The new explanation that they always intended to make new voice lines but hadn’t gotten around to it yet is just weird. It’s an obvious lie - Are they afraid to say “We heard your feedback and are making a change?
As I said in response to Thraxus above, they weren't saying they were going to get around to it later. They said they had intended them to not include new voicelines (as one of the differences between these skins and alt heroes), and are now changing that approach because of the backlash.
They could have worded it more clearly, but the whole thing does amount to "We heard your feedback and are making a change".
In fairness they did say "we missed here on painting a clear picture of the difference between these skins and the alternate heroes we’ve done in the past, that include all sorts of unique audio and visual effects. That’s something we should have gotten across better and want to ensure that we address in the future."
I.e. they are openly saying they were not intending on giving them new voicelines until the backlash came, and not pretending there is some excuse for the delay. They have only put fault on themselves for lack of communication and/or poor judgement.
While cynicism has a useful purpose, I think its excessive to cling to it when they both admit mistakes and make the changes people were asking for.
You can call me a cynic but I am not buying their explanation. I am convinced that at least part of the reason here was to test if they can get away with this sort of cuts. Without a significant response they would not have backtracked. They had the time to do voicelines for the solo adventure but were not able to throw in some lines for the hero skin in advance? This is either not true or bad organization. Secondly for a company like Blizzard recording some short voicelines in advance should not be a problem at all. Great that they adressed this issue but I am not convinced.
I think this would have gone better for Blizzard if they explained it better to begin with. I’ve been assuming the plan was something like this:
We’re going to introduce different tiers of cosmetics. Common hero portraits will have a new appearance but use the traditional voice lines, while Rare ones will have custom audio as well. The bundles they are sold in will be priced to reflect these differences, so you can purchase new hero portraits without breaking the bank.
We know that some of you will only be interested in portraits of one rarity, but don’t worry: As you may have noticed, we're pumping these out at a faster and faster rate. There will be options for everyone!
The new explanation that they always intended to make new voice lines but hadn’t gotten around to it yet is just weird. It’s an obvious lie - Are they afraid to say “We heard your feedback and are making a change? Edit: As pointed out below, I misread Blizzard’s comments. They were more or less thinking what I said in my fake quote, but didn’t communicate it clearly.
"In a more ideal setting, Blizzard would add some form of a news tracker to the game client so players on mobile that don't look at community sites that are covering the news have a chance to know too."
Blizzard should just publicly endorse OOC then, and tell folks to come here to stay up on the news ;)
I bought it, and I knew what I was getting for my money. Personally, I’m not a fan of the standard Jaina image but I am fine with her voice lines, so it worked great for me!
The common wisdom is that anyone who would pay money for this “animated gif” is a sucker. Meanwhile, if you look a few days back in the newsfeed, you’ll find a bunch of people who are excited about the opportunity to spend $3 on a card back - a much smaller gif that you don’t even get a clear view of for most of the time. Personally, I get so many free card backs that I’m not too interested in paying to expand that collection.
I’m not saying I’m right and the others are wrong, of course. This is completely a matter of opinion, and I have no problem if others want to buy different cosmetics than me. But if you’re seeing this skin often in your games, you can assume that those players are probably happy with their purchases.
I wonder why they fall for this kind of junk releases with cheap design that are bound to trigger uproars.
On the other hand, I see this Scholar Jaina often enough already, and I doubt people can properly value things, which in turn makes Team5 confident even with cheap content...
I mean, what is even the point of buying this Scholar Jaina, even if they update voice lines? Golden Jaina or Fire Jaina are better and cooler in any aspect. Yet people buy this Scholar Jaina.
All due respect ofc, anyone can like whatever and do what they want with their money, but if you buy anything, expect to be offered junk at some point...
Great they are addressing this. I don't buy bundles or cosmetics, but a lot of people do and they should get proper value for their money.
I'm slightly confused why this wasn't done from the outset. Sure recording VO takes time, but they already recorded quite a lot for the solo content - would it really have been problematic to record standard hero lines too? If people are spending real money, and will spend many hours playing 100s/1000s of games with the hero, I think they should have put in the effort.
Still points to them for sorting it out. Hearthstone has historically had a really high production value and I hope they always strive to keep it as such.
Looking for art for the weekly card design competition, I stumbled upon an upcoming CCG: Rise of the Overlords. The art I'm refering to has been posted 4 years ago, but the devs are showcasing new cards on twitter every now and then so the game should still be alive.
The information the homepage provides are interesting enough to warrant a thread imho:
- the goal of the game is it to destroy the enemy overlord. In contrast to HS, overlords are taking part in the battle, they're basically super strong minions.
- the battlefield isn't merely interactive, but actually part of the game. There's one with a stream of lava across the board. If a minion falls into it, it gets damaged badly or even destroyed. Other battlefields have holes minions can fall through.
