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Posts with tag hearthstone

The Queue: Looking to the future

Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.

In yesterday's edition of The Queue, there seemed to be more questions about the next expansion than the current one. Since the next expansion hasn't even been announced yet, there isn't much we can do with those, but we sure can try.

Joey4 asked:

weapon models to me seem to go by expansion theme, wrath had a dark cold look especially on greens and mists had the Asian theme, do you think we will see awesome looking models again like BC xpac had in the next xpac?

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Filed under: The Queue

Live Hearthstone Stream

Update: The livestream is now over, but you can check out the Video on Demand above! The final game is very much worth sticking around for, really captures the excitement of Hearthstone. We hope to see more of these in future!

If you're as excited about Hearthstone as we are here at WoW Insider, you'll want to check out the above stream, as Hearthstone Fireside Duels go live on Twitch.tv. Lead Designer Eric Dodds and designer and Shoutcaster Ben Brode, who is fast becoming the voice of Hearthstone, are sitting down to several duels, as well as answering viewer questions on Twitch and Twitter.

The duels so far have shown off the mage, shaman, warrior, paladin, warlock and druid, but it's possible that we'll get to see some of the other heroes in action today, as well as the minion cards. It's also a great chance to get more into the game's mechanics, and develop more understanding, thanks to the live nature of the duels, and the Q&A. Community Manager Phenteo is also on hand in the Twitch chatroom to field viewer questions.

The one question they don't seem that keen to answer just yet is this: does this mean a beta is impending? It seems fairly certain that Hearthstone will be at Blizzcon, at the latest, but who knows, it seems quite likely that there might even be a beta at Gamescom, given that Blizzard unveiled the Mists trailer there last year. What do you think?

Filed under: Hearthstone Insider

Hearthstone card preview: Void Terror

Hearthstone card preview Void Terror
It looks like Blizzard has begun revealing Hearthstone cards prior to release, with the first being the Void Terror warlock minion. This big bad blue dude absorbs the minions on either side of him, adding their power and life to his own. Even temporary power or health bonuses, like the +4/+4 from Power Overwhelming, are made permanent inside the Void Terror's blue belly. Need to protect from an incoming AOE attack? Gobble your other little minions up and let your Void Terror take the attack instead. It's a super simple and super powerful effect, fitting for a warlock and especially for Gul'dan, currently the game's sole warlock hero.

Check out all of our Hearthstone coverage thus far and stay tuned as the game gets closer to release.

Filed under: Hearthstone Insider

How to sign up for the Hearthstone beta

How to sign up for the Hearthstone beta
So you've heard a lot about Blizzard's latest game, the free, digital CCG Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft and you can't wait to get into the beta. But how do you get in on that sweet, beta testing action? Signing up to beta Hearthstone is pretty simple, but involves a few steps that may not be entirely obvious -- we'll walk you through them so you can have a chance to be one of the first to check out Hearthstone for yourself.

Whether you get into the beta or not, you can get a feel for Hearthstone by checking out the two match videos they've released so far -- one showing Jaina battling Thrall and the other showing Garrosh battling Uther. But for now there's nothing to do but sign up and be patient until the beta gets started. Read on for instructions!

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Filed under: Blizzard, Hearthstone Insider

Latest Hearthstone shoutcast pits Uther against Garrosh


If you've been waiting for more details on Hearthstone, wait no more! Blizzard has released another shoutcasted match to give us an up close look at gameplay. In this video, game designer Ben Brode provides commentary on a battle between the paladin Uther the Lightbringer and the warrior Garrosh Hellscream (if you recall, the last shoutcast showed us a mage battling a shaman).

We won't give away the ending, but suffice to say it's an epic battle featuring interesting tricks like secret cards as well as old friends like Illidan Stormage, Cairne Bloodhoof, and, everyone's favorite, Leeroy Jenkins. Though Leeroy's artwork is familiar to anyone who played the TCG, Hearthstone's version of the infamous Mr. Jenkins is perhaps even more dangerous, summoning whelps that aid your opponent.

So check out the shoutcast and PlayHearthstone's YouTube channel for more videos.

Filed under: Blizzard, Hearthstone Insider

The Queue: Two dead gnomes

The Queue Two dead gnomes
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.

