Hearthstone Open Beta

Pull Up A Chair By the Hearth

One night back in 1994, on the eve of my birthday, my best friend gave me a deck of Magic: The Gathering cards as a present. While I was a firm believer in the maxim "Save Gaming, Kill a Magic Player" thought process at the time, it was my best friend, and he wanted to play the game with me.  So I was willing to give it a try.  Unfortunately, I have a mind like a sieve, and left the bag of goodies at the rec center where my birthday party was being held.  And some schmuck got a nice deck for free to either use or sell.  And of course, given my dislike for the game prior to that I had the dickens of the time convincing my friend whose feelings were justifiably hurt that I had not done it on purpose.  These are the ways youthful angst gets us and often leads to midlife guilt.  So with that in mind, this article is dedicated to my favorite Tasmanian Devil.

Blizzard Entertainment has created a game called Hearthstone, which is a CCG that is played online. It is currently in open beta.  If you have a battle.net id, you can talk to any of your other blizzard games friends through the battle tag system.  It is a free to play model, with the ability to buy more cards through their store. Both in game currency and real currency can be used to buy a pack of random cards, or to access the Arena.  Each pack includes at least one "rare" card or better, and extra cards that you don't need can be disenchanted into a crafting material that can be used to make cards you want but don't have.  Thus, if you are on a budget, you can play completely for free if you don't mind grinding away to earn the currency.

Game play is pretty straight forward.  Each of the classes in World of Warcraft is represented by a "Hero" of Warcraft.  Each class has a specific deck of cards available to them, 20 basic cards that are earned by leveling the character through both practice and real matches.  Matches against other players are more productive as they grant more experience points to allow you to level up faster.  Each hero other than Mage needs to be unlocked by defeating them in practice games.  And each deck has their unique play style, that grants a pretty good feel for the class it is representing. Thus, you might find yourself playing the class of your main pretty well, unless of course, you don't have the cards to make that deck work.

The Choose Your Hero Screen shows you each deck you have open.

 

Once you choose your hero, you are off to play.  There are three play modes available: Practice, Play, and Arena.  Practice is versus the AI and is a good way to learn your deck. It's useful to level starter decks up and find out which decks are interesting to you.  Once you get enough basic cards to make a custom deck you like, you can start to play against other players in Play Mode.  Arena Mode is a special mode where you make a deck from random cards and play against other players for enhanced rewards. I won't go into that much at the moment, since I have only played one game of arena since that costs money/coins which I am currently hoarding to craft cards.

Once your opponent is selected by the computer, you get a load screen where you get to choose either three or four cards for your initial deck.  If you go first, you get four, if you go second you get three and a card called  "The Coin" which allows you an extra mana crystal at any time you play the card.

Mana crystals are used to pace what you can use when, with each card having a mana cost.

Choose Your Starters

In the image above, the top number is your card's cost in mana crystals. The lower left is the minions attack value, the right hand number is it's health. From these four, you can choose to replace one card with another random card.  Once both players select their starter hands, the game begins.   Mana crystals start at one, and add an additional one each turn up until a maximum of ten.  From there, the strategy begins.  Each Hero has a Hero Power, a special two point ability that they get to use if they choose so long as they have the mana.  In keeping with tradition, the Warlock doesn't use mana to use their Hero Power, they Life Tap and take two damage instead.  For the Paladin in my example, he gets to summon a one health/one attack minion for two points.  My opponent, the mage, gets to do a one point fireblast for two points.  Once the game starts, the cards are played in turn, and each is graphically represented on the table.

Not a Gnome!

This screen shows a number of game features. First off, the bear on my side of the screen is a taunt unit, which forces minions and hero abilities to attack them first.  Not all abilities are linked to this, as there are spells which can be used to target minions other than the tank.  But most abilities do require you to attack the one with Taunt, and thus they are a good way to control the battlefield.

The card being played, the Novice Engineer, has a "battle cry" which is, it does something special when played. In this case, it allows its player to gain an additional card.  These cards are particularly useful if you have a lot of low cost cards in your deck and as a result have a few cards in your hand later in the game. 

The purple "?" at the top of the mage's portait indicates that they control a secret.  A secret is an ability that is played that only becomes visible when the action that triggers them occurs.  In most cases these are either upon a summoning of a minion or upon an attack.  In this particular case, it was when I played a minion a copy was summoned for my foe.  Secrets can be very nasty, and have to be earned through decks in most cases.

Each Hero starts with 30 health and the first to reach 0 loses.  At that point, the game is over and the victor is declared.  You get a nice splash screen, win or lose, though the win one is cooler naturally.

All Hail The Triumphant Hero

At the bottom of the screen, you will note the three crowns followed by the bag of gold.  This is a quest completion. It grants you 10 gold for winning three games in play mode.   This quest is completable once per class.  Daily quests are granted each day and give more gold for completion. They are either the "win x games with hero x" or the "complete this objective x times" sort.  My current one was to win two games with either a paladin of a warrior deck.  Others have been to destroy forty minions in combat, or to cast forty spells, etc.

