Hearthstone Dev AMA Recap - No New Hero, Communication, Between Expansions Content, Rewards, Solo Content

Hearthstone Dev AMA Recap - No New Hero, Communication, Between Expansions Content, Rewards, Solo Content

The Hearthstone developers did an AMA over on reddit this afternoon. Here's our recap of the important parts and the full roundup of their answers to community questions.

  • Expect more communication from the Hearthstone team this year. This time they really mean it.
  • More frequent articles, blogs, AMAs, and behind the scenes stuff should be expected. 
  • Expect communication separate from proximity to expansions. 
    • Flux: Honestly, they aren't kidding about it. Their communication game has really stepped it up so far and it's gonna be a great year. 
  • No new game modes are in development. They don't know what the next one could be.
  • Expect unique events during expansions to help "shake up the meta in fun ways".
  • We will have a new card added before the expansion is live that we can use in our decks. This is like the Marin the Fox and Volcanosaur promotions we previously saw.
  • They're open to experimenting with bringing old sets back. Bringing them back into Arena this year is exciting.
  • No new hero is coming out with Year of the Dragon. We'll see some this year though.
  • Cards that were never in Arena buckets have been manually placed for the new format.
  • Arena should get an initial set of micro adjustments a week after launch.
  • We'll still see special arena events, like dual-class arena, just don't expect them very often.
  • Its likely that we won't see weapons outside of the traditional classes for a while. It fit the loot theme of Kobolds.
  • Having content between expansion releases is important. Expect more than just the upcoming solo adventures.

New Expansion

  • Sludge Slurper appears to be the name of a new card. Mrgl!
  • A new mechanic involving two of *something* is being teased. (Source)
  • Expect all expansions this year to tie in together through a story. Some characters will appear in all three sets.
  • Story for all three sets will be done primarily through the solo adventures. There will be some brawls and events that also support the story.

On player rewards:

  • They believe 10 gold per 3 wins feels unrewarding due to how spread out their rewards are.
  • The team wants to work on giving players more rewarding mid and long-term goals, not just dailies.
  • We will see more events and rewards in 2019.

They learned great lessons from recent solo content:

  • Monster Hunt taught them how they can better tell stories in that format and the value of creating new heroes.
  • Monster Hunt also showcased how Hero Powers can dictate the pacing and style of the game.
  • Puzzle Lab proved that they can do stuff that isn't traditional Hearthstone. Some of this idea will be in the upcoming solo adventure.
  • Rastakhan's Rumble taught the value of player choice and they were happy they could react to community feedback quickly.

Cards Still Banned in Arena during the new format:

Klaxxi Amber-Weaver, Dark Arakkoa, Cult Sorcerer, Twilight Darkmender, Hooded Acolyte, Blade of C'Thun, Usher of Souls, Ancient Shieldbearer, Twin Emperor Vek'lor, Disciple of C'Thun, Doomcaller, C'Thun, Beckoner of Evil, C'Thun's Chosen, Twilight Geomancer, Twilight Elder, Crazed Worshipper, Skeram Cultist, Ancient Watcher, Mind Control Tech, Hagatha the Witch

Complete AMA

All the questions and answers can be found below.

Quote from Hearthstone Devs

[Source] From Giovanni Scarpati on March 7, 2019, 9:17 p.m.

Question from one of our European players:

In the past, pre-expansion additions like Marin the Fox and Volcanosaur made the game more exciting during down periods. Are you planning on doing that again in the future?

Absolutely, players really enjoyed having a burst of flavor and change right before an expansion hits. In fact, we’ll be doing it for this expansion!

[Source] From Giovanni Scarpati on March 7, 2019, 9:30 p.m.

As I’m sure you guys are aware, there are a bunch of custom hearthstone cards all over the internet. Do some of these custom cards influence you guys? I’m sure you guys never directly copy but I am curious to know if they at least influence a bit in the design process

I do check in to the weekly thread of the top cards from the community. It’s cool to see some of the designs and desires of players.

I’ll also say that I posted a bunch of custom cards myself before joining the Hearthstone team! Some of them are actually in the game at this point.

[Source] From Giovanni Scarpati on March 7, 2019, 9:38 p.m.

Trying to figure out how to appropriately value the 5-Wing PvE Adventure. You unlock a Golden Legendary Zayle so I wanted to know:

  1. Will the Golden Legendary Zayle, be craftable and disenchantable?

  2. Or will it only unlocked from the 5-Wing Adventure. Further, can it be opened regularly in card packs?

Trying to figure out how to appropriately value the 5-Wing PvE Adventure. You unlock a Golden Legendary Zayle so I wanted to know:

Will the Golden Legendary Zayle, be craftable and disenchantable?Or will it only unlocked from the 5-Wing Adventure. Further, can it be opened regularly in card packs?

The Golden version of Zayle can not be crafted or disenchanted, and will not come in card packs. However, the normal version can be crafted, similar to promotional cards like E.T.C.

[Source] From Giovanni Scarpati on March 7, 2019, 9:51 p.m.

For Dean, Mike, and Giovanni -- How did you all get started in your game design careers, and what are some important lessons you've learned, both before and during your tenure on the Hearthstone team?

And, a more fun question -- what's your specific favorite designed card? And or Dean and Mike, not sure if Giovanni has a hand in set design, but what's your favorite card you've had a hand in designing?

