alt="Hearthstone Logo" />

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is
already shaping up to be a great game, even though it is only
currently in beta. At one point, it seemed as if players would sell
their very souls just to get a beta invite. Without a doubt,
Hearthstone has some serious potential to be the next great Blizzard
game. However, with more and more players getting beta invites,
Hearthstone, like all games in the beta phase, is showing some very
real problems that will hopefully be addressed before the game goes
live.

Tutorial Trouble

One of the major problems jumping right
into the game is the starting tutorial. Now, don't get me wrong, I
loved the tutorial. Unfortunately, it only covered a small fraction
of what actually makes up the game. When it comes to things like the
Arena, building my own deck, or even something simple like how to
concede a match, the tutorial leaves new players painfully
unprepared. Thankfully, the game is pretty self explanatory and some
trial and error will ultimately get you to where you need to go.

Nonetheless, the tutorial could use
some serious work before this game is really totally user friendly.
The tutorial isn't the only place that Hearthstone falls short. There
are some other kinks in the works too.

Limited Card Pool

Another one of these kinks lies in the
lifeblood of Hearthstone; the cards. It goes without saying that
Hearthstone is a game that revolves around cards. Without the cards,
there is simply no game at all. So it stands to reason, since this is
a card game, that there be a lot of card diversity. However, the sad
truth of the matter is, there isn't. In fact, for a card game,
Hearthstone boasts a very small amount of cards. This is especially
true when comparing Hearthstone to epic old school card games like
Magic where the variety of cards was nearly endless.

Considering that Hearthstone allows
players to keep their cards online, it would seem that the amount and
variety of cards available in game would explode. This of course is
not the case. This causes a lack of play styles, deck types, and
overall variety in the game. Basically, with so few cards to choose
from, players are stuck doing the same thing over and over again to
be effective. To say the least, things can start to feel a little bit
boring.

alt="Hearthstone Mage Deck" />

Socialization

Perpetuating that sense of boredom is
the lack of socialization in the game. While there are some premade
in-game emotes, they are pretty generaticand make a real conversation
impossible. Unlike other card games, in Hearthstone you are forced to
sit in stoney silence while you wait your turn. Non of the razzing,
congratulating, or other forms of normal socialization can happen.
This of course is a double edge blade, as communicating with random
strangers on the internet can be...unpleasant, to say the least.

Broken Matchmaking

Equally unpleasant, is being matched up
against players who are far beyond your play level. Picture this, me
as a new player prancing happily through the tutorial and preparing
for my first match up against a real opponent. I hadn't created a
deck yet, instead I jumped right in with one of the starter decks.
Big mistake. I was taken to school, brutally, over and over again.

It wasn't long until I officially
decided that matching me with a “Worthy Opponent” was a bunch of
hogwash. I finally did create my own deck, which produced better
results. However, the matchmaking in Hearthstone is still undoubtedly
broken. At the beginning stages I should have been matched up with
players with starter decks, just like me. Instead I faced off against
opponents with more experience and better cards. Which lead to a
rather discouraging first experience.

alt="Worthy Opponent" />

Class Balance

Also discouraging was learning that,
despite Blizzard's best efforts, some classes are still better than
others. Better cards, better innate abilities, better everything.
This is why you will see a ton more Mages than many other classes.
This leaves you feeling like, in order to be effective, you have to
play a particular class or face losing almost every match. While
achieving total class balance may be impossible, getting close is
something that the game should be striving for. No one wants to be
forced to play a particular class just so they can win more often.

Gold Flow

Finally, one of the last major things I
feel needs to be fixed in Hearthstone is the amount of gold a player
earns and how quickly they can do it. In my mind, the meager amounts
of gold received for completing a quest or winning matches is simply
not enough. Especially considering you have to spend it to buy decks
and use the (rather pricey) Arena. While I do believe you should have
to work to earn your gold, it shouldn't feel like such a grind.
Grinding isn't fun. Ever.

Despite all these issues, Hearthstone
is still an amazing game. I think I will be playing for a long time
to come. I know some will be angry with this post, wondering how I
could bash such a great game. Just because a game is great, doesn't
mean it doesn't have issues. And it is totally ok to point these
issues out, especially when a game is in beta. Remember, I love
Hearthstone too, I just don't think it is perfect. No game really is.
What problems do feel Hearthstone has in it's current beta state?
Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!