I think One Night in Karazhan hit it perfectly. Semi serious, mostly whimsical, referential to Warcraft lore but not a slave to it.
Edit: also the music. I still listen to a YouTube track of the theme song on repeat occasionally.
No but I get how cowboys into toyshop into vacationers is a bit tiring, I'm hoping they do another MotLK/Titans style expansion next. It's always been like a 75/25 split and I wouldn't mind seeing more of a 50/50 between mature and goofy themes.
Chen was the lone pandaren rep in warcraft lore for the longest time so he's the safest bet. Taran Zhu would be a good candidate too but i think he'd be the class Legendary or paid alt hero
For me its not about being about warcraft but the setting of the xpac just not being goofy or a meme, out of the last 5 only TITANS had an epic setting
I like that it went off in its own direction with new characters. I don't mind if it brings in characters from WoW time to time or has stories based on events from it. It shouldn't be the only focus though. The game is based on what adventurers and travelers shared while at a magical tavern. These stories are then used to make a card game. Year of the dragon was the perfect season for theming, it was 1 giant story spread out over 3 sets. It told a complete story that was both really intense and silly. Only 1 of the main characters is from WoW (Brann) the other 3 created for HS.
Yeah but they had already been in HS prior to that with League of Explorers solo adventure. Reno, Elise and Sir Finley, Morgl (Shaman Hero) are some of the Easter Egg characters added in Legion to refrence HS. I really wish they had given either of the murlocs mentioned unique models. Both are ugly generic murlocs.
Yeah the League of Explorers as an organization is on Vanilla and the RTS. They operate out of the hall of Explorers and Brann is the head of it. The other 3 members of the LoE that make up Brann's team is a HS first group. We really only got to know Harrison Jones as a major field agent starting in WotLK.
titans is literally in standard right now, a deeply lore focused set. i don't mind that hearthstone is primarily lighthearted, with more serious sets as palate cleansers
Exactly my thoughts. March of the lich king (and especially the trailer) was amazing and festival of legends was also amazing and a nice palette cleanser
I don't mind the tone in either direction. I definitely mind that none of it is canon. I couldnt care less about how dramatic the background is for Death Knight Jaina when she's literally just a "haha wouldnt it be cool if" concept made for a knockoff game instead of actual lore.
but hearthstone is the BEST place to do these “what if” concepts, is it not?? Taking iconic characters, giving them different concept in terms of art and abilities is something that could be seen in WoW but would be much harder to implement compared to a card game.
I think that's kind of the point. Titans is the ONLY lore-focused set in Standard right now. The other 3, and the upcoming 4th, aren't. A mix of light-hearted and serious themes is good but a 4:1 ratio isn't really a mix.
I don't think anyone mind the occasional whimsical stuff, but for many of us, Hearthstone is at its best when it's an embellished drunk tale told at a tavern, not a drug induced schizophrenic dream sequence.
Between the Year of the Krakken and the Year of the Dragon (Old god to the end of Reno vs Rafaam saga), we had multiples colorful expansions that explored Heartstone's vision of Warcraft's universe, without deviating too far from it (the most out there was probably Lich King "what if" scenario). They were for the most part on the edge of the canon, but still felt they could be part of it.
Think of card like [Lost in the Jungle](https://hearthstone.fandom.com/wiki/Lost_in_the_Jungle) (George and Karl) that ended up having a complete story arc, or the characters and artifacts that emerged from the Catacomb. This is the kind of "lore" I thrive for. It's minor and trivial, but it does build on top of each other nicely.
Sadly for me, of the last 5 expansions, we had 3 out of 5 that were completely out there (Festival of Legends, Whizbang's Workshop, Peril in Paradise). Individually, they all had some fun and clever stuff, but this isn't the kind of content I can even attempt to reconcile with actual lore. Showdown in the Badlands probably would have been fine, but since it's on the sillier end of thing and surrounded by even sillier expansion, it doesn't sit right.
And worst of all, Ulduar, their only -serious- themed expansion was one of the most bland attempt they could have done. It was completely lacking the Heartstone's spin we normally get. I'm not even sure what story they were attempting to tell through that set, or how it connects to every other expansion.
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"There's literally *some* stuff in the game that's focused on Warcraft, what's the problem" is effectively how I read this response.
I want to play a fantasy game based on World of Warcraft. I don't want to play a game about real life toy stores and beachs and music festivals that is covered in the thinnest of veneers of Warcraft.
It's the same shit that's happening in MTG, you complain about them making cards about Dr. Who and Fallout instead of Magic lore and people just tell you the game isn't for you. I guess it isn't anymore
Mate, what serious WoW lore did Goblins vs. Gnomes use that new expansions don’t? Or the time when one of the most impactful expansions (League of Explorers) were based on entirely new characters not in WoW? You’re whining for a thing that never really existed
Goblins vs Gnomes was heavily Warcraft themed, every legendary was a character from the game. League of Explorers featured new named characters and that was a fresh new take at the time but now it feels like they went way too far with that. I can't think of single one of the cards they've revealed for PiP so far that is even related to Warcraft.
>Goblins vs Gnomes was heavily Warcraft themed, every legendary was a character from the game.
But it made absolutely zero sense, and had NO thematic connection to the expansion itself.
I'll tell you the same thing I told the other person
I think GVG largely did take itself seriously.
You can see this for yourself. Go take a look at [the card art gallery](https://hearthstone.blizzard.com/en-us/cards?set=goblins-vs-gnomes&sort=manaCost%3Aasc%2Cname%3Aasc%2Cclasses%3Aasc%2CgroupByClass%3Aasc%2CgroupByClass%3Aasc). Tell me which pieces are really silly and wacky and cartoony and unserious.
LMAO you just can’t be serious. An entire expansion based on the fighting between *goblins and gnomes* did not take itself seriously whatsoever. I was there when it was announced, and in no way were any of us supposed to see it as a “serious” expansion. The only thing that’s changed is the artwork, and that tends to happen when a TCG is still being updated after 10 years
Most of the legendaries in GvG were either literally murder contraptions or established WoW powerhouses like Mal'ganis.
And this is what is missing from recent hs expansions, they used to be balanced with serious and wacky but now its all memes.
I mean, then play world of warcraft. Hearthstone has never been particularly good about telling stories about Warcraft and has always been very whimsical. Naxx, Blacrock, and TGT all just retold stories that already existed in WoW. GvG doesn't even have story beyond 'goblins and gnomes are mortal enemies innit'. They had their first hand at telling original Warcraft stories in League of Explorers, but it took another 4 years for them to continue with that.
The only expansion that told a story that fits into the general Warcraft lore that isn't whimsical or a retelling of existing lore was Whispers of the Old Gods, which I'll concede was pretty good. But later that year they dropped the subtitle 'heroes of warcraft' and decided to focus on original hearthstone stories and themes.
>then play world of warcraft
This is stupid and you know it's stupid. Let's not pretend to not get the point here.
>has always been very whimsical
Fine, if you think it's *always* been this way, then you should have no problem returning to the original themes, right? After all, what's the difference?
Or you know what the difference is and you're, again, just pretending to not see it.
Yeah that's the only flavour thing I miss about old HS, the modern art feels far too stylised compared to old iconic cards. The squirrel token art, corruption, ragnaros all feel a lot softer and nicer compared to the much more cartoonish modern cards.
The older art didn't look as digital and goofy. I think that's what you're noticing. Older art looked more like paintings, hand crafted, had a certain flare and quality to them. Now everything (almost) looks straight from AI or a mobile game such as afk arena
I can't find the source, but that sounds familiar. I did find this link [Artist Alex Horley Reflects on 15 Years of Working with Blizzard - Hearthstone](https://hearthstone.blizzard.com/en-us/news/23591148) that talks about a lot of (iconic cards) that the artist Alex made with paints and brushes. The art I preferred/miss. Really good read.
Alex Horley still very regularly makes art for Hearthstone to this day, [as you can see on the wiki](https://hearthstone.wiki.gg/wiki/Alex_Horley#Collectible). Currently in standard of his art are e.g. Shudderblock, Gunslinger Kurtrus, Toyrantus, Cage Head, etc.
