Tables of Time is the number 1 game mode that I have been wanting for years!
I'm not even asking for a job, I'm just asking for a conversation, but thank you for the enthusiasm.
I think it's important that we have the ability to play with our cards outside the gaping maw that is Wild. Wild only changes when nerfs occur, and if you ask anyone, that's a problem.
Hello everyone, I'm back with another concept that allows us to have more ways to play Hearthstone. My last concept was Explorer, a format that bans cards on a monthly basis until it resets at the beginning of the new Hearthstone Year. Today I bring you Tables, a new way to play Hearthstone with your friends with your own rules. Such as hand size, starting health, deck size, and more with a little imagination. There's also some bonus stuff that I'm throwing in here as well that can apply. Again, if you see any flaws, have any questions, or just want to point something out that I didn't cover, please let me know. My designs are not perfect but we as a community can get Team 5's attention and tell them that we want something new.
Here we go.
Hearthstone is set in Harth's tavern somewhere in Azeroth. The players are sat down at a table, in front of the Box and begin playing. But what if we..... got up? And walked to a different table? This is where Tables came from, the idea that other people are in this tavern, playing Hearthstone, by their own rules. It's a pretty easy concept and pretty simple to implement.
Everyone is familiar with with the Modes button by now, and I felt that Tables fits right into that menu. Choosing a tankard was appropriate because chances are if you're playing custom games, you're playing with friends. Just click it and you'll be taken to the next menu.
Okay, I know I just gave you ALOT to look at and process, but these are the tables.
Before we talk about making your own rules and rule sets, I'm going to showcase some other ways to play.
Before we get started we have to address that with the implementation of Tables, comes also the Deck Box system. It's simple, you click the button, and select the corresponding rule set or mode you want it to be made for, and get to building.
Toki, Time-Tinker is moving to Wild in April and when she does, her Battlecry won't make much sense. She didn't see serious play when she was in Standard and definitely won't in Wild, so why not give her a Table to herself?
Toki's Tables of Time allows players to visit old, end of year metas of the past. Just select the mode and what year, and get to playing!
Two Headed Ogre is pretty straight forward.
Hearthstone Mathematics made a video showcasing what a 2V2 mode would look like.
Iksar even commented on the mode but this was right before Battlegrounds was announced, so maybe people have forgotten about it?
Tournaments Grounds is essentially Tournament Mode but now it has a home in Table.
It makes sense really. What if a bunch of players got together, established rules, card bans, and the like and started a Tournament? What if other players like their rule set and wanted to mimic it? We'll get to that soon. ;)
Endless Adventure is basically an endless Dungeon Run, but with rewards. It uses all of them, intertwined if you'd like. Dungeon Run, Monster Hunt, Rumble Run, Dalaran Heist, and Tombs of Terror.
A free version of it will be available to all players to play whenever they want. New Treasures and ways to modify/remove cards from your deck should be implemented. Rewards should be given when beating boss number "x" and so on.
A paid version, with either gold or your local currency, is available to those who think they can get really far. Rewards will be increased as well.
For Tournament Grounds and Endless Adventure, I went and I had to brainstorm for rewards that are worthy of players' time.
I came up with two new rewards called Pack Tokens and Pack Sleeves.
Pack Tokens are exactly what they sound like. They are equivalent to 100 Gold and buy you a pack. The difference is that you can use these to buy whatever pack you want instead of the game choosing for you.
Pack Sleeves are a tool players can use to guarantee that they'll open a Legendary or Epic card.
Any pack can be used with these, and most importantly, you don't have to use them right away. That means you can save them, and when an expansion comes out, if you want to use them all at once, go for it. Now of course these aren't going to be easy to obtain, but hey, they're still neat.
The way these work internally is that once the pack is slid in, it chooses a Common rarity card and changes it before you open the pack.
Now enough waiting around, let's talk about making your own rules. You select "Your Table" and are presented with a menu that allows you to browse individual rules and build them into a rule set. You give it a name and description and start diving into individual rules that apply within.
Focus on the left side first.
The game needs to know what set restrictions you'd like to have. Current Standard set? How about all of Wild? Do you want to modify what was allowed in Year of the Mammoth?
Let's pick Standard for Simplicity. Now we have to list sets that are in use, this will default to whatever was allowed within the time you chose. If you want to ban a particular set, now you can. What would it look like if only (all of) Witchwood, Rastakhan's Rumble, and Descent of Dragons were allowed? No Classic or Basic sets either.
Now that we have that out of the way, let's ban some cards, and maybe even some classes. We'll get rid of every Galakrond card plus what ever cards synergize with him. We'll also ban Embiggen and Necrium Apothecary. You know what? Since Genn Greymane and Baku the Mooneater are here I'm gonna ban Paladin and Shaman as well, these are MY rules after all.
On the right you can see other rules that are not active until you click "Add Custom Rules". Then you can peruse you own ideas or other players ideas and throw them into the rule set. At the bottom of the extra rules slider will be an option to actually make other rules, I just couldn't find an appealing UI design.
Rule sets and Rules are shareable similarly to how we share deck codes.
Here's a mock up of a completed Rule Set
"Play" is where you would go if you wanted to play against random players against other players' rule sets, or maybe even a rule set made by a Blizzard employee.
Think of it as a game browser.
Issues, Solutions, and Outcomes.
Issues
Probably the biggest one that will be called out is that it dilutes the player base which is understandable. Players claim that the wait times for Wild are long enough as it is and more formats or game modes would make it even longer.
Does Tables of Time have longevity?
What if rules conflict with each other?
How will Tavern Brawl be affected?
Replayability
Taverns of Time could be the largest victim of this. I'm not sure how many long time players will dive into old, figured out metas. But the option is still there for people who would like to dive in.
Solutions
Rules should be made to where if two rules conflict they can't exist in the same rule set. This should be a fail safe that's implemented by Team 5.
As for dilution of the player base, Team 5 should create more incentives to encourage players to branch out into different formats and modes with quests. They've done it in the past, they just need to do it more often.
