Mike Donais: Ladder Will Not Change With the Next Expansion
Mike Donais sat down with Cam Shea of IGN to discuss . We've recapped the interview below.
Quote from Mike Donais
- There's a huge variety of classes and decks as similar win-rates right now.
- ".. which is probably the flattest meta we've seen for Hearthstone since launch."
- Shamans are less of an issue now than pre-Gadgetzan.
- "Right now, it is definitely closer to even, closer to the 10% mark than it has been in the past. I think it's been improved."
- Pirate and Reno decks are among the more popular decks.
- "The different Pirate decks. If you add them all together and stack them on top of each other, it's still a very tall stack. The same thing is true of Reno decks."
- No Ladder Changes in the Next Set
- "There's lots of discussion going on , but I don't see us being that close. I think there's still not an obvious solution, but maybe some small steps in that direction going forward, and then as we discover more good ideas, more small steps in that direction?"
- "Not that I'm aware of, but it's not something that I work on. I work mostly on designing the cards."
- Pirates changing up how other decks are being played is okay, at least for a while.
- Charge minions are problematic due to buff combos, but they wanted to make the pirate fantasy succeed.
- Small-Time Buccaneer has gone through some changes over its development cycle.
- He changed five or six times throughout design process.
- 1 mana 1/2 - Whenever you equip a weapon, he gained +2 attack for the rest of the game.
- 1 mana 1/1 - Battlecry: Gain +1/+1 for each Attack of your weapon.
- His current iteration, or the final nerf, was made days before they had to lock the set in.
- Small-Time Buccaneer is on Mike's watch list as the decks it is used in won't change much with the upcoming Standard set rotation.
- Just because you make a card worse than the original design doesn't always mean it's still good to ship out.
Bonus: Mike Asks
In response to a question about a way to get specific cards / tier-one decks up and running faster for ladder play, Mike asked if a button that would let you buy a deck would be something that should be added to the game, so we ask the same question.
Should Blizzard add a way for players to buy a deck?
A lot of people are talking about nerfing Jade Idol and I've been thinking of a possible Nerf, my idea is to make it give you only 2 copies of not the Jade Idol card but a new card called Jade Statue that costs the same and summons a Jade Statue for you, but cannot be reshuffled like the Jade Idol, maybe this is a big Nerf or a small one but id like to put my idea out there if its viable or not.
After reading the post once more I realized how the phrases "There's a lot of discussion going on" and "We have been talking about that a lot" (not in this post but used frequently by Mr. Brode) have started to make me angry and disregard anything that comes afterward. Basically what I read into these statements is that they are aware of the frustration within the community but unwilling or undaring to do something about it. Why don't we at least try something new and different? Maybe it won't work out but we are not talking about actually setting anything in stone, meaning that anything could be reversed probably in the matter of days. This kind of marketing speech is probably one of the reasons why people don't react well to the developers videos since they are feeling like the people who are making the decisions are completely disconnected from what is the mood within the player base. Patches and small-time buccaneer are just perfect examples of that. They are saying they want pirates to be a thing but the only fucking way they know how to actually make them playable is going full aggressive.
I am not saying that every notion that is coming out of the community can or should be explored but once one sums up all the things, which have been on the community wishlist pretty much since the end of the beta (new classes, 2v2, tournament mode, custom games) you realize that it has been pretty much ignored eversince and likely will only be adressed once people finally have had enough.
No 8 mana plays will never be as good as early game ones, so the play is as warrior coin war axe, then turn two play two 1 mana 4-4's.
2 Mana 8-8 confirmed.
There is an easy solution to the current meta. Big Time Buccaneer gains +1 attack if you have a weapon equipped. A neutral one-cost card shouldn't be stronger than that. But I wonder if Blizzard is reading on this forum. We are probably just preaching to the choir here.
1 mana 1/1 that gains +1 for ever attack on your weapon.....how did they even CONSIDER that?
Like...people keep complaining how they are supposedly release cards without testing, but I'M really scared of what would happen if they actually did.
grab my stuff and leave
Buying decks you limit the mate like hell.
Please don't make it more P2Win :(
I'd really like the preconstructed deck, there are TONS of TCGs that have them don't think about them as full on meta (aggro) decks but as starter points, suppose an "Spell Damage Mage" deck is buyable, that includes Mana Wyrm, Sorcerer's Apprentice, Cult Sorcerer, Azure Drakes(!!) and, i don't know, 1 Arcane Blast for $10. It'd be AWESOME for a new player, there'd be some cards that are usable on every deck (Azure Drake) and, most importantly, people would KNOW what they are getting with the buy.
