PAX East is hours from this post. For a third year in a row, the Boston convention will host a Hearthstone panel and given the special relationship between the two parties, the community should be anticipating some exciting developments.
It was exactly at PAX East when Hearthstone's journey began. In March 2013, Blizzard Entertainment announced they'll be treading in new waters with digital card game based in the Warcraft universe. At the time, few people took the game seriously - its goofy graphics paired with the obviously casual gameplay made many doubt Blizzard's new venture.
These doubts, as we know now, were all cast aside very quickly. Hearthstone enjoyed an unparalleled success and happily returned to the 2014 edition of PAX East, bringing alongside announcements for its first ever expansion - Curse of Naxxramas. Now, two years after Hearthstone was first revealed, the card game phenomenon makes another trip to Boston, so what is Hearthstone getting now?
Below is a list of speculations, wishes and basically confirmed pieces of information we've collected from fans, crew members and news outlets.
1. Blackrock Mountain adventure
Of course, nothing will be official until the PAX East panel begins, but at this point it's pretty safe to say that the big announcement for this year is Blackrock Mountain, a new Hearthstone adventure.
There have been a number of clues that point to BRM's announcement and unless it was all a red herring hoax (unlikely), we will be getting this expansion. It started with some datamining from the Blizzard download servers and there's Garr - one of the Molten Core bosses - on the official webpage. So yeah, BRM is coming.
How likely it is: It's basically confirmed, if the above paragraphs weren't enough of a clue.
2. BRM release date
Now, known that BRM is coming is very different from when it is coming, especially when it comes to Blizzard games. Even though the previous adventure mode Curse of Naxxramas was announced in April, its release date was not pinpointed until July. When Goblins vs Gnomes was shown at BlizzCon, a date was also not given, though at least the month of December was mentioned.
How likely it is: Not very. If the past Hearthstone announcements are of any indication, Blizzard will make a "date-less" announcement and postpone the release to a later time. Speculations on the time time frame are a whole other matter. If Blizzard want to stick to the Curse of Naxxramas model and roll out the expansion over several weeks, they might want to wait for the qualification campaign for the 2015 World Championship to be over, which means August. If they don't care about that, it can just as easily be next month.
3. New cards
Let's face it, a BRM mountain expansion would be marginally less exciting if all that's shown are bosses and new playboards. The fans new content to discuss and for card games, the most imporant type of content is - you guessed it - cards.
Both the Naxxramas and GvG announcements launched with a handful of cards shown and the entirity of the playsets were revealed over time in the coming weeks. Here, it's somewhat important to mention that several card leaks made their way to the public and though it's needless to say they are not official until we see them coming from Blizzard, it's a good place to start building that BRM hype.
Mind Quickening and Hourglass
Chimaeron
Blackwing Technician
Lava Surger
Atramades
Obisidian Edged Blade
Magma Giant
How likely it is: Very. Basically it's a given.
4. Deckslots!
Talk about beating a horse of questionable vitality. More decklosts has been a Hearthstone chant ever since the game boomed and diversity of decks grew. On a number of occassion Blizzard have addressed the problem, mostly saying they're aware of these demands (and how can they not be) but they need to figure out a proper way to implement it.
The last update from the HQ was that they're looking into the deck slots problem, which doesn't really say much beyond what fans already knew. With the information - or lack thereof - we have coming into PAX East, getting more decklosts with BRM remains a wishful thinking.
How likely it is: Not very, but it'd be too awesome if that happened.
5. Revamped ladder
Finally, we arrive at competitive Hearthstone and the much discussed ladder. The star system with the 25 ranks was a noticeable upgrade to the original ladder format but ultimately there were as many flaws to it as there were improvements. In a recent critique piece, GosuGamers editor Nico "Stothex" van der Knaap addressed several of the issues with the online experience and the gruesome grindfest that it is, his points strongly supported by community and pro players alike. The system, many agreed, needed to change.
How likely it is: Getting a full revamp of the ladder sounds unlikely. If PAX East had come before the start of the 2015 World Championship circuit, than that would be a whole different matter, but doing a major overhaul now might be seen as unreasonable. If there are changes to the ladder, expect them to be minor ones. Certainly don't hold your breath.
What do you want from the Hearthstone panel? Tell us below.
More on GosuGamers Hearthstone:
