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Tracks Blizzard employees across various accounts.

Why are the Overwatch devs so much more communicative than the Hearthstone devs?

Seriously. A big part of the reason why the Overwatch subreddit has already surpassed the Hearthstone one (in subscribers) is because the head dev in Overwatch (Jeff) communicates every single plan, thought and idea that they have.

Meanwhile in Hearthstone we go months without a single piece of information or future possibilities.

Would a little more communication be such a bad thing?

  • Iksar
    Posted 9 years, 6 months ago (Source)

    I love Jeff and the Overwatch team, so I'm also glad you seem to be pretty happy with how they are communicating. I'm already seeing a lot of suggestions in this thread, but we are certainly interested in hearing what kind of things would make you all feel like there is an open line of communication.

  • Ben Brode
    Posted 9 years, 6 months ago (Source)

    The main problem I feel is that as far as the community is concerned, you might as well be doing nothing. We don't get any development updates. You release some content and then it's radio silence for months.

    Have you been reading all the interviews we've been doing? Or are they just not getting through the noise? Did you see the video update with the mode identifiers we did a week or 2 ago?

  • Ben Brode
    Posted 9 years, 6 months ago (Source)

    PTR could be PC/Mac only.

    i don't think that would help - that's what i was assuming people meant anyway.

  • Ben Brode
    Posted 9 years, 6 months ago (Source)

    No demons in WotOG was a flavor decision that I think went over the head of most players, maybe that was a mistake

    It's great to know you prioritize 'flavor' over actually supporting a lackluster archtype/class cards. Oh, but it went over our heads, so I guess we aren't smart enough to comprehend this masterful design.

    i did admit it was probably a mistake, but we're not just going to support all archetypes equally in every set. Doing more sometimes and doing less (or none) sometimes makes things interesting.

  • Ben Brode
    Posted 9 years, 6 months ago (Source)

    It's also possible there are quality priest decks that players haven't discovered yet.

    I'm sorry but that sounds more like a cop-out than a legitimate answer.

    That was only part of my answer, but we keep seeing this happen late in metas. For example, mech warrior saw insane numbers when it first landed over a year after GvG. People were just sleeping on it.

  • Ben Brode
    Posted 9 years, 6 months ago (Source)

    I would like to see less bullshit communication aka Warsong Commander nerf aka "Soul of the Card"...

    Do we really need trash tier cards in this game? Its makes going through pages of your collection painful.

    It's ok to disagree but I meant what I said in that video.

  • Ben Brode
    Posted 9 years, 6 months ago (Source)

    I've had some small ideas that I've sent to you on Twitter (Example: Ideas for more of those hidden, permanent quests), but I'm not really sure if that's the right place, or that you're the right person. I just did it that way because it was the quickest and easiest.

    Is there any other websites you regularly read that you would recommend me to use?
    Or a team member that's less busy that I could bother?

    I know Yong Woo responds relatively quickly when I find a bug, but I don't know if I should send him suggestions as well.

    I read all my tweets even if i don't get the chance to respond, always.

  • Ben Brode
    Posted 9 years, 6 months ago (Source)

    Can we have some info on what are your plans for priest? It's probably the worst class right now, partially because their classic set cards are weaker than others. Do you plan to buff the priest cards in the classic set or do you have other plans for making priest be a bit better?

    We have lots of theories, and plans that we aren't ready to reveal. It's also possible there are quality priest decks that players haven't discovered yet.

  • Ben Brode
    Posted 9 years, 6 months ago (Source)

    I think a brief post-mortem on each class after an expansion would really help the community get a feel for your design direction. You could state what your goals were for the class, how you tried to implement them, whether they were successful, and where you want the class to go from here.

    For example: Going into OG, Shaman was seeing very low usage across the ladder. We wanted to give Shaman a couple of powerful synergy cards to boost their playability and build on the totem synergies established during TGT and LOE. We feel that we were successful in OG, and that Shaman (particularly mid-range) is in a really good place right now. We would like to continue to build control options for the class. We are also keeping an eye on aggro variants, and making sure we don't introduce any cards that will push aggro shaman into an overly dominant position.

    A short post like this (maybe one class per week starting when the meta settles a bit) would let the community weigh in on where they see the class headed versus your direction. It would also give us insight on where you see perceived OP and UP classes, and what is in store for them, such as: How do you think Priest gets fixed moving forward? Does Rogue need healing options in Standard? Does Pally hurt from the lack of proactive early game drops, etc?

