Since it’s time to inevitably donate to our favorite indie game company, I thought I would ask the question of what makes a player a whale? Certainly someone that has a complete collection in all gold/diamond cards on day 1 is a whale, there’s no cheap way to get this. Anyone who only plays arena for value and never buys packs with money, even if it means never having a complete collection, is the other end of the spectrum. The question becomes, where do average players become whales? Is it a buying behavior (both preorder bundles)? Is it cosmetics? Is there a dollar amount?
I think being a whale in hearthstone doesn't hold as much weight. Since you can easily make decks that arrival meta decks with cheap dust cost. And the legendary amount per deck is usually 2-3 depending on the deck and class but usually. its pretty cheap if you focus like one class.
But i think whale would be like, pre-odreding every bundle, using allot money on costmetics. But i dont think there is a money amount, its pretty flexible since whale is a new definition on big spenders. But i think its somewhat like 200-1000 or more per month.
I consider myself a whale because I will get at least one of the pre orders for each expansion, get the paid reward track and buy a skin from time to time. Anyone who spends more than me is a whale. If you spend money on mini sets or skins but no pre order you're a dolphin. If you don't spend money you're a fish and you are more healthy and happy than any of us.
Good question really. Is it 100+$ a month? Or is that just a medium expensive hobby?
I think it comes down to how much money it takes to get the cards and how much you spend extra on cosmetics/golden cards. If 20$/month is enough I suppose you are already "wailing" past the 30$/month.
Of course early access is also expensive, so maybe it's more a matter of what you buy?
I would not call myself a Whale. I usually spend about $300 a year on the game with bundles and battle passes. That is about $25 a month. Hearthstone is about the only game that I play. I am not really sure what you can do except chase Golden Cards to become a Whale. Even I have most of the Diamond Cards and my spending is less a month then two meals out.
I would not call myself a Whale. I usually spend about $300 a year on the game with bundles and battle passes. That is about $25 a month. Hearthstone is about the only game that I play. I am not really sure what you can do except chase Golden Cards to become a Whale. Even I have most of the Diamond Cards and my spending is less a month then two meals out.
If you just buy cards to keep more or less up with the game and have almost the whole set by the end of the cycle, then I don't think that you're much of a whale. I think it takes a bit more carelessness and joy in spending. But I suppose even as a whale, HS ain't even that expensive compared to many hobbies :)
The way modern freemium economy games tend to work, there's not a lot of difference between a 'whale' and a long standing FTP (or low spender) in terms of resources accumulated.
Someone who's played regularly for several years will have accumulated packs/gold/dust over time, which translates into having whatever decks they want on day 1 of an expansion - no different from a more recent player who spends money.
I've bought at least a cheap pre-order every set and rarely missed a daily/weekly quest or free pack, and hoarded cards. Hardly makes me a whale in terms of spending (probably equivalent to a netflix sub) but getting a recent account to a similar position would require a really uncomfortable amount of money.
While 300$ a year is far from whale territory, it's still a lot. It's 100$/expansion (mini set included). You're paying for almost double the price of 2 new games every expansion. (more like a new AAA game and two expensive DLCs). I think it's dolphin territory at the very least.
But I don't think there's anything wrong with that. As long as you can manage your finances, how much you spend on the game shouldn't mattter as long as you get at least as much enjoyment as you would spending on another media.
IMO you are a whale if you only stop buying when you have a complete collection. Or if you have a large collection but want all the cards you actually play in golden. In order to match either of these, you need to spend loads of money.
While 300$ a year is far from whale territory, it's still a lot. It's 100$/expansion (mini set included). You're paying for almost double the price of 2 new games every expansion. (more like a new AAA game and two expensive DLCs).
Have you seen the prices for PS5 games? The days of $50 games are long gone, $70 is standard now. This actually makes your analogy applicable to me though. I buy both preorders and rewards track and that’s it. It’s enough to get me all the packs and dust I need for a day 1 collection, some of it golden, and perks for BG. I buy the minisets in gold, never bought any cosmetics, don’t play mercs (this game mode feels like a whale hunt to me). So it is like buying two current gen AAA games every 4 months, or about $40 per month. It’s not cheap by any means, but it’s also a lot less expensive than MTG, Pokémon or Arena.
don’t play mercs (this game mode feels like a whale hunt to me).
I play Mercs a lot and it is the opposite of a Whale hunt. Well I think they want it to be one, but the economy is so bad you have nothing to spend money on. Just by playing I have all tasks complete and most of the Mercs Maxed. The chance of opening a pack that has nothing I can use in it is so high I just sit on them. With the last big Merc patch, I got all the Mercs in about 60 packs. You get more packs with each Merc. Currently sitting on 145 Merc packs that are just waiting for next drop.
It seems like I am the target audience for this mode. I spend money on Hearthstone. I interact with the Mode on a daily basis and enjoy the game play. There is nothing of interest to spend my money on.
don’t play mercs (this game mode feels like a whale hunt to me).
I play Mercs a lot and it is the opposite of a Whale hunt. Well I think they want it to be one, but the economy is so bad you have nothing to spend money on. Just by playing I have all tasks complete and most of the Mercs Maxed. The chance of opening a pack that has nothing I can use in it is so high I just sit on them. With the last big Merc patch, I got all the Mercs in about 60 packs. You get more packs with each Merc. Currently sitting on 145 Merc packs that are just waiting for next drop.
