Hearthstone

So Blizzard just announced their new FTP Collectible Card Game HearthStone: Heroes of Warcraft.

This is something I could get behind, if it wasn't set in the world of Warcraft...

http://www.twitch.tv/pax/popout

Stream ^

Website: http://eu.battle.net/hearthstone/en/

*splat*

Who cares, Blizz.

To be honest, im less interested about Hearthstone itself, and actually more interested about Team 5, which was another part of the announcement there at PAX. Bliz wanted to create a new team that was, at its core, an agile development group that wasn't tied to building big budget games. Perhaps, once they finish reinventing the Warcraft TCG (yes, I realize it may be fun, and will probably try it, but really? I've already sunk quite a bit of money into the RL TCG), they will move onto other concepts that will be more interesting.

Maybe a small new Lost Vikings game?

Maybe a crossover of Rock and Roll racing / multi- property kart racer with cutesy versions of their heroes from all franchises?

*shrug*

Having a smaller, more agile team is interesting. Hopefully they will create more things in the future.

What bothers me is that they already have a World of Warcraft card game.

Watching their reveal I couldn't help but feel that Activision has finally gotten it's roots set in Blizzard.

I think it could be fun, it's perfect for tablet gaming.

Problem is that just yesterday Wizards of the Coast announced Duels of the Planeswalkers for iOS and Android.

@on1inepersona said:

This is for tablets and PC (?), not physical cards. And Hearthstone seems to be a lot more accessible then the Warcraft TCG.

What do you mean? Blizzard have been talking about wanting to make a mobile/tablet game for years.

Why even reveal this at PAX in a year when BlizzCon is a thing?

They'd have their target audience in one place at their own event.... :P

Yo, does it require an always-online connection to the Auction House?

@corvak said:

Seems like they're aiming to rope in more people then just the dedicated Blizzard fans. PAX might be a better place for this kind of game and fits the TCG demographic better.

@expensiveham: Not talking about the game, more the reveal itself. The whole "montage of developers talking about their game with a white background" etc stuff.

Basically looks like the same game in different packaging, which will probably make for a more well rounded community for each release. MTG tends to have more serious fans (even though its accessible and easy enough to pick up and play). I think Hearthstone will attract people who are into Warcraft but burnt out on WoW and just want something to pass the time with... basically something to replace Peggle, Bejeweled or Puzzlequest, as nice as it looks I can't see this getting a huge TCG following like you'd find for something else.

I thought it already was on iOS? Also Duels of the Planeswalkers has the unfortunate handicap of not having deck building. Which, whilst Magic is a great game, ruins the fun a bit.

This is probably the least interesting outcome that this announcement could have had.

To be fair you can do all the deck building you want (including in a mode with most of the Dotp cards for no extra charge) in Magic Online. But yeah it would be nice to get deck building in DotP, as thats one of the most fun parts of the game. I don't know how it would handle the AI that takes over when someone drops out in online games though.

@chavtheworld: Is there a reason they don't allow deck building in their games? Is it just to make is easier to new players to jump right in and help provide a level playing field or what? It always seemed to strange to be because building your deck seems like it would be the major appeal of most card games.

I think there might be a lot of people out there who cares about this. Not me.

When I first looked at the name I thought it was Blizzard taking their All-Stars game and making a Dota with just Warcraft characters. Whatever happened to that game anyway?

I think it's because it would cut into the market they have already created with Magic Online. A dumb restriction to be honest, they should let you do it with the limited set of cards in the game anyway.

Magic Online doesn't have the pretty interface DOTP has, plus the paying for virtual cards thing doesn't really float my boat.

Well to be fair, you do have the planeswalker format on Online where you get pretty much every ( possibly all?) card in the current DotP game free, which you can deck build with, once you've paid in. The Magic Online interface isn't as flashy, but I find it a lot more efficient.