Hearthpwn

I have two things on my mind.

First, I think some of the old cards that turned mercenaries that have diamond portraits should also be in regular hearthstone. Like Y'Shaarj, N'Zoth, Deathwing, etc. I mean we already have a diamond animation for them so why not make them available in constructed as well?

Second, I think the diamond cards in the mercenaries more are behind a huge paywall. Or should I say a huge luckwall or a casino-wall. I know it sounds dumb at this point but here me out. There are so many cool diamond portraits in mercenaries mode that even the whales could not reliably get them. Why? sell them or make them craftable for even like 10k coins I dont care at this point. It just feels like a waste to see all that cool work in an artwork yet to be almost never seen. For example, I have opened 350+ merc packs and never got a single diamond. Make them more available to players so that we all can appreciate the awesome animated art on them! Please!

Hi Ben! I'm an indie dev from Argentina and I have been playing Hearthstone for many, many years. Thanks for starting this thread!

To be honest, I don't care too much about diamond cards, because Hearthstone's aesthetic is already pretty good overall without them and I really think Team 5 has made a pretty good job in that department so far, but not so much in other areas. But ok. I fully understand that a bit more of variety in art style is sometimes necessary, so it is ok.

Having said that, my favorite one is Commander Sivara, pretty cool design. I was really impressed the first time an opponent played the card against me. :P

Yeah, as I said, I don't care too much about them, but if many more were available in the game that would be very cool, I'm not going to deny that! :)

The community is usually pretty harsh with Blizzard on the internet, you probably know that already, but I think such a thing is good for everyone in the end, as it makes people from Team 5 deliver the best they have to offer (most of the time).

I wish you success with your job at Blizzard and thanks a lot to Team 5 for all the countless hours of fun I have had playing this game! Seriously, thank you very much! :)

Hi Ben!

Appreciate you taking the time out to talk to folks! I quite like Diamond Cards, but I see lots of avenues for which you could make them cooler. I think the thing that would make them the most exciting is seeing them have *more* opportunities to interact with the board. Not in a gameplay sense, but one of the coolest things Legends of Runeterra does is that minions will frequently have little conversations and interactions with each other based on which minions you play. More audio cues for them to react to seems like a really easy way to make them seem like an even bigger deal.

For instance,  perhaps Diamond Commander Sivara might have extra lines of dialog whenever you play Queen Azshara or whenever Spitelash Siren's effect goes off.

On that note please add Diamond Azshara to Standard, it's so not fair that only Mercenaries players get to have her!

For the Colassal cards, it might be neat to get the full graphic effect where it is spread across (poping ount in front of) the cards (at least while they are adjacent).

Bonus sound and graphical interactions with other cards / heroes.

A couple spitball-ey ones off the top of my head:

• I prefer the ones which have more going on with the animations. Sir Finley, Sea Guide is by far my favorite Diamond animation and is quite mesmerizing with how Finley spins around the frame with fish in the background. Compare that to ones like Blademaster Samuro or Varian, King of Stormwind which are largely just well animated breathing cycles, and they look borderline forgettable in comparison.
• All classes should have access to fun and cool Diamond cards. Currently, the Diamond card distribution is very weighted in favor of Mage, with Bru'kan and Darkbishop Benedictus being the only non-Mage Diamond class cards. I understand the favoritism of Mage among both the developers and community, but to the people who don't play Mage, it's disappointing to see them get so many Diamond cards while Warrior or Paladin are left in the cold.
• Why not give Diamond card custom Attack or death animations? Instead of just slamming into the target, why not have them strike the target with lightning? Hurl a fireball at them? When they die, instead of turning to dust, why not let them be reduced to sparkling dust or jump off the field? Let these cards feel truly special in more ways. 

i would welcome some change to the dust value for the regular version of the card once you get diamond version. during fractured i was a bit broke so it took me time to collect entire set but i did got balinda for free once miniset came out since i havent opened her before it.

otherwise im very close to finish my hearthstone collection - just 11 cards left i have not played during gvg and and old gods had no duplicate protection back then

I have some input, maybe not the most cheered but i think it would be nice to see the following:

- A quest per expansion or per month that grants a diamond card when completed... so people can work towards it to get it... 