To me, Tavern Brawl is more of a stepping stone if anything. It's existed for several years now and I think it's time to retire it and/or move it into Tables. It's honestly a perfect fit as well.
Outcomes
I think in general most players will like the idea that they can make their own rules and share them with the Hearthstone community.
Dilution of the player base is a possibility but I firmly believe in having a split player base is better than a non-existent one.
I made this Mode because people were telling me how awesome it would be to have the ability to make their own rules. So I made a concept that Team 5 should look at and consider.
Once again, if I overlooked anything, didn't explain something entirely, or if you are confused about something just ask.
How'd you enjoy 90% of your matches being mirrors, cause this deck is literally the only thing I've seen the past few days.
Back to wild we go!
I've been running it, out of like 20 games I've only had like 2-3 mirror matches, I expect this to change over the next few days though. Deck is fun as hell.
For articles getting downvoted, I’d recommend the voting system being on the page with a question right above the votes/score/points/whatever metric is used to simply ask “Do you like X?”
i.e. “Do you like that Blizzard signed a deal to exclusively stream on YouTube?”
Just because that score is negative doesn’t directly mean that the article/content was well presented. But at the same time, it depends on how you, the Admin and Mods, accurately want to get a feel of how everyone thinks.
Sidenote: You guys present data/news pretty objectively, so it’s not like fake news where stuff is biased all the time
Hello everyone, as the title states I need your help.
I've recently been making custom modes and formats for Hearthstone in hopes of getting enough people behind an idea in order to convince Team 5 to bring something new to Hearthstone. At this point in time I have two previous works. I made an outline of a Tournament Mode that I think would suit the game, people had their criticisms but overall the reaction was positive. I also made a new format called Explorer, that shrinks the amount of legal cards in a Wild-like format as time goes on. Shaking up the meta on a monthly schedule does appeal to a lot of people. Of course, no idea of mine is perfect and there is an issue that myself and another reader talked about.
I need your help, and all you have to do is answer some questions. Now I do ask that you re-read all of the questions once you've written down your answers. You're not obligated to respond to this in anyway, I just need some help.
If you guys remember this article I wrote back in September, this will be an alteration of the Grandmaster Format from that post. Grandmaster is what I'm designing to essentially create a better competitive ladder. No grinding, no ranked floors, and no mindless repetition.
I recommend that you copy-paste all the questions in your reply and just erase the questions and fill it in with your answers, that'll make it much easier for me to follow. If you want to add any additional information on a question (just put it in parentheses).
Player History
- 1-1: Do you actively try to climb the ladder each month for competitive purposes? - 1-2: What is the highest Legend / Non-Legend rank you've achieved in Standard? - 1-3: What is the highest Legend / Non-Legend rank you've achieved in Wild?
- 2-1: During what set / expansion did you begin playing Hearthstone? - 2-2: Have you ever taken a break so long that your collection was lacking cards that were needed in the meta at that time?
- 3-1: Are you a Free-2-Play Player? - 3-2: If so, how often do expansions set you back when it comes to being competitive?
- 4-1: Free type here if there's anything I didn't specifically ask that you feel is pertinent.
Standard
- 1-1: Are you happy / satisfied with the current ranking ladder system from rank 25-1? - 1-2: Do you feel like the ranks from 25-1, non-Legend ranks, help keep the Legend ranks from being diluted? - 1-3: Do you feel like the ranks from 25-1 are just irrelevant obstacles?
- 2-1: Are you happy / satisfied with the current ranking system in the Legend ranks? - 2-2: Do you feel like the players in the Legend ranks earned their rank or deserve to be their rank? - 2-3: Do you feel like it's a rush at the beginning of each month to try to reach a Legend rank? - 2-4: Once players have achieved Legend rank, do you think they take the game seriously for the rest of the month?
- 3-1: If you don't actively try to climb ladder in either format, why? - 3-2: What would convince you to actively climb it every day?
- 4-1: Do you feel like the Standard Format suits the purposes of highly competitive players? - 4-2: Do you feel like reaching Legend ranks 1-16 is realistic goal, even with a full collection? - 4-3: Is there anything getting in the way of you reaching Legend Ranks 1-16?
- 5-1: Have you attended official Blizzard tournament and/or qualifiers? - 5-2: How was the experience? - 5-3: How could it have been improved? - 5-4: Would you rather compete in official tournaments at home?
- 6-1: Do you think Standard is fine the way it is? - 6-2: Why or why not.
-7-1: You may free type this one if you wish, what would make the Standard ladder a better experience overall?
Grandmaster, a new competitive format.
- 1-1: Would you play the Grandmaster Format if it had an entry fee? - 1-2: Would you pay an entry fee if the end of month rewards were higher? - 1-3: Would you pay an entry fee if, within this mode, it gave you access to all of the currently legal Standard cards? - 1-4: Do you think the Grandmaster Format, if it were free to enter, would significantly reduce the amount of players playing in the Standard Format?
- 2-1: In your opinion, how much gold do you think the entry fee should be? - 2-2: In your opinion, in your local currency, how much do you think the entry fee should be?
- 3-1: Would you be in favor of Blizzard selectively banning certain cards from the format? - 3-2: Why or why not?
- 4-1: Do you think there should be the Grandmaster Format exclusive rewards? - 4-2: If so, what should / would they be?
- 5-1: What would the Grandmaster Format have to do in order to differentiate itself as a format that is different from Standard? - 5-2: Would you want a different way to raise your rank that isn't a ladder system?
- 6-1: Would you play in the Grandmaster Format if you got to attend official Blizzard events/tournaments for ranking among the highest of other players?
- 7-1: Free type anything here pertaining to the Grandmaster Format that you would like to voice your opinion on.
Thank you all for reading, and thank you all for answering. -Grif
Wouldn't it be faster to skip the armor part and use a life drinker?
He summons a bunch of Molten Giants and I really just had the idea of fatiguing him. The Molten Giants will eventually become so numerous they they'll do 56 damage in a single turn, so trying to heal a bunch only works so much.
You could always try using Glacial Shard to freeze everything, but Shudderwock will sometimes target enemies who are already frozen.