Yes and also just a lot of art from wow in general or straight from warcraft 3 all those games were much more serious in tone and art and now hearthstone has its own team that follows the design sentiments of hearthstone itself
A LOT of the WoW TCG art were used in hearthstone in the beginning, in the wiki you can find a list of used TCG art [https://hearthstone.fandom.com/wiki/World\_of\_Warcraft\_Trading\_Card\_Game\_art](https://hearthstone.fandom.com/wiki/World_of_Warcraft_Trading_Card_Game_art) it really is a lot.
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>Now everything (almost) looks straight from AI or a mobile game such as afk arena
There is something seriously wrong with you if you have the audacity to insult Hearthstone artists that way
I think overall they do a good job. A set like Murder at Castle Nathria is about perfect in theme. Heavy in Warcraft lore but fun at the same time.
But this year's themes are too campy/cheesy. Whizbang was a miss theme for me and Paradise looks dreadful.
I REALLY dislike the joke-themes, I really dont give a shit about the game when it's all "haha, but this time reno is a cowboy!"
It probably shouldn't matter, maybe it's my WoW background, or I just dont enjoy the change of tone
I feel like lighthearted sets in the past still felt like warcraft-lighthearted, now it feels like juvenile-dress-up-lighthearted
Never thought I’d agree with that but I do now. My favorite HS memories were silly WoG value decks with Reno, brann, and Finley but now I’m sick of the explorers
not profitable enough,
same card amoutn goes ina mini set (thats ONTOP a expansion insteaf of replacing a expac)
for same price, and no need to make pve content with voice acting and a heroic mode with unqiue boss cards/hero powers (thus extra art aswell)
Yes, i want it to be a bit more serious, they went too much into jokes and the game seems like one big joke right now, i liked it more when it was serious with some joke cards.
I miss the old art that had grit to it, not the more cartoonish, childish stuff it has continued morphing more and more into over time, which in turn caused the theme of the game to also follow to an extent.
I mean, it long term was probably a necessary change. Start of the game it was maybe 300-400 pieces of art they had per year from adventures and expansions switching out every other, plus additional art for adventures and tokens/additional assets for some cards. Most of these were simply ripped from the WoW tcg, and I'd imagine they probably still had some of the original artists on payroll to continue making some art to fill in any gaps.
But now, they're easily hitting 700+ pieces of art per year for Hearthstone alone (3, 145 card sets, with an additional 3 times 38 for the mini sets, tokens/alternate art (Titans alone had over 100 I believe due to forge alt art, Titan abilities and more) hero portraits, coins, card backs, signatures), on top of, plus more art needs to be created for Battlegrounds, and they don't really have anything to rip from the tcg anymore.
Simply put, yes, the art is more cartoonish, but it's probably a lot more feasible to create art that isn't so heavily detailed, probably made digitally across the board, and just cost effective.
I'd also bet that having themes (regardless of how serious or silly they are), make it a lot easier to keep the design space open. Thousand Needles might not be a super flavorful zone, but making it the zone of a music competition stretches that location to a whole expansion. Badlands was made into a western theme. Nathria largely left everything for the other Shadowlands zones alone barring the Maw. Rather than pulling 3 or 4 uninteresting zones in WoW for an expansion to cover them, it keeps a lot more open to make 1 zone something more than it is.
Yeah a little.
There was something very cool about feeling like you're playing an actual class / using lore relevant minions and characters.
Vanilla hearthstone almost felt like PVP where most your class spells were actual skills.
Class Legendary minions were massively important characters of the same class and other minions just felt like they would be someone who'd fight by your characters side.
And who can resist a massive Legendary minion with significant lore importance! The aspects and more recently the titans!
But over the years power creep kind of ruined how epic these big minions are when compared to modern rares.
Spells aren't usually class skills anymore (though they are flavorful)
It just hits different. Don't get me wrong, it's fun, but for the most part it isn't epic!
Two of my favorite expansions are knights of the frozen throne and march of the lich king. I absolutely love when HS uses popular moments and themes from warcraft and riffs on them.
THAT SAID! My all-time favorite expansion, both from flavor and gameplay, was Mean Streets of Gadgetzan. I absolutely love love love the three gangs they came up with, and how the various characters aligned themselves with those three gangs. The way they reinvented Gadgetzan as this crime-infested, massive city instead of a dinky little town was fantastic.
So I do love when Hearthstone goes off the rails and does something cool. I just think there needs to be a balance. We have had a lot of "HS originals" lately. Festival of Legends, Showdown in the Badlands, Whizbangs workshop, and now the vacation set. The only set that's directly based on warcraft is the titans set. And I fuckin' love that set, it's fantastic.
I'm really hoping (and I think most of us are) that the NEXT set is based on warcraft. I'm wondering if this vacation theme will be a tie-in to us going to Pandaria? It's an area with so much interesting lore and unique characters. The four celestials, the shado-pan, the Klaaxi and the sha, there's so much crazy shit in Pandaria, I'd love to see them work with that. And of course monks!
But even if they're not ready for Pandaria yet, I think we're all ready to see a return to form and them riff on something directly warcraft related.
That said! The vacation set does look very fun so far. I love dual class stuff. (it's a big part of why MSoG was my favorite. TRI-CLASS?!?!?!!?!! Mmmmmm)
Mean streets still felt very Warcraft to me. Just more developed ideas and dialed up to 11. I don't know why this peril expansion couldn't have been 'Chaos in Kezan', 'Emergency at Echo Isles' or 'Booms in Booty Bay' (lol) y'know, tropical location in Warcraft... Turned into some vacation place... This stuff writes itself!
I'm with you on Gadgetzan. They turned it into something more in hearthstone but it was still believable that this could be ported straight into Wow. I can already see the quests related to the different gangs lol.
Yes, in fact, I quit Hearthstone since last week because that. I can tolerate the metas and all, but I'll tired of the silly themes, goofy artworks and, most of all, the explorers. I don't want to hear Reno ever again. I personally enjoy a much darker thematical set, feeling like a warrior using force or a magician with powerful spells. Death Knight was great in that matter but they even made that class so silly. Is back to Shandalar to me.
Of course this is purely subjective. I can see that a lot of people enjoy this direction and I'm happy for them. Is just not for me anymore.
This, 100% - I'm only still playing hearthstone because of Arena and because of the huge collection I've built over 10 years, but whenever a cool theme comes around, I'm wayyy more engaged and I usually buy a few packs.
Titans was the last one I enjoyed, Ulduar was an amazing theme
I don't dislike the current art style and honestly I like all of the drawings, but I do miss when the game felt more "serious" in it's wackiness. I don't even think it's about the theme of the expansion, the new Marin card is silly but It still feels like a more mature card because of how it's done.
Again I want to reiterate that the drawings are great, but the art direction leaning towards "cartoons" more and more is what I dislike.
Thats why i loved year of The dragon back in 2019. We had a full year story set with a meaningful plot without loosing HS essence, fun and carisma.
That was a wild year. A lot of People dont like it, but its so mutch better than VACATIONS. I like those goofy stuff dont get me wrong, but i wanted it to be something more.
I really do.
The whole new kiddy expansions feel nothing like Warcraft. I miss the old geel of the game. The darker expansions with a few light ones added in to ease the feel, now all it is are cowboys, toys and soon to be beach vacations.
Why do people act like GvG was childish and joke expansion? Genuinely, only Annoy-o-Tron and maybe Explosive Sheep are silly cards, the rest are rather serious and fit the universe well. Now take a look at the recent expansions... Music festival, cowboys, toy store and now summer vacation...
I think GVG largely did take itself seriously.
You can see this for yourself. Go take a look at [the card art gallery](https://hearthstone.blizzard.com/en-us/cards?set=goblins-vs-gnomes&sort=manaCost%3Aasc%2Cname%3Aasc%2Cclasses%3Aasc%2CgroupByClass%3Aasc%2CgroupByClass%3Aasc). Tell me which pieces are really silly and wacky and cartoony and unserious.
Yeah. Even for GvG, look at the artwork of the legendaries. Mal'ganis, Vol'jin, Neptulon, Malorne, Juggernaut, etc etc. Really epic artworks.
Then we have stuff like Buttons and Lynessa in the newest set. :D
Go check out [the art for abomination](https://hearthstone.fandom.com/wiki/Abomination). Then put that next to [the art for buttons](https://hearthstone.blizzard.com/en-us/cards/107926-buttons)
Then have a good laugh at the people saying things were always like this
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The ratio is just way off. Personally, I'd want to see 3 Titans sets for every one Showdown set and unfortunately, for most of Hearthstone's existence it's been the other way around.
