Geez, the flood of negativity for this new game mode is astounding. I'm starting to consider pre-purchasing just to make a statement against the cynicism.
Yes, Blizzard wants money for this game they've invested significant time into. Yes, it's pretty much just a gacha game. Guess what? There's nothing inherently wrong with that. If you don't like gacha games, just don't play it; it's not going to significantly hurt your enjoyment of other Hearthstone games. But don't whine about it and don't villainize the "whales" who will want to pay for this experience. (I think paying for this is a lot more gratifying than paying for pure cosmetics. And it's not "pay to win" if the matchmaking system works well, either; it's "pay to play against other people who pay.")
Those who are saying Blizzard should have made an entirely new franchise for a gacha game, well ... I for one am more likely to enjoy the game because it's WarCraft characters.
To be honest, even as a defender of Mercenaries at the moment, the packs and "upgrade your village" systems are bugging me. As far as I can tell, they want us to use gold for the packs and buildings, which we really only earn by completing Hearthstone quests and the occasional BG quest. If you want Mercenaries to stand on its own, it can't be reliant on the gold (or you need to up the gold intake to compensate for a whole other game asking for it).
That being said, these things can be hashed out, so I wouldn't consider them deal-breakers.
doesn't have dedicated teams to its premier auto-battler and this new gacha Mercenaries game.
Except both Mercenaries and Battlegrounds have do dedicated teams. Iksar mentioned it in one of his q&as earlier this year.
Team 5's resources are not going into Hearthstone, the CCG, and it's noticeable
I'm sorry, but what? You do have in mind that they release 3 expansion each year with 3 additional mini-expansion in between? Each of them with unique themes and mechanics may I add. Not to mention the frequent balance patches which primarely hit standard constructed.
1) Standard is a mess this expansion - the triangle of aggro/control/combo is deeply broken with combos at the moment.
Elemental shaman, handbuff paladin, Quest rogue, Aggro-Priest, Fel-demonhunter and more are a few examples of non-combo meta decks. Besides, when was the meta ever not "broken"?
2) Arena and Duels don't get the kind of support that incentivizes playing them.
And that's on purpose. Ben talked about it in one of the Blizzconline interviews how Tavern Brawl, Arena and Duels are supposed to be secondary gamemodes that you play every now and then. Standard, Battlegrounds and now Mercenaries on the other hand are supposed to be main ones.
3) I'm not sure how much Classic is getting played, but I found it pretty boring after a couple days despite having a complete Classic collection.
Similar thing to the Point above. You just play the mode if you want something consistent on which you can always rely on no matter how everything else in the game goes.
4) Wild. Players have been asking for NEW WAYS to use THEIR EXISTING COLLECTION for years and years and years now.
1. Duels
2. The devs made it very clear that the main purpose of wild is to have a place where you can play your decks once they rotated out. It is not in their intention to make it a standard 2.0
I have paid for every pre-order for years, and played nearly every day, but I NEVER get every card in an expansion
I only bought the big pre-order, played semi-regularely and have easily managed to get every card of the set since Darkmoon. Seems like a you-problem to me.
I stopped playing Hearthstone a week after United in Stormwind, and was hoping to return for Mercenaries. I'll check in again at the next set rotation in April.
I mean, do what you want, but maybe you should atleast play the tutorial and one run before saying that the mode is not for you.
You're generally right about how it was advertised. I think what really set me off is the new currency and pack-system. It's one thing to "not use your existing collection" and another thing to have you start building an entirely new one. I'm not against them developing new games, but I am extremely skeptical of "Hearthstone as a platform." It especially feels like Team 5 resources are not going into the CCG because of these new games (not game modes).
What the heck. They know Wild is completely warped, they're doing a second round of nerfs, why not even SLIGHTLY touch the strongest deck in Wild? It doesn't even play either.
I think this is factually inaccurate. Didn't the lady in the mercenaries video say that you get the Sarge mount in WoW by playing through the mercenaries intro and doing your first bounty or something like that? The 6-month sub gives the tavern passes and card packs (and a Sapphire Skyblazer mount and Imp Ball pet), not the Sarge mount.
Good nerfs for Standard. Handlock will still be very strong but at this point it can't really cheese the bad matchups with Giants nearly as efficiently so it should eventually drop to an appropriate winrate. Stealer OTK is dead hopefully.