I like the idea. I had an idea that was meant to create a "deck builders" format as well.
A New Custom Game Mode - Market Melee
As you all know Hearthstone has 5 game modes which exist at this current time:
Play Mode - (Constructed Decks - Collection Based - PVP - both Casual and Competitive - Wild and Standard Card Sets)
Practice Mode - (Constructed Decks - Collection Based - PVE - Casual - Wild Card Set)
Arena Mode - (Semi Random Decks - Draft Based - PVP - Competitive - Standard Card Set)
Tavern Brawl Mode - (Varied Structures for all catagories except that it is always casual)
Battlegrounds Mode - (completely different style of game using the cards we know and love)
These 5 Modes do cover a fairly wide array of options for Game play styles, however I have always thought that Hearthstone could use a game mode which really highlights a player's ability to build creative decks alongside the ability to pilot them.
In short, Market Melee is a month long alternative ladder with a mostly-limited format. It highlights deckbuilding, creativity and deep skill with traditionally undervalued cards.
Format Basics:
Show Spoiler
Market Melee attempts to capture the fun experience of the recent Oktoberbrawl twitch event which allowed players to build a new account in a controlled limited way, while also tying in the challenge of deckbuilding with undervalued cards.
Players would pay an entry fee to begin a Market Madness "Run" (1000g) which lasts for a full season (perhaps there should be a few days turn over like with tavern brawl).
After beginning a run the player would be granted a 400 market gems, plus 10 gems for each day into the season which has passed (so not to punish late starts quite so hard).
Using the gems the player must construct competitive decks by acquiring cards to add to the basic set.
Gems will also be the rewards for winning games - with more rewards given during win streaks.
Matchmaking will be based on ladder position
Deck Construction:
Show Spoiler
The deck construction involves two mechanics: Pack Opening and Card Auction
The player would need to balance their Gem Budget between purchasing and opening packs and purchasing/loaning cards through the auction.
Opening a pack would cost 10 gems.
Card Purchase/Auction values are determined by two factors - card rarity and card usage, with rarity determining base cost and demand modifier.
Legendaries would have a base purchase cost of 100 gems, Epics - 50, Rares - 25, and Common/Basics - 10. The demand modifier is determined by the number of that card set up to be auctioned in a given season and how often it has been purchased.
A card is only available for purchase if at least 1 player has put it up for Auction.
Gems can also be gained by putting obtained cards up for Auction; values earned are 80% of current purchase prices
The more "in-demand" a card is, the higher the demand modifier (aka you pay a premium), if a card is "low-demand" enough, the demand modifier will put the card on "Sale"
All Basic Cards are available for free
Market Packs:
Show Spoiler
The "Market Packs" would be a special type of pack belonging to the "Shopkeeper" and would be game mode specific (the cards are not added to the players collection).
They would contain cards selected from all available cards for the Season (the set of cards available can change from Season to Season - ex} one season wild, one season standard, one season custom etc.)
The packs would contain 5 cards as usual
Rewards:
Show Spoiler
Winning a game earns 1 gem, a win streak gives an addition gem for each win past 2 (3rd win gives 2 gems, 5th gives 4 gems etc.)
Rewards are given in Packs, gold and Dust at seasons end based on Ladder results
Unused/Earned Gems are converted directly to dust at a 1-to-1.
If I were you, I'd make this into a full on forum post. If you want you could also make your own screen shots and such to help display your ideas.
It definitely seems like an interesting, and challenging format that I'd like to try.
Wow, this is a really impressive concept. You did a great job, thank you for your efforts. :]
I found one drawback: The first month of the game in Explorer mode (after rotation) will not be any different from the Wild mode, since all the cards will be available to players.
And I would suggest another solution for the collection. Players can use the complate collection of common, rare and epic cards from wild sets absolutely free. This will make almost all players competitive, and increase the audience.
Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read the article, and again for giving feedback.
In the first month of the new year, Explorer and Wild will absolutely mirror each other 100%. The reason that Explorer resets on the set rotation date is so that there are only a few weeks where Wild and Explorer are identical, since expansions release usually in the middle of a month or several days of a month have already passed. This allows for the system to pick out OP decks as early as possible, it won't catch all of them in the first month, but there's always next month. It could be a problem but again, for only one month it shouldn't be too bad. I'd imagine most players in Standard with the new cards and old cards just getting rotated.
So the collection part is really hard to figure out. I want players to be able to experience this, and it really sucks for those who just straight up don't have enough cards. Couple that with the fact that Team 5 make their money, pay their bills, and put food on their tables by selling packs. Maybe offer all Common and Rare cards for free strictly within this format.
Hello everyone, I'm back with another concept. I came up with it a while back when I was writing this article giving a brief outline of different ways that Hearthstone could be played. If you've already read that article, or have just read it, this is the Pyramid Format with a new, more fitting name. I made another post that outlined what a Tournament Mode in Hearthstone could/should look like. The visual aids I put in that were well received and I did the same for this post because it kind of help solidifies it instead of it being left up to the imagination. There are notes of self identified issues that I'll address and if you guys have gotten to know me at this point, I'm always open for constructive criticism, discussion, and exploration to improve upon my designs. Don't hesitate to tell me what you think. So let's get started.
High Arcanist Thalyssra has entered the Tavern. Unbeknownst to many, she too is a fan of Hearthstone. She has set up her own table and is eager to show everyone her own dynamic rule set. For winning 5 games in the Explorer Format for three consecutive months, this Mage hero portrait will be awarded. Of course, right when I finished making this whole thing someone data-mined the new mage that might be coming.
Hearthstone greets us with music, background noise, and of course it's cheerful dwarven announcer, Harth Stonebrew. From the cinematics we also get a wider cast of characters such as Ava, Velaris, Malto, and Lou to name a few.
Bob the Bartender has become a staple character in the Hearthstone universe over the last year and his implementation in Battlegrounds is definitely a welcomed fit into the game other than being tied to the Adventures in the Year of the Dragon.
I thought I'd introduce a new character, Thalyssra, to be the voice of the Explorer Format, as Bob is the voice of Battlegrounds. I'll give you some example of some possible dialogue she could have through the year.
