Just in a recent interview before Blizzcon, Ben Thomposon said about the game (in response to the incident), that "it should be “home away from home” where players should “leave your world outside and join this world inside where all are welcome.”"
If that's how he sees the game, the community sure doesn't. There is a clear "me against you" and "I am better than you"-mentality on a personal and even moral level going on. It also shows occasionally in discussions about decks (whenever a deck or strategy is labeled "braindead", for example), but it ALWAYS shows when it comes to "do you pre-order?", or "do you spend money?" for that matter.
Whether it is F2P players taking pride in not spending money, or big spenders that not only take pride in how much money they are spending, but will shame any who don't follow their example. These sentiments ALWAYS come up, and they are always shoehorned in when the question about pre-ordering (or just anything remotely related to money) comes up. And yes, I focus on the latter even though both sides like to play the moral card, because judging by the upvotes, it is rather obvious which one is in the lead here.
Some would be absolutely delighted to read this topic and the reactions. To paraphrase the by now somewhat infamous Torulf Jernström on the structuring and design of F2P games from his presentation at a game conference a few years ago (with the charming title "Let's go whaling"): "We are herd animals, we tend to do what all the others do. Especially when people are similar to us, the socially accepted way of behaving in your game should be paying. You want to tell people when somebody bought something, so that everbody knows, because then that becomes the socially acceptable way. You absolutely do NOT want to tell them that the majority of people in your game never spend money. That's poison! NEVER tell them that!" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNjI03CGkb4). In case that was too subtle: He means that in a F2P economy, players should push each other into paying (more and more) money, and implicitly, that they should socially exclude people who don't comply, thereby coercing them into paying as well.
I wouldn't say that Hearthstone is fully embracing that philosophy of fostering such an environment (even though some things like hero portraits and card backs are clearly informing other players of your spendings), but Ben Thompson either doesn't care or is unaware of how deeply divided the community is in that regard by now, when he says that. Hearthstone isn't exactly welcoming everyone, when some players zealously, in a twisted sense of loyalty, feel like they need to defend the interests of the publisher in heated arguments against those "greedy freeloaders", rather than enjoying to have so many people share their hobby and make others feel welcome.
This discussion shouldn't even happen. EVER. No one needs to justify or explain his or her spending habits, for whatever reason, because it is nobody's business here. And it's not a moral debate, or in any way open for debate, whether a player spends 1000$ a year, or 100$, or 10$, or nothing. Sure you can be interested in what others have spent or intend to purchase, but you can't be judgmental about it. To say the least, it should seem a bit iffy to you, if by that logic virtuousness can be obtained by a purchase.
Whether I am poor, or live in a country where the pre-order is too expensive, or want to make a political statement, or don't think it's worth it, or have bad (compulsory) spending habits and need to avoid microtransactions, or have already spent 5000$ on the game across the years and think it's been enough, I am free to not pre-order. I do not have to explain why, and hopefully never will.
Unless Blizzard (or rather Activision) should someday decide that the game will require a monthly subscription fee, everyone is in the right to spend as little or as much on the game as he or she likes, even if it is nothing at all. That is all there is to say. You'd think people would leave the financial concerns to the company that is knowingly and intentionally and for over 5 years, from the very start, very successfully offering the game for free.
Boy, this thread made me mad. And sad. As much as I criticise the game, topics like these (or rather what they turn into) really make me wonder what people I'm spending my time with. The game can get better over time, even though it might take a decade or two until I'm all happy with it. But I wonder what amount of patience I have to bring up until this community drops this super silly topic once and for all.
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Just in a recent interview before Blizzcon, Ben Thomposon said about the game (in response to the incident), that "it should be “home away from home” where players should “leave your world outside and join this world inside where all are welcome.”"
"“[Hearthstone] was never intended to be something more than that,” he said. “It was never intended to be ‘me against you’ or ‘I am different from you’ other than what my deck looks like and what my strategy is.”" (from a Kotaku interview: https://kotaku.com/hearthstone-developers-wish-blizzard-had-handled-hong-k-1839616541).
If that's how he sees the game, the community sure doesn't. There is a clear "me against you" and "I am better than you"-mentality on a personal and even moral level going on. It also shows occasionally in discussions about decks (whenever a deck or strategy is labeled "braindead", for example), but it ALWAYS shows when it comes to "do you pre-order?", or "do you spend money?" for that matter.
Whether it is F2P players taking pride in not spending money, or big spenders that not only take pride in how much money they are spending, but will shame any who don't follow their example. These sentiments ALWAYS come up, and they are always shoehorned in when the question about pre-ordering (or just anything remotely related to money) comes up. And yes, I focus on the latter even though both sides like to play the moral card, because judging by the upvotes, it is rather obvious which one is in the lead here.
Some would be absolutely delighted to read this topic and the reactions. To paraphrase the by now somewhat infamous Torulf Jernström on the structuring and design of F2P games from his presentation at a game conference a few years ago (with the charming title "Let's go whaling"): "We are herd animals, we tend to do what all the others do. Especially when people are similar to us, the socially accepted way of behaving in your game should be paying. You want to tell people when somebody bought something, so that everbody knows, because then that becomes the socially acceptable way. You absolutely do NOT want to tell them that the majority of people in your game never spend money. That's poison! NEVER tell them that!" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNjI03CGkb4). In case that was too subtle: He means that in a F2P economy, players should push each other into paying (more and more) money, and implicitly, that they should socially exclude people who don't comply, thereby coercing them into paying as well.
I wouldn't say that Hearthstone is fully embracing that philosophy of fostering such an environment (even though some things like hero portraits and card backs are clearly informing other players of your spendings), but Ben Thompson either doesn't care or is unaware of how deeply divided the community is in that regard by now, when he says that. Hearthstone isn't exactly welcoming everyone, when some players zealously, in a twisted sense of loyalty, feel like they need to defend the interests of the publisher in heated arguments against those "greedy freeloaders", rather than enjoying to have so many people share their hobby and make others feel welcome.
This discussion shouldn't even happen. EVER. No one needs to justify or explain his or her spending habits, for whatever reason, because it is nobody's business here. And it's not a moral debate, or in any way open for debate, whether a player spends 1000$ a year, or 100$, or 10$, or nothing. Sure you can be interested in what others have spent or intend to purchase, but you can't be judgmental about it. To say the least, it should seem a bit iffy to you, if by that logic virtuousness can be obtained by a purchase.
Whether I am poor, or live in a country where the pre-order is too expensive, or want to make a political statement, or don't think it's worth it, or have bad (compulsory) spending habits and need to avoid microtransactions, or have already spent 5000$ on the game across the years and think it's been enough, I am free to not pre-order. I do not have to explain why, and hopefully never will.
Unless Blizzard (or rather Activision) should someday decide that the game will require a monthly subscription fee, everyone is in the right to spend as little or as much on the game as he or she likes, even if it is nothing at all. That is all there is to say. You'd think people would leave the financial concerns to the company that is knowingly and intentionally and for over 5 years, from the very start, very successfully offering the game for free.
Boy, this thread made me mad. And sad. As much as I criticise the game, topics like these (or rather what they turn into) really make me wonder what people I'm spending my time with. The game can get better over time, even though it might take a decade or two until I'm all happy with it. But I wonder what amount of patience I have to bring up until this community drops this super silly topic once and for all.