The big downside of quests as a whole is that we ask you to build your deck a very specific way to get this big piece of power. The reward has to feel epic to motivate you to build a sub-optimal deck.
Let us be clear. The current quest mage, hunter, shaman and warlock are not sub-optimal decks even without the quests being this powerful. Hell, we've just been through 2 rounds of nerf (third coming next week) in the space of 2 months. And they still dont feel like suboptimal decks.
So While I agree Mage can win without the quest, as we've seen this in FiTB, I don't think the same is true for the other classes. I highly doubt Warlock can win a game if you replace the quest with any other card available, as the effect from Tamsin is what wins games. So in essence, Dean is right coz without the quest, the decks don't have a win condition and would technically be sub-optimal.
I've been wanting a random rotating sets mode since the Gods, Gadgetzan and Gurubashi tavern brawl was released back in 2019. And if I recall correctly, there was another similar brawl with different sets as well.
I vaguely remember reading one of Dean's comments, saying they didn't think this type of mode was a good idea coz your current deck with be invalid when the sets rotate, then players would have to create a new deck to participate. But that's the thing, creating a new deck to play is part of the experience. That's why there's so many people that get involved during Theory Crafting season before an expansion release; some people enjoy building decks! Not to mention certain powerful cards are used again when in a smaller card pool. Take C'Thun for example during the mentioned TB. Or seeing jade golems again. Sure, it penalizes the newer players who don't have a large collection, but lets be real, the people still playing HS have been around for a while. And there's always matchmaking that can take a player's collection into consideration, although I wouldn't know the technicalities around that.
Thanks Flux for this breakdown. Been wanting to know this info and if the pre-orders are worth it. I'll probably get the Diablo bundle being a D3 fan, but also due to my unhealthy excitement when opening HS packs
Oh yea good point, also Lady Prestor and Kazakus were shown too. Maybe they do updates similar to BGs where they add a couple new heroes each expansion. I'd be quite surprised if Mercenaries gets it's own expansion, similar to traditional HS.
Wow 14 changes and that 1 redesign for Priest has definitely perked my interest. I'm sure these changes are bigger than the nerfs/buffs we saw during FitB right?
*Ahem*....Clearly Blizzard forgot to add Deathwing to this patch. I'm sure he'll pop up when Mercenaries Releases... or there will be disappointment and destruction
Also thought it a bit odd, would've assumed he would fall into the Protector category. But you right, the holy buffing/healing aspect makes sense. But then again, Tirion Fordring is also a Paladin and he ended up being a Fighter
Had one match against a QL warrior in wild while I was doing the spam caller achievement. Should've taken out the DH quest though coz damn there's not a lot of time to draw all those cards when you on the clock. Needless to say I got rekt ofc. That QL warrior in wild is bonkers
Nobody gonna mention how these nerfs actually buffed warlock's win rate in general? D6 warlock has technically been killed due to the SoS nerf, but quest handlock has risen in win rate 😓
Really great type of article and hope to see more in the future. As some ppl have pointed out, epics are even more challenging to get now more so than legendries (due to rewards track and sometimes bundles with 1-2 legendries). There's also the careful consideration on if you should craft a specific epic, lets take Felosophy as an example. The card will rotate in ~7 months along with the rest of the Year of the Phoenix, so crafting any of these cards as a Standard-only player can be a bad idea. It also gets tricky when you need to find a substitute card for those that you're missing, and worst when said missing card has a very specific effect like Felosophy. Really like the Pandaren Importer inclusion coz it narrows the odds down.
TLDR: Great article for anyone missing a few key epic/legendary cards.
The majority of the player base would appreciate these nerfs, but in reality, we know Team 5 would never nerf all the quests as that would (theoretically) break the economy with players dusting a total of 10 legendaries. Questlines are also the main focal point of the expansion, and changing all of them would mean Blizzard knew they were a mistake.
Our only hope is they change (at the very least) Blightborn Tamsin with any of the above changes mentioned in the article. I'm sure Blizzard know they effed up on this expansion, but they'll never publicly admit it.
And cash grab is just the nature of these gatcha games. HS itself is a cash grab. It's a great game!
This is the definition when you google "cash grab":
"The definition of a Cash Grab is usually when a product has little or zero quality has hastily, lazily, thrown together for the sole reason of making money. The product may also have no “heart” or “soul”, and has no reason to exist other than to make a quick buck."
Therefore, the term "Cash Grab" doesn't apply to HS itself, coz like you say, it's a great game and has tons of heart and soul.
Stop whitewashing Blizzard and accusing the player-base, you should feel bad for doing so.
Reality is stubborn: Bli$$ard is killing Hearthstone just like they killed WoW
Comments like these belong in the toxic pile. No game developer ever wants their game to fail. Team 5 isn't intentionally trying to sabotage their own game coz that wouldn't benefit anyone. If Blizzard didn't want HS to succeed, they would've moved most of the developers onto other projects, like they did with Heroes of the Storm and StarCraft 2. Instead, they've given us 3 new game modes in the space of 3 years (Battlegrounds, Duels and now Mercenaries). They are pushing out more content now than they have in the past because they want the game to succeed! Yes, they do have their faults like not reacting quickly enough to a polarizing meta or not giving Wild enough love, but they not sitting on their hands doing nothing at all either.
