Dean "Iksar" Ayala popped in this evening for a Hearthstone Q&A session on Twitter. 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.

Microsoft Acquisition

  • Once Activision Blizzard is acquired by Microsoft, Dean would like to talk about the IP that exists in the company and see what crossovers could happen.
  • Dean would put a Master Chief Battlegrounds Hero at the top of the list of things to request.
  • Dean is really happy about the acquisition.
  • No one at the company knows yet if they will be under ABK or if the studios will separate from each other.
  • We'll find out more over the next year or so, for now it's business as usual, with a teaspoon of optimism. (Source)

Arena

  • Gameplay is fun and has low friction to play when it comes to understanding Hearthstone.
  • The entry fee and no matchmaking hurt Arena.
  • There are two things Dean thinks could happen with the mode:
    • Leave it the same and update cards and gameplay. Ideally it keeps the current players happy.
    • Major overhaul: No entry fee, find a way to generate revenue still, add matchmaking.
      • Downside is current players would probably be unhappy.
  • Dean doesn't believe that tweaking the entry fee and rewards would do anything other than making current Arena players slightly happier.

Classic

  • They have been busy with other things so Classic getting updated to Naxxramas hasn't been done, but it will at some point.
  • There are still considerations to be made. Should they do it by each expansion, or do whole years at a time?

Battlegrounds

  • The team is considering what they can do with Tirion as he's a prominent character in Warcraft. It is in their best interest for him to return to Battlegrounds.

Wild

  • There are no plans to buff cards when they rotate to wild so they can be good in wild.
  • Winrates in Wild are not normally as crazy as they can get in Standard.

Tournament Mode

  • It happening as a feature is still on the table. They are currently brainstorming this year's features.
  • No likely to see a Tournament Mode soon.
  • Not certain how Esports could connect into a Tournament Mode.

Hearthstone

  • Almost zero chance of having the game be global instead of regional.
    • The time investment in making this happen may never be worth the effort.
    • Same with regards to them stopping using Unity or rewriting the game's code.
  • Buying expansions outright is also very unlikely to happen. They are more concerned with decreasing the spend on players who struggle to get their first 4-5 decks.
  • The recent dust problems were not ideal. They ended up giving out a ton of money worth of dust and players were angry about it.
  • They would rather not create one-off special rules with regards card rotations such as adding in a limited-time card from an expansion. 
  • Baku and Genn was an exception though they'd do it again if it was needed for the game. They just don't want to surprise people with rotations.
  • If Dean had a chance to redo heroes, he'd keep their powers the same but try to put them on the Battlefield.
    • Everyone with 1 Attack, they wouldn't attack back.
    • Wouldn't be hit by spells like Flamestrike and such since they aren't minions.
  • Dean estimates each expansion brings 1-2 new mechanics and a dozenish cards that might need custom code created to make work.
    • Their card editor these days is "pretty robust".

Interesting Tweets From Celestalon

Celestalon responded to a part of the AMA where Dean was talking about Demon Hunter and how they figured it was better as a permanent game addition. Celestalon chimed in to say that they don't know how many classes would ultimately be too many for the game, but "we were at least sure that 11 was better than 10".

Quote From Celestalon

To add onto this, as a thought experiment, how many times can you add a new class to a game like Hearthstone where it's a net gain in overall fun? Obviously not infinite, right? So where's the 'most fun' line? Is a rotating subset of classes better than perpetually-growing?

There was definitely some feeling of "10 classes is already hard to make feel distinct". Would we be better off adding temporary classes, perhaps in a rotation? Or rotating some classes out of standard as we add new ones? Lots of ideas were thrown around there.

Ultimately, we decided that while we didn't know where exactly the line of too many classes was, we were at least sure that 11 was better than 10, and could revisit that at some point in the future if we did ever think we were risking crossing that line.

