News Realms Remove Ads - Go Premium! Sign In or Register

Bluetracker

Tracks Blizzard employees across various accounts.

Hearthstone AMA #34 7:30PM - 8:30PM PST Ask me a question about Hearthstone! Or Design! (or anime...) https://t.co/B7tyq6pD0i

Hearthstone AMA #34 7:30PM - 8:30PM PST Ask me a question about Hearthstone! Or Design! (or anime...) https://t.co/B7tyq6pD0i

  • Iksar
    Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
    Hearthstone AMA #34 7:30PM - 8:30PM PST Ask me a question about Hearthstone! Or Design! (or anime...) https://t.co/B7tyq6pD0i

    • RidiculousHat
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS how do you design systems knowing that your users will constantly look for edges to exploit, at many times completely subverting your intentions?

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @RidiculousHat Carefully?! Just have to be aware there are players that consume content in vastly different ways and to try to create systems that are appealing to both extremes of users. We often think in terms of different player stories when spot checking a system for fun.

        • Iksar
          Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
          @RidiculousHat Rewards systems are usually pretty good examples of this. How do you design something that doesn't give your whole game away for free, is rewarding for someone that plays 8 hours a day, and is rewarding for someone that plays 10 minutes a week?

    • DaddyOni_HS
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Have you considered giving the players the power to ban cards/class that they dont want to face in ladder? I think it will make the world a better place.

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @DaddyOni_HS I'd like to trial a limited period where players can ban a class of their choice. Would have strange meta implications but I think there is a good chance it makes Hearthstone more fun. Not in development, just on a wishlist as we catch up on content work post mercenaries.

    • RaneTDF
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS What do you think about Datamining?

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @RaneTDF reality of our industry, in a live-service game I think you just have to embrace it rather than fight it

    • Shmilia
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS why multiplayer games, in general, do not celebre "player's account anniversary". I think the day a player started playing a game is very relevant, but it is rarely ever used and even remembered. Some companies (riot, for example), goes one step further and doesn't allow me+

      • Shmilia
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @IksarHS celebrate*

        • Iksar
          Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
          @Shmilia There are some light versions of this like the monthly card back reward, but I agree we could generally do better at conveying a players history in a game where the intention is you collect and play over many (10+!?) years.

    • pocky_plays
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Has there been any discussion of having Battlegrounds have rotating content, or stick with the status quo of regular updates? We've seen some heroes rotate, but would be interesting if certain tribes or cards did, with the intent of them returning, not necessarily for balance.

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @pocky_plays We've rotated out cards and will rotate out tribes at some point, just haven't felt it necessary yet.

    • WickedGood
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS What surprised you most from the first (almost) two weeks of Mercenaries?

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @WickedGood I actually wasn't expecting such a positive response from very hardcore competitive players. I knew there was potential for fun competitive gameplay but thought it would take more time to get that across.

    • Alex_Marcy
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Naoki Urusawa's monster? Ever seen it?

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @Alex_Marcy no what do you rate it out of 10?

    • InziHS
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS What was for lunch today?

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @InziHS subway

    • Wiibomb
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS do you think it would be possible for a kind of mercenaries AMA to happen about the future of the mode? Im sure many, as I do, have many questions about how the team will handle content, updates, mercs and balance.

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @Wiibomb I think the mercs team is digesting the initial reception of mercs before setting all the future plans in stone. Once they have a clearer picture on the future of the mode with current feedback in mind we'll share that with the community.

    • Yank_07
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Are we gonna have 100% chance to find "Mysterious Stranger" now that we have to fight in a more difficult bounty?

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @Yank_07 Intention of the change was to stop players from feeling like they have to farm the same low-level content over and over again to play optimally. Paul (lead design) and Ben (game director) will be mulling the feedback of the recent change over the weekend.

        • Romencasa
          Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
          @IksarHS @Yank_07 Dear Iksar, in CN community there are totally bad feedbacks. Please really re-consider about this. I have reported this to Mr. Ding early this morning by Twitter. Farming low level content isn't a bad feeling way. We need to pay more time, even more than now. This is really…

          • Iksar
            Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
            @Romencasa @Yank_07 I've heard some feedback already from Chinese community. Have some close friends there that have been translating the feedback. Thanks for sharing, we'll consider over the weekend.

    • HolyKnight077
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Happy Friday Lord @IksarHS ... hope you are doing well. Since you added DH in HS, my question for today is: Have the team discussed the idea to add DK and/or Monk any time soon (any time soon = within the next 2-3 years)? Have you considered other "classes" outside WoW?

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @HolyKnight077 Yes... We've considered all three of those things rather carefully.... Not ready to talk about which one of them is most likely 👀

        • Iksar
          Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
          @HolyKnight077 No timeline yet, but we'll do another class at some point 😃

        • BenMorrow1
          Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
          @IksarHS @HolyKnight077 Iksars edgy it's always death knights :)

          • Iksar
            Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
            @BenMorrow1 @HolyKnight077 a good guess but I don't decide that sort of thing these days :)

    • ottersHS
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Boxers or briefs

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @ottersHS pfft briefs man, who wears boxers?!

