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 BrodeHearthstone
- 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.
You need to be 'friends' with both players to see the both hands.
So yes, if you want to betray one friend for another, sure
That would make sens, but it doesn't say so in the article above.
apparently you never spectated anyone before
Why won't someone ask him why this game still lacks the ability to save and share replays?
Along with the option to watch players open packs! would be dope af
Which cards do you wish were being played Ben....Worgen Greaser?
Why aren't people building more varied decks? I guess the community lacks creativity!
That made me smile wide, seeing you have just that one specific card ready and in the barrel to fire at his statement.
Kor'kron Elite Charge; Can't Attack Heroes
Arcanite Reaper 6 Mana
Small-Time Buccaneer 2 Mana
Fiery War Axe 3 Mana
That should extend the game to turn 6 instead of turn 5.
WHY? So that the reno players can win every game? NONSENSE!
Like they don't have enough removals, heals or armor.
Plenty of decks routinely beat Reno. Jade anything.
Go play Fruit Ninja if you just want to non-reactively swipe forward.
No one will play Small-Time Buccaneer for 2 mana. Bloodfen Raptor doesn't see play even tho it has Beast tag and no need to have a weapon.
Awesome. Sounds good to me.
STB is broken, deserves a nerf, and that is due for too long, but your suggestion is way too extreme. It's like "this 2 drop will only have 2 drop stats conditionally", that doesn't make sense.
I think it's time to make something more creative here. Like it's big-bro Buccaneer, make him a Rogue only card. Rogue needs the pirates to have a start, but relies on pulling the miracle combo later, not SMOrc'ing aiming zeroing opponent at turn 5. May be top tier, may use the "pirate kit", but it's far from being an easy deck to play. And that would hurt the easy decks carrying people above their level.
Other alternative would be a text change: "Gain +1 attack whenever an enemy minion is killed by a weapon.", would give time to react, punish opponent if left unattended, gives aggro players a decision to make about weapon usage .
It's a fact that something has to be done, but going extremes is not the way.
Going to extremes is how Blizzard nerfs work.
Warrior is just ONE of three pirate decks. And not even the strongest.
Alright Blizz has a look on the current meta. This is what I'm gonna do as well: Have a look on the meta as well, but I won't play anymore until the meta is really fresh and entertaining. I don't care about downvotes here but I hope that other players will follow my footsteps and stop playing until Blizz does things faster (especially big streamers) because what Blizz is doing is just a huge joke. That's that.
Does anyone else find this quote amusing? Who do they think they are fooling? What's not broken about losing before turn 6? Honestly, I don't play enough anymore to make a big deal about it, but over the last couple of days, I've read enough (and experienced enough on ladder) to see what the deal is and why it's a real problem. The game is broken, it doesn't feel good to lose on turn 5 when you even healed/removed minions on earlier turns, and if you actually play this game at all, you probably already know this.