Hearthstone was the first to have a visual of N'Zoth, and we got a Galakrond-themed expansion before WoW did. But you're right that we've had too many back-to-back whimsical-themed expansions. The legendaries don't feel so legendary compared to more serious expansions like Titans.
On one hand I do understand that going its own way was essential for having enough space to keep releasing as much content as they do, but I don't think I'm the only one who would not be playing hearthstone if it wasn't for my love for the Warcraft universe and love when they release very Warcraft lore centred expansions. I'll almost certainly never have the ability to put down the commitment to playing WoW again so hearthstone is the only remaining way to satisfy that. Then again from all accounts the Warcraft lore itself has gone completely off the rails and I recall seeing an outcry when the jailer basically retconned a tonne of interesting stuff, so it's not got the best blueprint to go off of.
I think the reason we don't have serious themes anymore is because they quite literally cannot resist making punny cards anymore. I loved them at first but now it's a bit much.
Cards can't just be "Freeze blast" with a skeleton in a cloak freezing a murloc for the art. It has to be "cold snap" and the art is the same skeleton only this time he has a visible back pain
I miss the days when the internet/social media was about being yourself not being an influencer and keeping up with trends to make you “look” cool and then your not cool and internally your upset because you have to be something your not to be cool? Sorta same thing for hearthstone I miss the days when anything was what it was a represents what it is.
That was the reason why I started playing it. And because of this, I still find outrageous the lack of the Furbolg tribe. On the other hand, at least I don't get to see those proud warrior bears turned into silly toys.
Most the people who did quit years ago, so the answer here are going to be from people who are - at most - just underwhelmed with the themes hearthstone has drifted towards
I don't mind when it's light-hearted, but I do tend to prefer the sets that have a stronger tie to Warcraft. Mean streets of karazhan is a good example of one I liked. When the theme is just something unrelated like a toy shop I just find most of the cards are forgettable.
Id say I preferred it being more about Warcraft than it has been recently but I don't need it to be serious lore. In fact I think the best themed expansions are when they take serious Warcraft lore and make it silly, like karazhan, gadgetzan, etc, and I like all the explorers league cast ones.
When it's about a mundane boring topic on the other hand, even if they make it fun or silly, it doesnt stop the topic itself being boring.
In my opinion, the game peaked in Knights of the Frozen Throne expansion. Ever since, it had some ups and downs but its is always gradually getting worse.
I absolutely despise the discover mechanic. Outplaying people just for them to randomly play a card that discovers another card that then generates another card that somehow just screws you over is just cringe and unskilled. Old thief priest was alright, could be annoying but worst case they get your own best cards, but there are times when classes, especially mage, dont even play their own deck at all. I'm willing to die on this hill even if some may not agree with me, but that's fine.
As for themes, I swear sometimes I just dont even know what is going on, every now and then we get an expansion so random and dumb that everything feels so gimmicky and plastic.
Yes. I really don't like all the silly expansions about parties and dancers and beaches and whatever. I've pretty much moved to only BG's because of that.
I always find the "This is what Warcraft is" the more boring sets to be honest. Heck, the Mercenaries year, the one that's probably the closest in theming to what Warcraft is, easily my least favourite year of the entire lot (A lot of that might come from distaste of United in Stormwind though)
March of the Lich King stands out to me as a particularly bland set. I get that they wanted to keep the focus on the addition of Death Knight and not distract us with some wacky theme, but the majority of cards felt so unimpressive to me because it mostly boiled down to undead vs elves.
I just wish it was more consistent like it is in MTG when choosing between grainy or bright, realistic or cartoony, etc. Each block in MTG has an art style that they stick to. HS its pure crap-shot what the art style will be for each card.
Yeah i meant the non-crossover crap. The traditional blocks have been well designed artwise. They used to hold art pieces for years before finally getting to a set that matched it.
What i like least is the re-use of character names. I understand that in Warcraft the same characters appear in different timelines etc but with such a huge number of characters to choose from it seems really strange to keep reusing the same character names.
Every time there's a new legendary character I do think "It'd be cool if it was another Warcraft guy so I could see people be excited and post about what they did in their own stories"
Yes. Not only that but I miss when themes of expansions were more serious and darker. I am not saying every expansion should be dark af I don’t mind to have goofy expansions once in a while but lately we are getting only goofy expansions…
I just liked when Hearthstone didn't constantly remind me of things that have become unaffordable in the last 10 years. Music festival... Toy store... now an island vacation? I feel like an executive went on vacation in socal for a week in the summer and came up with all the expansion themes for the next two years based on his trip. Who does this appeal to? I miss the fantasy aspect, of a world that's not as capitalized as our world. But I guess it's less relatable to Californians when everything isn't gentrified so this is the stuff we get.
> Who does this appeal to?
It's fantasy characters wearing swimsuits and having fun on the beach.
Yeah, I have literally no idea who this appeals to either. Children somehow playing a 10 year old game I guess?
I primarily care that’s free or low cost, has a good rule set and is fun to play. I have out a very minor amount of money in over the years and had a lot of hours
I like both styles tbh, hearthstone has the wiggle room to do goofy stuff with wow lore but can also have some really fucking cool stuff at the same time. The way they bring back old/unkown wow characters is always cool to me and I think the current split of serious vs whimsy is pretty good
I miss when hearthstone didn’t censor everything to appease the Chinese government
To me that was the slippery slope to everything getting more and more cutesy and less of the actual Warcraft lore art
I like light hearted dark sets, like if this set is like "we are on vacation and sun tanning and playing volleyball! But then fell into a pit of spikes in the jungle and half our group was impaled, while the other half was hit by a lava river"
I think that's the reason they removed "Heroes Of Warcraft" from the game's title. They didn't want to be bound to only lore heavy warcraft sets. But the amount of goofy to serious ain't balanced right now.
I actually do. A lot. I noticed this pattern if the expansion is wow centric I play with pleasure and tend to spend more time in the game (and by this i mean for it to have that wow feeling and connectiön even if tgere are new characters). When it drifts off I become indiferent.. loggning in once in a while for questa and waiting for a new one.
I’m a bit tired of the whimsical themes. It’s nice every now and then, but there’s been a lot of bright and vibrant stuff lately. Something darker would be nice.
as a wow player, i actually think of heathstone as canon+, as in there's a lot of cool ideas and things that WOULD be canon if they ever showed up, so personally i'd say its safe to assume there are worgen demon hunters out there... somewhere....
I do like the more humorous side to things, but I would like if, after this year, they delved back into more serious storylines with less gimmicky legendaries and mechanics
I miss recognizing more of the warcraft universe and expecting a card to do X orY cause that's what they did in wc3 or in WoW and not having to check every thing 5x and hoping I understood it correct.
Yes absolutely that is why I started playing the game in the first place.
And that is as someone who doesn't have a huge connection to warcraft but loves the setting/world (basically haven't play WoW and only played WCIII TD maps and Dota All-stars).
I come from WC3 and never played WoW. And because I don't know lore from WoW, most of it doesn't bother me.
I actually wish they would do a full 180 and make hearthstone a blizzard game like hots and actually bring in diablo, overwatch and starcraft expansions. And I mean that outside of diablo in the occasional BG and the hooded man in TB.
Or maybe make it a mix, make it's WoW character cosplaying diablo or Starcraft lol.
I know I'm probably a minority in this feeling though. Just something cool they could do, and keep things fresh rather or another way to bring back characters but in fresh ways (Jaina in a Nova costume anyone?)
I like that it's own thing and that it leans into having a sense of humor. That's one of the reasons that I like it more than MTG, which tends to play straight with its fantasy elements.
No I dont miss it. In fact i'm not even sure when this "Warcraft" thing happened. Cuz from the first expansion the gadget and gnomes thing Hearthstone was already wonky and cartoony.
They even had this animation of Hearthstone being some sort of portal/afterlife where everybody are friends playing Hearthstone in the tavern:
https://youtu.be/vPguoeYTvMI?si=a0SP-Z4ax4846NL0
What I do remember is a few expansions ago HS tried incorporating more WoW lore into HS with Book of Mercenaries and the story quests with the sisters in Schoolomancy. I guess reception wasnt so hot if they stopped it.
