Free to play is still a pretty controversial business model, stirring up specters of the money-grubbing games of yesteryear in some gamers. But a ton of games have proven the business model can work wonders, ensuring players get what they want and have fun without being nickel-and-dimed to death.
This week, we take a look at how the business model might work for Hearthstone. Speculation abounds, but we call out anything that has been confirmed by Blizzard on the show.
Download The Happy Hearthstone #5: Free to Play
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The Links
- Sign up for the beta!
- Watch the Shaman vs Mage game
- Visit the official website
- Hear more awesome, royalty-free music created by Jason Shaw
Hello!
- Derrick is on the show this week
- Topic: Free to play as the business model
- Reasons to be happy this week
Who is Derrick?
- History with card games
- History with Blizzard games
- Are you a cheapskate or a big-spender?
Free to Play in General
- This is Blizzard’s first F2P game ever
- What does that mean?
- Microtransaction controversy
- Examples you might be familiar with
Microtransactions We Expect To See (Speculation)
- New skins for the avatar
- New hero to unlock
- Buff to boost chance to find gold cards in packs (just visuals)
- Card packs
- New voice-over packs
- Playmats
- In-game Tournaments
- Technical account conveniences: name changes, inventory moves between PC and iPad
Microtransactions We Don’t Expect To See (Speculation)
- Rent cards temporarily
- Purchase more powerful cards than you can get in packs
- Game Modes
- XP potions
On A Technical Level
- Probably Paypal
- Diablo 3 Hook-up
- Battle.net authenticator
Buying Card Packs
- Only confirmed purchase so far
- Planned $1 per pack
- Pack = 5 cards
- 1 guaranteed rare
- Each other card slot has a chance to have higher rarity
Why Buy Packs?
- Thrill of opening for random cards
- Build out your decks with more/better cards
- Use to play in the Forge
How To Earn Free Cards
Every time you play a game, you earn the most basic “starter” level cards
Every other card is an “expert” card and can be earned from 4 sources:
- Opening packs, which can be won periodically by playing
- Purchasing them from Blizzard directly?
- Crafting them (we’ll discuss this in-depth in future)
- Earning achievements in-game
What We Want To Come “With The Box”
- 1 hero starter deck (your choice)
- 3 packs dedicated to your hero deck after you pick
- 1 free pack every time you “level” via XP system (if there is one)
- 20 avatars (like LoL)
Card of the Week
The bane of noobs returns to rain torment onto the card table!
Farewell
- Follow Derrick on Twitter
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
Join The Podcast
- SUBSCRIBE to The Happy Hearthstone podcast on iTunes or this RSS feed.
- FOLLOW me on Twitter or Google+
- MEET new Hearthstone friends and discuss deck strategies and the latest game news in our Google+ Community.
- PLAY with us in Hearthstone, whenever we actually get into beta!