Such an awesome game. I loved how you make your way up but feel more and more of dystopia. It's almost like the robots in the slumps are more free in some way. I hope there will be a sequel because the ending felt kind of unfinished. Like what happened to all the robots?
Heroes of the Storm may also be on the menu, which would be awesome. I think that game had so much potential, before they gave up on it. The more we speculate the more I hope, which is a recipe for disaster but you never know :D
Just leaving some of my thoughts here, because I got nothing better to do:
Hearthstone:
I'm excited for the for the expansion cinematic. There is a lot of potential for a really cool western song here. Reno will surely also play a role there and I expect them to announce him as a card during Blizzcon. As for the new gameplay demo, I have no idea what it could be. They just released a new format and a new/reworked feature (like the new event system from last year) isn't really something you could make a demo for. So maybe it is another pve adventure. Part of the reasons why they stopped doing regular adventures was because Mercenaries was supposed to become the primary pve platform. Accoarding to leaks the game was internally axed during last summer, so a new adventure would fit into the timeframe, since the devs are planing one year ahead.
A small part of me still hopes for a relaunch, but I feel like the final update for it was supposed to be exactly that, but they gave up along the way.
WoW:
I don't play it, so I can't comment on it, but at least a cinematic should be a given for Blizccon.
Diablo 4:
Season 2 just launched, so I don't expect many details on the next one. Maybe a teaser at best. Instead I expect them to talk about their goals for 2024, aswell as the first content expansion that's already confirmed to be in development. There have been leaks about it, but they sound too much like what people want to hear for me to belive them. Oh, and a Cinematic of course, because you know, it's Blizzcon.
Overwatch 2:
Many people are speculating that the next hero will be Mauga, a character that first appeared in the origin comic of Baptiste. I really hope that it's really him. Not because I care about the character, but because reading new hero speculations gets boring, when people constantly bring him up.
I also expect them to release a trailer for the next chunk of Story missions for 2024 and maybe also announce a new event mission. The roadmap of the current Season is also suspiciously empty during the second half, considering that they had some kind of ingame or out of game event every 2 weeks during the last few seasons. They already did a surprise announcement for a crossover event that will start next week and I fully expect them to announce more stuff that are going to launch throughout the rest of the season.
Warcraft, not Arclight, Rumble:
It's a game launch, so surely it's going to come with a cinematic and gameplay trailer. The game is also still missing the raid/coop pve content that was announced for a year ago, so I definetely expect them to talk about that. Some content creators supposetly already tested the new modes, so it can't be that far off. Though I don't expect them at launch, because they just released a new update. It's probably going to be part of the first major post-launch update or something like that. I was always hoping that Warcraft Rumble would not become a live service game, because the current game already feels pretty complete, but I never truly belived it.
A really great turn 1 play, especially for a control deck that needs to last until it has enough mana to play it's big stuff. As a card overall, it's just ok.
If played on turn-1, it gives you something to do next turn while also developing a body immediately. Is it worth running just to hope that you get it in your mulligan? Certainly not.
I wonder if this exists just to dilute the Nature pool of better choices.
I believe her Ultimate was Wailing Arrow! With Black Arrow being her "D" key ability and a mix between WC3's Black Arrow and Silence - attacks stunning (basically silencing in this context) minions and structures for some time.
It's interesting to note how different her Black Arrow talent is from her Warcraft III version of the same skill, which is an auto-cast damage bonus ability that summons skeleton minions when the target dies under its effect. Where are the skeletons, Rumble?!
It's been a long while so I may be misremembering, but isn't it more in line with the Heroes of the Storm version of Black Arrow? IIRC that was one of her Ultimate skills. As it stands, summoning more skellies for free would probably be broken, given the back-and-forth nature of the units fighting each other.
...not that I have experience with Warcraft Rumble; just going off what I've seen lol
Well... guess I can't be objective on these cards coz ofc they are dragons. Good time to dust off my Topior one last time before he migrates to wild next year. Only smoldering feeling I have is this deck won't be any good but I do have hope for Kibler's reveal coz that definitely looks like another red dragon and most likely Rheastrasza thanks for Noxious' article: https://outof.games/news/6645-exploring-the-setting-of-showdown-in-the-badlands-hearthstones-next-expansion/
Its the sort of card that would be OP outside of druid, but because it is a druid card Id have to say this card is contentious.
