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Hearthstone beta key sweepstakes
If you're still looking for a Hearthstone beta key, you may find your luck lies with the official Hearthstone Facebook page beta key sweepstakes. Follow Hearthstone on Facebook, fill out the form, and enter for your chance to win. There will be two drawings of 500 winners each, one on August 27th and one on September 3rd. That's a grand total of 1,000 winners from this particular giveaway -- not too shabby! So click that link and throw your metaphorical hat in the ring; and good luck! We hope to run into you in the beta!
Breakfast Topic: Are you playing Hearthstone?
The beta has begun and quite a few folks -- both at WoW Insider and around the interwebs -- are checking out Hearthstone this weekend -- were you a lucky beta key recipient? If so, what do you think of the game thus far? If you haven't gotten into the beta yet, don't loose hope -- be sure you've opted in for a chance to get a beta key and keep a close eye on your spam folder in case it was accidentally misfiled. We're sure some gamers who just aren't into the card game genre are sick and tired of hearing about Hearthstone, but we can't help but be excited about a new game in the Warcraft universe. So tell us, readers -- did you get into the Hearthstone beta? Or do you just not care?
Hearthstone closed beta has begun in the Americas
Just what the title says, everyone! Blizzard has officially announced the beginning of their closed beta testing for Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft in the Americas. Apologies to the rest of the world, but there doesn't seem to be a concrete date yet for the closed beta's beginning in any other region. Once we know, we won't be quiet about it, of course! If you haven't yet but would like to have a shot at the closed beta, you can do so either by logging into your Battle.net account and heading to the Beta Profile page, where you can elect to opt-in. After that you'll have to wait for an invite, which will be delivered via email. If you do receive an invite, it will also appear on your Battle.net account, so you can check there too. Anyone in the comments gotten one yet? Just curious! Oh, and in case you're wondering, there is no NDA for this closed beta. None, nada, zip. Film your matches and broadcast them to the world, take screenshots, write detailed blog posts, go nuts. Just remember to report bugs so the Hearthstone team can get on them. Good luck to those of you who are hoping for an invite, let us know how it goes!
Breakfast Topic: Will you be playing Hearthstone?
We may not have a World of Warcraft expansion to look forward to just yet, but we do know that Hearthstone is coming to beta soon -- before the end of the summer, which is fast approaching. The digital card game isn't exactly WoW, but it does feature a familiar cast of characters, even though they're in a rather different game environment. In fact, gameplay in Hearthstone couldn't be more different than World of Warcraft, but still it looks like fun -- and maybe a way to get our Warcraft fix while we wait for the next big thing to come to our favorite MMO. Which brings us to the question of the day: will you be jumping into Hearthstone when it arrives as a way to get your Warcraft fix? Or at least trying the beta out? We are, admittedly, pretty excited for a new Warcraft game, no matter the format -- but how about you?
Hearthstone beta isn't close, but isn't far, either
Blizzard has finished beta feature development for Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, the free-to-play digital card game set in the world of Warcraft. The trial run should launch within a matter of weeks, an update reads. "We're not days away from launching the beta, but we're not months away either," Blizzard says. "At the Hearthstone announcement we committed to going into beta testing before the summer was over, and the team has been pulling out all the stops to make that happen." This is the North American beta, though Europe, Korea and Taiwan will each get localized betas after the North American launch. The beta allows players to spend real-life money on card packs and area entry, and those that throw down some dough get a golden version of Gelbin Mekkatorque (shown below). Blizzard is building the beta for PC and Mac first, with iPad in the cards.
Hearthstone: State of the Beta
Blizzard Community Manager Zeriyah has been doing some serious blogging lately, writing up the huge reveal of the Forge system, which allows players to create pre-made decks and battle others for keys and glory, and now she's returned to fill us all in on the big, burning question that's got us shuffling our decks at night. What's going on with the beta? As ever, Zeriyah's full post is after the break in all its glory, but I've pulled out some key points here for your perusal. First up, Zeriyah reassures the world that Blizzard aren't planning to break their promise to the community: there will be a beta before summer is done. In fact she documents at great length how the development team are pulling out all the stops to fix bugs and eat doughnuts at the greatest possible speed. While she also clarifies that the US beta will be the first to roll out, Zeriyah informs us that betas for other regions will appear shortly thereafter with fully localized versions of the game. So, is smart money still on a Gamescom beta announcement? I'm not so sure... Hit the break for Zeriyah's full post.
