by JR Cook - 11 years ago     show comments

The physical act of trading cards to friends and opponents alike has been a core component of the trading card game world since its inception decades ago. Whether looking to cheat someone out of their top tier card or to simply help a friend when you possess a surplus of cards, trading has been part and parcel of the experience.  That said, it has not always been an enjoyable act. In any given set, there are a handful of top tier cards which, given their powers, award them a far greater worth than the rest of the set. These cards become almost mandatory to become competitive and not having them can be a great source of frustration. Prohibitive costs of single cards can often deter individuals from picking up the game. Magic the Gathering veterans can surely recall dropping hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in the pursuit of crafting the strongest decks.

Today’s Hearthstone Preview explained that, for these reasons and more, trading cards between players will not be featured in Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. Instead, players will be able to craft their cards through the use of Arcane Dust, obtained from disenchanting other cards. The amount of Arcane Dust obtained from disenchanting cards depends on their rarity. Here’s the explanation on how that works via the Hearthstone blog:

• Common (White) Cards – Disenchant for 5 Arcane Dust / Craft a Common card for 40 Arcane Dust
• Rare (Blue) Cards – Disenchant for 20 Arcane Dust / Craft a Rare card for 100 Arcane Dust
• Epic (Purple) Cards – Disenchant for 100 Arcane Dust / Craft an Epic card for 400 Arcane Dust
• Legendary (Orange) Cards – Disenchant for 400 Arcane Dust / Craft a Legendary card for 1600 Arcane Dust

This effectively means that, any and all cards are up for grab, assuming someone is diligent enough to grind out the Arcane Dust required or purchase gold with actual currency. This will be a huge deviation from convention, but in a way that should serve to make the game more accessible to a far larger audience, and that’s essential to the success of the upcoming card game in what’s rapidly becoming a crowded market.

What’s more, players can use dust to create Gold versions of cards. The Gold versions feature unique alternate card frames and animated art, both of which should serve to make Hearthstone matches that much livelier. Interested in pimping out your deck? Check out the tentative numbers below:

• Common Golden Cards – Disenchant for 50 Arcane Dust / Craft a Golden Common card for 400 Arcane Dust
• Rare Golden Cards – Disenchant for 100 Arcane Dust / Craft a Golden Rare card for 800 Arcane Dust
• Epic Golden Cards – Disenchant for 400 Arcane Dust / Craft a Golden Epic card for 1600 Arcane Dust
• Legendary Golden Cards – Disenchant for 1600 Arcane Dust / Craft a Legendary Golden card for 3200 Arcane Dust

On paper, the Hearthstone crafting system doesn’t just look good, it looks amazing. It sacrifices tradition and takes a realistic look at how the card game world functions. Hearthstone Community Manager Zeriyah was quick to point out that the amount of Arcane Dust awarded for disenchanting cards, as well as the cost to actually construct them could fluctuate based on the beta, but so long as players have the ability to craft any cards they want through grinding, the Hearthstone community should absolutely flourish. Hearthstone might not technically be a ‘TCG’, but it could be something a whole lot better.