Full Transcript of Iksar's Q&A #38

Quote From Dean Ayala

Hearthstone AMA #38 4:00PM - 5:00PM PST Ask me a question about Hearthstone! Or Design! (or anime…) https://t.co/z1a2ByLGtp (Source)

@IksarHS Dean Ayala is coming to the Battlegrounds! What’s his hero power? Who’s his buddy? What does the buddy do? (Source)

Meeting came up, moving to 4:30 - 5:30, sorry for late notice! (Source)

@IksarHS Have there been internal discussions about improving the Arena game mode? I'd love to play it more but the high cost of entry combined with poor rewards is a mega bummer. Also, how about a 50% off entry fee event for a couple weeks to spur interest?

@TimRizzo I personally think there is a good opportunity with arena. The gameplay itself is fun and it has low friction to play from a gameplay knowledge point of view. What hurts the population is the friction caused by an entry fee and the fact that it's not matchmade. (Source)

@TimRizzo So I think there are a few reasonable paths. A: Leave as is. Make gameplay and card updates, make no major systematic updates. Population stays low, ideally the players within that population are relatively happy. (Source)

@TimRizzo or B: Think about a major overhaul of systems. Remove entry fee, find a revenue generator with less pick up and play friction. Change rewards structure to match new revenue generator. Change matchmaking so that new players or existing weak players can still have a fun experience. (Source)

@TimRizzo Downside of B is that the vocal and current playerbase is probably unhappy. They enjoy the thing they have now. I still think it's worth considering. If what we have is a low population mode with little prospect for growth, it'll always receive a low population amount of support. (Source)

@IksarHS Is the belief that simply tweaking the entry fee + reward structure but keeping everything else the same not a viable long term solution? Seems to appeal to those who want to get back into the mode and those who do play it a lot and want to be incentivized to play more.

@TimRizzo I don't believe tweaking the entry fee and rewards really does anything other than make current players slightly happier. (Source)

@IksarHS What do you think about breaking immersion in exchange for convenience? I often feel like things like fall dmg are really annoying and don't contribute to anything, specially in open world games. AC Odyssey has no fall dmg and I loved it. Another examples are: carry weight+

@Shmilia It… depends. I think the most common version of this is how different games approach character movement. I personally prefer responsive and unrealistic character movement (WOW) to more realistic movement where things like momentum are taken into account (Witcher). (Source)

@Shmilia Immersion based mechanics like fall damage are cool when there is some gameplay reason for it, otherwise I mostly agree that these things are just…. annoying. (Source)

@Shmilia Fall damage in particular usually has some use in adventure games (to me at least). The environment can be used to great effect as something that makes an area more interesting and dangerous. (Source)

@Shmilia If every time I'm in a dangerous position I can leap off a cliff or fly into the air it makes the environment play less of a role in how I think about traversing a place. It's not necessarily a negative thing, but it does mean I think fall damage can have positive effects. (Source)

@IksarHS With classic not getting that much attention anymore, are there already plans for evolving it to the next expansions like GVG, Nax and all of them, like it´s with WoW classic right now?

@ThisIsChrisHS We want to do it, just been busy with other features. It'll happen, we're considering exactly how. Maybe it'll be Naxx for X time then the next thing. Maybe it'll be that whole year of expansions at once (Naxx, GvG, BRM). (Source)

@IksarHS Don't you think it would be a good idea to finally re-do "The Coin", changing it–from a Spell Card that interacts with Spellburst in Standard and Gadgetzan Auctioneer in Classic–to a one-time Hero Power?

@JohnathanGulley I don't think so. We haven't had any problems with players not understanding it and there are certainly no power level problems with going second. At this point, I think adding a UI element simply to have the coin not be a spell is all downside. (Source)

@IksarHS Could we buff Lightforged Crusader in wild? Right now it’s essentially 7 mana do nothing, and have the privilege of a deck building restriction on top. Adding both divine shield and taunt at least means that it does something despite still being a bad card for the format.

@LeBruce We don't have any plans to buff cards as they rotate to Wild to make them competitive in Wild. (Source)

@IksarHS What are the prospects of 1. seeing our ladder MMR (so bonus stars aren't a surprise), 2. having in-game tournament mode for conquest/LHS/qualifiers, 3. a global server so we don't have to maintain separate collections, and 4. a set preorder price for a full expansion collection.

