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Blizzard explains Hearthstone crafting system
If you've been holding your breath waiting for the latest news on Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, you can stop now because Blizzard's just released information about the game's crafting system. Instead of a traditional TCG (or trading card game), Hearthstone styles itself a CCG (or collectable card game) -- which means no trading. So what do you do to get the cards you want if you can't trade for them? Craft! The crafting system is a lot like WoW's enchanting system: if you have cards you don't want, you can disenchant them to get Arcane Dust. Then you can take that and use it to craft new cards or improve old ones. Of course there's a catch: cards disenchant into far fewer Arcane Dust than is required to make new cards, but, still, this sounds like a system that will make getting the cards you want a lot more achievable than buying or trading for the ultra-rare cards that you really want. P.S. We hope none of you are actually holding your breath for Hearthstone updates. With the speed of news updates, that's definitely bad for your health.
Wowhead launches Hearthstone section
Our friends at Wowhead seem to have caught Hearthstone fever -- and, really, who can blame them? In addition to the site's very handy WoW data, they've added a new Hearthstone section that has a database of cards for you to search. Obviously, no one has access to a Hearthstone client, so Wowhead is pulling this info from datamining -- which means it's incomplete and may contain errors. And, of course, with the game not even in beta yet, everything you see now is still subject to change; maybe even a lot of change. However, with a database of just over 500 cards already on the site, it's a pretty impressive collection and a great way to get an early look at the game. The Hearthstone section lets you search for cards and, when you've found one you're interested in, displays card artwork (and the artist), type, quality, class, set, casting cost, special abilities, and health and attack for cards that have it. And, like the rest of Wowhead, each card has its own comments section -- though we haven't run into any cards with comments so far. So while we continue to wait for our beta keys (they're in the mail, right, Blizzard?), we'll be sure to be prepared by checking out all of the cards on Wowhead.
How to sign up for the Hearthstone beta
So you've heard a lot about Blizzard's latest game, the free, digital CCG Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft and you can't wait to get into the beta. But how do you get in on that sweet, beta testing action? Signing up to beta Hearthstone is pretty simple, but involves a few steps that may not be entirely obvious -- we'll walk you through them so you can have a chance to be one of the first to check out Hearthstone for yourself. Whether you get into the beta or not, you can get a feel for Hearthstone by checking out the two match videos they've released so far -- one showing Jaina battling Thrall and the other showing Garrosh battling Uther. But for now there's nothing to do but sign up and be patient until the beta gets started. Read on for instructions!
Latest Hearthstone shoutcast pits Uther against Garrosh
If you've been waiting for more details on Hearthstone, wait no more! Blizzard has released another shoutcasted match to give us an up close look at gameplay. In this video, game designer Ben Brode provides commentary on a battle between the paladin Uther the Lightbringer and the warrior Garrosh Hellscream (if you recall, the last shoutcast showed us a mage battling a shaman). We won't give away the ending, but suffice to say it's an epic battle featuring interesting tricks like secret cards as well as old friends like Illidan Stormage, Cairne Bloodhoof, and, everyone's favorite, Leeroy Jenkins. Though Leeroy's artwork is familiar to anyone who played the TCG, Hearthstone's version of the infamous Mr. Jenkins is perhaps even more dangerous, summoning whelps that aid your opponent. So check out the shoutcast and PlayHearthstone's YouTube channel for more videos. %Gallery-183564%
Hearthstone gameplay video pits Jaina against Thrall
If you're hyped about Hearthstone -- or even if you're just curious as to what Blizzard's latest is all about -- you'll want to check out this gameplay video. The video shows a complete match between Jaina (a mage) and Thrall (a shaman), giving us a good look at how the game plays as well as the abilities of these two heroes. And, just so we aren't lost in the newness of it all, the video features a narrated play-by-play to walk us through the action. We've got to say, it looks promising: featuring familiar characters, skills, and abilities, brightly-colored Blizzard art, and fast gameplay. Psst, Blizzard, our beta keys are in the mail, right? Well, even if they aren't, we hope this is only the first of many such videos on PlayHearthstone's YouTube channel, because it really just makes us curious as to what other classes and heroes can do. [via Massively]