If some how a midrange dragon druid can actually see play next expansion this card is excellent. Outside of that, it'll never see any play.
Such a shame seeing team5 ramp up the power level of minions in druid just because the whole class is a single player cesspool for most of its history. Lets hope this actually works for a change.
Aggro druid usually has tons of 2 drops already so this really doesnt do much other than give you an additional option, and a 1/2 on one is, while not necessarily bad, isnt as good as it was years back.
The bar has reached higher levels these days. Unless there's a spell druid somewhere, you'd never see this card in standard, and even then Id question whyd anyone play this card at all.
Your payoff for actually playing midrange dragons in your druid deck.
Is this good? Of course it is. Is the dragon deck gonna be good? Well, that Im not sure. Druid relying on minions hasnt worked since DoD, and that's largely down to cards like Embiggen. Fingers crossed a dragon druid deck can actually work without the usual single player shit we see every expansion from the class.
Without seeing the full extent of the reveals and judging based on the available cards currently, this card is shit.
You'd need a hand with at least 4 dragons for this to be even remotely worth it and since its not a spell this card cant be discounted naturally (unless you know, they print one this expansion, and Id be surprised if they didnt)
And all this in aid of what? Drum Circle was shit because druid never could reliably build a board to take advantage of it, so team5 made the initial board building redundant by printing Embrace of Nature etc. and the card became insanely good. This card suffers from a lack of finishers, like a Cultivation that works for or with dragons.
Theres still a chance it'll see play outside of highlander. But its not looking good at present.
Its one of those cards that will be good by virtue of the fact that Im 100% sure team5 is going to support this. The fact that this absolute monster has three very important keywords and allows for mana cheating is a sign telling druid mains to build around it.
That said however, its also equally clear why team5 pumped up this card's power level. Because they know, and we know it too, that druids rarely ever play anything even remotely fair, and usually very spell dependent. The fact that this card forces you to actually put midrange dragons into your deck means the payoff has got to be monstrous or no one will play it.
We havent seen the rest of the reveals for druid but Id be surprised if there isnt a spell that craps out dragons. Let's hope this isnt one of those cases where we ignore all the dragon related shit and play only this card + a spell that craps dragons, because Im sick to the death of druid playing single player all the time.
But lets be real. There has better be either a massive board based buff for dragons still yet to be revealed, or something that allows massive mana cheating related to dragons or these cards simply wont see any play.
This is where we're at with druid. They either dominate or get dominated. All these in between stuff usually never gets anywhere. Hopefully this is the exception to that rule because Im sick of all these feast or famine shit with druid cards every expansion.
I want to see a great deal more of this. Thank you for providing the details! I've bookmarked your blog because I discovered very useful information on your site. quordle today
I think *checks notes* I agree with everything you said. Indeed Magma/Ice Rager was just a bit of humour!
Perhaps the Harpstone example in the table I made was a bit extreme - it was meant more as a visual aid of how health could be balanced, but I reckon the subject matter was a bit too vast to fit neatly within a table.
Regarding your bullet points, let's consider Hearthstone's upcoming release of Showdown in the Badlands. The expansion, as usual, launches with every Hero being 30 Health, and not with 'custom' HP/armor amounts because of the points you've made in those bullets.
Let's consider that week 2, once the meta is fairly settled, three classes are underperforming - they've got, 42% winrate or whatever. This is usually the point when the devs release a balance patch and probably throw a few buffs in the way of those classes. Now, buffing specific cards means decks whose concepts/archetypes use those exact cards will be better, but other decks won't receive the same 'pick-me-up' and the buffed classes can feel pigeonholed into playing decks whose archetypes are supported by the buffed cards.
Now, instead of buffing these cards, would buffing these three underperforming classes' health generate a higher diversity of good decks, compared to just buffing a few cards? Would these classes having more time to set up their game / win condition result in more deck variety and more win rate, than buffing cards, which rarely results in more deck variety?
