Did anyone get into the Hearthstone Beta yet?

[Cerveza mas fina]

Game looks good. Dunno why I just don't buy Magic on Steam but this seems more fun.

Beta is only live in the USA for now.

[archnemesis]

Magic on Steam is alright, but it's no real replacement for the real game or Magic Online. It's totally worth $10, but you will get tired of the limited functionality fairly soon.

I'm usually up for trying new card games although the theme in this is incredibly boring. I can't name a single hero in the Warcraft universe even though I've played most of Blizzard's games.

[Human Snorenado]

Fucking NO 

[Tucah]

I love me a good card game, virtual or otherwise so I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on this. Really hope I get into the beta sometime soon.

[Human Snorenado]

Yeah, I hope I make the beta.  I kickstarted HEX, so I'll get beta access there.

[magus]

if you guys want to get into some digital tcg action you could try solforge,it just went into open beta... i don't like it much but it might be your cup of tea

spoiler (click to show/hide)

or wait for hex like a normal human being!

[close]

[Cerveza mas fina]

Yeah the theme is tired, but I do think it will be a good game.

I haven't played a single card game since Magic in high school so am really looking forward to this.

[Human Snorenado]

I've watched some Hearthstone vids and it looks basic but fun, something I won't mind blowing $20 on and playing for a couple of weeks. 

HEX looks like the real fucking deal, and if I were WotC I would be legit nervous.

[Cerveza mas fina]

I haven't heard of HEX before.

Hearthstone looks basic but because it's Blizz I have faith it will be popular, thus viable, thus I won't mind maybe buying a pack of cards.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Hex looks a bit too much, exploring dungeons etc. i just want to play cards against other people!

[Tucah]

Hex looks a bit too much, exploring dungeons etc. i just want to play cards against other people!

There's a straight up PvP mode for that, you don't have to touch the MMO elements.

I'm pumped for Hex, backed it when the Kickstarter was going on. It looks right up my alley, glad to see a bit of interest here too.

[Human Snorenado]

Hex looks a bit too much, exploring dungeons etc. i just want to play cards against other people!

There's a straight up PvP mode for that, you don't have to touch the MMO elements.

I'm pumped for Hex, backed it when the Kickstarter was going on. It looks right up my alley, glad to see a bit of interest here too.

I know that Frag and Treesong backed it, too.

[magus]

i haven't backed (because i'm a cheap asshole) but i'm definitely keeping an eye on it... didn't bork said he was interessed in the game too? maybe we can do a bore guild when it finaly decide to launch

[Human Snorenado]

Some of us are getting beta access

[magus]

post impressions

spoiler (click to show/hide)

i hope to get in with some giveaway or similiar

[close]

[Phoenix Dark]

Artosis is streaming. Looks good
http://www.twitch.tv/artosis

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Too busy playing and sending keys to all my Bros this weekend to post impressions.  Sorry.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Too busy playing and sending keys to all my Bros this weekend to post impressions.  Sorry.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Human Snorenado]

Too busy playing and sending keys to all my Bros this weekend to post impressions.  Sorry.

 

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Too busy playing and sending keys to all my Bros this weekend to post impressions.  Sorry.

 

they only gave me 3 keys to start sorry you and Frag are tops for next round

[magus]

Too busy playing and sending keys to all my Bros this weekend to post impressions.  Sorry.

 

they only gave me 3 keys to start sorry you and Frag are tops for next round

[Human Snorenado]

Too busy playing and sending keys to all my Bros this weekend to post impressions.  Sorry.

 

they only gave me 3 keys to start sorry you and Frag are tops for next round

[Dickie Dee]

Are random people getting beta access or is it just going out to people with connects?

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Are random people getting beta access or is it just going out to people with connects?

I used to be on the dev team so I'll call that a "connect"

[Human Snorenado]

Randos are getting keys, though.  If you signed up for being interested in beta access in your battle.net profile, you could get one.  They're also giving some out through fansites, and I'm guessing lots of "journalists" got some, because I've seen some youtube videos from people.