Problem is, this does nothing for Wild and if I have to deal with a whole expansion of Wild players lamenting how Wild is dead (isn't it always?) I'm gonna lose it. Just ban the Quest from Wild entirely until it rotates and then dumpster it afterwards. Clearly it's not possible to balance a card that suddenly enables years-worth of woefully undercosted self-damage support.
The new game mode feels rushed. I still prefer if they put their whole resources to build tournament mode, or custom mode, or even a fix for social side from the platform, where it's easier to communicate and interact with each other, instead of making this mode where no one asks before.
It's like they're doing the things they like, but never the things we want or need. (regarding the modes)
EDIT. And why the aggressive pay 2 win? I certainly don't want to buy packs if they have nothing to do with constructed? And having to pay gold for something that should've been free from start? Personally, I don't get it. BG is good step in making profit via cosmetics. But this is too much.
Not to be "that person", but we've known from the outset that Mercenaries was always intended to be its own game inside of the umbrella that has become Hearthstone. It would not use your Collection; it would be its own thing, just like Battlegrounds is. I know it's not what some people wanted, but it was directly advertised as a new experience :/ I hope you'll at least give it a shot: many people thought BG would be terrible, with a "oh what is this garbage" kind of sentiment, but it turned out to be fun and very popular.
Ultimately I think the driving idea behind "Hearthstone is a platform" is that Hearthstone can be what you want to get out of it. You can play Constructed, be a Duels-main, play Battlegrounds or Mercenaries, or all of the above if you are so inclined. Mercenaries might bring in new players to try it out, only for them to be pulled into the whirlpool that is Hearthstone "proper". I don't have any data, but I imagine at least some percentage of BG-first players went on to try Hearthstone itself and came to enjoy it. That's a win for us all, and it can be again with Mercenaries.
Not much choice there since League of Legends itself isn't on mobile (Wild Rift is an entirely different game, easier mechanics, separate from League). I think TFT would take a small hit to players if it was in its own client, though it would certainly get League players to stop crying about it "causing performance problems" for the main game (yeah, better get rid of URF too then /s).
There's just so much value baked into using your main game as the launcher for sister games. If it wasn't for Out of Cards, and if Hearthstone had a Battlegrounds-only client, I can assure you I wouldn't bother going for even the monthly card backs. But, since its there and the client is open, its a great reminder!
Now talking seriously, out of memes, lets recap the "nerfs", who for some cards are mere needed balances.
That's exactly what a nerf is supposed to do, bring overpowered cards into a balanced stat.
Merciless Hunter: The nerf affects it? nope, it stills being a 3 mana 4 damage beatstick with better challenger and fearsome. The possibility of being worse is true, but only for people who think in trading with it. The true solution for me is that she and arda cast a Bounty HunterBADCARDNAME-like effect or destroying it. (making she 5/6 mana or making she a 2/3.) Also, is part of the everlasting-multiple Shurima engine who makes it the best region.
Yes the nerf does affect it. Now the card dies to more removal cards like Mystic Shot, Darkness, Fleetfeather Tracker, Laurent Protege, Avalanche, Blighted Ravine and can no longer trade favorably into some champion like Fizz, Akhsan or TF. Is the card still good? Yes but now more deck can deal with it in a cost efficient way.
Your just saying that Shaped Stone is now better than a garbage combat trick that nobody used in the first place.
Flurry of Fists: I know that is in much lists of decks but i don't see this card anywhere playing. So idk, i like the card and i think is strong having the possibility to make ANY quick attacker into a doble attacker, but for 4 mana… and having his first effect being a strong but weird and now expensive combat trick…
It was part of a stupid OTK that involve giving Sivir elusive with Ghost and double attack with Flurry of Fists plus some other combat tricks. For most decks the OTK was impossible to interact with due to both spellshield and elusive, you can see it here starting from the 20:00 mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrgqBKiZZ74
Take it easy man, it was my take and recap of the nerfs, not saying that is mY oPiNiOn but it is, you don't need to recap all i said, be gentle daddy. So, you have all the reason, simply. Its true that Merciless Hunter now is more vulnerable to 10 thousand sh!ts (who is good!) but i think still a exaggeratedly/broken card, simply that. Over the other cards, what i said about Shaped Stone is that stills a good card, that's why i compare it to the sh!t of card that is Radiant Strike. I've seen and playing vs. Sivirs, but never with Flurry of Fists, that thing is nasty man.
