Hearthstone, a game made by the gaming legend Blizzard, is a multiplayer online card game that has slowly been taking a turn for the worst. It is a card game that uses characters from Blizzard’s other insanely popular game called World of Warcraft. For many this was seen as the best card game and crushed the previous best card game of Magicka. Heartstone has also pioneered and has had an influence in the whole gaming scene.

As stated earlier Hearthstone has overcome the previous titan of Magica in nearly every front. This can be accredited due to its amazing free to play model and how the game is easy accessible on both mobile and pc instead of being forced to carry around the physical cards. Unfortunately  one of these two major points has slowly been faded away over the years. This is the death of the free to play feature due to every expansion released which are slowly giving users who spend money on the game an edge over the ones who don’t. Recently this problem has gotten so bad that most players are leaving in a exodus.

Currently the game is on an extremely predictable chart with cycles of playability. Whenever a new feature to the game is being teased at and up to its release are the best periods for the game of a mass hype and overall enjoyment. The week or two afterwards is also pleasant due to every player experimenting with the new content, trying what works and what doesn’t,  although the worst part for the game is right after this. The next stage results in a clear cut way to play the game is better than all others that is not fun to play yourself or against. Many users feel and is proven that the game has gotten so bad recently that, if any other way to play the game that isn’t one of the three vastly better ways, will lose before the game has even started and is a main contributor towards the mass leaving.

For many users, streaming is one of the best ways to enjoy the game. Whenever something good happens to them, the viewers are happy, when something bad happens to the streamer, the viewers are happy and the streamer is happy due to them making remarkable amounts of money playing video games, They are and amazing way to build up a game and to create a social system to take away from the stresses of the game. Recently though, most streamers have started or already have worked in other games. To them it is worth the loss of profit or even the threat of having to start anew due to the game being so unenjoyable nowadays. In my opinion, once this happens, the community will slowly fall out and will be the end for Hearthstone.

This is an extremely sad realization for me due to it being a game that I used to enjoy and played it most every day with my friends. Over time though, the time my friends and I have spent playing has dwindled.  At this point, there is no small solution to this problem. Something extreme has to happen to this game to keep the current player base and hopefully turn it back into the game that was widely loved and appreciated.