus.
When I think of a card with bad art I think of Wilfred Fizzlebang. This expansions has more of the former than any so far.
I think the art style and quality is pretty much the same as it has been for the last couple of years. I personally really enjoy it - I like the bright colour scheme, and I think the mixture between cartoonish and more serious art style is pretty great.
I think there's a lot of awesome art in this expansion. Just looking at the legendaries, Kargal Battlescar, Kazakus, Golem Shaper and especially Xyrella (that hair!) are among my favorites. Golden Cariel Roame will probably look fantastic.
Horde Operative another good example, it's simple but look how detailed is that! it's really well done and i bet it will look awesome in golden... no joke this is problably the most "beautiful" Orc art in the entire game so far.
I like the artwork, what I would love would be the option to see the full art by clicking. It is the only Runeterra feature I would desperately want in Hearthstone.
I agree with you completely. It’s been plain and uninspired, I don’t get how anyone can claim otherwise. Barak Kodobane and Tavish Stormpike straight up look like commons.
It's the point.
Plain and uninspired is what you are at level 12 in the barrens.
You're saying barak kodobane would be a better art if he was wearing more advanced/fantasy armor ? That's why people like you shouldn't have the right to speak about art.
I could be wrong, but I get the impression that HS has been moving in a cartoonist direction for a while. Could be to appeal to a specific market?
So I looked at the 60 cards revealed so far. I counted exactly 2 cartoonish cards. Peon and Nofin Can Stop Us. You are wrong, but yes they are trying to appeal to everyone, children and adults.
Exactly! All of those Mercenary Legendaries represent the "newbie" character from WoW as level 10 who entered Barrens zone for further leveling. Armor they are wearing is not last boss raid armor so that´s why it is just plain. Segments of armor are not even matching within themselves. Artists have done amazing job capturing these characters and also The Barrens aesthetics. Spirit Healer artwork is amazing. It looks how it should look like. I have he image of her in my memory, because when you died in Barrens, there was like 2 places with Spirit Healers and mostly your corpse was too far away from her, because Barrens are big area, so you mostly respawned near spirit healer and waited few minutes so the debuff wears off. Oh, those memories.
I agree with you completely. It’s been plain and uninspired, I don’t get how anyone can claim otherwise. Barak Kodobane and Tavish Stormpike straight up look like commons.
It's the point.
Plain and uninspired is what you are at level 12 in the barrens.
You're saying barak kodobane would be a better art if he was wearing more advanced/fantasy armor ? That's why people like you shouldn't have the right to speak about art.
I could be wrong, but I get the impression that HS has been moving in a cartoonist direction for a while. Could be to appeal to a specific market?
So I looked at the 60 cards revealed so far. I counted exactly 2 cartoonish cards. Peon and Nofin Can Stop Us. You are wrong, but yes they are trying to appeal to everyone, children and adults.
Id actually say this is actually the best art in an expansion we've had so far. There are more cards which look very satisfying with their color combination and proportions than ever before for my taste. When I think of a well made card I think of Darnassus Aspirant and Temporus.
When I think of a card with bad art I think of Wilfred Fizzlebang. This expansions has more of the former than any so far.
Do you agree?
I'd have to take a deep look at all the cards in all expansions to say which one has the best art. Like I said in another post it doesn't make a lot of sense to judge an entire expansion's art as there are many artists. But I do know that all expansions have a least 80% of great art in my opinion, if anything it's the people who like cartoonish art style who don't have a lot of cards to enjoy.
I do agree on darnassus aspirant it's one of the best arts in the game. Temporus is great too but doesn't strike me as a particularly epic drawing. Not sure why you think wilfred is bad though, gnome arts are often cartoonish and this one is dark and realistic and the gnome body and face is very detailed I like it.
I'd have to take a deep look at all the cards in all expansions to say which one has the best art. Like I said in another post it doesn't make a lot of sense to judge an entire expansion's art as there are many artists. But I do know that all expansions have a least 80% of great art in my opinion, if anything it's the people who like cartoonish art style who don't have a lot of cards to enjoy.
