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Bluetracker

Tracks Blizzard employees across various accounts.

Want to investigate further? Drop your questions below! 👇 There will be a Q&A with Hearthstone devs after The Murder at Castle Nathria stream this Friday.

Want to investigate further? Drop your questions below! 👇 There will be a Q&A with Hearthstone devs after The Murder at Castle Nathria stream this Friday.

  • Hearthstone
    Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
    Want to investigate further? Drop your questions below! 👇 There will be a Q&A with Hearthstone devs after The Murder at Castle Nathria stream this Friday.

    • RagnarosIRL
      Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
      @PlayHearthstone Paladin has a theme this expansion of using class-only (no neutral) cards. Is this a theme that’s exclusive to Paladin, or is it something that we could see for other classes in the future? It seems like it could be an interesting design space for any class.

      • Hearthstone
        Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
        @RagnarosIRL It’s not off the table! We’ve liked using it as a theme for Paladin, but I could see us doing Pure in other classes as well. Druid and Warlock seem like decent options. - CG

    • thedizzyfly
      Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
      @PlayHearthstone Please talk about when a keyword comes into focus during the design of a set. How did Infuse come to be and how did it change or evolve as the set was developed. Was the Revendreth theme the first thing you developed the set around or the keyword?

      • Hearthstone
        Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
        @thedizzyfly The Revendreth Murder Mystery theme was the first thing we decided on, and then we went right into mechanic design. We knew pretty quickly that we wanted to focus on a new keyword, in this case, Infuse, and Locations as a new card type. (1/3)

        • Hearthstone
          Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
          @thedizzyfly Infuse for quite some time was called Anima, and it was a secondary resource that would let you transform your Mana crystals into Anima crystals. We had some cards that generated Anima and some cards that wanted to spend it, but ultimately it didn’t feel much different. (2/3)

          • Hearthstone
            Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
            @thedizzyfly It was also pretty complex and we knew that Locations were quite complex. We went back to the drawing board on Infuse in early Final Design and came up with the current design. It’s thematic, supports our overall design goals for the year, and has good gameplay! -CG (3/3)

    • AnthonyPollos
      Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
      @PlayHearthstone What were the initial designs for the Location cards? Did they go through any drastic changes during their development? Also super cool to have a dev Q&A :)

      • Hearthstone
        Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
        @AnthonyPollos TLDR: VERY drastic changes. Locations were originally a card type that took up 2 spaces on board and had a socket in the middle that you would slot a minion into. When a minion occupied a Location, the ability was active, and when it died the Location would lose durability. (1/2)

        • Hearthstone
          Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
          @AnthonyPollos It was really cool, and really hard to make work. There were just too many instances where you would have a Location and no minion to activate it, and the topdeck scenarios were especially unfun. It looked cool though! -CG (2/)

    • Sintho16
      Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
      @PlayHearthstone Is the tutorial getting an upgrade in the future? with so many new keyswords now, it may can get confusing for new players

      • Hearthstone
        Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
        @Sintho16 The tutorial is indeed feeling a bit aged these days. Crafting a more modern new player experience is something we would like to do in the future, but it’ll likely be a bit before we can get to it. (1/2)

        • Hearthstone
          Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
          @Sintho16 A slightly shorter-term fix we have planned is letting you skip the Hearthstone tutorial (in the same way that you can skip the Battlegrounds tutorial). -Celestalon (2/2)

    • ben_heathstone
      Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
      @PlayHearthstone Who murdered Sire Denathrius?

      • Hearthstone
        Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
        @ben_heathstone I suspect a certain squirrel that looked at me funny. -Celestalon

    • Falular
      Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
      @PlayHearthstone 1. Original HS characters & event-themed portraits are really cool, but will we also see more big, beloved characters from @Warcraft making their way to our heroes? (ex. Zul'jin/Nathanos for hunter, Matthias Shaw for rogue, Gazlowe for warrior etc.)

