It's almost surprising how long Hearthstone has gone on considering how other digital card games have fallen by the wayside. The game has changed substantially in all that time, with the biggest recent change being a battle pass that was rumored long before it became reality.
The battle pass introduced in Hearthstone is called the Tavern Pass, and it completely overhauled the game's progression system. It was billed as being created to alleviate the daily quest grind and make it easier for players to earn rewards for playing. However, some number crunching players did the math and found out that it actually does the complete opposite, creating even more grind unless players spend regularly.
Needless to say, players are not happy with the Tavern Pass. Dissatisfied players who frequent Blizzard's titles have not been shy about making their voices heard of late, and this was no exception. During the Duel-Fest, a tournament showing off Hearthstone's latest expansion, players hijacked the Twitch chat. The chat was flooded with complaints about the new system and requests to reinstate the old progression system.
While many of the Twitch chat's comments were simple in nature, asking for a return to form or declaring the Tavern Pass to be terrible, others were more nuanced. Since the launch of the Tavern Pass, players have had more than enough time to feel its sting. While the achievements offered by the Tavern Pass are fun in their own right, the total amount of gold players earn by playing has dropped by around 5000, enough to buy 50 packs. This was discovered by Streamer J_Alexander_HS, and it's observations like his that players were throwing at Blizzard.
These are not new complaints, although this is the first time they took center stage during an event showing off the game itself. J_Alexander_HS' analysis has been commented on by a Blizzard dev, who defended the Tavern Pass' implementation. However, assurances like hers were not and are not enough for most players.
Since the implementation and defense, Blizzard has promised changes to the Tavern Pass. However, most of the promised and implemented changes have not been enough for players. Solutions like XP giving Events cause problems even while answering them, causing even more FOMO among players. Hopefully this situation changes soon and players no longer feel like their favorite pastime is an exercise in stress and frustration.
Hearthstone is available on PC and Mobile.
Source: Twitch