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Tracks Blizzard employees across various accounts.

Hearthstone AMA #29 5:00PM - 6:00PM PST Ask me a question about Hearthstone! Or Design! (or anime...) Some minor details for Mercs questions below 👇 https://t.co/tk6SWBBgpY

Hearthstone AMA #29 5:00PM - 6:00PM PST Ask me a question about Hearthstone! Or Design! (or anime...) Some minor details for Mercs questions below 👇 https://t.co/tk6SWBBgpY

  • Iksar
    Posted 4 years ago (Source)
    Hearthstone AMA #29 5:00PM - 6:00PM PST Ask me a question about Hearthstone! Or Design! (or anime...) Some minor details for Mercs questions below 👇 https://t.co/tk6SWBBgpY

    • Iksar
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      Due to having minimal involvement in the development of mercenaries myself, I won't be able to help answer questions on behalf of that team until post-launch. Once we release, I'll make sure to get educated enough to share information in these AMAs when appropriate.

    • AlonsoArrietaC1
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS MTG Arena has included Historic as a competitive eternal format, ranked system, qualifiers, official events, and even specific new products for it. Is there a world where that happens to Wild? Or will it continue to be just a casual environment.

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @AlonsoArrietaC1 If you are looking for answers regarding eSports events and systems, give @Abar_HS a follow. I don't interact with out-of-game systems enough to be able to give you any of these answers, unfortunately.

    • NateWolfeTCG
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Will we be getting “new” Diamond cards for older sets any time soon? Are there any chards in particular you think would be cool Diamond ones?

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @NateWolfeTCG We'll get there, just taking some time. Mercenaries has been a heavy lift for the team so most features beyond current content upkeep have been on hold while we gear up for release.

        • RickSco37109277
          Posted 4 years ago (Source)
          @IksarHS @NateWolfeTCG I wish you guys wouldn't have allocated all the resources to cloning Raid: Shadow Legends, a game no one likes nor asked for. If those resources were instead allocated towards making the client better, we'd be in a better spot. I hope Mercs dies quickly. Gacha games are immoral

          • Iksar
            Posted 4 years ago (Source)
            @RickSco37109277 @NateWolfeTCG You seem to know a lot more about mercenaries than I do....

    • NateWolfeTCG
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Did you watch the PlayStation showcase and if so, which upcoming games are you looking forward to playing?

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @NateWolfeTCG I did! Probably the KOTOR remake. It might have been the first RPG I ever loved. It was so long ago I don't even remember most of it so looking forward to experiencing it again.

    • KatakSumur
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Is there any plan to redesign the whole UI of the game in the near future? How likely is it to happen?

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @KatakSumur No plans to redesign the whole UI. We have improvements to things like shop, bg menu, and collection. Nothing that I'd consider a major overhaul.

    • imik_plays
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Would you ever add a new card rarity? For example "Mythical" rarity with a green emblem, not sure how these cards would be different and what their crafting cost would be, but I had this idea that you could open them in packs (legendary odds) or craft them with achievement points

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @imik_plays Yeah, been considering it. Not for new cards, but just a new cosmetic rarity. Imagine if we released the Boomsday Project and made a special holographic mechanical frame for all the legendaries you had a low % chance to open.

        • CrunchTime4L
          Posted 4 years ago (Source)
          @IksarHS @imik_plays Hmm diamond wasn’t enough? Seems strange to do this.

          • Iksar
            Posted 4 years ago (Source)
            @CrunchTime4L @imik_plays There is proven to be an appetite for more cosmetic variety. Anytime we can move more monetization to optional cosmetics and away from core gameplay it's a win for everyone.

    • BroccoliReef
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS The Tamsin book of Mercs was really good. Can we expect more narrative solo adventures after the book of Mercenaries is completed? I love the storytelling

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @BroccoliReef @themattlondon

    • blisterguy
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS What was your favourite Stormwind card prior to release, and is it still your favourite now?