[Dickie Dee]

Are random people getting beta access or is it just going out to people with connects?

I used to be on the dev team so I'll call that a "connect"

[Brehvolution]

I'd like to try this if at some point someone has an extra key.

[magus]

wait... the beta is US only? the fuck?

I don't really have a problem with the Arena requiring 150 gold or $2 (I mean it is a f2p game after all, they need to make the cash somewhere) the problem really lies with the gold generation. Without any quests it would take you 150 wins against random players to generate enough gold for 1 entry to the Arena. You can do daily quests to generate gold as well which seem to give 30 gold (the ones I've had so far anyway), but, only getting 1 quest per day is really annoying. How it stands now it makes it that paying money is the only way to do the arena on a regular basis. They should probably bump up the gold you get from defeating people (2 per win instead of 1 would probably be good enough) and maybe make the arena only cost $1.

As for getting gold from the AI, yes but it is not infinite. Outside of the first set of quests (that can be done against the AI) you get bonus gold for completing the basic card set (so getting every class to level 10) and then bonus gold for beating every master (opens up after you unlock each class). Outside of that there are no other ways I've found to get gold from AI matches.

DID I ALREADY MENTION OUR LORD AND SAVIOR HEX?

[Human Snorenado]

CRY MOAR, FILTHY YUROPEEN PEDO SCUM

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Hearthstone is F2P so of course you're gonna pay for packs and arena. Don't be a dummy.

[magus]

Hearthstone is F2P so of course you're gonna pay for packs and arena. Don't be a dummy.

if it takes 100 game to do any sort of non-paying progress then it might as well be a paying game

i mean i've seen so many F2P TCG sort of game doing this and everytime i wonder how they expect to keep more than the first batch of guy who went and spent 100$ on the game,searching for the super amazing rare to complete their deck

solforge might be somewhat boring and power-creepy but at least it gives me free stuff each day

[Cerveza mas fina]

Uhm you can still play against randoms outside of arena right? So whats the problem?

Or is Arena the only mode where the playing field is even?

[magus]

Uhm you can still play against randoms outside of arena right? So whats the problem?

Or is Arena the only mode where the playing field is even?

arena is draft mode,the problem is (if i understand right) you need to win 100 games (each win net you 1 gold) everytime you want to get some new cards...

apparently i missed the fact that there are dailies that give you 40 gold so i guess when you count those it's not too bad

[Human Snorenado]

You can also scavenge cards into arcane dust and use that dust to buy cards you don't have.  You only need a max of 2 of each card, so that seems like a useful mechanic.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Also it is a tgc, so i do expect to buy some cards.

Difference with other tgc games is that this is blizzard so i know it will last a bit and my money wont be wasted.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Uhm you can still play against randoms outside of arena right? So whats the problem?

Or is Arena the only mode where the playing field is even?

arena is draft mode,the problem is (if i understand right) you need to win 100 games (each win net you 1 gold) everytime you want to get some new cards...

apparently i missed the fact that there are dailies that give you 40 gold so i guess when you count those it's not too bad

Hey, dummy, you win prizes including gold, dust and PACKS OF CARDS for playing Arena mode.

If you do well enough, you earn enough to continue playing Arena FOR FREE on top of your additional spoils.

Additionally, as Triumph points out, a 30 card deck and 2 copy max means it's fairly easy to build "the deck" if you are aiming for a powerful deck that's viable in competitive play. you're not gonna get every card, but you can probably play at a competitive (if not professional) level for ~$10-15

[Human Snorenado]

Forget it, Treesong.  It's Magoose-town.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I need to find some theory-crafting sites, I'm tempted to nuke EVERYTHING not Warlock and focus on building the Best Warlock Deck (it's just beta!)

