Turn2: Episode #30 - Ben Brode

Hosts: Gnimsh & Frodan | Guests: Ben Brode Production: Sympatico & Music: Matt Ilantzis

This week we present a special episode of Turn2 this week as we bring on Hearthstone’s member of Team 5, developer Ben Brode - to talk Naxxramas, the meta game, future features and much more!

Some interesting notes from the conversation were that in the future, the team would much rather balance and tweak the game in the form of new card releases as opposed to tweaking/buffing/nerfing existing cards.

Also of note was that the next release for Hearthstone will most likely be a new set of cards as opposed to another single player adventure mode, which is pretty exciting news!

Below you’ll find the full list of questions that Gnimsh asked Ben in the interview.

General Questions

1. What’s the feedback that you’ve received from the community? What is the part they liked the most?

2. Are you happy with the difficulty level of the Arachnid Wing? I know it wasn’t challenging for the pros, but my casual friends struggled a lot.

3. A lot of people are confused that there is no reward for completing the heroic fights for now. Is this something that’s going to be standard?

4. Are the future wings going to be more difficult on heroic? Any particular boss that we should be looking for?

5. How did the process of scaling A.I. difficulty looked on your side, did you actually have to downscale some of the bosses on heroic?

6. With Naxx we got a new trailer. Personally I really like those layered card animations. How does production of video like that look like?

7. When we enter Naxx we are greeted by a funny Kel’Thuzad face that’s challenging us and get’s frustrated when we defeat the bosses. Should we expect this kind of funny and light-hearted storytelling in the future of hearthstone?

8. Did you have to commision new art/sounds for the Arachnid wing specifically?

9. thank you so much for the “busy” chat block. That will immensly improve tournament experience. Talking about tournaments, is there any ETA for observer mode?

10. Gamers are always living in the future. Naxx is being rolled out this and next month, but what should we expect next? Another adventure mode, or maybe a card set?

11. Will players be able to buy a specific wing, or do they have to buy the previous ones to get the one they want?

Card/metagame Questions

1. Maexxna whyy… only 2 attack

2. Don’t you think that Priest will be too strong with Dark Cultist and Zombie Chow + Loatheb countering 2 of the most powerful deck right now?

3. While picking Deathlord’s art were you aware that he was on a vanity card made for Aric Jack in wow tcg? (Aric Stonejack)

4. What kind of metagame are you aiming for with Naxx cards. It seems that the creatures are much more “sticky” and spells won’t be that attractive anymore.

5. Is Loatheb a direct counter to combo Druid and Miracle Rogue?

6. Webspinner: discuss

Bonus questions

1. What can we expect at Gamescom and is someone coming from Team5?

2. Blizzard will have it’s own store at Gamescom, is there any specific Hearthstone merchandise I should be looking for? We’ve seen some plush pillows and cups already.

3. In game tournaments? Is this something you are talking about? as a player of hearthstone would you be excited to play something like that?

4. Is zoo too strong? I know you’ve mentioned it in one of the interviews is there any development in that area?

5. Anything else you’d like to mention that we haven’t touched upon?