I do agree on darnassus aspirant it's one of the best arts in the game. Temporus is great too but doesn't strike me as a particularly epic drawing. Not sure why you think wilfred is bad though, gnome arts are often cartoonish and this one is dark and realistic and the gnome body and face is very detailed I like it.
Temporus does not have amazing art, but as a whole package its one of, if not my favorite card. The very interesting effect (turn manipulation is the most taboo/impressive effect in the game) + white color of Priest - I find that white color looks really advanced/techy in general not just the game, which then goes really well on the other hand with the art because when you have such a technical card you dont want anything too flashy as art because the card speaks for itself, the focus is on the effect. Wilfred looks bad because, I think, the art looks too realistic like a screenshot from WoW, of course this is just my opinion. It could be because I have never played WoW and if I did i'd be more attracted to this artstyle
Also 7 mana legendary dragons are not common and the average stat line adds to the fantasy of beating your opponent with wit instead of big powerful stats and brute force
I agree with you completely. It’s been plain and uninspired, I don’t get how anyone can claim otherwise. Barak Kodobane and Tavish Stormpike straight up look like commons.
It's the point.
Plain and uninspired is what you are at level 12 in the barrens.
You're saying barak kodobane would be a better art if he was wearing more advanced/fantasy armor ? That's why people like you shouldn't have the right to speak about art.
I could be wrong, but I get the impression that HS has been moving in a cartoonist direction for a while. Could be to appeal to a specific market?
So I looked at the 60 cards revealed so far. I counted exactly 2 cartoonish cards. Peon and Nofin Can Stop Us. You are wrong, but yes they are trying to appeal to everyone, children and adults.
First of all, that’s a rather rude remark to make at someone for having a different opinion than you, but you’re free to get on a high horse and try to judge who should be allowed to speak about art if you’re fine with looking like a huge snob. Additionally, I definitely didn’t imply that character’s design should be changed to give off a “fantasy” motif, especially considering the armor matches what the original WoW NPC wore. It’s more like perhaps creating a more dynamic image or some added detail for what’s allegedly a Legendary minion. But hey, if you are into the art for what it is then good for you - there’s no need for any animosity.
Maybe it's because half the class legendaries are 'mercenaries'. Their artwork is designed specifically as a hero portrait that upgrades into something cooler in the Mercenaries mode.
They are not poorly drawn they just look like low level characters, because that's the point, this expansion's art is great and most cards are looking very good and detailed.
Every expansion there is someone saying the art is getting worse because they don't like the style or because of one particular cards that looks meh, but the technique is not getting worse and they don't know shit about technique anyway.
"barrens is such a rich area with cool views" did you even play world of warcraft or what ?
barrens is a hot and empty desert, and characters wear shit clothes and armors, there are beasts and quillboars everywhere and this expansion is totally taking advantage of that.
Do you even know how to draw ? I find it funny how some people critisize art style and claim it's "average" or "butchered" but their eye couldn't tell the difference between 2 artists
Overall Blizzard artists are extremely talented, and non-artist people shouldn't ever have the right to critizise art, because they can't understand what's behind it and can't be constructive about the critisism, all they see is "oh that's pretty, great artist" and "oh that's not pretty, shit artist".
Can you actually name cards from the barrens that you consider poorly drawn and tell us why precisely? It doesn't make much sense to critisize an entire expansion's art, be specific
you don't need to be a chef to know if something tastes bad and you don't need to be a screenwriter or director or actor to know if a movie or a performance sucks.
I understand the theme aspect and maybe they did nail it (never played WoW) but that doesn't make the art successful or appealing. If your favorite Indie band set out to make a jazz record or an industrial experimental noise record and its not good, would you say "well it's on theme!" or "well they succeeded in doing what they were trying to do!" even though it wasn't interesting or enjoyable or had no merit otherwise?
All that said, after more reveals there are more cards I've seen that I like. But there was another post earlier that pointed out that the art has been going in this direction for a little while as well, and I agree with that. More cartoonish.
I think "cartoonish" might be the best word here, despite cartoons being very different in style and HS generally differing from the wow cinematics and comics. If you take the old MTG and Gods unchained style, it was more like an old fantasy/fairytale book, which wasn't necessarily more fine drawn, but old school in a charming way. MTG has since tried to look more realistic and we then got pokemon and duel masters with their manga style, that got more 3d like over time.
