An editorial that takes a look at some of the more frustrating aspects of Hearthstone, while acknowledging that it remains an incredible game despite them.
Whether you’re a seasoned pro or a newcomer, unwrap a shiny new game from the booster pack that is our list of the best iPhone card games.
Murder at Castle Nathria is another strong expansion to the now venerable Hearthstone, but it doesn't address the game's core problems.
Murder At Castle Nathria brings a novel theme to Blizzard's popular card game Hearthstone. Hear about it from Liv Breeden and Cora Georgiou.
i played a little on PC didnt care for it that much. tried it on iPad and now i cant put it down! great game!
I find hearthstone shallow and boring, far to simplistic for my taste. I can see how that may be appealing on something like the iPad though.
It has that affect
i feel the same way. I hate the game. I always lose. But i cant stop playing haha
this article hits the nail on the head for almost every point. i'm someone who has watched hundreds of hours of Hearthstone gameplay (via Kripparrian's twitch channel), and i've also spent some time playing the game.
like the article says, the game itself is tons of fun. both the design and mechanics are a joy to play with, and the game is presented with Blizzard's usual flair.
the problems, though, lie in how certain game modes are handled, or how the cards themselves are handled.
like the article says, it's completely unfair that some people can have legendary (or rare, or epic, since they can also be very powerful) cards simply because they've been playing longer than you OR they decided to spend money. somebody could throw out a Cairne Bloodhoof on turn 6, a Sylvana Windrunner on turn 7, a Ragnaros on turn 8, and a Ysera on turn 9. meanwhile, you're still trying to fill out your rare cards and maybe the occasional epic. i understand that there are great basic and uncommon cards too, but the fact that somebody could have everything unlocked and you don't in a game that's supposed to be player vs player and based at least SOMEWHAT on skill, isn't really fun in the end when you lose to it. when you're playing against other players, the ultimate goal should be balance imo. you might say, "well, that's why it's a CCG, get used to it." that still doesn't change my point, though--it's not fun to lose to somebody just because they have way better cards. i would have preferred if Blizzard had made ALL cards available once you completely the tutorial and beat all difficulty levels of the AI. and then they could have had different levels of foil cards. for example, instead of just having gold they could have bronze, silver, gold and platinum foil cards. then you still have the collectable aspect.
also, as the article stated, there's no diversity in deck building. once you start getting higher up in the ranks, it's the same unoriginal, uninspired, copied deck. part of that is just because players are lazy, uncreative and just copy to win. i also think Blizz needs to balance it out more, though, so that there are just less clear cut "best" decks. iirc i think most of the top decks right now are handLock, aggro Lock, and rush Hunter. it gets old.
arena was by far my favorite aspect of Hearthstone, but it was also the reason i stopped playing. you need to either spend 150 gold or pay money per arena run. the problem, though, is that you can't SOLELY do arena runs unless you occasionally pay for them or unless you're good enough to do infinite arenas. meaning you average enough wins, plus with the gold from dailies, that you will always have enough gold to start an arena run after the previous one ends. i usually did ok in arena (max was 10 wins, i believe with both Mage and Warrior, and i've had a couple 7-8 runs as well), but i wasn't quite at the level where i could do infinite arenas. and since there's no way i'm touching constructed for the reasons i mentioned, i just stopped playing the game. i honestly wish they would lower the other rewards from arena (cards, packs, and dust) and give better gold rewards so the players who are at least decent at the game (like me) can just play arena.
the good thing about arena is that it solves most of the problems i mentioned about constructed. sure, making an arena deck is based on RNG, and some people get shafted while others get super lucky (i once faced a mage in arena with TWO Ragnaros), but overall it's more balanced and fun than constructed imo.
i know this was a long, rambling post, but i just really like Hearthstone and wish they would fix some of its problems. i don't play anymore, but i still watch Kripp every day just because i enjoy the game. lol.