Ben Brode Asks: What Does the Community Desire to Hear From Developers
Today on Twitter, Hearthstone's Lead Designer, Ben Brode, asked the community what we wanted to hear from the developers with regard to game-stuff in the pipeline which has not been finalized.
So, do you want to see the team talking about stuff that might not make it live?
Bonus question: What other topics would you like to see the devs talk about that they aren't already pursuing?
Quote from Ben BrodeMr. Brode you have been a bit too quiet for a while. You gotta go on reddit and respond to some posts there ^^ (Source)
I did a bunch of posting last week, but it's been especially busy recently. Hoping to chat a lot next week!It's interesting. When I post "been thinking about doing A. Also, we are not considering B", people say 'you said nothing'. (Source)
I wonder if folks would rather we wait until we decide whether or not to do A, and just announce when we are doing it. (Source)
When we haven't decided a course of action yet, what type of communication do folks want to hear? (Source)
Community Feedback
Members of the Hearthstone community conversed on Twitter with Ben to discuss the issue.
Quote from Ben BrodeI think the problem isn't what you say, it's the timing. Feels like you're mainly responding when complaints are at critical mass (Source)
Things can sometimes reach critical mass quickly. Purify was revealed on Friday night and we responded on Monday, for example.
I think that's more of a symptom of the problem though. We are told "wait for the answer, it's gonna be sweet" then bam purify
But community will sometimes be wrong/unreasonable. Much of the purify outrage was how everyone joined in. a bonding experience :p
The fact that this video came out only 2 days after Purify was revealed was pretty awesome :).'thinking' and 'operating' are the operative words here. I think people want something more concrete and substantial. (Source)
I agree - does that mean we shouldn't be discussing our thoughts about things until we actually make a change?
Absolutely not. I personally enjoy the more speculative and suggestive interviews for what is to come. Keep up the good work :)I guess people would just be happy with a future insight of whats going to happen to hearthstone so they could hype about it (Source)
What if we don't know for sure what's coming until it's very close? For example, tavern brawls changed a ton during development
Dip your toe in, give it a shot with something you are considering as a team right now and see how it fairs.
We do that and it hasn't been going perfect. "it's on our radar" is basically a meme at this point.
Use words that affirm intentions and inspire faith in your community.
It's okay to admit to making a mistake, it's okay to balance cards... just tell us, and be decisive about it.Hey ben, just wondering if having a ptr was ever considered for HS? could get a lot of good feedback on cards before they go live (Source)
I think launching a "solved" environment on day 1 is a pretty big downside of that
By that do you mean that you can't fully test the effects of cards in the test environment?
I mean that if people are testing on the ptr, then the new set loses a lot of excitement of exploration on day 1
Shouldn't necessarily be new sets, I think those balance changes when Standard came out could use PTR testing
Testing the nerfs in isolation without the new set wouldn't have given valuable info, I'm afraid.Announcing a time line is highly appreciated. Nothing feels longer than waiting for update A, maybe to happen, within unknown time. (Source)
Yeah one of the problems with timelines is we often don't know until QA and our platform partners give a thumbs up to release
Ben Brode still isn't getting it......Were done and tired of ''hearing'' we want to see action......This game should be getting monthly or bimonthly changes to cards to help balance and keep things fresh, also a better job needs to be done in balancing overall....Perfect example is Blade Flurry it was nerf'd so heavily that it whys well have been removed from the game and certain card distribution isn't making any sense either such as giving Spirit Claws to Shaman in this current meta and giving Mage a common Firelands Portal when you're fully aware Mage is already #1 in Arena and probably most picked. In terms of actually changing and improving things within the game hardly anything has been done since beta, Arena rewards needs to be improved like making sure all Golden cards are always new to a person's collection this goes for the end of the month chest in Constructed as well every month 3/3 are duplicates if i get lucky it's 2/3....Much more needs to be done to balance classes in Arena as well why hasn't anything been done????? You don't need to collect data for 9 months to make more changes i think anyone with any sort of intellect knows already that the very small pool of cards removed is hardly going to make a dent, personally i have noticed zero change and i do Arena constantly it's still Mage, Paladin and Rogue every where. Honestly seems like you guys are asleep at the wheel, even another example is Purify, there is actually nothing wrong with the card but it was the timing....You guys knew Priest was dead last in both Arena and Constructed yet still choose to go ahead with a unplayable card it was the worst time to introduce that to Priest it's poor decision making and lots of it.