@BlueSpartan1437 1. Low/Medium. I'm generally a fan of sharing more information, though I think MMR numbers can be confusing in a negative way. The rating calculations are accurate, but they use formulas so complicated that your expectation of rating change vs reality is often different. (Source)

@BlueSpartan1437 We obviously do a version of it in BG and Duels, but that is more of a result of the bandwidth we had at the time to release a rank system than it had anything to do with it being the best system for those modes. (Source)

@BlueSpartan1437 2. Tournament mode in general is on the table. We have a features group currently brainstorming new features we'd like to add in 2022. I'd say it's likely to happen, just not soon. How it's connected with esports is hard to say. Lots of design work to do. (Source)

@BlueSpartan1437 3. Close to zero. Would require such a large change change in how collections work that I don't know the time will ever be worth the effort. Similar to asking if we'll stop using Unity or if we'll rewrite our code base. (Source)

@BlueSpartan1437 4. Also close to zero. More concerned with decreasing the spend on players who struggle to have enough resources to have fun. To get your first 4-5 decks. (Source)

@IksarHS the "dustgate" circumstance this week was a bummer in general. how are hiccups like that responded to internally both for the design team and overall at any level that you interact with? can you speak to what happened, solutions considered, and precautions for the future?

@RidiculousHat I actually wasn't involved at all in this, not even through email. Acquired my info from talking to some people that were. It obviously sucks. The end result is that we donated a very large sum of $ worth a dust for players to be angry with us. Not ideal. (Source)

@RidiculousHat Bugs happen, though. It won't be the last script we run that has a problem we didn't uncover fast enough. We're making tens of thousands of code changes on a team with hundreds of people. You see the things that go wrong, none of the things that go well. (Source)

@RidiculousHat It's okay to be unhappy, though. I understand. We aren't happy with it either, we'd obviously rather have not had anything go wrong to give a dust refund in the first place! (Source)

@IksarHS Halo Expansion on the table now?

@maparrsdesign You know what? At some point when this deal is done we're going to sit around talking about what IP is under our roof and I'm going to put Halo somewhere near the top of the list of things to request. Master Chief BG hero I'm in. (Source)

@IksarHS Since you had stats on top WR standard decks of all time, I was wondering if you had any data to share on the craziest wild power outliers you've seen (and whether they match community perception of most broken decks in wild history)

@jjjjjj_wildhs I don't remember off the top of my head, but contrary to what you might believe, win rates in wild are usually less crazy than ones in Standard. There are too many counter cards available for even very broken strategies to win an overwhelming %. (Source)

@jjjjjj_wildhs And even the mosted busted decks in terms of how they were perceived weren't even that great when compared to other 'best decks' from other formats. SNIP Warlock, Giants Warlock, Experimenter Priest. They were nerfed more because what they did was ridiculous than win rate. (Source)

@IksarHS @jjjjjj_wildhs SN1P Lock probably most busted, had zero negative winrate matchups right before it was nerfed. Darkglare Warlock was also pretty high winrate, but there were other powerful decks in the format at the time as well. (Source)

@IksarHS Given how the Battlegrounds meta currently is with how powerful the comps have become as well as with new Heroes, has the team considered possibly either re-adding Tirion as he was prior to being removed or possibly considered reworking him? id❤️to see him again, he was a fav

@Unownknight7 Definitely considering, especially with a character like Tirion. He's a prominent character in Warcraft, we have the art, the hero power art, only in everyone's best interest to find a way to get him back in. (Source)

@IksarHS how is the team feeling about the recent news of the microsoft adquisition? do you think something will change for HS specifically?

@Wiibomb I'm really happy to be part of the MS org, there is so much talent there and to think we'll be closer to those people and have an easier time communicating sounds great. (Source)

@Wiibomb How it plays out has a huge impact. No one at Blizzard (my level at least) knows if we'll still be ABK under MS, if each studio will be separate, if ABK executive leadership owns our processes still or if MS oversees us and ABK executive leadership has a new/different role… (Source)

@Wiibomb We'll find out more over the next year or so, for now it's business as usual, with a teaspoon of optimism. (Source)

@IksarHS Have you ever thought of having cards that rotate differently than their expansion? It could open up design space and allow strong cards not to stomp on others for a whole expansion cycle

@RaneTDF Would rather not create one-off special rules people have to remember. We did it with Baku and Genn and will do it again if necessary, just not something we're looking to surprise people with. Surprise! Your favorite thing rotated early! (Source)

@IksarHS Any update on who is now responsible for arena ? (i know the guy who did micros left) We really would like shaman and demon hunter to be toned down a bit. How long will it be before you find your new solution to microadjustments ?