    ETA: I'm hoping you would go into more detail on specific cards and how they worked out than I did in my example above. I'm posting from a phone, so I couldn't type as much as I wanted.

    There are a series of interviews about classes that I think are incoming.

  • Ben Brode
    Posted 9 years, 6 months ago (Source)

    Can I just ask what is going on with Warlock? Our Demon synergy is lacklustre and we never get any good cards because apparently the hero power is OP. So we get shoehorned into Zoo where the best use of the hero power is to tap and play more junk on the board.

    Are we ever going to be able to build a solid Midrange Demon deck or have another Control Deck like Handlock?

    Renolock is pretty solid. No demons in WotOG was a flavor decision that I think went over the head of most players, maybe that was a mistake. There are more demons coming, it's core to the kit of Warlock.

  • Ben Brode
    Posted 9 years, 6 months ago (Source)

    [deleted]

    i think it will be, but we can adjust if not.

  • Ben Brode
    Posted 9 years, 6 months ago (Source)

    Not about overwatch, but I know something that makes the Heroes of the Storm community really, really happy is the fact that they get near-weekly balance updates, and usually exactly about the things that the community is complaining are over/under powered. Now, I totally get that Hearthstone doesn't want to go the route of frequent balance changes, but it still an official statement/publication of what the devs are working on and trying to do that gets a lot of attention. Over here in /r/hearthstone we don't really get something like that... at least nothing so official.

    thanks for the suggestion!

  • Ben Brode
    Posted 9 years, 6 months ago (Source)

    Are there methods of communication besides twitch, reddit, and twitter you'd prefer?

    Can you send me personal IMs through facebook?

    I don't even have FB Messenger installed on my phone so it would be tricky!

  • Ben Brode
    Posted 9 years, 6 months ago (Source)

    knowing future expacs early. and a PTR. you spoil the sets early. let the players test too

    There are real downsides to a PTR. Because we ship on so many platforms, it would take at least a month of cards being fully spoiled before they release.

  • Ben Brode
    Posted 9 years, 6 months ago (Source)

    Why are you looking at the top 8 picks for a tournament and not ranks 5-20 on ladder?

    I look at both!

  • Ben Brode
    Posted 9 years, 6 months ago (Source)

    Hire a community manager and get them to post memes and drop hints at dates. It'll keep people engaged.

    Do you follow Robert Wing (HS Community Manager) on twitter? Lots of A+ memes.

  • Ben Brode
    Posted 9 years, 6 months ago (Source)

    What is it, 11PM in California? Go to bed man, you've got work tomorrow!

    good idea - 'night everyone!

  • Ben Brode
    Posted 9 years, 6 months ago (Source)

    How about what you think about the meta and aggro decks?

    I personally am having a lot of fun with the meta. Aggro decks are good, but so are many control decks. There are two things I think often cause players to be upset at aggro decks: (1) The belief aggro decks take less skill, so I am unfairly losing matches I should be winning to worse players; and (2) I am excited to do fun things with my deck and I die before I get to do them.

    I talked a bit about #1 in this interview: http://www.pcgamer.com/hearthstones-ben-brode-on-old-gods-and-reynads-match-making-theory/3/ Basically - I don't believe the hype that aggro decks are self-piloting.

    I think the only way to solve #2 is to remove aggro decks entirely, but that brings a ton of other problems. Especially since aggro decks aren't wildly out of balance right now.

    Here's a decks from the EU top 8 for Spring: http://www.gosugamers.net/hearthstone/news/35804-decklist-spotlight-all-decks-from-hct-eu-spring-championship Pretty good mix of combo, midrange, aggro, and control.

  • Ben Brode
    Posted 9 years, 6 months ago (Source)

    I am glad you feel the Overwatch devs are communicative. They are awesome. :)

    I do try to make myself very available. You can find me on twitter, where I try to answer questions as often as possible. I'm also fairly active here when I feel like I can add to the conversation.

    I also try and stream every other week for a few hours and answer questions there. It's been rough recently to hit the schedule, though. I shall return soon, if I can get my internet to work consistently!

    Are there things you feel like we should be communicating more about? Are there methods of communication besides twitch, reddit, and twitter you'd prefer?

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