I feel like I keep returning to this topic. Over the past 16 months, Blizzard has implemented a number of changes to the way various rewards and features in Hearthstone work. We have tried to cover them here on Hearthstone Top Decks, but the coverage often becomes obsolete because Blizzard keeps changing things around.
Typically, there is community outrage over the changes they make, then they promise to fix things, and that “fix” is then delivered months later, and usually the fix is actually worse than the original, but the outrage has subsided by that point, and the fix is a bit of give and take so that it is not obvious that it is worse. This is becoming a pattern now.
Fixed or Not: Quests and Arena
Two examples of what seems to be a standard process at Blizzard now: the changes they made to Quests last year and to Arena this year.
Blizzard changed the Quest rewards in April 2024. They made Quests 20% more lucrative in exchange for up to three times the effort. This meant that casual players were no longer able to complete their quests, and this drove people away from the game.
Blizzard improved the system in mid-May 2024 by removing most of the extra effort while keeping the additional rewards. They also made a wonderful change where many win quests were turned into play quests, thereby enabling players to complete them with off-meta decks. This was quite a good improvement, and we praised it at the time!
But alas, it was too good to stay. Players were earning too much gold. They were able to play whatever they wanted. In November 2024, Blizzard fully reverted all the changes. Quests were returned to their original early 2024 state, including removing the quality of life improvements. In a way, players did not lose anything: the quests were still better than the April version, they were just worse than the May version. We’ll call it a draw. However, many players who initially quit never came back.
In 2025, Blizzard was at it again. The big Arena revamp, the main feature launched for Hearthstone this year, did not land well. Objectively, the rewards were slightly better than in the old system, but only if you value packs/cards. If all you wanted was to keep playing Arena, or save Gold for other things, the new system was worse. It also had a much higher variance, thanks to a low-chance big gold prize.
A few weeks later, Blizzard adjusted the system once again. Variance was lowered somewhat. More gold and ticket rewards were added so that you can keep playing Arena more easily. This latest change increased the Gold/Ticket rewards by about 20%, but it was done in exchange for 20% of the overall rewards. So while it’s a bit easier to keep playing than it was when Undeground was first introduced, the overall rewards are now worse than ever. If you care about cards and don’t just play Arena for the sake of gameplay, you are better off buying packs from the shop and not playing Arena at all. This has never been the case before. As for players who only want to run Arena, you now win more gold at high wins, as long as you hit the rare jackpot every once in a while. Unless you hit pain points such as 7 and 9 wins, which actually offer lower rewards on average than 6 and 8 wins respectively. Over time, dedicated Arena players who do not care about cards should have a slightly better time. Everyone else is worse off.
The worst part is that these system changes do not seem to be made with the players in mind. There are no clear improvements to the player experience. There’s more effort, there’s more variance. When an actual quality-of-life improvement is made, it gets reverted. Who are these changes serving, if they are not serving the players? Why are they made?
Cosmetics + Gambling
I am a huge fan of monetization through cosmetics. If people want to show off with a rare skin, go for it. You can make skins that cost $1, $10, $100, I’m all good with all varieties. The more expensive they are, the more exclusive they are, and I recognize that there is a market for exclusiveness. I understand that many will not agree, but none of that stuff hurts me at all.
Cue the second major feature for Hearthstone in 2025 – pets. I absolutely love the King Krush pet. It is adorable. It is fun to play with. It is pretty. Incredible work by the development team and the artists.
There are, however, two downsides. The first is that the pet is hideously expensive. That does make me a little sad because it is so awesome, but it is a cosmetic item, and if Blizzard believes that they can optimize their revenue by making it expensive, so be it. I do not lose a single game of Hearthstone for not buying the pet.
What I do have a problem with is the gambling part. Did you know that the pet is not available in some European countries because of their gambling laws? If that does not sound the alarm bells, I don’t know what should.
Realistically, the pet costs $160. You have around a 10% chance to get it for cheaper. You need to draw rewards from a random pool, and the odds are not even. The first pull only gives you a 1/1000 (0.1%) chance to get the pet. Each pull is also more expensive than the last. Finally, after spending $160, you are guaranteed the pet.
