Hearthpwn

So we saw 3 Heroes each 9,99 during the last few weeks (Kelthuzad etc.) - before we even got 3 Heroes for 20 Euro / Dollar.

Today we get an Elise for a whooping 1500 Runestones = 15 Euro / USD

So a sweet 50% increase compared to last week ;o) ...

The thing that drives me up the walls the most is that they said that they wouldn't make prices that can't be fit properly in the available bundle sizes, and yet literally the very first batch of prices they add, they are selling battlegrounds hero skins for 150 runestones, with the lowest bundle size being 500 runestones...
Like literally the very first batch of items, they already apply the predatory pricing that everyone was worried about and that they said they wouldn't do, it's just insane to me...

I could never thank Blizzard enough for what they did.

I always wanted to stop spending money on Hearthstone, but I'm always too addicted to stop, because money is easy to spend.

Runestones though ? I see no value in purchasing them, so I will never do it despite my gambling addiction. No runestone = no packs, no expansion bundle, no skin. Thank you so much Blizzard, in helping me get a better life and bring you down. Because apparently the law can't stop predators like you, but we can.

The thing that drives me up the walls the most is that they said that they wouldn't make prices that can't be fit properly in the available bundle sizes, and yet literally the very first batch of prices they add, they are selling battlegrounds hero skins for 150 runestones, with the lowest bundle size being 500 runestones...
Like literally the very first batch of items, they already apply the predatory pricing that everyone was worried about and that they said they wouldn't do, it's just insane to me...

Quote from Berkhtar >>

So we saw 3 Heroes each 9,99 during the last few weeks (Kelthuzad etc.) - before we even got 3 Heroes for 20 Euro / Dollar.

Today we get an Elise for a whooping 1500 Runestones = 15 Euro / USD

So a sweet 50% increase compared to last week ;o) ...

 That's not true, they've always sold 2 types of Skin bundles 

Skin+5 Packs for 10€ and Skin+5 Packs+Cardback for 15€ the last batch of skins, Kel and Vash, didn't have the Cardback meanwhile Elise does, there's no increase its literally the same

Quote from Thex_ >>

The thing that drives me up the walls the most is that they said that they wouldn't make prices that can't be fit properly in the available bundle sizes, and yet literally the very first batch of prices they add, they are selling battlegrounds hero skins for 150 runestones, with the lowest bundle size being 500 runestones...
Like literally the very first batch of items, they already apply the predatory pricing that everyone was worried about and that they said they wouldn't do, it's just insane to me...

 As for BG skins, they used to be sold in packs of 15€ for 8 of them or 20€ for 7+1 Bartender Skin, which means that the lowest amount of money you needed to spend for 1 single skin you wanted (never mind not liking the resr of the skins) was indeed 15€

With skimds being 150 Runestones, the treshold to not having leftovers runestones is 1500 (15€) which would net you 10 skins of your choice, that's a 20% increase in skins PLUS the ability to chose the ones you want compared to having to stick with a bundle, and since you were forced to buy the bundle having the option to buy 1500 runestones is exactly the same but with added benefits

Hate it all you want but that's not a good reason to do so

Quote from AnimationCancering >>

Quote from Thex_ >>

The thing that drives me up the walls the most is that they said that they wouldn't make prices that can't be fit properly in the available bundle sizes, and yet literally the very first batch of prices they add, they are selling battlegrounds hero skins for 150 runestones, with the lowest bundle size being 500 runestones...
Like literally the very first batch of items, they already apply the predatory pricing that everyone was worried about and that they said they wouldn't do, it's just insane to me...

 As for BG skins, they used to be sold in packs of 15€ for 8 of them or 20€ for 7+1 Bartender Skin, which means that the lowest amount of money you needed to spend for 1 single skin you wanted (never mind not liking the resr of the skins) was indeed 15€

With skimds being 150 Runestones, the treshold to not having leftovers runestones is 1500 (15€) which would net you 10 skins of your choice, that's a 20% increase in skins PLUS the ability to chose the ones you want compared to having to stick with a bundle, and since you were forced to buy the bundle having the option to buy 1500 runestones is exactly the same but with added benefits

 

Hate it all you want but that's not a good reason to do so

 You've already missed the point of the complaints if you're going to a bigger bundle than the smallest ones.

Yes, the middle sized and larger bundles are getting upgraded marginally for what you get out of your spending, but the low cost items are not.

