Dean Ayala Asks: What Would Get You Back Into Hearthstone?
Hearthstone's Dean "Iksar" Ayala had a question for those that used to main Hearthstone as a game but no longer do.
What do they need to do to get you back?
We're actually quite interested in knowing too. With many old Hearthstone players still frequenting our site to see what the game is up to or to chat with old friends, there has to be something the Hearthstone team could do to reel you back in?
Quote from Dean AyalaIf Hearthstone used to be your main game but isn't anymore, what would get you back?
Tournament Mode. I was so excited for this back in the summer, and I left right around the time it was put on indefinite hold. I know that they want to get it right, but for me that was the feature I have always looked most forward to.
I would also love to see some sort of sealed/draft mode as well, that is the type of game mode I enjoy the most in other TCG/CCGs.
Rotate in old cards. This might already be on the radar, I have not been paying attention as much to Hearthstone news lately, but I would love to see my old cards be relevant in standard again. Just mix a few in each set, and I think that would be pretty neat to see. I know Wild exsists for this reason, but I would enjoy messing around with just a few cards from the old sets again in the current meta, and it would feel like my collection has a little more relevance for me to keep around.
Keep it fresh with more expansions or make it a game that rewards the hard core player base. I’m starting to regret wasting all this money for cards when the majority are useless and there’s more then plenty of low cost competitive decks that makes me wonder why spend the money on packs at all. Every year when they rotate out it’s literally my money thrown into a pile of uselessness because wild isn’t taken seriously competitively by hearthstone.
Cards rotating every expansion (when new expansion comes, the oldest one goes out), that would make meta more dynamic and interesting. Waiting 1 year for cards to rotate it's too long.
Ben Brode
Besides some of the great suggestions listed in this thread here is mine:
Unique Expansion Keywords: Stop creating unique keywords exclusive to an expansion. I get that you want something that sets it apart, but what happens is you create an interesting idea for an archtype...but never support it later on. Things like echo, inspire, recruit, overkill, all have interesting concepts and can provide for different varieties of decks...but those decks never evolve because no new cards are added with those same mechanics. Why is it that you can add more deathrattles and battlecries, but completely neglect other styles of play with the claim that they are exclusive to that expansion. You don't have to focus new expansions on those mechanics, but you can throw in a few cards of each style.
I want to be able to build a value deck and play control. However, with heal to full every turn death knights and OTK decks that's not even slightly viable anymore. I've moved on to auto chess and I'm in danger of not even completing 5 ranked games this month to get any sort of ladder chest reward. That's a far cry from how much I used to play.
For me what killed the game was Gadgetzan. When you introduce Jade Idol, I knew its not a good idea to make that card when the time that set got rotated out , I never felt so much stress relieve over a single card that made me emotionally stress to the point I had to stop playing for my sake.
Arising issues to why I stop playing the game is because of cards that kill archetypes Examples will be Jade Druid and Dead Mans Warrior , these cards killed a mechanic when you run out of cards , that was not fun when I was trying out some control deck. For right now Genn and Baku were bad design in my honest opinion. It feels like I have to FORCE myself to craft these cards to stay in the meta.
Cards I hate for simpling existing is also one like I said Jade Idol another example I can recall even tho the card may or may not be meta is from another game is called Aegis a 9 cost 8/8 . Cant die or be silence unless its an Attack/Health is changed. You see how borderline dumb some cards can be for just existing . Barnes fits in that category as well , a deck has been made because Barnes is such overpowered card that makes the deck for it .
I remember just like building WindFury Control Shaman which was GVG- TGT time set . I never felt so proud on making a deck by myself . I miss those times .
More balance. More hall of fame. Cards like malygos NEEDS to be removed from the standard due to the unbalanced and unfun experience you get. Give me a dev that thinks getting otk in 1 turn by malygos is fun.. bring that guy over here and fire him on the spot
Reno Jackson in standard again!
Sorry - emote / or constant emotes switcher
Maybe less RNG. The standard at least should be made as a skilled based playground. That way the game is more of chess and less of poker/monopoly That would greatly reduce a great potion of people rage quiting becauseit would reduce tilt among players by alot.
Tyrande Whisperwind and Khadgar skins 👍🏻
Well at that point you may as well ask for rare/exclusive card backs too, but isn't that what makes them rare? Though you can probably still buy Tyrande codes on ebay for $5.
Well, I'll just list the things, which need to be changed imho:
1) Custom casual mode. When we read the motto "Deceptively Simple, Insanely Fun", what is the first thing that comes through our mind? Something, which would bring us joy and exciting moments. Some people have fun when facing challenges, so they interpret this statement as an opportunity to be competitive. This is why we have the so called "ranked" mode. If someone doesn't want to live through this experience, they can just choose the unranked aka the casual format. However there is one big issue with this and that's there isn't a difference between those two modes other than gaining ranks (and getting rewarded for it). There aren't any restrictions to what type of deck you could be playing for that matter. Often times casuals get matched up against popular ladder decks, which causes a lot of frustration to both players. Casuals are angered, because they want to try out wacky combos, but can't play them normally if they die fast; competitive players want to improve themselves and want to try different lists (without risking their rank) and get matched up with unserious opponents. And there is a nice solution to satisfy both of those players - casual should get custom options. Players can choose what type of decks they want to play against, which cards are allowed and many other things. I'm fully aware, that this feature won't be implemented easily, as it needs a lot of programming and a better technology, but imho this is what hearthstone really needs.
