Hearthpwn

I think this is actually a symptom of a larger issue. That issue being the type of people who are rising to important positions in the industry. People who aren't actually interested in gaming, who pursue profits or social issues instead of trying to make a fun game. They don't play the games they make (or many other games for that matter). This in turn affects all the other parts of game development. People who normally WOULD have an interest in making a fun game are instead insentivised or even threatened into focusing on cutting corners, maximising profits and virtue signalling.

imo in Hearthstone specifically, there are three main factors like this at play. The development team is constantly under the thumb of Activision who they must defer to in matters of in-game economy and advertisement. The team is also constantly being cycled, with what seems to be more and more fanfic writers joining who want to create their own "original characters" and modes instead of improving what is already established in the game. The social influencers are completely insufferable and they are constantly pandered to, meanwhile they themselves pander to the development team in turn, resulting in a creative echo chamber where the regular fans are rarely heard unless a large influencer wills it.