Imagine a person that literally only wants 3 BG skins.

Before Runestones, that player would say "I want these three skins. Each is $1.50? (Or the equivalent local) Neat. Here'a $4.50." And they got precisely what they wanted out of the deal. Nothing more, nothing less.

Post conversion:

That's 450 runestones, so they'd now be forced to buy the 500 runestone bundle (the smallest bundle available), leaving 50 leftover runestones to metaphorically burn a hole in their pocket. Those players are now incentivized to spend more, even if they don't *want* more, because if they just don't spend those 50 runestones, well that's just net profit for Blizzard.

This is ultimately a predatory spending strategem, geared towards increasing the minimum spending players put in. Period. And

A$$holes.

I want Bobby to be a protagonist in the latest Winnie the Pooh movie .... except Boooobby ain't get to play Winnie.

You're mildly wrong, before Runestones players couldn't buy single skins for 1,50€ because they didn't sell any, and you know why? Transaction and taxes cost, they wouldn't make money, it would legitimately be a bad deal, before runestones THE ONLY way to get skins was through bundles, and the bundles where fixed at 15€ and 20€,without the agency of picking each skins, it's all or nothing

Now with runestone you have the ability to just pay 150, and yeah sure the smallest pack gives you 50 short but as I said if you want to go even and don't have any left over the minimum you could pay is 15€ for 1500 which AGAIN its literally the same price as a bundle EXCEPT you get 2 more skins AND THE AGENCY TO CHOSE, it's literally the same price as before, so if you were buying bundles before you're getting a better deal for your buck and if you weren't you're not losing anything

Even if you just want 3 skins and get 50 over is still not a predatory way of marketing it because it's literally the same price as before, not even that the price of runestones is more linear compared to some exponential premium currency that gives you bonuses making the price to currency flactuate more, unless you wanna tell me how you save 16 cents by buying the smaller bundles 10 times

Call me a shill call me what you want, I have been a F2P player for 6 years and this change is meaningless, the economy is still the fucking same we just have more smaller things to buy

This runestone currency has existed in predatory mobile games formany many years: a premium currency that buys you all the good stuff that the game offers, and you discover after playing the game for a few hours that they are not obtainable through gameplay, and the game itself is a teaser/demo that becomes impossible to progress in until you pay real money for the good stuff. The problem battlegrounds had was that you could play it for free, and the passive xp banked you enough gold to buy another pass next expansion. They somewhat mitigated that through lots of cosmetics. But it wasn't enough. Seems like every single player that has hopes of playing bg competitively has to pay in cash. They made it the moat popular game mode along standard, and now it is time to close thw tap for f2p. We will see if this was a smart move or not. What I find ironic ia how hearthstone is becoming more and more of a mobile game while the bugs and perma disconnects make it more and more unplayable on the platforms they target: tablets, mobiles. 

Okay.

Now substitute skins with "arena drafts" - as they were $1.99 before and now cost 200 runes.

"I want to play exactly two arena runs"

Previously cost $4, now costs $5, and leaves you with 100 leftover runes, thereby incentivizing further purchases of some type.

It's the same situation - the new bundles (to buy runestones) have not enough flexibility to handle the smaller purchases available, and so actively prey upon people to buy more than they want.

I will never buy Runestones even though I could and I spent over $3K+ on this game. As PetteMouche already said: Thank you Blizzard, you cured my addiction of buying cosmetics in BG's and buying packs. I will only buy battle pass for standard & wild mode and maybe pre-orders, but will never pay anything for BG's anymore.

Quote from PetiteMouche >>

I could never thank Blizzard enough for what they did.

I always wanted to stop spending money on Hearthstone, but I'm always too addicted to stop, because money is easy to spend.

Runestones though ? I see no value in purchasing them, so I will never do it despite my gambling addiction. No runestone = no packs, no expansion bundle, no skin. Thank you so much Blizzard, in helping me get a better life and bring you down. Because apparently the law can't stop predators like you, but we can.

The thing that drives me up the walls the most is that they said that they wouldn't make prices that can't be fit properly in the available bundle sizes, and yet literally the very first batch of prices they add, they are selling battlegrounds hero skins for 150 runestones, with the lowest bundle size being 500 runestones...
Like literally the very first batch of items, they already apply the predatory pricing that everyone was worried about and that they said they wouldn't do, it's just insane to me...