Once a player has met the criteria to play in Explorer, Thalyssra will ask them to go to their collection to get started making an Explorer decks. Coming up with a name for this format was a challenge, it has to fit, you know? I thought about what players would actually be doing when they play this format. I thought "Players would be exploring possible cards interactions, new deck synergies, and strategies when staple cards are gone." Thus the name, "Explorer".
Changing the format of your deck is as simple as switching from Standard to Wild and vise versa. You just click the button and bam, you're making an Explorer deck. Complete with it's own section in the Collection manager.
I had to use the art from the wild section since I'm not an artist and I don't own Photoshop. Gimp helped out quite a lot though. Essentially the Explorer pages will have a page color and hero border.
The beginning of the Standard year should mark when this Format starts. This Format uses every card from every set including Basic, Classic, and HOF. When expansions are released, those cards will be legal as well. Depending on how much they're played, determines how fast they get moved out of the format.
As the Arcanist said herself, cards will become illegal as the year goes on. Each month a set percentage of cards will be removed from the format based on Win rate.
"How many decks contained this card, and how often did those decks win with this card in it?" In other words, if say Acolyte of Pain is being ran in most/every Explorer deck, it will be banned next month.
The format will have its own icon, I landed on a little book. I kind of felt as the year went on, Thalyssra would write down what cards are legal or not.
This format will have its own ranked ladder to keep players invested into a meta that changes every month. This will help keep players engaged when either the meta is stale, typically at the end of an expansion right before the release of the next.
And let's be real here, most players want the golden hero portraits
At the beginning of each month, after you've been rewarded your Ranked rewards, you will be presented with this screen. Thalyssra will show you the top three most game winning cards from the previous month and state that they've been banned.
She will also tell you that other cards have been banned as well.
Once you open your collection manager and switch over to the Explorer format, you'll be able to see exactly what cards have been banned. They have that nice red tape around them to indicate that they are no longer allowed in Explorer.
The Explorer decks you've made will likely be unplayable because they most likely lost a few cards. If you're playing a meta deck within that month, chances are that most of it will be banned.
None the less, it's time to either craft a new deck, or find replacements for the cards that were removed from yours.
Now of course when you're making a deck you might want a toggle to see what cards are and aren't banned. So bam, another button.
Make a deck with what's offered to you and get back on the ladder.
When the new Hearthstone year comes, Thalyssra will reset the format. Undoing all of the bans of that year.
Things will be the same as they once were during Month 1 of the previous year.
Criteria, issues, solutions, math, and outcomes.
Criteria
Earlier I stated that players would have to meet a certain criteria in order to play in the Explorer Format.
I said that because players need to have time to amass a collection to even be able to make a somewhat viable deck in Explorers. Let alone be able to play after a couple of Ban Waves.
I think if players were to reach level 50 with each class, they should have somewhat of a collection to play with.
Issues
Probably the biggest issue with the entire format is that people dust their cards.
People who have been playing for years, and maybe even since launch probably already have dusted useless expansions. Let alone their entire Wild collection if they're dedicated only to Standard.
On top of that, if those players, and new players can't afford to buy packs with actual money or gold, they're locked out of an entire part of the game.
Solution
Wild packs are available on the in-game store again, so that's a plus.
The only solution I can think of to help players with limited collections is to make Whizbang the Wonderful and Zayle, Shadow Cloak Evergreen cards in Explorer. Also to add any cards that are similar to those into Explorer's Evergreen set.
Math
After Galakrond's Awakening there will be a total of 2,290 playable cards in Hearthstone. My initial plan is to only ban 10% of the best cards each month. This is what it will look like though the year.
2,290 - April (Expansion release day) + Expansion cards 2,061- May 1,854 - June 1,669 - July 1,502 - August + Expansion cards 1,352 - September 1, 216 - October 1,095 - Novemeber 986 - December + Expansion cards 887 - January 798 - February 718 - March 646 - April (Up until the format resets with the new year)
That's the math of the first year. The math may have to be played with in case the number of cards becomes so low that it's impossible to make a 30 card deck.
Outcomes
I see a lot of F2P's resenting the format, that they can't really play it unless they use Whizbang or Zayle. I get it, it probably feels really bad, maybe one of you can come up with an additional solution?
After multiple years it might feel samey, but I think the introduction with new expansions through the year as this goes on will help it feel fresh all year.
So there's another long winded, thought out way to introduce something new to Hearthstone. As I said in my Tournament Mode article, if we stay vocal about new ways to play and what we want, we might get something like this.
Last I’ve heard is that they ARE working on it. They may have other things/concerns that have to be dealt with first since the site is still relatively young.
You could always go to r/customhearthstone and make a trash meme card and win over there while you wait for the competitions to start here.
2: Oh yeah, it will take a LONG time. Like I said I think this is one of the main reasons why Team 5 canned a few years back, BUT that doesn't mean there aren't players who won't play it daily. You can break in between games if you win fast enough, there's also a two minute break if the other player is waiting on you to finish. It's in the wall of text somewhere up there, and it may need to be adjusted to 5-10 minutes but then again that's adding onto total time. I think I should add in a check system if all the players are done making their decks the match can go ahead and start, but that could also cause griefing/trolling. Plus the deck box could help but that would need some more thought than what I put into it, the main reason for deck crafting is so that people can adapt their strategies to what cards are legal. I defaulted to 8 players simply because we know Hearthstone can handle 8 players in a session at once. I want to keep it at 4 decks so players can ban a deck as they see fit. Unless banning is removed then yeah go down to three decks and make it best of 3, BUT that means less games in total which then should reflect on total rewards. Less Games = Fewer rewards.
That isn't what I meant when I said that players wouldn't be able to take breaks. I mean like how when playing arena you can play two games and then the next day play two more games and then three days later finish the run. With tournament mode you would have to be attentive to your game and be at your computer for over an hour all at once. Battlegrounds already takes about half an hour and with what you proposed simply building your decks will take even longer than that.