@EliteLeafHater I think the response to 'the only arena person left!' was a bit overblown. The point was only to say there was this very complex process a very smart person owned that we're not trying to figure out the best path forward. (Source)

@EliteLeafHater There are many aspects of arena that are owned by people that still work here, and anything that was owned by Tian is being evaluated just the same as the work of anyone who leaves the company. It's a normal thing. (Source)

@IksarHS Hey dawg! Just wanted to say I randomly watched oddtaxi because of your Twitter banner and it was friggen awesome what should I watch next? Also if the lich king comes back this year does that mean the lick king (Arfus) could potentially make his glorious return?

@IksarHS Oh and happy birthday! 🎉

@lil_robitussin1 thanks :) (Source)

@IksarHS Damn no hint.. can’t say I didn’t try 🤣

@lil_robitussin1 no hint sorry, I've been on a bit of an anime break lately so not sure if I have a good rec…. If you liked Odd Taxi, you might like these: Promised Neverland Erased Made in Abyss (Source)

@IksarHS Who is your favorite son? https://t.co/Ty9MN84iRZ

@ItsMeMollyO reno was first…. you are a close second tho (Source)

@IksarHS https://t.co/xqnL6Fk4EI

@ItsMeMollyO omg ok you are my fave <3 (Source)

@IksarHS Have you played Yugioh Master Duel?

@GolemYo no, I probably should be every time I watch I have no clue what is happening (Source)

@IksarHS If you had to change all the hero powers to be something new, where would you start and what would be the result?

@MagikMilk25 I think I would not replace them and try putting heroes on the battlefield instead. All with 1 attack. They wouldn't attack back like minions and they wouldn't affected by all the same things they aren't affected by now like Twisting Nether or Flamestrike. (Source)

@MagikMilk25 There is a game called @SkyweaverGame that has a ton of similarities with Hearthstone but one of the key differences is that the heroes on on the battlefield like this. I think it works really well. (Source)

@IksarHS What anime are you watching this season?

@Lyiem2 Watching AOT and getting to some of my backlog. Demon Slayer, MHA, Kaguya Love is War, and maybe try Jojo which I never saw. (Source)

@IksarHS What percentage of cards require changes to the game client/server in order to work in a typical expansion? For example, I imagine something like Guff would because it breaks the normal rules, something like Drek’thar probably not since we have seen that effect before.

@baney64 Well, I think the question is what cards require engineering support vs what are cards we can do within our editor with no additional support. I honestly don't know anymore, I'd guess there is 1-2 mechanics that require new support and 10-12 individual cards. (Source)

@baney64 These days, our editor is pretty robust. Comes from building new features in little by little over 25+ expansions :0. (Source)

@IksarHS Hi Dean! I read about the guy who left the team and was in charge of arena microadjustments. Was he also responsible of the arena leadeboards? I wonder if we are going to see Nov-Dec leaderboard. But specially… the Jan-Feb one looks promising for me. Thanks! :)

@HibadinoHS No, he was not. (Source)

@IksarHS With the risk of being annoying, but I was a bit late to the party last week Would love to learn a bit more about this since I found it really interesting and it has been on my mind a lot https://t.co/tAE7dumx18

@HS_Orange Well, the reason to do a new class is you think that class can be meaningfully different and provide something unique the other classes don't. I think the core disagreement was that some people believed that could be true forever, while others believed that was unrealistic. (Source)

@HS_Orange As a short-term thing, permanent is a far better solution and everyone agreed. Players are much more excited to learn and engage with someone that is going to be a part of the game forever than they would be with something that is in for now and out for later. (Source)

@HS_Orange It was more the long-term. Will DH add fun any interesting new ways to play forever or will it just steal from things we could easily do in other classes, making each class feel more the same. (Source)