by JR Cook - 11 years ago     show comments

There’s been a lot of discussion of late on the internet about Hearthstone and the dreaded moniker of “Pay to Win”, or P2W. It’s a black spot in the gaming industry, one bestowed unceremoniously by communities upon companies seen as being excessively greedy or morally compromised. In a P2W scenario, individuals are able to inflate their score or levels of power by dumping cash into a title, often granting them an unfair advantage. Some have accused Hearthstone of being one such title. Others simply accept that as being what it is, holding no grudge against Blizzard, given how the TCG/CCG scene has always been.

The issue here though is in the definition. In order for Hearthstone to truly be a P2W title, cash would have to have a direct correlation with success rate. At this point in the closed beta, the only things that can be purchased are Arena runs, booster packs and a golden version of Gelbin Mekkatorque.

It’s inarguable that Arena runs offer no advantage in standard play. Whatever cards a player drafts are lost at either nine wins or three losses. There are rewards, and those will help individuals construct a larger card library through gold, dust and a guaranteed booster pack, but skill will be the real factor in how far an individual goes in the Arena, not cash. The Arena is more a mechanism for individuals looking to build their collection on a budget, because success is determined by a mixture of chance and skill, and if you’re good enough, you can theoretically win enough gold to continue paying for your Arena runs, all while gaining booster packs and dust.

The interesting thing is, Blizzard built the mode to include the possibility of winning out. Doing so deprives them of possible cash, and thus somewhat dents the argument that Blizzard is simply here to milk us for all we’re worth financially, a message that’s all too prevalent on Twitter at times. Quite simply, after getting your initial Arena run (for 150 gold or $1.99) cash has no say in the matter.

Booster packs are a decidedly more controversial topic. The fact is, I’m sitting at 295 wins at present, in Two Star Masters. I have purchased all of zero booster packs, and maybe ten Arena runs with cash. I regularly compete against individuals that brandish cards such as Hogger, Ragnaros and Malygos, often in the same deck. I don’t always beat them, but when I do, I do so with a deck that has two rares in it, Headcrack and SI:7 Agent. That’s two rares, zero epics and zero legendaries. I consider myself decent, but not at all some kind of pro level player. It just comes down to building a good deck and executing correctly. The fact is, booster packs do not directly contribute to that. Buying a bunch of them will not make you a top tier player. Some of the strongest cards in the class sets are basics, earned either by unlocking the decks or ranking them up to level 10.

While epics and legendaries can certainly be strong in the right setup, buying booster packs does not guarantee one the possibility of gaining access to them. There is no mechanism that allows for trades or the purchase of individual cards, aside from the aforementioned golden Gelbin Mekkatorque (a promotional beta item) and thus, individuals buying booster packs are taking shots in the dark. It’s entirely possible to get copies of the same card, or cards that are not all that useful to what you’re trying to do. Expert level cards will absolutely be vital to your success, but they cost all of 40 dust, and that’s not difficult to obtain via the Arena, or simply disenchanting cards you have no use for. Given the amount of gold and packs Blizzard allows you to earn through free questing early on, you will have options when it comes to unlocking these cards with crafting.

Simplifying it, spending cash does not offer a direct in-game benefit. Sen’jin Shieldmasta does not become a 9/9 if you purchase enough booster packs. There is no in-game shop that allows you to purchase a sideboard, or a counter to The Coin. There is no option to purchase super powered elite booster packs that award 100 Edwin Van Cleefs. The Lord of the Rings Online shop happens to offer players the opportunity to purchase stats directly through their shop. That’s P2W, because the ‘objective’ of Lord of the Rings Online is to raid and beat the bosses.  Additional stats directly influences success rate.

The in-game shop for Lord of the Rings online.

Hearthstone offers individuals with a desire to quickly expand their library the opportunity to buy a grab bag of cards that may or may not include what they need. That’s different, because the endgame of Hearthstone is beating opponents in a card game. That’s essentially Pay for Ease, or P4E, because, with enough time, diligence and a fair amount of luck, anyone can unlock these same cards without ever spending a dime. Yes, it would take a very long time. However, Hearthstone is not an MMO. You’re not racing to get to level cap in order to begin your raiding phase. Hearthstone is the sort of game where, logging in, doing a daily, playing a couple of games and logging out is totally viable. Conversely, if you’re like me and want to play it all day, that’s also viable, and totally free.

In review, Hearthstone is not P2W. It’s P4E. It’s not P2W because dropping cash does not directly affect the chances of being successful at the game, because success is measured in your ability to best your foes in a card game. Paying for booster packs absolutely makes the task of building a card library easier, but that’s all it does. It might seem like a trifling distinction to some, but it’s absolutely there and worthy of mention.