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Re: Hearthstone

Posted: Sat May 31, 2014 9:19 am
by EvilGenius
I sent friend requests to Lance, Jon and Tom. Don't know if it will show from EvilGenius or robertmadigan89@yahoo.com.

Re: Hearthstone

Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 11:52 am
by EvilGenius
So I've got paladin up to 14th. I keep getting stomped in regular play. :) Some of the cards that I see my opponents playing are just beyond anything in my deck ...

Re: Hearthstone

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 8:49 am
by erilar
Decks usually become significantly tougher once bought cards are incorporated. I have only played a little in Constructed, but it's pretty brutal with a Basic card only deck. I also noted that the "tougher" setting for Practice (AI) mode was also brutal since the advanced cards are included.

It seems like Arena might be a better place to start. Everyone's decks are drafted, so that's a bit of an equalizer. And, since you earn cards while playing, it's a good way to build up your collection for Constructed. (At least that's my plan, if I ever get all 9 decks leveled to 10...)

Right now, I am also working on Paladin, and still trying to get a good Pally strategy figured out. At this point, it seems like all my good Pally cards are 4's, so it seems that one needs to decide which particular direction they will go with the deck (based on their choices of 4-mana cards) and customize around that?

Tom Mazur, I also sent you a friend request.

I have been hella busy lately (have kinda forgotten what it's like to have young kids, apparently...), so not playing a lot. Also trips into the city to get my hearing aids set up, yadda yadda. Band tonight, bills and banking tomorrow night, Zack's graduation Thursday, and my parents are visiting for the weekend. So yeah, I will be pretty tied up this week. If I get any gaming snuck in, it will almost certainly be Hearthstone though. :)

Re: Hearthstone

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 9:03 am
by EvilGenius
erilar wrote: Also trips into the city to get my hearing aids set up, yadda yadda.
Eh? I don't think this is a thing you had mentioned before.

Re: Hearthstone

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 9:08 am
by EvilGenius
Well, I did break down and purchase $10 of cards. I think it was 7 packs?

I also started constructing a deck which works ok. I've started losing by less, at least. :) I too have a lot of minions around the 4-6 price range. Earlier in the game I use the summoned minion (1/1) and inexpensive power-ups.

Re: Hearthstone

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 11:57 am
by erilar
An Arena entry costs 150 gold, I think, and two packs are 200 gold IIRC. The minimum prize you earn for Arena is one pack, even if you get trounced. If you do better, then you can get a good bit more. So, it seems to me if one is playing solo (not with friends), this is the best way to build a card collection?

http://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Arena


Re. hearing aids:
For the last few years, I have been having a tough time following conversations in noisy environments (pubs, restaurants, etc.). About a year ago, I got a hearing test at my Bethlehem ENT, and they said "you have a little dip at high frequencies, but no big deal."

Fast forward to a few months ago, and I had decided bullshit, something is wrong. I thought that my loud tinnitis was covering up sounds, but another hearing test at a different ENT in Flemington was reported to me as the beginnings of hearing loss at high frequencies (explaining my difficulty in deciphering soft consonant sounds in noisy environs). They recommended that I consider hearing aids, especially considering that I am struggling with conversations. The loss starts at about 2000 Hz and drops off progressively and linearly with increasing frequency. (Note that this new test superimposes almost perfectly over the old test...)

One of Susan's friends has lifelong serious hearing loss, and she recommended that I see her audiologist in NYC, who actually has a PhD in audiology, which is notable considering most audiologists aren't degreed at all. I saw her last week, and she basically recommended the exact same make and model that I had decided on myself through my own research. I got to test drive them while I was there, and they really made a big difference. Switching to the music program literally made my jaw drop when I realized all I've been missing for some time.

The punch line, though, is that insurance doesn't pay for hearing aid hardware at all, so I just placed an order for $7000+ worth of hardware out of pocket. [gulp] I have a line of medical credit through GE Carecredit, which I had used for my Lasik, so that's a start. I only get 6 months' interest free though, so I'll have to move that to a Discover card or something if I can't pay it off via my bonus in September.

Long story short: maybe I'll be able to hear better at game sessions now. :)

Re: Hearthstone

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 3:02 pm
by EvilGenius
Wow, sorry to hear that. But I know that there are simply amazing hearing aids available now. My dad has really awesome (expensive) hearing aids. The little bud was fitted for his ear canal and it sits down inside his ear. If you look close you can see a tiny antenna just sticking out of his ear canal. :)

His hearing had been degraded for so long and the hearing aids work so well that he doesn't like to use them at full capacity because everything is too darn loud with them. lol

Re: Hearthstone

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 3:04 pm
by EvilGenius
I got some good cards in my 7 purchased packs, including a Legendary (Deathwing). :)

Re: Hearthstone

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 3:30 pm
by erilar
EvilGenius wrote:Wow, sorry to hear that. But I know that there are simply amazing hearing aids available now. My dad has really awesome (expensive) hearing aids.
My dad's have made a big difference for him too. Having the phone transmit right to his ears via Bluetooth is pretty huge. He could never hear on the phone before. And in crowded/noisy situations, he does much better now.

The electronics of mine hang behind my ear in a tiny crescent shaped pendant, and then the speaker sits in my ear like a little earbud. The cup is open though, which allows me to hear lows and mids (which I still hear well) naturally, while the little speaker reproduces the high sounds I can't hear well.

Image

So far my loss is very mild, which I am thankful for. Hopefully, it won't progress much, but no way to predict.

Re: Hearthstone

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 6:07 pm
by Jonkga
As for Hearthstone, I tried out the Arena with the first gold coins I earned, and really liked it. Since then, I've been hoarding my gold. I've been leveling up my decks by playing casual "Play" mode almost exclusively. I've leveled Warrior, Mage, Priest, above ten, and gotten pretty high with Pally, Hunter, Rogue. Had some difficulties with Druid, and haven't tried Warlock much at all. I'm forgetting a class, but that's another I haven't probably played much. I have been keeping my decks basic, too, and not adding in any of the cards I've unlocked yet. I don't feel I have a good handle on deck construction yet. I win about 50-50, even with just the basics though, so it's been fun.

I'm looking forward to hanging out and playing against some friends, however. :)

Re: Hearthstone

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2014 12:32 pm
by Fen's Ego
Bob and Lance, where did you send your friend request? I see nothing in my inbox or junk filter for tmmazur@hotmail.com, nor anything on gmail. I checked battle.net but didn't see anything there for friend requests, nor did I identify anthing in-game on Hearthstone.

Re: Hearthstone

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 1:23 pm
by EvilGenius
Sooo, if I get to play anytime soon, I have a Priest, Pally, Druid, Shammy and Mage deck at level 10 or above, plus some cool extra cards from the few packs I've either won or purchased.

Re: Hearthstone

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 1:47 pm
by erilar
Fen's Ego wrote:Bob and Lance, where did you send your friend request? I see nothing in my inbox or junk filter for tmmazur@hotmail.com, nor anything on gmail. I checked battle.net but didn't see anything there for friend requests, nor did I identify anthing in-game on Hearthstone.
I sent my request to the email address above, but I typed it in manually - may have misspelled something? Will try again. Mine is lancer dot x at gmail dot com.

Re: Hearthstone

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 1:48 pm
by erilar
EvilGenius wrote:Sooo, if I get to play anytime soon, I have a Priest, Pally, Druid, Shammy and Mage deck at level 10 or above, plus some cool extra cards from the few packs I've either won or purchased.
Yay - sounds good! I am getting really excited to try Arena, but trying to hold out until I hit lvl 10 on my Shammy (in progress), Priest, and Warrior decks.