From Hearthsteel to Sparkle Pony, a brief history of Blizzard controversies (to spice up your holiday arguments)

It’s time for Thanksgiving! That means turkey, mashed potatoes, and my one favorite dessert with the yams and the marshmallows. But it’s hardly the holiday season without at least one extended, contentious debate. For over 20 years, we’ve had our own version of Thanksgiving table discussions. Every so often, something new arrives that sparks debate, sets off the community, and sends everyone into a tizzy. The latest seems to be on Hearthsteel, the new housing currency.

So in the spirit of fun and lighthearted back and forth, let’s take a look back at some of the controversial in-game decisions that Blizzard has made over the years. I’ve been in my share of guilds and raid teams that were staunchly divided over some of these topics.

Let’s stroll down memory lane and revisit some of the biggest and most memorable controversies in Blizzard games history including the very first Sparkle Pony to the most recent discussion about Hearthsteel.

The first (pay for) pony

Remember when the Celestial Steed first appeared in the Battle.net shop? It was a mysterious enigma at the time. Ghostcrawler promised us a pony! I suppose this was it.

For the first time, Blizzard sold an in-game mount for real money instead of allowing players to earn it through in-game activity. Reactions ranged from excitement to accusations of the game going pay-to-win, even though the mount didn’t actually do anything special. I was indifferent to it because I knew it was purely cosmetic, and didn’t add anything to play power. But it was the first step towards selling other cosmetics, including outfits, pets, and many more mounts in the future.

For many players, this moment marked the beginning of the era when cosmetics became part of the revenue model. Looking at the store today, you can find mounts, pets, transmog, and toys.

Speaking of mounts, just in time for the 21st anniversary of World of Warcraft, the Trader’s Gilded Brutosaur is back!

The addition of Dungeon Finder (and Raid Finder)

When Dungeon Finder was introduced at the end of Wrath of the Lich King, it delivered exactly what was promised: quick access to dungeons without needing to spam trade chat for 45 minutes. The same could be said for when Raid Finder was released later. Madness of Deathwing in LFR was arguably much more difficult, largely because players queuing in didn’t know what to do, and the ones who did know were frustrated (and would end up dropping out of it altogether).

But while some players celebrated the convenience, others believed the queue system eroded social bonds, something that continues to affect the design of Classic to this day. (I’ll get to that in a minute.)

Do players value community or convenience? The debate has persisted for over a decade and resurfaced every time a version of WoW re-evaluates Dungeon Finder in Classic. Mists of Pandaria Classic outright removed raid finder altogether and implemented Celestial Dungeons instead. And now…

Classic servers become reality

For years, legacy versions of World of Warcraft were dismissed as nostalgic fantasy. The official Blizzard sentiment boiled down to: You think you do [want Classic], but you don’t. And then a few short years later, Blizzard announced WoW Classic.

I knew I had no interest in engaging with it. I grew up playing that game then, and I just didn’t want to revisit that part of the game again. But it wasn’t about me. It was about a new generation of players who never experienced it. Not only was it successful: it also spawned additional game modes. Now we have Hardcore and Season of Discovery in addition to the classic expansions.

Classic is now a permanent pillar in the game and offers people something to do away from modern.

Diablo 3’s real-money auction house

Move over Error 37. While this annoying error popped up when the game first came out, it wasn’t the main issue. Even though Diablo 3 is fondly remembered now, that wasn’t the case early on. Blizzard attempted something bold. They integrated an auction house where players could buy and sell items for real-world currency, hoping to legitimize gray market item sales. While convenient in ways, it completely torpedoed the fantasy of just finding amazing loot in the game. What was the point of exploring the world and defeating monsters when you could just buy what you wanted?

It quickly became clear that the system encouraged buying upgrades instead of earning them. Blizzard ultimately closed the Auction House and redesigned the loot experience entirely. Loot 2.0 is still recognized today as one of the Diablo franchise’s best course corrections.

The reveal of Diablo Immortal

I was at this BlizzCon! I still remember the reaction in the audience when Diablo Immortal was announced… when players expected Diablo 4.

This BlizzCon 2018 reveal became instantly infamous. Blizzard intended to expand Diablo into mobile gaming, but had hyped up a Diablo announcement to the point that player expectations were wildly out of control. This was years after Reaper of Souls (which debuted in 2014), and the audience was craving a mainline PC sequel. The mismatch in expectations fueled widespread frustration.

The game was officially released in 2022. It earned praise for the combat and graphics and successfully adapted the franchise for mobile. Eventually, Immortal found its niche, although not without its own heated debates surrounding monetization and reliance on microtransactions.

Overwatch 2: The sequel?

The sequel to Overwatch was supposed to be a big upgrade that included dynamic PVE missions. Alas, it was not to be. Blizzard cancelled PVE hero missions, to my major disappointment. But I know for others, the breaking point was the transition from loot boxes to battle passes. But with the launch of Overwatch 2, the original Overwatch that many players loved was gone, and while Blizzard promised a blockbuster sequel, this disappointing release blurred the line between an update and a new game.

There’s still some debate on whether the changes strengthened or fractured the game, but most sides seem to have settled on the latter. Perhaps we’ll get an Overwatch Classic someday so everyone is happy.

Hearthsteel, Blizzard’s new housing currency

Lastly, we arrive at the newest item on the contentious Blizzard buffet, and it’s called Hearthsteel, a premium currency that’s just for player housing. And while it works similarly to cosmetic currencies in other MMOs, players aren’t thrilled. The announcement of Hearthsteel stirred up concerns about monetization, accessibility, and whether housing items should only be available for a real money transaction. World of Warcraft is already a subscription game; does it need a premium cash currency on top of that? Even our team here weighed in on it.

Why does this type of virtual currency exist? Why do companies sometimes choose a currency over direct cash transactions? I had a few thoughts myself on why virtual currency makes sense for housing. Maybe this will turn into another Sparkle Pony incident, or it might get begrudgingly accepted into the ecosystem.

Why controversy matters

Each of these incidents reflects something larger about the games that we’re playing (and the players who cherish them). It shows that we care about the games we play. Blizzard will continue to experiment and iterate. The developers are going to challenge and push the envelope, hopefully listening to player feedback along the way. Sometimes they get it wrong, and that’s okay because these are all ideas that help push all of these games forward. Controversial decisions and features can result in long-term improvements and health for the game. The debates that we have here amongst our friends, on Discord, or in the comments section, help impact the evolution of these universes. Sure, we’re going to disagree, but that passion itself is what keeps the games talked about for decades.

Families will be debating the turkey stuffing meta (to be cooked inside the turkey or outside), and whether yams are a dessert or a vegetable. We’ve got our own community controversies and debates to fall back on. Some of these we can look back and laugh about. Some still sting. At least we’re interested enough to care, argue, and stay invested.

Let’s just make sure we keep the dinner table upright without any table flipping this year.