Blizzard Tweaks RNG for Overwatch and Hearthstone Loot

Blizzard is pretty darn popular and beloved, but it’s not infallible. Like every other developer, it is still a game company and thus will still work to screw you over when it needs to. So while many have praised Overwatch and Hearthstone for their gameplay, the characterization, and their unique fun, others have looked at its “loot box/card pack” approach to cosmetics and unlockables and said “hey, wait a second that’s kind of BS”. Others might defend it with the usual slew of excuses (they’re all just cosmetic, you can earn everything in game, etc.), but it’s hard to hear that and not wonder if these defenders were even alive back when it was assumed games would just have all its content available for people who bought them.

Changing of the times, I guess.

That said, Blizzard might be looking to screw you, but at the very least they want the screwing to be as gentle as possible, and in a recent Patch Notes, the company discussed how it had plans to soften the RNG behind both Loot Boxes and Card Packs to make them more satisfying to receive.

In Overwatch, they’ll be dramatically reducing the likelihood of loot boxes dropping content you’ve already got, and increasing the amounts of credits earned per box to compensate for the dip that would follow. In Hearthstone, they’re guaranteeing you’ll get a legendary every 10 card packs of a certain set you open, they’re making sure you don’t get duplicate legendaries, and they’re ensuring you'll never receive more copies of any one card in a pack than you can use in a single deck.

So that’s actually quite cool. It would have been cooler if they had done this sooner, of course, but beggars can’t be choosers and I’m just happy that Blizzard is doing something right again. I know I give them a lot of late, but they’ve been doing a good job lately being decent people… maybe I could actually give Overwatch a try.

Who doesn’t like being screwed every now and again, right?