HS has kind of gone in the other way, by more consistently using this "WC cartoon" style, opposed to the less distinct style we saw in the classic set. I think it's mostly the classic set that differs from the expansions thou, and I think it's partly to stand out, opposed to wc3 reforged that was criticized for doing the opposite
They nailed the mercenaries presentation, which was their biggest priority. The artstyle is simple but full of detail, you can make good guesses about their personalities through their artwork as well as their effects, building up a narrative like this is no easy feat.
There are bad and good artwork in every expansion, but this is certainly not on the low side, they succeeded where it mattered most.
I agree with you completely. It’s been plain and uninspired, I don’t get how anyone can claim otherwise. Barak Kodobane and Tavish Stormpike straight up look like commons.
It's the point.
Plain and uninspired is what you are at level 12 in the barrens.
You're saying barak kodobane would be a better art if he was wearing more advanced/fantasy armor ? That's why people like you shouldn't have the right to speak about art.
I could be wrong, but I get the impression that HS has been moving in a cartoonist direction for a while. Could be to appeal to a specific market?
So I looked at the 60 cards revealed so far. I counted exactly 2 cartoonish cards. Peon and Nofin Can Stop Us. You are wrong, but yes they are trying to appeal to everyone, children and adults.
First of all, that’s a rather rude remark to make at someone for having a different opinion than you, but you’re free to get on a high horse and try to judge who should be allowed to speak about art if you’re fine with looking like a huge snob. Additionally, I definitely didn’t imply that character’s design should be changed to give off a “fantasy” motif, especially considering the armor matches what the original WoW NPC wore. It’s more like perhaps creating a more dynamic image or some added detail for what’s allegedly a Legendary minion. But hey, if you are into the art for what it is then good for you - there’s no need for any animosity.
You are correct, I was frustrated to see some people trashing art for no valid reason like every expansion and targeted you unfairly.
When you said it's plain and uninspired it triggered me because it's intended to be plain, that's the inspiration, a plain, low level zone, instead of the generally super epic or goofy expansions, it was a risk but it's a success in my opinion, I hope the alliance expansion is also in a low level zone. Some of the mercenaries even wear level 1 start of game armor, I can literally identify with the mercenary cards, it's awesome !
As for the dynamic images... I mean, some characters are doing something, some are just standing doing nothing, I like both styles, there's the golden cards too, as dynamic as an image can get, after that it's a video lol
I'm really curious what it is people are expecting out of Hearthstone art, that way I could better understand where the letdown is coming from. Hearthstone has a very deliberate style, one that is consistent, colorful, and zany. I've been a big fan of this change, as it makes the game feel more artistically cohesive, and I enjoy the somewhat cartoony style (which I know a lot of people seem to dislike, or at least they seem to point to the artwork being cartoony as a downgrade).
Like, could I get some examples of some pieces that don't hit home for people who think this? I saw Tavish Stormpike get mentioned, and I'll say this much; I believe all of the Mercenaries are currently depictions of low-level WoW characters of their class. Them not doing anything exciting or carrying with much grandeur is most likely deliberate on the part of the artists (as requested by the devs) so that in future expansions they can get upgraded. These are the characters we'll be following all year, after all.
To the point of me better understanding everyone's point of view, can people who dislike the Barrens artwork point out some pieces of Hearthstone art that they're really into, so I can compare?
I agree 100%. Compare Barrens artwork with the latest expansions is like compare Diablo 2 with Diablo 3. Less colorful and shining things and more simple and classic design.
Oh true that! I def agree with you. I guess i can (even if this is not the real reason) give blizz a pass this exp because of the quantity of cards introduced. Still though...iam every exp a lil bit more dissapointed with the art. At least there are some new mechanics going on.
And for people excusing the bad art for simplicity that barrens is a low lvl area doenst mean the art has to be this shitty. You can have amazing artwork with very simple lookin characters. For example the new pally card "conviction". Great pose, simple looking character, the background conveys a story.
