Fireside Chat: Naxxramas Impressions
by JR Cook - 10 years ago show comments
It would be very easy to compare the anticipation and build up for the release of Curse of Naxxramas to that of a child waiting for Christmas Day. Class card teasers, Legendary card reveals, pricing information – they all may as well be the dribs and drabs of gifts showing up under the Christmas tree in the weeks leading up to the big day. With Christmas morning, it only took us mere moments to have the gifts unwrapped and the toys put together and played with, leaving only the smell of turkey wafting through the house to give us something new to anticipate. In our case, the Arachnid Quarter has been opened, Maexxna has been defeated and Druids and Rogues have their new class cards, leaving us to now anticipate the opening of the Plague Quarter. Luckily for us, the Curse of Naxxramas is the gift that will keep on giving (for a few more weeks anyhow)!
Even though I was on vacation when the necropolis officially arrived, I did manage to open my presents and complete all of the fights on Normal Mode, including the Class Challenges. Now that I’m at home with a proper internet connection, this weekend will be spent focusing on learning and completing the Heroic Mode bosses. That card back will be mine! I think the thing that I was most pleasantly surprised by was how small the content patch was on the iPad. Even with the shaky wifi in the hotel up north in “Cottage Country,” I was able to update the app and play through the content with minimal lag. Everything about the the first wing and overall experience exceeded my expectations! At the top of my list has to be Kel’thuzad’s hilarious one-liners!
So, what about you guys? Now that you’ve had a bit of time to play with your new toys, what are your impressions of Curse of Naxxramas? Do you think it has lived up to the hype? Has anything left a sour taste in your mouth? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or on Twitter – @BlizzPro or @HearthProShow.
Unfortunately, we don’t get the card back until ALL of the bosses are complete on Heroic 🙁
I think gating adventure mode content is a bad idea, I feel like there isn’t enough content here to get very much enjoyment. Additionally, I’m unsure how I’d feel about 5$ per wing if I were paying for it with real money, the replayability just isn’t there like I was hoping. That really gets down to the core issue here, my expectations were not met. This doesn’t detract from the quality of the content, but does show a disconnect somewhere between myself and Blizzard.
I think the voiceovers and little details they put into it really shows they put a lot of effort into making the adventure amazing, which is great. The music is phenomenal, the art did not fail to impress, and card design is fantastic and will clearly be reshaping the game in ways I’m sure we have yet to see. I’m excited to get my hands on the cards in future wings too, they look amazing to play with and the combos have me dreaming of multiple Kel’Thuzad’s on my side of the board while I cackle maniacally.
All-in-All its great content, and I look forward to future content patches. Especially with the Icecrown card back released, I hope desperately to be hearing ‘BONESTORRRRM!’ as Lord Marrowgar whirlwinds my board for 2 mana 2 damage card(Obviously Bone Spike will be his hero power).
I agree with a lot of what you’re saying here in terms of value for cost of the wings. To be perfectly honest with you, I think they really messed up the potential of the Heroic boss fights. They’re challenging and clever in terms of execution, but almost unanimous feedback has been that the epic fight hardly seems properly rewarded.
The simple fact that you don’t even receive anything for beating them within each week is evidence enough. You finally take down Heroic Maexxna and the game just reverts to the regular selection screen. What? No fanfare…no confetti…no nothing? The replayability of the adventure is just not there and I guess, maybe from a business side of thing, they don’t need it to be. Once they have our money, they want us back in the Arena where we might possibly purchase an entry or back trying to grind the dust to get the golden versions, which might eventually also lead to you purchasing packs with real money.
In a way, they have to provide content to keep us hooked, but they also have to keep driving us toward the places where they stand to make more revenue. Inside of Naxxramas, no. Playing the other parts of the game, yes. So less reasons to go back into Naxx are beneficial to them. I hate that it’s like that, but that line of reasoning as least makes fiscal sense to me. This game needs another grind besides trying to get to Legend every season.
Unfortunately, we don’t get the card back until ALL of the bosses are complete on Heroic 🙁
I think gating adventure mode content is a bad idea, I feel like there isn’t enough content here to get very much enjoyment. Additionally, I’m unsure how I’d feel about 5$ per wing if I were paying for it with real money, the replayability just isn’t there like I was hoping. That really gets down to the core issue here, my expectations were not met. This doesn’t detract from the quality of the content, but does show a disconnect somewhere between myself and Blizzard.
I think the voiceovers and little details they put into it really shows they put a lot of effort into making the adventure amazing, which is great. The music is phenomenal, the art did not fail to impress, and card design is fantastic and will clearly be reshaping the game in ways I’m sure we have yet to see. I’m excited to get my hands on the cards in future wings too, they look amazing to play with and the combos have me dreaming of multiple Kel’Thuzad’s on my side of the board while I cackle maniacally.