Why are they here? Nobody knows.

On second thought, maybe they're grummles.

@Skeptikk asked:

Read any news from Blizzard on the new spam in the calendar that players are seeing?

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, The Queue

Hearthstone gameplay video pits Jaina against Thrall


If you're hyped about Hearthstone -- or even if you're just curious as to what Blizzard's latest is all about -- you'll want to check out this gameplay video. The video shows a complete match between Jaina (a mage) and Thrall (a shaman), giving us a good look at how the game plays as well as the abilities of these two heroes. And, just so we aren't lost in the newness of it all, the video features a narrated play-by-play to walk us through the action. We've got to say, it looks promising: featuring familiar characters, skills, and abilities, brightly-colored Blizzard art, and fast gameplay.

Psst, Blizzard, our beta keys are in the mail, right?

Well, even if they aren't, we hope this is only the first of many such videos on PlayHearthstone's YouTube channel, because it really just makes us curious as to what other classes and heroes can do.

[via Massively]

Filed under: Blizzard, Hearthstone Insider

Possible in-game Hearthstone event and mount uncovered

Hearthstone header
Diligent dataminers over at Wowhead have uncovered what looks like an intriguing Feat of Strength: Hearthstoned. The description reads "Obtain the Hearthsteed from the Hearthstone promotion." Now, ever since Blizzard announced Hearthstone at PAX East and it was clear the game took place in the Warcraft universe, folks have been asking all over whether or not there would be WoW-related items associated with it, just as there currently are in the physical WoW: TCG. While this isn't quite the same thing as a loot card, it is a connection of some sort! We here at WoW Insider would also like to point out that the mount icon on this achievement looks suspiciously similar to the pegasus mounts that were datamined last week!

I'm going to try not to speculate too hard on what kind of in-game event Blizzard might do for Hearthstone, but it would be really cool to see, say, a bunch of NPCs hanging around in various Azerothian taverns playing card games and talking trash to each other. Hint, hint. I'm just saying! Of course, we all have to remember to take this with the requisite datamining disclaimer: just because it's been found in the PTR files doesn't mean it will make it to live. I really hope it does, though, because I'm always happy to grab more mounts!

Edit: Thanks to all who have pointed out that this may very well be the participation reward for the Hearthstone beta. This is what I get for not rereading the Hearthstone FAQ before submitting a post!

Filed under: News items, Hearthstone Insider

Weekly news roundup with Panser of TradeChat

TradeChat's Panser returns with this week's WoW Insider news recap, where we look back at the hottest news from the past week and whatever other kickin' rad things may have come our way. This week's topics include: If you enjoyed the show, make sure to subscribe to TradeChat, leave a comment, and come back next week for the next episode!

Filed under: News items, Hearthstone Insider

All Things Azeroth interviews Hearthstone developers

Hearthstone header
Since the announcement of Hearthstone at PAX East, many developer interviews have been circulating (including our own!). This week the All Things Azeroth podcast featured Hearthstone production director Jason Chayes and game designer Ben Brode, and there are a few interesting tidbits to take away from the interview that you might not have heard before. In particular, they detail an example of the types of fun cards they're developing to keep gamers on their toes. The example they discuss is King Mukla. You might be familiar with King Mukla if you've quested through The Cape of Stranglethorn, he's the enormous gorilla you need to kill to complete the Princess Poobah questline. In Hearthstone, Mukla is a cheap card to play that packs a punch, but the catch is that he'll give your opponent bananas which allows them some extra abilities, so you've got to think carefully about when you play him!

Other topics covered during the interview include some more details about card crafting and the rationale behind it, the Golden Card upgrades, and some of the developers' thoughts on things like a client for Hearthstone in WoW to ease the pain on those long DPS dungeon queues. I must say, the more I hear about Hearthstone, the more fun it sounds. I've got high hopes for this game, not least because I think there's a good chance that it might be the magic video-game bullet that finally piques my boyfriend's interest. Hey, he's resisted all my attempts to get him into WoW so far, I'm getting desperate!

You can check out All Thing's Azeroth's conversation with Jason Chayes and Ben Brode in episode 339. Happy listening!

