Battlegrounds players have more to look forward to than the new balance changes and heroes introduced with today's update - Battlegrounds is getting a Tavern Pass!
What's a Tavern Pass you ask? We've included the full information from the blog post below, but essentially players will be able to purchase a pass specifically for Battlegrounds to unlock special perks for the mode, including advanced stats and the ability to choose between four heroes at the start of a game.
The Tavern Pass replaces the need to purchase packs from the latest expansion to get these bonuses. Players who already have these bonuses will get the perks of the Tavern Pass starting March 26th. Come the release of Ashes of Outland, they'll need to purchase the pass again, for $19.99 or 2500 Gold.
Quote From Blizzard Introducing the Tavern Pass
With the release of Ashes of Outland, we’re introducing the Tavern Pass—an all-new way to access Perks for Battlegrounds. Available for $19.99 or 2500 Gold, the Tavern Pass includes four Arena Tickets and the following Battlegrounds Perks for the duration of the Ashes of Outland expansion cycle: advanced stats, visual emotes, a third and fourth hero to choose from at the start of a game, and early access to new Battlegrounds Heroes (subject to the release schedule of new Heroes).
If you currently have Battlegrounds bonus stats, choose from 3 Heroes, or visual emotes unlocked—you will get access to the equivalent new perk starting on March 26. Battlegrounds Perks earned from collecting Descent of Dragons packs (including the new perks such as choosing from 4 heroes) will expire once Ashes of Outland is released. With the introduction of the Tavern Pass, which is included in the Ashes of Outland Mega Bundle, players will no longer have to purchase card packs in order to unlock Battlegrounds Perks.
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Comments
Regardless of whichever turns out to be true - if you can still get the perks through packs or not - I think the wording is horrid and I hope they learn to be clearer in the future.
I could understand them believing that using vague wording could quell players who would be mad about them taking away free features - but when things are left to interpretation a majority will always go to the extreme worst-case scenario in their minds.
Currently, you need to open 30 packs to unlock all Battlegrounds bonuses.
In the shop, you can buy 15 packs for 20$, so you need to spend 40$ if you want to unlock all bonuses. The next option is 40 packs for 50$, a better price per pack but still 10$ more.
For players only playing Battlegrounds, the new option to get all the perks for "only" 20$ is clearly better than what they have now.
I would expect the following from a company knowing what the players want:
Ahahahahaha no
Noone's gonna spend that much gold for basic features in a half-baked gamemode
I am. With the new duplicate protection collecting a full set will require significantly fewer packs.
I have 7000+ gold saved so I'll get thd smaller prepurchase and this and still open 100 or so packs.
I think this is for the ppl that is only playing BG and no the TCG, and for sure none will spend gold on this
Pay2Win confirmed.
Honestly a tad disappointed with this.
HS already (seems to) make a lot of money as it is, why monetize a mode which they claimed to be "free" when they released it?
I understand they are a business whose main goal is the sweet monies, but this is bs. Every 4 months pay 20 bucks (which currency is around 100 in my currency) for just that?
Why not offer the choice with, idk, extra options and stuff, and then leave us who already bought it with our bonuses?
I sure hope we can still acquire bonuses by buying packs with gold.
I understand everyone's point about it being for people that dont focus on ranked and all, but it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth to have to spend money or waste 2.5k gold for stuff I already had.
Well, I guess at least it doesnt affect my experiece too much, and I'll still play it, but it makes me a tad sad.
Its interesting how this didnt seem to be mentioned on stream, only afterwards (unless Im misremembering it).
Why leave the old version of monetization? This is such a scam comparing to that.
So you need to spend money for both or gold.
I, for one, am glad that they found a way to monetize this, which means they have an incentive to continually invest in and improve Battlegrounds. 2500 gold is not that difficult to accumulate - I usually earn three times that amount each expansion cycle just from quests.
Monetizing games is a weird business. By the most basic metric, this makes the expansion Megabundle very attractive. 20$ Battlepass, new hero, 90 packs (and matching the 50$ order, a golden legendary and a cardback)... Wow! Great value!
There's such a disparity between the work and materials and the pricing, though, that this doesn't mean much. Really, the Battlepass is probably priced highly to encourage players to buy the 80$ bundle - to make it seem worth it. They've added the additional golden legendary back into the 50$ purchase, which supports that theory. They must feel confidently enough about projected purchase amounts to do so.
If you evaluate the bundles based on what you're likely to get, rather than by price, the Megabundle looks less enticing for non-competitive Battlegrounds players. You can play Battlegrounds casually just fine with two heroes, and the emotes and stats are meaningless. A few Arena runs aren't worth much. The hero has an odd voice, and there are plenty of Shaman heroes around already, so that's a wash unless you've got a snake fetish (sorry, Harrison Jones). The real draw, as always, is the packs. But it's worthwhile to note - with new pack opening rules, the 55 packs from the smaller bundle will be the best value they've ever been. If your goal is to get all of the set's rares and commons, look no further.
I'm not a big fan of that news ... sounds like an expansive approach.
Hope they won't push it that far but ... Might as well buy Battlerating points ^^
This is a great idea! It lets people play BG without having to play standard, and it provides perks that are fun and interesting.
That said, $20 per expansion is just ridiculous. That's the most pathetic cash grab I've ever seen from Blizx, and that's saying a lot. If you don't have the pass, you'll find it impossible to ladder since you have lower quitu heroes on average.
Why are some of you guys angry about this? This is for the people that only play BG and doesn't care at all about constructed or arena. At this point I'm sure most of them already have more than 2500 gold.
The anger is stemming from the lack of clarity about what perks - if any - will be available purely from purchasing packs.
If you can no longer get any perks from purchasing packs, this is a strict downgrade for anyone who doesn't only play Battlegrounds.
The announcement says that for the DoD season, if you have the pack perks, you'll get the new perks as well. But for the Outland season I can only interpret "players will no longer have to purchase card packs in order to unlock Battlegrounds Perks" as "players can no longer unlock Battlegrounds Perks by purchasing card packs." The inclusion of the Tavern Pass in the Mega Bundle seems to support this, as that would be redundant if packs unlocked perks.
I understand that they don't want to lose money on people playing nothing but Battlegrounds, but $20 every four months seems a bit much unless you're a huge Battlegrounds fan.
That's the sticking point for me. I have no problem with them trying to monetize this part of the game, especially giving sole-Battlegrounds players a way to earn the perks without having to buy packs for game modes they're not interested in.
$20 would be fine to me, even a bit more, if it was a annual pass. $20 times three a year just feels bad.
I'm confused by all this (besides shocked by the price tag they put on).
They say they include the pass in the 90-pack bundle. They exclude it for the 55-pack bundle. You get the perks by buying 30 packs. So... 55 packs isn't > 30 according to Blizz? Real money doesn't count all of sudden when when you pre-order, except for spending big?
And not pre-ordering and just buying 30 packs for gold (or trough Arena), I get the perks anyway?
To me, this seems vague and arbitrary, and a blatant disrespect to players who can't afford to drop €80 on the same game every 4 months. Even €50 is a LOT of money to be dropping on a pre-order, and then saying "Yeah, the 'small' pre-order isn't enough money for us to give you access to the cool stuff." a giant slap in the face imho.
You don't get the perks with packs anymore if I understood correctly.
Guys you are overreacting.
This is for people who does not want packs but might want play Battlegrounds and Arena.
Yes pass will reset every expansion, the same as bonuses from packs to BG.
As far I understand this is another way to unlock full BG for season. You can choose, do you like packs (like me who play Wild/Standar) or you dont care about Packs and prefer Arena tickets.