I have seen quite a lot of remarks in the Hearthstone community that if Hearthstone wants to be taken seriously as an e-sport then it needs to cut back on RNG and other various aspects. But the thing I'm pondering here today is that does it HAVE to do that?
I think with Blizzard implementing so many RNG elements, they are obviously pushing a casual game that is not meant to be taken seriously. However even though such a thing is the case, there is still an e-sports scene built around Hearthstone.
I definitely agree that Hearthstone's RNG stops me from taking it completely seriously, but the thing that sustains it being a commonly watched e-sport is just that: its large viewership
I think that the most successful e-sport would not be the game which is potentially the best one and/or the most fair one, it is definitely the one which people support the most and actually go out to watch.
With this in mind, as long as people watch the game, does Hearthstone really "need" to be completely competitive to survive as an e-sport and people keep playing it?
Because to be completely frank, there have already been many many high caliber games which have RNG swings play a major factor in the game's win or loss. This however has not made the game any less popular.
People that complain about RNG don't know anything about RNG. Play poker for a serious living, not casually, and you will understand that Hearthstone RNG is simply something to be taken into account by professionals. Either you tilt from the RNG, which means you aren't as good as somebody who can control their emotions (also a skill) or you don't and you play the game from a Long Term +EV perspective. Meaning you always strive to make the correct decisions, considering the range of possible outcomes.
I think that the majority of people who complain about the RNG of news cards fail to recognise the sort of decks that go into tournaments. At a competitive level the decks that are played most are those which are most consistent, relaible, and have the best matchups against other popular decks. It's true that the cards that have been recently released involve a lot of RNG which could swing games (I'm looking at you Nexus-Champion Saraad ), but they will not see any competitive play outside of flamewaker mage.
Hearthstone can be highly competitive, and have many RNG elements at the same time, all it requires is for the RNG elements to not be game breaking powerful.
In order for a game to be viable as an esport it basically needs to have three things:
One: The support of the developers or third-party tournament organizers willing to organize events and put money on the line.
Two: Players willing to put time and energy into traveling to events, participating in them, and making the experience worthwhile for viewers either by playing or commentating.
Three: People willing to watch and support the events.
Hearthstone has all three of those things, and while I have no idea how long they'll last, there's no denying that at the moment it is treated as an esport by a lot of people. There's nothing really wrong with that, regardless of what the people saying things like "E-Sports has to be about skill and skill only!" may think. Hearthstone has everything it needs. Maybe that will change later, but for now I'll just enjoy watching the tournaments, seeing some interesting plays, and watching that 1-20 topdeck blow someone out of the water.
Yeah man.. god damn RNG. I was just thinking the same thing a few nights ago watching some pre season NFL. If that league ever wants to be taken seriously they need to do something about that damn football bouncing around all over the place. Someone dropped the ball during a play and talk about random walk.
Oh and hockey with it's puck-luck. Jesus.. don't even get me started on puck-luck.
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Blizzard is a big company, so any game that they make will have no choice but to follow the competitive trend of their earlier brainchildren, which means one way or another some Korean guy will make a living out of eating cheetos while hovering and clicking on the hearthstone screen at a higher efficiency than other people.
IF Blizzard really wants HS to be casual, then they should stop including it as an event in Blizzcon, and stop organizing various tournaments for it with cash prizes. Stop announcing expansion releases via gamig conventions.
The fact that Blizzard chooses to hype HS in most of the gaming conventions means that they actually want HS to be competitive, like Starcrat or DotA level competitive. Probably because they have their eyes set on the ticket sales for these conventions as well as the publicity it gives.
That's about it actually, the moment you start all these gaming convention things you might as well just declare to the world that this game is serious, competitive shit. Nobody is spending hundreds of dollars to travel to San Fransisco to witness the sneak preview of UNO or Monopoly.
I have seen quite a lot of remarks in the Hearthstone community that if Hearthstone wants to be taken seriously as an e-sport then it needs to cut back on RNG and other various aspects. But the thing I'm pondering here today is that does it HAVE to do that?