One thing that's made deckbuilding less fun for me is cards like your aforementioned Odin. Don't get me wrong, I like his effect, and he can still feel fun to play, but he's so much better that I'll never choose to make a deck around, say, Desert Obelisk instead of him. I actually tried to make a Desert Obelisk-viable deck back in the day (there's an article in here somewhere), and a little more health to give me time to pull it off could have helped hehe. I don't think buffing Desert Obelisk is appropriate, but it sucks that such a cool card barely found any space to be used.
I suppose I'm sort of hoping more health would be the solution to allowing more interesting, fun, gimmicky decks to perform well in the meta. Hearthstone is desperately missing a 'fun mode' format, and Twist (so far) doesn't seem to be it.
All Showdown in the Badlands Day 10 Hearthstone Card Reveals - October 28
Go go Taunt Dragon Druid? Seems a little on the honest/non-pushed side, but that's probably a good thing. I'll play it anyway!
All Showdown in the Badlands Day 10 Hearthstone Card Reveals - October 28
'Twas Rhea indeed!
Stray Review: Cyberpunk Post-apocalypse Where You're a Cute Little Kitty
Forget the robots, did the kitty get reunited with their friends?
Stray Review: Cyberpunk Post-apocalypse Where You're a Cute Little Kitty
Such an awesome game. I loved how you make your way up but feel more and more of dystopia. It's almost like the robots in the slumps are more free in some way. I hope there will be a sequel because the ending felt kind of unfinished. Like what happened to all the robots?
Blizzcon In-Person Events Overview - What You Won't See on Streams
Heroes of the Storm may also be on the menu, which would be awesome. I think that game had so much potential, before they gave up on it. The more we speculate the more I hope, which is a recipe for disaster but you never know :D
Blizzcon In-Person Events Overview - What You Won't See on Streams
Just leaving some of my thoughts here, because I got nothing better to do:
Hearthstone:
I'm excited for the for the expansion cinematic. There is a lot of potential for a really cool western song here. Reno will surely also play a role there and I expect them to announce him as a card during Blizzcon. As for the new gameplay demo, I have no idea what it could be. They just released a new format and a new/reworked feature (like the new event system from last year) isn't really something you could make a demo for. So maybe it is another pve adventure. Part of the reasons why they stopped doing regular adventures was because Mercenaries was supposed to become the primary pve platform. Accoarding to leaks the game was internally axed during last summer, so a new adventure would fit into the timeframe, since the devs are planing one year ahead.
A small part of me still hopes for a relaunch, but I feel like the final update for it was supposed to be exactly that, but they gave up along the way.
WoW:
I don't play it, so I can't comment on it, but at least a cinematic should be a given for Blizccon.
Diablo 4:
Season 2 just launched, so I don't expect many details on the next one. Maybe a teaser at best. Instead I expect them to talk about their goals for 2024, aswell as the first content expansion that's already confirmed to be in development. There have been leaks about it, but they sound too much like what people want to hear for me to belive them. Oh, and a Cinematic of course, because you know, it's Blizzcon.
Overwatch 2:
Many people are speculating that the next hero will be Mauga, a character that first appeared in the origin comic of Baptiste. I really hope that it's really him. Not because I care about the character, but because reading new hero speculations gets boring, when people constantly bring him up.
I also expect them to release a trailer for the next chunk of Story missions for 2024 and maybe also announce a new event mission. The roadmap of the current Season is also suspiciously empty during the second half, considering that they had some kind of ingame or out of game event every 2 weeks during the last few seasons. They already did a surprise announcement for a crossover event that will start next week and I fully expect them to announce more stuff that are going to launch throughout the rest of the season.
Warcraft, not Arclight, Rumble:
It's a game launch, so surely it's going to come with a cinematic and gameplay trailer. The game is also still missing the raid/coop pve content that was announced for a year ago, so I definetely expect them to talk about that. Some content creators supposetly already tested the new modes, so it can't be that far off. Though I don't expect them at launch, because they just released a new update. It's probably going to be part of the first major post-launch update or something like that. I was always hoping that Warcraft Rumble would not become a live service game, because the current game already feels pretty complete, but I never truly belived it.
