BOTH! Haven't you learned that most of the shit they put out as an alternative to standard is more of a money grab than good content? To those who spent money on mercenaries and duels prior to launch, word of advice, next time anything comes along don't buy it, wait for it to come out and the reviews come in, 9 times out of 10 you'll have saved money.
Just as I upgraded/max'ed a few Mercs and was starting to enjoy PvP, they printed the completely busted Valeera which makes PvP almost as bad as current Roguestone standard ladder. I hope they deal with Mercs PvP balancing soon because the mode has some potential
Just as I upgraded/max'ed a few Mercs and was starting to enjoy PvP, they printed the completely busted Valeera which makes PvP almost as bad as current Roguestone standard ladder. I hope they deal with Mercs PvP balancing soon because the mode has some potential
caster comp detected
Varian and/or Trigore can ruin Valeera's day, just sayin
also, not many outside of tryhards are gonna even HAVE Valeera, much less have her levelled and kitted out
Try complaining about duels on the subreddit and feel how hard you get flamed. That's what happened to me back when I didn't understand it and didn't come to appreciate it yet.
Just as I upgraded/max'ed a few Mercs and was starting to enjoy PvP, they printed the completely busted Valeera which makes PvP almost as bad as current Roguestone standard ladder. I hope they deal with Mercs PvP balancing soon because the mode has some potential
caster comp detected
Varian and/or Trigore can ruin Valeera's day, just sayin
also, not many outside of tryhards are gonna even HAVE Valeera, much less have her levelled and kitted out
There was a time where I faced like 10 Valeera comps in a row at 6-7k MMR. I don't have Varian fully upgraded and Trigore not even at level 30, but I'd like an anti-Valeera build so maybe I focus on them over the next couple of days.
Anyhow, Varian's A3 causes him to +X and attack any time an enemy merc attacks (he eats Samuros and Illidans for breakfast!) and Trigore's A2 causes a +X and -ranged- damage equal to his attack the first time an enemy merc damages a neighbor. Both are 2 speed, no cd.
Duels is fun and unpredictable. It's based on the adventures that people received mostly positively. The entry barrier is too high though and it would be more interesting if you draft your first 15 in an arena-like style, then continue developing your deck as you go. But it still has the card draw RNG element that makes constructed and arena games each feel different from one another.
However, Mercenaries has none of that. There is no element of unpredictability and the best teams are usually fleshed out. Being a simultaneous turn game mode like pokemon, who attacks first matters a lot. And because there are too many speed ties, most of the RNG is on who wins the 50-50. It doesn't feel rewarding and it's not a positive experience. And don't get me started on how expensive it is to get to a competent PVP level (money spent or hours sank, same difference). Premium price on a game mode that came with a lot of bugs, no duplicate protection, kinda scammy economy system and a general lack of perspective. Props to them for trying something completely new, but it was done in a very wrong way in so many levels. What makes pokemon interesting? Each character has dozens of moves and items, and you can build them defensively, offensively, and pick the 4 moves that support each other, and the central team strategy. And Mercenaries misses on that, instead sticking you with static speeds, movesets, and an item of your choice (which is almost always better than the other 2 options). It doesn't play the information game, instead it's a minion masher often decided by 50-50s in early turns. Yikes.
Mercs. Duels is a niche product. Duels is for people who like constructed, draft, and absurd power levels all at once but has done a decent job of entertaining that audience and didn't have a huge investment with most of the code already being in place from both Arena and Dungeon runs. Some new art, some new powers, stamp a "NEW GAME MODE" on it and ship it. Even with very little support its has a decent audience.
Mercs should have a much wider appeal as the turn based gacha games have a long track record of success. And it cost a much larger amount of investment going into it but flopped completely.
I played mercenaries with rose tinted glasses for about a month because I was bored and it was fine, leveling up the mercs, refining teams.. Then your good mercs get max level and max abilities and... that's it, there's no end game other than maxing out the rest of your collection. And it's so bad visually... they went with the card game feeling but it mostly feels wrong and lazy, I didn't care at first because I was so used to the hearthstone aesthetics, but once I played other games I couldn't help but wonder what the f*ck I was doing with my life playing Mercenaries.