They are not poorly drawn they just look like low level characters, because that's the point, this expansion's art is great and most cards are looking very good and detailed.
Every expansion there is someone saying the art is getting worse because they don't like the style or because of one particular cards that looks meh, but the technique is not getting worse and they don't know shit about technique anyway.
"barrens is such a rich area with cool views" did you even play world of warcraft or what ?
barrens is a hot and empty desert, and characters wear shit clothes and armors, there are beasts and quillboars everywhere and this expansion is totally taking advantage of that.
Do you even know how to draw ? I find it funny how some people critisize art style and claim it's "average" or "butchered" but their eye couldn't tell the difference between 2 artists
Overall Blizzard artists are extremely talented, and non-artist people shouldn't ever have the right to critizise art, because they can't understand what's behind it and can't be constructive about the critisism, all they see is "oh that's pretty, great artist" and "oh that's not pretty, shit artist".
Can you actually name cards from the barrens that you consider poorly drawn and tell us why precisely? It doesn't make much sense to critisize an entire expansion's art, be specific
It's the point.
Plain and uninspired is what you are at level 12 in the barrens.
You're saying barak kodobane would be a better art if he was wearing more advanced/fantasy armor ? That's why people like you shouldn't have the right to speak about art.
So I looked at the 60 cards revealed so far. I counted exactly 2 cartoonish cards. Peon and Nofin Can Stop Us. You are wrong, but yes they are trying to appeal to everyone, children and adults.
Id actually say this is actually the best art in an expansion we've had so far. There are more cards which look very satisfying with their color combination and proportions than ever before for my taste. When I think of a well made card I think of Darnassus Aspirant and Temporus.
When I think of a card with bad art I think of Wilfred Fizzlebang. This expansions has more of the former than any so far.
Do you agree?
I think the art style and quality is pretty much the same as it has been for the last couple of years. I personally really enjoy it - I like the bright colour scheme, and I think the mixture between cartoonish and more serious art style is pretty great.
I think there's a lot of awesome art in this expansion. Just looking at the legendaries, Kargal Battlescar, Kazakus, Golem Shaper and especially Xyrella (that hair!) are among my favorites. Golden Cariel Roame will probably look fantastic.
Horde Operative another good example, it's simple but look how detailed is that! it's really well done and i bet it will look awesome in golden... no joke this is problably the most "beautiful" Orc art in the entire game so far.
Overlord Saurfang also pretty dope.
I like the artwork, what I would love would be the option to see the full art by clicking. It is the only Runeterra feature I would desperately want in Hearthstone.
Exactly! All of those Mercenary Legendaries represent the "newbie" character from WoW as level 10 who entered Barrens zone for further leveling. Armor they are wearing is not last boss raid armor so that´s why it is just plain. Segments of armor are not even matching within themselves. Artists have done amazing job capturing these characters and also The Barrens aesthetics. Spirit Healer artwork is amazing. It looks how it should look like. I have he image of her in my memory, because when you died in Barrens, there was like 2 places with Spirit Healers and mostly your corpse was too far away from her, because Barrens are big area, so you mostly respawned near spirit healer and waited few minutes so the debuff wears off. Oh, those memories.
I'd have to take a deep look at all the cards in all expansions to say which one has the best art. Like I said in another post it doesn't make a lot of sense to judge an entire expansion's art as there are many artists. But I do know that all expansions have a least 80% of great art in my opinion, if anything it's the people who like cartoonish art style who don't have a lot of cards to enjoy.
I do agree on darnassus aspirant it's one of the best arts in the game. Temporus is great too but doesn't strike me as a particularly epic drawing. Not sure why you think wilfred is bad though, gnome arts are often cartoonish and this one is dark and realistic and the gnome body and face is very detailed I like it.