All Showdown in the Badlands Day 10 Hearthstone Card Reveals - October 28
Fye's art feels a little bit weird. It looks like it would be on a 2 mana 3/2 minion.
New Druid Minion - Fye, the Setting Sun
Very excited for midrange Dragon Druid! Playing this card for 0 mana will feel very powerful and fun.
New Druid Spell - Cactus Construct
A really great turn 1 play, especially for a control deck that needs to last until it has enough mana to play it's big stuff. As a card overall, it's just ok.
New Druid Spell - Cactus Construct
If played on turn-1, it gives you something to do next turn while also developing a body immediately. Is it worth running just to hope that you get it in your mulligan? Certainly not.
I wonder if this exists just to dilute the Nature pool of better choices.
Sylvanas Windrunner Finds Herself in Yet Another Game
True...I somehow forgot about the main reason you pick Sylvanas lol
Sylvanas Windrunner Finds Herself in Yet Another Game
I believe her Ultimate was Wailing Arrow! With Black Arrow being her "D" key ability and a mix between WC3's Black Arrow and Silence - attacks stunning (basically silencing in this context) minions and structures for some time.
Sylvanas Windrunner Finds Herself in Yet Another Game
It's been a long while so I may be misremembering, but isn't it more in line with the Heroes of the Storm version of Black Arrow? IIRC that was one of her Ultimate skills. As it stands, summoning more skellies for free would probably be broken, given the back-and-forth nature of the units fighting each other.
...not that I have experience with Warcraft Rumble; just going off what I've seen lol
All Showdown in the Badlands Day 10 Hearthstone Card Reveals - October 28
Well... guess I can't be objective on these cards coz ofc they are dragons. Good time to dust off my Topior one last time before he migrates to wild next year. Only smoldering feeling I have is this deck won't be any good but I do have hope for Kibler's reveal coz that definitely looks like another red dragon and most likely Rheastrasza thanks for Noxious' article: https://outof.games/news/6645-exploring-the-setting-of-showdown-in-the-badlands-hearthstones-next-expansion/
Should Hearthstone's Heroes Have More Than 30 Health?
Can we lower the starting health instead?
In modern Hearthstone there are waaaay too many tools to gain health and armor.
In "good old HS" health was a resource you have to think about and manage it. There were only a few cards to push or refill your health.
But nowadays most classes can just spam removals and health gaining cards with very little or even no relevant board interaction at all.
All this overpowered control tools make modern HS in a lot of games very uninteractive.
Oh and yeah, I take all the downvotes from the control players out there. Throw them all over me! :)
New Druid Minion - Spinetail Drake
Its the sort of card that would be OP outside of druid, but because it is a druid card Id have to say this card is contentious.
If some how a midrange dragon druid can actually see play next expansion this card is excellent. Outside of that, it'll never see any play.
Such a shame seeing team5 ramp up the power level of minions in druid just because the whole class is a single player cesspool for most of its history. Lets hope this actually works for a change.
New Druid Spell - Cactus Construct
Very likely shit.
Aggro druid usually has tons of 2 drops already so this really doesnt do much other than give you an additional option, and a 1/2 on one is, while not necessarily bad, isnt as good as it was years back.
The bar has reached higher levels these days. Unless there's a spell druid somewhere, you'd never see this card in standard, and even then Id question whyd anyone play this card at all.
New Druid Minion - Splish-Splash Whelp
Your payoff for actually playing midrange dragons in your druid deck.
Is this good? Of course it is. Is the dragon deck gonna be good? Well, that Im not sure. Druid relying on minions hasnt worked since DoD, and that's largely down to cards like Embiggen. Fingers crossed a dragon druid deck can actually work without the usual single player shit we see every expansion from the class.
New Druid Minion - Dragon Golem
Without seeing the full extent of the reveals and judging based on the available cards currently, this card is shit.