All-in-All its great content, and I look forward to future content patches. Especially with the Icecrown card back released, I hope desperately to be hearing ‘BONESTORRRRM!’ as Lord Marrowgar whirlwinds my board for 2 mana 2 damage card(Obviously Bone Spike will be his hero power).
I agree with a lot of what you’re saying here in terms of value for cost of the wings. To be perfectly honest with you, I think they really messed up the potential of the Heroic boss fights. They’re challenging and clever in terms of execution, but almost unanimous feedback has been that the epic fight hardly seems properly rewarded.
The simple fact that you don’t even receive anything for beating them within each week is evidence enough. You finally take down Heroic Maexxna and the game just reverts to the regular selection screen. What? No fanfare…no confetti…no nothing? The replayability of the adventure is just not there and I guess, maybe from a business side of thing, they don’t need it to be. Once they have our money, they want us back in the Arena where we might possibly purchase an entry or back trying to grind the dust to get the golden versions, which might eventually also lead to you purchasing packs with real money.
In a way, they have to provide content to keep us hooked, but they also have to keep driving us toward the places where they stand to make more revenue. Inside of Naxxramas, no. Playing the other parts of the game, yes. So less reasons to go back into Naxx are beneficial to them. I hate that it’s like that, but that line of reasoning as least makes fiscal sense to me. This game needs another grind besides trying to get to Legend every season.
My biggest letdown is that I was hoping for a sudden shift in the meta, rather than this gradual dabbling in new cards.
Ah well. At the end if the day, even if the content is a bit lacking, it’s pretty much guaranteed legendary cards, which is worth the price of admission right there.
My biggest letdown is that I was hoping for a sudden shift in the meta, rather than this gradual dabbling in new cards.
Ah well. At the end if the day, even if the content is a bit lacking, it’s pretty much guaranteed legendary cards, which is worth the price of admission right there.
I don’t want to go into a serious analysis of this content patch – I simply had a lot of fun playing it! Kel’thuzad’s one liners are hilarious. Almost fell off my chair when I first heard his response when Maexxna (?) dropped a Sea Giant.
I don’t want to go into a serious analysis of this content patch – I simply had a lot of fun playing it! Kel’thuzad’s one liners are hilarious. Almost fell off my chair when I first heard his response when Maexxna (?) dropped a Sea Giant.
As someone who is a fairly new Hearthstoner, I have yet to grow tired of the meta. These new cards are welcome though, and I really like the layout of Naxx. A new 30 card adventure and a 80-100 expansion(acquired through booster packs) per year would be the sweet spot I think.
My only complaint(s) with Naxx is the underwhelming card back reward, along with having to craft gold versions of the cards we get. The goldies should have been the reward(s).
As someone who is a fairly new Hearthstoner, I have yet to grow tired of the meta. These new cards are welcome though, and I really like the layout of Naxx. A new 30 card adventure and a 80-100 expansion(acquired through booster packs) per year would be the sweet spot I think.
My only complaint(s) with Naxx is the underwhelming card back reward, along with having to craft gold versions of the cards we get. The goldies should have been the reward(s).
I think it’s cool and had some fun with it for a couple nights. The new cards are daunting to implement into my current decks because I don’t particularly enjoy deck making. I do however, wish they would have made some type of distinction on the new cards indicating they’re expansion cards. Either with a little logo on the front or different color the way Magic and PKMN TCG differentiate expansions.
I like this idea. It would be cool to see a distinction of some sort, especially when we’re years down the line and there are tons of expansion sets to choose cards from. Would help to add some nice visible history to the game. They do seem intent on keeping the cards as “clean” as possible though.
I think it’s cool and had some fun with it for a couple nights. The new cards are daunting to implement into my current decks because I don’t particularly enjoy deck making. I do however, wish they would have made some type of distinction on the new cards indicating they’re expansion cards. Either with a little logo on the front or different color the way Magic and PKMN TCG differentiate expansions.
I like this idea. It would be cool to see a distinction of some sort, especially when we’re years down the line and there are tons of expansion sets to choose cards from. Would help to add some nice visible history to the game. They do seem intent on keeping the cards as “clean” as possible though.
I honestly have no idea what Blizzard was thinking when they decided to charge 25 dollars for a few cards that you have to actually spend time getting. The adventure release event is cool, but honestly, other than wings opening for free I can’t see anyone paying for it.
I honestly have no idea what Blizzard was thinking when they decided to charge 25 dollars for a few cards that you have to actually spend time getting. The adventure release event is cool, but honestly, other than wings opening for free I can’t see anyone paying for it.