Hearthstone players just got a good bit of news today - the way that drops work for the card pack system will be changing according to a blog post on the game's official website.
The biggest bit of news from Blizzard Entertainment relating to the changes is that duplicate Legendaries will no longer be an issue. Every time a player receives a Legendary in a card pack, they are guaranteed to get a Legendary card from that set that they don't already own. Once players own either the regular or Golden Legendary of that card, they won't ever receive it from a related pack again until they own all of the Legendaries from that set. You can see this bit of information and other details explained by Hearthstone Game Director Ben Brode in this Hearthstone Update video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPUG0lJpqJY
Legendary cards aren't the only thing getting an improvement; Hearthstone gamers will also no longer get any more than 2 copies of a card in a single pack. Decks in Hearthstone are limited to 2 copies of a card (and Legendaries are limited to 1 copy), but players could potentially receive three of the same type of card in a single pack.
Of course, RNGesus can be a heartless devil at times - even with these changes, players might not get a Legendary at all. Thankfully, another forthcoming change should throw a wrench in the works for players with chronic bad luck: you will be guaranteed one Legendary from the set in the first ten packs of a set of cards. In addition, the game has what players believe to be a pity timer that has not been officially detailed by Blizzard. According to crowd-gathered data, on average players should receive a Legendary within 40 packs at worst; under this new system (and assuming the pity timer holds true), players would be guaranteed two Legendaries in a 60-pack bundle after the upcoming changes to the card drop system are live.
Finally, a promotion on Un'Goro packs will be taking place within the next few days. Bonus packs are being added to the existing bundles in the game, ranging from an extra two packs in the 7-pack bundle all the way up to an extra 18 packs in the 60-pack bundle.
Between the changes in this game and the recently-announced changes to Overwatch's Loot Box system, it seems like Blizzard is making an effort to improve the loot systems of their games. The changes to Hearthstone's pack system should be coming along with the next expansion.
What do you think of the changes to Hearthstone's card pack system? Do you feel it's enough to take away the sting of bad loot rolls? How do you feel about the prices of card packs? Let us know in the comments below!