So what does everyone think?

  • dapperdog's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 1890 5285 Posts Joined 07/29/2019
    Posted 1 year, 11 months ago
    Quote From Alfi

    My issues

    • superslow animations
    • hearing 100th time the same voice from a merc is annoying
    • I do not know how to check the abilitiesmof enemy before/at the beginning of battle

    Otherwise it is very repetitive and not really exciting, I may get bored very soon.

    You can check what the enemy in PvE is going to do just by scrolling on its pic. It'll show you what they will do, and the speed of the attacks on that turn. Far as I know you cant actually check the enemy's full abilities roster, but no doubt at some point some website will catalog it out.

    As for PvP, no clue at all. I think its the similar pokemon deal, where you cant really see your opponent's list of attacks.

    1
  • Alfi's Avatar
    Devoted Academic 1790 1369 Posts Joined 05/29/2019
    Posted 1 year, 11 months ago
    Quote From dapperdog
    Quote From Alfi

    My issues

    • superslow animations
    • hearing 100th time the same voice from a merc is annoying
    • I do not know how to check the abilitiesmof enemy before/at the beginning of battle

    Otherwise it is very repetitive and not really exciting, I may get bored very soon.

    You can check what the enemy in PvE is going to do just by scrolling on its pic. It'll show you what they will do, and the speed of the attacks on that turn. Far as I know you cant actually check the enemy's full abilities roster, but no doubt at some point some website will catalog it out.

    As for PvP, no clue at all. I think its the similar pokemon deal, where you cant really see your opponent's list of attacks.

    Actually I would like to know all abilities at the beginning of battle, so I can select the appropriate team. Also, this would help to plan the battle - for example whom to take out first based on the next moves

    -=alfi=-

    2
  • dapperdog's Avatar
    Dragon Scholar 1890 5285 Posts Joined 07/29/2019
    Posted 1 year, 11 months ago
    Quote From Alfi
    Quote From dapperdog
    Quote From Alfi

    My issues

    • superslow animations
    • hearing 100th time the same voice from a merc is annoying
    • I do not know how to check the abilitiesmof enemy before/at the beginning of battle

    Otherwise it is very repetitive and not really exciting, I may get bored very soon.

    You can check what the enemy in PvE is going to do just by scrolling on its pic. It'll show you what they will do, and the speed of the attacks on that turn. Far as I know you cant actually check the enemy's full abilities roster, but no doubt at some point some website will catalog it out.

    As for PvP, no clue at all. I think its the similar pokemon deal, where you cant really see your opponent's list of attacks.

    Actually I would like to know all abilities at the beginning of battle, so I can select the appropriate team. Also, this would help to plan the battle - for example whom to take out first based on the next moves

    Most if not all turn based games dont actually display the enemies' full moveset. Its specifically designed to introduce a learning curve of sorts, to gradually learn what your opponent is capable of and to act according to what presents itself. In any case, Im sure at some point someone will list it all down, so we only have to wait for the wiki to populate.

    2
  • AngryShuckie's Avatar
    1705 1735 Posts Joined 06/03/2019
    Posted 1 year, 11 months ago

    I've been taking it pretty slow, having only got a couple of bounties into Felwood so far. I have been toying around with lots of different characters though, and not just focusing on 1 team, so I have been making the most of the Barrens while it is level-appropriate, including doing a few of the Heroic bounties.

    Overall I'm enjoying it, and have seen myself bite off more than I can chew so I'm not labeling the PvE as too easy. As with Pokemon, it looks like you'll have an easy time if you stick with the same 6 characters throughout, but that's probably because it is balanced to accommodate players occasionally bringing in someone new and lowering their average level.

    I know the board being empty is one of the go-to complains, but I don't even notice it when I'm playing so that doesn't bother me. Nor does the limited voice acting or the so-so animations. I guess I find the gameplay itself engaging enough to not need the aesthetics to pull any weight, which makes sense given how much time I have happily spent playing Pokemon over the years.

    I'm glad I didn't buy any pre-orders though, and have only bought the welcome bundle because it's too efficient to pass up. While it would be nice in the short-term to have a few more epic and legendary characters to make use of some synergies, I also like that getting those characters over time gives me goals to work towards. Whether that ends up more of a grind than I am willing to take part in remains to be seen.

    Finally, regarding the grind, I have little to no interest in PvP, and might end up ignoring it altogether. As such, I'm not daunted by the number of coins it takes to max out characters, since I don't see any need to do so. Heck, I never once cared to EV train Pokemon either; they just got whatever EVs they happened to get naturally and that was good enough for my purposes.

    So yeah, it gets a thumbs up from me, though I acknowledge that is helped a lot by being the type of player I am.

