UPDATE
See Blizzard's new update here.
Quote from @PlayHearthstoneThank you for your feedback regarding our recent update. We saw a lot of feedback regarding the recent change to Tess Greymane and are currently discussing this change further. We will provide an update once we have more information to share.
Tess Greymane is Not Disenchantable for Full Value, Clearly a Mistake, Right?
Sigh. We had an amazing Hearthstone patch earlier today which gave us new Arena cards, plenty of bug fixes, and a new upcoming event that's going to give us a ton of dust and gold, but Blizzard really dropped the ball on Tess Greymane.
As you may be aware by now, Tess Greymane was changed in today's patch with the following adjustments.
- Tess will now replay hero cards with her Battlecry.
- Tess’s Battlecry is now limited to 30 cards, and will stop if she is silenced, killed, transformed, leaves the battlefield, or if any hero dies.
Do these changes ring a bell? It sure sounds like the nerfs we saw back in late 2016 to our favourite cuddly old god, Yogg-Saron, Hope's End.
- Yogg-Saron, Hope’s End now stops casting spells when it leaves the battlefield or is silenced.
The Change is the Same!
It should be painfully obvious at this point that these two changes are the same only we ended up getting a nice refund for Yogg if you wanted to partake in the disenchantment of our tentacled friend. Why is this different this time around? So far, Blizzard has not made a statement on the, very clear, nerf to the card and we're not sure if they are even going to.
One thing we can say for certain though is Mike Donais admitted Tess would work like pre-nerf Yogg when she was originally revealed. That right there admits their original intentions and they're now backing down on them.
Quote from Mike DonaisDoes Tess Greymane work like pre-nerf Yogg or post-nerf ?
Pre-nerf Yogg currently.
More Bologna
I wasn't letting them off that easy though. It still makes me, and plenty of you, sad that Blizzard refused to give us a dust refund for changing how Shudderwock worked. Although it was without a doubt a necessary change to preserve some sanity, many players crafted the legendary with the assumption it would go on forever. If people are wasting their expensive dust on a card, they should expect it to behave the original way. This is the whole reason why Blizzard does dust refunds in the first place - you can do cool stuff like that in a digital game.
We also need to bring up Lynessa Sunsorrow who received a major change in the patch which also is a total nerf. Previously, the buffs she received would come in the order you played them in, allowing skilled players to get crazy amounts of value out of her. Now everything is going to come down in a random order which could very easily turn out not at all in your favour. Oops. Another huge change to a card that wasn't properly handled.
While we're here, let's also go back to early 2016 when Mekgineer Thermaplugg's token, Leper Gnome, received a hit from the nerf bat. When a card calls out another exact minion or spell, and they change that card, it is a fundamental change which should have also qualified the card which spawns it a dust refund. This is different from random effects though, those pools should not move down the card chain.
But don't worry, they're giving us discounts on a pack bundle so we don't need that dust, just toss 'em some dollars!
Moving On
If they want to make this a thing going forward, that's fine, but cards need to have these same rules in place before they get released to the masses. Limit "stupid" combos to 30 maximum card plays, make things random if you're afraid of an effect. Most importantly though, give people refunds if you screwed up. Changing the card already admits you made a mistake with the original design of the card, now players need to be reimbursed for that.
Sincerely, one frustrated Hearthstone player to another.
Should Tess Greymane be Disenchantable for Full Dust Value?
Tell us what you think. Answer our poll below and leave a comment if you want to tell us more.
This is surprisingly similar to when Tencent bought Riot Games, and the price model for League of Legends got absurd over time (hextech crafting amirite?). Hearthstone used to be a game cared for by developers who loved it and were concerned with it, but as it gained popularity Blizzard realized they can milk it.
I can't understand these decisions. Any change is a nerf and should give back the dust.
Blizzard gives, blizzard takes away :/
I wont disenchant her, cause nerfs or not she's still WAY more reliable than Yogg and a lot of fun to play, but Blizz should still offer full disenchant value for her because the changes are pretty major. :P
In bird language this is considered a dick move.
Blizzard know they can get away with anything, because blizz fan boys blindly support every stupid Blizzard’s decision like they own the company.
We made a stand on Rexxar, they did it. This is very different, but we need to make our voices heard that these kind of business practices are blatently anti consumer and NEED to be addressed. If bloody Donais hadn't stated specifically Tess works like pre-nerf Yogg it would be slightly different, but with that there's no rational point to oppose offering the dust for the card. This isn't free dust (which is a thoughtless and idiotic point), it's about consistency and integrity.
I own Tess and have lots of fun with it, so I will not disenchant it. However, it is undeniable (and very clearly outlined in the OP) that this is a genuine nerf. Tess should therefore have full dust value.
Lynessa nerf is even more obvious. Random order of the spell is limiting the spells that you can put in your deck. It is a 100% nerf too. Why are you talking just about Tess ?
*never mind I was wrong*
Funny, I always saw exactly same casting order and they wrote in patchnotes "Lynessa Sunsorrow’s Battlecry is now limited to 30 cards and casts the buffs in a random order" so she didn't cast in random order before. Anyway, if u ask each T5 member about card mechanic, u will get different answers, becoz they have no idea how they cards work.
Is it just me, or is now Tess replaying every single Rogue spell you've cast before playing her? (although her text has not changed, and still refers to other class' cards). Just happened to me right now...
Has this patch brought a new bug?
Actually you're right.
Thank you, had never played another hero card before playing her.
Agreed that Shudderwock and Tess Greymane should have been handled the same as previous nerfs. If they wanted to start picking and choosing after years of being consistent, they should have made an official announcement PRIOR to a set release that not all nerfs would get refunds,
By not doing that, Blizzard has broken faith with nearly the entire customer base. Witness the poll results - its overwhelming how many of us feel like they Weasel Tunneler'ed us out of the very expectations they created.
This is different from the sporadic rumblings that every little change gets, which are more in the 'can never please everyone' category... nearly 90% of a significant sample size agree they messed up on Tess Greymane (and its the same logic on at least one aspect of the Shudderwock nerf).
With these, they have shown they can basically displease everyone. And they don't care. Way to make us feels bad, da' Man.
I say it many times today, and I definitely gonna say it some more time. I crafted Golden Tess on the first day just because I love the card (didn't expect to see her in any top tier deck as all) and I'm not gonna disenchant her even for full dust. However, I want to see they give full refund for anyone who need this. This is fairness.
Personally with the casual amount I played I’ve literally never seen a Tess played at ranks 20-15. But nonetheless it deserves a refund. I’m sure we’ll see a fix soon.
Blizzard must break shudderwock combo. Just change saronite chain gang battlecry and shudderwock cannot copy itself.
they can still use Doppelgangster in wild
I believe that once Ben Brode left, someone in Team 5 is going on a power craze.
Or maybe Ben was forced to left because of that reason. By any mean, I'm missing Ben now.