It seems like I am the target audience for this mode. I spend money on Hearthstone. I interact with the Mode on a daily basis and enjoy the game play. There is nothing of interest to spend my money on.
They really found a way of punishing whales with that mode. They already got some pretty bitter customers by making the packs appear similar to HS packs, but only being useful in small quantities. It seems like they have a lot of trouble making this game both F2P AND whale friendly
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Since it’s time to inevitably donate to our favorite indie game company, I thought I would ask the question of what makes a player a whale? Certainly someone that has a complete collection in all gold/diamond cards on day 1 is a whale, there’s no cheap way to get this. Anyone who only plays arena for value and never buys packs with money, even if it means never having a complete collection, is the other end of the spectrum. The question becomes, where do average players become whales? Is it a buying behavior (both preorder bundles)? Is it cosmetics? Is there a dollar amount?
I think being a whale in hearthstone doesn't hold as much weight.
Since you can easily make decks that arrival meta decks with cheap dust cost.
And the legendary amount per deck is usually 2-3 depending on the deck and class but usually.
its pretty cheap if you focus like one class.
But i think whale would be like, pre-odreding every bundle, using allot money on costmetics.
But i dont think there is a money amount, its pretty flexible since whale is a new definition on big spenders.
But i think its somewhat like 200-1000 or more per month.
I consider myself a whale because I will get at least one of the pre orders for each expansion, get the paid reward track and buy a skin from time to time. Anyone who spends more than me is a whale. If you spend money on mini sets or skins but no pre order you're a dolphin. If you don't spend money you're a fish and you are more healthy and happy than any of us.
Good question really. Is it 100+$ a month? Or is that just a medium expensive hobby?
I think it comes down to how much money it takes to get the cards and how much you spend extra on cosmetics/golden cards. If 20$/month is enough I suppose you are already "wailing" past the 30$/month.
Of course early access is also expensive, so maybe it's more a matter of what you buy?
I would not call myself a Whale. I usually spend about $300 a year on the game with bundles and battle passes. That is about $25 a month. Hearthstone is about the only game that I play. I am not really sure what you can do except chase Golden Cards to become a Whale. Even I have most of the Diamond Cards and my spending is less a month then two meals out.
If you just buy cards to keep more or less up with the game and have almost the whole set by the end of the cycle, then I don't think that you're much of a whale. I think it takes a bit more carelessness and joy in spending. But I suppose even as a whale, HS ain't even that expensive compared to many hobbies :)
The way modern freemium economy games tend to work, there's not a lot of difference between a 'whale' and a long standing FTP (or low spender) in terms of resources accumulated.
Someone who's played regularly for several years will have accumulated packs/gold/dust over time, which translates into having whatever decks they want on day 1 of an expansion - no different from a more recent player who spends money.
I've bought at least a cheap pre-order every set and rarely missed a daily/weekly quest or free pack, and hoarded cards. Hardly makes me a whale in terms of spending (probably equivalent to a netflix sub) but getting a recent account to a similar position would require a really uncomfortable amount of money.
While 300$ a year is far from whale territory, it's still a lot. It's 100$/expansion (mini set included). You're paying for almost double the price of 2 new games every expansion. (more like a new AAA game and two expensive DLCs). I think it's dolphin territory at the very least.
But I don't think there's anything wrong with that. As long as you can manage your finances, how much you spend on the game shouldn't mattter as long as you get at least as much enjoyment as you would spending on another media.
IMO you are a whale if you only stop buying when you have a complete collection. Or if you have a large collection but want all the cards you actually play in golden. In order to match either of these, you need to spend loads of money.
Have you seen the prices for PS5 games? The days of $50 games are long gone, $70 is standard now. This actually makes your analogy applicable to me though. I buy both preorders and rewards track and that’s it. It’s enough to get me all the packs and dust I need for a day 1 collection, some of it golden, and perks for BG. I buy the minisets in gold, never bought any cosmetics, don’t play mercs (this game mode feels like a whale hunt to me). So it is like buying two current gen AAA games every 4 months, or about $40 per month. It’s not cheap by any means, but it’s also a lot less expensive than MTG, Pokémon or Arena.
Where are the little fish? Cash is King.
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I play Mercs a lot and it is the opposite of a Whale hunt. Well I think they want it to be one, but the economy is so bad you have nothing to spend money on. Just by playing I have all tasks complete and most of the Mercs Maxed. The chance of opening a pack that has nothing I can use in it is so high I just sit on them. With the last big Merc patch, I got all the Mercs in about 60 packs. You get more packs with each Merc. Currently sitting on 145 Merc packs that are just waiting for next drop.
It seems like I am the target audience for this mode. I spend money on Hearthstone. I interact with the Mode on a daily basis and enjoy the game play. There is nothing of interest to spend my money on.
They really found a way of punishing whales with that mode. They already got some pretty bitter customers by making the packs appear similar to HS packs, but only being useful in small quantities. It seems like they have a lot of trouble making this game both F2P AND whale friendly