The following is being posted on behalf of Lead Features Designer, Chadd Nervig:
On the Hearthstone team, we’re always looking for ways that we can surprise and delight our players. That means taking risks, trying new things, and iterating if things don’t go as planned.
It’s safe to say that the reception to Signature cards hasn’t lived up to our hopes. We wanted to take a moment to respond to all the great feedback you’ve been giving us about them and tell you a bit about our plans for them.
First, our goals for Signature cards. We want to celebrate the art, putting it front and center, focusing on appealing, exciting, high-quality, and unique full art. We want them to be special items that you want to collect. And we want them to feel great to get; it should feel like a bonus, pure upside.
Your feedback has been clear: we haven’t hit those goals. We’re taking that feedback to heart and are already planning significant changes for our next round of Signature cards.
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Many people have shared how Hearthstone’s colorful art is one of their favorite aspects of the game and the “icy sepia” tone we chose worked against that. Each expansion will feature a different approach to Signature card art, and we’re already planning for the next expansion’s Signature cards to be bright, vibrant, and colorful. They will also feature animations similar to what Golden cards have.
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You’ve also told us that you love the idea of full art cards, but that the name banner across the middle fights against that. We hear you and are exploring potential options to get the name banner out of the way for the next expansion’s Signatures.
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We’re also thinning out the card frame itself for next expansion’s Signature cards, both in hand and on the board, to make more room for the art, and reduce confusion about whether the on-board frame has some gameplay impact.
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Finally, you’ve told us that they haven’t felt like a pure bonus in all cases. While a bit confusing (and we’re looking into ways to make things clearer), the new reroll system has worked well to make Signatures a pure bonus in most cases. But there have been a few edge cases where that system hasn’t protected you from missing out on something, and we’re going to provide compensation for those affected, while we iterate on the systems involved for the future.
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If you own Signature Lor’themar, you effectively missed out on a Legendary card, so we’ll be giving you 1 random Legendary card from March of the Lich King.
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If you own both Signature Grand Magister Rommath and the March of the Lich King Tavern Pass, you effectively missed out on a Legendary card, so we’ll be giving you 1 random Legendary card from March of the Lich King.
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Eligibility will be based on the above criteria as of December 20th at 10am PT. Eligible players will be granted this compensation at login, later that week. (Edited 12/19 to correct time zone from “PDT” to “PT”)
Thanks for all the great feedback on Signature Cards, and all the passion and excitement you’ve shown for Hearthstone and March of the Lich King!