Duels on the other hand is legit fun and fresh air when you need a pause from ranked gameplay, and it's an actual card game so the lazy visuals don't matter, they're supposed to be cards. Not so great when it's your main game I imagine, but it can't be worse than a Mercs main.
There are a lot of very valid criticisms for Mercenaries, but the one that absolutely baffles me is all the people expecting better visuals.
It's an extra mode using existing Hearthstone assets. The design philosophy is far more "hey, what else can we make this framework do?" than "let's make a totally new game".
There are a lot of very valid criticisms for Mercenaries, but the one that absolutely baffles me is all the people expecting better visuals.
It's an extra mode using existing Hearthstone assets. The design philosophy is far more "hey, what else can we make this framework do?" than "let's make a totally new game".
Most of that comes from the gameboard being little better than a photographed piece of cardboard. 100% they could have made a more visually interesting field to play the game on. But yes, they treated their new game mode as a cheap asset flip.
Keep the expansions the same, lower the price of pre-purchases by 15% per bundle.
I agree with all your points except this one. I abstain from all pre-purchases because of what a "pre-order" stands for. But on top of that, they offer cash efficient alternatives down the line for people don't need the full access upfront. I like the incremental access that comes with collecting packs on my Tavern Pass & then 20 dollar bundle if satisfied with the xpac.
I think the biggest mistake for merc PvP is speed manipulation of any kind. It forces very few builds and makes "fun" unviable. I can take a very silly meme deck to the constructed ladder and have 25% winrate against tier 1s. Meme merc comps have around 0% against proper comps.
As for the PvE... I see it as the beginning of something that can become good. but, ATM, the replayability of PVE is extremely low
Mercenaries pve is ok for me to play, if you need a break from normal hs. But it could be a little boring after some time.
What I really hate is Duels. I even never played this shitty dungeon run aso. Such a shitty rng-party. I just got angry about it. I really wish they wouldn't force you to play this shit for eventpacks. I always tip the first thing I saw and just put some selfdemage cards in the deck, if possible and loose the three games. What a waste of time.
But I also doing this for standard cause I play only wild. I wish you could choose by yourself which mode you want to play for the packs.
No doubt mercs is BS money grabbing, haven't touched it beyond the free merch. At least duels' cards are available in multi formats, mercs is a closed mini game.
I don't think there is anything special at mercenaries. I played a lot of old final fantasies and when mercenaries have something in common in gameplay, its just a shadow compared what FF are. Simply rubbish, played few quest and called it in.
Don't really play duels either but at least it is same style as normal HS. And definitely better than mercenaries.
it would be more interesting if you draft your first 15 in an arena-like style, then continue developing your deck as you go.
No, please no:)
Thtas what i like about duels. Its like "constructed"...your deck. You can build a deck by your ideas, with a strategy and try to build on it. The drafting part is, why i stopped play arena. I look forward to an arena run and the draft isnt even finished yeat and i feel like just conceiding in advance, cause of the random bullshit i got.
No doubt mercs is BS money grabbing, haven't touched it beyond the free merch. At least duels' cards are available in multi formats, mercs is a closed mini game.
So, the most played mode, most viewed mode, utterly f2p, gets more attention from devs albeit f2p, is the failure. Troll crybaby much?
Maybe its his personal opinion. I feel the same way. This week i had after a long time a quest to finish top 4 in battlegrounds. Its was painful to play. One thing is the AFK part, the stuff fights for itself? The other thing is the bald dude between the game. I trade a minion and then i wait forever...and its just not ending. I dont know how long such a BG takes, but it feels like 20-30 mins. And my only part, why i have to sit at the computer is to pull a minion to my side from the bald dude. So actively i spent maybe 1 min form those 20 mins. Really?
