Hearthstone

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Hearthstone
HearthstoneLogo.png
HearthstoneCover.png
"Hearthstone Cover retrieved from Giantbomb.com" [1]
Type Video Game
Launch Date March 11, 2014
Status Active
Product Line product
Platform Microsoft Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
Website https://www.playhearthstone.com/en-us/

Hearthstone is a strategy card video game created by Blizzard Entertainment. Hearthstone is based on the lore of World of Warcraft and uses the same characters and items. [1] The game was released in March 2014 for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It was later released in April 2014 on iOS and December 2014 on Android. Hearthstone features cross-platform play which allows players to play with or against players regardless of which platform they play on.

Hearthstone is a turn-based game where two players face head to head using preconstructed decks made of 30 cards. Players also get to select one of 10 heroes which offers them a unique ability in addition to the cards in their deck. Turns go back and forth, in which players can use mana to summon minions or cast spells with the goal of defeating the enemy hero. Winning games can offer players rewards which can be used to get new cards for their decks, which can also be bought through in-game microtransactions.

Hearthstone is published by Activision Blizzard Inc. who is a large game development company which has produced titles such as World of Warcraft, Call of Duty Franchise, Hearthstone, Overwatch, and many more. Recently, Blizzard has been accused of alleged sexual harrasment and descrimination within their workplace [2]. Additionally, although the game is free to play, Hearthstone has received complaints from the community about the increasing need to spend money in order to stay competitive within the game. Hearthstone also struggles like other video games with being a platform which may lead to video game addiction, specifically in children and teenagers [3] .

Gameplay

Players are able to compete in various game modes either using a preconstructed deck provided by the game, or by battling with a deck which they create using 30 cards from their collection. In addition to choosing or creating a deck, players also choose one of 10 playable heroes who offer a unique ability.

Players start each game with a coin flip determining which player goes first. Each player starts with 1 mana crystal, 30 health, and are shown 3 cards (4 if you are the second player) to choose to start with and are able to reroll any number of the cards for a random card from their decks. Each turn players are able to spend mana to play cards of different types. At the start of each turn players gain one mana crystal (up to a max of 10) and continue to play cards and attack with minions until the other player hits 0 life.

Card Types
Minion Spell Weapon Hero
ManaWyrm.png Pyroblast.png TruesilverChampion.png Hagatha.png

All image copywrites owned by Activision Blizzard inc.

Every card has a mana cost which is displayed in the top left of the card as a number inside of a blue crystal. Playing a card cost the player that many mana crystal for that turn, and carries out the effect of the card. Minion cards enter the board when played, remaining there until killed. Each minion has an attack and health stat. Attack is shown left, which represents the amount of damage which the minion will do when attacking an enemy minion or hero. The Minions health stat is shown on the right and represents how much damage the minion can take before dying. Minions can be damaged by spells, weapons, hero abilities, enemy minions or other minions abilities. In addition to having health and attack stats, minions may also have special abilities which can trigger when they are played, while they are on the battlefield, or when they die [4]. Spell cards are played for a certain mana cost, and their effects happen when played. Spell cards have a variety of effects ranging from dealing damage to one or more targets, drawing cards, summoning minions, and many more. Weapons are played by paying the mana cost associated with them, and then are equipped to the player. Weapons have an attack stat and a durability stat which are shown in the bottom left and right of the card respectively. Similar to minions the attack stat shows how much damage the player will do when attacking with the weapon and the durability is how many times the player is able to use that weapon before it breaks. Heroes are only able to attack once per turn (unless an ability allows more) and take damage from minions they attack. Weapons are also able to have special abilities similar to minions which can trigger when played, while played, or upon breaking [5]. Hero cards are a special type of card, which when played replaces the players hero with a new one. These cards often have effects that occur when played, in addition to giving the player armor (amount specified on card) and changing the players hero special ability to a new one [6].


Heros

Hearthstone Playable Heros
Garrosh Guldan Thrall Valeera Anduin
Warrior Warlock Shaman Rogue Priest
Garrosh.png Guldan.png Thrall.png Valeera.png Anduin.png
Uther Jaina Rexxar Malfurion Illidan
Paladin Mage Hunter Druid Demon Hunter
Uther.png Jaina.png Rexxar.png Malfurion.png Illidan.png

All image copywrites owned by Activision Blizzard inc.

