Everyone's favourite Hearthstone Dad, Dean "Iksar" Ayala has brought us another Q&A! As usual, here's our recap of all the important points and a full transcript of the event.

  • All previous Q&As from Dean can be found under our "Iksar's Community Q&A" topic.
  • Anything covered in the previous Q&As will not be covered in the recap but will appear in the transcript below.

Mercenaries

  • Mercenaries has been delayed multiple times during development. They ran into scope increases they felt were needed towards the end.

Design

  • The set that is releasing at the end of next year (December 2022) is currently 6 weeks into development.
  • Using tradeable in the future is still up in the air. There is a big design space available with the mechanic.
  • Changing the old Burgle-style cards to the new design is possible. There are possible unintended consequences in doing so though.
  • Nerfs aren't done with considerations to how much dust players could receive. Economy is a different team than Balance.
  • They don't try to create too many generically good legendary cards so that they won't be powerful in every meta - that get's boring.

Features

  • The random coin & hero skin features are currently on the backlog.
  • There are features currently tabled due to the ongoing work on Mercenaries.
  • Cross-region collections would be "an incredibly large tech change" that Dean doesn't see the team taking on.
  • On the previous "ban a class" discussion:
    • If they were to implement this, it would happen in all the modes, not just one like Casual.

Future

  • There will be a Titan-themed set one day. They've almost done it a few times in the past 6-7 years.
  • "Ulduar is also amazing".
  • More single player content is something they want to do more of one day.
  • If we ever were to see more Dungeon Run type content, it would likely be in a form of something new.
  • There have been "very initial" discussions with other IP holders to see if there is interest in any collaborations with Hearthstone.
    • Such a collaboration would require a product that would make sense. Probably pure cosmetic. 
    • The original question asked about other universes coming to Hearthstone like Magic does in Secret Lair drops.
  • The next year or two are not likely to include new game modes, just improvements to existing ones.
  • We're likely to see system-level improvements to Hearthstone over the next couple of years.

Dean

  • Always wanted to create "Arena draft cards":
    • They would show up in your draft as options.
    • Face-Down Legendary
    • 'Your next 3 picks are murlocs'
    • 'Randomly delete 3 cards from your deck'
    • 'Redraft your deck'
    • 'Replace the last 3 cards you drafted with random legendaries'
    • "mostly bad ideas off the top of my head, but just things that come up as you are drafting that make for interesting decisions"
  • Likes to engage with the community because it can help aspiring developers determine if its something they'd like to do themselves.

Full Transcript of Iksar's Q&A #27

Quote From Dean Ayala

Hearthstone AMA #27 5:00PM - 6:00PM PST Ask me a question about Hearthstone! Or Design! (or anime…) https://t.co/7NJVnT14fO (Source)

@IksarHS Idk if this has been asked before, but any reason Mercenaries was advertised in Phase 1 of Griffin roadmap? Was that always meant to just mean a teaser, or did Covid and other stuff delay release?

@eFicatiousEagle We've delayed it multiple times. We meant for it to release sooner but ran into some snags and scope increases we thought were necessary towards the end of development. (Source)

@IksarHS How many expansions the dev team tries to stay ahead from now?

@HolyKnight077 We are currently in week 6 of design on the set that will release at the end of next year. (Source)

@IksarHS What's your favourite deck of this expansion?

@Lime_kalko Draw DH, I think people are calling it Brute DH now? (Source)

@IksarHS Are there any unsung devs you'd like to shoutout on Twitter that might not get the spotlight of others? (Totally unrelated to me totally not being embarrassed about not recognizing a dev in a previous thread)

@ZeddyHS @LinusFlink and @tiffachiu come to mind. They are both ridiculously op at their jobs and also way better at battlegrounds than I am (Source)

@ZeddyHS @LinusFlink @tiffachiu This is @tiffachiu 's artstation. All this work is just so…. so cool. https://t.co/vZEL9rFmeT (Source)

@ZeddyHS @LinusFlink @tiffachiu also @jerrymascho and @haxcb are OP, rarely show up on stage or in video but are out there responsible for making Hearthstone great as much as anyone (Source)

@ZeddyHS @LinusFlink @tiffachiu @jerrymascho @haxcb Most folks aren't on twitter, though. I think not being on Twitter is probably for the best…. (Source)

@IksarHS Have you ever considered starting a Hearthstone-exclusively streaming service and calling it Miksar?

@J_Alexander_HS I assume this is really clever somehow but I don't get it (Source)

@IksarHS The implementation of the random card back has been one of my favorite features. Think there is any chance of also applying this to the coin/hero skins?