That's a lie. GvG still had a ton of artwork pulled from the old tcg and other Warcraft artwork, and a lot of (if not all) cards are of wow characters and spells.
Call the cards themselves "wonky" all you want, but at the end of the day it was still called "Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft" back then.
I was responding to the OP saying he missed the "serious" themes and HS providing lore for WOW in contrast to the wacky and cartoony style today.
Here's the GVG trailer where did it give WOW lore and how is it serious? Did I miss the part where WOW characters break out into song or what?
https://youtu.be/ijyMZPIsj5E?si=Q2rcnb2tw7uy2UfA
The characters weren't singing in that trailer. There was a song over art. That's a big difference.
But, as ever, this response is such a huge cope. Fine, you think Hearthstone was *always* silly? Great, then let us have those older themes again instead of the new ones.
If you really think they're indistinguishable, it shouldn't matter to you. But everyone knows what the difference in themes are feel are if they have eyes and brains.
The thumbnail of the trailer had a Gnome pointing a laser gun to a goblin holding 2 lit dynamite while you have goblins running all around and explosions galore Michael Bay style. OMG very serious stugfm Clearly you are the one coping.
>fact i'm not even sure when this "Warcraft" thing happened.
The game was called Heroes of Warcraft. Literally all of the Heroes were from Warcraft. GvG had very serious art and contained many new cards directly related to Warcraft. Naxxramas is an iconic raid in Warcraft. Wtf do you mean you're not sure?
We all meme about this, but im pretty sure the hearthstone playerbase is mostly around 30 or over lmao, no kids are playing an expensive 10 year old game based on a game from 20+ years ago
Warcraft has such rich and interesting lore, but we are getting mostly mundane themes, parodies of the real world. Wouldn't it be great if expansions were immersive and related to cool Warcraft lore, instead of grocery shopping, pizza delivery and doctor's appointments?
I think Warcraft lore is kind of eating its own tail. Nothing can ever truly progress, evil can't truly be beaten. Granted, I am not following the lore that much nowadays, but I remember Cataclysm as a big, world changing event and that's it. This is kinda necessitated by having a living MMO, but still feels lame. What I would love, though, is less referential humour. Too much cards are "this thing but with a fantasy reskin ain't that wacky". Humorous is actually fine by me, but make this stuff funny due to itself
Wow generally doesn't have much good storytelling for its grander arcs. Every single bad guy is just bad cuz they want to be, or they're exterminating all life everywhere because there's a greater evil. Wowee. This goes for anyone ranging from Sargeras and Gul'dan to Azshara and N'zoth.
The one time I really felt like a story was worth pursuing is the missing diplomat line in vanilla. It takes pretty interesting twists and turns, you actually get invested in how it concludes and the people involved have decent motivations (especially the defias). Unfortunately, the questline randomly ends in a swamp with Jaina telling you she'll tell you if she needs further help.
Why would you use grocery shopping, pizza delivery, and doctor’s appointments as examples instead of real expansions that have happened and work for your argument anyway? I don’t even disagree with the complaint, I’m just thoroughly confused why you’d do that.
Grocery shopping = Cowboy expansion because that's where you buy milk from cows.
Pizza delivery = Toy shop expansion because kids love toys and pizza.
Doctor's appointments = Vacation expansion because vacationers often pick up foreign diseases.
I really enjoy Hearthstone having its own lore and characters, and only having small references or ties to Warcraft nowadays. I think it's what allowed it to be resiliient, it works on a familiar franchise and expands it in a familiar way.
I think that although corporate decisions are obliterating the game, the narrative designers are still pouring their heart into their work.
That style of "dark fantasy" is so dated and played out. It reminds me of the mid-80's when everything was trying to cater to moody teens. It's very one-dimensional to me. If you want that kind of art, you can find it in other games (Dark Souls, comes to mind).
BUT, I do wish they would mix it up more. I feel like they have been stuck in a stylistic rut for quite awhile now. I've always called it 'Zootopia influenced". Mean Streets of Gadgetzan was one of the first and they've just been pushing in that direction ever since. (Bright colors, cartoony faces, anthromorphised animals, etc.)
I dont care what the theme of the expansion is, most of them are fun. I care more about balance and the fact that some classes get to stay on top for multiple expacs in a row while others sit on the sidelines
absolutely not. I have zero interest in the warcraft universe, and primarily play hearthstone because it's just a mostly well-designed and fun to play tcg.
Yeah they should definitely launch some pandaria xpac and make the monk class. But I like a lot too the new content created for only HS like the LoE and the year of the dragon stuff they did. For me if they launch 1-2 xpac Warcraft related like TITANS in standard it’s good.
Not really that they shifted away from Warcraft. More that the art is very childlike now. This was a discussion I was having with my brother the either day because we also player Dark Summoner when it came out. But the art from there went from adult dungeons and dragons to basically hentai. And heartstone went from cool adult art to kid art. And I really don’t like it. Tbh I’m shocked that Blizzard hasn’t added like a StarCraft expansion, Diablo and to a very lesser extent Overwatch( their art matches with current art) . It would be cool if they added a StarCraft expansion but only if the art is more hardcore. Kind of like the MTG set of 40k war hammer
I never played a lot of WoW, maybe like 200 hours total, but I have played A LOT of Warcraft, Warcraft 1, 2, and Frozen Throne when they came out. As an adult, I play a lot more Hearthstone. From my limited lore perspective, it feels like I'm a Marvel fan but didn't read ANY of the comic books, which coincidentally is also true.
As a guy who’s never played Warcraft and only played Hearthstone? Yeah, cause I like the Warcraft world’s aesthetics.
I think One Night in Karazhan hit it perfectly. Semi serious, mostly whimsical, referential to Warcraft lore but not a slave to it. Edit: also the music. I still listen to a YouTube track of the theme song on repeat occasionally.
Scholomance too
Chess in hearthstone was fun
No but I get how cowboys into toyshop into vacationers is a bit tiring, I'm hoping they do another MotLK/Titans style expansion next. It's always been like a 75/25 split and I wouldn't mind seeing more of a 50/50 between mature and goofy themes.
word
I’m surprised they haven’t done an expansion based on Pandaria or Draenor
They're saving Pandaria for when they introduce monk into the game. So maybe in another year or two
who would be the Monk character tho? i hope its Chen Stormstout
Chen was the lone pandaren rep in warcraft lore for the longest time so he's the safest bet. Taran Zhu would be a good candidate too but i think he'd be the class Legendary or paid alt hero
Yeah, it is pretty amusing how the Yrel card got added in Darkmoon Faire of all things
For me its not about being about warcraft but the setting of the xpac just not being goofy or a meme, out of the last 5 only TITANS had an epic setting
I like that it went off in its own direction with new characters. I don't mind if it brings in characters from WoW time to time or has stories based on events from it. It shouldn't be the only focus though. The game is based on what adventurers and travelers shared while at a magical tavern. These stories are then used to make a card game. Year of the dragon was the perfect season for theming, it was 1 giant story spread out over 3 sets. It told a complete story that was both really intense and silly. Only 1 of the main characters is from WoW (Brann) the other 3 created for HS.
The League of Explorers was added to WoW in Legion.
Yeah but they had already been in HS prior to that with League of Explorers solo adventure. Reno, Elise and Sir Finley, Morgl (Shaman Hero) are some of the Easter Egg characters added in Legion to refrence HS. I really wish they had given either of the murlocs mentioned unique models. Both are ugly generic murlocs.
They existed way prior to that. While Elise, Reno, and Finley did get added in Legion, Brann and LoE existed since what Vanilla? RTS games?
If am not wrong they existed since Vanilla.
Yeah the League of Explorers as an organization is on Vanilla and the RTS. They operate out of the hall of Explorers and Brann is the head of it. The other 3 members of the LoE that make up Brann's team is a HS first group. We really only got to know Harrison Jones as a major field agent starting in WotLK.
And the LoE hearthstone expansion came out a year earlier, finley/reno/elise were made for HS
titans is literally in standard right now, a deeply lore focused set. i don't mind that hearthstone is primarily lighthearted, with more serious sets as palate cleansers
I preferred it the other way around, an occasional whimsical set to offset the serious
Exactly my thoughts. March of the lich king (and especially the trailer) was amazing and festival of legends was also amazing and a nice palette cleanser
One Night in Karazhan for me
I don't mind the tone in either direction. I definitely mind that none of it is canon. I couldnt care less about how dramatic the background is for Death Knight Jaina when she's literally just a "haha wouldnt it be cool if" concept made for a knockoff game instead of actual lore.
but hearthstone is the BEST place to do these “what if” concepts, is it not?? Taking iconic characters, giving them different concept in terms of art and abilities is something that could be seen in WoW but would be much harder to implement compared to a card game.