- there's no mana but actions per turn. Those can be used to play cards, move units or attack - this reminded me of Legends of Andor, a cooperative tabletop game.
The only thing they could hurt by doing so is their short-term quarterly profits. I highly doubt we're going to see the new voicelines this year which means expected profits to be made during this last quarter will be less if they announce that people can simply wait.
I'm sure if they end up not doing it, community pressure will force them to change their minds. I'll help fight that battle if we need to.
I think it's great to know they atleast are willing to listen to the feedback provided by the community.
I also think that these bundles should return if they get the new voicelines. It's not like blizzard is going to lose anything by adding them into the shop for a week or 2.
Yeah that's quite a big deal, I never bought the pass cause all my gold was going to standard or arena, but 1250 for Battleground pass and 4 arena tickets is suddenly much more interesting.
Hearthstone's Cosmetic Hero Disappointments, Scholar Jaina and Horseman Uther, Will Receive New Voicelines
As I said in response to Thraxus above, they weren't saying they were going to get around to it later. They said they had intended them to not include new voicelines (as one of the differences between these skins and alt heroes), and are now changing that approach because of the backlash.
They could have worded it more clearly, but the whole thing does amount to "We heard your feedback and are making a change".
Hearthstone's Cosmetic Hero Disappointments, Scholar Jaina and Horseman Uther, Will Receive New Voicelines
Wouldn't that be grand!
Hearthstone's Cosmetic Hero Disappointments, Scholar Jaina and Horseman Uther, Will Receive New Voicelines
In fairness they did say "we missed here on painting a clear picture of the difference between these skins and the alternate heroes we’ve done in the past, that include all sorts of unique audio and visual effects. That’s something we should have gotten across better and want to ensure that we address in the future."
I.e. they are openly saying they were not intending on giving them new voicelines until the backlash came, and not pretending there is some excuse for the delay. They have only put fault on themselves for lack of communication and/or poor judgement.
While cynicism has a useful purpose, I think its excessive to cling to it when they both admit mistakes and make the changes people were asking for.
[Game] Card Treasure Hunt (The Resurrection Attempt)
[Hearthstone Card (oaken summons) Not Found]?
Edit: Iron Hide.
Hearthstone's Cosmetic Hero Disappointments, Scholar Jaina and Horseman Uther, Will Receive New Voicelines
You can call me a cynic but I am not buying their explanation. I am convinced that at least part of the reason here was to test if they can get away with this sort of cuts. Without a significant response they would not have backtracked. They had the time to do voicelines for the solo adventure but were not able to throw in some lines for the hero skin in advance? This is either not true or bad organization. Secondly for a company like Blizzard recording some short voicelines in advance should not be a problem at all. Great that they adressed this issue but I am not convinced.
Upcoming CCG - Rise of the Overlords
I've scrolled through their twitter account and they advertice the game as "a TCG and board game combination" - that sounds reeeeeally cool!
Hearthstone's Cosmetic Hero Disappointments, Scholar Jaina and Horseman Uther, Will Receive New Voicelines
I think this would have gone better for Blizzard if they explained it better to begin with. I’ve been assuming the plan was something like this:
The new explanation that they always intended to make new voice lines but hadn’t gotten around to it yet is just weird. It’s an obvious lie - Are they afraid to say “We heard your feedback and are making a change? Edit: As pointed out below, I misread Blizzard’s comments. They were more or less thinking what I said in my fake quote, but didn’t communicate it clearly.
Hearthstone's Cosmetic Hero Disappointments, Scholar Jaina and Horseman Uther, Will Receive New Voicelines
"In a more ideal setting, Blizzard would add some form of a news tracker to the game client so players on mobile that don't look at community sites that are covering the news have a chance to know too."
Blizzard should just publicly endorse OOC then, and tell folks to come here to stay up on the news ;)
Hearthstone's Cosmetic Hero Disappointments, Scholar Jaina and Horseman Uther, Will Receive New Voicelines
I bought it, and I knew what I was getting for my money. Personally, I’m not a fan of the standard Jaina image but I am fine with her voice lines, so it worked great for me!
The common wisdom is that anyone who would pay money for this “animated gif” is a sucker. Meanwhile, if you look a few days back in the newsfeed, you’ll find a bunch of people who are excited about the opportunity to spend $3 on a card back - a much smaller gif that you don’t even get a clear view of for most of the time. Personally, I get so many free card backs that I’m not too interested in paying to expand that collection.
I’m not saying I’m right and the others are wrong, of course. This is completely a matter of opinion, and I have no problem if others want to buy different cosmetics than me. But if you’re seeing this skin often in your games, you can assume that those players are probably happy with their purchases.
Upcoming CCG - Rise of the Overlords
Me, who plays Mythgard, LoR, Hearthstone, and Causa and tries to get into MtG:
Game looks really interesting. The interactive board is really fascinating.
