Hearthstone Review - A Strategic Addiction

[zumbledum]

There's plenty of proof that you can be just as good, if not better than people who've opened tons of packs. There are several streamers/youtubers who have Free-to-play series where they don't spend any money and start with a brand new account. One who I follow has gotten to rank 1 (not in the world, just Innkeeper rank) that way. So while no, you're not quite on an even footing, you can still make a very good deck and it comes down a lot more to player skill. Also, there are a lot of rares, epics, and legendaries that are quite awful compared to the basic cards you start with.

All of that is constructed. If you want to be on a truly equal playing field, the Arena is where it's at. Unless you get absolute shit luck with your picks, it isn't too difficult to get 5+ wins. If you get 7, you're guaranteed enough gold to get back in to the Arena. Honestly, I find the Arena to be more fun than constructed simply because so many people are just running the same decks as everyone else that they've copied card for card off the internet. The one thing I really want them to add to the game is a way to do Arena drafting with friends. You'd both do an Arena draft and then use your decks against each other.

Actually thats not proof of anything, its theoretically possible for a chimp smashing on a keyboard with nothing but the noob deck to win the grand slam and be crowned best player in the universe. that doesnt mean they wouldnt of had a better chance with better cards, your streamer (who out of interest?) would of done it sooner or with safer margins if he had paid for cards.

Paying for cards ups your odds , so its paying to win.

yeah they did a good job on a lot of the rare cards to make them situation rather than straight upgrades. but there are plenty of ysera's, Tirion's,Antonidas's, and Black Knights.

yeah Arena is "even" but it does cost to play so ... paying to get an even shot? is that better? and besides its a mode that looses its charm after a while, ive played so damn much of it i can now predict with a 2 margin of error how many wins a draw is going to get, be it zero or 12 you can tell from just looking at what you got.

 

[RedDeadFred]

There's plenty of proof that you can be just as good, if not better than people who've opened tons of packs. There are several streamers/youtubers who have Free-to-play series where they don't spend any money and start with a brand new account. One who I follow has gotten to rank 1 (not in the world, just Innkeeper rank) that way. So while no, you're not quite on an even footing, you can still make a very good deck and it comes down a lot more to player skill. Also, there are a lot of rares, epics, and legendaries that are quite awful compared to the basic cards you start with.

All of that is constructed. If you want to be on a truly equal playing field, the Arena is where it's at. Unless you get absolute shit luck with your picks, it isn't too difficult to get 5+ wins. If you get 7, you're guaranteed enough gold to get back in to the Arena. Honestly, I find the Arena to be more fun than constructed simply because so many people are just running the same decks as everyone else that they've copied card for card off the internet. The one thing I really want them to add to the game is a way to do Arena drafting with friends. You'd both do an Arena draft and then use your decks against each other.

your streamer (who out of interest?)

Trump. He's awesome and often times, hilarity will ensue in his games. Here's his most recent F2P ladder climb video:

Spoiler

And yes, I guess you're right. It is pay to win to an extent. I guess I was just getting at the fact that the basic cards are good enough that the game isn't putting you in such a bad starting point that you feel the need to put money down. Even though it would improve your odds of winning.

 

[Gorr]

Completely agree with the review. I have played a lot of magic and this is just the perfect opportunity to play for some hours one day then come back a week later.

One more thing the ranking system us genius. You play until you loose as much as you win, then you analyze what the meta is on your rank then change your deck a little then go a rank up.

 

[Qvar]

I'm liking it a lot this far, even tho it's way simplier than magic. I hope more cards will be added in the future. Anyway, bashing the game for that would be kind of bashing chess for being a simplier strategy game than Medieval: Total War. It's just not what you should be looking at.

A game can be elegantly simplier, as long as it allows players to show their kills through it's system.

 

[Sharonturn123]

It's a great game. I must say. But the RNG is a *****. I can't get any good cards.