I like the idea of tournament mode, but I don't think you should have to invest so much time and attention to it. I am sure that if it worked like you suggested than most players wouldn't even bother to use their free run each week simply because there is so much effort involved.
I think it would work better if players only had to build 3 decks, and one of them would get banned so that you only had two decks to play with and you would build these before the tournament mode started. I understand about the limited set thing would make building the decks a bit harder, but you could easily put a "Tournament" filter in the deck building section to only show the sets that are being used. You would only need 2 decks because you wouldn't be fighting the same person more than once (assuming we are doing elimination and not swiss. And even if it is swiss than you shouldn't ever be fighting the same person more than twice). Also I would reduce the number of players so that it won't go on too long, having six players instead of eight wouldn't be the end of the world. Besides you could always just add the option to cue up against six or eight players.
Then maybe the best way to approach it would be allow players to build their decks prior to entering the bracket. I thought about taking Arena's approach of letting players step away whenever they want and cutting down the number of total decks needed, but then at some point it becomes very close to being identical to Arena with just another name and a different reward structure.
At some point the mode will lose steam, I mean every mode does. You're right, some players might not even use their free runs. I mainly put that there because there are dedicated players who save their gold for new packs and simply can't afford to spend money to play a game that they love, so the free ticket is a compromise. I feel like it should be such a commitment is because when you win and get all those rewards, it should feel well deserved. The "I earned this" feeling, as opposed to "I grinded ladder with this deck from rank 5 to legend" each month.
Tournament filter would be a great addition, and have separate deck slots for said decks since they're only temporary. Yes, Elimination, once you've lost your match-up you're out. Options are always good, I agree, having an option for a 6 Player Bracket and 8 Player Bracket would be best. Rewards would have to be restructured as well because of the maximum number of games a player is committing to.
I've watched a couple streamers play it briefly but it honestly doesn't look like my thing (granted I have yet to give it an honest first chance yet), but as far as merely being a spectator of HS BGs vs mainstream HS the former looks a lot less interesting to watch. It seems so overly repetitive.
Again this could be due to me not having given it a first try. I don't even know how to play yet (which may be part of the problem?)
Does anyone else still feel this way?
I play it every now and then. It does get boring from time to time because the same thing is essentially happening over and over again. The players are just waiting to see who got lucky.
I’m not the biggest fan of it mainly because I don’t think it’ll affect the overall health of HS.
nd if you don’t play it you’re not really missing much.
I'm not even asking for a job, I'm just asking for a conversation, but thank you for the enthusiasm.
I think it's important that we have the ability to play with our cards outside the gaping maw that is Wild. Wild only changes when nerfs occur, and if you ask anyone, that's a problem.
I Mean, I'm sure you know a guy who can pitch this idea. ;)
Thank you, I posted it on Reddit as well. I just hope it doesn't die in "new"
Hello everyone, I'm back with another concept that allows us to have more ways to play Hearthstone. My last concept was Explorer, a format that bans cards on a monthly basis until it resets at the beginning of the new Hearthstone Year. Today I bring you Tables, a new way to play Hearthstone with your friends with your own rules. Such as hand size, starting health, deck size, and more with a little imagination. There's also some bonus stuff that I'm throwing in here as well that can apply. Again, if you see any flaws, have any questions, or just want to point something out that I didn't cover, please let me know. My designs are not perfect but we as a community can get Team 5's attention and tell them that we want something new.
Here we go.
Hearthstone is set in Harth's tavern somewhere in Azeroth.
The players are sat down at a table, in front of the Box and begin playing.
But what if we..... got up? And walked to a different table?
This is where Tables came from, the idea that other people are in this tavern, playing Hearthstone, by their own rules.
It's a pretty easy concept and pretty simple to implement.
Everyone is familiar with with the Modes button by now, and I felt that Tables fits right into that menu.
Choosing a tankard was appropriate because chances are if you're playing custom games, you're playing with friends.
Just click it and you'll be taken to the next menu.
Okay, I know I just gave you ALOT to look at and process, but these are the tables.
Before we talk about making your own rules and rule sets, I'm going to showcase some other ways to play.
Before we get started we have to address that with the implementation of Tables, comes also the Deck Box system.
It's simple, you click the button, and select the corresponding rule set or mode you want it to be made for, and get to building.
Toki, Time-Tinker is moving to Wild in April and when she does, her Battlecry won't make much sense.
She didn't see serious play when she was in Standard and definitely won't in Wild, so why not give her a Table to herself?
Toki's Tables of Time allows players to visit old, end of year metas of the past.
Just select the mode and what year, and get to playing!
Two Headed Ogre is pretty straight forward.
Hearthstone Mathematics made a video showcasing what a 2V2 mode would look like.
Iksar even commented on the mode but this was right before Battlegrounds was announced, so maybe people have forgotten about it?
Tournaments Grounds is essentially Tournament Mode but now it has a home in Table.
It makes sense really.
What if a bunch of players got together, established rules, card bans, and the like and started a Tournament?
What if other players like their rule set and wanted to mimic it?
We'll get to that soon. ;)
Endless Adventure is basically an endless Dungeon Run, but with rewards.
It uses all of them, intertwined if you'd like.
Dungeon Run, Monster Hunt, Rumble Run, Dalaran Heist, and Tombs of Terror.
A free version of it will be available to all players to play whenever they want.
New Treasures and ways to modify/remove cards from your deck should be implemented.
Rewards should be given when beating boss number "x" and so on.
A paid version, with either gold or your local currency, is available to those who think they can get really far.
Rewards will be increased as well.
For Tournament Grounds and Endless Adventure, I went and I had to brainstorm for rewards that are worthy of players' time.
I came up with two new rewards called Pack Tokens and Pack Sleeves.
Pack Tokens are exactly what they sound like.
They are equivalent to 100 Gold and buy you a pack.
The difference is that you can use these to buy whatever pack you want instead of the game choosing for you.
Pack Sleeves are a tool players can use to guarantee that they'll open a Legendary or Epic card.
Any pack can be used with these, and most importantly, you don't have to use them right away.
That means you can save them, and when an expansion comes out, if you want to use them all at once, go for it.