The game is fun, fast, and of course, addictive.  This game will be coming to tablet soonish, and eventually smart phone.  Next time, card creation.

Sorry For My Absence

Friends Don't Let Friends Blog When Off Of Their Meds

Author's Note: If you are not interested in something totally off topic regarding to the darkness of a man's soul, you may want to skip this post.

As many of you likely realized I haven't posted in several months now.  And for this I am deeply sorry. Not only did we have a couple of major holidays in that span, with all that it entails, but I have been through a rather difficult time personally.  For those who don't know, I suffer from depression.  After several years of being on medications to attempt to control it, I ran into a period where I was unable to get my medications due to financial concerns for nearly two months.  While there are those who would argue I am not a nice person ever, I am most certainly not a particularly nice person when I am off my meds. I can be downright viscous and cruel, often without provocation or instigation. It's a rage built off of self-pity and guilt.  It's very destructive.  I have, over the years, lost many very good friends by attacking them mercilessly when they only tried to help me due to this issue.  

So when this happened back in October, I was working on an article about BlizzCon, which thanks to a guild mate and friend in World of Warcraft I was able to watch (Thanks, Sav)  However, as I was writing it, I realized just how brutal I was in the tone attacking people I didn't even know, whom I felt had "betrayed" a game I myself have had a mixed relationship with in recent years.  I realized in proofing it, that there was no way I could post this thing.  And as time moved on, my window to post the article and it being timely passed. Now there are a number of other very good recaps and though provoking insights on what the next expansion brings.  It would have been nice to have that on my resume, to be on the cutting edge for a change.  But alas, due to my condition, it was not to be.

Those of you who know me from other games, likely haven't seen much of me in recent months. And again, I am sorry for this.  I have hid in WoW like a hermit, clinging to those people I have known for years who I trust myself to be around in this state.  Even there was friction, but less than would have been in a game where I have less history with the people around me.

For every extroverted and gregarious moment I have shared with others over the years, there is an equally dark and secretive side to me, which only comes out when I am deeply down in a dark chasm of my mind's own making.  When I am in that place, few have had the fortitude or desire to stick with me.   I don't blame them at all.  I hate that person, that doppelganger that appears from time to time.

While I am back on my meds now, I know that until I can find a way to control that beast, there will be other times like this last one. Periods where those few people I trust to be true friends, will keep me from posting for the sake of my readers. For those who have, either directly or indirectly helped in that regard, I thank you.

                                                                                   ------------Procyon

You Still Play That?

Why WoW Still?

I've been asked on numerous occasions over the last nine years, "You're still playing WoW? Why? That game was OK at best, before expansion x" Where Expansion X is whichever expansion gave that player the impetus to leave the fold.  I've heard all the reasons NOT to still play. "They dumbed it down," "too many casual gamers ruined raiding/pvp," "Pandas? Really?," etc.  Quite honestly, I've been part of the problem myself in the past. I am enough of an old school gamer to consider the current incarnation of WoW "dumbed" down at times.  Looking For Raid certainly feels like it.  And the way dungeons are run today, its essentially a race to the loot and time to get onto the next one before some cataclysmic anomaly rips the fabric of time and space.... err or... we get bored.  However, there are many solid reasons to play the game still. It is after all, still the number one MMO in terms of users, and contrary to the Pay to Win trend, still subscription based.  Clearly, Blizzard knows something the haters do not.  Let's take a look at some of my personal favorites.

Population:  First off, even the "dead" servers are more alive than many of the other MMOs I've played.  There is something to be said for and against a larger population. The against of course is that "that so and so stole my kill/mat/loot/fill in the blank." Sure, there is more competition for resources and you might have to wait for a quest mob to spawn after being killed by the last three people ahead of you.  But, for as many times as I have grumbled about those very same things, I have grumbled far more in other games for having nobody around to do anything with.  One of the biggest complaints I have heard from people about games that I personally enjoy is "I feel like this is a solo game, nobody ever around to tackle the content."  Let's take The Secret World as an example.  It's a challenging game, with the lack of resources and clear cut classes, it's not for the faint of heart.  However, for those with the fortitude to play the game, it is a thrill ride with rich story and a variety of game play styles.  But without resources online (that are up to date, not outdated because the person maintaining stopped playing after launch), the only way to learn how to make a character is from either a mentor or trial and error.  The latter can be painful, as you can spend a ton of time working on a character that "looks and feels" cool, only to find out they are so weak they can't kill time, much less the mobs you have to kill to move to the next area.    I know at least five people in my gaming circle that tried it, loved it, but couldn't handle the loneliness of the game. It was next to impossible to get all five online at the same time, so groups could never get put together.  

