Hearthstonehas just seen the release of its Murder at Castle Nathria expansion, which gives players access to a load of new cards, mechanics, and more to change up the traditional Wild and Standard game modes. However,Hearthstonehas more than just one way to play, and many of its fans don’t even engage in the traditional ranked mode of the card game. There is the auto-battler mode inHearthstoneBattlegrounds, for example, that remains popular even for those who don’t play the regular game modes.
However, some new changes being brought toHearthstone’sBattlegrounds mode have angered fans. Specifically, Blizzard has announced that it is planning on introducing an in-game, premium currency called Runestones, and a battle pass equivalent to Battlegrounds in the form of the Season Pass. Regarding the first change, the premium currency will phase out the ability to purchase items in-game through real money and replace it with an equivalent Runestone value. This had players initially fearful as often it is hard for a player to get full value out of premium currency.
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Usually, premium currencies are sold in amounts that don’t reflect the price of an item in an in-game shop.MultiVersus’Gleamium, for example, puts the price of a character at 700 Gleamium, but doesn’t allow a player to buy that amount, instead having to fork out ten dollars for 1000. However, it has since been clarified by Chadd Nervig,Hearthstone’sFeatures Lead, that the actual prices in the game’s store won’t be changing, and Runestone bundle sizes will “exactly match the top-selling products.”
Concerning the Season Pass, players are more concerned with the fact that they may now only be able to get certain rewards through paying with real money. In every new season, twohero slots forHearthstoneBattlegroundsare introduced. Previously, it would have been the case that a player could save up and buy these hero slots with in-game gold. However, the new Season Pass changes this, making it impossible for the player who doesn’t want to play to get those extra hero slots.
This has angered someHearthstoneplayers, as with those who pay for the Season Pass getting two extra hero slots will have an advantage in Battlegrounds. Even asHearthstonehas plenty of ways to get players to depart with their gold or real money, usually these tactics revolve around cosmetics and items that don’t enhance play.DiamondHearthstonecards, for example, have been in the game for a while and let players spend money on cool effects without increasing the power of a card. However, these changes prove concerning for anyHearthstoneBattlegrounds who doesn’t want to part with their cash just to have an equal playing field.
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