Today, I've got an important announcement to share with everyone. I'd also like to take this chance to share the latest and greatest updates from Out of Cards.
This came as a large surprise to myself and the team as I had expressed interest in purchasing the site, but was told that there were no offers allowed (full shutdown). Even though I was willing to do anything to save HearthPwn, I came to terms with it, and started Out of Cards.
I found out during my Nintendo E3 and Hearthstone stream today that I had been removed as an administrator on HearthPwn. I was not expecting this to happen so soon but it was done because I was accused of "excessively promoting [my] new website". It was stated that I added multiple widgets to the homepage and that I stickied the site shutdown notice. This did not happen. The only reference on the HearthPwn homepage to Out of Cards was a (now) removed image advertising a card pack giveaway.
Unfortunately, there is something that I need to be transparent about and apologize for.
- A member of the ex-mod team stickied the shut down post.
- I was not aware that this happened until after I shutdown my stream, and after I had lost staff access.
- This was not cool, and the individual has been spoken to.
Afterwards, an unpublished article stating the site had been sold to "Magic Find" was discovered by ex-moderators. A team member:
- Deleted some of their own, prominent threads.
- Renamed the 80g thread to the 80g Scamming thread.
- Removed bans from some scammers and spammers.
I understand that this is an emotional time, especially for the moderators who have invested months and years of their lives in maintaining a community driven website, but these actions were unacceptable. It never feels good to be stabbed in the back, more so as a volunteer, and I wish I had the opportunity to give the ex-moderators advanced notice to deter any drama.
Generally speaking, it is best practice to communicate with affected individuals ahead of time or ensure that access is pulled before major changes take place; I knew much of the team would not be happy.
Although I would have loved the opportunity to preserve the community under the HearthPwn brand, that time has come and gone.
I was given an offer by the new owners to stay on board and we talked about what they needed to do with the website, but ultimately I declined. Instead, I am willing to make the financial investment into rapidly improve and grow Out of Cards into the best possible resource it can be for Hearthstone and games to come.
I want to make it very clear that myself and all of the old, dedicated HearthPwn staff have moved to Out of Cards.
Many awesome community members have reached out, offering their assistance with writing articles and guides, for this we thank you! We will soon be opening up the doors to allow volunteers to help cover Hearthstone better than ever, we just need to finish up some tools to make this nice and smooth. We also love the dedicated feedback the community has given us so far and look forward to your continued ideas.
Everyone's enthusiasm for Out of Cards so far has shown us we were doing the right thing and if you can't tell yet, we have no plans on going anywhere. We'll always be here to deliver a custom experience for all our community members and hope more people will join us.
Recent Additions to Out of Cards
If you haven't kept up with our developer updates on the Site Update forum, here's all the cool stuff we've done over the past week.
- A Card Back Gallery has arrived! Yes, it gets updated! Thanks for the suggestion.
- Animated card images! We spent a lot of time last week to figure this out and we're happy with it.
- Site Search! Our first iteration of site search has arrived and we're looking forward to improving it.
- By request, deck pages now have mana curves. Great feedback.
- We've fixed multiple issues those on mobile discovered, improving support (and speed!).
We're listening to your feedback to shape Out of Cards into exactly what the community wants. We're working as fast as we can to get updates out and look forward to what the future brings.
Supporting Independence - Out of Cards
Here are the four ways you can help support Out of Cards.
- Support on Patreon with a monthly contribution
- We have supporter tiers up on Patreon. For a small monthly contribution, you give us independence.
- All Patrons will receive benefits on the site. We don't have all those details ironed out but will real soon.
- Patrons receive a special rank on Discord.
- Support on Twitch with Twitch Prime
- You can support with your monthly Twitch Prime subscription via Twitch.tv/Fluxflashor. It is a completely free way to show support for those with Amazon Prime so make use of it!
- All Twitch subscribers receive a special rank on Discord.
- Support by being a member of the community
- So cliche but its true. Just being a part of our community shows we're doing something right. Talk about card games, share your feedback, and just generally be awesome.
- Spread the word
- Tell everyone you know about Out of Cards and how a dedicated, passionate team with over half a decade of Hearthstone is behind it.
Comments
Hey, Flux! I was in your shoes couple of years ago. Invested time / money to build a resource but eventually most of the users moved back to old one which supposed to be closed but was sold to new owners because "they used to it".
Your team have to done fantastic job already and I wish you all the best. I personally will stay here.
Keep up the good work!
Don’t give up ya? I’m sure that you guys will have more and more supporters over the time. Keep up the great content and updates!
I was pretty late to Hearthpwn. I think I joined about 9 months ago.. I’m excited to be on OOC from the beginning. I’ll help in anyway I can.
I used my Twitch Prime (first time for everything) to support the site, and am already impressed with how far things have some along over here.
Here's hoping what was bad is left behind, and what's been great continues to grow here!
Thank you so much for the support <3
Well I know a site I won't visit anymore...
Demoted from admin because you promoted an alternate site while the site was set to close isn't really anything wrong, staying with the community rather with the name...
Not honna support those backstabbers.
People are stupid and don't realize it was going on for a long time at this point. Not my fault no one in the company cared enough about HearthPwn to check in on it once a month. If they had such a problem with it, they should have said something directly to me.
But yeah, site was shutting down, they have no right to be angry.
Honestly ... I stopped actively participating in the community at Hearthpwn because it had just become downright toxic. I really have high hopes for OOC, and that perhaps with a smaller community it will be better, or at least more controlled. Obviously, I am not new to the internet ... and I do have thick skin. But there is also a point where participation stops being fun.
I agree with you.
We'll be good early on since things are just getting started, but it'll be interesting to see how things progress and how fast. HearthPwn definitely got pretty bad with some discussions and I don't want to see it replicated here. We'll likely be harsher in some areas and lighter in others when it comes to punishments.
I was super bummed that hearthpwn was going away. Upon seeing today that its not, you would think I would be happy. But it upset me by how this has all gone down and I would rather not go there anymore. Here is to the future of Out Of Cards!
All I have to say to the other site I am not going to mention...
I've been following Hearthpwn for 4 1/2 years, and that's because I always liked the way it was well kept, well updated, and well managed. Now that the leadership moved over here, I'm doing the same. Here's hoping this new freedom gives you even more power to create the site the way you really want it!
Just wait for card reveal season on Out of Cards ;)
Things are going to ROCK.
Well **** them dude ... dont even bother, they removed you from a site that is closing in about 2 weeks just cuz you were promoting a new similar site so the community has a place to move on to. If you ask me sounds really mean and pathetic.
Since i discovered OOC i stopped using hearthpwn. I dont know why but i feel like this site its more easier to the eye to put it that way.
I feel like OOC its gonna be better than hearthpwn anyway so. Cheers
It is my mission to make this site exactly what I wanted HearthPwn to be, so I hope we're better!
Glad to have you and everyone else on board.
Flux, if you need some help on the code end (full stack Engineer here with years of web and application dev). I’d be happy to be of service. I love the new site compared to the Pwn, I know it’s still playing catch up in some ways, but I really prefer the sleeker look compared to the over saturated one
Congrats for all you have done on hearthpwn.
Even more congrats for what is already online on outof.cards.
Thanks !
Good luck and long live to outof.cards !
F's for the good days of Hearthpwn, but welcome to a new era. May Out Of Cards prosper as Hearthpwn did.
Hearthpwn had been a part of my life nearly every single day for as long as I can remember. Flux, you made that place what it was and I support your decisions and dedication to community. Happy to make the move to wherever you go && having Kaladin here already also makes the decision SOOOO easy. <3