Is this player-friendly? Did Blizzard have their customers in mind when they built this system? I can assure you, they did not.
A wonderful $160 cosmetic makes me a little sad, but fair is fair. It is not needed to play the game. It gives no advantage. If that is what people are willing to spend, Blizzard has the right to charge that. But trying to hide the true cost and relying on gambling mechanics to the extent that they cannot even release the feature in some countries, that is not right. It is legal (because it was not released in the countries where it is illegal, hah), but it is not moral.
The Small Stuff
Without going deeper into various other changes to the game, just a small reminder that over the past 16 months we also got:
- Diamond Legendary removed from the Legendary Collector achievement (-1 Legendary for low spenders who were able to reach the achievement).
- Game boards from 3 per year to 1 per year. We were also supposed to get only 1 cinematic trailer per year, but they might have walked back on that given that we just got a new one in Un’Goro.
- Tavern Brawl packs changed from Standard packs to the latest expansion packs (it’s not bad in all scenarios, but it means that players can no longer build up resources for a new expansion launch).
- End of Duels. While it wasn’t the most popular format, it had a dedicated playerbase who really enjoyed it.
- No new Twist formats after June 2024. Last time the format was even acknowledged was 7 months ago, when we were told that they’ll give us an update later.
Communication?
With all of this, it feels like things are slowly falling apart. All the support systems and features around the actual gameplay are being made worse and worse. At the same time, communications with players are also eroding. The current Game Director has given a total of one interview, and takes no responsibility for anything. The only times we hear from him is when he’s giving us PR apologies after community gets angry to the point they can’t just wait it out.
The most visible community manager for the game, RidiculousHat, did not get his contract renewed in June and left the company. He was active on social media and Reddit, and at the very least showed that he was aware of players’ concerns, even when he did not have a solution. Hearthstone’s official social media accounts post about things players complain about the most, with no sign that they realize the controversy. Designers talk about the new sets they are releasing, but that’s it. I guess that is the part that still works, because I want to hear designers talk about cards, and they cannot affect the monetization decisions anyway.
Don’t Get Me Started on Gameplay
The eroding of Hearthstone’s features has been going on for more than a year now. Yet, players look the other way when the game is good. I absolutely loved the StarCraft mini-set. For me, that was the highlight of this period. When the core gameplay is good, players tolerate abusive systems.
And that brings us to The Lost City of Un’Goro. The expansion has been a miss. Not thematically, but the power level of the new ideas is too low to survive against old decks that were not even top-tier decks before. The Quest buffs were too minor to make them playable, even when combined with nerfs to all the good decks. We just got older and older decks on the top instead.
Not every expansion is a success. But that’s when you need systems that support a good player experience. When players feel cared about, a miss with the gameplay every now and then is tolerable. When players feel unappreciated, a weaker expansion also hits harder. And Hearthstone has not been thinking about what is good for the players over the past 16 months.
as an achievement hunter i would like to have the option that after my opponent concedes on my turn, the game is not over for me but instead i can still finish the turn and then the game is over.
Technically a bot would have to take over in my opponent’s place, Blizzard may call it “the innkeeper” for flavor reasons.
Many achievement completions are thwarted by players who concede the game before the deciding card has resolved, especially those who require you to win in a certain way.
By allowing the active player to finish his current turn, the disappointment of being robbed from the achievement after jumping through several hoops can be avoided.
since the opponent cannot make any moves during your turn, it would not make a difference from winning/losing gameplay anyway (if you kill yourself after your opponent concedes, your win should still count.
Of course the option should not be mandatory, but rather a toggle in the options menu
(game menu – options – other, just below “allow spectators” and “enable screen shake” there could be the option “keep game going until end of turn after opponent concedes on your turn”)
I really think Blizzard should care more about achievement hunters, which are often creative players who want to try out unorthodox things in hearthstone. Completing a tricky achievement can often give you more satisfaction than just winning, and players who are willing to sacrifice win rate for creativity are in a natural symbiosis with players who only care for their win rate.
something else that bothers me is that the emotes of some heros are quite unfriendly.
when i want to greet my opponent at the start of a game because i am a freindly person, and my death knight avatar says something like “i grant you the permission to speak”, i just feel stupid because i feel like i have just insulted the other player.
just give us the choice to use standard phrases like “hello” / “thank you” (too often used sarcastically anyways) / “well played” to make a minimum of common courtesy among players possible.