- Diamond hero portraits at 2500 wins or so per class...

- maybe make the diamond cards on the board more 3D'ish, like they are actual minions or created minions by the cards instead of the normal layout.. 

- I am sure you can see the statistics of the cards played in different formats, check which card is played the most of a certain expansion, and turn that in a Diamond card that is granted by any means... like for free, or a special achievement where you get that diamond if you meet a certain requirement (ofc keep the free diamond for completing a complete set)

- Also, i dont understand the reasoning of giving a diamond card for completing a set, if you completed a set you allready have the said legendary, and getting it in diamond makes it a duplicate (i love free cards, but there must be another way)

- A diamond coin!!!! 

How much of a gold sink or money grab are we talking about?

3k gold per diamond card or $199.99 per diamond pack? Or get the exclusive one time limited edition ultimate diamond bundle for $666.66?

Is there a possibility that diamond cards have a unique summon animation?

Dear Primordial One,

     I appreciate your interest on what the community thinks about diamond cards. I think interacting with the player base like this is a good idea and reinforces opposition to the popular belief that you guys don't actually care about our experience in-game.

     As mentioned by people in this thread before me, I think the concept is strong, but the representation of that concept is rather lacking. There's nothing that makes owning a diamond card feel really special or fulfilling.

     Something that golden legendary cards bring to the table is that the art becomes animated and takes an already spectacular art style and gives it the extra sha-bang! On top of this, they have the ability to be disenchanted if you don't want them.

     The problem is that diamond cards do literally the exact same thing. The art becomes animated outside of the frame and you add the diamond studs to the dragon border. A diamond copy just seems like the golden copy with extra steps. 

     Unfortunately, I'm not sure I have the best solution to preventing the diamond copy from feeling empty. I think finding a way to craft them would make that problem go away though. I have a ton of achievement points stacked up that could be put to good use if I could use them to upgrade my favorite legendary to diamond status. It would inspire players to complete more achievements and give a purpose to a seemingly useless feature to the game. Other than that, my only other idea would be making the diamond or gold cards given free by Blizzard the ability to be disenchantable. Bru'Kan didn't end up being used as often as I thought he would, so I don't need his diamond version, the regular would suit my burn shaman deck just fine since I don't play it that often. Being able to pick and choose the legendary you want to be diamond would also make it feel more special.

     If members of the community agree, you should like this post/comment or reply on your own thoughts. This is your time for Team 5 to hear what you want to say, so don't pass up this opportunity. Thank you for your time.

Yes, I love them. And I hope to see way more not just for new cards but old ones too. Loatheb was a great recent addition!

Btw, it seems like Mercenaries gets a bunch of diamond cards that use constructed art, why not add those to the constructed cards too? Some examples are Deathwing, N’Zoth, Y’Shaarj, and Queen Azshara who have sick diamond animations that use their constructed card art, but for Mercs only :(

I LOVE the IDEA of Diamond cards...just no more charging absurd amounts of money or gold for them. Please?

I think most of the prominent hearthstone legendaries that were major wow characters in their lore should get them. LIch King and Sylvanaus are a couple of great examples for cards who desperately need one. 

As for personal requests, I'd LOVE diamond skins for the entire League of Explorers. Those 4 guys are my fav gimmick hearthstone ever created. 

That said I wouldn't mind giving the ability to somehow upgrade all legendary cards into diamond somehow either. If that was ever a thing I'd be more than ok with it. 

All I ask is to keep the economics involving the diamond skins more reasonable. The orc's skin availability in diamond was nice but it cost waaaaaay too much.  

Quote from JollyCroquet >>

Even though I'm probably far off a diamond portrait for any class I too would like to see a next advancement after the 1000 wins.

But diamond cards don't mean as much to me as something like the Arthur portrait for Paladin for beating the lich king with every class or the card backs for completing heroics. It'd be nice to see some diamond cards that feel more earned rather than bought or just by playing a few games for an event. Just like the 1000 win portrait, Diamond cards feel like they're for the peacocks that like to show off their feathers, so let the peacocks fly and show off!

