The thing is all the Pros all have access to the same cards so if they lose out on that kind of money usually it is decision based not because something is broken(they can play the broken thing too). And yeah sometimes they lose out on money because of RNG but that is card games and they are or at least should be well aware of that. But to the point of the way you suggested they do balance, that is one way to tackle it but from experience with smaller physical card games it does not even come close to finding the kind of data you get from live play. As it turns out unpaid play testers are still going to be a small group and not all that motivated because they are just testing with no real reward other than satisfaction that you are making the game slightly better which only goes so far. So stuff will still either slip through or just get scrapped because it is too much work. Like I said in the first comment there are Pros and Cons to both ways personally I believe the way they are doing it now is the better way to do it, there is no harm in disagreeing.
Balancing a game is extremely hard and time consuming but when you can collect the data from thousands of games that can lead to better data. One reason I really like this kind of balancing personally is it gives leeway for more powerful and interesting things that they would likely never have even tried in the first place out of fear of being unable to balance it. There are Pros and Cons to both ways of doing it but to say this isn't balancing and is just a cash grab is a bit more cynical than the truth of how these things work.
I mean just about every nerf was to slow the deck down. Sludge does half the damage it did before and it is highly unlikely they will get a mogu out before turn 5 in most games especially if you are paying attention. And the cultist coming down a turn later seems like a pretty big deal because a lot of the time that means another turn they have to wait to play the wolves and get the 4 directed damage from the cultist for board control. I think these changes will make it even worse against the aggro decks, slightly worse against midrange, but for control the only big difference is giving them another turn to come up with an answer to wolves. At least I think that will be the results we will see, I am a little sad that the wolves did not get directly hit or the rush on either part of Galakrond but I think a light nerf is worth a try. As a side note I am interested to see if the apothecary ends up being a problem or not, I think not but it will be swingy and high rolling sometimes.
I have played a lot of Tess and can confirm the change was reverted, it has been a while since I have had her kill herself so unless they reverted it back again since the last time you must have encountered a bug
I disagree there are other answers to stuff like Lucenbark and most decks aren't even running silence right now even though it is really strong against stuff like Mech hunter and paladin. I think their are very interesting cards that are hit way harder than powerful cards that need to be held in check. I also think that silence and transform are very uninteresting ways to handle it though I am not sure what other ways they could do it.
Uh we already know the quest and it is very easy to complete, if you can survive completing the quest is another question and I think this card is just like he said a really good way to make up for the lower power turns to complete the quest.
To me the powerful part of this card is being able to duplicate legendaries which druid does have a fair bit of strong ones. I have been getting rank 5 plus each season with a Lucentbark already and I really like her for that deck for duping lucentbark and floop against control shaman and priest. It sucks to lose some of the healing but you can still run multiples of those and just hope they aren't on the bottom of your deck. Also her combo potential is through the roof.
Yep it always baffled me that releases are based on one of the the last time zones for the region, I mean I get it that is where they are based but it is kind of annoying.
Why should Vectus avoid being used with Lucentbark?
The thing is all the Pros all have access to the same cards so if they lose out on that kind of money usually it is decision based not because something is broken(they can play the broken thing too). And yeah sometimes they lose out on money because of RNG but that is card games and they are or at least should be well aware of that. But to the point of the way you suggested they do balance, that is one way to tackle it but from experience with smaller physical card games it does not even come close to finding the kind of data you get from live play. As it turns out unpaid play testers are still going to be a small group and not all that motivated because they are just testing with no real reward other than satisfaction that you are making the game slightly better which only goes so far. So stuff will still either slip through or just get scrapped because it is too much work. Like I said in the first comment there are Pros and Cons to both ways personally I believe the way they are doing it now is the better way to do it, there is no harm in disagreeing.
Balancing a game is extremely hard and time consuming but when you can collect the data from thousands of games that can lead to better data. One reason I really like this kind of balancing personally is it gives leeway for more powerful and interesting things that they would likely never have even tried in the first place out of fear of being unable to balance it. There are Pros and Cons to both ways of doing it but to say this isn't balancing and is just a cash grab is a bit more cynical than the truth of how these things work.
That and witching hour seems like a really good package
I mean just about every nerf was to slow the deck down. Sludge does half the damage it did before and it is highly unlikely they will get a mogu out before turn 5 in most games especially if you are paying attention. And the cultist coming down a turn later seems like a pretty big deal because a lot of the time that means another turn they have to wait to play the wolves and get the 4 directed damage from the cultist for board control. I think these changes will make it even worse against the aggro decks, slightly worse against midrange, but for control the only big difference is giving them another turn to come up with an answer to wolves. At least I think that will be the results we will see, I am a little sad that the wolves did not get directly hit or the rush on either part of Galakrond but I think a light nerf is worth a try. As a side note I am interested to see if the apothecary ends up being a problem or not, I think not but it will be swingy and high rolling sometimes.
Druid: Elise
Mage: Medivh(I want Khadgar the only portrait I am missing but will also change to 1K portrait if I ever get it)
Shaman: 1K Thrall
Warrior: Magni(might switch to deathwing)
Warlock: Guldan
Priest: Tyranda
Hunter: Aleria
Paladin: Arthas
Rogue: 1K Valeera
I have played a lot of Tess and can confirm the change was reverted, it has been a while since I have had her kill herself so unless they reverted it back again since the last time you must have encountered a bug
yeah but you also start one card down because of the quest and just because you have to have unspent mana doesn't mean you don't play cards
Yeah Sprint has forever paid the prep tax and it got worse than it already was when prep got nerfed
I disagree there are other answers to stuff like Lucenbark and most decks aren't even running silence right now even though it is really strong against stuff like Mech hunter and paladin. I think their are very interesting cards that are hit way harder than powerful cards that need to be held in check. I also think that silence and transform are very uninteresting ways to handle it though I am not sure what other ways they could do it.
Uh we already know the quest and it is very easy to complete, if you can survive completing the quest is another question and I think this card is just like he said a really good way to make up for the lower power turns to complete the quest.
I wanted the quest for my Lucenbark deck before this was revealed so seems good.
To me the powerful part of this card is being able to duplicate legendaries which druid does have a fair bit of strong ones. I have been getting rank 5 plus each season with a Lucentbark already and I really like her for that deck for duping lucentbark and floop against control shaman and priest. It sucks to lose some of the healing but you can still run multiples of those and just hope they aren't on the bottom of your deck. Also her combo potential is through the roof.
I suppose you could do another Florist the gloop just makes it so the florist isn't necessary and gives you a chance to make a huge auctioneer turn
This is awesome another way my Lucentbark Druid falls apart against shaman. I would love some kind of an answer to transform or silence.
Yep it always baffled me that releases are based on one of the the last time zones for the region, I mean I get it that is where they are based but it is kind of annoying.