Filed under: Podcasting, Interviews, Hearthstone Insider

TradeChat interviews two Hearthstone developers

A lot of the news lately has been about Hearthstone, the new digital card came announced by Blizzard at PAX. Our own intrepid Dawn Moore interviewed Eric Dodds and Jason Chayes about the game. But with such an interesting game on the horizon, who wouldn't be eager for more?

TradeChat got the chance to interview Ben Brode and Jason Chayes about the game. Covering topics like the difference between purchased and earned packs, accessibility, and even the crafting system. It's a pretty cool interview and provides even more insight to the game. Check out the video and let TradeChat know what you think!

Filed under: News items

WRUP: Of dinosaurs and patches

WRUP Of dinosaurs and patches
No Hearthstone so we'll have to kill some time with a game that we all currently play. No, not Bioshock: Infinite. I'm talk about WoW, the dinosaurs, and that upcoming patch. I can't speak for anyone else, but any patch that gets me closers to laying a keg of beer upside Garrosh's oversized melon is a patch I like.

By the way, does it bother anyone else that the orc looks so smug picking on the gnome? I always thought orcs were kind of bullies anyway, but they don't need to laugh about it. It just looks mean.

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The Queue: Sweet romance

Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.

Dating advice in The Queue? Seriously? Yep!

@aspectofthedork as ked:

if your significant other asks you to be "romantizzle," what is an appropriate response?

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, The Queue

Roundup of Hearthstone blue posts from the last few days

Hearthstone header
Last week at PAX East Blizzard announced a new game to be released sometime this year: Hearthstone! I'm sure many of you have read a great deal about Hearthstone already, and WoW Insider's own Dawn Moore did a wonderful write up of her first impressions as well as an interview with Hearthstone developers Eric Dodds and Jason Chayes. For those of you who might be a bit out of the loop, Hearthstone is a collectible, digital card game where players can build decks and pit them against one another. It's set in the Warcraft universe and features many memorable characters from WoW as well as voice acting, spell effects, and other such bells and whistles that give it a fun look and feel. While there isn't an enormous amount of information available yet, we do know a few things so far, such as:
  • Hearthstone will be free to play. You have the option of purchasing more cards if you like, but you can win those same cards via gameplay and don't have to spend a cent.
  • The beta will begin this summer, and you can sign up to be a part of it.
  • Hearthstone will be available for Windows, Mac, and iPad. Further platforms have yet to be announced.
If you've been wondering where to go to get more information about Hearthstone, there is a new official Blizzard Hearthstone forum, as well as the PlayHearthstone official twitter feed and Facebook page - all great resources for information. Below the cut I've also compiled a number of the latest and greatest blue posts about the game, for your reading convenience. Oh and don't forget to check out the official FAQ as well, it is large and comprehensive. I haven't quoted it because it's far too big to do so. Now, on to the blue posts!

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Filed under: Blizzard, News items, Hearthstone Insider

Last Week on Massively: PAX East, Elder Scrolls Online, and more

Sometimes, you'd like to know that there are other MMOs out there, right? It's not all WoW, all the time! Our sister site Massively can provide you with everything you need to know about all of the other MMOs around -- past, present and future.
Hands-on with Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
You've read WoW Insider's first impressions of Hearthstone, now check out what Massively had to say! Accessibility seems to be the name of the game for Hearthstone as it is with all Blizzard titles.
Hands-on with The Elder Scrolls Online
Massively was recently given the opportunity to tackle the upcoming MMO The Elder Scrolls Online hands-on. Check out their first impressions of the classes, gameplay, and more!
New video explains exactly what WildStar is
WildStar is an upcoming MMO, we know that, but what is it all about? Check out this fun video from Carbine Studios that provides all you need to know.
Diablo III console video sizzles, Blizzard hints at other platforms
At PAX East, Blizzard Entertainment released a new trailer for the upcoming console release of Diablo III. They've also revealed the console release may not necessarily be a Sony exclusive.
Massively's week in review
Don't let WoW Insider do all of the talking when it comes to Massively's best content of the week. The Massively staff themselves have picked out what they think is the best content their site has to offer in their own weekly roundup.

Filed under: MMO Roundup, Hearthstone Insider

Around Azeroth

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