I jumped around a bunch in difference aspects of game development before landing in game design. I started off in college for game design and after a few years found I had an affinity for 3d modeling. Ended up getting some items into a AAA game and doing some commission work for a few years before I had the opportunity to work production and design on an indie game. After a couple years of work on that, I branched off to work in party games for a bit before landing a job a Blizzard!

The path to becoming a game designer is super open and differs for everyone, but I will say there are two things I found extremely useful:

  1. Play a lot of games, but don’t just play them. Observe them, dissect them, break them. Get good at them. Mod them and make them better.

  2. Learn support skills. Learn how to script, what it takes to make an FX in a game. Game Designers are at their best when they’re able to flex and help out wherever they can.

As for my favorite card, I know it’s silly but I think Argent Squire is one of the top ones. I really enjoy cards that are simple but have a lot of room for different synergies and playstyles.

[Source] From Giovanni Scarpati on March 7, 2019, 10 p.m.

We'd give you a hint, but it might give two much away...

Didn't someone already ask this? I swear I'm seeing twins.

[Source] From Giovanni Scarpati on March 7, 2019, 10:14 p.m.

Are there currently plans to bring Wild sets back into Standard for any period of time/is that something the team has seriously considered? Or is there more a mindset of "only moving forward"?

I can see how bringing back old sets into Standard might be frustrating for players who disenchanted those cards with the expectation that they'd never be playable again. Perhaps there are more plans to explore these mixed formats in Tavern Brawls, like the GvG + Boomsday Brawl last year?

Mixed sets went over well in Tavern Brawl, and we’re excited to see how Arena will feel with similar changes. I think this is something the team would be open to experimenting with in the future.

[Source] From Giovanni Scarpati on March 7, 2019, 10:24 p.m.

Will there be an exclusive hero for the Year of the Dragon, like Maiev Shadowsong?

This year there’s not a Hero tied to the Year of the Dragon rotation, but I’d be shocked if we didn’t have some awesome Heroes lined up over the course of the year!

[Source] From Giovanni Scarpati on March 7, 2019, 10:44 p.m.

General game design question:

What lessons do you all feel that the Year of the Raven has taught you that you can take into the Year of the Dragon?

To speak to this from a single player perspective, we learned a ton from the past year of solo adventures.

Monster Hunt gave us some great insight into how we can better tell stories in the Dungeon Run format, and the value of bringing in new unique Heroes. It also taught us a lot about Hero Powers, and just how much a new, strong Hero Power can dictate the pacing and style of the game.

The Puzzle Lab was a departure from standard gameplay, but it paved the way for doing things in Hearthstone that aren’t traditional, while still feeling like Hearthstone. You’ll see some of this idea in the upcoming solo adventure!

Rhastakhan’s Rumble taught us about how big we can go with combat, and the value of player choice and tracking. I’m super glad we were able to react so quickly to community feedback on this.

[Source] From Giovanni Scarpati on March 7, 2019, 10:52 p.m.

Question from one of our European players:

Will the second and third single player experience of the year be like the upcoming one? So, 15 wings (chapters) in total?

Question from one of our European players:

Will the second and third single player experience of the year be like the upcoming one? So, 15 wings (chapters) in total?

We’re happy with what chapters can do for us. In the case of the upcoming release, we chose to use them to help better tell different beats of a story and introduce gameplay changes. That said, they’re a tool that need to fit the format, so it’ll depend on what we have in store for the next two expansions this year.

As the new solo adventure releases and you get to play through it, give us your feedback on it! We’re listening!

[Source] From Giovanni Scarpati on March 8, 2019, 1:16 a.m.

Will solo adventures from Year of the Raven expansions be removed or no longer playable when the year of the Dragon kicks off?

Anyone who has played Hearthstone before Year of the Dragon will keep the Year of the Mammoth Adventures; no changes there. For new accounts, these Solo Adventures will still be available to unlock through the online store for free.

[Source] From Giovanni Scarpati on March 8, 2019, 1:40 a.m.

Piggybacking on this, have you ever considered a full-fledged PvE campaign (eg. Dungeon Run) that allows for (but doesn't necessarily require) co-op gameplay? I love the idea of going through a dungeon with a friend, and it seems very fitting for HS given its WoW origins. The Mechazod brawls are cool, but I'd love a form of PvE co-op that isn't limited to premade decks against a floating taunt guy.

Should 2v2 make its way to Hearthstone, I'd love to work on some co-op Adventures!

[Source] From Giovanni Scarpati on March 8, 2019, 2:14 a.m.

A female warrior hero would be a welcome addition to the roster!

I agree!

[Source] From Giovanni Scarpati on March 8, 2019, 2:40 a.m.

Question from one of our European players:

How will Zayle work compared to Whizbang?

Zayle will function similar Whizbang, but uses 5 thematic decks instead of using the deck recipes.

[Source] From Iksar on March 8, 2019, 2:35 a.m.

This is great, thank you. One thing is confusing me:

For the first season, we’ll have every card at their base offering rate

This sounds to me like the intent is to turn off micro-adjusts or a while. But then

we’re looking to have a faster turnover on updating buckets and micro-adjustments

so I have no idea what you meant by that first bit.

this means we'll start at the base offering rate for the first few days, then bring in microadjustments hopefully about a week afterward once we have enough data.