You'd need a hand with at least 4 dragons for this to be even remotely worth it and since its not a spell this card cant be discounted naturally (unless you know, they print one this expansion, and Id be surprised if they didnt)
And all this in aid of what? Drum Circle was shit because druid never could reliably build a board to take advantage of it, so team5 made the initial board building redundant by printing Embrace of Nature etc. and the card became insanely good. This card suffers from a lack of finishers, like a Cultivation that works for or with dragons.
Theres still a chance it'll see play outside of highlander. But its not looking good at present.
New Druid Minion - Fye, the Setting Sun
Such a shame that Scale of Onyxia is no longer in standard.
Its one of those cards that will be good by virtue of the fact that Im 100% sure team5 is going to support this. The fact that this absolute monster has three very important keywords and allows for mana cheating is a sign telling druid mains to build around it.
That said however, its also equally clear why team5 pumped up this card's power level. Because they know, and we know it too, that druids rarely ever play anything even remotely fair, and usually very spell dependent. The fact that this card forces you to actually put midrange dragons into your deck means the payoff has got to be monstrous or no one will play it.
We havent seen the rest of the reveals for druid but Id be surprised if there isnt a spell that craps out dragons. Let's hope this isnt one of those cases where we ignore all the dragon related shit and play only this card + a spell that craps dragons, because Im sick to the death of druid playing single player all the time.
All Showdown in the Badlands Day 10 Hearthstone Card Reveals - October 28
Love the druid set theme.
But lets be real. There has better be either a massive board based buff for dragons still yet to be revealed, or something that allows massive mana cheating related to dragons or these cards simply wont see any play.
This is where we're at with druid. They either dominate or get dominated. All these in between stuff usually never gets anywhere. Hopefully this is the exception to that rule because Im sick of all these feast or famine shit with druid cards every expansion.
New Shadow Isles Card - Redeemed Prodigy
I want to see a great deal more of this. Thank you for providing the details! I've bookmarked your blog because I discovered very useful information on your site. quordle today
Inventory Systems in Games - The Platform Nightmare
Sounds wonderful - I'm still quite a way away from yet another playthrough, but I think I'll give your mod a spin next time!
Inventory Systems in Games - The Platform Nightmare
Yep, all original functionality is there.
Should Hearthstone's Heroes Have More Than 30 Health?
I think *checks notes* I agree with everything you said. Indeed Magma/Ice Rager was just a bit of humour!
Perhaps the Harpstone example in the table I made was a bit extreme - it was meant more as a visual aid of how health could be balanced, but I reckon the subject matter was a bit too vast to fit neatly within a table.
Regarding your bullet points, let's consider Hearthstone's upcoming release of Showdown in the Badlands. The expansion, as usual, launches with every Hero being 30 Health, and not with 'custom' HP/armor amounts because of the points you've made in those bullets.
Let's consider that week 2, once the meta is fairly settled, three classes are underperforming - they've got, 42% winrate or whatever. This is usually the point when the devs release a balance patch and probably throw a few buffs in the way of those classes. Now, buffing specific cards means decks whose concepts/archetypes use those exact cards will be better, but other decks won't receive the same 'pick-me-up' and the buffed classes can feel pigeonholed into playing decks whose archetypes are supported by the buffed cards.
Now, instead of buffing these cards, would buffing these three underperforming classes' health generate a higher diversity of good decks, compared to just buffing a few cards? Would these classes having more time to set up their game / win condition result in more deck variety and more win rate, than buffing cards, which rarely results in more deck variety?
One thing that's made deckbuilding less fun for me is cards like your aforementioned Odin. Don't get me wrong, I like his effect, and he can still feel fun to play, but he's so much better that I'll never choose to make a deck around, say, Desert Obelisk instead of him. I actually tried to make a Desert Obelisk-viable deck back in the day (there's an article in here somewhere), and a little more health to give me time to pull it off could have helped hehe. I don't think buffing Desert Obelisk is appropriate, but it sucks that such a cool card barely found any space to be used.
I suppose I'm sort of hoping more health would be the solution to allowing more interesting, fun, gimmicky decks to perform well in the meta. Hearthstone is desperately missing a 'fun mode' format, and Twist (so far) doesn't seem to be it.