World of Warcraft offers you a lot of tools here.  Not only do you have stable servers (and to be fair a few less stable ones), but you also have cross-realm content. While Cross Realm Zones have not been the success story Blizzard hoped (ie, nearly universally reviled by many players) Looking For Group, Looking for Raid, and the new Raid Finder for other content give players even on the deadest server access to other players who are looking for the same content they are.  This allows your character to not remain stagnant indefinitely. If it is, the fault is likely user error, not the game.  This is something I know a bit of something about.  I took a fair bit of time off the last two expansions to play other games.  The idea behind this blog originally came out of my disillusionment with WoW.  When I had to upgrade my main because the raid group I was still raiding with was out-gearing me, I had to grind hard core through content everyone else had already done. A few were willing to help (thanks Greyfield, Likka, Miketsu, et al), but for the most part it was LFR and solo work.  Without the tools at my disposal, I never would have caught up.  I went from being undergeared to being in the top ten in the guild in a matter of weeks, thanks to WoW's massive player base. Try that in a game with barely a million players over however many servers they have...

Content:  "There's nothing to do, I'm bored..." I hear that all the time in pretty much any MMO I've played, including WoW.    Guess what Sparky, if you're bored, either you need to go outside and see what that wierd glowing orb in the sky is (no, it's not going to land you a guest spot on Ancient Aliens, it's called the Sun, and it's supposed to be there) or you have skipped a whole lot of stuff to do.  Now, not all content will appeal to everyone.  I don't like PVP much (read at all really), but it's less about the content than the attitude of many of the current crop of  players.  I am not a trash talker by nature (despite my snarky comments, it's true).  But in PVP trash talking is a must it seems. And then there are the endless yo mamma jokes... Having buried my mom at 68 from Alzheimer's and having her lost to me at the age of 62 due to her dementia and institutionalization, this strikes a bit of a nerve.   Be that as it may, there is a ton of content in that department, and let's face it, PVP pays the bills.  It's where a lot of games, WoW included, get a large part of the membership base.  However, many other games stop there, or make minor efforts in other areas.  

However, in Azeroth, one can also do end game content of various raid tiers.  This content requires other bodies of course, but it's challenging and rewarding for those who want to do it. And they wrap up the stories that you've run through while questing/leveling.  And don't count the questing/story line out. Sure it's not Star Wars or The Secret World with talking NPC scenes and flowing immersive questing experience, but let's face, everyone space bars through that at some point or another anyways.   Don't get me wrong, I would love to see that in WoW, but I realize that the cost/benefit analysis at the end of the day says no, as it allows them to spend that time and money on more content for people who will stick around and provide that population I desire. 

How many people heard the one about how "Pokemon" ruined WoW? Right? Pet battles are evil soul sucking and a rip off of Pokemon to make the game more enticing to kiddies, right? Right? Guess what, no.  While it may be something that appeals to the dreaded casual gamer, most raiders I know are hooked as well.  They may be evil and soul sucking, but not because they are a rip off.  They are engrossing.  Collectors strive to collect every rare pet imaginable, but they did that anyways.  Who doesn't remember when a Hyacinth Macaw drop was a windfall of tremendous wealth?   But now, you have multiple reasons to collect. Not just the completion aspect of getting all of them, but they have breeds, rarities, and even slightly different models for the rarities.  And then there is the strategy aspect of it.  As a formerly avid board gamer, this aspect really appeals to me. Trying to put together the teams that will beat other teams, both other players and those pesky masters at the Celestial Tournament. And the rewards are good.  For those who care only about currency, the prize I got for defeating all the Masters needed to get the dailies unlocked paid a tidy 3000 gold.  Not a bad purse for something you do while waiting in queue anyways.

The Truth About Grinding:  One of the biggest complaints I've heard is that WoW is the World of Dailycraft (Guilty as charged for using that one myself at times).  Sure there have always been daily repeatable quests for you to do.  Every expansion has had a hub or three of dailies to do to grind reputation with some faction you will need to do end game content with, be it PVE or PVP.  However, that is how MMO's work. If there was no grinding in the game, you'd be completely geared in no time, and move on to the next game.  Without the grind, a game would have the same shelf life as your average console game, beat it in a week and sell it at Gamestop.  MMOs need you playing/paying to survive. Even the "Free to Play" games have that built in, they just offer you a way to save grinding time by opening up your wallet and using that piece of plastic that's on life support.  I actually knew a guy who took a second job for a couple of months to pay off his bill to one "Free to Play" game he had run up a bill higher than most people's mortgage and second mortgage combined all in the name of saving time in the grind.    Grinding is the nature of the beast.  It's a necessity of MMOs.   That being said, it comes down to personal choice in where you want to grind. For me, in the words of a wise old druid of dubious reputation, "Better the Grind I Know."  There is wisdom in that. Why grind away at something you know in six months you are going to move on from?  If I am going spend countless hours killing "mob x" to get "drop y" for "quest giver z" why not do it on the character I have nine years of my life invested in already?  Where I have friends who are doing the very same thing?  

When I started playing Procyon, my hunter main, my godson Charlie was in third grade.  He's in college this year as a frosh, and has grown into a rather smart young man.  Over the years, as he grew older and learned that I gamed, we grew closer.  No, he didn't play WoW (his mom would likely have disowned me as a relative had I tried to get him to), but we talked about it.  It was his question several years ago that I used as this article's post.  In many ways, my stubborn refusal to move away from WoW helped build a fantastic friendship with a tremendous young man that I am honored to be a godparent to.  So Charlie, this article is dedicated to you. :)