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @blisterguy I hesitate to answer these questions because there tends to be a narrative around 'designer favors x card so it'll never get nerfed and anyone who doesn't like this is screwed!'.

        • Iksar
          Posted 4 years ago (Source)
          @blisterguy I like the Druid quest a lot, though. I tend to like the Bear form fantasy of Druid so the attacking/armor based archetypes are always fun to me. Still my favorite now.

          • Iksar
            Posted 4 years ago (Source)
            @blisterguy And FWIW, I don't work directly on card design or card balance anymore.

        • blisterguy
          Posted 4 years ago (Source)
          @IksarHS All good, I wasn’t fishing, but I can see how someone could take your answer out of context!

          • Iksar
            Posted 4 years ago (Source)
            @blisterguy oh I know, you are one of the good ones :)

    • howiieb
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS What does the plan for future Duels seasons look like? The original idea was to rotate the sets and rotate the theme but the Scholomance theme has been here to stay and it seems to be only getting new sets - did the plans to "reset" it like this change?

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @howiieb I was just talking to the lead on our live content team (mercs, tb, duels, etc) about future update plans for duels. Still have plans to make changes, nothing to reveal myself. If you have duels questions @Tabayrak is a great guy to ask.

        • Tabayrak
          Posted 4 years ago (Source)
          @IksarHS @howiieb A little while ago we announced that another small balance change will be happening in an upcoming patch. On top of that there will be a much larger update later in this expansion cycle. I am so excited for people to get their hands on it. https://t.co/yz9Tz0GGxj

          • howiieb
            Posted 4 years ago (Source)
            @Tabayrak I'm particularly interested to see if a full rotation is on the cards? The set is starting to get really, really large and while this has changed the game in interesting ways I'd like to see a pared down start again at one point

            • Tabayrak
              Posted 4 years ago (Source)
              @howiieb I think rotating sets is really interesting and exciting, but currently we are exploring the prospect of slowly creating a meta built around the entire collection of Hearthstone. One day we might try a rotation of sorts but currently it is a bit messy. 1/2

              • Tabayrak
                Posted 4 years ago (Source)
                @howiieb Where it gets awkward is what does rotation imply for our heroes and signature treasures. Some of the treasures are built around core mechanics of sets and that holds within it complexities. 2/2

                • howiieb
                  Posted 4 years ago (Source)
                  @Tabayrak Nice to hear the direction. I have some concerns about building a "wild 2.0" but you are the designers and you do have the vision. Must ask one more if I can though - is it always going to be Scholomance or can we get the Dragon Duels we deserve?

                  • Tabayrak
                    Posted 4 years ago (Source)
                    @howiieb Nothing to say here about that... yet.

    • smileykrisHS
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS How’s your little one going? Have you taught them to press space bar to open packs yet?

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @smileykrisHS lol, he's great. Happy, healthy baby. Feel very lucky.

    • JaredPullet
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS 1/2 It would be cool if there was a format where you could play a deck from a time of standard against other decks from other times of standard. So cubelock could go up against dr boom control warrior or ashes aggro dh. It also feels like that is what was envisioned for wild.

      • JaredPullet
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @IksarHS 2/2 do you ever envision a format like that ?

        • Iksar
          Posted 4 years ago (Source)
          @JaredPullet I am quoted a lot saying something along the lines of 'wild is a place you can play your old decks'. The spirit of that quote is that we try not to redesign or rebalance cards in a way that delete a playstyle from existence.

          • Iksar
            Posted 4 years ago (Source)
            @JaredPullet It's not meant to say that you can play all your old decks from the past at a very high win rate. The power of wild will only get higher. Decks faster, more synergistic. Nature of a format with an ever-increasing pool of cards.

            • Iksar
              Posted 4 years ago (Source)
              @JaredPullet That said, have been thinking about the idea of what another format could look like. I think the audience for a format where you have to own a bunch of very old cards to enjoy it would be fairly niche, but the upkeep of such a format is fairly low on our end.

