Hmmm, that middle item "Change to the region dropdown..." feels like it could have affected the front menu on my phone... I always attempt to find information regarding the patches with very little success... thx for the research!
Thx for the reply; I swear I've never seen that green glow before, but maybe my phone is slow/needed update? Not sure, but if I'm not missing out on anything (the arena run I am doing right now is dual class, so that's not new), no big deal. Thx again!
Just logged in and got an update notice. Downloaded the update, processed the packet (quickly I might add) then green fireflies have sprouted across the tavern's main screen and a green outline surrounds the Arena button for a moment (they are no changes to Arena that I can see, though I am in the middle of a run)... anyone know what is going on?
I think they put the card in there to promote multiple runs and give that sense of overkill... the card is certainly broken, but isn't that what holiday dungeon runs are about?
I have a feeling the AU team was going to leave the tournament regardless of Blizzard's reaction... the fact that Blizzard did nothing highlights the fact blitzchung's region was integral to his punishment. I hope this controversy continues to receive the exposure it's getting now (and more) to bring attention to Hong Kong's plight.
In my opinion, that's awesome. Winnie the Pooh symbolizing the fight for human rights and freedom is the kind of thing you could previously only read about (and probably not believe)
I don't know if this is true (the intent of Blizzard to garner global attention while still keeping their lucrative ties with China strong), but I greatly hope so.
While many have suggested Blizzard determined the severity of the punishment, I think that is an assumption as well... we simply do not know what the influencing parties were in that decision.
Each individual has their own decision to make on how they will react to this information (and, if chWolfgang is right, this information reaches a lot more individuals based on Blizzard's actions). They each must decide if a reciprocating punishment should be levied on Blizzard (i.e. quitting, protesting), if Blizzard's actions, while concerning to reprehensible, are understandable, or if they stand with Blizzard's decision and support it. This is the freedom that we enjoy in our country (as well, I pray, in all of yours) and within this forum.
When given that perspective, what truly matters becomes clear. Don't allow your reactions toward Blizzard distract you from the real issue.
Edit: as the story continues, Blizzard continues to make poor decisions, so as hopeful as I was that Blizzard was attempting to covertly bring global attention to Hong Kong Human Rights, it seems this is not the case. They also handled the two casters for Blizzard Taiwan unfairly and have (as far as I can tell) not reverted their stance on firing them for simply being the recipient of BlitzChung's message. Any recommendations for games like Hearthstone?
Great article; I love these explorations into the game design and mechanics! I believe the last point is the strongest (followed by 2, then 1), as the medium allows for a lot of design choices that simply aren't plausible in paper games. Take a look at many of the dungeons that implement boss mechanics and the copy game mechanic... how would these even be possible? Also, as has already been mentioned, the RNG allows for players to have some success without meta decks or serious skill, encouraging newcomers to stick around and have fun (and spend money, of course).
To me the bigger factor is the lack of rush, giving the opponent an opportunity to deal with whatever is there... there is also not a huge advantage to mutating a 10 drop as well, which probably adds to the differences...
Keep in mind that Blizzard will want to maximize profits, regardless of what they do (even if that results in a price cut, the cut will be because the revenue will increase as more people will buy). If you keep that perspective at the front of your argument, we know certain things are unlikely to happen:
1.) Making the Classic/Basic cards viable (through reworks or buffs) regardless of the expansion would hurt sales of the expansion packs (who would need to buy them to compete?). To use the Priest example (i.e. every expansion has a broken Priest deck because the Classic set is awful), if they fixed the Classic set so it alone was strong, who would buy the cards needed for the new meta deck that has been blowing up the ladder?
2.) Giving out the entire Classic set (or a rotational set) for free/at a drastically reduced price will remove the revenue from Classic packs entirely, so unless this results in more expansion packs selling, it would be unlikely (maybe the survey results suggest people would spend the money they saved from the Classic price reduction on other packs, but I doubt it). Classic packs also provide a steady revenue that doesn't change through rotations (btw, I am ALL in favor of discounting packs after rotation... I can't imagine why this hasn't been done, aside from potentially reducing dust cost).