But then again, my friends also play BGs. Everyone likes something else. And i spent all my gold on duels, which they dont play :)
Mercenaries feels like a spammy, free Android/iPhone game that preys on getting kids addicted to the Sisyphean rote of perpetually adding stats to a sprite for the sake of simply being better than it once was. You know, the kind that is constantly forced as ad fodder in other games until you download it. I've never had an issue with any content I've paid for in HS, but I feel genuinely duped with the Merc prepurchase. If there was a legit effort to recoup that purchase, I would be interested.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
BOTH! Haven't you learned that most of the shit they put out as an alternative to standard is more of a money grab than good content? To those who spent money on mercenaries and duels prior to launch, word of advice, next time anything comes along don't buy it, wait for it to come out and the reviews come in, 9 times out of 10 you'll have saved money.
Just as I upgraded/max'ed a few Mercs and was starting to enjoy PvP, they printed the completely busted Valeera which makes PvP almost as bad as current Roguestone standard ladder. I hope they deal with Mercs PvP balancing soon because the mode has some potential
caster comp detected
Varian and/or Trigore can ruin Valeera's day, just sayin
also, not many outside of tryhards are gonna even HAVE Valeera, much less have her levelled and kitted out
LOL lots of people love duels.
Try complaining about duels on the subreddit and feel how hard you get flamed. That's what happened to me back when I didn't understand it and didn't come to appreciate it yet.
There was a time where I faced like 10 Valeera comps in a row at 6-7k MMR. I don't have Varian fully upgraded and Trigore not even at level 30, but I'd like an anti-Valeera build so maybe I focus on them over the next couple of days.
I consider anything over 6k tryhard territory lol
Anyhow, Varian's A3 causes him to +X and attack any time an enemy merc attacks (he eats Samuros and Illidans for breakfast!) and Trigore's A2 causes a +X and -ranged- damage equal to his attack the first time an enemy merc damages a neighbor. Both are 2 speed, no cd.
Battleground was bigger failure
Did not finish the tutorial of Mercs...still have 9 packs. Decided to stay away from it...very glad I did.
Duels is fun and unpredictable. It's based on the adventures that people received mostly positively. The entry barrier is too high though and it would be more interesting if you draft your first 15 in an arena-like style, then continue developing your deck as you go. But it still has the card draw RNG element that makes constructed and arena games each feel different from one another.
However, Mercenaries has none of that. There is no element of unpredictability and the best teams are usually fleshed out. Being a simultaneous turn game mode like pokemon, who attacks first matters a lot. And because there are too many speed ties, most of the RNG is on who wins the 50-50. It doesn't feel rewarding and it's not a positive experience. And don't get me started on how expensive it is to get to a competent PVP level (money spent or hours sank, same difference). Premium price on a game mode that came with a lot of bugs, no duplicate protection, kinda scammy economy system and a general lack of perspective. Props to them for trying something completely new, but it was done in a very wrong way in so many levels. What makes pokemon interesting? Each character has dozens of moves and items, and you can build them defensively, offensively, and pick the 4 moves that support each other, and the central team strategy. And Mercenaries misses on that, instead sticking you with static speeds, movesets, and an item of your choice (which is almost always better than the other 2 options). It doesn't play the information game, instead it's a minion masher often decided by 50-50s in early turns. Yikes.
Mercs. Duels is a niche product. Duels is for people who like constructed, draft, and absurd power levels all at once but has done a decent job of entertaining that audience and didn't have a huge investment with most of the code already being in place from both Arena and Dungeon runs. Some new art, some new powers, stamp a "NEW GAME MODE" on it and ship it. Even with very little support its has a decent audience.
Mercs should have a much wider appeal as the turn based gacha games have a long track record of success. And it cost a much larger amount of investment going into it but flopped completely.
