Cortyn is extremely demotivated by Hearthstone . Hardly anything is still fun, not even the card packs are opened. But what is the reason for this?
The latest expansion of Hearthstone has been live for a few days. However, despite the addon “Saviors of Uldum” offering a total of 135 new cards, I can’t bring myself to check back into the game. I even had picked out some real highlights beforehand to experiment with – but that never happened.
I simply can no longer motivate myself to even start the game.
80 packs that are gathering dust for me: When logging into Hearthstone, I noticed that I have accumulated 86 card packs by now. They are not pre-ordered but earned over the course of months. Some through Arena, others through various card chaos modes or specific quests.
But I don’t open the packs. The thrill of new cards or “the next legendary” has long faded for me in Hearthstone because it holds no relevance for me. After all, the various game modes where I could use the cards (i.e., Standard, Wild, and Casual) simply don’t excite me anymore. The cards in my collection have become meaningless to me because I no longer play any of the aforementioned modes.
Hearthstone is stagnating, and this is becoming clearer with every expansion. Sure, there are new cards – but otherwise, nothing happens. This was recently shown by this sad screenshot from 5 years ago.
I’m only waiting for the PvE content and that should be embarrassing for Blizzard
To be honest, the PvE component has only been exciting for me in Hearthstone in recent months. Since Kobolds & Catacombs, the PvE content has become genuinely fun and even offers me long-term motivation. I have rarely spent so many hours in Hearthstone, as I did with “The Big Heist” – that was surely well over a hundred hours.
But that is actually sad. The solo content has always been more of a supplementary aspect in Hearthstone. A bit of variety and relaxation. Relaxed duels against the AI, where you can create outrageous decks. This is not a “serious” mode that Hearthstone attempts to attract the masses with. That this particular mode is still the only thing that excites me about Hearthstone should be a bit uncomfortable for Blizzard.
What went wrong with Hearthstone?
Hearthstone had all the strings in its hands: When the game was released a few years ago, the market for digital card games was nearly non-existent. Sure, some Magic fans will raise their voices, but if we’re honest: the number of players pales completely in comparison to what Hearthstone built in a short time. Hearthstone was the digital card game. It was accessible, the matches were quick, and the mechanics were easy to understand. It offered enough variety, and even the random effects that some despised often made the game more exciting and entertaining.
But then nothing more came. Of course, Hearthstone continues to pump out plenty of cards, and that is fresh content. But “otherwise” there’s just nothing happening. No new game modes, no meaningful features, no fulfillment of player wishes.
The developers are silent: What’s even more frustrating is that the developers have kept silent for months and years. Aside from the new expansions and some necessary balance adjustments, there is basically no communication with the developers.
I really don’t like this “it was better back then” mentality, but in the case of Hearthstone, it just holds true. When Ben Brode was still on the Hearthstone team, he often engaged with the community and answered questions. Of course, there weren’t always the desired answers, but any form of communication is always better than no communication at all.
Therefore, it’s not surprising that many players (myself included) are frustrated and get the impression that Hearthstone is just pumping out one addon after another and hardly considering the wishes of the players.
Of course, it’s possible that the developers have been instructed not to respond to criticism, inquiries, and wishes, which wouldn’t be unusual. From a consumer’s perspective, however, this is a catastrophe and diminishes my motivation to spend time on Hearthstone anymore.
Blizzard has let go of the reins here and will likely lose in the long run if nothing changes. The new Magic game is quite good, and I also play Shadowverse quite enjoyably again and again. Just because you don’t patch out my succubus retroactively…
Even now I am just waiting for the PvE mode of “Saviors of Uldum” to finally arrive. Everything else is no longer relevant to me.
Or how do you see it?