1.1) Cards exclusively for casual. In order to promote this mode even more, the devs can make some cards, which are exclusive to that format. Do you remember those cards, which were designed and removed in the alpha version? Cards like Auto-Pecker 4000 come to mind. Well, now they can include them and they can let their imagination flow and create even more wacky stuff. I think it's also a good idea to buff current cards for that format. I propose Yogg getting unnerfed and Noggenfogger becoming cheaper so that we can have all sorts of fireworks there.
2) Less polarizing expansions. I don't know if I use the term in the right context, but what I mean is I want to see fewer expansions with a colossal power level (like Kobolds and Catacombs) but I also fewer underwhelming expansions with weak or boring keywords (like the worgen stat switcheroo or plain overkill effects). The game becomes extremely stale and monotonous. We see the same decks popping up over and over again, because the strong packages there thrive and push the weaklings out. I like to see more fantastic and clever designs like Fire Fly and Tar Creeper, which are strong, have lots of utility and yet aren't overpowered and don't cause frustrating moments.
3) Change to the dust economy. This is one of the other things, which is essential imho. I'm really grateful, that the devs implemented the no-duplicate-legendary and the legendary in the first 10 packs rules, but I think the game's economics still need an improvement. 400 dust for disenchanting a legendary is just laughable (same thing goes for getting 100 dust from an epic). Since we don't get to choose what type of legendary we can get from packs, since there are many useless ones in a certain set, people feel robbed when they destroy 4 of those just to craft a single desired one. Imho the amount of dust we get from disenchanting cards should be the half of their actual cost. If this isn't possible, then we should at least be able to reroll the epics and legendaries (like we do in Faeria).
3.1) A better reward system. There is no point in reaching ranks 4+ either. The best reward we can get is an epic and from rank 4 onwards we just get some extra dust in form of golden cards. People aren't motivated to rank up higher (better said, those who do don't feel rewarded enough). I'm not suggesting, that we should get a legendary every time we reach legend ladder, but another epic or two wouldn't hurt the game's economics.
And here are the things, which aren't that important for now, but could be fixxed in the future:
4) Better approach, when nerfing cards. In a past thread a person talked about the three ways of nerfing a card - changing its cost, stats or effect. And I agree with him, that when a minion gets an increase to its cost, its stats should also be equalized to it (if it's a minion). As an example I will mention Mana Wyrm. I never liked that 1-drop, because it could have gotten seriously out of hand, when the mage player controlled the board and had a Counterspell to protect it. I also think a change was needed, but leaving it as a plain 1/3 that needs time to become stronger just makes it unplayable. It is obligated to fight for the 2-mana spot and it gets left out for the better inclusions. Giggling Inventor is another example I would like to mention. I don't disagree, that this was busted as a 5-drop, but increasing its mana by two and not giving her extra stats was just silly.
Nerfing basic/classic cards. If the devs read hearthstone related forums, they will know that people hate seeing the core of their favourite classes being changed for the worst. So imho the devs should keep the original basic/classic cards unnerfed in wild and make whatever changes they feel like doing to the standard ones. I feel this won't be implemented easily, as this also needs a lot of programming, and some cards (like Warsong Commander can't be unnerfed trouble-free), but imho this point should be considered.
5) Purchasing wild adventures/sets with gold. As a f2p I would love to experience it. Many newcomers haven't been at the time, when hs split into the standard and wild formats, so they couldn't purchase the good and interesting wild packs with accumulated gold. It will be a nice addition to have the packs/adventures be purchasable again with gold, but this might cause a lot of anger among the p2players, so this needs further discussion.
6) Cosmestic things - achievements and card backs, alternative hero skins as rewards, secret quests/board interactions. There isn't much to say about this. I remember being an achievement hunter, when I played WoW back when I was a kid. I loved being involved into the game and exploring lots of content. To this day I still consider myself as anexplorer (according to the Bartle taxonomy of player types), so I welcome all kinds of new stuff. I would also like to see more secret quests/achievements, which are well hidden in the game.
[edit] Some people mention smaller rotation periods and rotating out and in wild cards. If the devs follow the 2nd point, then people wouldn't be that bored with the game. Though I admit having some cards, which appear and disappear from standard, is kinda interesting.
Im sure this thread has covered all of the points I want to make, staleness of metas and how oppressive and boring it is to have autowin cards like Zuljin, and cards that only exist for the sake of another card, not in the way that acolyte of pain works in warrior, for example, but rather cards that are designed with the whole intention behind them being to make another hyped up yet unsuccessful card somewhat playable.
