Hearthpwn

I played WoW since 2004 beta, and quit about two years ago; however I got into Hearthstone.  Thing was I couldn't face playing people online so my then girlfriend would play the game on my behalf, she got her priest to 60, played well and I now believe she's into Might and Magic.  

I started playing again, got mostly through Naxx and have no problems playing the AI classes, got a decent number of expert cards and would really like to start playing people, knowing full well I'll loose more than I win.  Thing is I cannot push myself to do it, even though I want to; I'm actually scared...  I play competitive pool and snooker, have nerves but I do well at it but for some reason I'm struggling to push myself into Hearthstone.

I am 39 for gods sake, I shouldn't be bloody scared of a game!  Any ideas?  Just jump in and do it?

Hey Pertanga,

what server do you pla I play EU and would be more than willing to give you a couple of games to start off your PvP and give you some helpful tips too maybe. Seeing as the game is centralised around playing real people that's where you're likely to get most of your knowledge from.

Best wishes,    james0773#2519

hey dude, there is a common thing often referred as "ladder anxiety", you are not the only one daunted by player vs player experience (i shat bricks on my first run to legend). but its mostly the case, when you have a already high rank and have a goal, say you are rank 8 and really want to reach rank 5, then every lose feels horrible.

but hey, screw ladder, just play casual, build decks you like and play how you want and have fun. ;)

As someone who understands anxiety, my advice would be to start with Arena. 

I played Arena almost exclusively for the first couple months and built a full card collection from it as well.  It is the fastest way to gold and card packs if you have a grasp of some TCG strategy basics like tempo and curving a deck out.

Playing in arena, you know that the other player has access to no better cards than you do, so your chances are fair. You're not worrying about running into expert ladder decks full of legendaries, you are just hoping for good drafts and good draws and it makes the game time go by fast. After a few rounds, you will be much more comfortable with playing against humans. 

Good Luck!! may your drafts be godly

Cheers for the replies guys. 

I know I need to just jump in, and it's maddening.   Fine, I'll do it.  Cover me, I'm going in!

So I made the dive in; however I started a new account to start from scratch and got splattered.  It was purely deck based and I ran with too many spells on my Mage.  I won one, though and I'm happy with that start.  Would have kept playing but the other half was bugging me... 

I'm playing as Binkles, so say 'Well met!' If we meet :) 

Why start a new account and handicap yourself? 

Playing with an awful card pool that's going to cause you to lose most of your games isn't going to help your anxiety.  In my opinion just use your better account, there's no penalty for losing, no tracker that keeps score of your win percentage, and no way for your opponent to contact you if you don't want to.  You can squelch away emotes and ignore friend requests.  Complete anonymity if you so choose.  

Might as well play with your best account, you'll probably enjoy yourself more if you have a fair shot at winning :)

Massive thread resurrection, and for that I apologise.  I've had a break and come back again.  You're right kitsel, and I've started using my main account.  Anyone fancying a game then I play under the name Pertanga #2239 so feel free to add me. Running a paladin deck with a mix of Old Gods and standard. I don't run C'Thun as we don't get on. 

Added.

Hey, welcome back to the world of Hearthstone! The bump is fine, it is your own thread and you are simply updating it. Much better than making a new thread IMO, but i will move this to the Players and Teams forum :)

Cheers for the move and the couple of adds I've received.

for what it's worth:

even if you've solved your problem, this is a general point about anxiety, perhaps valid for all players. anxiety arises from the meaning you place on the situation that you fear. this type of anxiety, however, stems from fears you have created in your own mind which largely affect your ego, not from a real life or death situation (like an oncoming speeding car when you are a pedestrian). 

affected nonchalance often works wonders in evaporating such niggling little fears...