Max McCall on Class Design Philosophy and Deckbuilding Themes
Hearthstone Game Designer, Max McCall, recently responded to a question on the official forums asking about the design philosophy behind each class. We think it's worth highlighting the following:
- The team wants each game of Hearthstone to feel different. Making classes that have their own identity helps with that.
- There will always be some overlap between mechanics, but each class can sometimes use them in different ways.
- Giving each class different deckbuilding themes and supporting each theme through cards in expansions is how they try to promote diversity.
- Players don't need incentive to continue playing decks they are already playing, which is why they try to promote new decks with each set.
You can find the full post from Max, including a non-exhaustive list of deck themes, below.
Quote from MaxMcCallWe work hard to make games of Hearthstone feel different from one game to the next. Making each class feel that it has a distinct identity separate from other classes is an important tool to ensure different kinds of games. The hero powers are the strongest sources of class identity, but if each class used all the same cards, games would still end up feeling too similar to one another. (We’ve seen this in the past: when strong neutral cards are played ubiquitously, people enjoy Hearthstone less.)
So, we try to give cards to each class that are thematically and mechanically different. There is still some overlap, of course. Multiple classes get deathrattle rewards – that is, cards that reward players for playing lots of deathrattle minions. Weapons are too central to Hearthstone to give to only one class, so about half the classes have access to them. Druids can attack with their hero, but they don’t have weapons. In return, Priests, Mages, and Warlocks have a slightly higher emphasis on spells than the weapon classes. Still, every class needs spells, especially some removal, so you occasionally see some bleeding with e.g. Arcane Shot and Holy Smite.
We don’t highlight class flavor by exclusion very often. Hearthstone has few mechanics that aren’t core to its gameplay, so it’s tough to say ‘this class does not get this mechanic’ without paying a steep price. We do it a little – Hunter doesn’t get any healing, for example – but it’s tough to do en masse. Plus, defining things by omission isn’t very obvious.
Instead, we try to promote class diversity by giving each class a few deckbuilding themes and supporting those themes with the class-specific cards in expansions. We’re more successful with some themes than others. Getting Warriors to build decks based around taunt minions has been tough, but Warlocks are generally happy to play decks based around Demons. Sometimes our themes are weak when we debut them, but gain strength as we make new cards over time. For example, Pirate decks were on the weak side until Mean Streets, but now plundering your opponents is very popular. Also, most classes have a class-specific mechanic, and most of those mechanics support deckbuilding rewards as well.
Here are some of the loose themes we’ve tried to promote in the past. This list isn’t exhaustive, tends not to include decks that have existed since Classic, and we might do more or less of anything on here, but hopefully it gives you an idea:
Druid: Beasts, Tokens
Hunter: Secrets, Deathrattle, Beasts (Druid Beast decks tend to reward a single large Beast, and Hunter Beast decks tend to reward having lots of Beasts)
Mage: Spell rewards, Secrets
Paladin: Buffs, Secrets
Priest: Healing, Shadowform, Deathrattle
Rogue: Battlecry/combo rewards i.e. Shadowstep, Weapons, Stealth
Shaman: Overload, Murlocs, Totems
Warlock: Demons, discard
Warrior: Armor, Enrage, Taunt
Again, this doesn’t include decks that have always existed like Freeze Mage or Miracle Rogue – we don’t really need to make new cards for those decks to get people to play them. It also doesn't include 'neutral' themes like Dragons or Pirates.
The main goal of these deckbuilding themes is to get people to build new types of decks. People don’t need much incentive to play the decks they are already playing, and frequently they are playing those decks because they are strong, which is why we try to promote new decks with each set, instead of reinforcing the existing metagame.
Look, proof that Rogue has so many things shoved into it that its identity is a mess right now.
Also Shadowform Priest????? Will that ever actually get the main focus??
You complain about the community being toxic, all the while being toxic yourself.
I'm just saying that it doesn't make any sense to say how much you dislike the toxicity of these forums, then just turn around start acting exactly like that.
Okay, I hope at the least that you enjoy playing whatever you decide to play.