3.) No matter what, the best deck meta MUST necessitate the new expansion cards, or as a business you have failed. You could argue a delay in response time to broken meta cards is intentional to force people to buy packs/craft the broken card, then nerf it to result in different expansion cards being needed. I know you typically receive the full dust from creating these cards upon nerf, but that doesn't result in a 100% return on investment (maybe in very rare scenarios, but not usually... see "Gift Card Theory" in Marketing for more info on that). I'm not saying this is true, just playing devil's advocate...
I don't think this is all doom and gloom; a company asking these survey questions is a great step in the right direction and can result in wonderful initiatives that benefit players (reduced pack cost, new bundles across different price points, new ideas and fixes for points of contention, etc...). I'm just suggesting to temper your expectations and remember the bottom line is always the bottom line. :)
It is ridiculously powerful against aggro boards, but I guess the same could be said for Sea Giant & Mountain Giant (I know these cards don't have rush, and maybe that's the issue here... wouldn't help the Mutate issue though)
This has been my favorite dungeon so far... I love the progression system (the treasures/hero powers bring an RPG element to the game as well as allowing you to try some silly/ridiculously overpowered combinations). I also like I can resume a very long battle at any time and, if I get screwed by RNG (as I did last night... never trust Yogg-Saron), I also know the next time I step to the Plague Lord it will be an easy win.
BTW, Jythiros of Questions is my favorite enemy ever... what a fun mechanic!
Keep in mind that if you died to the final boss when it had 1 health remaining in the previous dungeons, you would still have to redo everything, except you would have no progress against the final boss when you reached them again. While I haven't played every chapter yet, I really like the Plague Lord mechanic; I also think it (along with all of the treasures) encourages replay, which is what you want as a developer.
I had a lot of success with Mogu without the mutate... including it means dropping the Ghost Light Angler and Nightmare Amalgam, which feels like a good trade up...
Hmmm, that middle item "Change to the region dropdown..." feels like it could have affected the front menu on my phone... I always attempt to find information regarding the patches with very little success... thx for the research!
Thx for the reply; I swear I've never seen that green glow before, but maybe my phone is slow/needed update? Not sure, but if I'm not missing out on anything (the arena run I am doing right now is dual class, so that's not new), no big deal. Thx again!
Just logged in and got an update notice. Downloaded the update, processed the packet (quickly I might add) then green fireflies have sprouted across the tavern's main screen and a green outline surrounds the Arena button for a moment (they are no changes to Arena that I can see, though I am in the middle of a run)... anyone know what is going on?
I think they put the card in there to promote multiple runs and give that sense of overkill... the card is certainly broken, but isn't that what holiday dungeon runs are about?
I have a feeling the AU team was going to leave the tournament regardless of Blizzard's reaction... the fact that Blizzard did nothing highlights the fact blitzchung's region was integral to his punishment. I hope this controversy continues to receive the exposure it's getting now (and more) to bring attention to Hong Kong's plight.
I was really excited to get this... thank you Fire Festival!
In my opinion, that's awesome. Winnie the Pooh symbolizing the fight for human rights and freedom is the kind of thing you could previously only read about (and probably not believe)
Man I love that graphic...
I don't know if this is true (the intent of Blizzard to garner global attention while still keeping their lucrative ties with China strong), but I greatly hope so.
While many have suggested Blizzard determined the severity of the punishment, I think that is an assumption as well... we simply do not know what the influencing parties were in that decision.
Each individual has their own decision to make on how they will react to this information (and, if chWolfgang is right, this information reaches a lot more individuals based on Blizzard's actions). They each must decide if a reciprocating punishment should be levied on Blizzard (i.e. quitting, protesting), if Blizzard's actions, while concerning to reprehensible, are understandable, or if they stand with Blizzard's decision and support it. This is the freedom that we enjoy in our country (as well, I pray, in all of yours) and within this forum.
When given that perspective, what truly matters becomes clear. Don't allow your reactions toward Blizzard distract you from the real issue.
Edit: as the story continues, Blizzard continues to make poor decisions, so as hopeful as I was that Blizzard was attempting to covertly bring global attention to Hong Kong Human Rights, it seems this is not the case. They also handled the two casters for Blizzard Taiwan unfairly and have (as far as I can tell) not reverted their stance on firing them for simply being the recipient of BlitzChung's message. Any recommendations for games like Hearthstone?