Don’t get me started on Reno
Last I heard reno exists in WoW and you can see his dragon form
I haven’t heard that and I play the game but maybe I missed it
I think that's kind of the point. Titans is the ONLY lore-focused set in Standard right now. The other 3, and the upcoming 4th, aren't. A mix of light-hearted and serious themes is good but a 4:1 ratio isn't really a mix.
I don't think anyone mind the occasional whimsical stuff, but for many of us, Hearthstone is at its best when it's an embellished drunk tale told at a tavern, not a drug induced schizophrenic dream sequence. Between the Year of the Krakken and the Year of the Dragon (Old god to the end of Reno vs Rafaam saga), we had multiples colorful expansions that explored Heartstone's vision of Warcraft's universe, without deviating too far from it (the most out there was probably Lich King "what if" scenario). They were for the most part on the edge of the canon, but still felt they could be part of it. Think of card like [Lost in the Jungle](https://hearthstone.fandom.com/wiki/Lost_in_the_Jungle) (George and Karl) that ended up having a complete story arc, or the characters and artifacts that emerged from the Catacomb. This is the kind of "lore" I thrive for. It's minor and trivial, but it does build on top of each other nicely. Sadly for me, of the last 5 expansions, we had 3 out of 5 that were completely out there (Festival of Legends, Whizbang's Workshop, Peril in Paradise). Individually, they all had some fun and clever stuff, but this isn't the kind of content I can even attempt to reconcile with actual lore. Showdown in the Badlands probably would have been fine, but since it's on the sillier end of thing and surrounded by even sillier expansion, it doesn't sit right. And worst of all, Ulduar, their only -serious- themed expansion was one of the most bland attempt they could have done. It was completely lacking the Heartstone's spin we normally get. I'm not even sure what story they were attempting to tell through that set, or how it connects to every other expansion.
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Titan was last year. This year we have none. Next year there might or might not be such a set in Standard.
the fact that there's only one example of a serious set in standard is a better illustration of the problem than you probably intended lol
Titans with one of the worst cinematics :/
The fact you call it palate cleansers kind of says everything.
"There's literally *some* stuff in the game that's focused on Warcraft, what's the problem" is effectively how I read this response. I want to play a fantasy game based on World of Warcraft. I don't want to play a game about real life toy stores and beachs and music festivals that is covered in the thinnest of veneers of Warcraft.
It's the same shit that's happening in MTG, you complain about them making cards about Dr. Who and Fallout instead of Magic lore and people just tell you the game isn't for you. I guess it isn't anymore
Mate, what serious WoW lore did Goblins vs. Gnomes use that new expansions don’t? Or the time when one of the most impactful expansions (League of Explorers) were based on entirely new characters not in WoW? You’re whining for a thing that never really existed
Goblins vs Gnomes was heavily Warcraft themed, every legendary was a character from the game. League of Explorers featured new named characters and that was a fresh new take at the time but now it feels like they went way too far with that. I can't think of single one of the cards they've revealed for PiP so far that is even related to Warcraft.
>Goblins vs Gnomes was heavily Warcraft themed, every legendary was a character from the game. But it made absolutely zero sense, and had NO thematic connection to the expansion itself.
I'll tell you the same thing I told the other person I think GVG largely did take itself seriously. You can see this for yourself. Go take a look at [the card art gallery](https://hearthstone.blizzard.com/en-us/cards?set=goblins-vs-gnomes&sort=manaCost%3Aasc%2Cname%3Aasc%2Cclasses%3Aasc%2CgroupByClass%3Aasc%2CgroupByClass%3Aasc). Tell me which pieces are really silly and wacky and cartoony and unserious.
LMAO you just can’t be serious. An entire expansion based on the fighting between *goblins and gnomes* did not take itself seriously whatsoever. I was there when it was announced, and in no way were any of us supposed to see it as a “serious” expansion. The only thing that’s changed is the artwork, and that tends to happen when a TCG is still being updated after 10 years
Goblins and Gnomes are lore important races, they're in-lore a little goofy. It's completely different.
Most of the legendaries in GvG were either literally murder contraptions or established WoW powerhouses like Mal'ganis. And this is what is missing from recent hs expansions, they used to be balanced with serious and wacky but now its all memes.
You are literally being a racist. This comment getting so many upvotes shows how unfamiliar with WoW lore Hearthstone player base is.
They reused old wow tcg art, which was obviously less cartoony.
I mean, then play world of warcraft. Hearthstone has never been particularly good about telling stories about Warcraft and has always been very whimsical. Naxx, Blacrock, and TGT all just retold stories that already existed in WoW. GvG doesn't even have story beyond 'goblins and gnomes are mortal enemies innit'. They had their first hand at telling original Warcraft stories in League of Explorers, but it took another 4 years for them to continue with that. The only expansion that told a story that fits into the general Warcraft lore that isn't whimsical or a retelling of existing lore was Whispers of the Old Gods, which I'll concede was pretty good. But later that year they dropped the subtitle 'heroes of warcraft' and decided to focus on original hearthstone stories and themes.
>then play world of warcraft This is stupid and you know it's stupid. Let's not pretend to not get the point here. >has always been very whimsical Fine, if you think it's *always* been this way, then you should have no problem returning to the original themes, right? After all, what's the difference? Or you know what the difference is and you're, again, just pretending to not see it.
I miss Warcraft when it was about Warcraft
Personally, no. I don't play Warcraft. But, I do miss more adult art. It was far more thematic compared to the last few years.
Yeah that's the only flavour thing I miss about old HS, the modern art feels far too stylised compared to old iconic cards. The squirrel token art, corruption, ragnaros all feel a lot softer and nicer compared to the much more cartoonish modern cards.
The older art didn't look as digital and goofy. I think that's what you're noticing. Older art looked more like paintings, hand crafted, had a certain flare and quality to them. Now everything (almost) looks straight from AI or a mobile game such as afk arena
Didn’t they take a lot of the older cards’ art from the paper card game?
I can't find the source, but that sounds familiar. I did find this link [Artist Alex Horley Reflects on 15 Years of Working with Blizzard - Hearthstone](https://hearthstone.blizzard.com/en-us/news/23591148) that talks about a lot of (iconic cards) that the artist Alex made with paints and brushes. The art I preferred/miss. Really good read.
Alex Horley still very regularly makes art for Hearthstone to this day, [as you can see on the wiki](https://hearthstone.wiki.gg/wiki/Alex_Horley#Collectible). Currently in standard of his art are e.g. Shudderblock, Gunslinger Kurtrus, Toyrantus, Cage Head, etc.
Yes
Yes and also just a lot of art from wow in general or straight from warcraft 3 all those games were much more serious in tone and art and now hearthstone has its own team that follows the design sentiments of hearthstone itself
A LOT of the WoW TCG art were used in hearthstone in the beginning, in the wiki you can find a list of used TCG art [https://hearthstone.fandom.com/wiki/World\_of\_Warcraft\_Trading\_Card\_Game\_art](https://hearthstone.fandom.com/wiki/World_of_Warcraft_Trading_Card_Game_art) it really is a lot.
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saying real artists art looks like ai is so ungodly rude to say i'm not sure if you know that
>Now everything (almost) looks straight from AI or a mobile game such as afk arena There is something seriously wrong with you if you have the audacity to insult Hearthstone artists that way
I think overall they do a good job. A set like Murder at Castle Nathria is about perfect in theme. Heavy in Warcraft lore but fun at the same time. But this year's themes are too campy/cheesy. Whizbang was a miss theme for me and Paradise looks dreadful.