And honestly at the end of the day there is no excuse that a game like HOTS does vastly more balancing and tweeking then a card game.
Also would just be bad for the game, in my opinion. They test the cards that they make before releasing them, so on what impetus do they make these changes? The community feedback? The people who know the least about the game and future plans? The people who every single day find another card that needs nerfing/buffing?
I'm perfectly fine with problems sticking around for months, it's what inspires innovation. If you have a constantly changing card pool, then combinations of cards discovered are as quickly defunct. If you think you're frustrated now, that would be even worse.
Even with all the mistakes the team's made over the past year, I've been having more fun with the game than ever. There's a ton of Shaman. Just as there was once a ton of Paladin, and at another time Warrior, and another time Hunter. The game will continue to improve, classes continue to rotate into the spotlight, etc.
More balance needs to be done in arena because Mage, Paladin and Rogue are still everywhere? That's because tryhards always pick those classes. Check the win rates between classes in arena and you'll find they are close together now.
There was nothing truly wrong with Purify in the first place. Just very, very bad timing(if it were to be a 1/20 new cards instead of 1/3).
The debate around it was Area centered for the most case. All that negativity leaked into Standard and a flood of unconstructive post surfaced.
The card, it self, actually created a deck type of its own, which is a jackpot in a content creator's eye. The other two cards Priest got was good cards as well. Sure, Priest still needs some help. I can't deny that. Though the card in question wasn't as "horrible" as people wanted it to be. I say: "people wanted it to be".
You people don't even know what you want.
"We want you to give us answers NOW!"
"We don't want you to give us answers until you have the solution."
"We want to know exactly when you will have a solution."
Have any of you worked on anything?
Hey ben, just wondering if having a ptr was ever considered for HS? could get a lot of good feedback on cards before they go live (Source)
I think launching a "solved" environment on day 1 is a pretty big downside of that
By that do you mean that you can't fully test the effects of cards in the test environment?
I mean that if people are testing on the ptr, then the new set loses a lot of excitement of exploration on day 1
100% this, I have grown to hate the PTR in WoW I don't feel like there isn't the same excitement we used to have on raid patch day.
I like Team 5 and I think they are doing an amazing job with HS. Sure there are things that could be done/handled better, but nobody is perfect. HS as it is, is fun to me. I still have lots of opportunities to explore and experience new things and am looking forward to collecting certain cards in the future. Don't let "the community" get to you Team 5. Stay strong and be well! :)
P.S. I like Ben. I like his laugh :)
The feedback from the "community" is all over the place and a perfect example of non-contructive (bad) feedback. It's the same as what you see all over Hearthpwn. There is little basis in reality except for the comment regarding timelines for future content. Gotta give this guy props for humoring this stuff when people are down his throat for things like waiting for the weekend to be over to respond to the purify thing. The "community" is ridiculous.
I don't think you fully grasp what's going on here. It's not just us, pros are also complaining or saying the game is in a bad state.
Thanks for the downvote! You don't grasp that it's still non-constructive (bad) feedback. When you address that part. I'll address your point.
Purify this dull meta ffs.
Fire the guy who made Firelands Portal common. If that is Ben youself, resign.
Well yeah I am just ranting. Many people yell "resign" at politicians who just won't resign.
Make the game great again #noagrodeck #noyogg
The problem is not in aggro, the old face hunter is not a problem. Problem is 4 mana 7-7, 0 mana 5-5 taunt, 0 mana 8-8, call of the skill, this unfair powercreep turns and all this swingy casino cards.
Vote system for changes of specific cards
Horrible idea, people would vote to nerf/buff cards based on emotion.
I wish I had more than one downvote for this suggestion