This week in All Things Warcraft we take a look at the pricing model for the upcoming Hearthstone Adventure mode, a new Hearthstone tournament and why you should attend a Fireside Gathering.
But First…
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Another week, another Artcraft. The latest post in the series on the official site shows off the in progress male Draenei. The updated model is less drastic than some of the others because the original model was built more recently. Still, you’ll notice the increased polygon count and texture resolution in these stills as well as the expanded range of expression.
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Naxxramas Pricing Details
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We finally have the pricing details for the upcoming Hearthstone adventure mode, Curse of Naxxramas! When the adventure goes live sometime this month it will be split into five wings, each of which will become available one week at a time in the following order: Arachnid Quarter, Plague Quarter, Military Quarter, Construct Quarter and Frostwyrm Lair. The first wing, the Arachnid Quarter, will be available for free to all players during a limited time launch event which will last about one month. Each additional wing, and the first wing after the launch event concludes, can be purchased for 700 gold or $6.99. In addition, bundle pricing will also be available for those looking to purchase more than one wing at a time or purchasing wings with a split of gold and real money. For example, if you enter the Arachnid Quarter during the launch event, you could purchase access to the next two wings for 1400 gold and purchase the remaining two for $9.99. Keep in my mind that purchasing a bundle doesn’t grant access to any wings early, only when they become available during the release schedule.
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In addition to the pricing model Blizzard also announced a Heroic Mode for the Naxxramas Adventure. Once a player defeats all the bosses in a given wing the Heroic mode of that wing will unlock. Here players will be able to face far more challenging versions of the regular bosses and by defeating every boss on Heroic difficulty in all five wings, players will unlock a new card back to show off their PvE skills.
Hearthstone Tournament at IEM9
On July 16-17 the Intel Extreme Masters Shenzhen event will host a Heartstone tournament with a $10,000 prize pool. 16 players from around the world will be seeded in four groups of four players each where the best two players from each group will advance to the playoffs with the champion taking home a cool $4,000 bucks. Here’s the full prize payout:
- 1st Place: $4,000
- 2nd Place: $2,000
- 3rd-4th Place: $1,000
- 5th-8th Place: $500
The tournament will be broadcast by ESL TV here.
Fireside Gatherings
As fan of tabletop gaming I’m so happy to see the initiative Blizzard has set forth to promote in-person play with Hearthstone Fireside Gatherings. One of the reasons I love tabletop gaming is for the social aspect of playing with and meeting new people. The idea behind Fireside Gatherings is to get players to organize and host in-person gatherings in public places to play and talk about Hearthstone. These events can range from small gatherings to larger tournaments and as a reward for participating in any form of gathering players can unlock an exclusive card back.
For information on hosting your own gathering, check out the official Fireside Gatherings site. To look for gatherings in your area to participate in take a look at Liquid Hearths event list. If you don’t see anything in your area, keep checking this page as it’s updated often or consider hosting your own! I highly recommend you attend one of these events as it’s a great way to meet new people and pick up a few tips to improve your game.
Warcraft Movie Update
It’s that time of year and Comic-Con is swiftly approaching. One question that’s on our mind is will we see anything from the recently wrapped Warcraft film? The recent press release from Warner Brothers regarding their appearance at this years con makes no mention of the Warcraft film. However, when IGN recently asked the films producer, Thomas Tull, if we would see a trailer at this years Comic-Con he responded: “We show up every summer at Comic-Con – we really enjoy it, and the fans seem to enjoy taking a look at things, so I wouldn’t be surprised.” If I was a betting man I would say the chances of attendees seeing a glimpse of the film are pretty high - it would make for one hell of a surprise. The question is though, will anyone outside of the convention be able see something as well? If not we can always hope we see something on par - or better - at this years Blizzcon. That is unless they have a repeat of last year and not show footage to their hardcore fans under their own roof that Comic-Con attendees were privileged to see months before. Yes, it was only pre-visualization / test footage but still, I remain mystified by that. Either way we’ll know soon enough as Comic-Con is only a few weeks away!
Have you participated in a Fireside Gathering? What are your thoughts on the Curse of Naxxramas pricing? Let us know in the comments below!
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Reza Lackey / Reza is a giant nerd who loves video games, board games, film and way too many other things. Works in the film industry, on some startups and thinks science is cool. Also launches rockets.