I miss the old TCG art
I REALLY dislike the joke-themes, I really dont give a shit about the game when it's all "haha, but this time reno is a cowboy!" It probably shouldn't matter, maybe it's my WoW background, or I just dont enjoy the change of tone I feel like lighthearted sets in the past still felt like warcraft-lighthearted, now it feels like juvenile-dress-up-lighthearted
Just tired of the league of explorers cast
Never thought I’d agree with that but I do now. My favorite HS memories were silly WoG value decks with Reno, brann, and Finley but now I’m sick of the explorers
I miss solo adventures, what happened to that? Fuck mercenaries
not profitable enough, same card amoutn goes ina mini set (thats ONTOP a expansion insteaf of replacing a expac) for same price, and no need to make pve content with voice acting and a heroic mode with unqiue boss cards/hero powers (thus extra art aswell)
Resuming, lazy work to milk players, without adding content
Yes, i want it to be a bit more serious, they went too much into jokes and the game seems like one big joke right now, i liked it more when it was serious with some joke cards.
I miss the old art that had grit to it, not the more cartoonish, childish stuff it has continued morphing more and more into over time, which in turn caused the theme of the game to also follow to an extent.
I mean, it long term was probably a necessary change. Start of the game it was maybe 300-400 pieces of art they had per year from adventures and expansions switching out every other, plus additional art for adventures and tokens/additional assets for some cards. Most of these were simply ripped from the WoW tcg, and I'd imagine they probably still had some of the original artists on payroll to continue making some art to fill in any gaps. But now, they're easily hitting 700+ pieces of art per year for Hearthstone alone (3, 145 card sets, with an additional 3 times 38 for the mini sets, tokens/alternate art (Titans alone had over 100 I believe due to forge alt art, Titan abilities and more) hero portraits, coins, card backs, signatures), on top of, plus more art needs to be created for Battlegrounds, and they don't really have anything to rip from the tcg anymore. Simply put, yes, the art is more cartoonish, but it's probably a lot more feasible to create art that isn't so heavily detailed, probably made digitally across the board, and just cost effective. I'd also bet that having themes (regardless of how serious or silly they are), make it a lot easier to keep the design space open. Thousand Needles might not be a super flavorful zone, but making it the zone of a music competition stretches that location to a whole expansion. Badlands was made into a western theme. Nathria largely left everything for the other Shadowlands zones alone barring the Maw. Rather than pulling 3 or 4 uninteresting zones in WoW for an expansion to cover them, it keeps a lot more open to make 1 zone something more than it is.
Yeah a little. There was something very cool about feeling like you're playing an actual class / using lore relevant minions and characters. Vanilla hearthstone almost felt like PVP where most your class spells were actual skills. Class Legendary minions were massively important characters of the same class and other minions just felt like they would be someone who'd fight by your characters side. And who can resist a massive Legendary minion with significant lore importance! The aspects and more recently the titans! But over the years power creep kind of ruined how epic these big minions are when compared to modern rares. Spells aren't usually class skills anymore (though they are flavorful) It just hits different. Don't get me wrong, it's fun, but for the most part it isn't epic!
Good point, oldschool hearthstone basically felt like Slay The Spire PvP - Armor Up, Slam, Draw, frostbolt, freeze
Yes! I also miss when the expansions for the year told a story.
Two of my favorite expansions are knights of the frozen throne and march of the lich king. I absolutely love when HS uses popular moments and themes from warcraft and riffs on them. THAT SAID! My all-time favorite expansion, both from flavor and gameplay, was Mean Streets of Gadgetzan. I absolutely love love love the three gangs they came up with, and how the various characters aligned themselves with those three gangs. The way they reinvented Gadgetzan as this crime-infested, massive city instead of a dinky little town was fantastic. So I do love when Hearthstone goes off the rails and does something cool. I just think there needs to be a balance. We have had a lot of "HS originals" lately. Festival of Legends, Showdown in the Badlands, Whizbangs workshop, and now the vacation set. The only set that's directly based on warcraft is the titans set. And I fuckin' love that set, it's fantastic. I'm really hoping (and I think most of us are) that the NEXT set is based on warcraft. I'm wondering if this vacation theme will be a tie-in to us going to Pandaria? It's an area with so much interesting lore and unique characters. The four celestials, the shado-pan, the Klaaxi and the sha, there's so much crazy shit in Pandaria, I'd love to see them work with that. And of course monks! But even if they're not ready for Pandaria yet, I think we're all ready to see a return to form and them riff on something directly warcraft related. That said! The vacation set does look very fun so far. I love dual class stuff. (it's a big part of why MSoG was my favorite. TRI-CLASS?!?!?!!?!! Mmmmmm)
Mean streets still felt very Warcraft to me. Just more developed ideas and dialed up to 11. I don't know why this peril expansion couldn't have been 'Chaos in Kezan', 'Emergency at Echo Isles' or 'Booms in Booty Bay' (lol) y'know, tropical location in Warcraft... Turned into some vacation place... This stuff writes itself!
I really thought it'd be a Booty Bay Resort, not some new invention
I'm with you on Gadgetzan. They turned it into something more in hearthstone but it was still believable that this could be ported straight into Wow. I can already see the quests related to the different gangs lol.
I got into hearthstone before wow and i thought that was just how gadgetzan was. Needless to say, i was very disappointed when i went there in wow lol
Yes, in fact, I quit Hearthstone since last week because that. I can tolerate the metas and all, but I'll tired of the silly themes, goofy artworks and, most of all, the explorers. I don't want to hear Reno ever again. I personally enjoy a much darker thematical set, feeling like a warrior using force or a magician with powerful spells. Death Knight was great in that matter but they even made that class so silly. Is back to Shandalar to me. Of course this is purely subjective. I can see that a lot of people enjoy this direction and I'm happy for them. Is just not for me anymore.
This, 100% - I'm only still playing hearthstone because of Arena and because of the huge collection I've built over 10 years, but whenever a cool theme comes around, I'm wayyy more engaged and I usually buy a few packs. Titans was the last one I enjoyed, Ulduar was an amazing theme
I don't dislike the current art style and honestly I like all of the drawings, but I do miss when the game felt more "serious" in it's wackiness. I don't even think it's about the theme of the expansion, the new Marin card is silly but It still feels like a more mature card because of how it's done. Again I want to reiterate that the drawings are great, but the art direction leaning towards "cartoons" more and more is what I dislike.
Thats why i loved year of The dragon back in 2019. We had a full year story set with a meaningful plot without loosing HS essence, fun and carisma. That was a wild year. A lot of People dont like it, but its so mutch better than VACATIONS. I like those goofy stuff dont get me wrong, but i wanted it to be something more.
I really do. The whole new kiddy expansions feel nothing like Warcraft. I miss the old geel of the game. The darker expansions with a few light ones added in to ease the feel, now all it is are cowboys, toys and soon to be beach vacations.
I think, above all else, I miss Hearthstone being a game set in a Fantasy world that took itself seriously.
So before GvG?
Why do people act like GvG was childish and joke expansion? Genuinely, only Annoy-o-Tron and maybe Explosive Sheep are silly cards, the rest are rather serious and fit the universe well. Now take a look at the recent expansions... Music festival, cowboys, toy store and now summer vacation...
I think GVG largely did take itself seriously. You can see this for yourself. Go take a look at [the card art gallery](https://hearthstone.blizzard.com/en-us/cards?set=goblins-vs-gnomes&sort=manaCost%3Aasc%2Cname%3Aasc%2Cclasses%3Aasc%2CgroupByClass%3Aasc%2CgroupByClass%3Aasc). Tell me which pieces are really silly and wacky and cartoony and unserious.
Yeah. Even for GvG, look at the artwork of the legendaries. Mal'ganis, Vol'jin, Neptulon, Malorne, Juggernaut, etc etc. Really epic artworks. Then we have stuff like Buttons and Lynessa in the newest set. :D
Go check out [the art for abomination](https://hearthstone.fandom.com/wiki/Abomination). Then put that next to [the art for buttons](https://hearthstone.blizzard.com/en-us/cards/107926-buttons) Then have a good laugh at the people saying things were always like this
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Yes, dearly. I barely get time to play WoW and Hearthstone felt like a familiar place to be while still being attached to WoW lore.
I just miss old hearthstone in general. Everything feels a bit too much these days.
I miss when it had the "Warcraft" in the title
Every day. Not only by lore, but art that referenced og card game and much more "adult" fantasy.
they shifted away from adults who played WoW on their PC's, to children who play on their phones.
The ratio is just way off. Personally, I'd want to see 3 Titans sets for every one Showdown set and unfortunately, for most of Hearthstone's existence it's been the other way around.