I want shadowform
Priest: Healing, Shadowform, Deathrattle
--> when was the last time they pushed for Shadowform? that was more than a year ago, TGT - August 2015.
There are too low mechanics in the game and some of them are dead because of their design, same goes for class indentity. They are supporting only certain types of decks that they make during creation of new expansion, so they release cards that are good only in decks premade by them. So anything aside their premade decks is hardly viable. And because I don't play their decks with high % cos it's boring as hell, I mind the way they do it. One can't almost build deck he wants but has only choice, to pick their deck. This is limiting HS pretty much. If you like to grind with the best decks, ignore this article.
I think the main problem they should focus on is the ealry game. hearthstone matches are too strongly dictated by turns 1-3. one drops should RARELY have stat values that go past a total of 4 (i.e. 1/3 , 3/2 etc). think about them compared to later game cards: the difference between an 8 drop having 7 health/attack vs 10 health it isnt that big of a difference considering the removal available, but the difference a 1 drop having 3 health vs 2 or 3 attack vs 1 is HUGE. the game shouldnt be so heavily decided by the cheapest of cards
I agree. Why can't they print more big drops (Common/Rare) cards with unique good effects (rather than Vanilla stats) so people could enjoy the late game more and willing to play / craft them than cheaper mana cards? Why do the good big drops cards have to be legendary / epic / rare so that it makes the F2W / new players unable to afford them and pushes them to play Aggro games?
They could make good big Common/Rare drops that could still win the game by turn 8-10, the big drops don't necessarily have to help Control/Reno/fatigue decks if they want the game scenes not to last too long in average.
I understand people want to play quick games and craft good cards with cheaper dust, but the game doesn't necessarily last too quick (<5 min) or makes big-mana cards by expensive dust to craft.
"People don’t need much incentive to play the decks they are already playing, and frequently they are playing those decks because they are strong, which is why we try to promote new decks with each set, instead of reinforcing the existing metagame."
Why the f did you printed Counterfeit Coin?
Because rogue would be irrelevant without it
This is exactly the problem with hearrthstone. "The design philosophy". They are not designing cards, coll or interesting mechanich, unique ideas, they are designing decks and shove it in your face. Here: you're goint to play jade druid/discardlock/taunt warrior/C'thun anything/blablabla.... for the next x months. Why? Cause we made it for you. Enjoy it. Team 5s design philosophy on the game is what's going to lead to its fall eventually if they don'T get their shit together soon. Don't decide what the community will play in the next set! Let us tinker, try and discover the new things our selfes! Miracle rouge, classic handlock, freeze mage,these are decks that where experimented with an idea that worked, got perfected and refined and great examples of what is the core of a game like this: CREATIVITY! The current design philosophy in no way supports that, and thats really sad.
Exactly this.
Have you read Max McCall's reasoning behind the design of Jade Idol? As someone who really wants to see Hearthstone do well, his reasoning is so disheartening because it pigeon-holes players into playing decks that the devs feel are fun, rather than creating a pool of cards for the community to optimize and experiment with on their own.
They really need to get their act together or this game won't last.
Are you implying this isn't the case in every CCG? Because I'm sorry to tell you, it absolutely is.
Dude you are talking about the people who thought that 18 deck slots were too complicated!! XD.Making intersting stand alone cards that allow us to experiment and to figure out ourselves?NO WAY XD
They say a lot of things but rarely take any action. It's fine to take a patient approach, but their wait and see approach is basically, "let's just let it rotate out in 2 years."
There are SO many unique and interesting card designs that revolve around Shadowform that users have created, and they've done absolutely nothing with it.
This is the same game designer that equated spamming Jade Golems to playing a SC game against the AI.
The very same designer who is basically deciding for the community what is fun rather than letting the community do that for themselves.
I would take his design opinions with a grain of salt, as it's very disheartening to hear a developer input his own biases into card game design. There are a host of issues with the game at the moment as lrock666 mentioned with broken 1 and 2 drops, and yet those get shoved to the wayside in favor of removing a far less disruptive mechanic, fatigue.
i can't wait for taunt warriors to get released
next expansion hopefully?
/sarcasm