[Source] From Iksar on March 7, 2019, 11:34 p.m.

Given the evolution of Hearthstone since beta and launch, and how we've seen other online TCG and CCGs handle daily quests and rewards, will we ever see a change to how things are currently handled to better reflect the new economy?

Such as more than 10g per every three wins which is a method that does not feel good comparatively and just further promotes over-grinding for less-than-fair rewards. The game is no longer just basic and classic plus one new set, and having to keep up with six sets each rotation while trying to stay competitive is no longer feasible with struggling to earn just a single pack a day.

Likewise, how dust is currently managed. The dramatic drop off on dust returns for disenchanting cards feels terrible and is one of the most common feel-bad experiences in Hearthstone. Updating it to a 2:1 ratio instead of 4/5:1 still keeps things balanced, still keeps players needing to buy packs, but clears up a lot of anguish and frustration for your playerbase.

I mentioned this in a different post, but something we want to work on is providing players with more rewarding mid and long-term goals. Daily quests do a good job of creating daily rewards, but we don't have very engaging systems for players who want to be working towards something over the course of a week/month/year, etc.

​

One approach we're discussed is to consolidate the current reward systems so that players can feel more rewarded playing the game the way they want, whether that's single-player, the ladder, Arena, Tavern Brawls, and so on.

​

Our rewards are spread out across a ton of places right now, and I think when that happens it makes a lot of the individual pieces like 10G per 3W feel unrewarding. It has always been our goal to provide players with enough rewards to make it easy to craft a deck they enjoy. Everyone benefits if that's true. We want you to be able to craft fun decks, because players who are having fun stick around long-term. If creating fun decks is a painful process, players will leave and we know that.

​

Bundles with cards like Zayle will help players get in and play, and we have some events and rewards coming in the mid-expansion timelines of 2019 as well. In the long-term, the goals are what I mentioned above. Consolidate some of our existing systems so you can play the way you want to play, and give players more mid and long term goals that are appropriately rewarding.

[Source] From Iksar on March 7, 2019, 11:31 p.m.

Cool, thanks for all the technical answers.

With the top bucket, I'm mostly concerned about how the system would react if there were only two cards available in the top bucket, if that would break the draft system. Outside just combining the top two buckets, since the top bucket cards are autopicks most of the time, maybe have those cards in a "Floating" bucket that can appear as a pick in lower buckets? So if you got a 5th bucket Druid selection, Swipe would have a chance to appear as one of the cards there.

For format suggestions, I imagine the popular ones would be synergy/theme based (Boomsday + GVG, KFT + Naxx, presumably Kara and BRM + the new sets if they're dragon themed). Personally, I would've liked seeing some of the powerful TGT Inspire cards just to break the Control stalemates that would happen in the latest expansion.

We spot check to make sure there are no 2 card buckets, so there shouldn't be!

[Source] From Mike Donais on March 7, 2019, 10:54 p.m.

Could you elaborate on this "smarter deck builder"?

Our goal was to add a feature that made it easier for players to build competitive decks using the cards they already own. This will be a great help to people who don’t own all the cards for a specific deck they’d like to play. It’s also great if someone knows 5 or 10 cards that they want to put into a deck, but they aren’t sure what the rest of the deck should look like and want help with that.

The way it works is we gather information from all the decks that are being played and we see how successful each card is in these decks. We look closely at what cards you own, and what cards you have already placed into the deck, and find the best archetype that fits those 2 criteria. We then finish out the deck with the strongest cards that you own for that deck archetype.

Sometimes a deck doesn't fit into one of the many archetypes and in those cases we resort to a backup plan and give you the most powerful cards that you own in a good mana curve.

[Source] From Mike Donais on March 7, 2019, 10:40 p.m.

It's been almost 2 years since quests and over a year since legendary weapons, is there a chance they can see a return similar to hero cards did with Hagatha?

Legendary weapons, Legendary spells, hero cards and quests all had a positive reaction so we can certainly bring them back at the right time.

When we do bring cards back we want to make sure it is the right time and the story support it like it did for Dr. Boom's Hero card and Hagatha's Hero card.

What is your favorite keyword or cycle of cards or card type that you would want us to bring back first?

[Source] From Iksar on March 7, 2019, 10:37 p.m.

In the Year of the Dragon, are there any plans for more weapons for classes that don't traditionally get them (Mage, Warlock, Druid, Priest) ? Did the team like how the Legendary weapons of K&C played out for these classes?

We did like how weapons in Kobolds played out, though I think we'll wait a while before we revisit Weapons in non-traditional classes.

​

We think it's generally positive when classes have access to things other classes don't, it makes them feel unique. In rare cases we break those rules because it makes thematic sense. In Kobolds, it made sense to us because it was the treasure and loot-themed expansion. If we get to another expansion that makes sense for weapons in non-traditional classes, we might revisit it. For now, you can expect weapon love for Hunter, Paladin, Warrior, Rogue, and occasionally Shaman. Not so much for Mage, Warlock, Priest, or Druid.

[Source] From Mike Donais on March 7, 2019, 10:35 p.m.

General game design question:

What lessons do you all feel that the Year of the Raven has taught you that you can take into the Year of the Dragon?

