Anyone play Hearthstone? I just got a key today

[Stinkum]

The collectible card gaming genre dovetails so perfectly with the whole free-to-play/microtransactions business model that it's ridiculous. I'm surprised that it took so long for a company like Blizzard to throwing their hat into this. Just release a fun, free-to-play game and make retarded bank selling additional packs and expansions that don't cost anything to develop or upkeep.

[K|mm Barely]

My RL pals trying to get me into this shit. Was hankering to play some MTG tho so idk Wut to do. Can't cut lines of coke with my virtual cards. :/

[Swish]

Originally Posted by Sirken [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

i have a buddy with a beta key, and i have played hearthstone at his house. at first i was all wtf. but then it grows on you.. not unlike a fungus. its very addicting. fun is had.

my biggest complaint is that people are spending RL $$ on booster packs... in a fucking beta. and i refuse to spend RL money on in game perks.

Agreed on all points...its like popping bubble wrap, you can't stop playing "just one more". But yeah, then you stumble upon a guy who has a ton of golden cards, a handful of legendaries etc etc... no way my mostly common deck is going to match up to that.

Winning about 80% of games at the moment (priest and warlock have been the most fun so far) but haven't hit the arena yet.

Originally Posted by K|mm Barely [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

My RL pals trying to get me into this shit. Was hankering to play some MTG tho so idk Wut to do. Can't cut lines of coke with my virtual cards. :/

Screw MTG Kimm...went with it for about 6 months, spent money, put decks together. It's fun, but competitively people put 4x $50 "win" cards in their deck that are too OP then gloat after the game as if the decks were a match. I like the game, but I quit on the basis that you're just feeding $$$ into a bottomless pit.

[August]

Originally Posted by Swish [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Agreed on all points...its like popping bubble wrap, you can't stop playing "just one more". But yeah, then you stumble upon a guy who has a ton of golden cards, a handful of legendaries etc etc... no way my mostly common deck is going to match up to that.

Winning about 80% of games at the moment (priest and warlock have been the most fun so far) but haven't hit the arena yet.



Screw MTG Kimm...went with it for about 6 months, spent money, put decks together. It's fun, but competitively people put 4x $50 "win" cards in their deck that are too OP then gloat after the game as if the decks were a match. I like the game, but I quit on the basis that you're just feeding $$$ into a bottomless pit.

The game has a cost of entry, I'll give you that. However, if you think that the key to winning is just putting more expensive cards in your deck you're mistaken.

Card valuations go from $.50 to $20 bucks overnight. Almost no cards in the most popular format cost over $20. And even cards that ride high sink low after decks are brewed that destroy certain formats. Understanding the metagame of your local gaming community, the metagame online, and the professional metagame are huge factors in determing if you're 'good' or not. Deckbuilding is one of the pillars of the game, and $$$$ != good deckbuilding.

A serious player knows he's putting money into cards, but he'll know where to properly invest his funds. He/She will also know when to uninvest from cards (hopefully before everyone else). Think of it like a mini-game, Gems, while you play MTG. People who take MTG finance seriously can end up making thousands a year of knowing how the gameplay will shift with each new expansion.

/rant over

[Swish]

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

So to play a bit more competitively... £1.50 ($2 ish) per game. Or 150 gold (takes 45 games without any daily quest bonuses).

Pay to win folks, pay to win... I didn't realise it was that bad, but I can't say I'm surprised.

Option 2: Play for fun with basic cards.

Funniest thing was it doesn't let you screen capture the game - had to take a photo on my phone and upload it [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Originally Posted by August [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

...if you think that the key to winning is just putting more expensive cards in your deck you're mistaken.

Sorry but that's not the case. Show me a deck of common/uncommons that beats a deck of rares/mythics. The cost of entry therefore is extremely high if you want that thrill of beating a decent deck.

[Kika Maslyaka]

not really different from the other CCG Bliz already done for wow.
not really different from any other CCG where good cards are so rare, that the only way to get them is to $$$, at which point any "skill" goes out of the window.

Gave up on MTG 12 years ago, sat down and designed my own CG for me and my friends to play. Everyone has access to exactly same cards - only skill matters.

[Bardalicious]

wtb key

[Noselacri]

The game is kinda fun, but if you play it for any length of time you start to realize that it's so simple that it hurts gameplay. Like how everything is completely centered around creatures, yet it's so easy to kill any creature that you can't actually give them really interesting mechanics that you can base a build on. It rules out the kinds of combo/tech decks that M:TG was famous for and makes everything about weenie, stomp, burn. Everything's just about damage. You can't build your deck around any one mechanic or combination of cards because of how easy it is to get rid of an opponent's creature if you really need to, so all decks are slight variations of "play a lot of creatures and try to overrun your opponent."

This removes a lot of strategy and knowledge from the game and thus amplifies the influence luck has -- when the one and only win condition in the entire game is to outdamage your opponent with creatures, whoever draws more/better creatures (or creature removal) is going to win almost every time, with skill and tactics having only a minor role in each match. Coupled with the lack of tutor cards and other fetch mechanics, the result is a card game that's even more RNG than Magic, a game that has always been troubled by how much the results are affected by luck.

It's good fun for a month but the simplicity and luck factor will prevent it from becoming a top competitive game.

[Orotiagito]

I gave the key to my friend, he spent $40 or $50? for the largest sell, like 2-3 times now. He stays up all night playing lol.

[August]

Originally Posted by Swish [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Sorry but that's not the case. Show me a deck of common/uncommons that beats a deck of rares/mythics. The cost of entry therefore is extremely high if you want that thrill of beating a decent deck.

This is the deck that won the most recent, most popular format, large scale tournament:

http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=1166469

4 Desecration Demon - used to be a <$1 rare
1 Erebos, God of the Dead - brand new mythic, 8 bucks
4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel - 4 common
4 Nightveil Specter - used to be a <$1 rare
2 Pack Rat - used to be (and still is) a $1 rare
Creatures [15]
2 Devour Flesh - common
2 Doom Blade - common
4 Hero's Downfall - rare
4 Thoughtseize - rare (80 dollars of deck is here)
2 Ultimate Price - uncommon
4 Underworld Connections - $1 rare
2 Whip of Erebos - promo rare - extremely easy to get (just show up to a prerelease)
Spells [20]
4 Mutavault - rare (80 dollars of deck is here)
19 Swamp
2 Temple of Deceit - 2$ rare

If you were a keen deck builder and realized the power levels of these cards, this deck is yours for basically a pricetag of $160 - Before this deck was shown off at the pro tour the Desecration Demons, the Pack Rats, and the Nightveil Specters were all less than a dollar each (and now around $10).

Cost of entry is caused by demand of the players. This decklist is 350$ bucks, which is a large number, but it's relatively small compared to the level of competitiveness it provides you. Notice that there are a ton of uncommons/commons, and a ton of dollar rare cards. Oh, and only 1 mythic rare card.

Also being uncommon doesn't mean it's worthless, see:

Kitchen Finks
Spell Snare
Force of Will
Wasteland
Aven Mindcensor
Inquisition of Kozilek

These were all pennies on the dollar cards, but because of what they do and how popular they are, the price has risen, in some cases, tremendously.

Power level is just a dimension put onto a card by rarity. Without that facet of the game you have a completely flat game design area - how can you justify a 3/3 creature with first strike versus just a 3/3 creature? How can you get awesome effects into the game without increasing the mana cost to be uncastable?

Oh and here's the 3rd place deck that it beat, which has a pricetag that is twice as much: http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=1166585