Updates (Times in EDT)
4:48 PM: Updated our Naxxramas guide with pricing for NA and EU regions.
4:38 PM: Added information about acquiring golden cards.
3:20 PM: Added note about new music and boss sounds.
Curse of Naxxramas: Pricing Structure and Heroic Mode
Zeriyah posted information on how much Naxxramas is going to cost. The first wing, the Arachnid Quarter, will be free to everyone who plays Naxxramas during the first month. If you're planning on going to free to play route, the entire adventure will set you back 2800 gold, or $19.99 if you buy the entire thing right away.
- If purchased with Gold, wings will cost 700 gold each.
- If purchased with Real Money, wings will cost $6.99 each, however, there is a two dollar discount per wing for bulk purchases. (Prices in USD)
- Buy all 5 wings for $24.99. (Not applicable during the "Launch Event" since the first wing will be free)
- Buy 4 wings after owning one for $19.99.
- Buy 3 wings after owning two for $14.99.
- Buy 2 wings after owning three for $9.99.
Additionally, we now have confirmation that Heroic Mode not only exists, but also will reward you with a special Card Back for defeating all the bosses.
Quote from ZeriyahWe’re skimming the slime pools, stitching together our finest Abominations, and preparing the Necropolis for an Adventure you’ll never forget—Curse of Naxxramas is coming, and we know you’re just dying to get in and play! In today’s blog, we’ll discuss the details on how you’ll access Curse of Naxxramas, and unveil the Naxxramas Heroic Mode.
Your All Naxx-cess Pass
Naxxramas is a floating necropolis, home to a host of undead bosses ready to challenge worthy opponents eager to test their card-slinging mettle. To undertake the challenges that lie within each of the five wings of the Adventure, one must first gain access to their secrets. But don’t worry too much about the price of entry—much to Thaddius’ chagrin, it won’t cost you an arm OR a leg.
Naxxramas will open its gates one wing at a time, with a new wing opening each week. The wings of Naxxramas will open in the following order: Arachnid Quarter, Plague Quarter, Military Quarter, Construct Quarter, and Frostwyrm Lair.
Players who begin their adventures in Naxxramas during the launch event will gain free access to the first wing: the Arachnid Quarter. The launch event will last roughly a month or so, meaning you’ll have plenty of time to get your foot in the door—we’ll have more details to share about that later on. The web-choked corridors of the Arachnid Quarter are home to the bosses Anub’Rekhan, Grand Widow Faerlina, and Maexxna. Defeating these bosses will add new cards to your collection and give you a taste of the dangers that await you deeper inside Naxxramas.
After the Arachnid Quarter, the next four wings can be purchased for 700 gold per wing or $6.99 per wing. Players can earn the in-game gold needed to unlock the next wing of Naxxramas by completing various quests or emerging victorious from the Arena, or they can choose to unlock the next available Naxxramas wing using real money.
If you’re looking to swing open multiple gates at once, Curse of Naxxramas bundle packages are also available. Spiders are just so good at making things into neat little bundles. . . .
Keep in mind that purchasing Curse of Naxxramas wings in bundles does not open or grant access to those wings faster than the one-wing-a-week schedule, but it does ensure that you’ll be able to dive into the next challenges as soon as they unlock.
If you play Naxxramas during the launch event and decide to purchase the remaining wings with real money, you’ll only have to purchase the 4-Wing bundle to access the remaining wings once they become accessible.
If you unlock additional wings with gold and wish to purchase a wing bundle at a later time with real money to unlock any remaining wings, you can still take advantage of the bundle pricing. For example, if you enter the Arachnid Quarter during the launch event and unlock it for free, then purchase the second wing with gold, the remaining three wings can be purchased with real money at the 3-wing bundle price listed above.
Remember to enter the Necropolis during the launch event so you don’t miss out on all the creepy crawly fun that awaits you in the Arachnid Quarter—for free!
Heroic Mode
Once you’ve defeated all of the bosses within any given wing for the first time, you’ll unlock the Heroic mode of that wing. Heroic mode bosses are significantly more difficult than their normal versions, and they will prove to be a challenge for even the most veteran Hearthstone players. Defeating all of the bosses in Naxxramas on Heroic mode will unlock a new card back for your collection.
The undead horrors of Curse of Naxxramas: A Hearthstone Adventure are dying to meet you. We hope to see you creeping through the necropolis with your own “All Naxx-cess Pass” soon!
Golden Cards
Golden Cards will be craftable with Arcane Dust as soon as you have unlocked the normal version.
Quote from ZeriyahGolden versions of Naxxramas cards can be crafted with Arcane Dust once you have acquired the non-golden version of that card.
New Music & Sound Info
Thanks to The Angry Chicken podcast, who did a live show at Nerdtacular 2014, we've got some news about the new Naxx music! Russel Brower, Composer, Conductor, and Director of Audio at Blizzard Entertainment, who was briefly on the show said that we will be seeing new music for the adventure, and a new song for the regular game. The quote below can be heard at 53:53 in the show recording.
Quote from Russel Brower via TAC LiveIn World of Warcraft tradition, we are not removing any music, there's not a lot to remove, but we have added some new pieces. Our philosophy has been we're [going to add] some special new music for Naxxramas, and then while we're at it, for each of these major updates, an additional piece for the [regular part of the game] as well. So, the playlist will grow and add to the rest of the game.