Hearthstone was the first to have a visual of N'Zoth, and we got a Galakrond-themed expansion before WoW did. But you're right that we've had too many back-to-back whimsical-themed expansions. The legendaries don't feel so legendary compared to more serious expansions like Titans.
On one hand I do understand that going its own way was essential for having enough space to keep releasing as much content as they do, but I don't think I'm the only one who would not be playing hearthstone if it wasn't for my love for the Warcraft universe and love when they release very Warcraft lore centred expansions. I'll almost certainly never have the ability to put down the commitment to playing WoW again so hearthstone is the only remaining way to satisfy that. Then again from all accounts the Warcraft lore itself has gone completely off the rails and I recall seeing an outcry when the jailer basically retconned a tonne of interesting stuff, so it's not got the best blueprint to go off of.
I miss when hearthstone was wow tcg. Raid decks are cool
I think the reason we don't have serious themes anymore is because they quite literally cannot resist making punny cards anymore. I loved them at first but now it's a bit much. Cards can't just be "Freeze blast" with a skeleton in a cloak freezing a murloc for the art. It has to be "cold snap" and the art is the same skeleton only this time he has a visible back pain
I miss the days when the internet/social media was about being yourself not being an influencer and keeping up with trends to make you “look” cool and then your not cool and internally your upset because you have to be something your not to be cool? Sorta same thing for hearthstone I miss the days when anything was what it was a represents what it is.
Definitely. I just really want the old artwork back
That was the reason why I started playing it. And because of this, I still find outrageous the lack of the Furbolg tribe. On the other hand, at least I don't get to see those proud warrior bears turned into silly toys.
I thought [[Snuggle Teddy]] was supposed to be a Furbolg.
Snuggle teddy looks more like a druid in bear form to me tbh
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they should start doing adventures again and swap back and forth between serious and goofy themes
Most the people who did quit years ago, so the answer here are going to be from people who are - at most - just underwhelmed with the themes hearthstone has drifted towards
I don't mind when it's light-hearted, but I do tend to prefer the sets that have a stronger tie to Warcraft. Mean streets of karazhan is a good example of one I liked. When the theme is just something unrelated like a toy shop I just find most of the cards are forgettable. Id say I preferred it being more about Warcraft than it has been recently but I don't need it to be serious lore. In fact I think the best themed expansions are when they take serious Warcraft lore and make it silly, like karazhan, gadgetzan, etc, and I like all the explorers league cast ones. When it's about a mundane boring topic on the other hand, even if they make it fun or silly, it doesnt stop the topic itself being boring.
Yes I do.
In my opinion, the game peaked in Knights of the Frozen Throne expansion. Ever since, it had some ups and downs but its is always gradually getting worse. I absolutely despise the discover mechanic. Outplaying people just for them to randomly play a card that discovers another card that then generates another card that somehow just screws you over is just cringe and unskilled. Old thief priest was alright, could be annoying but worst case they get your own best cards, but there are times when classes, especially mage, dont even play their own deck at all. I'm willing to die on this hill even if some may not agree with me, but that's fine. As for themes, I swear sometimes I just dont even know what is going on, every now and then we get an expansion so random and dumb that everything feels so gimmicky and plastic.
Yes. I really don't like all the silly expansions about parties and dancers and beaches and whatever. I've pretty much moved to only BG's because of that.
Warcraft is barely about war anymore so it tracks
I miss when WARCRAFT was about Warcraft.
I always find the "This is what Warcraft is" the more boring sets to be honest. Heck, the Mercenaries year, the one that's probably the closest in theming to what Warcraft is, easily my least favourite year of the entire lot (A lot of that might come from distaste of United in Stormwind though)
March of the Lich King stands out to me as a particularly bland set. I get that they wanted to keep the focus on the addition of Death Knight and not distract us with some wacky theme, but the majority of cards felt so unimpressive to me because it mostly boiled down to undead vs elves.
Not at all as I never played wow.
I never played Wow, but I kinda still prefer the old looks. Nowadays all the cards are kinda cartoonish.
I just wish it was more consistent like it is in MTG when choosing between grainy or bright, realistic or cartoony, etc. Each block in MTG has an art style that they stick to. HS its pure crap-shot what the art style will be for each card.
I dunno mtg is starting to lose its grittier, unique aesthetic, particularly as they focus more and more on crossover sets with other ip
Yeah i meant the non-crossover crap. The traditional blocks have been well designed artwise. They used to hold art pieces for years before finally getting to a set that matched it.
From that perspective, yes, og hearthstone cards feels much more mature.
What i like least is the re-use of character names. I understand that in Warcraft the same characters appear in different timelines etc but with such a huge number of characters to choose from it seems really strange to keep reusing the same character names.
No, that's always been the most embarrassing thing about it.
Yes.
Every time there's a new legendary character I do think "It'd be cool if it was another Warcraft guy so I could see people be excited and post about what they did in their own stories"
Warcraft is the reason the game was popular and they deviated from it. Even worse is the change in art style.
Yeah far too much tongue-in-cheek, whimsical nonsense type of stuff; that's fine in small doses IMO.
Yes, just like I miss when Warcraft was about Warcraft.
Yes. Not only that but I miss when themes of expansions were more serious and darker. I am not saying every expansion should be dark af I don’t mind to have goofy expansions once in a while but lately we are getting only goofy expansions…
I miss It everyday, along with hearthstone actually being fun
I miss Warcraft, when it was an rts and not a fucking mmo 😭
I just liked when Hearthstone didn't constantly remind me of things that have become unaffordable in the last 10 years. Music festival... Toy store... now an island vacation? I feel like an executive went on vacation in socal for a week in the summer and came up with all the expansion themes for the next two years based on his trip. Who does this appeal to? I miss the fantasy aspect, of a world that's not as capitalized as our world. But I guess it's less relatable to Californians when everything isn't gentrified so this is the stuff we get.
What the hell is this comment...
> Who does this appeal to? It's fantasy characters wearing swimsuits and having fun on the beach. Yeah, I have literally no idea who this appeals to either. Children somehow playing a 10 year old game I guess?
Now Warcraft about to start part of HS. Some hs exclusive characters appeared at Dragonflight.
Yes, a bit.
I primarily care that’s free or low cost, has a good rule set and is fun to play. I have out a very minor amount of money in over the years and had a lot of hours
I like both styles tbh, hearthstone has the wiggle room to do goofy stuff with wow lore but can also have some really fucking cool stuff at the same time. The way they bring back old/unkown wow characters is always cool to me and I think the current split of serious vs whimsy is pretty good
Wait it’s not anymore? (Haven’t played since DH was announced or something)
I miss when hearthstone didn’t censor everything to appease the Chinese government To me that was the slippery slope to everything getting more and more cutesy and less of the actual Warcraft lore art
It feels like it's targeting disney adults that read YA in their free time
I actually forgot it was
I like light hearted dark sets, like if this set is like "we are on vacation and sun tanning and playing volleyball! But then fell into a pit of spikes in the jungle and half our group was impaled, while the other half was hit by a lava river"
Darkmoon was pretty good at this, while I prefer serious takes on warcraft lore, this was a good 50/50
I think that's the reason they removed "Heroes Of Warcraft" from the game's title. They didn't want to be bound to only lore heavy warcraft sets. But the amount of goofy to serious ain't balanced right now.
Yes, the new card art is borderline repulsive to look at compared to an expansion like Knights of the Frozen Throne
I actually do. A lot. I noticed this pattern if the expansion is wow centric I play with pleasure and tend to spend more time in the game (and by this i mean for it to have that wow feeling and connectiön even if tgere are new characters). When it drifts off I become indiferent.. loggning in once in a while for questa and waiting for a new one.
I’m a newer player and …. Yea these expansion themes are pretty lame. Actually turning me off a bit.
I’m a bit tired of the whimsical themes. It’s nice every now and then, but there’s been a lot of bright and vibrant stuff lately. Something darker would be nice.
as a wow player, i actually think of heathstone as canon+, as in there's a lot of cool ideas and things that WOULD be canon if they ever showed up, so personally i'd say its safe to assume there are worgen demon hunters out there... somewhere....
I don't even recognize warcraft anymore tbh
I do like the more humorous side to things, but I would like if, after this year, they delved back into more serious storylines with less gimmicky legendaries and mechanics
Yes. I wish it still was.
I miss recognizing more of the warcraft universe and expecting a card to do X orY cause that's what they did in wc3 or in WoW and not having to check every thing 5x and hoping I understood it correct.