Each hero in Hearthstone is based on a pre-existing character from the lore of World of Warcraft. Players are given the option to choose one of the ten available hero's when starting a game or when building their decks. Heroes each belong to a specific class, and have access to different cards which are specific to each class. Players are able to use these class specific cards (weapons, minions, spells, and heroes) in combination with standard classes cards (available to all classes) to build the strongest deck. In addition to having access to class specific cards, players gain access to a special ability, known as a "Hero Power" which they are able to use during each turn of combat [7]. Each Hero has a unique ability which is able to be used for the cost of 2 mana, have have effects ranging from dealing damage to drawing cards based on class. Hero powers are only able to be used once per turn, unless a card is played which specifies otherwise. Players are able to play hero cards during a game which allows them to replace their hero with an upgraded version, and gain a new 2 mana ability to use throughout the remainder of the game.

Game Modes

  • Standard

Standard format limits players' decks to only cards in their collections from the Basic, Classic, and the most recent card sets. [8]

  • Classic

Classic format limits players to create decks limited to the 240 cards which were present when the game first launched in 2014. This gives players the opportunity to compete with each other in an environment similar to when the game was first released.

  • Wild

Wild format is similar to Standard Format, but has no restrictions on deck building allowing players to use 30 cards from any card set which has been released.

  • Arena

Arena mode allows players to buy a ticket and draft a deck one card at a time. After finishing drafting players are able to play this deck against other players until they lose three times, after which they gain rewards based on the number of wins they have acquired.

  • Tavern Brawls

Tavern brawl is a gamemode which implements various rule-bending changes that allow players to face off using unique decks and combos which aren’t possible in other gamemodes. The rules or special changes in Tavern Brawl rotate every week offer players a new experience every week. Additionally, the first win each week grants players one card pack as a reward.

  • Solo Adventures

Solo adventures allow players to use either pre-constructed or player-made decks to test their skills against computer controlled characters. These characters each have different abilities or challenges, and allow players to work through unique challenges and puzzles, all while competing in story-driven battles.

  • Duels

Duels mode has players choose a unique hero, hero ability, and a small selection of cards to face head to head against other players. After each round players are then able to choose between other cards, abilities, and treasures to add to their decks to become as strong as possible. After three loses players receive rewards based on the number of wins they acquired.

  • Battlegrounds

Battlegrounds mode puts the player against 7 other players, where each player picks from a selection of characters from hearthstone's history to play as. Players are granted coins, increasing as rounds go on, which they are able to use to make their board stronger. Coins are able to be used to buy minions, refresh the minions available for purchase, or improve their tavern tier leading to stronger minions appearing. After the tavern round has ended the player's minions face off against another player’s minions, and the loser takes damage based on the minions remaining. The player is then returned to the tavern where they are able to continue to make their board stronger. This cycle repeats until only one player is left alive. [9]

Professional Scene

Hearthstone is currently a competitive esport title, along side other popular games, such as Counter Strike, League of Legends, Overwatch, and many more. Each year Hearthstone hosts a world championship where the best players from around the world are able to compete for a large prize pool and the honors of being the world champion. The current esports competitive system composes of three tournaments: Masters Qualifiers, Masters Tour, and Grandmasters. The Masters Qualifiers begins with a season where every week players will compete in tournaments online (roughly 30), and the champion of each of the tournaments will receive an invitation to compete in the Masters Tour where they will compete against other tournament winners and established professionals in the game. The Masters Tour is a series of tournaments where winners of Masters Qualifiers and other established professionals compete for a shared prize pool $250,000. There are approximately 400 who compete in the Masters Tour. The Grandmasters is two eight-week seasons which end in the world championship [10]. The top two players from each region around the world have the opportunity to compete in the Grandmasters as well as two Gold Series Champions from China. China has a separate system for competitive Hearthstone than other regions are have two allotted spots which are given out through their Gold Series Championship. The players in the Grandmasters tournament compete for a $500,000 prize pool and the title of world champion.