I feel so sorry for anyone foolish enough to believe that crap. When games add layers of virtual currencies between us and the money, it is never ever in the history of mankind a good thing for the players or the game. What drives me crazy is how the law can let that happen, how governments care so little than such blatant and explicit predatory behavior, manipulation, and literal lies can get away and not be punished. How is this even possible.

Thank you so much Blizzard for your immesurable greed that even the despicable likes of me cannot tolerate anymore. I used to feel sorry for the devs that have to work for this company and are not responsible for such decisions, but deep inside, I think they are cowards for not leaving. Find another job, you are part of the problem, working for them is allowing them to pursue their evil intents. But thank you again for allowing it to happen, you may have helped ruin the video game industry, but you also helped me find better meaning in my life.

I agree with everything you wrote. I also think that It is serious that very few governments have taken measures regarding loot boxes and in-game shops. We are living in a world in which seems that a game F2P is a plus, it is not, F2P= avoid for me. When it is F2P we know that you will be able to download it for free, and then it will cost you an eye, games are F2D (free to download). There are companies that pushed the F2D crap beyond every level, which are, in order: Activision Blizzard, EA, Bethesda (all 3 against the removal of loot boxes and micros transactions   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npRcdl3f6iU). Activision Blizzard is anyway, by far, the worst for me. 

In-game spending is a serious topic because:

• Companies makes revenue on addicted players - many countries have laws against gambling to protect these people, so it is not acceptable that the game industry has not. In game spending is even easier than gambling because with gambling, sometimes, you can visually see your money that are fading away (slot machines for example or all kinds of gambling done with tangible money) with games no because you are only swiping the credit-card.
• Companies makes the addicts of tomorrow - this is another huge topic. Kids have access to parents' phones, and they can use it to spend. Now some companies might refund you if this happens, anyway, this is not the topic, the topic is that they are creating the addicting of tomorrow. If nowadays a kid wants to play with phones, he will shortly learn the swiping the credit-card is the magic key to win and obtain what you want without effort. And this is an awful message.
• Refund - Another topic not regulated. Most of the countries have refund policies for tangible assets, and consumers can generally give back the product for whatever reason within a given amount of time. With intangible product, it is a jungle and most of the company will tell you that they cannot refund because you already used the product, or because they cannot put the software back with the pre-purchase. These companies can therefore also change products that you already bought without any notice. Cancelling consumer law with digital products is therefore a pissing off thing.
• No limit spending - You can spend virtually all you have, and companies can change/nerfs/add what they want. We have seen spending in games steadily rise. The latest striking case is obviously Blizzard with Diablo Immortal and its 110K or 500K to make a full character. Now let's imagine that someone spends this amount due to weakness, or after he has spent it, Blizzard introduces a new system that makes his spending value zero (for example 6-stars gems). What will this person possibly do with his life? 

I played HS a lot, but nowadays, I only see a company that adopts these measures a shitty cancer for the whole society.

I want to also leave a reference link that lists why Activision Blizzard is such a bad company now and why there is such hate for Activision Blizzard because we cannot forget. (https://crappygames.miraheze.org/wiki/Activision_Blizzard)

Quote from Cleedek >>

Thank you Blizzard, you cured my addiction of buying cosmetics in BG's and buying packs. I will only buy battle pass for standard & wild mode and maybe pre-orders, but will never pay anything for BG's anymore.

 no...if you do that, your addiction is not cured.

Just quit spending and feeding into this terrible addiction altogether, go buy some regular PS5 or XSX or Nintendo games, it's still going to be toxic (Gaming addiction in general is) but at least you are not getting trolled by a overweight dwarf who is hiring Playboy models to celebrate with on his yacht, thanks to OUR MONEY ! Bobby and those other Activi$ion Suit wearers are just reckless Leeches, who think they're geniuses by having created so many Passive sources of Income for themselfs. Yes life is good when Money is working for you, but hell....then again it's YOU guys who were so naive and addicted enough to make it possible for them.

They're living the good life now, not you.... stuck in a virtual children's card game, LUL. 💀

PS: I'll quit HS entirely at the end of this year, so that LAST expansion better b good. 

You are probably right... I will stick to the tavern battle pass only, but my main point was that I will never buy runestones - if they remove option to pay directly with cash, I will stop buying it also.