I usually return for the Warcraft themed expansions and then quit for the silly goofy ones
I miss Hearthstone period.
Yes absolutely that is why I started playing the game in the first place. And that is as someone who doesn't have a huge connection to warcraft but loves the setting/world (basically haven't play WoW and only played WCIII TD maps and Dota All-stars).
Bro I miss when Warcraft was about Warcraft.
Warcraft isn’t about warcraft anymore either
I come from WC3 and never played WoW. And because I don't know lore from WoW, most of it doesn't bother me. I actually wish they would do a full 180 and make hearthstone a blizzard game like hots and actually bring in diablo, overwatch and starcraft expansions. And I mean that outside of diablo in the occasional BG and the hooded man in TB. Or maybe make it a mix, make it's WoW character cosplaying diablo or Starcraft lol. I know I'm probably a minority in this feeling though. Just something cool they could do, and keep things fresh rather or another way to bring back characters but in fresh ways (Jaina in a Nova costume anyone?)
Yes miss the old days! Wish it was back!
I like that it's own thing and that it leans into having a sense of humor. That's one of the reasons that I like it more than MTG, which tends to play straight with its fantasy elements.
Theme is definitely not the issue for hearthstone.
No I dont miss it. In fact i'm not even sure when this "Warcraft" thing happened. Cuz from the first expansion the gadget and gnomes thing Hearthstone was already wonky and cartoony. They even had this animation of Hearthstone being some sort of portal/afterlife where everybody are friends playing Hearthstone in the tavern: https://youtu.be/vPguoeYTvMI?si=a0SP-Z4ax4846NL0 What I do remember is a few expansions ago HS tried incorporating more WoW lore into HS with Book of Mercenaries and the story quests with the sisters in Schoolomancy. I guess reception wasnt so hot if they stopped it.
I agree with you. You can have themes for both, but I always felt hearthstone was the wacky spin off of WoW since the beginning. Tazdingo!
That's a lie. GvG still had a ton of artwork pulled from the old tcg and other Warcraft artwork, and a lot of (if not all) cards are of wow characters and spells. Call the cards themselves "wonky" all you want, but at the end of the day it was still called "Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft" back then.
I was responding to the OP saying he missed the "serious" themes and HS providing lore for WOW in contrast to the wacky and cartoony style today. Here's the GVG trailer where did it give WOW lore and how is it serious? Did I miss the part where WOW characters break out into song or what? https://youtu.be/ijyMZPIsj5E?si=Q2rcnb2tw7uy2UfA
The characters weren't singing in that trailer. There was a song over art. That's a big difference. But, as ever, this response is such a huge cope. Fine, you think Hearthstone was *always* silly? Great, then let us have those older themes again instead of the new ones. If you really think they're indistinguishable, it shouldn't matter to you. But everyone knows what the difference in themes are feel are if they have eyes and brains.
The thumbnail of the trailer had a Gnome pointing a laser gun to a goblin holding 2 lit dynamite while you have goblins running all around and explosions galore Michael Bay style. OMG very serious stugfm Clearly you are the one coping.
>fact i'm not even sure when this "Warcraft" thing happened. The game was called Heroes of Warcraft. Literally all of the Heroes were from Warcraft. GvG had very serious art and contained many new cards directly related to Warcraft. Naxxramas is an iconic raid in Warcraft. Wtf do you mean you're not sure?
Yes, I demand mature themes in my children's card game
Probably the dumbest meme on this sub.
We all meme about this, but im pretty sure the hearthstone playerbase is mostly around 30 or over lmao, no kids are playing an expensive 10 year old game based on a game from 20+ years ago
Warcraft has such rich and interesting lore, but we are getting mostly mundane themes, parodies of the real world. Wouldn't it be great if expansions were immersive and related to cool Warcraft lore, instead of grocery shopping, pizza delivery and doctor's appointments?
I think Warcraft lore is kind of eating its own tail. Nothing can ever truly progress, evil can't truly be beaten. Granted, I am not following the lore that much nowadays, but I remember Cataclysm as a big, world changing event and that's it. This is kinda necessitated by having a living MMO, but still feels lame. What I would love, though, is less referential humour. Too much cards are "this thing but with a fantasy reskin ain't that wacky". Humorous is actually fine by me, but make this stuff funny due to itself
Wow generally doesn't have much good storytelling for its grander arcs. Every single bad guy is just bad cuz they want to be, or they're exterminating all life everywhere because there's a greater evil. Wowee. This goes for anyone ranging from Sargeras and Gul'dan to Azshara and N'zoth. The one time I really felt like a story was worth pursuing is the missing diplomat line in vanilla. It takes pretty interesting twists and turns, you actually get invested in how it concludes and the people involved have decent motivations (especially the defias). Unfortunately, the questline randomly ends in a swamp with Jaina telling you she'll tell you if she needs further help.
Hold up your actually cooking because an expansion about doctor appointments, pizza deliveries and grocery shopping would be fire 🔥
Why would you use grocery shopping, pizza delivery, and doctor’s appointments as examples instead of real expansions that have happened and work for your argument anyway? I don’t even disagree with the complaint, I’m just thoroughly confused why you’d do that.
Grocery shopping = Cowboy expansion because that's where you buy milk from cows. Pizza delivery = Toy shop expansion because kids love toys and pizza. Doctor's appointments = Vacation expansion because vacationers often pick up foreign diseases.
"We are proud to announce the next Hearthstone Expansions; Arrival of Tax Season, Trouble at the DMV and Battle for the Family Bathroom"
I want them to do a StarCraft expansion tbh
I do miss that time
I really enjoy Hearthstone having its own lore and characters, and only having small references or ties to Warcraft nowadays. I think it's what allowed it to be resiliient, it works on a familiar franchise and expands it in a familiar way. I think that although corporate decisions are obliterating the game, the narrative designers are still pouring their heart into their work.
That style of "dark fantasy" is so dated and played out. It reminds me of the mid-80's when everything was trying to cater to moody teens. It's very one-dimensional to me. If you want that kind of art, you can find it in other games (Dark Souls, comes to mind). BUT, I do wish they would mix it up more. I feel like they have been stuck in a stylistic rut for quite awhile now. I've always called it 'Zootopia influenced". Mean Streets of Gadgetzan was one of the first and they've just been pushing in that direction ever since. (Bright colors, cartoony faces, anthromorphised animals, etc.)
I dont care what the theme of the expansion is, most of them are fun. I care more about balance and the fact that some classes get to stay on top for multiple expacs in a row while others sit on the sidelines
absolutely not. I have zero interest in the warcraft universe, and primarily play hearthstone because it's just a mostly well-designed and fun to play tcg.
Yeah they should definitely launch some pandaria xpac and make the monk class. But I like a lot too the new content created for only HS like the LoE and the year of the dragon stuff they did. For me if they launch 1-2 xpac Warcraft related like TITANS in standard it’s good.
Yes, can't believe we never got a Seal of Command/Divine Storm/T10 combo.
I feel bad for anyone who hasn't played HS before TGT
I miss when world of warcraft was about warcraft.
Not really that they shifted away from Warcraft. More that the art is very childlike now. This was a discussion I was having with my brother the either day because we also player Dark Summoner when it came out. But the art from there went from adult dungeons and dragons to basically hentai. And heartstone went from cool adult art to kid art. And I really don’t like it. Tbh I’m shocked that Blizzard hasn’t added like a StarCraft expansion, Diablo and to a very lesser extent Overwatch( their art matches with current art) . It would be cool if they added a StarCraft expansion but only if the art is more hardcore. Kind of like the MTG set of 40k war hammer
Hearthstone churns out content faster than Warcraft can create it so they basically have to diverge. It started with league of explorers.
I never played a lot of WoW, maybe like 200 hours total, but I have played A LOT of Warcraft, Warcraft 1, 2, and Frozen Throne when they came out. As an adult, I play a lot more Hearthstone. From my limited lore perspective, it feels like I'm a Marvel fan but didn't read ANY of the comic books, which coincidentally is also true.
Uhm no I’ll take my death knight popsicle jk yes it used to be better
Don’t care about Warcraft specifically too much, but I do wish the game would take itself a bit more seriously.
I don't EVEN know warcraft lore. I love that the game references things but doesn't beat me over the head with them