Ethical Concerns

Freemium

Hearthstone is a free to play game where there is no cost to download, but does offer in-game purchases for expansions and packs which grant 5 random cards. Due to regulations in China requiring game companies to reveal the odds of randomized purchases such as card packs or loot boxes, the odds of receiving a certain rarity of card from a card pack was revealed and the most powerful drops are received roughly every 20 packs opened [11]. In the standard format of hearthstone only the most recent sets are playable resulting in the need to acquire new cards to stay relevant. Daniel Friedman ran a study to analyze the drop rates of the packs and their cost and determined that to keep up a complete collection of cards it would cost the player around $400 per year. [12]. Friedman also notes that having every card from a new expansion isn’t needed to be competitive in ranked play. In game rewards are able to be used to craft essential cards to a deck which a player wishes to make to stay competitive.

Sexual Harrasment and Discrimination

On July 21, 2021 the State of California’s Department of Fair Employment & Housing sued Activision Blizzard, inc. (the creator of popular video games, such as Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, and the Call of Duty Franchise) “for Equal Pay Violations, Sex Discrimination, and Sexual Harassment”. [13]. DFEH alleged that Activision Blizzard fostered a sexist culture in which female employees were paid at lower rate than male employees, promoted them a lower rate, and fired women at a higher rate than their male counterparts. DFEH also alleged that woman employees were subject to constant groping, comments, and unwanted advances, and the executives and human resource departments of the company knew of the complaints and failed to prevent the harassment and retaliated against woman employees who complained.

On September 27th, 2021, Activision Blizzard, inc. agreed to a $18,000,000 settlement for the workplace harassment lawsuit filed by DFEH. [14] The $18,000,000 settlement compensated eligible employees who were victims of harrasment or discrimination. In a press release following the settlement CEO Bobby Kotick stated "There is no place anywhere at our company for discrimination, harassment, or unequal treatment of any kind, and I am grateful to the employees who bravely shared their experiences. I am sorry that anyone had to experience inappropriate conduct, and I remain unwavering in my commitment to make Activision Blizzard one of the world's most inclusive, respected, and respectful workplaces." [15]. In the court documents Activision Blizzard inc. denied any wrongdoing.

Following the settlement of the DFEH allegations, California’s Civil Rights Agency sued the company for alleged gender discrimination and sexual harassment. Additionally, Activision Blizzard, inc. was subpoenaed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission based on the handling of harassment complaints, Communication Workers of America filed a complaint reporting violation of federal labor laws, and shareholders filed a lawsuit alleging that the company failed to inform investors that the company was under investigation for legal issues as a result of workplace culture. [16] “Visual inspection of the data shows higher scores on depressive mood, loneli-ness, social anxiety and negative self-esteem for addicted online gamers compared to other online gamers.However,post-hoc testing revealed that most of the actual bilateral relationships are non-significant from the per-spective of the addicted online gamers. When compared to non-addicted heavy gamers, only one significant differ-ence was found: in 2009 the addicted heavy gamers were more depressed than the non-addicted heavy gamers.”[17]

Video Game Addiction

Like many video games which are available on today's market, Hearthstone offers a platform for video game addiction, specifically in children and teenagers. With the increase in popularity of online games, many teenagers are spending more and more time playing them. A study conducted by Antonious J. van Rooij et. al. aimed to provide empirical data on video game addiction of online gamers [18]. The study states that there is currently an increased interest in studying addiction in online gaming, due to many of the past studies being conducted on non-online video games. Hearthstone is an online game, which may offer the possibility for different gaming addiction than an offline game. The study tracked two samples of Dutch school children ages 13-16, and tracked numbers of hours spent on online gaming, as well as tracking various psychological indicators. Van Rooji et. al. found that the two samples create six different groups of online gaming behavior. The first four groups showed a pattern of regular gaming, while the fifth group showed heavy gaming behavior consistent with non-addiction, and the sixth group (making up around 3% of the samples) showed heavy gaming consistent with gaming addiction [19]. Hearthstone is available on multiple platforms including iOS and Android, making it available on mobile devices. Being able to access the game on both a phone as well as a computer increases the amount of time which teenagers are able to spend playing the game, which can lead to video game addiction [20] . In addition to being a mobile accessible game, Hearthstone is also a competitive game which has been hypothesized in the past to lead to a higher rate of addiction than other non-competitive games. A study by Aviv Weinstein found that out of the factors tested for video game addiction, whether or not a game was competitive was an insignificant factor into increasing game addiction in teenagers in Taiwan [21].