              • Iksar
                Posted 4 years ago (Source)
                @JaredPullet Always looking for ways to make the game better without signing ourselves up for a content treadmill that keeps us from innovating new things. Maybe this idea is that, I'd still want to try and come up with something more friendly to players that haven't been around for long.

    • Unownknight7
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS can you divulge any info on any bgs changes/nerfs coming soonTM, as much as i love the gamemode beasts are just out of control and way too oppressive, specifically macaw+leapfrogger+baron any game with beasts the game turbos into "which player can get the broken combo first"

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @Unownknight7 Only that there will be a bunch of changes, @GW_Alec and team rallied around quite a few BG/Constructed changes now we're just working on a timeline to push them live.

    • ArreadorOficial
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Thoughts on "To your eternity"?

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @ArreadorOficial 6-7 episodes in, looking forward to the rest just been busy.

    • J_Alexander_HS
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS When it comes to Quest Mage and Warlock this expansion, I find myself feeling bad about playing any minions against them, as they seem to need my board to further their plan a lot of the time What are your thoughts on design that turns one player's assets into liabilities?

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @J_Alexander_HS I felt this a lot in the mage quest mirror early in the expansion but not much outside of that. Most decks just can't win if they don't play minions so the thought of holding back isn't really an option.

        • Iksar
          Posted 4 years ago (Source)
          @J_Alexander_HS In the mirror, though, I suppose I never felt awful not wanting to play my minion I generated. If anything it felt like a smart play to hold back.

          • Iksar
            Posted 4 years ago (Source)
            @J_Alexander_HS I don't think this is a big pain in the case of the mage and warlock quest, but it has been in the past. Spreading Plague is a good example of a card that punishes you for doing normal Hearthstone things.

            • Iksar
              Posted 4 years ago (Source)
              @J_Alexander_HS I'd look back on that design as something we definitely shouldn't have made as powerful as we did. Mostly for the reason you stated above. You get punished just for playing in an extreme way.

    • imik_plays
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS My colleague is an amazing graphic magician & I'm sure he would like to work at Blizzard one day. What do you think about his idea of 3D card frames?https://t.co/kY4nWSzWHP

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @imik_plays I think they are awesome. He should apply someday if he hasn't already.

    • claus_maack
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS I've been enjoying Classic a lot lately. Are there any plans to advance the card pool at some point by adding Naxx for example? I know it's no longer Classic at that point, and I actually don't know if I really want that. Thoughts?

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @claus_maack We were just arguing internally about what constitutes the 'end' of classic Hearthstone. We want to add Naxx, though, just a question of when.

        • RidiculousHat
          Posted 4 years ago (Source)
          @IksarHS @claus_maack for clarity purposes, when you say the end of classic Hearthstone, do you mean a timeline as to when the current "classic" button in the game will include naxx cards or do you mean which sets constitute the "classic era" of hearthstone? if it's the second one, what do you think?

          • HS_Alec
            Posted 4 years ago (Source)
            @RidiculousHat @IksarHS @claus_maack Which card sets. Pre-rotation is one of the leading ways of looking at it but we’ll have plenty of time to discuss.

    • coolboypai
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS How has the pandemic changed the design process? What are some of the advantages?

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @coolboypai Advantage is that it's a new skill for our toolbelt. In the distant future when we are mostly back in an office, the idea of someone working from home will be a normal thing and not something we raise our eyebrows at.

        • Iksar
          Posted 4 years ago (Source)
          @coolboypai It also opens the door to new talent that may not have wanted to move to southern california.

          • Iksar
            Posted 4 years ago (Source)
            @coolboypai Disadvantages is that you miss all the casual conversations. Difficult to develop relationships with disciplines outside your own, especially on big teams. Communication comes through meetings and you can't just walk over to someone's desk. More time consuming.

            • Iksar
              Posted 4 years ago (Source)
              @coolboypai Also harder to separate work and home. Your office is always one-step away. Also for me personally, it's killed a lot of my desire to play PC games because I'm at that desk all day already and want to get away from it.