And i know what is a nerf, im from the time where "nerf" meaned DESTROY OLAF AND MAKE IT UNPLAYABLE, so must than nerf, for me is better calling it Balance, i associate the "nerf" word with something more violent, thats why i say it like that.
I'm just sort of confused at this point. The possibilities for a digital card game over a physical one (as someone who got priced out of playing MtG as a teenager in the late-90s) have always excited me. But at this point it doesn't feel like Team 5 is particularly invested in developing a cutting-edge CCG.
Battlegrounds is an auto-battler, plain and simple. Cards are a great way to organize stats and information, but it's literally a different game. It doesn't follow the same rules and mechanics as a different mode like Dungeon Run, Tavern Brawl, Arena, etc. Mercenaries is literally a different game. Maybe it'll be great, but I think it's fair to complain. It's not a new game mode. It's a new game.
We joke about "small indie company" but it does feel cheap and silly that Activision-Blizzard doesn't have dedicated teams to its premier auto-battler and this new gacha Mercenaries game. Team 5's resources are not going into Hearthstone, the CCG, and it's noticeable:
1) Standard is a mess this expansion - the triangle of aggro/control/combo is deeply broken with combos at the moment.
2) Arena and Duels don't get the kind of support that incentivizes playing them. Tavern tickets still aren't a real currency. Runeterra, for example, gives you a free tavern ticket each week if you complete even a single daily quest. The mini-sets require you to save up too much gold to justify paying the admissions. My Arena play has dropped off dramatically since the mini-sets became a permanent fixture in the game, and the rewards track simply hasn't compensated for them.
3) I'm not sure how much Classic is getting played, but I found it pretty boring after a couple days despite having a complete Classic collection.
4) Wild. Players have been asking for NEW WAYS to use THEIR EXISTING COLLECTION for years and years and years now. I'm not going to even complain about Wild being unbalanced, because of course it is with every single card ever printed available. But they could a) frequently rotate the card pool like Arena; b) have rotating rules-changes longer than a week like Tavern Brawl; c) have a tournament mode with deck bans (like Gauntlets in Runeterra); d) have a dedicated rotating Core Wild set like they have a Core Standard set; e) a combination of all of these ideas. I'm not trying to be flippant about their work, but all of these ideas are relatively easy to implement.
More recently, I have been really bothered by the price of Hearthstone. Paying $50 or $80 to access the full gameplay experience of a single expansion is ludicrous. Basically, I love the MtG-style of gameplay, but there is no reason for games to simulate pack-openings or restrict gameplay based on artificial card scarcity like they do with physical cards (which is still artificial scarcity as well). I have paid for every pre-order for years, and played nearly every day, but I NEVER get every card in an expansion. It literally isn't possible without spending additional money, beyond the pre-orders, on packs. Well, I finally didn't pay the pre-order for United in Stormwind, and it's been an even worse experience - truly pay-to-have-fun.
I was hoping Mercenaries was going to be like Slay The Spire or Dungeon Run on steroids or something that related back to the core cards and gameplay. But nope. It's just a gacha game with its own currency and its own packs. Again, it might be fun, but it's not what I want out of the game that I do play. I stopped playing Hearthstone a week after United in Stormwind, and was hoping to return for Mercenaries. I'll check in again at the next set rotation in April.
They currently showed 15 red mercenaries, so most likely they will start with 3*15 = 45 mercenaries, adding more later.
Also, they will most likely introduce the fourth color of rare mercenaries, which will not take or deal double damage from any color (see in Rad)
Also, for a run you receive ~150 mercenary coins (see video).
I guess creating a mercenary will cost 100 coins, full upgrade is 50+100+150 coins per one ability (shown in video), so to completely get an upgraded mercenary you need 1000 coins of that specific mercenary.
You are certainly allowed to express your own opinions, I hope I didn't make it seem like that wasn't the case!
This is one of those important reasons why its important to provide constructive feedback when saying things like the game quality has gone downhill. Letting people know why you feel that way can open up a completely different side of the discussion. For example, I agree that the pacing right now does not feel great and I there are things I miss about the older versions of the game; This is also why I do not play very much constructed right now. I also cannot believe that Blizzard consistently prints all this mana cheating insanity, only to go "lol guess we'll tone that down" a month later.