Hearthstone: The Forge livestream
The Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft livestream detailing The Forge mode happens today! Right now, in fact. What are you waiting for? It's linked above. This is the mode of the game where you are given cards at the start and must build your deck from what you are given, so if you want to see just how it works now is your opportunity to do so! For questions, commentary, and community, make sure to mosey on over to the livestream Reddit thread, which goes live at the same time as the event. Sounds like a splendid way to spend your Friday, if you ask me. As long as it won't get you fired.
Hearthstone live stream scheduled for July 26
Blizzard has announced a new Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft livestream scheduled for 10:00 am PDT Friday, July 26th on their Twitch.tv channel. The broadcast will focus especially The Forge in Hearthstone, one of the four game modes available. The Forge mode in particular is designed to test players' deck-building skills, by providing a set of cards at a match's beginning from which the participants must then build the deck they use in the match. Once a player has completed their set of Forge duels they are allowed to keep the cards they used to build their decks. So far this particular mode has not been showcased, so this Friday's Twitch.tv cast will be the first we've seen of it in action. The developers also plan to discuss some of the evolution of The Forge, and how they've tweaked and changed it since the mode was first announced. Make sure to mark your calenders for 10:00 am PDT this coming Friday, and learn all about The Forge mode in Hearthstone.
Blizzard's favorite Hearthstone cards
Blizzard Community Manager Zeriyah has posted a great blog today over on the official Hearthstone site where she has hounded the devs on Team Five to cough up their favorite cards to complement her own selection. Zeriyah had a harder time with some of the devs than the others, as she reports on Twitter: I asked @bdbrode what his favorite Hearthstone card was, and he just yelled, "JARAXXUS, LORD JARAXXUS." "What about Jaraxxus?" "JARAXXUS!!!" - Zeriyah (@CM_Zeriyah) July 19, 2013 But several of the others were more forthcoming, and Eric Dodds selection of the Crazed Alchemist seemed the most exciting of all the cards chosen. He explains his choice as follows.
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.
Blizzard details updates to Hearthstone
Today, Blizzard has some pretty big announcements about their upcoming game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. The post is full of changes and additions that are being made to the game, many of which are based on the fan feedback so far. The biggest thing that jumps out at me right away is the fact that the game will now use gold as currency to buy new card packs. You earn gold through--get this--completing daily quests. Ha! And you thought you'd escaped those! Other announcements include the ability to level the different class cards and the addition of a friends feature that allows you to add people to your friends list in order to battle or chat with them. There are also new card frames color-coded by class, as well as a number of updates to existing card functions and abilities. Make sure to jump on over to the Hearthstone page for the complete list! Oh, and before you ask -- no, there's still no news on when the beta will open up.
Druid vs rogue in the latest Hearthstone shoutcast
The latest update over on the Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft website gives us a new shoutcast of Malfurion Stormrage against Valeera Sanguinar. The match is a great opportunity to show off some interesting cards--especially fun is the Alarm-o-bot, which allows you to swap out another random minion during play and has the potential to bring some heavy-hitters to the playing board relatively early in the game. You can also catch a glimpse of the Orgrimmar set board, though no one in this match seemed inclined to play around with their surroundings while waiting on their opponent's turn. The match itself lasts about ten minutes, and has quite a dramatic finish, which I won't spoil here. Definitely worth the watch, and I'm glad to see my WoW class of choice in action at last! As if I needed any more reasons to be impatient for the Hearthstone beta.
