So, Khadgar is Available Again Over in China as a Heroes of the Storm Promo Reward
Almost exactly seven months ago, our Mage friend Khadgar became available in China as a reward for playing Heroes of the Storm and it looks like he's back again starting February 1st. This is a promotion happening for Chinese New Year and will also be giving out items in Heroes of the Storm.
- 3 Wins in Heroes - 1 Heroes Loot Box
- 45 Kills in Heroes - 2 Heroes Loot Boxes
- 5 Victories in Heroes - Khadgar Hero for Hearthstone
- Reach Rank 20 in Hearthstone - Medivh Hero for Heroes.
If that all sounds horrible to you, which previous article comments have indicated most are not happy about this being only a thing in China, the latest rumors are that Hearthstone China is going to also have a sale on card packs, something that hasn't been done outside of the Un'Goro pack sale in June 2017.
Any special events in China cannot be made use of anywhere else in the world due to it being geo-locked to their own servers.
Khadgar's Availability
Players in the west were able to obtain this hero back in April 2016, almost 2 years ago. Outside of the limited time promotion Blizzard had with Apple (iOS Exclusive Skin!!) to support the World Wildlife Fund, there has not been another widely-available method for us to obtain Khadgar while this is China's second go at it. It should be noted that China was not originally eligible for Khadgar which is likely why he was used last summer as a reward.
Blizzard, players of all types would love to protect the planet again. Let's plant trees?
Outside of the original availability through the Apple App Store and the two China events, Khadgar was available last year to South Korean players for making a donation to support South Korean firefighters. Although a great cause that shouldn't be taken lightly, isn't there some way we could do good for the planet or society which could see more widespread release of Khadgar?
This'll Really Grind Your Gears
Free stuff you can't get your hands on and potentially cheaper packs over in China, surely this couldn't get any worse, right? Oh, how wrong we are. Let's take a step into the Caverns of Times and look back at Blizzard's intentions for alternate heroes.
Back in February 2017, Yong Woo, Hearthstone's Lead Producer, took part in a Korean Q&A for Hearthstone. During the Q&A one item made headlines in which it was stated we'd be seeing some promotional heroes making a return during Year of the Mammoth.
Quote from Yong Woo
- Some promotional heroes and card backs should be coming back during the Year of the Mammoth.
Although we do still have a couple of months remaining until the Year of the Mammoth is over, there have now only been three times where old, unavailable heroes have been available over the past Hearthstone year. These three events have all been for the same hero and they've all been geo-restricted.
The two heroes who are currently locked away are the Mage, Khadgar, and the Priest, Tyrande Whisperwind.
- June 28: Khadgar comes to China in a Heroes of the Storm promo.
- September 30: Khadgar was made available in South Korea. Loopholes allowed anyone to obtain him, for a price.
- February 1: Khadgar available through another Heroes promo in China.
With the fact that not many new heroes are actually being added to the game (3 in the past year), and Tyrande being the only alternate option for Priests, it's sad to see the exclusivity of these two locked up heroes continue. Free to play titles out there are usually overflowing with cosmetic options for their players, why is the Hearthstone team so reserved about adding new heroes to the game?
How Do You Feel About Khadgar's Return?
Simply polling everyone if they'd like to see Khadgar return as a more widespread release is going to end up with a heavily Yes answer, so let's instead generate some comments! Tell us below how you feel about the situation and how you'd like to see unavailable heroes make a more widespread return.
This is ridiculous! Most of us have spent hundreds of euros/dollars or many many hours playing the game and Blizzard once again discriminates against us EU and NA players! You want Tyrande? Nope, doesn't matter even if you pay for twitch prime because 1 year ago it wasn't available in your country (you should all live in 5 countries,we don't care) and we will never bring it back. Khadgar? Nope,unless you have an apple device and you are also willing to pay. Medivh? Pay 10 euros/dollars for it.. What? You are Chinese and you don't even pay for anything in the game? Get packs and skins for free! Get every promotion 3 times! The idiots in other regions will pay for them anyway...I am honestly disappointed, it's just unfair to give some countries everything as a promotion while the only thing we got in EU was a price raise!
Don't forget Asia. I live in Hong Kong, so I'm one river away from all those freebies.
So close yet so far! I guess that's even more annoying. I hope we get the same/similar promotions everywhere at some point, there is no reason not to.
Bring it back to Europe and US please
Can't america server get it?
All I want is Tyrande...
Ok, we need someone to get a picture of a Chinese id. Then we just photoshop it and send it to blizzard support to change our home country.
It's like having a brother who is favoured by your parents. They get an ice cream and you sit there with a broccoil in your hand, wondering where is kira in times of despair like this.
we should all get the same opportunity. this is just sad
Terrible trade deal, just terrible. They're killing us in trade, people.
Wait what if we use a fake GPS and a VPN to go to China?
Same question here....
The offer is on the Chinese server, not the geolocation. In other words, it doesn't matter where you are in the world, you can only get these rewards for the CN server (as opposed to NA or EU)
Why didn't more people, who were around during the time of the event, get Khadgar when the promotional event was going on? Why don't more people celebrate Earth Day? :(
I believe because it was an Apple exclusive promotion. So if you didn't have a Iphone/pad you were out of luck.
Didnt have an Iphone at the time, Now I do and have been waiting for another chance =/
only hero im missing
It was Apple exclusive? I didn't know that, that makes no sense Blizzard; more people should be able to donate to the WWF :(
I fully agree with you there.
Was waiting for this. Great job putting it together.
Quote from Yong Woo
Journey to Un'Goro was released on April 6, 2017, basically we have 2 month till the end of Year of the Mammoth.
The question is: Can blizzard keep a promise?