This year my friend Dan gifted me a BlizzCon virtual ticket and I spent this weekend basking in 24/7 Blizzard live stream goodness! I watched a bunch of the BlizzCon panels and tournaments and if you are into Blizzard and want to experience it live I recommend looking into the virtual ticket. Not only do you get a live stream of the events but also a bunch of digital bonuses and some are really compelling(like the Hearthstone golden Legendary).
New Hearthstone Expansion Kobolds and Catacombs
I think one of the biggest news nuggets our of BlizzCon is the new Kobolds and Catacombs Hearthstone expansion. Not only is K&C an all new expansion but it also comes with tiered Single Player content like in the last expansion Knights of the Frozen Throne. Blizzard let us know that they only plan on releasing 3 new expansions per year and with each new set they are releasing free single player adventure boss fights. Not only does Kobolds and Catacombs expansion see a whole bunch of new cards and some new single player content but starting November 6th until K&C launches Blizzard is giving away the new Marin the Fox legendary for logging in. Fear not though because if you miss getting him for free as a login bonus you can get him for free by simply opening one K&C pack at launch.
Kobolds and Catacombs will be Blizzards third expansion this year making it a really full year to collect Hearthstone cards and if you've been away for sometime stepping back in might seem daunting. K&C is adding a new mode that might be for you in the all new Dungeon Run giving Hearthstone an all new game mode that is entirely free to play. From my understanding the new Dungeon Run mode won't require gold to play or money, it will just be an all new PvE single player mode you can play whenever you want.
"Each time you start a new dungeon run, your deck and character will grow in power as you fight your way through the catacombs. Your goal is to defeat eight progressively more challenging encounters picked from a pool of over four dozen."
I reinstalled Hearthstone on my phone because after some time off as this new Dungeon Run mode seems very interesting to me. Not sure if i'm going to jump back into Hearthstone full time but I do like a new way to play the game and since it's free, might not be bad to give it a shot.
https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/expansions-adventures/kobolds-and-catacombs/
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Is Now Free To Play
StarCraft II has had a free to play version for quite some time but whats different now is that this November 14th StarCraft II's first single player campaign Wings of Liberty, Versus Mode and Co-op Commanders up to level 5 are going to be available for free. This is part of Blizzards larger push to get StarCraft II more players and make the game more accessible. If you enjoy RTS games and haven't yet played Wings of Liberty you are in for a treat. The SCII single player campaigns have been some of the most fun i've had in quite some time and if you are a fan of the old StarCraft and Brood War the single player campaigns do the old game much justice.
https://www.starcraft2.com/en-us/#free-to-play
Prince of Darkness Wins - No New Diablo III News
Diablo III had a pretty good year in it got some big content patches, balancing changes and the all new Necromancer hero. Each year at BlizzCon there is a "whats next" panel for each game and Diablo III didn't have one. It's sad that Diablo III was one of the biggest PC game releases ever and now the game seems ... like it's something Blizzard isn't really focusing on anymore. I figured we'd have another expansion by now but that just doesn't seem in the cards for the game.
I'm not sure what Blizzard has in mind for Diablo III moving forward but whatever it is they didn't say anything about it at this years BlizzCon.
New Hearthstone Expansion Kobolds and Catacombs
I think one of the biggest news nuggets our of BlizzCon is the new Kobolds and Catacombs Hearthstone expansion. Not only is K&C an all new expansion but it also comes with tiered Single Player content like in the last expansion Knights of the Frozen Throne. Blizzard let us know that they only plan on releasing 3 new expansions per year and with each new set they are releasing free single player adventure boss fights. Not only does Kobolds and Catacombs expansion see a whole bunch of new cards and some new single player content but starting November 6th until K&C launches Blizzard is giving away the new Marin the Fox legendary for logging in. Fear not though because if you miss getting him for free as a login bonus you can get him for free by simply opening one K&C pack at launch.
Kobolds and Catacombs will be Blizzards third expansion this year making it a really full year to collect Hearthstone cards and if you've been away for sometime stepping back in might seem daunting. K&C is adding a new mode that might be for you in the all new Dungeon Run giving Hearthstone an all new game mode that is entirely free to play. From my understanding the new Dungeon Run mode won't require gold to play or money, it will just be an all new PvE single player mode you can play whenever you want.
