Widespread uproar over Blizzard’s most recent changes to the Hearthstone rewards system has left the company scrambling to control the damage, in a continuation of August’s fan outcry. Today, Blizzard released a statement promising adjustments to the new Tavern Pass: “We apologize for the confusion and disappointment we have caused,” it writes, backing up the statement with promises to reward Hearthstone players with more gold in the later stages of the track, and assures that event rewards will make up for the unintended deficit.
A massive Hearthstone patch was announced in October, which included the controversial decision to implement a seasonal reward track with select items behind a paywall. News that the infamous season pass system was creeping its way into Hearthstone rattled many fans, but Blizzard assured that “one of the goals of the new progression system is to give you more gold, more rewards, and more cosmetics for all player.” The reaction, however, was quite the opposite: players have expressed discontentment over the reduced gold, increased set size, and confusing store offerings.
Unsurprisingly, Blizzard was quick to respond in today’s update that tagged alongside the release of Darkmoon Faire. In it, Game Director Ben Lee assures that the intention of the progression track is “ultimately ensuring players earn more rewards,” and gives a concrete promise that the disappointing late track pack rewards will be swapped out for a total of 1350 gold. Lee also clarifies that upcoming seasonal and bonus events will tie into the new progression track, offering players more opportunities to gain rewards.
The response to The Tavern Pass from players remains lukewarm at best. Even with today’s update, many believe that the XP progression is too slow, and that gold changes will result in an overall loss to players that don’t pay for the pass. The event system in particular is catching a lot of heat, with some describing it as a band-aid slapped over a much larger issue; if players can’t play the game during these specific times, they don’t want to be left behind.
As of right now, it still doesn’t feel like enough– but it’s a step in the right direction. It’s unsurprising that response has been so negative; Blizzard’s Hearthstone season pass has put the company under the gun, making it much more difficult to please the fans regardless of how allegedly beneficial the changes would be. Stumbling so hard on the release puts Blizzard on their back foot, but it’s still not too late to recover.
Hearthstone is out now on Android, iOS, Mac, and PC.
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