Hearthstone P2W? O Ye of Lil faith.
The inevitable debate that happens around CCG’s, will people be able to just buy their way to victory? In the case of Hearthstone, I’m going to go with no. One thing everyone likes is an even playing field. When competition is fair and for the most part balanced then everyone can enjoy them game. I say for the most part because we all know it’s next to impossible to perfectly balance a game, however Blizzard has years of experience behind them with this. Hearthstone may be easier to balance than the previous titles Blizzard has released due to its simplistic nature.
The real issue we are looking at today is the money balance. Can you just buy your way to victory? So far no, you can certainly accelerate your progress and in essence yes you are buying some wins. However, one thing that Blizzard does really well is reward playtime OR lack thereof. Remember when you played WoW and you hadn’t logged on in a while? You had all that beautiful “rested experience” that would allow you to catch up to friends, guild mates, house mater, spouses, you get the point. How about in Starcraft with the ladder bonus pool? Both examples are great ideas to level the playing field a bit. It also accomplished something even more important, customer satisfaction. That is the main point here. It isn’t in Blizzards best interest to have the game labeled P2W (pay to win). It’s in their best interest to satisfy customers.
I’m sure there are people out there that would spend $300 and up to get all the cards they can. God Bless them, it’s their money! However, if it gave such an advantage to that person and enough people did spend that money to ruin it for the majority of new comers, then that’s an issue for sure. However, with daily rewards, Achievements, and ladder rewards it seems like there is no shortage of ways to earn gold. I have faith that Blizzard will have a well thought out and balanced plan for amount of gold earned over time. Yes that’s right I said I have faith in Blizzard 
I’m still not going to purchase Diablo 4. But it’s ok because Blizzard will make 50x what I would have paid for it through Hearthstone.
Hearthstone feels like a game I can enjoy for years to come. I LOVE card games, however this is my first CCG that I am dedicating time to play. The way Magic was explained to me was essentially you have to outspend opponents in your area in order to win. I honestly never have experienced a Friday Night Magic, however it does sound like fun. I can’t imagine going week after week if I’m only going to get pummeled though. With balance of budget and gold earned comes a happy community that is willing to spend more money on expansions, cards, etc. Not to mention the fact that Hearthstone is in fact a portal for other Blizzard games. The same way Steam utilizes Dota 2 to keep steam fresh in your mind. Boot up the game, check out the community and the deals etc. So with a thriving community comes great reward for Blizzard. I don’t see them giving that “long road” option up as it will certainly net them more dollars in the end.
I just want to know what they sprinkle on their games to make them so addictive.
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Agreed, this is deffintly not P2W. The running assuption with TCG’s is setting that mindset. The way Magic: The Gathering plays out (or at least Type 2 Standard) is a lot of pay to win, especially if you intend to go professional and you are starting from nothing. But here’s the real deal with MTG (and most other TGC). It is called a Trading Card Game for a reason, once you spend the dough on the best cards for the standard format, you have cards to “trade” with to fit the new archetype currently ruling the professional scene, or at least what you think will in anycase. At that point you invest time studying your opponents, the high ranking decks and ways to counter them, by that point there no spending any money unless you draft. Now, in Hearthstone Blizzard has effectively put together a game where a lot of the strategy comes more from understanding every card, not just the best ones, because in reality there are no sets of cards ruling the format. I think this makes more intense and interesting gameplay for cards. Even if you drop 20$ for 2000 or so coins to play Arena, it should easily last a long time, especially if you take the time to examine every card and decide which ones best fit the class, or have the most “value” to work together. If anything you could keep the $20.00 rotating the entire time you play by winning in Arena. It’s a FTP game, 20-40$ is reasonable enough for me for Blizzards hard work on this game.
do you have a twitter that i can follow
This game is as P2W as they come.
Thinking or arguing for something else is really only denial.
The only question you need to ask to find out if a game is P2W is the following;
Are the purchases in game 100 % cosmetic?
If not, then it is P2W.
If two people start playing at the same time but one of them spends money for in game purchases, does the person who spent money have any kind of advantage?
The answer is of course yes here, and thus this is a pay to win game. Sure, Hearthstone don’t want to appear like a pay to win game, but wanting it to be something is not enough. Talk is cheap.
Any kind of purchases that is beyond cosmetic turns it into pay to win. That is the sad truth that hearthstone is facing. If the gold foil for cards was the only thing possible to buy, then sure it would not be P2W. Alas, reality is different.
It may be P2W in constructed for you Incom, but if you play arena initially you have the same chance of getting any card in the hearthstone game as anyone else and your deck is built from randomness which leads to a equal and fair playing field. And after numerous arena plays (which if you are good enough will be free as well) could land you most cards in the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXYdYOB4pbo
Force Strategy Gaming takes a Paladin deck that is filled with nothing but COMMON cards that are very, VERY easy to get and pummels people in the dust with it.
Yeah, that one guy can spend 1000$ dollars to get every single card, normal or golden and get a headstart on me on the first few days of the game. But guess what? I’ve payed nothing and with just a little bit of gaming I can not only catch up to him but beat him too.
P2W means pay to WIN, which means that someone who spends money on a game, has better chances at winning. That may be true with MTG, but not in Hearthstone. You can have a bunch of legendary cards and epics but they are all for naught against the simplest of decks as long as it has the necessary cheap cards in it.
There you have it.
Your definition is too narrow.
The question you should be asking is: “Is it possible to make a non-cosmetic purchase that grants an advantage that is impossible to obtain through any other means?”. For HS, the answer is no.
You cannot purchase an upgrade to your hero power. You cannot purchase a Divine Shield for your Taz Dingo. It is impossible to look at a deck and say: “Yup, this guy spent lots of money on this deck”.
What? That´s a pretty bad definition of a P2W game. Many FPS games are considered f2p games with fair buisness models and you can buy guns in game that are not only cosmetics so your deffinition is really bad.
Now investing hundreds of dollars in this game means you will just wreck the competition? NO. And if you see competition decks most of the cards you see right there are rare or common cards. So don´t tell me you can´t have a decent deck at a reasonable rate.
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It is amusing to watch a junkie protecting his addiction. Why it’s so addictive you ask; because of subliminal messages embedded in it. HS is Free to Play and at the same time Pay to Win because no one said you have to be wining while playing. It is a hazard simulator and paying gets you better odds with golden cards. Spend week playing it, just for fun and with a help of some neurological programing your human gambling nature will give in for good and you are drowned in need to satisfy your addiction.