I think with Blizzard implementing so many RNG elements, they are obviously pushing a casual game that is not meant to be taken seriously. However even though such a thing is the case, there is still an e-sports scene built around Hearthstone.
I definitely agree that Hearthstone's RNG stops me from taking it completely seriously, but the thing that sustains it being a commonly watched e-sport is just that: its large viewership
I think that the most successful e-sport would not be the game which is potentially the best one and/or the most fair one, it is definitely the one which people support the most and actually go out to watch.
With this in mind, as long as people watch the game, does Hearthstone really "need" to be completely competitive to survive as an e-sport and people keep playing it?
Because to be completely frank, there have already been many many high caliber games which have RNG swings play a major factor in the game's win or loss. This however has not made the game any less popular.
Kreek's Fast/Control Zoo [GUIDE] [ASIA Server High Ranking Deck, Highest Rank 1 with 3 Stars]
People that complain about RNG don't know anything about RNG. Play poker for a serious living, not casually, and you will understand that Hearthstone RNG is simply something to be taken into account by professionals. Either you tilt from the RNG, which means you aren't as good as somebody who can control their emotions (also a skill) or you don't and you play the game from a Long Term +EV perspective. Meaning you always strive to make the correct decisions, considering the range of possible outcomes.
It's a ccg. Any popular ccg is going to have a competitive scene. People want to play HS competitively.
I think that the majority of people who complain about the RNG of news cards fail to recognise the sort of decks that go into tournaments. At a competitive level the decks that are played most are those which are most consistent, relaible, and have the best matchups against other popular decks. It's true that the cards that have been recently released involve a lot of RNG which could swing games (I'm looking at you Nexus-Champion Saraad ), but they will not see any competitive play outside of flamewaker mage.
Hearthstone can be highly competitive, and have many RNG elements at the same time, all it requires is for the RNG elements to not be game breaking powerful.
Well played...
In order for a game to be viable as an esport it basically needs to have three things:
One: The support of the developers or third-party tournament organizers willing to organize events and put money on the line.
Two: Players willing to put time and energy into traveling to events, participating in them, and making the experience worthwhile for viewers either by playing or commentating.
Three: People willing to watch and support the events.
Hearthstone has all three of those things, and while I have no idea how long they'll last, there's no denying that at the moment it is treated as an esport by a lot of people. There's nothing really wrong with that, regardless of what the people saying things like "E-Sports has to be about skill and skill only!" may think. Hearthstone has everything it needs. Maybe that will change later, but for now I'll just enjoy watching the tournaments, seeing some interesting plays, and watching that 1-20 topdeck blow someone out of the water.
Nothing doing, traveler.
Yeah man.. god damn RNG. I was just thinking the same thing a few nights ago watching some pre season NFL. If that league ever wants to be taken seriously they need to do something about that damn football bouncing around all over the place. Someone dropped the ball during a play and talk about random walk.
Oh and hockey with it's puck-luck. Jesus.. don't even get me started on puck-luck.
Friend me @Anasko#1102 |
================================================
Blizzard is a big company, so any game that they make will have no choice but to follow the competitive trend of their earlier brainchildren, which means one way or another some Korean guy will make a living out of eating cheetos while hovering and clicking on the hearthstone screen at a higher efficiency than other people.
IF Blizzard really wants HS to be casual, then they should stop including it as an event in Blizzcon, and stop organizing various tournaments for it with cash prizes. Stop announcing expansion releases via gamig conventions.
The fact that Blizzard chooses to hype HS in most of the gaming conventions means that they actually want HS to be competitive, like Starcrat or DotA level competitive. Probably because they have their eyes set on the ticket sales for these conventions as well as the publicity it gives.
That's about it actually, the moment you start all these gaming convention things you might as well just declare to the world that this game is serious, competitive shit. Nobody is spending hundreds of dollars to travel to San Fransisco to witness the sneak preview of UNO or Monopoly.
"Put your face in the light!" - Tirion Fordring