Temporus does not have amazing art, but as a whole package its one of, if not my favorite card. The very interesting effect (turn manipulation is the most taboo/impressive effect in the game) + white color of Priest - I find that white color looks really advanced/techy in general not just the game, which then goes really well on the other hand with the art because when you have such a technical card you dont want anything too flashy as art because the card speaks for itself, the focus is on the effect. Wilfred looks bad because, I think, the art looks too realistic like a screenshot from WoW, of course this is just my opinion. It could be because I have never played WoW and if I did i'd be more attracted to this artstyle
Also 7 mana legendary dragons are not common and the average stat line adds to the fantasy of beating your opponent with wit instead of big powerful stats and brute force
First of all, that’s a rather rude remark to make at someone for having a different opinion than you, but you’re free to get on a high horse and try to judge who should be allowed to speak about art if you’re fine with looking like a huge snob. Additionally, I definitely didn’t imply that character’s design should be changed to give off a “fantasy” motif, especially considering the armor matches what the original WoW NPC wore. It’s more like perhaps creating a more dynamic image or some added detail for what’s allegedly a Legendary minion. But hey, if you are into the art for what it is then good for you - there’s no need for any animosity.
Maybe it's because half the class legendaries are 'mercenaries'. Their artwork is designed specifically as a hero portrait that upgrades into something cooler in the Mercenaries mode.
You might even go so far as to say that the artwork is... barren...
you don't need to be a chef to know if something tastes bad and you don't need to be a screenwriter or director or actor to know if a movie or a performance sucks.
I understand the theme aspect and maybe they did nail it (never played WoW) but that doesn't make the art successful or appealing. If your favorite Indie band set out to make a jazz record or an industrial experimental noise record and its not good, would you say "well it's on theme!" or "well they succeeded in doing what they were trying to do!" even though it wasn't interesting or enjoyable or had no merit otherwise?
All that said, after more reveals there are more cards I've seen that I like. But there was another post earlier that pointed out that the art has been going in this direction for a little while as well, and I agree with that. More cartoonish.
I think "cartoonish" might be the best word here, despite cartoons being very different in style and HS generally differing from the wow cinematics and comics. If you take the old MTG and Gods unchained style, it was more like an old fantasy/fairytale book, which wasn't necessarily more fine drawn, but old school in a charming way. MTG has since tried to look more realistic and we then got pokemon and duel masters with their manga style, that got more 3d like over time.
HS has kind of gone in the other way, by more consistently using this "WC cartoon" style, opposed to the less distinct style we saw in the classic set. I think it's mostly the classic set that differs from the expansions thou, and I think it's partly to stand out, opposed to wc3 reforged that was criticized for doing the opposite
Hearthstone Community:
They nailed the mercenaries presentation, which was their biggest priority. The artstyle is simple but full of detail, you can make good guesses about their personalities through their artwork as well as their effects, building up a narrative like this is no easy feat.
There are bad and good artwork in every expansion, but this is certainly not on the low side, they succeeded where it mattered most.
You are correct, I was frustrated to see some people trashing art for no valid reason like every expansion and targeted you unfairly.
When you said it's plain and uninspired it triggered me because it's intended to be plain, that's the inspiration, a plain, low level zone, instead of the generally super epic or goofy expansions, it was a risk but it's a success in my opinion, I hope the alliance expansion is also in a low level zone. Some of the mercenaries even wear level 1 start of game armor, I can literally identify with the mercenary cards, it's awesome !
As for the dynamic images... I mean, some characters are doing something, some are just standing doing nothing, I like both styles, there's the golden cards too, as dynamic as an image can get, after that it's a video lol
I'm really curious what it is people are expecting out of Hearthstone art, that way I could better understand where the letdown is coming from. Hearthstone has a very deliberate style, one that is consistent, colorful, and zany. I've been a big fan of this change, as it makes the game feel more artistically cohesive, and I enjoy the somewhat cartoony style (which I know a lot of people seem to dislike, or at least they seem to point to the artwork being cartoony as a downgrade).
Like, could I get some examples of some pieces that don't hit home for people who think this? I saw Tavish Stormpike get mentioned, and I'll say this much; I believe all of the Mercenaries are currently depictions of low-level WoW characters of their class. Them not doing anything exciting or carrying with much grandeur is most likely deliberate on the part of the artists (as requested by the devs) so that in future expansions they can get upgraded. These are the characters we'll be following all year, after all.
To the point of me better understanding everyone's point of view, can people who dislike the Barrens artwork point out some pieces of Hearthstone art that they're really into, so I can compare?
please don't bully my son