A Hearthstone tournament stream has been taken over by anti-Blizzard messages from fans of the game who are upset over its current direction. Hearthstone just released its Madness at the Darkmoon Faire expansion, and while the content added has largely been well-received, one change has caused a lot of anger and disbelief among long-time Hearthstone supporters: the Tavern Pass, which is the game's equivalent of a battle pass progression system.
For those unfamiliar with what's been going on, Hearthstone introduced the Tavern Pass as a new means of progressing through the game's daily grind. In theory, it was meant to offer players a more engaging experience over the course of the game's seasons while also preserving how much gold (the game's free currency) and packs players were rewarded with from the previous quest system. Players ran the numbers on the Hearthstone Tavern Pass right before launch, however, and discovered that the system was markedly worse than its predecessor for free-to-play players. While Blizzard has since instituted changes, they didn't really address the major issue fans have had, which is both that the game is too expensive as a whole and that the Tavern Pass is too much of a grind for too little benefit to free-to-play users.
Fans have begun to make their voices heard, however, and an on-going Hearthstone tournament called Darkmoon Duel-Fest has become a hotbed for protest. Players are spamming the tournament's Twitch chat with anti-Blizzard messaging, with a popular one being #StopBlizzardGreed. Other users are offering more insightful looks into their displeasure, and many messages are even warning the over 9000 viewers as of writing to not pick up the game if they're interested. Moderators began deleting some messages over the course of the stream but the messaging remains consistent throughout, with upset players venting their frustration about the game's current state.
Obviously, the Hearthstone Tavern Pass system is not being well-received even with the changes that have been made so far. It's a shame, too, because the players in this tournament are getting a platform to show off their Hearthstone prowess and compete for a $200,000 prize pool. That being said, part of the reason fans are upset is because the tournament is a $200,000 competition - something they feel illustrates perfectly how Blizzard is more than capable of reducing the barrier of entry to Hearthstone and to better support its free-to-play users.
With so many players making their voices heard during one of the most visible streams from Hearthstone following the release of Madness at the Darkmoon Faire, it seems like a certainty that Blizzard will be forced to respond. Whether that response is what players want, however, remains to be seen, and it seems the Hearthstone player base might be reaching its breaking point on how much money Blizzard's game currently asks from its players to stay current on expansions and card collections.
Source: PlayHearthstone/Twitch