"Each time you start a new dungeon run, your deck and character will grow in power as you fight your way through the catacombs. Your goal is to defeat eight progressively more challenging encounters picked from a pool of over four dozen."
I reinstalled Hearthstone on my phone because after some time off as this new Dungeon Run mode seems very interesting to me. Not sure if i'm going to jump back into Hearthstone full time but I do like a new way to play the game and since it's free, might not be bad to give it a shot.
https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/expansions-adventures/kobolds-and-catacombs/
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Is Now Free To Play
StarCraft II has had a free to play version for quite some time but whats different now is that this November 14th StarCraft II's first single player campaign Wings of Liberty, Versus Mode and Co-op Commanders up to level 5 are going to be available for free. This is part of Blizzards larger push to get StarCraft II more players and make the game more accessible. If you enjoy RTS games and haven't yet played Wings of Liberty you are in for a treat. The SCII single player campaigns have been some of the most fun i've had in quite some time and if you are a fan of the old StarCraft and Brood War the single player campaigns do the old game much justice.
https://www.starcraft2.com/en-us/#free-to-play
Prince of Darkness Wins - No New Diablo III News
Diablo III had a pretty good year in it got some big content patches, balancing changes and the all new Necromancer hero. Each year at BlizzCon there is a "whats next" panel for each game and Diablo III didn't have one. It's sad that Diablo III was one of the biggest PC game releases ever and now the game seems ... like it's something Blizzard isn't really focusing on anymore. I figured we'd have another expansion by now but that just doesn't seem in the cards for the game.
I'm not sure what Blizzard has in mind for Diablo III moving forward but whatever it is they didn't say anything about it at this years BlizzCon.
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Excellent news for Hearthstone, as I want much more of a single player element in the game.
I was also disappointed in lack of news regarding Diablo. I read another article that contains a couple of wish lists, like the next Diablo or DII remastered. I know some of you are expecting another expansion, while I'd love to see one, I'm not quite expecting one, hoping perhaps.
As for StarCraft II, I already own it (it was one of the first games I bought for my new PC years ago) and all the expansions. Letting WoL go free might help bring more people into the SC universe. I really liked that they remastered StarCraft and I wish they'd do the same for the first three WarCraft games.
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/what-was-missing-from-blizzcon-2017/1100-6454674/
I decided to check out the single player stuff you mentioned. I, too, had to reinstall the game, since I removed it some time ago. I defeated the three challengers. It was fun. I also got that free gift with the new client update.
I noticed you can pre-order the card packs for $50. After looking at it again, I think it's just the card packs and the new game mechanic will be free. Or, at least, that is my hope. https://us.shop.battle.net/en-us/product/hearthstone-kobolds-and-catacombs
I started playing CCGs with Magic and Star Trek back in about '94. I don't collect cards anymore, but I still have some around. I liked a Magic game I bought for the PS3, but there seems to be a lot more of them on Steam. I enjoyed my recent play of ES Legends. I also reinstalled Faeria to check it out again. My only problem with these games is playing against other people, I really don't like it. So, I greatly appreciate single player modes and knowing that Hearthstone is getting more of it makes me feel better about it.
There was some Diablo 2and Warcraft 3 news but the news was kinda just that... there is no news.
https://www.vg247.com/2017/11/06/warcraft-3-and-diablo-2-remasters-arent-in-the-works-because-the-base-games-still-need-work/
It's interesting to hear that they're working on how they could do it though. So while it's not likely we'll see them next year or anything, it's likely we *will* eventually see them.
> I think it's just the card packs and the new game mechanic will be free.
Yep. Just new packs, the single player adventure content AND the new Dungeon Run mode are both free.
I am really looking forward to the WarCraft III updates too. They updated it to run on modern Operating Systems and that worked really well but I'm wondering what they might do next there? They might be making StarCraft stable as i've seen MANY updates on that since launch and then maybe look into doing the same for D2 or War3 and if so they didn't really hint which one they might do first. I think they'd maybe rather just surprise us that say anything ahead of time and fail to meet fan timeline expectations.
Hearthstone Kobolds & Catacombs releases 12/7 https://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-hearthstone-expansion-kobolds-and-catacombs-re/1100-6455248/
Yep, I saw that. You gonna play the new dungeon run mode it when it comes out?
I don't know. If I remember I may check it out.