But, even with that opinion out of the way, objectively, Hearthstone is in its best place as far as game balance is concerned. Its not what I like about the game, but it is a much better environment than the one we had in years prior. The mini sets also keep things very interesting outside of the consistency in balance changes, which was so desired.
Yeah, I cannot stand how silly people are with the term. It has lost all of its original beauty with the constant misuse. A cash grab is a poorly made product that exists for the sole purpose of generating revenue. Shitty movie sequels is a great example of a cash grab.
Call of Duty pushing out a new game every year with not much difference was a cash grab, though I no longer believe this to be the case with how games have evolved and how CoD itself has improved quite a bit from game to game in recent times.
Hearthstone pushing out an entirely new mode is not a cash grab. The closest thing we have to cash grab in Hearthstone is some of the hero skins that have come out that have just been new art. Though, that was fixed upon the players rightfully crucifying Blizzard for the nonsense.
I guess posting articles on Out of Cards is a cash grab LUL
It makes so much sense to keep it all inside of Hearthstone, much like Teamfight Tactics inside of League of Legends.
At the core, Battlegrounds and Mercenaries are still card games and they share quite a bit with their parent mode. Having them standalone would be a huge mistake because it creates more effort to switch between them which could harm player retention. If I just got done a bunch of constructed and I thought "ah maybe I'll go play a BG quick" but that would require more than a button, I might not do it and just log for the night.
However, with that said, I am concerned about Hearthstone on mobile. Having a new, asset-heavy mode is adding to the install and download size. I know its not something that would be easily accomplished, but having the ability to opt-out of content for Mercenaries, being prompted to download it upon first entering the mode, seems like not a horrible idea. They could even ask when you first launch the game.
A New Hearthstone Puzzle Card Back "Gift of Elune" Has Been Added - Solve the Mysteries of Stormwind
ye
Hearthstone's Mercenaries Debut Stream - Everything New We've Learned About the Mode Releasing in October
Geez, the flood of negativity for this new game mode is astounding. I'm starting to consider pre-purchasing just to make a statement against the cynicism.
Yes, Blizzard wants money for this game they've invested significant time into. Yes, it's pretty much just a gacha game. Guess what? There's nothing inherently wrong with that. If you don't like gacha games, just don't play it; it's not going to significantly hurt your enjoyment of other Hearthstone games. But don't whine about it and don't villainize the "whales" who will want to pay for this experience. (I think paying for this is a lot more gratifying than paying for pure cosmetics. And it's not "pay to win" if the matchmaking system works well, either; it's "pay to play against other people who pay.")
Those who are saying Blizzard should have made an entirely new franchise for a gacha game, well ... I for one am more likely to enjoy the game because it's WarCraft characters.
Hearthstone's Mercenaries Debut Stream - Everything New We've Learned About the Mode Releasing in October
To be honest, even as a defender of Mercenaries at the moment, the packs and "upgrade your village" systems are bugging me. As far as I can tell, they want us to use gold for the packs and buildings, which we really only earn by completing Hearthstone quests and the occasional BG quest. If you want Mercenaries to stand on its own, it can't be reliant on the gold (or you need to up the gold intake to compensate for a whole other game asking for it).
That being said, these things can be hashed out, so I wouldn't consider them deal-breakers.
Our Thoughts on Today's Warlock Balance Changes Targeting Stealer of Souls and Flesh Giant
But only for two weeks, before they nerf it again.
Hearthstone's Mercenaries Debut Stream - Everything New We've Learned About the Mode Releasing in October
Except both Mercenaries and Battlegrounds have do dedicated teams. Iksar mentioned it in one of his q&as earlier this year.
I'm sorry, but what? You do have in mind that they release 3 expansion each year with 3 additional mini-expansion in between? Each of them with unique themes and mechanics may I add. Not to mention the frequent balance patches which primarely hit standard constructed.
Elemental shaman, handbuff paladin, Quest rogue, Aggro-Priest, Fel-demonhunter and more are a few examples of non-combo meta decks. Besides, when was the meta ever not "broken"?
And that's on purpose. Ben talked about it in one of the Blizzconline interviews how Tavern Brawl, Arena and Duels are supposed to be secondary gamemodes that you play every now and then. Standard, Battlegrounds and now Mercenaries on the other hand are supposed to be main ones.
Similar thing to the Point above. You just play the mode if you want something consistent on which you can always rely on no matter how everything else in the game goes.
