ChanmanV - Today at 1:47 PM
This is a bit late but it is absolutely the consumer's responsibility not to play a game they don't like. But that's the thing, I think a large majority of HS players enjoy the game and don't really care that much about the problems with the ladder.
That's why it takes so long for Blizzard to do anything because they seem to look at the overall numbers more so than the individual feedback they get from top players. They take in both but the numbers and behavior of the mass seem to still dictate how fast things get done.
I think an absolutely no brainer which I can't believe they haven't done yet is increase the number of ranks in ladder from 25 to 35 or 40.
That has no impact on their UI
Moto - Today at 1:49 PM
People are dead-set on becoming legend and a lot of players would be upset at the change you suggest Chanman
ChanmanV - Today at 1:49 PM
and would create more separation from FTP new players and new players with a ton of cards
why?
that  doesn't affect anyone that can be legend
Moto - Today at 1:50 PM
because people are dead set on becoming legend and people are upset at everything that keeps them from becoming legend
ChanmanV - Today at 1:50 PM
the people at 20-25 right now are not thinking about being legend
stretching the ranks helps those people
has 0 affect on the folks in legend or even close to legend
and that's where the majority of players are
how to fix legend is a different discussion
but that change not happening yet is just mind boggling to me
increasing the stars helps a little but you need to create even more separation
Moto - Today at 1:52 PM
people set on becoming legend to an obnoxious degree rarely are
ChanmanV - Today at 1:52 PM
rank 20 is a mess right now
there's all kinds of different players in different circumstances
Moto - Today at 1:52 PM
like a ton of people drifting around rank 15 constantly say wacky things like "if only razakus was nerfed I'd be legend in no time" etc.
ChanmanV - Today at 1:53 PM
it would create a ranking that would match the MMR way more than it does now
that's a small minority
Im talking about a change that would fix the issue with how the players are distributed with now on the ladder
that is an easy solution
like no brainer in my mind
maybe it's the next step after increasing the stars
Moto - Today at 1:54 PM
the issue you're overlooking is how players would react to a change that creates more ranks. I do not think the majority would catch on why that is a sensible change
ChanmanV - Today at 1:55 PM
there may be some blow back in the beginning but explaining that the rank would better represent where they actually are MMR wise therefore the matchmaking would make more sense shoudl be something people can understand
even increase it from 25 to 30
anything is better than it is right now
Moto - Today at 1:56 PM
mind, it would be a very good change, but it could just as well turn out to be a JC Penny's situation
ChanmanV - Today at 1:56 PM
take your medicine now for the betterment of the game
new players hit the rank 20 wall almost immediately
that's really bad
they don't even have time to really enjoy the competitiveness with other new players
they immediate run into players that have good cards
or it at least feels that way
Moto - Today at 1:57 PM
I dont like the rank system anyways because there isn't much point to it
ChanmanV - Today at 1:58 PM
don't get me wrong .. I don't like the ladder the way it is, but the extension of ranks as a band aid is an obvious one
Moto - Today at 1:58 PM
it hardly makes a difference right no whether you finish rank 20 or rank 10 for example
ChanmanV - Today at 1:58 PM
yea
that has to do with the number of ranks
there's a lot of players stuck in the rank 10-20 range
but there doesn't feel like much of a difference between being  15 or 20
compared to say being gold or platinum in another type of system
the cutoffs are nice from the standpoint of grinding but it really doesn't give you an sense of accomplishment
ChanmanV - Today at 2:00 PM
I didn't love the Starcraft 2 ladder system either but I can't deny I felt such a feeling of accomplishment when I got to diamond and then masters
Moto - Today at 2:00 PM
a thing that bothers me is that ranking up doesnt do anything beyond a number going up. the end of season rewards are super low and you have to wait the whole month for those to even come up
ChanmanV - Today at 2:00 PM
right
there's no sense of accomplishment outside of getting to legend(edited)
Ive been saying they should just go to a bronze, silver, gold, etc type of delineation since it's proven to work
but it's too disruptive to them at this point
Moto - Today at 2:01 PM
in a game like SC2 it doesn't matter because there is no progression, you don't unlock stuff. But in hearthstone, you progress and progress and you get nothing out of it
the reason dungeon run is so popular is because it essentially does the same thing as ladder, except you dont need a large collection and get to play with all the zany and fun cards you could ask for
who cares you dont unlock anything in dungeon run since the payouts from ranked are so low, you might as well get nothing there either
ChanmanV - Today at 2:04 PM
dungeon runs are so fun because it's different each time you play it like arena, but it's easier to grasp than arena because there are less significantly different scenarios you play against due to it being PvE
Moto - Today at 2:07 PM
yeah and unlike arena it doesnt cost you anything to play
so even if you're bad you can keep having fun
and the start is so easy that even bad players get to feel some level of accomplishment