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  • Trixhs's Avatar
    170 8 Posts Joined 06/06/2019
    Posted 1 year, 11 months ago

    Firstly, I really really hope that somehow this thread reaches a dev working on mercenaries. Most (if not all) of the points made here are legit and well mannered and seem to come from people that not only know what they are talking about (design-wise) but also  care for this game and would like to see it improved.

    Now, I've played a few hours of mercenaries so far, didn't pre-order anything but I did buy the 5e bundle. I haven't tried the PvP mode at all yet and I'm around level 25 at Felwood. Based on that (little) progress so far here are my thoughts:

    A) The rogue - like aspect is nearly non existent.
    Great roguelikes tend to get deliberately frustrating at times in various ways. Random and unexpected events that can kill or disable your characters or deny of you of hard earned loot/treasure for the rest of the run or punishing you for going for that 30/70 % chance. The list can go on forever.  But that is why said games can feel SO satisfying when beating them. They give you this feeling of overcoming all the odds through correct choices and strategy along with a fair blessing of rng and they left you feeling exhausted. I was thinking that frustration is not something that the light-hearted  Hearthstone environment is aiming towards but then I remembered that content like Naxxramas Heroic (Maexxna much?) exists.
    It feels like Mercenaries has no balls on purpose.
    Its pretty much linear, it doesn't feel punishing at all and it doesn't surprise you in no way whatsoever.
    Yes, I know it's game that is not roguelike on it's core but it rather has roguelike elements, BUT, in my opinion it misses on having the elements that make roguelikes well, roguelikes.

    B) The game is built on UI that is counter intuitive.
    Picture this: You just finished an elite fight and you got 3 awesome treasures you can choose from. You want to make a meaningful choice based on the remaining fights on your run, the treasures that you already got and the info about other mercs on your squad (race, equipment, stats etc.). Well, you can't access any of those things because choosing a treasure uses a discover-a-card like mechanic that is not minimizable, forcing you to choose right there and now based only on things you can remember. I found myself in this kind of situation 3-4 times already.  Even worse, the choice didn't even matter much in the end (point A) but if eventually the choice does matter we should be able to access all that information.

    C) Aesthetics.
    Well, pretty much what everybody else mentioned before me. This doesn't concern me much though. The hearthstone team has a lot of good artists and developers that in the long run will improve said aspect of the game.

    I will be getting to current end game content and to PvP soon. My opinion will be more complete by then, but for now despite the above issues I enjoy Mercenaries. The collecting aspect is fun and I don't mind the grind. But for sure, for the game to become a staple a lot of issues have to be addressed mainly game-play wise.

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  • Thraxus's Avatar
    1060 339 Posts Joined 05/08/2020
    Posted 1 year, 11 months ago

    Hi there,

    you already pretty much said everything in this thread and I fully agree. I don't think it is a bad mode, but it nevertheless feels like a missed opportunity. My biggest point personally is the gameplay or the lack of it. Battles always play out pretty much the same with little variance. Instead of squeezing 50+ mercs in the mode they should have put a little more focus on the actual gameplay and mechanics. Really can't see me spending more than 5 bucks on it in its current form. On the other hand it neatly fits in the recent HS development: Ramp up of monetization with flat or even declining content quality. Again, it is not bad but I would certainly expect more from Blizzard if they want my money.

    My rating would be 5 out of 10.

    English is not my native language, so please excuse occasional mistakes

    1
  • Caro's Avatar
    Dragon 2120 2333 Posts Joined 03/12/2020
    Posted 1 year, 11 months ago
    Quote From Trixhs

    B) The game is built on UI that is counter intuitive.
    Picture this: You just finished an elite fight and you got 3 awesome treasures you can choose from. You want to make a meaningful choice based on the remaining fights on your run, the treasures that you already got and the info about other mercs on your squad (race, equipment, stats etc.). Well, you can't access any of those things because choosing a treasure uses a discover-a-card like mechanic that is not minimizable, forcing you to choose right there and now based only on things you can remember. I found myself in this kind of situation 3-4 times already.  Even worse, the choice didn't even matter much in the end (point A) but if eventually the choice does matter we should be able to access all that information.

    This point has been bothering me too. I'd find myself pick a treasure, then go look at my merc comp to find the treasure didn't really synergize well. Also, there's certain treasures like "Give you Horde/Alliance characters x/y", if you don't follow WoW lore, or are a new player, you'll have no idea whose who.

    1
  • linkblade91's Avatar
    Global Moderator Serra Angel 1680 2545 Posts Joined 02/09/2019
    Posted 1 year, 11 months ago
    Quote From Caro

    This point has been bothering me too. I'd find myself pick a treasure, then go look at my merc comp to find the treasure didn't really synergize well. Also, there's certain treasures like "Give you Horde/Alliance characters x/y", if you don't follow WoW lore, or are a new player, you'll have no idea whose who.