I would love to see the following feature in hearthstone:
every player gets to name two cards (choice can be edited at any time):
1.) i love to play with card XXX
2.) i hate to play against card YYY
once a card gets too many “hate” votes, it should get nerfed because it diminishes the play experience.
i guess Quasar would probably get some of those “hate” votes because it is so non-interactive.
“love” votes could point designers where the should go in the future.
sure, many players will vote “love” for an overpowered card that helps them win more, but some people just like cards for the design idea. I, for example, like the “gift” cards that give you additional flexibility in exchange for reduced efficiency. Also the “tradeable” mechanic, etc band manager, and the deckbuilding constraint cards (reno, renathal, benedictus) are very interesting concepts.
For new sets to be relevant there are only two options:
1.) eternal power creep
2.) nerfing the old cards so they are weaker than the new ones.
The problem blizzard has with this is that by nerfing the old cards (that players already own) they have to give the players a lot of dust refunds, so standard players will just disenchant the old cards, craft the new cards and they do not need to spend any money this way.
I still think that 2.) would be the better option if timed correctly, and if the refund window closes 3 weeks before the new set is released, the strategy above would be thwarted because it would mean 3 weeks without competitive hearthstone for anybody who disenchants their standard collection in expectation of the new set having superior cards.
The only ones who would benefit from this policy would be the players who spend real money for large bundles that give them 10 of every common and 4 of every rare card, so blizzard would reward those who spend real money for the game.
Blizzard mainly fails in identifying the different groups of player preferences.
Arena is the best example:
There are those who like to play play arena on and on, and there are those who want to mix gold+playing effort to more packs and cards than opneing packs alone.
A smart marketing division would offer players a choice between card/pack-heavy payout and ticket/gold heavy payout, so e.g. at a certain point you would get either a epic card or a tavern ticket depending of which payout style you chose beforehand.
Another example are players who want to climb the ladder quickly (playing quick decks that allow for more games) vs. others who want to play longer games with control style decks or game-ending but mana-heavy combos vs. achievement hunters who maybe have less interest in climbing the ladder upwards (where harder opponents await them)
Giving players choices to adapt the way they are rewarded for playing (eg: high number of wins / high number of turns spent in games that have been won / high number of games or turns played regardless of outcome) could make them feel happy about the way they like to play the game without forcing them into a certain play style to reap the rewards.
I love HS, but for me this is the worst moment for the game.
I am from Brazil, so everything is too expensive rn (I only buy the reward track).
I reach legend in wild every month and in std in some months, but rn I feel I dont have a goal.
I cant enjoy a new deck bc we are stuck with a small approach of good possibilities.
Or u use an OP deck or u are doomed to lose almost every game.
There’s no in-between.
I really like this meta.
I think that there is a big problem with the philosophy of balance.
we can have powerful cards but they should feel fair and to that extent your opponents should be able to react to them somewhat.
in dark beyond we got starships. and the decks that play them are now infinite armor. that is not the problem though. the problem is exodar dealing overkill damage to face (probably paired with ceaseless)
we have same thing in imbue mage too much face damage and oh your minions died so play aesina to end the game.
but we also have things like leech dk. when he steals your health the only thing you can do is play amara/story of amara to regain it. what if the sucking was stronger but could not do anything to heroes health? it was similar with plagues. reno lone ranger. odyn. excavate warlock.
we can have really powerful things in the game but opponent should be able to interact with it.
to balance some things they should be symetrical for both players and yes you will probably utilize the effect better. but maybe not in all games.
the design should be on PLAYING the game not ENDING the game.
and yes this would mean reworks to old cards.
Hey Old Guardian
First of all, thanks for all your Hearthstone coverage. This article hits the mark.
