We at Mein-MMO had an extensive conversation with Ben Brode, the Game Director of Hearthstone, here is the complete interview.
In the past days, we had the opportunity to conduct an interview with Ben Brode, the Game Director of Hearthstone. Below you can read the complete interview with all the answers we could extract from one of the happiest developers at Blizzard.
Mein-MMO: The most important thing first: the Little Buccaneer! What will happen to him and when will it happen? What could a “smaller” Little Buccaneer even look like?
Ben Brode: We recently announced that if something should change, we will announce it before the end of the month. That is still our goal for all balancing changes.
(Editor’s note: It is now known, how Blizzard is changing the Little Buccaneer.)
With the tri-class mechanics (like the Cabal), you have incorporated more options to leverage the strengths of other classes, creating many new, exciting moments in the game. Will this group, like the Jade Lotus, be expanded in future expansions? Or are you planning other “factions” that mix new class combinations?
Brode: Currently, we have no plans to further expand the tri-class mechanics. But we have other crazy ideas that we are excited to explore.
With previous expansions, you have taken existing elements from Warcraft and transferred them to Hearthstone. With Gadgetzan, this has changed drastically. In WoW, Gadgetzan is quite an old town with only a few quests that have been largely forgotten in recent years. But you took the town and made it much more exciting than it ever was in WoW. Is this the new goal, to take only small parts from Warcraft and massively expand them instead of transferring existing content (like in Karazhan)?
Brode: I wouldn’t say that we have a specific formula that we just reuse over and over. We are inspired by an idea and just see where it takes us! The streets of Gadgetzan seemed like the perfect setting for a city full of crime when considering the events in World of Warcraft – but who knows what the next thing could be for us?
To be honest, I often thought while playing Hearthstone, “It would be so cool to meet these characters in WoW.” Is there a chance that the characters your team has created – like Aya, Kazakus, or Raza – will find their way into WoW (like Sir Finley)? Perhaps a “new” Gadgetzan, based on all the cool things from Hearthstone?
Brode: We are big fans of World of Warcraft, and many of the people there also play Hearthstone. We have already seen that some characters like Sir Finley or Morgl the Oracle have found their way into WoW, and you can even see Hearthstone game boards in the taverns! We love collaborating and coming up with great ideas.
The “Add Last Opponent as Friend” option seems a bit strange. It is often used only for toxic purposes: you add the last opponent as a friend and then insult them for playing a Hunter, Pirate Warrior, or any other deck before just disappearing. Will there be a way to report such behavior? If I’m not mistaken, this is currently not possible from the game’s UI.
Brode: Currently not, but it is something we can discuss.
How far in advance do you plan expansions? Do you already have plans for late 2017 or even 2018 with specific card ideas and features? Or are they just rough themes like “Let’s do an ‘End-of-Year Celebration in Scholomance’ expansion in 2018” and then you collect ideas throughout the year? Or is everything already precisely planned with just small changes needed to meet the current needs of the game?
Brode: Currently, we are finalizing our next set. But we are also already hard at work on the next two expansions that will come afterward.
Can we expect more skins for the heroes in 2017? Some classes, like Warlock or Druid, are missing female counterparts or at least a few fresh faces. Any potential new skins you can reveal to us?
Brode: I can only reveal that we will indeed be creating more hero[-skins] in 2017. 😉
Golden cards represent much “prestige” in Hearthstone, but they cannot be used in the Arena. Why don’t you allow the cards that are in the own collection to appear golden when creating an Arena deck? Is there a specific reason why there are no golden cards in the Arena?
Brode: We believe that would be a fantastic feature and are already working on it.
Last question from a colleague: When will we see Therazane as a card? Or at least a few new Succubi? (Warlocks without Succubi just don’t fit!)
Brode: I don’t know! We asked Therazane if she wanted to be on a card, but she just calls us “flesh bags” and wonders how we survive with such soft skin.
Thank you for the time and all the answers!
Have you heard about the leak? The next Hearthstone expansion could be “Lost Secrets of Un’Goro”!