One important lesson was that new expansions should have a big impact on the meta. We want to see the game continue to evolve over the year because that’s what makes it fun. We helped this by changing some Classic cards so that our new expansions will have a bigger impact, but we will continue pushing new cards that have a bigger impact.

Another lesson we took away from Year of the Raven is that having something to do between expansion releases is important. We are hoping to address this in a variety of ways this year and in the future. One way that we already mentioned is Arena changing every 2 months. Another way is releasing the single-player Adventure a month after the expansion. We’re not done with just that though.

[Source] From Mike Donais on March 7, 2019, 10:35 p.m.

He means Puddlestomper.....I think. Misremembering the name of some murloc. Or he is trolling us.

​

Maybe, with a slight chance we just got a murloc name spoiler for one of the upcoming cards.

I meant Sludge Slurper. I never forget a murloc!

[Source] From Mike Donais on March 7, 2019, 10:24 p.m.

Greetings! August, Mike, Giovanni, and Ben.

I appreciate that Hearthstone dev took the feedback on the changes that was needed to happen to keep it interesting.

Question: Togwaggle is my favorite card of all time, it is an interactive card and silly beating someone down with their own deck, what are some of you guys favorite card from the rotating expansions?

Thanks!

I will miss Arfus. He was a good dog. :(

[Source] From Iksar on March 7, 2019, 10:20 p.m.

Greetings! August, Mike, Giovanni, and Ben.

I appreciate that Hearthstone dev took the feedback on the changes that was needed to happen to keep it interesting.

Question: Togwaggle is my favorite card of all time, it is an interactive card and silly beating someone down with their own deck, what are some of you guys favorite card from the rotating expansions?

Thanks!

Probably Firefly. He's not just my favorite, I'm told he was the best.

[Source] From Iksar on March 7, 2019, 10:19 p.m.

Arena Question, about Banned cards

What will happen with Cards that were banned before the bucket System (ie: Faceless Summoner in this set)? Previously, banned cards were restored from the basic/classic sets, so I'm wondering if the other cards that were banned previously for Arena balance in Wild sets will come back as well.

Also, will C'thun cards be availble in Arena? They were previously banned due to being confusing as you would not be able to build a C'thun deck, but most of these cards were perfectly fine Arena cards with good statlines, especially the neutral cards. As we're far enough away from C'thun decks in constructed, can they be added to the Arena draft pool?

Hi Tarrot! I saw a bunch of Arena questions you posted both in the hsArena reddit and here in this AMA. I worked with another designer to try and get them all rounded up and answered. Here you go!

​

Q:

What will happen with cards that were previously banned from Arena in Wild? A few months ago you restored the Basic/Classic cards that were banned, but what will happen with cards like Faceless Summoner, which was banned prior to the bucket system, and is a part of the Old Gods set. Also, with Old Gods, previously the C'Thun cards were banned because of the inability to build C'Thun decks, but most of those cards would've been perfectly fine Arena cards, and as Old Gods has not been a thing for a while, I imagine that the possibility of confusing players will not be there anymore. Is there any chance those cards could also be added to the Arena pool?

​

A:

This is a list of the cards still banned from Arena in the new format for the next expansion:

Klaxxi Amber-Weaver, Dark Arakkoa, Cult Sorcerer, Twilight Darkmender, Hooded Acolyte, Blade of C'Thun, Usher of Souls, Ancient Shieldbearer, Twin Emperor Vek'lor, Disciple of C'Thun, Doomcaller, C'Thun, Beckoner of Evil, C'Thun's Chosen, Twilight Geomancer, Twilight Elder, Crazed Worshipper, Skeram Cultist, Ancient Watcher, Mind Control Tech, Hagatha the Witch

​

Also banned but technically not in Witchwood as of the next expansion:

Baku the Mooneater, Black Cat, Genn Greymane, Glitter Moth, Gloom Stag, Murkspark Eel

​

Cards that were banned in the past for balance reasons such as Faceless Summoner will be available to draft.

​

C'Thun cards use a lot of text on them that is irrelevant to Arena because you can't realistically draft a C'Thun deck. This is a little bit of a confusing message to send. Most of these cards are pretty bland without the C'Thun text, so rather than have a small bit of confusion from players who don't know what C'Thun is, we thought it was better to leave them out of the draft pool.

​

Q:

Will Arena drafts still be done via the bucket system? If so, how will the cards from pre-bucket system expansions be handled? Will it be based off their performance in Arena (is that data archived?), and if an expansion is removed for one phase and then replaced, will cards be rebucketed based on their pick-rate during a phase, or based off their performance in comparison to other similarly bucketed cards?

​

A:

Yes. Older cards that haven’t had buckets have been initially placed in buckets similar to how we handle new sets. We didn’t do this based off of data, but plan to update these buckets shortly after release based on live data.

​

Cards will maintain their bucket across different seasons, but will still be updated based on new data for each season.

​

Q:

Will the bucket system be reworked, in particular the top bucket? Both MSG and OG did not have any particularly overpowerd cards, with the best cards from each expansion being Bog Creeper in OG (comparable to Furious Ettin, so Top 3/Bot 2 tops) and the tri-class cards in MSG (real popular, I would imagine 2nd bucket cards comparable to Stonehill Defender), so there will be a dearth of neutrals to fill in the top of the first bucket, and in certain classes like Druid and Shaman, there are not nearly enough cards to populate a set of 3 cards in the top bucket. Will it be refined to a smaller system?