I’ve had the same feeling for a while now – that those in charge seem to have lost some of their commitment to the game. Hearthstone still generates enough money to keep running, but it feels like it’s being maintained with far less care and attention to detail than before.
Over the past few months, I’ve noticed more and more things that feel off – some poorly designed, others clearly unintended – and yet they’re just left in the game. As long as they don’t directly break gameplay, they rarely get addressed.
For example, I’ve had several indication bugs with achievements lingering for over a year. “Gadgets and Gizmos Aplenty” shows a completion date of 2026/08/10, and “FOR THE ACHIEVEMENT!!!” is marked as completed on 2026/11/11 – both obviously incorrect.
Another example is a persistent bug with legendary golden frame skins in Battlegrounds. If one is set as your favorite and you can pick it at the start of the game, the frame displays correctly. But if you get that hero through a reroll, the same skin appears as epic or rare, with the golden frame missing.
Also in Battlegrounds, several emotes – like “Bookworm Elise”, “Confused Bigglesworth”, “Pinocchio Blingtron”, “Sparkhoarder Togwaggle”, and “Vanndar Cavedweller” – have been in the game for years but are still unobtainable. The same goes for an entire set of Murloc-themed hero skins by the artist “Mooncolony”. They’re visible in the collection, but have never been made available through the shop, events, or the season pass.
Another frustrating issue is with mythic skins in Traditional Hearthstone. Introduced in patch 30.4 (September 9, 2024), they still cause a long-standing bug: when a mythic skin is in play, you can’t interact with sides of older boards. Considering how expensive these premium cosmetics are, it’s really disappointing that this still hasn’t been fixed.
Then there are very the small polish issues, like the Druid skin “Field Researcher Elise”. When you click on it and view the artist credit, there’s an odd empty space that clearly wasn’t intended. It’s a minor detail, but it still feels careless.
Another thing is the card back collection. The sorting order is inconsistent and doesn’t follow any clear logic, which makes browsing through it feel clunky and disorganized.
I’ve reported all of these things (and many others) on the bug forum, but none of the ones mentioned here have been addressed so far. None of these issues are game-breaking. But taken together, they paint a clear picture of a game that’s no longer being cared for the way it once was. As a long-time player, it’s frustrating to see so many small things pile up with little to no response. I really hope the team will start prioritizing polish and quality again – but right now, it honestly doesn’t feel like that’s the case.
I also loved the Duels game mode, but I have to admit, I’ve had a lot more gold to spend on card packs since it disappeared. Another thing you left out from your list — and I think it’s really bad for the game — is this new “explosive turns” direction. It pushes the game heavily toward RNG instead of being a game of wits. I get that it’s also a monetization issue, but I still hate it.
Sorry for the duplicate comment, it showed, that the first one didn’t go through. I get a lot of errors in the past days on your site, it says because of cookies, but deting them doesn’t seem to help.
I’m most concerned with the complete lack of play testing prior to releases.
Having the player base essentially play test upon release, then nerf/buff just wastes everyone’s time , money and dust. A good portion of time, when a deck is over performing – they nerf commons/uncommons, leading to minimal dust refunds. You spend thousands of dust on a deck with 3-5 legendary, X amount of epics, etc, and they nerf commons (ruining the decks), giving you back 40 dust and alot of times leaving you with useless supporting legendaries and epics in a lot of cases.
A lot of issues with the game would be fixed with private in house play testing prior to releases. If they even spent 5 minutes play testing this last set they would know it was weak prior to release. But they expect paying customers to waste their time/energy and money on it for them instead of them doing it.
This is coming from someone who does zero cosmetics and only gets packs from in game gold.
I was one of those arena lovers, I almost quit when they cut it. But to be honest, I have a lot more gold to buy packs since duels is gone :D.
For me there is one more thing that’s killing the game and it’s the new “explosive turns” direction, which is making the game more and more rng based, instead of a game of wits. I can understand that it’s a monetization question again, as it’s making the game more inclusive, but I just hate it.
Card games having cosmetics and gambling with reaccouring mechanics? The horor!!!
Also your communication segment ignores the fact we had that but we lashed out at them with threats, slurs, and everything under the sun.