    • Oakijak_HS
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Will the balance team address the role of warlock, and to a lesser extent mage, in wild? Every expansion we seem to get a new uninteractive warlock OTK that makes the game unenjoyable until a balance patch happens Its class identity in wild seems to be "better than the others"

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @Oakijak_HS At any point in a card game, there will be some classes more powerful than others. In Standard, this shifts more often because the card pool is smaller and sets have a bigger impact. It also happens because of set rotation.

        • Iksar
          Posted 4 years ago (Source)
          @Oakijak_HS In Wild, individual expansions have a smaller impact because the card pool is bigger and the cards in the format never rotate out.

          • Iksar
            Posted 4 years ago (Source)
            @Oakijak_HS This is the long way of saying I don't think it's that all Mage and Warlock cards are busted, power just shifts very slowly in Wild due to the nature of the format.

    • SuperiorDavidHS
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS If you could go back in time and change one thing about Hearthstone, what would you change? And more importantly, do you like Jojo's Bizarre Adventure? 👀

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @SuperiorDavidHS I watched Jojo to the point where he killed the dog then I literally never watched it again.

        • Iksar
          Posted 4 years ago (Source)
          @SuperiorDavidHS And going back in time? Probably more social elements or more avenues for self-expression. It's hard to feel like you are part of a group in Hearthstone and social features always end up getting punted so we can develop more content or game modes.

          • SuperiorDavidHS
            Posted 4 years ago (Source)
            @IksarHS I was thinking more along the lines of a big sweeping change to the game that the playerbase would riot over now, hence the time travel. But those would be some nice changes though!

            • Iksar
              Posted 4 years ago (Source)
              @SuperiorDavidHS Oh, I'd like to have figured out an economy design that didn't include dust or disenchanting. The idea of destroying your cards for any % value under 100 is not a fun experience. I'd rather you just not be able to destroy your stuff a find a different way to get individual cards.

    • MarkMcKz
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Does the practice Innkeeper AI have an overall positive win rate all time? I know I've conceded to him a lot testing things.

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @MarkMcKz You have contributed to a higher win rate for the entire Hearthstone population, we appreciate it.

    • imik_plays
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Would you ever consider for example buffing 1-3 cards each week/month to shake up the meta?

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @imik_plays Buffs don't do a very good job of shaking up the meta, nerfs are much better for that.

        • Iksar
          Posted 4 years ago (Source)
          @imik_plays If you think about what cards we nerf and why, we're usually taking archetypes that are between 10%-25% play rate and tuning them down. Defining success for these changes is pretty broad. We might take a 25% deck down to 9% and call that a success.

          • Iksar
            Posted 4 years ago (Source)
            @imik_plays That means that pocket of 16% is filled with different decks, which is a pretty big shake-up.

            • Iksar
              Posted 4 years ago (Source)
              @imik_plays The window of success for a buff is much smaller. We might look at a deck that is 2% play rate and success means it lands somewhere between 6-8%. If it's much higher, it probably means we buffed a card so much that now that deck is dependent on drawing it.

              • Iksar
                Posted 4 years ago (Source)
                @imik_plays Much lower and we didn't actually make much of an impact. Doesn't mean we shouldn't do buffs, but just that they are less effective as a balancing tool.

    • Robins_compass
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS I’m still curious as to why control isn’t favored, I understand control v control is slow but control v aggro goes really fast in my experience, potentially faster than aggro v aggro, I could be wrong but it seems like it gets mostly fast games while also allowing for grindy ones

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @Robins_compass I know there is a narrative out there that Hearthstone designers hate control decks, but all I can say is that that's not true. I expect many competitive control decks will exist in the future, just as they have in the past.

    • TeamAmericaHS
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS where is teh best place as a user to report bugs and see a list of known issues?

      • Tabayrak
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @TeamAmericaHS @IksarHS Look if this is about Quel'delar I am sorry.