    • MyntyPhresh
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Whats one non-Warcraft Blizzard character that you think would make a sweet Hearthstone card?

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @MyntyPhresh https://t.co/OjHy9aevK1

        • MyntyPhresh
          Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
          @IksarHS Good choice, here's my take https://t.co/eZnAKicjxe

          • Iksar
            Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
            @MyntyPhresh that's just a good body

    • Tacticalian
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Asked this one a few times 😛 Are we ever likely to see a buff to Auctioneer Jaxon and Pursuit of justice? Pursuit feels bad at 2 but could be great at 1, similar to Wildfire. Jaxon feels too situational even in decks with lots of tradeable cards. Thanks Dean!

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @Tacticalian a better question for @Chakki_HS @GallonHS or @BoarControl

        • GallonHS
          Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
          @IksarHS @Tacticalian @Chakki_HS @BoarControl No spoilers for any balance change considerations! But I think we can take another look at Pursuit of Justice next week 🙂

          • Iksar
            Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
            @GallonHS @Tacticalian @Chakki_HS @BoarControl that sort of sounds like a spoiler https://t.co/QUWtJaMkgn

            • GallonHS
              Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
              @IksarHS @Tacticalian @Chakki_HS @BoarControl No spoilers for what does and what doesn’t constitute a spoiler

    • VillalobosChamp
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Is it likely that we'll see some Ninja representation in the future? I think Team Pirate has overtaken the spoils a bit

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @VillalobosChamp Ninjas are slightly less prevalent in the warcraft universe :). Our original game director Eric Dodds used to talk about doing a Pirates vs Ninjas set but I wasn't sure if he was actually serious or just liked saying Pirates vs Ninjas.

        • Iksar
          Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
          @VillalobosChamp Shado-Pan from Pandaria are probably the closest representation of ninja I can think of in Warcraft. If/when we ever go to that continent for expansion content we'll probably make a fair bit of ninja stuff

    • cinco5cuatro4
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS About Mercs... when can we expect some balance changes? The tier list and the guides show a clear sland between high end heroes like Cairne and Diablo, and bottom of the barrel garbage like Millhouse. There are only 2, blink fox and Tyrande to support, but Mllhose is fragile

      • Rullopo
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @cinco5cuatro4 @IksarHS ¿Team 5 balance? Hahahaha

        • Iksar
          Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
          @Rullopo @cinco5cuatro4 https://t.co/e3yRQPv4cC

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @cinco5cuatro4 Still pretty early. Meta decks shared in the community and played on pvp ladder have been drastically different over the first few days of play. We'll see if the same meta still persists for longer than another couple days before swooping in to make changes.

    • Hyperin7
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS What're some of your favorite non-blizzard games?

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @Hyperin7 right now my favorite is valorant props to @Max_Grossman and team it's such an excellent game

    • ben_heathstone
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS We are getting a New Tavern Brawl November 3rd! 👏🏼 With Team 5 having hired a Live Content Designer and Mercenaries being out what are the plans for new Tavern Brawls going forward? https://t.co/678EQGxatf

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @ben_heathstone That team is really free-form, so the content the new designers will be making is really open-ended. No details quite yet!

        • Tabayrak
          Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
          @IksarHS @ben_heathstone Like water.

    • GamblerStream
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS What did you think of the ending of squid game?

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @GamblerStream I didn't mind it but it was my least favorite of the beginning/middle/end

    • h0COAa2eEIF039W
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS I'm a CN hearthstone player. Too many robots in Standard or Wild, even worse in Mercs. You do have ways to identify the robots and why not try your best to ban them? And what can we expect for priests in the future, because the redesign of priests didn't save them.

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @h0COAa2eEIF039W we ban many, many robots turns out, robot makers are very smart and make new robots that are harder to track we'll keep fighting the good fight but it's unlikely this will ever be a completely solved problem

    • contigwrites
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Should users/players report bugs? If so, what is the best way to report bugs? (For example, I heard posting on forums is one way)

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @contigwrites bug report forum is good

    • ScottyH_0823
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Do you see a re-write for Priest in general coming up? Possibly to a mid-range style of play? Just feels like Priest is just subpar at everything lately. Quest is far too slow, combo destroys control and aggro is outclassed by other aggro classes.

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @ScottyH_0823 We aren't that far removed from two very powerful (barrens control, shadow aggro) priest archetypes. Priest will be back, but as a wise designer @mike_donais once said, there must always be a worst class.

    • kkkkoren_
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS Any news on the miniset?

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @kkkkoren_ we will have one :) our publishing team will announce the dates when they are ready

    • WTomack
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS why was the mercenaries change made??

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @WTomack paul (lead designer for merc) left some comments here: https://t.co/5hWGbcGJeo

    • JBrightt_
      Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      @IksarHS will we see changes to the progression path in mercenaries after today's changes? Personally current PvE feels boring/monotonous and has kept me from playing mercs, if PvE was a more enjoyable experience I'd be way more into it

      • Iksar
        Posted 3 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        @JBrightt_ Hard to interpret the feedback. If the question is 'will the team try and make mercs better and better over time?' the answer is yes, of course.
Tweet