Relations With China

In 2000, the Chinese Government enacted a 15-year ban of foreign or domestic manufacturing or sales of game counsels in the mainland (not including Hong Kong, Taiwan or Macau). This ban was lifted in 2014 when the gaming industry proved to be extremely lucrative [22]. Although China's ban on game consoles has been lifted, the Chinese Government still strictly regulates the sales and operation of video games within the country. This regulation ranges from regulating artwork (those depicting skulls, gore, and sexualized characters) to banning games and franchises outright. This has been seen in games like League of Legends changing in game character models to eliminate the presence of skulls, or the restriction of Activision Blizzard Inc.'s Call of Duty franchise leading to the release of Call of Duty Online, a China only version of the game regulated by the government. An analysis of game regulation in China by J. Zhang found that many game developers prefer to release their games with Chinese language version due to the complex censorship process spanning a large series of time, and often requiring large changes to be made to the games graphics and content [23]. China's strict regulations and censorship of games within their country does not only affect those living or playing within China. Restrictions on play can affect the international competitive scene as seen in Hearthstone's Gold Series. Additionally, China does not allow the sale of randomized loot box style in game sales without the rate statistics of a specific item being available to the costumer. In 2017 Blizzard Entertainment was required to disclose the drop rates of the card packs sold within the game which revealed to players around the world the chances of getting a specific rarity card for the first time [24]. In 2019, Blizzard made changes to artwork within Hearthstone decreasing the presence of sexualized art content and gore. The Hearthstone community did not have a fully positive reaction to the changes, and speculated that the changes were made in order to comply with game censorship within China. Dave Kosak, Lead mission designer for Hearthstone, stated that the artwork changes were not to comply with Chinese regulations and were just an update of older cards to meet current company standard for cards [25]. In the past Blizzard Entertainment had made similar changes in their popular MMORPG World of Warcraft to comply with censorship standard within China.

In 2019, Ng Wai Chung (goes by Blitzchung in the Hearthstone community) was suspended from play for a year and forced to forfeit tournament winnings by Blizzard Entertainment. The ban came after Blitzchung, a professional player from Hong Kong, won a tournament in the Hearthstone Grandmasters Tournaments and wore goggles and facemask similar to those of the Hong Kong protestors and stated "Liberate Hong Kong. Revolution of our age" on an official Taiwan Hearthstone stream interview [26]. During the interview, the two commentators conducting the interview attempted to hid their faces under the desk to avoid being identified. Blizzard banned both Chung and fired the commentators following the tournament [27]. Blizzards President J. Allen Brack released a statement on October 11th saying that China had no influence on the decision to ban Chung and fire the commentators [28]. Following the ban Blizzard employees stepped down from high level positions stating that the company no longer shares the same values with them, and support for Hong Kong and boycotting Blizzard was shown by other competitors in the community and collegiate tournament. On October 12th Blizzards President made another statement saying that the company had decided to give Chung the prize money he had earned in the tournament and reduced the ban from one year to six months.