        • TeamAmericaHS
          Posted 4 years ago (Source)
          @Tabayrak @IksarHS I mean that, and alot of small things, like flightmaster dungar not summoning adventurers, royal great sword wont recruit Primes from the deck, the shaman starting treasure doesnt benefit from spell damage when the bolt shoots. avenging armanant buffing cards shuffled into deck

          • TeamAmericaHS
            Posted 4 years ago (Source)
            @Tabayrak @IksarHS I could provide steps to reproduce and screen shots for these bugs and more when they happen, but i dont see a great way/place to send them

            • Tabayrak
              Posted 4 years ago (Source)
              @TeamAmericaHS @IksarHS @fusrohdaniel is my QA Oracle so drop him a line with bugs and he will get em. :)

    • Tacticalian
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Kargal's Battlecry says it summons a 5/5 for every watchpost you've summoned, however summoning through Rally! Doesn't count. Bug? Seems to only work with played Watchposts. Also any chance of a buff to Auctioneer Jaxon? Thanks for always interacting with us!

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @Tacticalian Team just tested and seems to not be an issue in our latest build so I suspect it's fixed soon.

    • yggdreigon_hs
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS A lot of people were mad about you supposedly playing the cthun hunter deck in wild ladder, what do you think of the whole thing and the relationship between games and their bugs and exploits

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @yggdreigon_hs Story is basically this: We found out about the bug and had a few options. Fix right this second (large dev cost), fix at the next hotfix timing (medium dev cost), or put the fix into the next client patch (low dev cost).

        • Iksar
          Posted 4 years ago (Source)
          @yggdreigon_hs Our data lags behind a day or so, so wanted to get a feeling for what we were dealing with. If we were to fix right this second, it would have had to be a high-win-rate and high consistency deck we felt would overtake the meta in a very short period.

          • Iksar
            Posted 4 years ago (Source)
            @yggdreigon_hs It's a pretty bad bug, but the resulting deck was bad enough we didn't feel it warranting rushing out a fix at the cost of other fixes. We ended up being okay with waiting another week for the fix, but luckily the team made it happen faster.

            • yggdreigon_hs
              Posted 4 years ago (Source)
              @IksarHS That's exactly what I thought had Happened Glad that you guys fixed although it was funny while it lasted, in a way I'm glad nobody got banned for it in the meantime

              • Iksar
                Posted 4 years ago (Source)
                @yggdreigon_hs There are very few things we'd even consider actioning players for in terms of bugs we let slip through. If this was an issue that resulted in an 80% win rate deck we'd have just prioritized it and gotten the fix out right away.

                • Iksar
                  Posted 4 years ago (Source)
                  @yggdreigon_hs Ultimately I think it's more likely people will look back on this Maxima/C'Thun thing as a funny bug that happened for a little while rather than something that had some extreme negative impact on their play experience.

                  • Iksar
                    Posted 4 years ago (Source)
                    @yggdreigon_hs Alec linked me the reddit thread that I hadn't seen, which made me laugh. I hadn't been to reddit in a week or so and was greeted with this inbox, which was a reminder of why I spend less time there 🙃 https://t.co/doTIEInF58

    • Slysssa
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Same question as last time 👏🏼 Mailboxes 👏🏼 in 👏🏼 all 👏🏼 modes 👏🏼 when 👏🏼

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @Slysssa Currently still brainstorming for a BG hub screen revamp so mailbox on the list!

    • HS_Mentalistic
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS I love how interactive you are as a Hearthstone Developer with the community. Sincerely. I just have one question, did you block me on Twitter? 😂

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @HS_Mentalistic no

    • Ultimatecheeseb
      Posted 4 years ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Any luck getting the saviours of uldum trailer song uploaded to Spotify? 😉

      • Iksar
        Posted 4 years ago (Source)
        @Ultimatecheeseb I'll poke community/publishing people again (I did before!). Things like this are pretty far outside my wheelhouse.
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