​

A:

A few classes do face a problem of having few top bucket cards, leading to similar drafting options over and over. There are some challenges with increasing the amount of cards in the top buckets, as that would lead to seeing weaker cards in general for what are supposed to be your powerful picks. Ideally, we’d like to have a system that provides a lot of variety while still being a satisfying drafting experience. We don’t have a great solution for that yet, but it’s something we’re considering for the future.

​

Q:

Related to the bucket system, how will micro-adjustments work? In large part, micro-adjustments are based very heavily on the cards in a pool, and that the cards in a pool being a stable set of cards. With consistently rotating sets of cards, each different Arena phase will have different power levels of cards, and class powerlevels will vary drastically every two months or so based on which cards they have access to. Will micro-adjusts be reverted for each phase and only used in an emergency situation (if a class is blatantly OP to the point of ruining Arena), or held over for each expansion change?

​

A:

For the first season, we’ll have every card at their base offering rate. Moving forward, it’s undecided whether we will reset offering rates each season. As mentioned earlier, we’re looking to have a faster turnover on updating buckets and micro-adjustments based on early live data.

​

Q:

How long in advance will the new expansions for each Arena phase be announced? If there are two phases an expansion, will the announcement be a month in advance, or a week in advance, or something else?

​

A:

I don't have exact timelines, but I would guess 2-4 weeks in advance. We have some ideas on what the future formats might be, but nothing is finalized yet. Would love some suggestions.

[Source] From Iksar on March 7, 2019, 10:19 p.m.

Hi Tarrot! I saw a bunch of Arena questions you posted both in the hsArena reddit and here in this AMA. I worked with another designer to try and get them all rounded up and answered. Here you go!

​

Q:

What will happen with cards that were previously banned from Arena in Wild? A few months ago you restored the Basic/Classic cards that were banned, but what will happen with cards like Faceless Summoner, which was banned prior to the bucket system, and is a part of the Old Gods set. Also, with Old Gods, previously the C'Thun cards were banned because of the inability to build C'Thun decks, but most of those cards would've been perfectly fine Arena cards, and as Old Gods has not been a thing for a while, I imagine that the possibility of confusing players will not be there anymore. Is there any chance those cards could also be added to the Arena pool?

​

A:

This is a list of the cards still banned from Arena in the new format for the next expansion:

Klaxxi Amber-Weaver, Dark Arakkoa, Cult Sorcerer, Twilight Darkmender, Hooded Acolyte, Blade of C'Thun, Usher of Souls, Ancient Shieldbearer, Twin Emperor Vek'lor, Disciple of C'Thun, Doomcaller, C'Thun, Beckoner of Evil, C'Thun's Chosen, Twilight Geomancer, Twilight Elder, Crazed Worshipper, Skeram Cultist, Ancient Watcher, Mind Control Tech, Hagatha the Witch

​

Also banned but technically not in Witchwood as of the next expansion:

Baku the Mooneater, Black Cat, Genn Greymane, Glitter Moth, Gloom Stag, Murkspark Eel

​

Cards that were banned in the past for balance reasons such as Faceless Summoner will be available to draft.

​

C'Thun cards use a lot of text on them that is irrelevant to Arena because you can't realistically draft a C'Thun deck. This is a little bit of a confusing message to send. Most of these cards are pretty bland without the C'Thun text, so rather than have a small bit of confusion from players who don't know what C'Thun is, we thought it was better to leave them out of the draft pool.

​

Q:

Will Arena drafts still be done via the bucket system? If so, how will the cards from pre-bucket system expansions be handled? Will it be based off their performance in Arena (is that data archived?), and if an expansion is removed for one phase and then replaced, will cards be rebucketed based on their pick-rate during a phase, or based off their performance in comparison to other similarly bucketed cards?

​

A:

Yes. Older cards that haven’t had buckets have been initially placed in buckets similar to how we handle new sets. We didn’t do this based off of data, but plan to update these buckets shortly after release based on live data.

​

Cards will maintain their bucket across different seasons, but will still be updated based on new data for each season.

​

Q:

Will the bucket system be reworked, in particular the top bucket? Both MSG and OG did not have any particularly overpowerd cards, with the best cards from each expansion being Bog Creeper in OG (comparable to Furious Ettin, so Top 3/Bot 2 tops) and the tri-class cards in MSG (real popular, I would imagine 2nd bucket cards comparable to Stonehill Defender), so there will be a dearth of neutrals to fill in the top of the first bucket, and in certain classes like Druid and Shaman, there are not nearly enough cards to populate a set of 3 cards in the top bucket. Will it be refined to a smaller system?

​

A:

A few classes do face a problem of having few top bucket cards, leading to similar drafting options over and over. There are some challenges with increasing the amount of cards in the top buckets, as that would lead to seeing weaker cards in general for what are supposed to be your powerful picks. Ideally, we’d like to have a system that provides a lot of variety while still being a satisfying drafting experience. We don’t have a great solution for that yet, but it’s something we’re considering for the future.

​

Q:

Related to the bucket system, how will micro-adjustments work? In large part, micro-adjustments are based very heavily on the cards in a pool, and that the cards in a pool being a stable set of cards. With consistently rotating sets of cards, each different Arena phase will have different power levels of cards, and class powerlevels will vary drastically every two months or so based on which cards they have access to. Will micro-adjusts be reverted for each phase and only used in an emergency situation (if a class is blatantly OP to the point of ruining Arena), or held over for each expansion change?

