Difference between revisions of "Hearthstone"

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Hearthstone

"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

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
Uther	Jaina	Rexxar	Malfurion	Illidan

All image copywrites owned by Activision Blizzard inc.

Game Modes

• Standard

Standard format limits players' decks to only cards in their collections from the Basic, Classic, and the most recent card sets. ^[7]

• 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. ^[8]

Professional Scene

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 ^[9]. 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. ^[10]. 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”. ^[11]. 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. ^[12] 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." ^[13]. 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. ^[14] “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.”^[15]

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 ^[16]. 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 ^[17]. 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 ^[18] . 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 ^[19].

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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.). Ways to play. Hearthstone. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/ways-to-play/
8. ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. (2021, February 17). Introducing hearthstone battlegrounds. Hearthstone. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/news/23156373
9. ↑ 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/
10. ↑ 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
11. ↑ https://www.dfeh.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2021/07/BlizzardPR.7.21.21.pdf
12. ↑ 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).
13. ↑ 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
14. ↑ 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
15. ↑ 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
16. ↑ 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
17. ↑ 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
18. ↑ 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
19. ↑ 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

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