The point i want to personally address which many have dropped years ago is, why is Hearthstone still a CCG. Why hasnt it become a TCG? It baffles me how they keep introducing cards that are of higher quality which are a must have in every deck and are often pretty fun to play with, yet it falls to months of grinding and RNG for the narrowest chance of opening them. Dusting tax is so high that i actually feel bad every single time I disenchant one of the 4 Millhouses and Nat Pagles ive opened over the years. Once Adventures were dropped as an idea, everyone knew this would happen and we were repeatedly barraged with more and more expensive cards by Team5. It's disheartening as an avid fan of the game and Warcraft in general. I know making cards tradeable would take a hit on Hearthstone's microtransactions, but in return it would bring back tonnes of players who left because they had to dust some of their favourite cards in order to keeo up with the meta, only to grow bored of it eventually. Perhaps trading could be unlocked via a form of currency which a player acquires or can purchase, gold most preferably, so everytime u made a trade u paid X gold. Opening packs is fun and people will still do it, but it wears on a person's patience not being able to do what they want and being dictated upon by RNG. Some players love to collect cards and would love to trade a few of their duplicate cards for my millhouse, and vice versa. This could solve plenty of the major issues that plague this 'f2p' game.
Enough of this rock paper scissors garbage. I don't want an aggro deck to beat a combo deck, I don't want a combo deck to beat a midrange, and I don't want a midrange to beat an aggro.
It feels like you have to go heavy into one style or another to beat one of the other two, there is no middle ground.
I used to play magic, and although there are similarities in the aggro/combo/midrange mindset, there are also decks that have the tools to beat anything. Unfortunately there is no sideboard for best two of three in hearthstone, but there used to be more decks that could do something in past expansions/seasons.
Also, it's insanely expensive to keep up if you want to, the F2P isn't good enough. I gotta shard all my previous expansions from Wild to retain any sort of competitiveness in Standard, even with ~150 free packs every set. I used to buy packs a year or more ago, now there is no point. Shit, it's like $2 a pack for 5 cards? You're on MTG level of cost, for digital cards that cannot even be traded. That we have to deconstruct or shard down into half it's crafting value of dust. Cut pack cost, increase dust value. It's just Activision Greed at this point. I remember clearly, two expansions ago, I had 162 free packs and I only got 4 legendaries. How am I supposed to craft multiple 5-10k dust decks to be competitive?
There is no point in investing money into this game, it's just digital cards. Why would I invest money into something with no competitive scene? Who wants to devote a full time career's worth of effort to get a chance to roll the dice to get to the top of a $5000 tournament? I used to have gold decks, multiples, my collection has slowly been sharded and is dwindling to just the bare minimums to hit rank 5 and I've been playing since Goblins Vs Gnomes. I've been on the rank 5 and get my free cards train for years now, Legend has no rhyme or reason to grind. Why bother?
Every expansion is like yay new cards, then one week in the meta is solved and it's back to previous decks with one or two new cards?
I could keep going, but those are my biggest problems. I used to play in my spare time, which got reduced to playing at work on mobile and during meals at home. Now I can't even be bothered, it's an effort to login and play, I'd rather just watch Youtube. But I keep coming back to this website in hopes of reading changes to the game that interest me. When does this stale season rotate? sigh.
Oh I also have a huge problem with how long some of these matches are, some decks I don't even bother with because it's mindless card draw into fatigue. Better not play these card draw cards in my deck, they are going to be self 5-15 damage cards late game! Board wipe empty board to keep hand size under 10. Fuuuuuun.
Who wants to contribute up to 30 minutes of personal time for a potential RNG loss?
Dragon expansion
1. For some reason devs love to introduce cards that are meant to be the single core of a deck. This kills deck diversity and makes each exp. become stale within weeks of being released.
2. 3 expansions per year (or however it is now) is way too slow and only helps to make point 1 more noticeable. I'm not saying they should release 6 exp. per year but maybe try and make exp. smaller so we can see more flavorful cards and more frequent card dumps. They could also try and restrict cards on a weekly or monthly basis so people have to adapt their decks. Or they could, from time to time, introduce batches of 1-3 cards every month or so.
3. They let oppressive decks and cards fester way too long in the meta game. It's always amazed me how long it takes for devs to act upon cards or decks that clearly pose a problem, defeating one of the main benefits of having a digital card game which is being able to make changes easily and frequently.
4. The stupid amount of grind it would take for me to get back on track. My last exp. was Witchwood. I chose to stop playing because points 1-3. If I ever wanted to come back it would take me a lot of time and/or money to try and get some of the essential cards for the exps. I missed. I'm not saying give me free stuff but make it easier for new or returning players to get on the level of current players. They could increase rewards or have a bigger list of daily quests.
I 1000% would play way more if there were tournaments with player ante prize pools...that would be sick and more arena options or features like maybe pay a bit more to win a bit more like 3 tier entry fees or something along those lines....and last thing would be to bring back adventures that have a bunch of cards you can get for minimal dollars while at same time playing some interesting specialized match ups and more special quests built like super similar to kobold dungeon run
TOURNEY MODE LEAPS AND BOUNDS ABOVE ALL ELSE AND LIKE AN ARENA TYPE TOURNEY MODE BUT WITH NORMAL DECK.CARD LIMIT RESTRICTIONS
Please get tourneys cuz I've had littlest interest I've ever had in this game during the current meta and overall game state
Thanks