1. Duels
2. The devs made it very clear that the main purpose of wild is to have a place where you can play your decks once they rotated out. It is not in their intention to make it a standard 2.0
I only bought the big pre-order, played semi-regularely and have easily managed to get every card of the set since Darkmoon. Seems like a you-problem to me.
I mean, do what you want, but maybe you should atleast play the tutorial and one run before saying that the mode is not for you.
Our Thoughts on Today's Warlock Balance Changes Targeting Stealer of Souls and Flesh Giant
I'm just happy that Flesh Giant can go back into my EvenLock deck.
Hearthstone's Mercenaries Debut Stream - Everything New We've Learned About the Mode Releasing in October
You're generally right about how it was advertised. I think what really set me off is the new currency and pack-system. It's one thing to "not use your existing collection" and another thing to have you start building an entirely new one. I'm not against them developing new games, but I am extremely skeptical of "Hearthstone as a platform." It especially feels like Team 5 resources are not going into the CCG because of these new games (not game modes).
Hearthstone's Warlock Nerf Announced - Stealer of Souls & Flesh Giant Both Receiving Cost Increases
What the heck. They know Wild is completely warped, they're doing a second round of nerfs, why not even SLIGHTLY touch the strongest deck in Wild? It doesn't even play either.
Our Thoughts on Today's Warlock Balance Changes Targeting Stealer of Souls and Flesh Giant
Didn't even nerf my wild deck at all... haha. Well I suppose more nerfs in 2 weeks, hopefully they will actually nerf questlines next time
Hearthstone's Sarge Enters World of Warcraft as a Rideable Mount - Cross Game Mercenaries Promotion + WoW Subscription Perks Coming
No, you're not bad at reading. I'm fairly confident that you are right and Flux got this one wrong.
Hearthstone's Sarge Enters World of Warcraft as a Rideable Mount - Cross Game Mercenaries Promotion + WoW Subscription Perks Coming
I think this is factually inaccurate. Didn't the lady in the mercenaries video say that you get the Sarge mount in WoW by playing through the mercenaries intro and doing your first bounty or something like that? The 6-month sub gives the tavern passes and card packs (and a Sapphire Skyblazer mount and Imp Ball pet), not the Sarge mount.
Edit: Flux corrected the article. Thanks, Flux!
Our Thoughts on Today's Warlock Balance Changes Targeting Stealer of Souls and Flesh Giant
Good nerfs for Standard. Handlock will still be very strong but at this point it can't really cheese the bad matchups with Giants nearly as efficiently so it should eventually drop to an appropriate winrate. Stealer OTK is dead hopefully.
Problem is, this does nothing for Wild and if I have to deal with a whole expansion of Wild players lamenting how Wild is dead (isn't it always?) I'm gonna lose it. Just ban the Quest from Wild entirely until it rotates and then dumpster it afterwards. Clearly it's not possible to balance a card that suddenly enables years-worth of woefully undercosted self-damage support.
Mercenaries: My First Impressions
The new game mode feels rushed. I still prefer if they put their whole resources to build tournament mode, or custom mode, or even a fix for social side from the platform, where it's easier to communicate and interact with each other, instead of making this mode where no one asks before.
It's like they're doing the things they like, but never the things we want or need. (regarding the modes)
EDIT. And why the aggressive pay 2 win? I certainly don't want to buy packs if they have nothing to do with constructed? And having to pay gold for something that should've been free from start? Personally, I don't get it. BG is good step in making profit via cosmetics. But this is too much.
Hearthstone's Mercenaries Debut Stream - Everything New We've Learned About the Mode Releasing in October
Not to be "that person", but we've known from the outset that Mercenaries was always intended to be its own game inside of the umbrella that has become Hearthstone. It would not use your Collection; it would be its own thing, just like Battlegrounds is. I know it's not what some people wanted, but it was directly advertised as a new experience :/ I hope you'll at least give it a shot: many people thought BG would be terrible, with a "oh what is this garbage" kind of sentiment, but it turned out to be fun and very popular.
Ultimately I think the driving idea behind "Hearthstone is a platform" is that Hearthstone can be what you want to get out of it. You can play Constructed, be a Duels-main, play Battlegrounds or Mercenaries, or all of the above if you are so inclined. Mercenaries might bring in new players to try it out, only for them to be pulled into the whirlpool that is Hearthstone "proper". I don't have any data, but I imagine at least some percentage of BG-first players went on to try Hearthstone itself and came to enjoy it. That's a win for us all, and it can be again with Mercenaries.