​

A:

For the first season, we’ll have every card at their base offering rate. Moving forward, it’s undecided whether we will reset offering rates each season. As mentioned earlier, we’re looking to have a faster turnover on updating buckets and micro-adjustments based on early live data.

​

Q:

How long in advance will the new expansions for each Arena phase be announced? If there are two phases an expansion, will the announcement be a month in advance, or a week in advance, or something else?

​

A:

I don't have exact timelines, but I would guess 2-4 weeks in advance. We have some ideas on what the future formats might be, but nothing is finalized yet. Would love some suggestions.

Q:

How will the Leaderboard be handled in the future? A lot of players have talked that 30 runs/month, while a fair number, is difficult to obtain. With each phase of Arena being 2 months, is there a chance of doing an overall leaderboard over those 2 months, at maybe best consecutive 30/40 runs, rather than a monthly announcement?

​

A:

This is another one we're looking for community feedback on. Currently, the thought is to do one leaderboard with the same 30 consecutive run rule per Arena season. This would mean doing it about once every 2 months.

​

Q:

Related, how will Arena events work? This year, we didn't have Taverns of Time nor Wildfest, but we had other arena events throughout the year that took 3 weeks to a month per expansion release. With the ever in flux Arena card pool, will these events continue, especially since it would detract from the time to experience the new Arena metas every two months. Previously, it seemed these were planned in the 3rd month once Arena was settled, so these events might interrupt that.

​

A:

We still plan to do arena events like Dual-Class Arena. However, it's unlikely we'll do a ton more Arena events just because the format is already going to be rotating every two months.

​

Q:

As Arena is no longer Standard, is there any chance of Hall of Fame cards being available in Arena? Most HoF cards were placed there because of their Constructed synergies, and were only ok to good Arena cards. For example, in the current rotation, all three cards were ok cards, situationaly really powerful, but by no means broken in Arena. As a result, is there any chance that the HoF cards could be available in Arena again since it is not Standard, since a lot of these cards do reward intelligent play?

​

A:

Technically speaking, we treat Hall of Fame like any other individual set. It's possible (likely even) we'll bring them into the Arena pool at some point, though they aren't a part of the next format.

​

Q:

Out of curiosity, how will Discover work? Previously with Standard/Wild, it felt like Discover was based around those two modes, but can it be honed to only pull cards from individual sets? I imagine that Discover not pulling banned Arena cards was too hard to implement directly, but will it be refined to the Arena sets?

​

A:

I'm excited about this actually! Discover and random card generation will only pull from the cards in the sets available to draft. We didn't originally have the tech to do this but our engineers are wizards and conjured up a solution in time. Thanks, wizard engineers!

​

Q:

I assume this is the case, but will decks be retired automatically upon each Arena phase-shift?

​

A:

Yes. If you have a run in progress when the new season starts, your run will be retired and you’ll receive an Arena ticket.

[Source] From Mike Donais on March 7, 2019, 10:04 p.m.

Didn't someone already ask this? I swear I'm seeing twins.

I just wanted to double down on the fact that we can't give any new keywords away.

[Source] From Mike Donais on March 7, 2019, 10:01 p.m.

Why are we getting so few murlocs lately?

I love murlocs and I am hoping to add a splash of murlocs in the next few expansions. Sludge Slurper has an amazing coming into play sound, check it out!

[Source] From Mike Donais on March 7, 2019, 9:57 p.m.

Is there any opportunity the heartstone devs could include stats, achievements, and auto-squelch for devoted and long-term players?

The devs officially actualized borrow-a-deck feature, bunches of card expansions, mirror hero greetings, changing Jaina's portait most likely they can likewise achieve this.

Some of this has been discussed in other answers, but I want to mention Squelch because it is something that different game designers around the world feel differently about.

From a game design perspective, emotes help players feel that they are playing a game against other human players, and squelch would hurt that. Emotes create emotional moments, whether it’s a begrudging acknowledgement of a good play from your opponent, or even a taunt here and there.

That said, there are pros and cons, and it’s an interesting topic of discussion.

[Source] From Iksar on March 7, 2019, 9:44 p.m.

Are there any plans for new game modes like co-op?

We have a bunch of plans for this year that aren't new game modes. Our focus right now is making sure existing game modes feel like they’re fresh and exciting, like our recent update to Arena. The honest answer is that we haven't figured out what the next Hearthstone game mode will be. We talk pretty in-depth about common suggestions like 2v2; we've even spent some time in design and engineering prototyping what that mode might translate to in Hearthstone. That said, it's not something we’re working on today. We have some ambitious ideas for game modes in mind, but they’re still very early on in the design process.

As far as new stuff goes, in 2019 we’re really focusing on improving some of our existing systems while also doing some unique events throughout the expansion timeline to shake up the meta in fun ways. We'll share more information about these events as they get closer to release.

[Source] From Mike Donais on March 7, 2019, 9:40 p.m.

What's this...an actual piece of new, concrete information in a Hearthstone AMA?!

Very excited to see what the new "preview card" will be! :)

This time we will gave away the card a week before the expansion comes out so you can use it over the prerelease weekend.