      • Hearthstone
        Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
        @Falular @Warcraft We like to do a bit of this while mostly focusing on characters relevant to the current content. There are some major characters that I’d love to get skins of into the game, but I’d also love to involve them in future expansion themes, so waiting for that is often better. (1/2)

        • Hearthstone
          Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
          @Falular @Warcraft We definitely agree that Tradeable was a very cool mechanic. We’re always considering if there are any expansion keywords that could be made evergreen, but nothing to announce just yet! -Celestalon (2/2)

    • ValfeniaAE
      Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
      @PlayHearthstone I've got a question: Will there be any Battlegrounds Updates for The Murder at Castle Nathria coming? For us, who wants to enjoy some of the fun but on BG's too :)

      • Hearthstone
        Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
        @ValfeniaAE There will be a few Battlegrounds changes coming at the same time as Murder at Castle Nathria (including one new thing I’m particularly excited for). (1/2)

        • Hearthstone
          Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
          @ValfeniaAE The largest Battlegrounds changes usually come in the first major patch after a new expansion, and that will continue to be the case here. Stay tuned! -Celestalon (2/2)

    • farseervantius
      Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
      @PlayHearthstone 1. will we ever get a “delete all decks” button? 2. random hero portrait feature coming soon?

      • Hearthstone
        Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
        @farseervantius 1. We have an idea for a good way to implement quick deletion of decks that doesn’t clutter the UI. Just need to find time to implement it! 2. Yes. Soon. Very soon. Very, VERY soon. -Celestalon

    • Greexoff_
      Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
      @PlayHearthstone Will the skins from the Year of the Phoenix preorders be available to buy this year just like the skins from the Year of the Dragon were available last year?

      • Hearthstone
        Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
        @Greexoff_ The exact timing may vary a bit, but yes, they will return in some way. -Celestalon

    • IDew802
      Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
      @PlayHearthstone Was the being able to play from small hand on mobile intended? It's grown on me, but if it's a new feature I was wondering why it wasn't introduced in like patch notes or with more fanfare. Any upcoming client features to tease?! Love some new features

      • Hearthstone
        Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
        @IDew802 Murder at Castle Nathria (24.0) will introduce Random/Favorite Hero Skins! Beyond that, the next couple months will be light on new client features. (1/2)

        • Hearthstone
          Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
          @IDew802 We’re focused on some much larger features in the following couple of patches. Big things, but we’re not ready to talk about them quite yet! -Celestalon (2/2)

    • Lofilordhs
      Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
      @PlayHearthstone if a card gets a bit of lore how to you work together with the wowdevs to learn about it? I would looovveee so much more lore talk!

      • Hearthstone
        Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
        @Lofilordhs We have a whole Lore team at Blizzard that acts as curators of all lore knowledge from across all our IPs. They’re great to ask questions about what someone’s backstory is, what touches we can include, even really obscure details. (1/3)

        • Hearthstone
          Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
          @Lofilordhs For example, last year we were working on art for a younger version of Maiev, as a Priestess of Elune, before she became a Warden, and I asked them about what her hair color would have been back then, and they had an answer. (2/3)

          • Hearthstone
            Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
            @Lofilordhs Asking about what a character’s voice would sound like, or translations in any of our in-world languages, are common things. And if it’s regarding current or upcoming WoW content, we talk to the WoW team directly a lot of the time too! -Celestalon (3/3)

    • LCapussi
      Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
      @PlayHearthstone Loved the update that added credits to the artists. Are you planning to do the same with the Mercenaries mode? It feels like the only mode that got left out and a lot of art pieces there are really cool, i would love to know who made them.

      • Hearthstone
        Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
        @LCapussi Yep, planning to add these too in the future. -Celestalon

    • briirouge
      Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
      @PlayHearthstone This is a little off topic to Castle Nathria, but will you guys consider giving Denathrius skins of what he would look like in the other covenants

      • Hearthstone
        Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
        @briirouge I have no clue if we have plans to do that, but Ardenweald Denathrius would look so cool. -CG

        • Hearthstone
          Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
          @briirouge Ardenweald ANYTHING would look so cool. -Celestalon

    • pd_larsen
      Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
      @PlayHearthstone Are you guys working on an archievement-tracker?