Diamond Reno Jackson has to be on the tables though... His intro line would have a lot more emphasis.

 Yeah, I think that's a very cool way to let out your feathers! I don't personally make decisions as to how diamonds are released, but I'll make a not of that and share it with the people that do.

Quote from 0ceanMan >>

Do diamond cards have to be legendary minions? Will there ever be a diamond card that summons diamond tokens? I wonder how long until we can create a full deck of diamond only cards! 

 

 The fabled diamond only deck! one day... it might just be a possibility!
Legendary minions generally tend to me the most powerful, exciting, and lore relevant cards of the set so it makes sense to make cool versions of those characters. I like the idea of a card that summons diamond tokens. It would require twice the effort, but it's certainly a fun idea and worth considering for sure.

Quote from HighPocketGuy >>

First, thanks for starting the conversation, always appreciate developers who ask for feedback from their players.   

You asked about favorites, I really enjoy Sir Finley's diamond card; it's unique, clever and eye catching.  Some good runner ups - Loatheb is mysterious and conveys a foreboding mood and Ragnaros, the Firelord looks beautiful and mesmerizing.  In terms of least favorite, of course my input only reflects my tastes but I think Blademaster Samuro is rather uninteresting - doesn't look dynamic, evocative or tells a story.  Runner up for for least favorite, Jandice Barrow - she just sort of sways back and forth.  My favorite diamond cards convey a moment in time and tell a story (Loatheb), make good use of the animation cycle (Sir Finley) and, of course, make good use of a color palette (Balinda).    

 Awesome to hear. Your ranking of where they stand coincides with when they were made so it sounds like we're heading in the right direction to make these better! 

Quote from Pacific_Onion >>

I would like to see a little bit more class color added to the Diamond cards.

Golden cards show class color by using a banner which can be seen on the bottom of the card as well as a little in the middle between the text and name, and for spells also on top. For Diamond cards the class color can only been on the bottom. I notice on the diamond template there are already these groves between the text and card name that would be perfect for filling in the class color. It's a minor thing, but I think it would go a long way in making them stand out more as a class card, and it wouldn't require changing the template as its already there, just needs to be filled in.

 Love that idea. I'll make note of it to bring it up with the rest of the art team. :)

Personally I think that the frames around diamonds (and goldens too a lesser extent) are just a little *too* gaudy. Like, and specifically diamond in constructed, the frames honestly look kinda not great to me personally. The way the mercenary frames and cards are done look significantly better. Also not a super big fan of how big diamond cards look in the collection compared to regular cards. They stand out, but not in a good way, they just look like they don't belong.

In terms of the actual card art tho they look great! I do think sometimes that smaller/less movement is better tho. Unless maybe that's the point, but the Diamond Valeera in mercs' movement looks kinda off to me. Jandice's too (but I understand that it's harder to make diamond art for older cards because the art wasn't made with the diamond idea in mind like I remember seeing a dev mention is the case for one that are for recent cards or new art.)

Quote from ValueBased >>

Quote from JollyCroquet >>

Diamond Reno Jackson has to be on the tables though... His intro line would have a lot more emphasis.

 I know opinions on Reno Jackson are polarized, but I second the idea that iconic wild (I know Reno is in the current core set) cards should have a diamond variant.

 The intention is definitely there to go back into wild sets and hit up some of our favorite characters with some diamond bling. It's already started with Loatheb!

Mods, are you sure this is legit?

Take a look at this: https://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/general-discussion/248012-thoughts-on-diamond-cards?page=3

Quote from TheHiddenNinja7 >>

Quote from PrimordialOne >>

I'm a fan of these updates. I think it's fun.

 "edited 1 day ago" by the person who today says they actually help make diamond cards.

By pure coincidence, your linkedin says you joined blizzard 1 year and 2 months ago, and this comment and thread was made 1 year and less than 3 months ago.

I don't mean anything by this, I just think it's funny lol