[Source] From Mike Donais on March 7, 2019, 9:37 p.m.

Greetings from the Custom Hearthstone side of the web.

I must ask why you prefer to make mechanics that work for only one expansion when you could stretch the idea out to work all year in three? I liked how Treant Druid was spread out and wouldn't have minded that for Freeze Shaman as an attempt.

We do a mix of this. Sometimes a mechanic like Rush and Lifesteal and Discover is kept for years. Sometimes we do it for one expansion. Freeze is a good example because it isn't very fun to have your minions frozen a lot so making that into a Tier 1 deck is pretty dangerous. We have seen this in mage already.

When we have a build-around like treants or elementals or dragons we can launch it and see how it goes, then slowly add cards to increase the power level over the next few years. Dragon Priest is a great example of this because it has been a reasonable deck for years and it changes each year as some of the strong cards leave, and new strong cards show up.

In the future we want to have more decks that rely on cards in two different years so that when rotation happens the deck changes, with some cards leaving and new cards entering the decks.

[Source] From Mike Donais on March 7, 2019, 9:29 p.m.

Could we get a better achievement system, with more complicated, hard to do quests that perhaps reward cards/cosmetics that aren't otherwise obtainable?

We all like the idea of more achievements and tracking of progress. We were able to add a bunch of this in the new Single Player adventure that is coming out after the first Expansion of the year. We will let you unlock hero powers and starting decks through play and we will track which hero powers and starting decks that you have won with. Hopefully in the future we can do more of this. Each time we do a new feature like this we learn more about it and expand on the technology as we go.

[Source] From Mike Donais on March 7, 2019, 9:20 p.m.

What are the current thoughts of the Hearthstone team about implementing another format, such as Pauper?

Follow-up question: what new format would you personally like to see experimented with in Hearthstone?

This seems like a great idea for a Tavern Brawl. We have so many ideas and suggestions both internally and externally for new game modes that we can't just add all of them to the game. Having them show up as Tavern Brawls guarantees that a lot of the community is focused on them and all talking about that mode and playing it at the same time.

When we do this as a Tavern Brawl would you rather it be a regular brawl or what we call Brawliseum (meaning it is 100 gold to enter and you get rewards based on success)?

[Source] From Iksar on March 7, 2019, 9:13 p.m.

There's a lot of older players who feel like they have achieved everything in the game and there's nothing left for them besides the monthly legend grind.

How do you plan to address this issue?

One of our goals is to do a better job of creating medium to long-term goals. We've talked about doing special rewards for something beyond 500 wins, though I'm curious what players would want to achieve. If you have any specific milestones you think we should celebrate and reward in-game we'd love to hear about them. We could go the route of static achievement like 1000 wins, try to create a continuously rewarding system that doesn't have a cap like leveling in Overwatch, or do some time-based weekly or monthly progression system. We've been talking about all of these individually and will likely release at least one of them.

​

Also wanted to address something that comes up with every AMA. We spend a lot of time talking about the things we're working on, but players obviously want to know when the thing is being released. This format isn't going to be great for that because when we're ready to announce a thing is happening, we'll do a video or blog and release it simultaneously to every region on our website. I hope that AMAs can be a place where we can discuss some of the things we're thinking about so players can both get some insight to what is going on or have the opportunity to give feedback on the general direction we're thinking about.

[Source] From Mike Donais on March 7, 2019, 9:09 p.m.

What is the HS team's opinion on how regions are handled by the Battle.net client?

For me it's strange that each player account has an independent player profile and hence card collection for each region and it's very impractical. And it means I can't play against my friends on

I started playing while on exchange in the Americas and when I came back I couldn't use my card collection in Europe, nor play with my european friends with my american cards. That's not really user-friendly and imo contradicts the whole "play with your friends" theme that the devs tried to establish with Fireside Gatherings etc. Calling it "Global Play" seems like mockery to me because it's actually the opposite. And the reason behind it can't be technical limitations because in Overwatch each player account has only one player profile that's shared across regions (as it should be).

Any chance to merge card collections?

When Hearthstone was built originally the technology for world wide collections didn't exist so we built our game around that. The vast majority of players play only in one region so this works great for them.

I do feel for the players like you that play in multiple regions though. It is a lot of work to change this so we haven't prioritized it yet over card sets or current features.

[Source] From Ben Thompson on March 7, 2019, 9:10 p.m.

Can you tell us about what you are working on to improve mobile performance? Are you working on decreasing the game file size? Are you working on decreaseing the time from launch app to play?

Improved mobile performance is definitely something we continue to look for opportunities to improve on. Recently we optimized the size of the art files specifically to take up less space while still maintaining the level of quality we would like to maintain. Additionally we are in the middle of looking at sound for future places to optimize, one such idea being; removing the background music for adventures a player doesn't own and as such will never make use of.

[Source] From Ben Thompson on March 7, 2019, 9:23 p.m.

Improvement lately has been noticeable HS team, but this is SO huge as you are notorious for going dark on us for huge periods of time.

I think i speak for everyone when we say we love this game, but more communication would do so much to stem some of the salt and make your playerbase feel more involved.

u/PidgeonPuncher - great Q

Edit for context: Blizzard often feels like this goliath that doesn't care about us beyond the depth of our wallets, would be awesome to have some back and forth.