      • Hearthstone
        Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
        @pd_larsen We think this would be great, though it’s not super high on our priority list right now. Perhaps in the future! -Celestalon

    • Gambito_HS
      Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
      @PlayHearthstone Any plans to create an official in-game deck tracker for the game?

      • Hearthstone
        Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
        @Gambito_HS Not currently. We’re fine with that remaining a very advanced thing that only the most engaged players use, through external tools. -Celestalon

    • imik_plays
      Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
      @PlayHearthstone 1) Are you going to make more card backs and heroes available for crafting? I think we haven't seen the pool expanding since the crafting of the skins got introduced. 2) Do you ever see your team returning to the "recruit a player" experience with some new items on the menu?

      • Hearthstone
        Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
        @imik_plays Yep, planning on it! Had some things we had to take care of here, but these pools will be expanding in the future. We’ll be making more skins and cardbacks craftable over time! (1/4)

        • Hearthstone
          Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
          @imik_plays Improvements to our new player, returning player, and recruiting player experiences are something we’re planning for right now. There’s one big related change coming in Murder at Castle Nathria. (2/4)

          • Hearthstone
            Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
            @imik_plays Once 24.0 launches, the special returning player rewards (quests and free deck), will be repeatable. So even if you already got them once before, if you’ve been gone 120 days and come back, you’ll get them again. (3/4)

            • Hearthstone
              Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
              @imik_plays Wait til 24.0 launches if you want to get these though, or you’ll reset that timer! -Celestalon (4/4)

    • trevor_grote
      Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
      @PlayHearthstone What’s the team’s process when a class’s cards get 50/50 split between different archetypes? Mage is half between Secrets and Skeletons, even though the Skeletons won’t get any more tools outside this expansion. (1/2)

      • Hearthstone
        Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
        @trevor_grote We try to strike a balance between cards that are generally useful and cards that fit an archetype or deck that we want to see. It’s nice to have a few decks that are new with each expansion launch, but ultimately we want to make cards that fit with the previous expansions. (1/5)

        • Hearthstone
          Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
          @trevor_grote Packages of cards like Skeletons and Relics are isolated to this set but in general we keep that to just a single archetype within a class in any expansion at most. If a new archetype within a set doesn’t work because it’s underpowered, we can usually fix that to an extent. (2/5)

          • Hearthstone
            Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
            @trevor_grote In the case of a meta that’s just particularly unfriendly to a new deck, that’s usually something that is remedied over time. It’s always nice to see decks that didn’t land in previous expansions like Questline Priest get a new lease on life with cards from new sets. (3/5)

            • Hearthstone
              Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
              @trevor_grote And I think the mini-sets are a really good way to give some support to mechanics that are isolated to single sets. If we think an archetype that we made in an expansion could just use one more piece to get there, then the mini-set is an obvious place to put that piece. (4/5)

              • Hearthstone
                Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
                @trevor_grote I think in general though, we can and should support existing package decks with pieces that don’t necessarily go in the package, but that goes in the surrounding deck with cards in future sets. -CG (5/5)

    • whabamp1
      Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
      @PlayHearthstone Are we going to get a warlock skin other than nemsy?

      • Hearthstone
        Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
        @whabamp1 Alright, since everyone’s asking so nicely, we’ll make several more skins of everyone’s favorite gnome. …OK, OK, yes, there are some non-Nemsy skins coming for Warlock, but you’ll have to put up with Cute Gnome Summer for a little while longer. -Celestalon

    • ProvocP
      Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
      @PlayHearthstone How did Murlocs Holmes come to shadowland? Is he dead?

      • Hearthstone
        Posted 3 years, 6 months ago (Source)
        @ProvocP I won’t pretend to know the extent of the mysterious Murloc Holmes’ powers. Where there is a mystery, there is a Murloc Holmes. -CG
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