@RyanMac213 Yeah, it's on a backlog of things to do but we've had to table most of those things while the team focuses on getting Mercenaries released. (Source)

@IksarHS Any plans to keep the Tradeable mechanic going on in future expansions? I loved the mechanic because it's pretty innovative and sees success, it can see some future. But I think you have to be careful with powercreep and with not exaggerating with future cards

@ultrarotom Considering it. There is pretty big design space in tradeable. We'll evaluate it over time, no need to make a decision now. (Source)

@IksarHS Will there ever be a way to share an account's collection cross-regionally? I can't play MT quals so I can never hope to be an EU / APAC gamer as it stands, even though I'd love to participate with and be influenced by those ladders :(

@Caeles_Luna Would be an incredibly large tech change that I don't see us taking on. Would have to punt many features down the road to make it happen. (Source)

@IksarHS Hey Iksar I saw this old design of The Mistcaller and was fascinated by it. It was scrapped, due to it changing the nature of Hearthstone. Since Hearthstone has changed a lot since The Grand Tournament, could an effect like this find a home in today's Hearthstone and what class? https://t.co/WzyHt2w9yR

@Angus5h Cards like that don't get made because they surprise players in a way that makes them think they don't understand the game anymore. If you attack an enemy hero and this happens, it sends the message that it could happen against any class at any moment. (Source)

@IksarHS No questions, but wanted to say hello and I hope you have a good day!

@NateWolfeTCG thanks nate, you too :) (Source)

@IksarHS Will cards ever receive nerfs when they rotate to wild-only, instead of buff/restorations?

@kombo_karl Maybe… but it does seems strange. It a card was a problem enough that we'd nerf it when it went to Wild we'd probably have already nerfed it or banned it in Wild while it's in Standard. (Source)

@IksarHS Would you ever make an expansion completely available for one payment? For example, I pay 100€ to get the whole expansion but without any golden cards? Or for example 15-20k gold?

@imik_plays Probably not for latest expansion, though we've discussed this idea for non-latest expansions. (Source)

@IksarHS can we ever see cards from the titans? Or do they represent a design problem due to their high power?

@Jose_Palos We'll do a titan set someday, we've almost done it a few times going back 6-7 years. Characters are too cool not to use, Ulduar is also amazing. (Source)

@IksarHS Any chance of something like this happening? https://t.co/R93C3nCKkE

@D0nkeyHS A reasonable suggestion. My question is how global we could make a message like this considering how different esports are run across the globe. I'll bring it up with Ben. (Source)

@IksarHS Would it be possible to change all the old Rogue Burgle cards to the newest design? Instead from your opponent class to a different class?

@imik_plays Reasonable question. Whenever we think about changing old cards there are unintended consequences of the decision but I'll bring it up with @GW_Alec (Source)

@IksarHS You often talk about design considerations in terms of upsides and downsides. Weird, nebulous question but… which design decision in the history of the game had the best ratio of upside to downside!

@PoemToAHawkes Usually these are system design choices. Cards always have upside/downside. Systems are usually designed to be an upgrade for all player types. New ranked system I think has virtually no downsides in comparison to the old. Better rewards, communication, progression, matchmaking.. (Source)

@IksarHS Wanted to drop this Q again, especially with the addition of even more Bartenders for BGs, has the team had any thoughts on implementing subtitles for our deaf/hard-of-hearing friends?

@IksarHS I guess to tack onto this, it just feels like a weird UI/UX decision to have ellipses in place of a "chat bubble" since an ellipses essentially communicates, "Hey! Something is being said by this person!"

@IksarHS Which is fine if you're a hearing individual (it's not always important). However, it could be pretty frustrating for a deaf person to feel like they're missing out on an experience a hearing individual might take for granted.

@umm_its_justin I'd like to be able to answer this but I honestly don't know enough about these systems to be able to comment. I'll check in with the teams that handle this so I have a better answer next time. (Source)

@IksarHS Team size has increased greatly over hearthstone's 7-year history. From a design perspective, what are the costs and benefits of the changes in scale?

@PoemToAHawkes Well, there is more disconnectedness when there are separate teams. It's hard for everyone to work towards one goal in synergy, especially in COVID environment. (Source)

@PoemToAHawkes With smaller teams you actually end up getting feedback from a wider audience. On a 10-person team, decisions get made by everyone that impact the whole game. On a 100-person team, it's hard for everyone to be aware of decisions let alone impact them in some way. (Source)

@PoemToAHawkes So as teams get more siloed in their work, the thing we end up missing the most is a wider perspective. People that make decisions on a given team are usually of all the same discipline, and sometimes all of similar opinions from the jump. (Source)

@IksarHS chances of other universes coming to hearthstone? https://t.co/4DtBCRkZBD

@Navi00T We'd have to create a product that made sense for it. Probably a purely cosmetic product that has alternate card art for existing cards. Are we open to it, though? We've had some very initial discussion with other IP holders to see if there is interest in collab. (Source)

@Navi00T What anime should we do (Source)

@IksarHS id froth pirate themed one piece or mech themed evangelion

@Navi00T I think mech themed evangelion is generic mecha fantasy enough that it would catch people even if they weren't evangelion fans. Worth considering (Source)

@Navi00T this is an excerpt from a real email where I ranked (personal opinion) the japanese IP I'd be most interested in collaborating with in Hearthstone can't really share details of anything that came from it, but we all have dreams ok https://t.co/v7xksrjC6U (Source)

@IksarHS @Navi00T Tier 3 Naruto 🙄

@imik_plays @Navi00T lol it's not a 'what does DEAN want' list it's a 'what do I think would be most commercially successful' list if it was the first…. NARUTO #1 (Source)

@IksarHS Do you ever pick your nerfs in regard to the dust rewards that may be given out to players? Or is the rarity of the cards nerfed irrelevant in balance talks?