    There's another level to it, as well: some characters are neither, and yet have been assigned a side. The Lich King, for example, is considered a "Horde" character, and that is definitely not true.

    2
  • Riffraff's Avatar
    755 370 Posts Joined 04/30/2020
    Posted 1 year, 11 months ago

    I've been enjoying the new mode. I only bought the Welcome Bundle ($5 USD).

    I am two bounties into Winterspring, and I don't mind the grinding. I have been trying to level all of my mercies equally, so I rotate teams almost every run to catch up the stragglers (crazy, I know). All 6 of my protectors are Level 30 now, but no one in the other two roles are maxed. 

    I've dabbled a tiny bit in PVP, and have faced equal amounts AI and other actual players. Seems fun - I know I don't have an optimal squad at all, so I am not taking it too seriously. 

    Overall, very happy with the new mode.

    2
  • Shwarzinator's Avatar
    Island 305 186 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 1 year, 11 months ago

    There's a lot to criticize but bottom line I find it very addictive. I'm also a whale so I have a lot of options and I've been leveling different parties with various combos. I haven't even got to heroic yet so it's been mostly easy but I haven't minded. I can see though that they need to iterate on it quickly so that some aspects don't get stale. PvP is really interesting but so far imbalanced. Maybe that will iron out as the MMR algorithm has more time to work.

    The most disappointing thing is that you can't grind for skins. I have no way to work towards the skins I want. That's like not being able to grind for mounts I. Wow. I think it's a mistake. Skins are a reason to grind. Coins for leveling aren't. Skins would have been a concrete goal. 

    Facing the same rats in the Barrens every time will get tiresome soon. They need to give us more variety of enemies. As far as endgame difficulty I can't judge yet. But what are we working towards when we get there? More coins? Again skins would have been something. If your gonna make a PvE mode that people are throwing money at then give us goals.

    The mode is not finished. I consider it a beta. But a very good beta. Hopefully they do too and will add more features quickly.

    I'm also sad that there's really no RPG element. I how they add some of that kind of stuff. There's a lot of potential. The basic gameplay is addictive and satisfying for me. Hopefully it will grow and this is just the beginning. 

    But FFS let us grind for worthwhile endgame rewards! Skins and or something. 

    0
  • Alfi's Avatar
    Devoted Academic 1790 1369 Posts Joined 05/29/2019
    Posted 1 year, 11 months ago

    One more comment - I found watching Mercenaries streams very boring, unlike the traditional Hearthstone which I enjoy a lot.

    How do you like Merc streams?

    -=alfi=-

    1
  • JodyV's Avatar
    Pikachu 400 206 Posts Joined 05/31/2019
    Posted 1 year, 11 months ago

    So am I the only person enjoying themselves?

    I've been here a while; just hanging out in the background. 

    1
  • Shwarzinator's Avatar
    Island 305 186 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 1 year, 11 months ago

    I am too. But it's a bit too bare bones for PVE. You play to get coins so you canget to the highest level missions so you can...get coins. They got too greedy with skins and there's nothing else besides skins and coins to work towards. 

    1
  • Tumbleweedovski's Avatar
    Protector of Elwynn 1470 596 Posts Joined 06/12/2019
    Posted 1 year, 11 months ago

    I'm surprised by how much I like it. I tried to go in without any expectations but was fairly curious about this new mode nonetheless. Today I finished the PVE on normal and I'm still excited to play heroic, though I don't have many mercs and I want to go in with a (preferably entirely) different party.

    I enjoyed figuring out what mercs work well together with the limited resources I have, trying out different parties, and occasionally swapping in a new merc. Ultimately, I settled with Cariel, Cornelius, Xyrella, Millhouse, Samuro, and Scabbs. No epics or legendaries. I do have some, but I felt like they all need specific builds that required other mercs that I don't have.

    I also liked the feeling of progression while leveling my mercs and upgrading their abilities and completing tasks to acquire coins and equipment. As of now, it didn't feel like grinding, but that might come soon once I got stuck on finding a new team for heroic when I get stuck playing heroic or maybe once heroic is also done and I don't know what to do next. Grinding for coin to craft new mercs? Maybe, I guess we'll see.

    Is the mode perfect? No, far from it! I agree with most of the critique all of you have already mentioned, but apparently that doesn't make me not enjoy this mode.