References

  1. Blizzard Entertainment. (n.d.). Hearthstone Official Game Site. Hearthstone. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/new-to-hearthstone/
  2. U.S. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION vs. ACTIVISION BLIZZARD, INC., BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT, INC., ACTIVISION PUBLISHING, INC., and KING.COM, INC., and DOES ONE through TEN, inclusive (United States District Court, Central District of California September 27, 2021).
  3. Van Rooij, A. J., Schoenmakers, T. M., Vermulst, A. A., Van Den Eijnden, R. J. J. M., & Van De Mheen, D. (2010). Online video game addiction: Identification of addicted adolescent gamers. Addiction, 106(1), 205–212. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03104.x
  4. Blizzard Entertainment. (n.d.). How to play. Hearthstone. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/how-to-play?topic=build-a-deck
  5. Blizzard Entertainment. (n.d.). How to play. Hearthstone. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/how-to-play?topic=build-a-deck
  6. Blizzard Entertainment. (n.d.). How to play. Hearthstone. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/how-to-play?topic=build-a-deck
  7. Blizzard Entertainment. (n.d.). How to play. Hearthstone. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/how-to-play?topic=build-a-deck
  8. Blizzard Entertainment. (n.d.). Ways to play. Hearthstone. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/ways-to-play/
  9. Blizzard Entertainment. (2021, February 17). Introducing hearthstone battlegrounds. Hearthstone. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/news/23156373
  10. Blizzard Entertainment. (n.d.). Esports. Hearthstone. Retrieved February 11, 2022, from https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/esports/
  11. Chalk, A. (2017, May 6). Blizzard's Chinese hearthstone website confirms card rarity drop rates. pcgamer. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzards-chinese-hearthstone-website-confirms-card-rarity-drop-rates/
  12. Friedman, D. (2017, December 12). Hearthstone has become a $400 a year game. Polygon. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://www.polygon.com/2017/12/12/16763594/hearthstone-expensive-expansions-cost
  13. https://www.dfeh.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2021/07/BlizzardPR.7.21.21.pdf
  14. U.S. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION vs. ACTIVISION BLIZZARD, INC., BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT, INC., ACTIVISION PUBLISHING, INC., and KING.COM, INC., and DOES ONE through TEN, inclusive (United States District Court, Central District of California September 27, 2021).
  15. Activision Blizzard inc. (2021, September 27). Activision Blizzard commits to expanded workplace initiatives, reaches agreement with the EEOC. Activision Blizzard. Retrieved January 28, 2022, from https://investor.activision.com/news-releases/news-release-details/activision-blizzard-commits-expanded-workplace-initiatives
  16. Diaz, J. (2021, September 28). Activision Blizzard strikes an $18 million deal over its workplace harassment lawsuit. NPR. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://www.npr.org/2021/09/28/1041068091/activision-blizzard-strikes-an-18-million-deal-over-its-workplace-harassment-law
  17. Diaz, J. (2021, September 28). Activision Blizzard strikes an $18 million deal over its workplace harassment lawsuit. NPR. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://www.npr.org/2021/09/28/1041068091/activision-blizzard-strikes-an-18-million-deal-over-its-workplace-harassment-law
  18. Van Rooij, A. J., Schoenmakers, T. M., Vermulst, A. A., Van Den Eijnden, R. J. J. M., & Van De Mheen, D. (2010). Online video game addiction: Identification of addicted adolescent gamers. Addiction, 106(1), 205–212. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03104.x
  19. Van Rooij, A. J., Schoenmakers, T. M., Vermulst, A. A., Van Den Eijnden, R. J. J. M., & Van De Mheen, D. (2010). Online video game addiction: Identification of addicted adolescent gamers. Addiction, 106(1), 205–212. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03104.x
  20. Weinstein, A. M. (2010). Computer and video game addiction—a comparison between game users and non-game users. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 36(5), 268–276. https://doi.org/10.3109/00952990.2010.491879
  21. Weinstein, A. M. (2010). Computer and video game addiction—a comparison between game users and non-game users. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 36(5), 268–276. https://doi.org/10.3109/00952990.2010.491879
  22. BBC. (2014, January 7). China lifts ban on foreign video games consoles. BBC News. Retrieved February 11, 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-25635719
  23. Zhang, J., & Chiu, C. L. (2020). The impact of game censorship and regulations on foreign game consoles in China. 2020 13th CMI Conference on Cybersecurity and Privacy (CMI) - Digital Transformation - Potentials and Challenges(51275). https://doi.org/10.1109/cmi51275.2020.9322695
  24. Chalk, A. (2017, May 6). Blizzard's Chinese hearthstone website confirms card rarity drop rates. pcgamer. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzards-chinese-hearthstone-website-confirms-card-rarity-drop-rates/
  25. Chalk, A., & Moore, B. (2019, July 2). Blizzard says Hearthstone card art changes have nothing to do with China. pcgamer. Retrieved February 5, 2022, from https://www.pcgamer.com/hearthstone-card-art-changes/
  26. Clark, P. A. (2019, October 21). What to know about the esports backlash to Blizzard over Hong Kong. Time. Retrieved February 5, 2022, from https://time.com/5702971/blizzard-esports-hearthstone-hong-kong-protests-backlash-blitzchung/
  27. Beauchamp, Z. (2019, October 8). One of America's biggest gaming companies is acting as China's censor. Vox. Retrieved February 11, 2022, from https://www.vox.com/2019/10/8/20904433/blizzard-hong-kong-hearthstone-blitzchung
  28. Gonzalez, O. (n.d.). Blizzard, Hearthstone and the Hong Kong protests: What you need to know. CNET. Retrieved February 11, 2022, from https://www.cnet.com/news/blizzard-hearthstone-and-the-hong-kong-protests-heres-what-you-need-to-know/


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