Roundup of Hearthstone blue posts from the last few days
Last week at PAX East Blizzard announced a new game to be released sometime this year: Hearthstone! I'm sure many of you have read a great deal about Hearthstone already, and WoW Insider's own Dawn Moore did a wonderful write up of her first impressions as well as an interview with Hearthstone developers Eric Dodds and Jason Chayes. For those of you who might be a bit out of the loop, Hearthstone is a collectible, digital card game where players can build decks and pit them against one another. It's set in the Warcraft universe and features many memorable characters from WoW as well as voice acting, spell effects, and other such bells and whistles that give it a fun look and feel. While there isn't an enormous amount of information available yet, we do know a few things so far, such as:
Hearthstone will be free to play. You have the option of purchasing more cards if you like, but you can win those same cards via gameplay and don't have to spend a cent.
The beta will begin this summer, and you can sign up to be a part of it.
Hearthstone will be available for Windows, Mac, and iPad. Further platforms have yet to be announced.
If you've been wondering where to go to get more information about Hearthstone, there is a new official Blizzard Hearthstone forum, as well as the PlayHearthstone official twitter feed and Facebook page - all great resources for information. Below the cut I've also compiled a number of the latest and greatest blue posts about the game, for your reading convenience. Oh and don't forget to check out the official FAQ as well, it is large and comprehensive. I haven't quoted it because it's far too big to do so. Now, on to the blue posts!
Please read and be aware of the Code of Conduct, guidelines that ensure we can all enjoy discussing games with one another.
Posting
To get started you'll need a BattleTag. This is a name you choose that identifies you throughout all Blizzard games. If you currently play World of Warcraft, Diablo III, or StarCraft II you probably already have one. If not, you'll want to visit www.Battle.net, log in to your existing account (or create a new one), and then choose to create a BattleTag on the left. You will also need a game license attached to the account, even if it's just a Starter Edition. If you've just created your BattleTag and/or attached a game license you may need to wait a short while before being able to post.
Learn more about BattleTags
Info
Follow and talk to us on Twitter @PlayHearthstone and on Facebook.com/PlayHearthstone for game news and information.
I saw in the FAQ that this will be initially for windows, mac and ipad but why aren't you working on android version as well?
I own and millions of others android devices. Seems like youre forgetting them. I know you said initially but it seems like a bad decision to leave out such a huge player base. I know ipads are popular and all but android based tablets have equal footing.
We're looking into the possibility of supporting additional platforms in the future, but it's not something we have any info to share on just yet.
Will we be able to communicate with our opponents either during or post game?
You can chat with people on your friends list (RealID and BattleTag), and you can challenge them to friendly duels.
You can't chat with opponents not on your friends list met in normal matches (those found through the Play matchmaker), but we have emotes built in that allow you to use a series of predetermined taunts and remarks.
If I play on my PC and buy/earn cards will I be able to then switch over to my Ipad with my same collection/decks and play on the go? or am I going to have to choose one or the other to play on? because if I have to choose one or the other that's a huge turn off for someone who owns both a PC and and Ipad. I would really love to be able to switch back and forth and for it to save all my stuff.
Having the same collection of cards available for both your iPad and PC, as well as cross-platform play, would both be awesome features we'd love to have available. But it's pretty technically complex, and we're not sure yet when it will be ready. Both the development team and our Battle.net team are looking into it now, and we'll let you guys know when we have an ETA for those features.
I had posted a couple things on Twitter that had made it sound pretty set-in-stone, but that's not the case right now, sorry about any confusion.
Will I be able to speak to my friends in WoW, D3 and SC2 like I can currently in those games?
Or will it be limited since this game is now a new thing you're doing?
It does use Battle.net, and will use your existing (BattleTag and RealID) friends lists for chatting with and challenging your friends.
When I first read the announcement, I read the game was for free. Which seemed to be awesomely cool to me, "God, Blizz developed a new game and releases it for free! Whoah." A friend said that you'd have to pay for some content and, even then, it seemed pretty reasonable to me.
I just read the FAQ and I extract from it that you have to pay real money for your cards. Kind of like, each time you buy a booster, you do it with real money. And that defeats the purpose for me, because one of the reasons I don't play CCG's is because they're moneysinks.
So, am I getting it right? I have to pay to get my set of cards?
We really focus the game on being fun first and foremost. You can get in and have fun with it, playing and building decks, for as long as you like. You can buy and open packs to gain cards, but you can also win the same packs just by playing other people.
I mean will players be able to trade cards with each other or not?
Right, we're really focusing on players building up their own collections and playing the game. If you have duplicates there's a crafting system, which allows you to break down (disenchant) what we call Expert cards and then use the subsequent Arcane Dust to craft new cards.
Expert cards are those you get from opening packs (packs are either won or purchased), or the ones you choose and get to keep if you win a game in The Forge. Basic cards are ones you earn just by playing a class, win or lose. Expert cards are denoted by a rarity jewel in the center of them. You can see both types in the screenshot here.
Hi
How many card do u need to build a deck? (intended minimum required card)
Edit: Actually, you can only have one of each Legendary so slightly less than 600 total to collect, but if you include Golden cards then you're up near 1200 I suppose. Anyway... a lot of cards. ;D
If they want to integrate purchases in the iPad app, I guess they'll have to pay the 30%-fee to Apple and use the In App Purchases system:
We're looking to support purchases based on the payment methods you attach to your AppleID, but we'll have more details on iPad purchases as we get closer to the iPad release.
11.1 Apps that unlock or enable additional features or functionality with mechanisms other than the App Store will be rejected
11.2 Apps utilizing a system other than the In App Purchase API (IAP) to purchase content, functionality, or services in an app will be rejected
Have a friend DC or forfeit 1 round into a game over and over again to gain booster packs quickly
or why even do that?
Since the game is free you could just have a 2nd account and fight yourself
From a networking standpoint it just looks like you're playing your brother who is in the same house
Will this be stopped or will it be handled like how legit players get temp banned from Diablo 2 for leaving a game too soon after they joined it?
The only other option is to adopt what Team Fortress 2 does and limit the loot per week
Something I honestly despise, but was put in place because of a few bad apples who exploited it
If someone has an actually good solution I'd love to hear it
You can only advance and win packs of cards through use of the automated matchmaker. You can challenge friends to matches, but they're just for-fun.
I know you can not give me exact numbers, but what is the average game duraion you guys are aiming for. This looks like a really cool casual game i can replace for bejeweled / plants vs zombies that i usually play during my morning cofee time.
So i am wondering, will games be shorter or longer on average, can players squeeze a game or two on launch / cofee break or you need to dedicate bit more time to play a game?
Thanks Blizzard :)
Yeah it's about 10-15 minutes. Depending on the classes and card pulls the game lengths can vary quite a bit. It's a good amount of time, even when I lose I'm not as angry because it's not that double-whammy of "I lost AND spent an hour doing it." :) Plus I feel like the mechanics of the game and the matchmaking make it feel satisfying. Pretty rare I feel like I was just utterly decimated, and even then the game is just fun to look at and listen to... (!)
