Ben Brode on Announcements of Announcements, Gadgetzan, Nerfs, & More

Ben Brode on Announcements of Announcements, Gadgetzan, Nerfs, & More

Philip Kollar of Polygon sat down with Ben Brode last week to talk about the state of the game, potential nerfs, and more.

We've recapped the interview below.

Quote from Ben Brode

Hearthstone

  • They knew over time the game would get more complex.
  • Doing things just for the sake of creating complexity isn't something Ben thinks they should do.
  • When asked about smaller drops of cards, and this year's release schedule, Ben stated they have some cool ideas but aren't ready to share specifics.
  • Spectator mode has room for serious improvement. Specifically, they'd like to adjust the opponent's cards so they're right-side up.
  • New systems are being developed that they're excited about.
  • Updates and improvements are planned to current systems.

Standard

  • The reason for its creation was so that players didn't need to collect every card in order to compete.
  • They're still considering whether the next rotation will change enough. Will they need to nerf or rotate cards?
  • They have "cool announcements" to make about the next themed year over the next couple of months.

Gadgetzan

  • There are a wide variety of classes being played.
  • Some decks have overlap in the amount of cards being played which for some can feel like there is less diversity in the meta.
  • Ben wishes that there was some more variety of cards being played, even in the classes themselves.

Mechanics

  • Tri-class currently feels like it is best for just Gadgetzan.
  • They don't want to take every mechanic and make it something they always do.
  • Only mechanics which are the best and fun to see again and again should return. Discover is a good example.

Pirates

  • They are starting to believe they are a problem.
  • Currently, the team is evaluating whether the problem is going to get worse, better, or stay the same.
  • The outcome of the evaluations will determine if a nerf will occur.
  • They don't want to announce any potential nerfs too early. If they do, then players feel like they're playing with a broken game because a patch isn't anywhere near ready yet.
  • If a card was going to be changed, it wouldn't be Patches the Pirate. Small-Time Buccaneer is "probably the bigger issue".

Patches the Pirate

  • Originally from the Blackrock Mountain adventure.
    • It was a Whelp which when a Dragon was played, it would be summoned.
    • Two Patches were able to be put into your deck.
  • It wasn't added in BRM because they didn't want to make any more cheap dragons.
  • They tried the type of minion with Murlocs and Pirates, settling of course on Pirates.
  • Cut from The Grand Tournament due to interactions with [card]One-Eyed Cheat[card]. 4/1 on turn 2 with insta-stealth.
  • They think the card is fine in Wild - not too powerful. 

Warcraft

  • The Hearthstone and World of Warcraft teams "constantly inspire each other".
  • In Warlords of Draenor, one of the WoW devs gave Rexxar of the past "Puffer", Huffer's Dad.
  • People on both teams design things hoping they'll make it into the other game.

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