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Hearthstone | Posted by | 6 years ago
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Coming back.

Yes, I left. No, you do not care. No, the reasons do not matter. Yes, it was when others were leaving to "boycott".

Now, I've played some Runterra, but I'm a mobile-only and well, I don't live in whatever country mobile is released on. No game has filled the slot HS left, and I'm wondering if it's worth going back. 

My question, is based on your experience, knowing full well that your answer is subjective, do you think the game has improved? You can measure it in whatever category or metric you would like, but do you see progress from what, 6 months ago?

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  • Yes, I left. No, you do not care. No, the reasons do not matter. Yes, it was when others were leaving to "boycott".

    Now, I've played some Runterra, but I'm a mobile-only and well, I don't live in whatever country mobile is released on. No game has filled the slot HS left, and I'm wondering if it's worth going back. 

    My question, is based on your experience, knowing full well that your answer is subjective, do you think the game has improved? You can measure it in whatever category or metric you would like, but do you see progress from what, 6 months ago?

  • Well, ladder got a major overhaul 2 days ago giving more rewards, all card rarities now have duplicate protection, there's a new class available to play in a few days, and Leeroy and MCT are now in the Hall of Fame. So yes, it has improved, and certainly way better that it was during the Doom in the Tomb event from about 6 months ago *shudders*.

    Whether all of that makes you enjoy the game or not you'll have to decide for yourself, but it is worth trying out again for sure.

  • Well, if you're coming back then you would be at least able to tell us if blizzard has started giving away free decks like they said they would to returning players. Not so sure what's the time frame to receive the cards though.

    if you left during the blitzchung controversy means you've not seen the DoD expansion yet. Meta has never been healthier in my opinion, so I would say its definitely better than it was prior to DoD. New ranking system too, which I think is better than the previous one.

    Face hunter is probably the most toxic, mostly piloted by bm-heavy players, but I havent seen one since a month ago. So I guess if youre wanting to come back, nows a better time than ever it was or could be.

    Friendly
    • Quote From dapperdog

      Well, if you're coming back then you would be at least able to tell us if blizzard has started giving away free decks like they said they would to returning players. Not so sure what's the time frame to receive the cards though.

      They should've, although I think the system did have some bugs in it at some point. In order to get the returning player deck, you need to have not played the game in four months, which sounds like OP would qualify. For reference, you can find the deck options in our guide if you wish to think about it in advance.

      Given that I'm a moderator at Hearthstone-related site I might be a bit biased, but I very much agree that the game has been heading towards a better direction. Duplicate protection makes opening packs a lot more fun and the ranked revamp brought a lot more incentives to play. If you loved playing Battlegrounds though, it's heading to a less f2p direction with the new Tavern Pass, although the gameplay itself is unaffected. Regardless, it should be worth to give the game another spin.

      Staff

  • The lack of reward for Battlegrounds left me not wanting to play it beyond a break from ranked. I truly appreciate the input on this thread. It is why I cam to outof.cards to ask.


    • Quote From Knight

      The lack of reward for Battlegrounds left me not wanting to play it beyond a break from ranked. I truly appreciate the input on this thread. It is why I cam to outof.cards to ask.

      Specifically speaking to this point, I also really enjoy Battlegrounds as a break from ranked play - it has a freshness that's rewarding in a way that Arena never was. I don't think that I'd want to play Hearthstone exclusively for Battlegrounds, but I definitely enjoy the entire game more thanks to having it as a truly fun option to break up my laddering efforts.

  • Hi OP, I do not think that the game has improved since you left. 

    Yes, the rewards got better for the new players, although I know many veteran player say that the rewards got worse from their perspective. 

    Yes, the ranked system was changed. The idea was to make it better, and I think they managed to do so. 

    and Yes, we have a new class, Demon Hunter, and even got some nice cards for that class for FREE. 

    So let's say that the economy of the game improved. But game itself is still the same. If you are triggered by netdecking, mana cheats and BMs, they are still there. Leeroy got HOFed, if you care about standard, so aggro decks got a little weaker, but on the other hand there is that new Kaelthas legendary we all got for free, which enables broken spell combos (and more mana cheats) so I miss poor ol Leeroy already. 

  • TL;DR: The current metagame is fine/not great, but rotation is coming so don't let that make your decision. The new ranked system feels dramatically better from a progression standpoint, and I think long-term it could change the way people play ladder in a way that makes the game a lot more fun.

    Right now the metagame is kind of odd - Hall of Fame and de-nerfs have gone into effect, but the game hasn't had its rotation yet. This means some cards that people have been hating forever are gone, but the cards they've left standard for aren't in, while other cards that folks have PTSD from (e.g. Dr. Boom, Mad Genius) are back in full force. It's fine - I've played in metagames that I've enjoyed more, but I'm having fun with this one. If you use the metagame as a barometer for coming back, I would only use that to decide whether or not to return today or next week - I think the metagame will be a lot more exciting once the rotation hits.

    That said, the ranked system is dramatically better.

    The old system felt like a grind at every level, and the payoff for that work wasn't that great. If you didn't have a lot of time to play in a given month, you'd slip way behind because of how slow progress could be. Losses near ranked floors felt terrible. The only opportunities you had to play off-meta decks were at rank floors because once you move past them, if you're serious about trying to rank up, you can't afford to lose stars, so you netdeck whatever's good in the metagame and push your way to the next floor.

    The inclusion of more floors is neutral for players who rarely got above rank 15, but helps mitigate that feeling of grinding considerably for any player who ever made it past rank 15:

    • Old System: Starting at Rank 20, 4 floors (including Legend), with 15, 20, 25, and 25 stars between them, no win streaks for the last 25
    • New System: Starting at Bronze 10, 10 floors (including Legend), 15 stars between each, no win streaks for the last 15

    Having all those extra ranks and stopping points helps you feel like you're making progress, and getting bonus stars for getting to a rank floor once also helps you to get back there.

    But the biggest thing about the new ranking system is something that's going to require a shift in thinking from the players. Now, thanks to the bonus stars, you can actually get back to your previous rank with relatively low win rates. Take the base case* for example, where you made it one rank floor up and are trying to get back there. You get 2 stars for each win and 4 stars for a win streak. Since each win recoups two losses, you'd need a win rate below 33% to actually lose rank over time, and you only need a 50% win rate to make progress. Even the worst classes in any given metagame have been able to field decks with win rates around 50%. This opens a lot of possibilities to play low tier/off-meta decks and still make considerable progress getting back up to your previous rank. 

    If you're someone who just loves climbing and wants to play the best netdecks, that's fine, but for folks who want to play their fun homebrews, they won't have to trade ladder progress for fun anymore. I think it's gonna take some time before people start to think differently about what decks are viable for ranking up, but when people start to see that they can play more decks and more classes and still see progress on the ladder, I think you'll start to see a much more consistently healthy game.

    *Technically the base case is that you never made it to Bronze 5, and have no bonus stars, but a majority of players won't be in that bucket, and the ones who are are probably newer/have very limited collections.