Hearthstone makes the most popular game mode Pay2Win, brings premium currency
Battlegrounds mode in Hearthtstone becomes Pay2Win and there is a new currency – the fans are once again on the barricades.
Basically, it was something that many Hearthstone fans had long feared, but now it’s finally coming true. Blizzard is turning the monetization of the game inside out, and in the process it’s also pouncing on the popular Battlegrounds game mode. And it gets even harder – there is also a new premium currency that is supposed to replace real money purchases.
What is Battlegrounds mode? Battlegrounds is Hearthstone’s “auto-battler” and has become a fan favorite over the last few years. Here you choose from a series of heroes at the beginning, then buy servants and let them fight semi-automatically against the servants of 7 other players.
What is Blizzard changing now? The battlefield mode will be expanded and will have its own reward path with its own rewards. There are both free rewards on the “normal” path, but also many paid rewards on the premium path.
There are dedicated quests for Battlegrounds mode and numerous new rewards such as emotes, hero skins and finisher animations.
What annoys the fans? The catch is that you can only buy the additional choice of 4 instead of 2 heroes with real money or the new real money currency. So far it was possible to increase the selection simply by using playable gold. That will no longer work in the future. So if you want the maximum selection of heroes, you have to dig into your pockets.
If you don’t spend money, you will only have a choice of 2 heroes at the start, if you throw cash at the problem you can choose from up to 4 heroes – a pretty big advantage, especially since the heroes in battlefield mode are currently rather poorly balanced and there are drastic differences in the win rate.
For many it is clear: More choice increases the chances of winning and if you can only get more choice with real money, the whole thing is Pay2Win.
Blizzard has a clear reason for the change and when asked why you now have to pay for the bonuses with real money:
We want Battlegrounds mode to be played and loved by players for many years to come. This change allows us to continue to support and create content for the growing Battlegrounds community.
Or to put it another way: You just don’t earn enough from the battlefield mode to be able to support it in the long term.
Premium currency replaces real money purchases
The second major change is the introduction of a new premium currency called Runestones. In the transition phase, purchases should be possible with both real money and rune stones, later most purchases should be dealt with via rune stones.
In some special cases, such as pre-ordering a new expansion, buying the inn pass or buying packs directly, it should still be possible to buy directly with real money.
In the community, the announcement leads directly to many memes:
The biggest point of criticism is that Blizzard uses it to hide the actual cost of purchases. Because if you no longer quantify purchases with a direct euro price, but instead put a “fantasy currency” like rune stones in between, then the actual price of a purchase is often lost. If you first have to calculate how much a rune stone is actually worth in euros or cents, then the real price is obscured.
While Blizzard promises to sell runestones in bundle quantities that match major product sizes, fans seem unconvinced.
Blizzard’s argument that “thanks to the rune stones […] also offer smaller items [kann]like the custom Battleground Hero skins coming to the store with this patch.”
Here the Hearthstone critics note that these skins could simply have been offered in the shop for a small cent amount instead of introducing a new premium currency.
Rune stones should only be available for money. You can’t earn them in-game.
When is the patch coming? Update 24.2 with the Runestones and Battlegrounds Season 2 including the reward path and the supposed Pay2Win starts on August 30th.
What do you think of these changes? Good and useful? Or just rip off?
Reference-mein-mmo.de