Hearthstone's Main Menu Gets an Overhaul - Play is Now Hearthstone, Battlegrounds Out of Beta, Mercenaries Joins the Fun
Hearthstone's Main Menu Gets an Overhaul - Play is Now Hearthstone, Battlegrounds Out of Beta, Mercenaries Joins the Fun
Not much choice there since League of Legends itself isn't on mobile (Wild Rift is an entirely different game, easier mechanics, separate from League). I think TFT would take a small hit to players if it was in its own client, though it would certainly get League players to stop crying about it "causing performance problems" for the main game (yeah, better get rid of URF too then /s).
There's just so much value baked into using your main game as the launcher for sister games. If it wasn't for Out of Cards, and if Hearthstone had a Battlegrounds-only client, I can assure you I wouldn't bother going for even the monthly card backs. But, since its there and the client is open, its a great reminder!
Riot Targets Dominant and Disruptive Runeterra Decks With 5 Card Nerfs Coming in a Pre-Worlds Hotfix
Take it easy man, it was my take and recap of the nerfs, not saying that is mY oPiNiOn but it is, you don't need to recap all i said, be gentle daddy. So, you have all the reason, simply. Its true that Merciless Hunter now is more vulnerable to 10 thousand sh!ts (who is good!) but i think still a exaggeratedly/broken card, simply that. Over the other cards, what i said about Shaped Stone is that stills a good card, that's why i compare it to the sh!t of card that is Radiant Strike. I've seen and playing vs. Sivirs, but never with Flurry of Fists, that thing is nasty man.
And i know what is a nerf, im from the time where "nerf" meaned DESTROY OLAF AND MAKE IT UNPLAYABLE, so must than nerf, for me is better calling it Balance, i associate the "nerf" word with something more violent, thats why i say it like that.
Hearthstone's Main Menu Gets an Overhaul - Play is Now Hearthstone, Battlegrounds Out of Beta, Mercenaries Joins the Fun
Teamfight tactics is standalone on mobile tho
Hearthstone's Mercenaries Debut Stream - Everything New We've Learned About the Mode Releasing in October
I'm just sort of confused at this point. The possibilities for a digital card game over a physical one (as someone who got priced out of playing MtG as a teenager in the late-90s) have always excited me. But at this point it doesn't feel like Team 5 is particularly invested in developing a cutting-edge CCG.
Battlegrounds is an auto-battler, plain and simple. Cards are a great way to organize stats and information, but it's literally a different game. It doesn't follow the same rules and mechanics as a different mode like Dungeon Run, Tavern Brawl, Arena, etc. Mercenaries is literally a different game. Maybe it'll be great, but I think it's fair to complain. It's not a new game mode. It's a new game.
We joke about "small indie company" but it does feel cheap and silly that Activision-Blizzard doesn't have dedicated teams to its premier auto-battler and this new gacha Mercenaries game. Team 5's resources are not going into Hearthstone, the CCG, and it's noticeable:
1) Standard is a mess this expansion - the triangle of aggro/control/combo is deeply broken with combos at the moment.
2) Arena and Duels don't get the kind of support that incentivizes playing them. Tavern tickets still aren't a real currency. Runeterra, for example, gives you a free tavern ticket each week if you complete even a single daily quest. The mini-sets require you to save up too much gold to justify paying the admissions. My Arena play has dropped off dramatically since the mini-sets became a permanent fixture in the game, and the rewards track simply hasn't compensated for them.
3) I'm not sure how much Classic is getting played, but I found it pretty boring after a couple days despite having a complete Classic collection.
4) Wild. Players have been asking for NEW WAYS to use THEIR EXISTING COLLECTION for years and years and years now. I'm not going to even complain about Wild being unbalanced, because of course it is with every single card ever printed available. But they could a) frequently rotate the card pool like Arena; b) have rotating rules-changes longer than a week like Tavern Brawl; c) have a tournament mode with deck bans (like Gauntlets in Runeterra); d) have a dedicated rotating Core Wild set like they have a Core Standard set; e) a combination of all of these ideas. I'm not trying to be flippant about their work, but all of these ideas are relatively easy to implement.
