People just want the things they want, like right now!
It's funny you say that because the people have been asking for some basic improvements for literally Years and the state of certain cards are consecuences dragged from months ago. I just can't understand your perception of time.
If an improvement is truly basic and it's been 'literal years' it usually means there is just a disagreement on whether or not said thing is an upside or downside to include in the game. In any case, it wasn't meant as commentary on players or developers being wrong about how long something should take, just as commentary on how people generally give feedback.
I honestly do feel for you game devs/designers. You really can't win; especially not commenting on the internet. Nor do you want to make presumably any changes so shortly after releasing an expansion given the fact a single number change can turn a meta upside down in unpredictable ways.
That said, you can see the viewership and sales numbers. You are absolutely throwing away a market leading position and monopoly here.
There are the number of venomous posts here because people genuinely care. And not just in a sunk-cost way; people do really love this game. Myself included. We see so many cool cards, so much potential, and we see it squandered expansion after expansion because a couple of different decks just so obviously overpower everything else.
I'm not even someone who gets too upset about no replays, or tournament mode etc. Some new stuff aside from cards would be cool, but just seeing more regular adjustments and communication that you see issues would be something. Because right now, my thought process is basically:
Do I want to play HS? Shit yes I do. But do I want to play against Warrior? Ugh. Maybe I'll fire it up later.
For balance, everyone has the thing they want changed or not changed. Communities like Reddit are much more hardcore on average, meaning they consume the content faster and at a higher level. Those communities are generally ready for change faster than others. I think when players engage with the same community for so long they start to believe that is the only community that exists. The average Hearthstone player isn't even rank 15. We have to find some cadence of change that works for the large population, which means it's never going to be right for everyone.
For what it's worth, we generally have a faster balance cadence because over time Hearthstone just has more experienced players. When you start a game, everyone is new and you have to have goals associated with having a game filled with new players. That obviously changes over the years, so it should be reflected in the design choices we make.
As for 'venomous' posts, I don't think genuinely caring and not receiving the thing that you personally desire is a free ticket to be hateful. I would say most people are reasonable even without understanding all the details of game development. Especially in person at places like Blizzcon or Firesides. Any time I've ever met a player of Hearthstone in person it's always been a great experience.
Iksar, man why did you choose to pop up on this random thread and not on the ones that people actually care about? 😒 you’re kind of playing into the stereotypes we have about you guys
I show up in lots of threads. Comment history is just a click away.
Pretty good. My team is crazy talented and I get to go to work every day and think about card design in my favorite game. Public facing wise? People can be a little overzealous on the internet, but I think that's just the nature of the internet anonymity. Reddit can be a useful place for direct feedback, even if it can be a little exhausting to sift through at times. Ultimately it's not the responsibility of the consumer to be inquisitive on the reasons behind a design decision or development process. People just want the things they want, like right now! I can sympathize with that, so back to work we go.
Also having fun watching masters tour seoul. I love reno hunter and it's been performing well. Fun deck!
I don’t usually do this but holy crap a blue posted in my thread! >_>
This is a long shot but why the hell not: Team 5 wants to do a lot of what we suggest and the people in Blizzard corporate aren’t letting you, right? Brode hinted at this with how Shudderwock was handled but it seems even more obvious now.
Makes me feel legit horrible for you guys if true, because all these great balance ideas are always out there. Be well, sir.
I know it doesn't play into the narrative, but I've been at Blizzard 8.5 years and have only ever had positive interactions with people from company level or Activision level leadership. As it turns out, they are just people, usually very talented and passionate people.
Iksar
If an improvement is truly basic and it's been 'literal years' it usually means there is just a disagreement on whether or not said thing is an upside or downside to include in the game. In any case, it wasn't meant as commentary on players or developers being wrong about how long something should take, just as commentary on how people generally give feedback.
Iksar
For balance, everyone has the thing they want changed or not changed. Communities like Reddit are much more hardcore on average, meaning they consume the content faster and at a higher level. Those communities are generally ready for change faster than others. I think when players engage with the same community for so long they start to believe that is the only community that exists. The average Hearthstone player isn't even rank 15. We have to find some cadence of change that works for the large population, which means it's never going to be right for everyone.
For what it's worth, we generally have a faster balance cadence because over time Hearthstone just has more experienced players. When you start a game, everyone is new and you have to have goals associated with having a game filled with new players. That obviously changes over the years, so it should be reflected in the design choices we make.
As for 'venomous' posts, I don't think genuinely caring and not receiving the thing that you personally desire is a free ticket to be hateful. I would say most people are reasonable even without understanding all the details of game development. Especially in person at places like Blizzcon or Firesides. Any time I've ever met a player of Hearthstone in person it's always been a great experience.
Iksar
I show up in lots of threads. Comment history is just a click away.
Iksar
Rania's hero card would be even more powerful than Dr. Boom.
Iksar
I do like to meme, yeah. Not as much as Chakki, but a little more than Realz. Not nearly as much as Mike Donais.
Iksar
Pretty good. My team is crazy talented and I get to go to work every day and think about card design in my favorite game. Public facing wise? People can be a little overzealous on the internet, but I think that's just the nature of the internet anonymity. Reddit can be a useful place for direct feedback, even if it can be a little exhausting to sift through at times. Ultimately it's not the responsibility of the consumer to be inquisitive on the reasons behind a design decision or development process. People just want the things they want, like right now! I can sympathize with that, so back to work we go.
Also having fun watching masters tour seoul. I love reno hunter and it's been performing well. Fun deck!
Iksar
I know it doesn't play into the narrative, but I've been at Blizzard 8.5 years and have only ever had positive interactions with people from company level or Activision level leadership. As it turns out, they are just people, usually very talented and passionate people.