As the very person saying that in the video, I can honestly say we mean it.
Frequency is the very first thing we can address by looking for opportunities to share more often the things we are working on, as much as possible in a way that will feel timely and relevant. Additionally I would say we want to be even more honest with our players, meaning here sharing not only those things we are excited about but also the things we are concerned about or mistakes we have made and want to address.

I know the Hearthstone team is excited for the opportunity to engage with you and you can expect to see more frequent articles, blog posts, AMA's, behind the scenes and hearth side chats that will introduce you to a broader range of developers on the team. To your point specifically we have cited our want to do this separate from proximity to expansions.

[Source] From Ben Thompson on March 7, 2019, 9:28 p.m.

Whoever's wearing the Rival Sons tee I love you

The new album is SO GOOD!
I will be seeing them for the 3rd time when they hit Los Angeles in a couple months.... cant wait

[Source] From Ben Thompson on March 7, 2019, 9:35 p.m.

I really love cosmetics in games. Any plans to introduce other cosmetics besides hero portraits and card backs? Things such as: game board corners, hero entrances, emotes, background music during game, etc.?

No surprise: so do we!
Many of the ones you list here have definitely come up in conversation and I know I personally am interested in what kind of additional aesthetics people are excited about. I know the team at large would love to hear more ideas like this, so feel free to post em! Are there any of these that specifically interest you?

[Source] From Ben Thompson on March 7, 2019, 9:37 p.m.

I would like to get some of the first card backs.

Believe me when I say EVERYONE on the team feels similarly as without exception we are all missing one or more cards and would love the chance to complete our collections as well! We are definitely looking at how best to handle this.

[Source] From Ben Thompson on March 7, 2019, 9:51 p.m.

Can you go into any more detail on how the three expansions will tied together?

They will be tied in several ways. First and foremost they will be telling an ongoing story for all three expansions and as such you can expect characters (some of whom you are learning about in the teasers as we speak!) to make multiple appearances across all three sets. The "Trilogy" will take a variety of twists and turns (as you would expect from any good story) along the way and be largely told through the single player portion, though you can expect much of the theme to be present in the expansion itself.

In addition to this there are plans to link many of the tavern brawls and in game events to the story, and we are looking forward to even more opportunities to do things like this along the way.

[Source] From Ben Thompson on March 7, 2019, 9:57 p.m.

What's the new keyword for the next expansion?

We'd give you a hint, but it might give two much away...

[Source] From Ben Thompson on March 7, 2019, 10:04 p.m.

What is the thought process behind Nozdormu still existing in its current form? Is there no concern hundreds of thousands of dollars are going to be decided someday on a bizarre, non-strategic interaction from a randomly generated minion?

As someone with a disability that effects my motor control, random Nozdormu's popping up are, by far, my worst Hearthstone experience. Look, I don't need the whole 90 seconds to take my turns, I plan in advance to compensate, but I can only rarely deal with Nozdormu surprise entering play, even if I have an answer.

I appreciate your raising this concern and it is certainly something that I want to take back to the team. I wish I had a direct answer for you right now on this, but I want to give the topic the consideration and thought that it obviously deserves. Thank you for making us aware of it

[Source] From Ben Thompson on March 7, 2019, 10:18 p.m.

In World of Warcraft there’s several tributes and pop culture references, some of which have popped up in hearthstone. As someone who grew up listening to The Prodigy, it was heartbreaking to hear of Keith’s Flint’s passing. Might we see a tribute of sorts in the future in the form of an Elemental 🔥 “Flint Firestarter” 🔥

As a music fan myself I was also saddened to hear of Keith Flint's passing...
We have added some here and there in the game already though they are usually more subtle in nature. Specifically on the Karazhan board in the top left corner when you click repeatedly on the plate of coals you will randomly summon a fall of glowing "Purple Rain", which coincided with the passing of Prince. It is great to be able to do these homages when possible.

[Source] From Ben Thompson on March 7, 2019, 10:31 p.m.

This is probably one of the best pieces of news so far. The problem a lot of us have had with the HS team in the past is the months of waiting for any news or updates. In the past few months it looks like this has improved a lot and I hope it will continue with even more frequency. We want to know what you guys are working on!

Glad to hear you are already noticing! The community team and the game team are working very closely to help improve on not just frequency, but also the timeliness of the comments/engagement.

[Source] From Ben Thompson on March 7, 2019, 10:31 p.m.

Thanks for the ping and /u/Ben_Thompson_HS thanks for the reply. Super glad to hear

Yeah, sorry for the mis-reply... my Reddit skills could use some work...

[Source] From Ben Thompson on March 7, 2019, 10:31 p.m.

i think not all communication has to come in terms of game-breaking news. Its cool when you guys comment on memes and mundane stuff. Everyone remembers the Un'goro hype from Brode's rap. Also remember when Mike Donais use to co-op some of Hafu's arena runs.

Definitely notice the improvement lately, keep it up!

We agree! Interactions like this are fun for us too. I can't promise any raps in the future, but expect more involvement from the team at large ;)

[Source] From Ben Thompson on March 7, 2019, 10:50 p.m.

I really love cosmetics in games. Any plans to introduce other cosmetics besides hero portraits and card backs? Things such as: game board corners, hero entrances, emotes, background music during game, etc.?

Great ideas in here gang, keep em' coming and I look forward to taking these back to the art and design teams!

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