Great article; I love these explorations into the game design and mechanics! I believe the last point is the strongest (followed by 2, then 1), as the medium allows for a lot of design choices that simply aren't plausible in paper games. Take a look at many of the dungeons that implement boss mechanics and the copy game mechanic... how would these even be possible? Also, as has already been mentioned, the RNG allows for players to have some success without meta decks or serious skill, encouraging newcomers to stick around and have fun (and spend money, of course).
I'm at least curious... it's interesting to see what metas are popular in different regions...
To me the bigger factor is the lack of rush, giving the opponent an opportunity to deal with whatever is there... there is also not a huge advantage to mutating a 10 drop as well, which probably adds to the differences...
Keep in mind that Blizzard will want to maximize profits, regardless of what they do (even if that results in a price cut, the cut will be because the revenue will increase as more people will buy). If you keep that perspective at the front of your argument, we know certain things are unlikely to happen:
1.) Making the Classic/Basic cards viable (through reworks or buffs) regardless of the expansion would hurt sales of the expansion packs (who would need to buy them to compete?). To use the Priest example (i.e. every expansion has a broken Priest deck because the Classic set is awful), if they fixed the Classic set so it alone was strong, who would buy the cards needed for the new meta deck that has been blowing up the ladder?
2.) Giving out the entire Classic set (or a rotational set) for free/at a drastically reduced price will remove the revenue from Classic packs entirely, so unless this results in more expansion packs selling, it would be unlikely (maybe the survey results suggest people would spend the money they saved from the Classic price reduction on other packs, but I doubt it). Classic packs also provide a steady revenue that doesn't change through rotations (btw, I am ALL in favor of discounting packs after rotation... I can't imagine why this hasn't been done, aside from potentially reducing dust cost).
3.) No matter what, the best deck meta MUST necessitate the new expansion cards, or as a business you have failed. You could argue a delay in response time to broken meta cards is intentional to force people to buy packs/craft the broken card, then nerf it to result in different expansion cards being needed. I know you typically receive the full dust from creating these cards upon nerf, but that doesn't result in a 100% return on investment (maybe in very rare scenarios, but not usually... see "Gift Card Theory" in Marketing for more info on that). I'm not saying this is true, just playing devil's advocate...
I don't think this is all doom and gloom; a company asking these survey questions is a great step in the right direction and can result in wonderful initiatives that benefit players (reduced pack cost, new bundles across different price points, new ideas and fixes for points of contention, etc...). I'm just suggesting to temper your expectations and remember the bottom line is always the bottom line. :)
It is ridiculously powerful against aggro boards, but I guess the same could be said for Sea Giant & Mountain Giant (I know these cards don't have rush, and maybe that's the issue here... wouldn't help the Mutate issue though)
This has been my favorite dungeon so far... I love the progression system (the treasures/hero powers bring an RPG element to the game as well as allowing you to try some silly/ridiculously overpowered combinations). I also like I can resume a very long battle at any time and, if I get screwed by RNG (as I did last night... never trust Yogg-Saron), I also know the next time I step to the Plague Lord it will be an easy win.
BTW, Jythiros of Questions is my favorite enemy ever... what a fun mechanic!
Keep in mind that if you died to the final boss when it had 1 health remaining in the previous dungeons, you would still have to redo everything, except you would have no progress against the final boss when you reached them again. While I haven't played every chapter yet, I really like the Plague Lord mechanic; I also think it (along with all of the treasures) encourages replay, which is what you want as a developer.
I had a lot of success with Mogu without the mutate... including it means dropping the Ghost Light Angler and Nightmare Amalgam, which feels like a good trade up...
Timing feels a bit weird, seeing how monthly play ends today... I wonder if this limited time event will last for 31 days?
Used the Murloc Shaman (which I was running an inferior version of) to gain 8 ranks over the weekend... thx Outof.Cards!!!
I just played three warlocks running this deck... this can't be coincidental. Outof.cards is redefining the ladders!