This isn't the first time the Chinese version of Hearthstone has received special features not available elsewhere in the world. Chinese players will be able to compete in tournaments and earn a special Battlenet points currency.
This client addon feature is currently in beta and only available in China as it is not "Blizzard Official" but rather "NetEase Official".
Special thanks to czhihong for breaking the news and translating the original blog post.
How Tournaments Work in Chinese Hearthstone
- A special client must be installed (windows only). Think of it like running a third-party decktracker, just this is from the company who runs the game in China.
- Login to Hearthstone with the special client open and you can compete.
- The client allows you to watch your replays and view past tournament results.
- Tournaments use the Standard, Last Hero Standing BO3 format.
- Players play 15 rounds. These rounds can be played at any time during the 3 day tournament.
- Decks can be changed between rounds but not during your current round.
- Zayle, Shadow Cloak and Whizbang the Wonderful cannot be used.
According to YingDi, more formats outside of just Standard will be supported in the future. The first tournaments being held will take place this weekend (16-18 August 2019, 1700 to 2200 CST daily).
The Custom Interface
Featuring the special tournament button that becomes active with the addon, the rules, deck selection, matchmaking, opponent found, current standings, and past results.
Prizes
- 1st to 10th – 388 Battlenet points
- 11th to 500th – 60 Battlenet points
- 501st to 1000th – 30 Battlenet points
You can also get 15 Battlenet points for taking a feedback survey.
What are Battlenet Points?
This has been updated with corrected information. Thanks to ZelKnow for pointing it out.
Battlenet Points are a currency that are equal to Chinese Yuan (CNY). 1 Battlenet point is equivalent to 1 CNY, of which 388 are required to purchase 60 Hearthstone packs. The top 10 in the beta tournament will therefore receive some 60 packs should they choose to spend their points/money on them. Not bad!
What are Reward Points?
Battle.net has a secondary, special rewards currency available only in China. By purchasing digital goods, you'll accumulate reward points and can then redeem them for things like Hearthstone card packs, rare World of Warcraft TCG mounts, and Heroes of the Storm skins. You can check out the official redemption website.
Comments
I agree with you.....that is why I edited my comment that the 3 packs for the brawl may be forthcoming. You are correct that you did no specifically say launch day, bu I think that people (including myself) assumed that it would be on launch day because the post was titled "Launch Day Survival Guide". Maybe using the word wrong was to much. Just a little confusion. With that said you guys are doing a great job and your site will always be my #1 go to site for Hearthstone news.
If I recall the quest text indicated it was linked to a brawl
I thought so too, but it wasn't linked to last weeks or this weeks..
Maybe if this shows a lot of interest in China, it will finally get Blizz to add a feature like this directly into the game. Tournament mode has been asked for for years! HS is really in need of new play modes. 3 xpacs a year isn't going to keep cutting it for keeping the game fresh much longer.
This needs to come Stateside so I can farm Hearthstone for that Amani Dragonhawk mount. My little brother got one from a WoW TCG pack forever ago and I've been jealous for years lol
Well, we finally got tournament mode... except that it's only for players in China.
What I don't get is that if they already have the interface and game formatting set up and they're using it in China, why can't they use it everywhere else too?
I'm sure they could but it still comes down to what is tournament mode supposed to be exactly? The ideas and various 'visions' by so many players do not paint any one clear picture of what players want. You aren't going to please everyone by making one specific tournament mode so while 'everyone' wants the mode not everyone will get what they want. Would the players who get a version of tournies that they don't want happily hold off their discontent if they don't get their version of the format?
As the article says, it isn't a Blizzard Feature, but a NetEase Feature which is the distributor (not sure if that's the correct term but they essentially manage all the game's features) for the Chinese region. So Blizzard doesn't have much say in what they do with Hearthstone as long as it isn't malicious.
Oh, duh. Somehow skipped over that part, or maybe it was added after I posted my original comment. Thank you.
Happy to help
would be awesome something like this. playing "competive" and gain some packs.. seems to be a lot fun
Except... you get 388 points for 1st place, one packs costs 420 points
The other option is nothing. Which we have currently.
Yup, I saw that too. Isn't it a bit unfair, that someone has to put a lot of effort to reach top 10 and will still not be able to purchase a single pack with those points?
And I don't even want to talk about people, who are placed 11th or lower.
That's amazing but I'm afraid we won't be getting this feature soon on EU or NA although literally everyone has been asking for tournament mode and replays for ages! FeelsBadMan (but hopeful nonetheless)
I'll consider giving BlizzAvision my money again when this makes it to Americas servers.
that looks pretty neat. I hope it's something they're looking to implement in other regions. China's HS always feels separate from NA/EU/AP though so i'm not too optimistic.
Yeah, I would not expect anything from a separate client over here. It would have to be baked into the game, available on all platforms, and require resources to actually implement it. RIP
Another cool feature that has been requested since forever on EU and US, but that will be limited only to China because... Nobody knows.
Wonder if this will make it to the rest of the world. I know I am still waiting to get the more complete user data/history. I would really be interested in seeing that information.
And, of course, trying this new way to play.