Hearthstone's Earth Elemental card deals a world of pun-ishment
Over on the Hearthstone official site, a new shaman minion card has been revealed: the Earth Elemental, and it's designed to deal crushing blows to its opponents. This minion has a truly mountainous amount of attack power and health compared to its mana cost. Be careful, though, its Overload ability reduces your available mana for the following turn, which could make the going a bit rocky! To avoid this, you can pair the Earth Elemental with complementary cards such as the Ancestral Spirit, which will bring it back to combat without incurring the penalty and help to crystallize your victory. As a bonus, the preview also details another card that works well with Ancestral Spirit, but you'll have to rock up the page yourself to find out what. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to run away from my computer to hide from the landslide of outrage I fully expect my (word)Play Hearthstone plug to incur!
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.
Hearthstone's Secrets of Stranglethorn Vale
With all the excitement of patch 5.3, you may have missed this interesting little update from Hearthstone: a preview for one of the game board options, Secrets of Stranglethorn Vale. Not only is the artwork beautiful and appropriately atmospheric, but the description hints at a certain interactivity for the player. If your opponent is taking a long time deciding their move for the turn, an interactive player board offers something for you to do while you're waiting. The Stranglethorn Vale preview also implies that there are going to be multiple different interactive player boards, all based on various zones and cities in WoW. Now I find myself rather curious to see what other areas Blizzard chooses to include as player board options. I'd love to have Desolace, Ashenvale, and the Plaguelands, personally. What kind of boards would you like to spice up your Hearthstone battles?
New Hearthstone warrior card revealed
Blizzard has been steadily tossing us tidbits of information on the upcoming Hearthstone game. Earlier this month they gave us a preview of the Void Terror warlock minion card and some instruction on when and how to use it effectively during a game. Yesterday they posted the warrior ability Commanding Shout, which makes your minions impossible to kill for the duration of your current turn. I'm sure there are approximately a bazillion different situations in which this could come in handy, but what makes it extra appealing for the warrior is how it can be paired with mechanics that depend upon a minion receiving damage in order to reach their full potential. Got a berserker minion who gets +3 to attack after being hurt? Toss him Commanding Shout and you don't have to worry about him dying that round. Got your opponent's minions on the brink of death, but not sure you'll survive the next attack? Pair Rampage's +3/+3 with Commanding Shout and watch the other player squirm with impotent rage as you annihilate all their best-laid plans. What could possibly be more satisfying? Check out WoW Insider's Hearthstone coverage for further information, and we all look forward to Hearthstone's release!
Live Hearthstone Stream
Update: The livestream is now over, but you can check out the Video on Demand above! The final game is very much worth sticking around for, really captures the excitement of Hearthstone. We hope to see more of these in future! If you're as excited about Hearthstone as we are here at WoW Insider, you'll want to check out the above stream, as Hearthstone Fireside Duels go live on Twitch.tv. Lead Designer Eric Dodds and designer and Shoutcaster Ben Brode, who is fast becoming the voice of Hearthstone, are sitting down to several duels, as well as answering viewer questions on Twitch and Twitter. The duels so far have shown off the mage, shaman, warrior, paladin, warlock and druid, but it's possible that we'll get to see some of the other heroes in action today, as well as the minion cards. It's also a great chance to get more into the game's mechanics, and develop more understanding, thanks to the live nature of the duels, and the Q&A. Community Manager Phenteo is also on hand in the Twitch chatroom to field viewer questions. The one question they don't seem that keen to answer just yet is this: does this mean a beta is impending? It seems fairly certain that Hearthstone will be at Blizzcon, at the latest, but who knows, it seems quite likely that there might even be a beta at Gamescom, given that Blizzard unveiled the Mists trailer there last year. What do you think?
Hearthstone card preview: Void Terror
It looks like Blizzard has begun revealing Hearthstone cards prior to release, with the first being the Void Terror warlock minion. This big bad blue dude absorbs the minions on either side of him, adding their power and life to his own. Even temporary power or health bonuses, like the +4/+4 from Power Overwhelming, are made permanent inside the Void Terror's blue belly. Need to protect from an incoming AOE attack? Gobble your other little minions up and let your Void Terror take the attack instead. It's a super simple and super powerful effect, fitting for a warlock and especially for Gul'dan, currently the game's sole warlock hero. Check out all of our Hearthstone coverage thus far and stay tuned as the game gets closer to release.
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%