Now of course these aren't going to be easy to obtain, but hey, they're still neat.
The way these work internally is that once the pack is slid in, it chooses a Common rarity card and changes it before you open the pack.
Now enough waiting around, let's talk about making your own rules.
You select "Your Table" and are presented with a menu that allows you to browse individual rules and build them into a rule set.
You give it a name and description and start diving into individual rules that apply within.
Focus on the left side first.
The game needs to know what set restrictions you'd like to have.
Current Standard set?
How about all of Wild?
Do you want to modify what was allowed in Year of the Mammoth?
Let's pick Standard for Simplicity.
Now we have to list sets that are in use, this will default to whatever was allowed within the time you chose.
If you want to ban a particular set, now you can.
What would it look like if only (all of) Witchwood, Rastakhan's Rumble, and Descent of Dragons were allowed?
No Classic or Basic sets either.
Now that we have that out of the way, let's ban some cards, and maybe even some classes.
We'll get rid of every Galakrond card plus what ever cards synergize with him.
We'll also ban Embiggen and Necrium Apothecary.
You know what? Since Genn Greymane and Baku the Mooneater are here I'm gonna ban Paladin and Shaman as well, these are MY rules after all.
On the right you can see other rules that are not active until you click "Add Custom Rules".
Then you can peruse you own ideas or other players ideas and throw them into the rule set.
At the bottom of the extra rules slider will be an option to actually make other rules, I just couldn't find an appealing UI design.
Rule sets and Rules are shareable similarly to how we share deck codes.
Here's a mock up of a completed Rule Set
"Play" is where you would go if you wanted to play against random players against other players' rule sets, or maybe even a rule set made by a Blizzard employee.
Think of it as a game browser.
Issues, Solutions, and Outcomes.
Issues
Probably the biggest one that will be called out is that it dilutes the player base which is understandable.
Players claim that the wait times for Wild are long enough as it is and more formats or game modes would make it even longer.
Does Tables of Time have longevity?
What if rules conflict with each other?
How will Tavern Brawl be affected?
Replayability
Taverns of Time could be the largest victim of this. I'm not sure how many long time players will dive into old, figured out metas.
But the option is still there for people who would like to dive in.
Solutions
Rules should be made to where if two rules conflict they can't exist in the same rule set. This should be a fail safe that's implemented by Team 5.
As for dilution of the player base, Team 5 should create more incentives to encourage players to branch out into different formats and modes with quests.
They've done it in the past, they just need to do it more often.
To me, Tavern Brawl is more of a stepping stone if anything.
It's existed for several years now and I think it's time to retire it and/or move it into Tables.
It's honestly a perfect fit as well.
Outcomes
I think in general most players will like the idea that they can make their own rules and share them with the Hearthstone community.
Dilution of the player base is a possibility but I firmly believe in having a split player base is better than a non-existent one.
I made this Mode because people were telling me how awesome it would be to have the ability to make their own rules.
So I made a concept that Team 5 should look at and consider.
Once again, if I overlooked anything, didn't explain something entirely, or if you are confused about something just ask.
As always, thank you for reading,
-Grif
I've been running it, out of like 20 games I've only had like 2-3 mirror matches, I expect this to change over the next few days though. Deck is fun as hell.
For articles getting downvoted, I’d recommend the voting system being on the page with a question right above the votes/score/points/whatever metric is used to simply ask “Do you like X?”
i.e. “Do you like that Blizzard signed a deal to exclusively stream on YouTube?”
Just because that score is negative doesn’t directly mean that the article/content was well presented. But at the same time, it depends on how you, the Admin and Mods, accurately want to get a feel of how everyone thinks.
Sidenote: You guys present data/news pretty objectively, so it’s not like fake news where stuff is biased all the time
Agreed.
I suggest putting some buttons directly below "From the Forums" to filter what a person wants/doesn't want to see..
MTGA, LoR, HS. Just simple abbreviations, no need to get all fancy.
It's 100% a bug, and they most likely won't fix it either.
Hello everyone, as the title states I need your help.
I've recently been making custom modes and formats for Hearthstone in hopes of getting enough people behind an idea in order to convince Team 5 to bring something new to Hearthstone. At this point in time I have two previous works. I made an outline of a Tournament Mode that I think would suit the game, people had their criticisms but overall the reaction was positive. I also made a new format called Explorer, that shrinks the amount of legal cards in a Wild-like format as time goes on. Shaking up the meta on a monthly schedule does appeal to a lot of people. Of course, no idea of mine is perfect and there is an issue that myself and another reader talked about.
I need your help, and all you have to do is answer some questions. Now I do ask that you re-read all of the questions once you've written down your answers. You're not obligated to respond to this in anyway, I just need some help.
If you guys remember this article I wrote back in September, this will be an alteration of the Grandmaster Format from that post. Grandmaster is what I'm designing to essentially create a better competitive ladder. No grinding, no ranked floors, and no mindless repetition.
I recommend that you copy-paste all the questions in your reply and just erase the questions and fill it in with your answers, that'll make it much easier for me to follow. If you want to add any additional information on a question (just put it in parentheses).
Player History
- 1-1: Do you actively try to climb the ladder each month for competitive purposes?
- 1-2: What is the highest Legend / Non-Legend rank you've achieved in Standard?
- 1-3: What is the highest Legend / Non-Legend rank you've achieved in Wild?
- 2-1: During what set / expansion did you begin playing Hearthstone?
- 2-2: Have you ever taken a break so long that your collection was lacking cards that were needed in the meta at that time?
- 3-1: Are you a Free-2-Play Player?
- 3-2: If so, how often do expansions set you back when it comes to being competitive?
- 4-1: Free type here if there's anything I didn't specifically ask that you feel is pertinent.
Standard
- 1-1: Are you happy / satisfied with the current ranking ladder system from rank 25-1?
- 1-2: Do you feel like the ranks from 25-1, non-Legend ranks, help keep the Legend ranks from being diluted?
- 1-3: Do you feel like the ranks from 25-1 are just irrelevant obstacles?