More recently, I have been really bothered by the price of Hearthstone. Paying $50 or $80 to access the full gameplay experience of a single expansion is ludicrous. Basically, I love the MtG-style of gameplay, but there is no reason for games to simulate pack-openings or restrict gameplay based on artificial card scarcity like they do with physical cards (which is still artificial scarcity as well). I have paid for every pre-order for years, and played nearly every day, but I NEVER get every card in an expansion. It literally isn't possible without spending additional money, beyond the pre-orders, on packs. Well, I finally didn't pay the pre-order for United in Stormwind, and it's been an even worse experience - truly pay-to-have-fun.
I was hoping Mercenaries was going to be like Slay The Spire or Dungeon Run on steroids or something that related back to the core cards and gameplay. But nope. It's just a gacha game with its own currency and its own packs. Again, it might be fun, but it's not what I want out of the game that I do play. I stopped playing Hearthstone a week after United in Stormwind, and was hoping to return for Mercenaries. I'll check in again at the next set rotation in April.
Mercenaries: My First Impressions
The game is planned to launch with 50+ Mercenaries. I imagine the breakdown is still roughly even, like you suggested.
Mercenaries: My First Impressions
They currently showed 15 red mercenaries, so most likely they will start with 3*15 = 45 mercenaries, adding more later.
Also, they will most likely introduce the fourth color of rare mercenaries, which will not take or deal double damage from any color (see in Rad)
Also, for a run you receive ~150 mercenary coins (see video).
I guess creating a mercenary will cost 100 coins, full upgrade is 50+100+150 coins per one ability (shown in video), so to completely get an upgraded mercenary you need 1000 coins of that specific mercenary.
You do the mathematics.
A New Hearthstone Puzzle Card Back "Gift of Elune" Has Been Added - Solve the Mysteries of Stormwind
You are certainly allowed to express your own opinions, I hope I didn't make it seem like that wasn't the case!
This is one of those important reasons why its important to provide constructive feedback when saying things like the game quality has gone downhill. Letting people know why you feel that way can open up a completely different side of the discussion. For example, I agree that the pacing right now does not feel great and I there are things I miss about the older versions of the game; This is also why I do not play very much constructed right now. I also cannot believe that Blizzard consistently prints all this mana cheating insanity, only to go "lol guess we'll tone that down" a month later.
But, even with that opinion out of the way, objectively, Hearthstone is in its best place as far as game balance is concerned. Its not what I like about the game, but it is a much better environment than the one we had in years prior. The mini sets also keep things very interesting outside of the consistency in balance changes, which was so desired.
Hearthstone's Mercenaries Debut Stream - Everything New We've Learned About the Mode Releasing in October
Yeah, I cannot stand how silly people are with the term. It has lost all of its original beauty with the constant misuse. A cash grab is a poorly made product that exists for the sole purpose of generating revenue. Shitty movie sequels is a great example of a cash grab.
Call of Duty pushing out a new game every year with not much difference was a cash grab, though I no longer believe this to be the case with how games have evolved and how CoD itself has improved quite a bit from game to game in recent times.
Hearthstone pushing out an entirely new mode is not a cash grab. The closest thing we have to cash grab in Hearthstone is some of the hero skins that have come out that have just been new art. Though, that was fixed upon the players rightfully crucifying Blizzard for the nonsense.
I guess posting articles on Out of Cards is a cash grab LUL
Hearthstone's Main Menu Gets an Overhaul - Play is Now Hearthstone, Battlegrounds Out of Beta, Mercenaries Joins the Fun
We've been pushing that quite a bit with the AMAs because Dean loves to mention it too!
Hearthstone's Main Menu Gets an Overhaul - Play is Now Hearthstone, Battlegrounds Out of Beta, Mercenaries Joins the Fun
It makes so much sense to keep it all inside of Hearthstone, much like Teamfight Tactics inside of League of Legends.
At the core, Battlegrounds and Mercenaries are still card games and they share quite a bit with their parent mode. Having them standalone would be a huge mistake because it creates more effort to switch between them which could harm player retention. If I just got done a bunch of constructed and I thought "ah maybe I'll go play a BG quick" but that would require more than a button, I might not do it and just log for the night.
However, with that said, I am concerned about Hearthstone on mobile. Having a new, asset-heavy mode is adding to the install and download size. I know its not something that would be easily accomplished, but having the ability to opt-out of content for Mercenaries, being prompted to download it upon first entering the mode, seems like not a horrible idea. They could even ask when you first launch the game.