Preconstructed decks would be just starting points to get some core cards, i'd appreciate that, since on a fresh account getting even some good rares is gonna take you lots of time or dust (which could be spent on legendaries if saved).
Considering Blizzard's track-Record with their past few sets and the meta's they have given us i dont think turning the other cheek is a good solution because at this point the game is gonna die faster and faster the more you ignore it. The ladder system hasnt ever changed since the game launch over THREE years ago. plus if that is what you were considering small time Buc to be before and its overpower now? you guys seriously need to understand balancing; or at least not wait over 6 months to change something that is clearly a problem, because like you even mentioned, the fact Small time- Buc is basically in every single class that runs cheap Weapons is a sign of a cancerous card.
if there is 2 things i want to see blizzard do for the rotation its this.
- make it so that players actually want to log in everyday and not make it seem like a pain in the ass. Like i mentioned the fact you dont think the ladder needs a change AT ALL is insulting.
- If youre not gonna change ladder, go ahead and change and buff cards to make the playing Experience more than having 4 decks that are tier one all the time
I trully believe HS should sell premade decks as M:TG does. While it doesn't have to be a tier 1 type deck (even if it was a newer player probably counldn't pilot it anyway), it could show new players to CCG's/HS, how cards in a deck are made/can work together. Gives them a better starting point on the idea of deck building. There has been "netdecking" as long as CCG's have been out, Only before the internet blow up, ya saw tier 1 type decks in person, at local tourney's, or game shop games. Even with "netdecking", ya can see how a well playing deck is put together and say to yourself, "Oh I see what they were going for in that deck". Then you might think of a new better idea for the deck with a few small changes, or get a completly new deck idea all together. Either way, it would be a huge help to almost all new players, and even some not so new. Hell if anything, it could add some missing cards to your collection.
Blizzard what about all the players old and new but especially new ones that want to play the game f2p and stay this way and not spend a single dime on the game?I guess there is no help to those players?They dont even exist in your agenda?I used to be one of those players pre Naxx and after for sometime,and let me tell you this.IF any player wants to start playing hearthstone right now and wants to be f2p there is no way in hell he can make a collection.He is years away.So why should people consider starting?F2p players could make a 50% of your playerbase,if the game was f2p friendly.
F2P players don't pay the bills. You shouldn't expect to immediately have viable legendary decks if you come into the game late and aren't willing to throw some cash at it.
There world doesn't owe you anything.
I wish you were a F2P player starting now,and hear that thought of yours again.
If you could build top tier decks from the start, how would Blizzard monetize the game? Everyone would be playing viable decks without putting any money into the game. This would equivocally lead to a worse experience for all players.
There are very few games you can play for any substantial length of time without paying, especially of this caliber. As a new player, it may suck to hear that it's going to take a while to get enough cards to fully enjoy the game, but that's why they introduced the rolling phase-outs. Imagine if new players had to craft all the best cards from all sets to be competitive? I can think of several legendaries, and a considerable number of epics and rares you'd need from the phased-out sets to create viable decks in the standard format.
You sound like a salty, entitled millennial who's raging because you can't be F2P and have the most enjoyable experience in hearthstone. I guess my advice to you is to get good at Arena and you can play infinitely and win as many packs as you need.
Well,im not a f2p player.So your post is completely irrelevant and stupid.Im just saying that there aint going to be new players like that.Think about it for a second.
TLDR: "we are going to wait and see, like we always do"
They need to talk to spend time with the Warcraft Team, who loves to change things up seeking that perfect balance, rather than letting the community become disenfranchised toward a class or set of cards and hoping balance is just randomly found / created out of it.
Okay then. So you've taken an aggro infested meta, removed one of controls only tools, taken the highlander theme, printed cards for an archetype that is going to be viable for 3 months. Super.
With pirate warrior losing Finley and nothing else... Should be a unique and diverse meta.
Seriously what the actual fuck Blizzard?
Just look at that... They have no fuc*ing idea what they are doing.
"ok rogue needs some help, lets print a 1/2 that turns into a 3/2 if you use you heropower." "yea cool card." "and give it to all classes, what could go wrong" "uhm aggro shaman plays.." "ok the card is to bad lets buff +1/+1 for ever weapon attack so poision will be good again" "isnt that a bit too much? if shaman could get a +3/+3 buff or warri..." "i think we should give shaman another weapon that spawns a 1/1 and a 1/1 if you play the cool new pirate"
this guy gets it.