Think you meant The Wailing Caverns mini set here instead of UiS
So While I agree Mage can win without the quest, as we've seen this in FiTB, I don't think the same is true for the other classes. I highly doubt Warlock can win a game if you replace the quest with any other card available, as the effect from Tamsin is what wins games. So in essence, Dean is right coz without the quest, the decks don't have a win condition and would technically be sub-optimal.
I've been wanting a random rotating sets mode since the Gods, Gadgetzan and Gurubashi tavern brawl was released back in 2019. And if I recall correctly, there was another similar brawl with different sets as well.
I vaguely remember reading one of Dean's comments, saying they didn't think this type of mode was a good idea coz your current deck with be invalid when the sets rotate, then players would have to create a new deck to participate. But that's the thing, creating a new deck to play is part of the experience. That's why there's so many people that get involved during Theory Crafting season before an expansion release; some people enjoy building decks! Not to mention certain powerful cards are used again when in a smaller card pool. Take C'Thun for example during the mentioned TB. Or seeing jade golems again. Sure, it penalizes the newer players who don't have a large collection, but lets be real, the people still playing HS have been around for a while. And there's always matchmaking that can take a player's collection into consideration, although I wouldn't know the technicalities around that.
Thanks Flux for this breakdown. Been wanting to know this info and if the pre-orders are worth it. I'll probably get the Diablo bundle being a D3 fan, but also due to my unhealthy excitement when opening HS packs
Oh yea good point, also Lady Prestor and Kazakus were shown too. Maybe they do updates similar to BGs where they add a couple new heroes each expansion. I'd be quite surprised if Mercenaries gets it's own expansion, similar to traditional HS.
All the Threatening voice lines are so hilarious, I have to buy this bundle 🤣
She'll be my go-to dragon till they release Deathwing... hopefully in the near future
Wow 14 changes and that 1 redesign for Priest has definitely perked my interest. I'm sure these changes are bigger than the nerfs/buffs we saw during FitB right?
Definitely has me excited 🤩
*Ahem*....Clearly Blizzard forgot to add Deathwing to this patch. I'm sure he'll pop up when Mercenaries Releases... or there will be disappointment and destruction
Also thought it a bit odd, would've assumed he would fall into the Protector category. But you right, the holy buffing/healing aspect makes sense. But then again, Tirion Fordring is also a Paladin and he ended up being a Fighter
Also a bit surprised Baron Geddon is a caster
Definitely approve of this deck utilizing 3 Deathwings 🔥🔥🔥
(Well, this being Rogue, it's understandable we can't have Madness)
Had one match against a QL warrior in wild while I was doing the spam caller achievement. Should've taken out the DH quest though coz damn there's not a lot of time to draw all those cards when you on the clock. Needless to say I got rekt ofc. That QL warrior in wild is bonkers
Nobody gonna mention how these nerfs actually buffed warlock's win rate in general? D6 warlock has technically been killed due to the SoS nerf, but quest handlock has risen in win rate 😓
How long can this go on?
Well to be fair, only quest warlock players actually like her
Really great type of article and hope to see more in the future. As some ppl have pointed out, epics are even more challenging to get now more so than legendries (due to rewards track and sometimes bundles with 1-2 legendries). There's also the careful consideration on if you should craft a specific epic, lets take Felosophy as an example. The card will rotate in ~7 months along with the rest of the Year of the Phoenix, so crafting any of these cards as a Standard-only player can be a bad idea. It also gets tricky when you need to find a substitute card for those that you're missing, and worst when said missing card has a very specific effect like Felosophy. Really like the Pandaren Importer inclusion coz it narrows the odds down.
TLDR: Great article for anyone missing a few key epic/legendary cards.
Is Paladin easy to play around or counter? Coz it's really interesting that the class is number 1 on HSReplay, but sees no play in GMs
The majority of the player base would appreciate these nerfs, but in reality, we know Team 5 would never nerf all the quests as that would (theoretically) break the economy with players dusting a total of 10 legendaries. Questlines are also the main focal point of the expansion, and changing all of them would mean Blizzard knew they were a mistake.
Our only hope is they change (at the very least) Blightborn Tamsin with any of the above changes mentioned in the article. I'm sure Blizzard know they effed up on this expansion, but they'll never publicly admit it.
Wow, thank you Flux for designing this in-site tool. The other options are the discord server or google docs. This looks much more user friendly 😁
This is the definition when you google "cash grab":
"The definition of a Cash Grab is usually when a product has little or zero quality has hastily, lazily, thrown together for the sole reason of making money. The product may also have no “heart” or “soul”, and has no reason to exist other than to make a quick buck."
Therefore, the term "Cash Grab" doesn't apply to HS itself, coz like you say, it's a great game and has tons of heart and soul.
Comments like these belong in the toxic pile. No game developer ever wants their game to fail. Team 5 isn't intentionally trying to sabotage their own game coz that wouldn't benefit anyone. If Blizzard didn't want HS to succeed, they would've moved most of the developers onto other projects, like they did with Heroes of the Storm and StarCraft 2. Instead, they've given us 3 new game modes in the space of 3 years (Battlegrounds, Duels and now Mercenaries). They are pushing out more content now than they have in the past because they want the game to succeed! Yes, they do have their faults like not reacting quickly enough to a polarizing meta or not giving Wild enough love, but they not sitting on their hands doing nothing at all either.