At a preview event for Hearthstone’s new expansion “Knights & Catacombs”, our author Guddy met with Blizzard’s Art Director Ben Thompson and Senior Game Designer Peter Whalen. In good spirits, they talked about the details of the expansion, the development process, and teamwork.
Blizzard transformed a hamburger basement for the event into a charming tavern styled completely in Hearthstone fashion. A fire crackled in the fireplace, wolf pelts lay on the benches, and the characters from the “Hearthstone We Are” trailer invited – at least as cardboard cutouts – for a cozy stay. In addition to ordinary journalists, there were also Hearthstone professionals milling about.
Fireside Gatherings are meant to unite players in friendly gatherings, and that’s exactly what happened! Staring at their own screens together may not seem communicative from the outside, but it’s a fun affair that, especially in a suitable ambiance, is not only crowned by gaming success! Because even those who are a bit shy will find topics to talk about here.
Such meetings have taken place and continue to happen in many countries and cities, with the Netherlands seemingly being a stronghold. It shows again that mobile gaming can indeed have a social component, even when there is no chat function available. If you’re curious and maybe want to attend one yourself, you can find out here if and where one will take place near you.
“I would be Reno Jackson!”
Also, Art Director Ben Thompson and Senior Game Designer Peter Whalen graced the event and offered themselves as entertaining conversation partners. In response to my question about which Hearthstone card they would be, Peter quickly responded with a bold answer:
“Reno Jackson! I don’t know if I would really like him, but he looks like he’s having so much fun in life! He’s a bit fidgety when it comes to his environment, and sure, bad things happen to him sometimes. But he smiles about it and I believe that’s a great way to live.” – Peter Whalen
Hardly any answer could have been more fitting, although the good Mr. Reno – he fully heals the hero when you don’t have a duplicate card in the deck – is on many people’s hate list. Do you also have cards that you think are like “cut from the same cloth” as you?
“We definitely shouldn’t do it that way, but…!”
The idea generation process in developing a new expansion is always a very exciting and inspiring process, as Ben assured. Unless someone happens to have a brilliant idea, they come together for community pitching, where ideas are presented. No idea, no matter how absurd or inappropriate it may seem at first, is bad. After all, every idea can lead to another; the path of association can lead to success.
What was the craziest idea that came up during the brainstorming sessions in the team?
“The ‘Hot Dog Expansion’! Someone had a bizarre notion of an expansion revolving around cooking and eating. Since the idea came up in summer, it quickly turned into a beach BBQ party in our heads. Hot dogs were the central element! It was a great pitch, but we ultimately decided against it.” – Peter Whalen
And yes, that was the saddest sentence of the evening.
Blingtron’s Heirs
Back to the expansion: In Knights & Catacombs, it’s about the old feeling of fantasy dungeon runs, descending into the depths together with a few friends, battling nasty monsters, kicking down doors, and collecting treasures. The original idea of building everything around the treasure bot Blingtron was discarded during the development process.
With Knights and Catacombs, Blizzard sought to better engage casual players. For this purpose, they created single-player content with dungeon crawls that should provide fun for months.
The team is keen to surprise not only the fans but also themselves continuously with new gameplay ideas. Maybe players will eventually be offered a BBQ party!