- 2-1: Are you happy / satisfied with the current ranking system in the Legend ranks?
- 2-2: Do you feel like the players in the Legend ranks earned their rank or deserve to be their rank?
- 2-3: Do you feel like it's a rush at the beginning of each month to try to reach a Legend rank?
- 2-4: Once players have achieved Legend rank, do you think they take the game seriously for the rest of the month?
- 3-1: If you don't actively try to climb ladder in either format, why?
- 3-2: What would convince you to actively climb it every day?
- 4-1: Do you feel like the Standard Format suits the purposes of highly competitive players?
- 4-2: Do you feel like reaching Legend ranks 1-16 is realistic goal, even with a full collection?
- 4-3: Is there anything getting in the way of you reaching Legend Ranks 1-16?
- 5-1: Have you attended official Blizzard tournament and/or qualifiers?
- 5-2: How was the experience?
- 5-3: How could it have been improved?
- 5-4: Would you rather compete in official tournaments at home?
- 6-1: Do you think Standard is fine the way it is?
- 6-2: Why or why not.
-7-1: You may free type this one if you wish, what would make the Standard ladder a better experience overall?
Grandmaster, a new competitive format.
- 1-1: Would you play the Grandmaster Format if it had an entry fee?
- 1-2: Would you pay an entry fee if the end of month rewards were higher?
- 1-3: Would you pay an entry fee if, within this mode, it gave you access to all of the currently legal Standard cards?
- 1-4: Do you think the Grandmaster Format, if it were free to enter, would significantly reduce the amount of players playing in the Standard Format?
- 2-1: In your opinion, how much gold do you think the entry fee should be?
- 2-2: In your opinion, in your local currency, how much do you think the entry fee should be?
- 3-1: Would you be in favor of Blizzard selectively banning certain cards from the format?
- 3-2: Why or why not?
- 4-1: Do you think there should be the Grandmaster Format exclusive rewards?
- 4-2: If so, what should / would they be?
- 5-1: What would the Grandmaster Format have to do in order to differentiate itself as a format that is different from Standard?
- 5-2: Would you want a different way to raise your rank that isn't a ladder system?
- 6-1: Would you play in the Grandmaster Format if you got to attend official Blizzard events/tournaments for ranking among the highest of other players?
- 7-1: Free type anything here pertaining to the Grandmaster Format that you would like to voice your opinion on.
Thank you all for reading, and thank you all for answering.
-Grif
He summons a bunch of Molten Giants and I really just had the idea of fatiguing him. The Molten Giants will eventually become so numerous they they'll do 56 damage in a single turn, so trying to heal a bunch only works so much.
You could always try using Glacial Shard to freeze everything, but Shudderwock will sometimes target enemies who are already frozen.
I completed most of the bosses with this Mech Paladin Deck. Most of the bosses only took 2-3 tries.
Now for Avalanchan, I had to use my Armor Shudder Shaman to amass a bunch of armor and fatigue the thing.
If I were you, I'd make this into a full on forum post. If you want you could also make your own screen shots and such to help display your ideas.
It definitely seems like an interesting, and challenging format that I'd like to try.
Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read the article, and again for giving feedback.
In the first month of the new year, Explorer and Wild will absolutely mirror each other 100%. The reason that Explorer resets on the set rotation date is so that there are only a few weeks where Wild and Explorer are identical, since expansions release usually in the middle of a month or several days of a month have already passed. This allows for the system to pick out OP decks as early as possible, it won't catch all of them in the first month, but there's always next month. It could be a problem but again, for only one month it shouldn't be too bad. I'd imagine most players in Standard with the new cards and old cards just getting rotated.
So the collection part is really hard to figure out. I want players to be able to experience this, and it really sucks for those who just straight up don't have enough cards. Couple that with the fact that Team 5 make their money, pay their bills, and put food on their tables by selling packs. Maybe offer all Common and Rare cards for free strictly within this format.
Hello everyone, I'm back with another concept. I came up with it a while back when I was writing
this article giving a brief outline of different ways that Hearthstone could be played. If you've already read that article, or have just read it, this is the Pyramid Format with a new, more fitting name. I made another post that outlined what a Tournament Mode in Hearthstone could/should look like. The visual aids I put in that were well received and I did the same for this post because it kind of help solidifies it instead of it being left up to the imagination. There are notes of self identified issues that I'll address and if you guys have gotten to know me at this point, I'm always open for constructive criticism, discussion, and exploration to improve upon my designs. Don't hesitate to tell me what you think.
So let's get started.
High Arcanist Thalyssra has entered the Tavern.
Unbeknownst to many, she too is a fan of Hearthstone.
She has set up her own table and is eager to show everyone her own dynamic rule set.
For winning 5 games in the Explorer Format for three consecutive months, this Mage hero portrait will be awarded.
Of course, right when I finished making this whole thing someone data-mined the new mage that might be coming.
Hearthstone greets us with music, background noise, and of course it's cheerful dwarven announcer, Harth Stonebrew.
From the cinematics we also get a wider cast of characters such as Ava, Velaris, Malto, and Lou to name a few.
Bob the Bartender has become a staple character in the Hearthstone universe over the last year and his implementation in Battlegrounds is definitely a welcomed fit into the game other than being tied to the Adventures in the Year of the Dragon.
I thought I'd introduce a new character, Thalyssra, to be the voice of the Explorer Format, as Bob is the voice of Battlegrounds.
I'll give you some example of some possible dialogue she could have through the year.
Once a player has met the criteria to play in Explorer, Thalyssra will ask them to go to their collection to get started making an Explorer decks.
Coming up with a name for this format was a challenge, it has to fit, you know?
I thought about what players would actually be doing when they play this format.
I thought "Players would be exploring possible cards interactions, new deck synergies, and strategies when staple cards are gone."
Thus the name, "Explorer".
Changing the format of your deck is as simple as switching from Standard to Wild and vise versa.
You just click the button and bam, you're making an Explorer deck.
Complete with it's own section in the Collection manager.
I had to use the art from the wild section since I'm not an artist and I don't own Photoshop.
Gimp helped out quite a lot though.