@DatMageDoe Irrelevant (Source)

@DatMageDoe The team that makes balance decisions is completely separate from any of the teams that deal with in-game economy. (Source)

@IksarHS Will we see any updates to the dungeon run style solo adventures?, like new cards in the buckets, new bosses, treasures, the chance of using golden cards based on our collection? :)

@Joshosss Probably not, we want to do single player content again someday so if you see more dev effort on the dungeon run front it'll probably be in the form of something new. (Source)

@IksarHS Given no constraints of balance, standard play, or even traditional design ideas, what kind of card product would you like to make? A draft set? a 300 card set? A set with extreme complexity? Revisit an old set?

@coolboypai I would love to make a special draft set, though I imagine it would be hard to justify it's viability as a product. (Source)

@coolboypai I've always wanted to make 'arena draft cards' that show up in your draft as options. Face-Down Legendary 'Your next 3 picks are murlocs' 'Randomly delete 3 cards from your deck' 'Redraft your deck' 'Replace the last 3 cards you drafted with random legendaries' (Source)

@coolboypai mostly bad ideas off the top of my head, but just things that come up as you are drafting that make for interesting decisions (Source)

@IksarHS Is there a chance to implement some of your recent suggestions (for example banning a class) in casual. Obviously I don't know how many people use that game mode, but it feels like it would be a way to spice it up a bit and see how popular those ideas are at the same time.

@LorindaGames I think if we wanted to apply any of those ideas we'd just do it in all modes. Because they are set up to be limited time events already, there is fairly low downside even if the feedback is more negative than positive. (Source)

@IksarHS Depending on your definition there are currently 7 different games modes in Hearthstone today, with Mercenaries coming soon(TM). As Ben Lee has said HS is “a platform for card games” how many game modes do you predict HS will have 5 or 10 years from now? https://t.co/KgOiLc1U8R

@ben_heathstone I could see us doing different formats within a game mode but not many more totally different game modes. When we make new cards, all card formats benefit. Wild, Standard, Arena, Wild, Duels, etc. (Source)

@ben_heathstone Having lots of different ways to play is great, but it creates a huge content pipeline for us. We spend so much time in upkeep that it's hard to spend time innovating new things. (Source)

@ben_heathstone The next year or two in Hearthstone are likely to include system level improvements and improvements to existing game modes rather than new ones. (Source)

@IksarHS I asked a similar question a bit ago but I feel like it still holds true today. Are you guys happy with how the new old gods turned out, most of them seeing little if any play (poor Yogg), is a bit saddening to see, or do you feel they where played exactly as much as intended?

@BionicDoor They saw a lot more play closer to their release. It's mostly a good thing that cards see an influx of play then fade away in different metas. No one wants to see the same pool of 10-15 legendary cards played for an entire rotation. (Source)

@BionicDoor Ideally we achieve this through shifting metas and not through power creep, but it can obviously be challenging. Part of the reason we don't create very many generically good legendary cards is because if they are very powerful they are likely to be very powerful in every meta. (Source)

@IksarHS do you think the recent transparent communication approach that you and many devs have taken (hi alec) has changed any part of the team's dev process? whether it's due to everyone sharing more stuff or hearing more stuff - it's a very different feel from early t5

@RidiculousHat Changed our process? Not really. It's really up to each person how they want to engage. People have different motivations for it. Mine is mostly to peel back the curtain for aspiring developers so they can determine if this is something they might want to do themselves. (Source)

@IksarHS Persistent effects seem to be a difficult space to work in. They lead to a sense of inevitability especially in control matchups. A card like demon seed feels allot like crystal core, a card which saw a lot of iteration. Would you agree there are similarities?

@baney64 Definitely upsides and downsides. Having direct objectives for a deck makes building that deck distinctly different than other decks before it. However, if you pay a steep cost in deck construction you should be rewarded appropriately. (Source)

@baney64 Appropriate rewards for steep deckbuilding costs need to be quite large, so large they are usually game ending. I don't think this means these styles of decks should never exist, but there is a reason we don't do quests with huge rewards every expansion. (Source)

@IksarHS Should I watch Vinland Saga?

@ProfessorFog Probably yes, but I haven't seen it. It might be the highest consistently rated anime I haven't seen yet. (Source)