Hearthstone's Cosmetic Hero Disappointments, Scholar Jaina and Horseman Uther, Will Receive New Voicelines
I wonder why they fall for this kind of junk releases with cheap design that are bound to trigger uproars.
On the other hand, I see this Scholar Jaina often enough already, and I doubt people can properly value things, which in turn makes Team5 confident even with cheap content...
I mean, what is even the point of buying this Scholar Jaina, even if they update voice lines? Golden Jaina or Fire Jaina are better and cooler in any aspect. Yet people buy this Scholar Jaina.
All due respect ofc, anyone can like whatever and do what they want with their money, but if you buy anything, expect to be offered junk at some point...
Hearthstone's Cosmetic Hero Disappointments, Scholar Jaina and Horseman Uther, Will Receive New Voicelines
Great they are addressing this. I don't buy bundles or cosmetics, but a lot of people do and they should get proper value for their money.
I'm slightly confused why this wasn't done from the outset. Sure recording VO takes time, but they already recorded quite a lot for the solo content - would it really have been problematic to record standard hero lines too? If people are spending real money, and will spend many hours playing 100s/1000s of games with the hero, I think they should have put in the effort.
Still points to them for sorting it out. Hearthstone has historically had a really high production value and I hope they always strive to keep it as such.
Rise of the Zombeasts
This brawl was a one and done but maybe the two other upcoming brawls will be more fun.
Upcoming CCG - Rise of the Overlords
Looking for art for the weekly card design competition, I stumbled upon an upcoming CCG: Rise of the Overlords. The art I'm refering to has been posted 4 years ago, but the devs are showcasing new cards on twitter every now and then so the game should still be alive.
The information the homepage provides are interesting enough to warrant a thread imho:
- the goal of the game is it to destroy the enemy overlord. In contrast to HS, overlords are taking part in the battle, they're basically super strong minions.
- the battlefield isn't merely interactive, but actually part of the game. There's one with a stream of lava across the board. If a minion falls into it, it gets damaged badly or even destroyed. Other battlefields have holes minions can fall through.
- there's no mana but actions per turn. Those can be used to play cards, move units or attack - this reminded me of Legends of Andor, a cooperative tabletop game.
This might be worth keeping an eye on!
Hearthstone's Cosmetic Hero Disappointments, Scholar Jaina and Horseman Uther, Will Receive New Voicelines
I agree, well said flux.
Hearthstone's Cosmetic Hero Disappointments, Scholar Jaina and Horseman Uther, Will Receive New Voicelines
Very cool:) Flux, hero of the people 8-)
Hearthstone's Cosmetic Hero Disappointments, Scholar Jaina and Horseman Uther, Will Receive New Voicelines
The only thing they could hurt by doing so is their short-term quarterly profits. I highly doubt we're going to see the new voicelines this year which means expected profits to be made during this last quarter will be less if they announce that people can simply wait.
I'm sure if they end up not doing it, community pressure will force them to change their minds. I'll help fight that battle if we need to.
Hearthstone's Cosmetic Hero Disappointments, Scholar Jaina and Horseman Uther, Will Receive New Voicelines
I think it's great to know they atleast are willing to listen to the feedback provided by the community.
I also think that these bundles should return if they get the new voicelines. It's not like blizzard is going to lose anything by adding them into the shop for a week or 2.
Hearthstone's Cosmetic Hero Disappointments, Scholar Jaina and Horseman Uther, Will Receive New Voicelines
There's a saying in the tech world: "Don't buy a product for what it promises it'll offers later, buy it for what it offers now".
Manual Of Monsters - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Thx for all the Feedback - i went with Version 3 and submitted it.
Good Luck to everyone!
November and December Card Backs Revealed - Autumn Leaf & Valorous Virtue (Plus Some Speculation)
Autumn leaf will be nice to use whenever it's autumn every year and i was really thrown off by valorous virtue because of how beautiful it is.
[Game] Card Treasure Hunt (The Resurrection Attempt)
Hey, what's up? Do you need another hint?
The Datamined Horseman Uther Hero Arrives During Hallow's End in a Scholomance Pack Bundle
I can get your hopes up, they announced alternate voicelines for book of heroes characters.
But i’m with you, rogue has been horribly neglected in terms of alternate heroes. The class is probably the best candidate for the next expansion hero
Blizzard Post - Update on Scholar Jaina and Horseman Uther
It would certainly be financially dumb to not put her up for sale again from Blizzard's perspective if they actually are going to fix the voicelines.
Week 1 of the Masquerade Ball - Elementals in Battlegrounds, Dual-Class Arena, Horseman Uther, & More
Yeah that's quite a big deal, I never bought the pass cause all my gold was going to standard or arena, but 1250 for Battleground pass and 4 arena tickets is suddenly much more interesting.