Essentially the Explorer pages will have a page color and hero border.
The beginning of the Standard year should mark when this Format starts.
This Format uses every card from every set including Basic, Classic, and HOF.
When expansions are released, those cards will be legal as well.
Depending on how much they're played, determines how fast they get moved out of the format.
As the Arcanist said herself, cards will become illegal as the year goes on.
Each month a set percentage of cards will be removed from the format based on Win rate.
"How many decks contained this card, and how often did those decks win with this card in it?"
In other words, if say Acolyte of Pain is being ran in most/every Explorer deck, it will be banned next month.
The format will have its own icon, I landed on a little book.
I kind of felt as the year went on, Thalyssra would write down what cards are legal or not.
This format will have its own ranked ladder to keep players invested into a meta that changes every month.
This will help keep players engaged when either the meta is stale, typically at the end of an expansion right before the release of the next.
And let's be real here, most players want the golden hero portraits
At the beginning of each month, after you've been rewarded your Ranked rewards, you will be presented with this screen.
Thalyssra will show you the top three most game winning cards from the previous month and state that they've been banned.
She will also tell you that other cards have been banned as well.
Once you open your collection manager and switch over to the Explorer format, you'll be able to see exactly what cards have been banned.
They have that nice red tape around them to indicate that they are no longer allowed in Explorer.
The Explorer decks you've made will likely be unplayable because they most likely lost a few cards.
If you're playing a meta deck within that month, chances are that most of it will be banned.
None the less, it's time to either craft a new deck, or find replacements for the cards that were removed from yours.
Now of course when you're making a deck you might want a toggle to see what cards are and aren't banned.
So bam, another button.
Make a deck with what's offered to you and get back on the ladder.
When the new Hearthstone year comes, Thalyssra will reset the format. Undoing all of the bans of that year.
Things will be the same as they once were during Month 1 of the previous year.
Criteria, issues, solutions, math, and outcomes.
Criteria
Earlier I stated that players would have to meet a certain criteria in order to play in the Explorer Format.
I said that because players need to have time to amass a collection to even be able to make a somewhat viable deck in Explorers.
Let alone be able to play after a couple of Ban Waves.
I think if players were to reach level 50 with each class, they should have somewhat of a collection to play with.
Issues
Probably the biggest issue with the entire format is that people dust their cards.
People who have been playing for years, and maybe even since launch probably already have dusted useless expansions.
Let alone their entire Wild collection if they're dedicated only to Standard.
On top of that, if those players, and new players can't afford to buy packs with actual money or gold, they're locked out of an entire part of the game.
Solution
Wild packs are available on the in-game store again, so that's a plus.
The only solution I can think of to help players with limited collections is to make Whizbang the Wonderful and Zayle, Shadow Cloak Evergreen cards in Explorer.
Also to add any cards that are similar to those into Explorer's Evergreen set.
Math
After Galakrond's Awakening there will be a total of 2,290 playable cards in Hearthstone.
My initial plan is to only ban 10% of the best cards each month. This is what it will look like though the year.
2,290 - April (Expansion release day) + Expansion cards
2,061- May
1,854 - June
1,669 - July
1,502 - August + Expansion cards
1,352 - September
1, 216 - October
1,095 - Novemeber
986 - December + Expansion cards
887 - January
798 - February
718 - March
646 - April (Up until the format resets with the new year)
That's the math of the first year.
The math may have to be played with in case the number of cards becomes so low that it's impossible to make a 30 card deck.
Outcomes
I see a lot of F2P's resenting the format, that they can't really play it unless they use Whizbang or Zayle.
I get it, it probably feels really bad, maybe one of you can come up with an additional solution?
After multiple years it might feel samey, but I think the introduction with new expansions through the year as this goes on will help it feel fresh all year.
So there's another long winded, thought out way to introduce something new to Hearthstone.
As I said in my Tournament Mode article, if we stay vocal about new ways to play and what we want, we might get something like this.
Thank you for reading,
Grif.
Last I’ve heard is that they ARE working on it. They may have other things/concerns that have to be dealt with first since the site is still relatively young.
You could always go to r/customhearthstone and make a trash meme card and win over there while you wait for the competitions to start here.
Here's to hoping that the next single player content doesn't require us to take down bosses with 300 health.
1: Check out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3q4lss8mWE&list=LLxAejYPRSehTkS2VzxbXn9A&index=2&t=42s
2: Yeah the dust economy feels bed, even for players who spend money on the game.
3: That's a bit touchy, what would the purpose of new cards if the classic/basic ones fit into every meta?
4: Definitely, IDK why it's okay to run meta decks in Casual.
5: Can you elaborate more?
6: Oh boy, another post from yours truly. https://outof.cards/forums/hearthstone/hearthstone-general/2403-tournament-mode
Then maybe the best way to approach it would be allow players to build their decks prior to entering the bracket. I thought about taking Arena's approach of letting players step away whenever they want and cutting down the number of total decks needed, but then at some point it becomes very close to being identical to Arena with just another name and a different reward structure.
At some point the mode will lose steam, I mean every mode does. You're right, some players might not even use their free runs. I mainly put that there because there are dedicated players who save their gold for new packs and simply can't afford to spend money to play a game that they love, so the free ticket is a compromise. I feel like it should be such a commitment is because when you win and get all those rewards, it should feel well deserved. The "I earned this" feeling, as opposed to "I grinded ladder with this deck from rank 5 to legend" each month.
Tournament filter would be a great addition, and have separate deck slots for said decks since they're only temporary. Yes, Elimination, once you've lost your match-up you're out. Options are always good, I agree, having an option for a 6 Player Bracket and 8 Player Bracket would be best. Rewards would have to be restructured as well because of the maximum number of games a player is committing to.
The Reddit post died, and I've sent it to devs and Well known names via Twitter. Only time will tell.
I play it every now and then. It does get boring from time to time because the same thing is essentially happening over and over again. The players are just waiting to see who got lucky.
I’m not the biggest fan of it mainly because I don’t think it’ll affect the overall health of HS.
nd if you don’t play it you’re not really missing much.