It also looks like we'll be seeing re-use of the Naxxramas Boss voices from World of Warcraft, along with "additional surprises".
Quote from @CM_ZeriyahWill we hear the Naxx Bosses' WoW voices in HS? I'd love to hear Patchwerk and friends again'!
I'm sure you will have some nostalgia there ... and additional surprises.
By making golden cards only craftable, Blizzard will continue to spur the market which leads to maximum profit ,so there is no way they intent to make golden cards cheap to get.
Am I the only one excited about the Heroic Mode card back?
Yes.
I wouldn't say excited, but I am looking forward to having it. Hopefully it is cool.
I really wish Golden Cards were the reward for Heroic mode. Will be quite a bit of dust to get all of the golden cards. So much so that it isn't really possible unless you just drop 1000$ of bucks on packs
Blizzard has clever salesmen. For those who will eventually spend more money on packs, it's just so much cheaper to save the gold for packs and buy Naxx wings with real money. Well done!
Well, quite more expensive than my prediction. I have to start saving some gold. :D
Really? You won't spend any money because you don't want to spend the dust that is sitting in your bank to be put towards a golden card? I hope the release changes you mind. You might find that you want the gold card for a common with a cool animation. But if you are so vain that the dust you get for free (compare it to any physical TCG. It's free.) is not worth spending any money to support development then whatever man. I'm going to put my money towards a game I play every day and want to see continued.
I actually agree with that, I was going to spend real money on Naxxramas and the price is exactly what I expected, but the shameless moneygrab with the golden cards makes me not want to spend anything if this is the way content is going to be priced in the future.
Although I guess now we know all internal testing of Blizzards content is done by their financial department, I really can't explain this result in any other way.
Shameless money grab? I wouldn't go that far. There is a TON of really accessible free content with Naxx. I don't find it shameless at all that they wanted to keep the card pack market alive until the first expansion. They need to make some money on the game after all.
They need to make some money? The game is in the Top10 of highest grossing apps on iOS (and that obviously doesn't include any PC revenue), which puts it in the range of 1mio $ per day. I wouldn't be surprised if this game earns Blizzard more money than Diablo 3.
Why do they need to make money off of what should be a free to play game when they have Starcraft, Diablo, Heroes of the Storm (Those prices on character skins, AND paying to unlock characters, LOL) and of course World of Warcraft. They don't -need- to make money off of Hearthstone, but they sure want to.
So really all this is saying is that Naxx is not really launching for another month after it's "launch event"(really means beta)
Well, from their post, rolling out a wing every week. Which is what they've been saying all along.
The launch event apparently covers the month between the Arachnid Quarter rolling out and the Frostwyrm Lair. So everything should be done when the launch event concludes, not stretching out a month afterwards.
Obviously, that's assuming things don't get delayed. But they didn't announce anything new about the schedule here... just pricing, gold cards, heroic mode, and so forth.
In other words: There's no more cause for pessimism than there was earlier today :)
Have you not played WoW? It's the same structure they use during some of their bigger raids; unlocking content on a schedule. Should we all whine and say that Blizzard's WoW is constantly in a 'beta' because we don't get everything all at once?
I am not saying we should get it all at once. But idk if people are understanding this "launch event" information, if Naxx was really "launching" then why not start the week rotation when it is launching. That is why I am calling this so called launch event a beta, because they are not doing their once a week rotation until after this strange 1 month long "launch event". Meaning the cards are not going to start flowing into the card pool until a month after it "launches". Blizz just seems to be milking every last minute of time out of this expansion.
Rbeasley, I have no idea what you are talking about. All this info was going to be released July 1st. It got pushed back. It happens. Blizzard and the video game industry at large can't promise anything given the super complicated nature of the medium. This is not a launch event if that's what you were thinking. There won't be a "beta". A beta would typically imply that the public gets to test the game. The only thing you are reading is the pricing of the Naxx wings and some additional info. And as for the milking, it's called hype dude. If you didn't get the update there was a leak on the expansion. Stuff like that can make or break a game. Every bit of news either adds or takes away from a purchase. It's Blizzards job to make sure that you are absolutely pumped for Naxx. If you aren't, well have fun rage quitting when I roll you over with the new cards that I got for free (700 gold).
Hey man. I think you missread the announcement. Going by what you're saying it seems you're under the impression that we'll be getting the first wing at launch and the other wings will be coming in a month after that. That is false. We'll be getting a new wing unlocked every week when the launch event begins and until all wings are out. What Blizz means is that the whole process will take a month and that they're calling that month the "Launch Event". Hope that clears things up for you. By the time the launch event ends all wings will be unlocked and Naxxramas will be completely available.
That is the most convoluted pricing structure I have ever seen in my life... Takes a Rocket Scientist to solve it.
I had to think about it for at least a good 10 minutes, to wrap my head around how it works... >_<
(Basically, I thought it was -2$ from the price of each Wing, per Wing. So it wasn't adding up... Cuz the last wing would then be -3$.. o_0 So you can see my confusion... Apparently it is -2$ from the WHOLE BULK purchase per Wing. But with each Wing being 7$, how is 35-2 ='ing 20? Didn't notice that the Bulk itself was reduced to 25.... -.- Coulda been a lot clearer Blizz!)
did you get an F in math class?