I played mercenaries with rose tinted glasses for about a month because I was bored and it was fine, leveling up the mercs, refining teams.. Then your good mercs get max level and max abilities and... that's it, there's no end game other than maxing out the rest of your collection. And it's so bad visually... they went with the card game feeling but it mostly feels wrong and lazy, I didn't care at first because I was so used to the hearthstone aesthetics, but once I played other games I couldn't help but wonder what the f*ck I was doing with my life playing Mercenaries.
Duels on the other hand is legit fun and fresh air when you need a pause from ranked gameplay, and it's an actual card game so the lazy visuals don't matter, they're supposed to be cards. Not so great when it's your main game I imagine, but it can't be worse than a Mercs main.
There are a lot of very valid criticisms for Mercenaries, but the one that absolutely baffles me is all the people expecting better visuals.
It's an extra mode using existing Hearthstone assets. The design philosophy is far more "hey, what else can we make this framework do?" than "let's make a totally new game".
Most of that comes from the gameboard being little better than a photographed piece of cardboard. 100% they could have made a more visually interesting field to play the game on. But yes, they treated their new game mode as a cheap asset flip.
I agree with all your points except this one.
I abstain from all pre-purchases because of what a "pre-order" stands for.
But on top of that, they offer cash efficient alternatives down the line for people don't need the full access upfront.
I like the incremental access that comes with collecting packs on my Tavern Pass & then 20 dollar bundle if satisfied with the xpac.
DJ
I think the biggest mistake for merc PvP is speed manipulation of any kind. It forces very few builds and makes "fun" unviable. I can take a very silly meme deck to the constructed ladder and have 25% winrate against tier 1s. Meme merc comps have around 0% against proper comps.
As for the PvE... I see it as the beginning of something that can become good. but, ATM, the replayability of PVE is extremely low
Mercenaries pve is ok for me to play, if you need a break from normal hs. But it could be a little boring after some time.
What I really hate is Duels. I even never played this shitty dungeon run aso. Such a shitty rng-party. I just got angry about it. I really wish they wouldn't force you to play this shit for eventpacks. I always tip the first thing I saw and just put some selfdemage cards in the deck, if possible and loose the three games. What a waste of time.
But I also doing this for standard cause I play only wild. I wish you could choose by yourself which mode you want to play for the packs.
No doubt mercs is BS money grabbing, haven't touched it beyond the free merch. At least duels' cards are available in multi formats, mercs is a closed mini game.
So, the most played mode, most viewed mode, utterly f2p, gets more attention from devs albeit f2p, is the failure. Troll crybaby much?
I don't think there is anything special at mercenaries. I played a lot of old final fantasies and when mercenaries have something in common in gameplay, its just a shadow compared what FF are. Simply rubbish, played few quest and called it in.
Don't really play duels either but at least it is same style as normal HS. And definitely better than mercenaries.
No, please no:)
Thtas what i like about duels. Its like "constructed"...your deck. You can build a deck by your ideas, with a strategy and try to build on it. The drafting part is, why i stopped play arena. I look forward to an arena run and the draft isnt even finished yeat and i feel like just conceiding in advance, cause of the random bullshit i got.
Maybe its his personal opinion. I feel the same way. This week i had after a long time a quest to finish top 4 in battlegrounds. Its was painful to play. One thing is the AFK part, the stuff fights for itself? The other thing is the bald dude between the game. I trade a minion and then i wait forever...and its just not ending. I dont know how long such a BG takes, but it feels like 20-30 mins. And my only part, why i have to sit at the computer is to pull a minion to my side from the bald dude. So actively i spent maybe 1 min form those 20 mins. Really?
But then again, my friends also play BGs. Everyone likes something else. And i spent all my gold on duels, which they dont play :)
Mercenaries feels like a spammy, free Android/iPhone game that preys on getting kids addicted to the Sisyphean rote of perpetually adding stats to a sprite for the sake of simply being better than it once was. You know, the kind that is constantly forced as ad fodder in other games until you download it. I've never had an issue with any content I've paid for in HS, but I feel genuinely duped with the Merc prepurchase. If there was a legit effort to recoup that purchase, I would be interested.