[magus]

Forget it, Treesong.  It's Magoose-town.

you guys aren't even giving me the chance to talk

howard,if you get enough gold to buy a pack once in 2-3 days,it's ok... what i said before i said without knowing that dailies existed,i don't even care about any arena mode (i mean i don't even know how to play,how the heck i'm supposed to give a fuck about additional modes?) or whatsoever
but if you have to play an eternity to make some progress it's not and it's bad F2P (and i've seen a thousand game like this,like ubisoft duel of the champions)

i also had no idea that you could put only 2 same cards in the deck

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I can't speak for the team's final decision, but I'm WELL on record as speaking to generosity/giveaways as an important aspect of F2P monetization. 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

And I know the team passed around that article (which I wrote after leaving)

[close]

[Howard Alan Treesong]

imagine if expert packs had a 3x drop rate for Warlock cards this week only

imagine how much money Blizzard would make

[Howard Alan Treesong]

console poors won't get to play Hearthstone

PC
iPad
Android 

[Human Snorenado]

dirtpeople

You really have to be borderline distinguished mentally-challenged to be a console only gamer going forward.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

"sure, it's expensive and proprietary. but on the other hand, I get to wait for games to come out and pay for online."

[Cerveza mas fina]

Why isnt it coming to the iphone though huh

Ill be playing on pc but iphone would work great as well... Play a game on the bus to work

[Rufus]

Not enough screen real-estate, I would guess.

[Human Snorenado]

Ehhhh, I dunno.  The iphone screen is so small, there's a lot of input you have to make for a tcg.  Even the dumbed down version of M:tG is on the ipad but not iphone iirc.

[Cerveza mas fina]

I was thinking that too but i saw some tgc games on the phone before.

Guess ill play on my laptop.

[Steve Youngblood]

Ehhhh, I dunno.  The iphone screen is so small, there's a lot of input you have to make for a tcg.  Even the dumbed down version of M:tG is on the ipad but not iphone iirc.

Ascension works well enough on the iPhone, but is infinitely better on the iPad.

[Human Snorenado]

I've never bothered to play it on my iphone, but did play a shit ton of it on the ipad.

[Human Snorenado]

Huh, more stoked for this now... Kripp apparently has an extensive background in TCGs and makes some really good points here.  Lots of people seem to be playing the beta these days.

[Rufus]

He has a ton of viewers when he plays it. 8-10k, compared to 2-3k for Path of Exile.

[mjemirzian]

Hearthstone is pretty popular on twitch.tv right now. It looks simpler than MTG, but that's probably part of its appeal.

[Phoenix Dark]

No Harrison Jones, no sale

[Akala]

Hadn't been following this at all. Looks cool.

[Fragamemnon]

No Harrison Jones, no sale

He's a legendary card in the expert set. He kind of sucks like most legendaries, but he's there.

Game plays a lot like WOWTCG limited right now due to the very tame and limited card pool. That's a very good thing. $2 for a sealed deck that you can usually play out over the span of a couple of nights and still get a pack out of no matter how bad you do is a really awesome value compared to other games. This is not going to be a game - at least not without significant additions in scheduled events and card pool-that is going to be a real 'lifestyle' game for most people. But as a hour a day pick up and play? Incredible value and enjoyment.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

No Harrison Jones, no sale

He's a legendary card in the expert set. He kind of sucks like most legendaries, but he's there.

Game plays a lot like WOWTCG limited right now due to the very tame and limited card pool. That's a very good thing. $2 for a sealed deck that you can usually play out over the span of a couple of nights and still get a pack out of no matter how bad you do is a really awesome value compared to other games. This is not going to be a game - at least not without significant additions in scheduled events and card pool-that is going to be a real 'lifestyle' game for most people. But as a hour a day pick up and play? Incredible value and enjoyment.

I pushed this angle real hard, dunno how much they'll pick up on it, but PAD really sold me on "something new, each and every day" as a way to increase engagement in casual collectors

[magus]

ehy howard are they going to give you european beta keys? if they do can i have one?

[Howard Alan Treesong]

ehy howard are they going to give you european beta keys? if they do can i have one?

I'm just on the US tip sorry~