14 DAY TRIAL // The recent public release of Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft on the PC and iPad, combined with the upcoming story campaign from Blizzard, will certainly boost the popularity of the free-to-play card game, at least according to professional caster and player Octavian "Kripparrian" Morosan.
Hearthstone was revealed quite some time ago, and last year it finally entered closed beta so that more players could try out the new online card game from Blizzard and see if it's worth their time or if it's just an attempt at exploring the free-to-play genre.
The game was released to the general public a few months ago and the reception has been quite good, with more and more players joining the title, especially since it's now available on the iPad, besides the PC.
While the general release has certainly resulted in more good players joining the experience, professional caster Octavian "Kripparrian" Morosan has revealed that it's been a mix of good and bad ones.
"I think there are two factors at work," he told Softpedia in an interview. "There are more newbies going into the Arena system and many going out of the system pretty quickly while getting discouraged. Over time, the good players stay. There's always an increase of good players who stay around in the Arena. With this launch, this soft-launch, you get an influx of bad players. Right now, there's a balance between the good and the bad."
Kripp has also revealed that the upcoming Curse of Naxxramas story campaign that will appear for Hearthstone this summer should also bring in some fresh players, especially since many aren't looking for a PvP experience, instead preferring matches against the AI and with some form of narrative stringing the battles along.
"I've talked about this and said that Blizzard games have always had some form of single-player experience where you can just enjoy it while playing against the computer and have fun while engaging in predictable opponents. Hearthstone, at the moment, doesn't offer that as it encourages you too much to play against other people, which may not be to everyone's liking," he added.
Blizzard is currently focusing on bringing Hearthstone to more platforms, including Android tablets, and it should be able to unveil a custom Spectator mode for the title in the following months, so that professional matches can be broadcast and enjoyed in an easy manner by other players interested in them.
Unfortunately, these new plans don't have actual release dates.