The widespread commotion over Blizzard’s latest changes to the rewards system of Hearthstone has left the company struggling to control the damage, in a continuation of the fan outcry in August. A few hours ago, Blizzard released a press release vowing to make improvements to the new Tavern Pass: “We apologize for the confusion and disappointment we have caused,” it writes, supporting the statement with promises to compensate Hearthstone players with more gold in the later levels of the pass, and guarantees that the event rewards will make up for the unintentional shortage.
A colossal Hearthstone update was revealed last month, which included the questionable decision to enforce a seasonal reward system with select items behind a paywall. News that the outrageous season pass system was dragging its way into Hearthstone shook a lot of players, but Blizzard guaranteed that “one of the goals of the new progression system is to give you more gold, more rewards, and more cosmetics for all player.” However, the reaction was quite the contrary – fans have expressed disappointment over the lowered gold, increased set size, and perplexing store offerings.
Not alarmingly, Blizzard was fast to respond in today’s update that came along with the launch of Darkmoon Faire. In it, Ben Lee, the game’s director, promised that the purpose of the progression track is to “ultimately ensuring players earn more rewards,” and provided a solid promise that the frustrating late track pack rewards will be switched out for a total of 1350 gold. The director also made it clear that future seasonal and bonus events will integrate into the new progression track, providing players more chances to gain rewards.
The feedback to The Tavern Pass from fans remains unenthusiastic at best. Even with the recent update, many regards that the experience progression is very slow, and that gold changes will result in a total loss to players who will not avail of the pass.
The event system in specific is getting a lot of heat, with some considering it as a band-aid slapped to cover a much bigger issue; if fans can’t play the game during these particular times, they don’t want to be left behind.
As of writing, it still doesn’t feel like enough but it’s a step in the correct direction. It’s not surprising that response has been so bad; Blizzard’s Hearthstone season pass has put the company under fire, making it harder to satisfy players regardless of how supposedly beneficial the improvements would be. Slipping so hard on the launch puts Blizzard on their backs, but it’s still not too late for them to recover.