    Arena > Wild > Standard

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  • Tetsuo's Avatar
    Magma Rager 840 638 Posts Joined 05/29/2019
    Posted 1 year, 11 months ago

    I tried it last night, and I quit playing after the very first level (the one with Hogger as the boss). I found it boring and simplistic, from the gameplay to the aesthetics. Seriously, the background/environment looks very plain, almost like it's an unfinished game that was simply rushed to completion. The fact that others here are saying that there's a lot to criticize yet it's very addictive is a massive red flag for me; that's the hallmark of a predatory game, and I don't want to fall for it. 

    I'll give it another try in the coming days, but as it stands, it's just not very interesting. It bored me so much that it made me go back to playing Standard even though this meta is my least favorite ever, which is saying something. 

    0
  • meisterz39's Avatar
    925 1200 Posts Joined 06/03/2019
    Posted 1 year, 11 months ago
    Quote From Tetsuo

    I tried it last night, and I quit playing after the very first level (the one with Hogger as the boss). I found it boring and simplistic, from the gameplay to the aesthetics. Seriously, the background/environment looks very plain, almost like it's an unfinished game that was simply rushed to completion. The fact that others here are saying that there's a lot to criticize yet it's very addictive is a massive red flag for me; that's the hallmark of a predatory game, and I don't want to fall for it. 

    I'll give it another try in the coming days, but as it stands, it's just not very interesting. It bored me so much that it made me go back to playing Standard even though this meta is my least favorite ever, which is saying something. 

    The early parts of the game are absolutely too simplistic, and the various slowdowns you face when you play (e.g. tedious animations, a need to navigate different menus for each function of the game, etc.) make those early parts feel even worse. That said, the high level PVE content feels a lot more strategic.

    The PVP also feels like it has a lot of potential - basically taking the challenge of the high level content and layering an element of the unknown by hiding your opponent's move choices. I think one of the significant challenges this faces is inaccessibility. Each merc's abilities have two key factors - speed and cooldown. If you know all of the details of each merc then you can infer those as your opponent uses abilities (e.g. when my opponent plays LIch King, I know the base abilities, but depending on how much my opponent's Lich King is upgraded, Frostbite could be speed 8, 7, 6, or 5, and Frostshield could have a cooldown of 2 or 1 and a speed of 4, 3, or 2).

    Knowing that is critical to anticipating how your opponent will play, but the game makes no effort to tell you that information (all you get is what gear the opponent has equipped). That's a big part of the PVP skill curve, and I don't think it should be changed in-client, but I think it leaves it a bit inaccessible without some deck tracker type support, and if inaccessibility leads to less traction from players, the mode will end up a failure.

    1
  • allthehype's Avatar
    Crossroads Historian 630 739 Posts Joined 07/26/2019
    Posted 1 year, 11 months ago

    I like it so far! I haven't opened a lot of packs so my collection is nothing to brag about, but I'm enjoying it anyway.

    One question, how many legendary daily quests were we supposed to get? I think I only got 2 quests for a few packs, I thought it would be more.

    0
  • Siegfrieddo's Avatar
    Llanowar Elves 410 217 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 1 year, 11 months ago

    I’m having a blast! Been playing it a lot, bought the 2 promo bundles plus a 40-pack one. I genuinely like the gameplay and grinding/collecting system. Just look at the initial tournament and the number of different comps. Sure it was before the meta settled..

    anyway, looking forward to the improvements in the mode and new hero additions. They can balance the mode through many ways: buffing, nerfing and adding new heróis.The possibilities are endless 

    1
  • Zelgadis's Avatar
    Wizard 1010 788 Posts Joined 05/29/2019
    Posted 1 year, 11 months ago
    Quote From allthehype

    I like it so far! I haven't opened a lot of packs so my collection is nothing to brag about, but I'm enjoying it anyway.

    One question, how many legendary daily quests were we supposed to get? I think I only got 2 quests for a few packs, I thought it would be more.

    I think there were only two legendary quests, but there are more packs to be had in the PvE storyline.

    Packs aren't a very efficient way to grow your collection though, Hearthstone Mathematics did a video on it. You can get the most rewards doing the tasks from the task board.

    You can get one more task each day by buying an extra task slot with gold and you can get tasks by meeting Mysterious Strangers at the mystery locations on the maps. Heroic Air Totem is the easiest mission to farm those.

     

    0
  • Pezman's Avatar
    2125 1809 Posts Joined 06/03/2019
    Posted 1 year, 10 months ago

    You know what I love? Getting a Merc to level 30, then backing out to the main menu, going to achievements to click the box for the new equipment they earned, then going back into Mercenaries to equip the new item. So many very important steps in the process, much better than just awarding the new equipment right there in the tavern.

    I also love completing a task, forgetting to go back to the campfire to claim the reward, then encountering the highly coveted Mysterious Stranger, only to have it evaporate, leaving me 15 stupid coins because "the campfire is full."

    /s

    "Be excellent to each other." -Bill and Ted

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