by JR Cook - 10 years ago     show comments

I’m not complaining. I can honestly say that, because I am not the target audience. I like collecting in-game items, but not to the point that it becomes compulsive.

That’s probably a good thing, because over the next two months Hearthstone completionists will be on the hook for $110 if they really, really want to get their hands on everything the game eventually can offer.

We already knew that the Warlords of Draenor Collector’s Edition, which comes with a very nice card back for Hearthstone, will set gamers back $69.99. Today, Blizzard announced the in-game goodies for the $39.99 BlizzCon Virtual Ticket, and not surprisingly they include another card back.

There’s no argument that the two card backs aren’t beautifully crafted. In both cases, there’s a lot of other value included as well. If someone isn’t interested in playing a time consuming MMO though, or has no interest in experiencing BlizzCon remotely, then the prospect of spending $110 just to have a complete Hearthstone collection seems rather steep.

One can certainly argue that these card backs are entirely optional – and that is a fair point. However, Hearthstone is billed as a collectible card game, and when collecting is the name of the game, a price tag of $110 for the sake of completion does smart.

It would be wonderful if card backs, just like gold versions of Hearthstone cards, could become craftable at some point.