Mike Donais, Hearthstone’s senior game designer, released a statement on the Blizzard forums and reddit about changes coming to the unpopular Deathstalker Rexxar. “We will be updating Deathstalker Rexxar’s Hero Power to include new Beasts going forward,” Donais said. “Please be patient, as this is a fairly complicated endeavor and we may need to start with a smaller change before a more permanent solution is implemented.”
Though there is no set date when these changes will be going through and some beasts (like King Of Beasts) will have to be omitted, it shows that the HS devs are listening to fan outcries. On Monday night, Player.One spoke with Donais over the phone who assured us that changes were coming with the Deathknight and I guess he beat us to the punch. He appreciates the fan community and listens a lot to what’s going on forums like reddit, which is why he’s one of the most active developers who post in any Blizzard subreddit.
“We spend a lot of time working really hard to make fun expansions, so it’s nice to see how people react and to see what people are excited by, what they’re confused by, what they want to see more or less of,” Donais told Player.One. “It really helps us become better at our jobs and certainly my time on reddit has helped with that. I’ve had a lot of fun doing (reddit) and it seems like people have been really appreciative of it.”
Hearthstone’s community can be a bit fickle when it comes to getting what they want. On the release of the newest expansion Kobolds And Catacombs, fans noticed something might be wrong. Deathstalker Rexxar, Hunter’s Death Knight card from The Knights Of The Frozen Throne expansion, has a Hero Power that combines two Beasts together. None of the new Beasts from this expansion, like Dire Mole, were to be seen and fans were outraged. Having a card stuck in the past puts it at a disadvantage, why would anyone be happy about drafting this Legendary if it can’t be used to its full potential? On top of that, once the Standard rotation happens sometime early next year, DS Rexxar’s pool will be cut in half, making it even worse.
Donais has been popping into posts on the Hearthstone forums over the past few weeks, explaining the problems behind getting this change through to the live servers. In the original post Donais’ comment where he explains the team’s challenges has over 300 downvotes.
“The challenge was not a coding one. It was combining 2 text boxes into one across 15 languages,” Donais said. “A lot of things that work ok in English don't work as well in other languages.”
I don’t believe Blizzard should bow to the whims of the community too often, but I think this is a valid change. Having a card lose its unique mechanic (and its usefulness) over time because of technical hurdles shouldn’t be an issue. I love the Death Knights, though I do only get use out of them in Dungeon Runs. They have a unique flavor that no other card manages to capture and I’m glad they are getting the love they deserve. I hope Team 5 continues to act quickly when it comes to fan uproar without giving in to every single problem that becomes a centerpiece of online conversation.
