3 Expansions a Year? I'm probably part of the very small minority that is sad about this.

NOTE: This isn't a ragequit thread. I'm just curious if there are any other players out there who feel the same way.

Most people are probably happy about this announcement, but this has made me rather sad.

Being a "collector" is a large part of my personality, so much of the joy I derive from playing games comes from being able to collect things. From Donkey Kong Country to Super Mario Sunshine to Pokemon and all the Zelda games out there, one thing has been consistent when growing up - being able to collect things and feel like I'm moving towards completing, or actually completing, 100% of the content a game has to offer.

I play hearthstone because I like collecting the cards. To me, cards = content. Collecting cards is the only reason I bother with laddering to rank 5 every month - for the free epic. Collecting cards is the only reason I play arena heavily to get more value out of my gold. I typically aim to have over half the legendaries an expansion has to offer just by playing arena. For me, that is the benchmark for feeling good about the game despite knowing that it is nearly impossible to collect every card. I'm the type of player who will continue to play Hearthstone even if the game is poorly balanced, as long as I feel like I am still progressing sufficiently with my collection.

For most of Hearthstone's existence, I have been able to do that.When they announced 2 expansions a year, I was rattled but just swallowed hard and knew I could still hit my target with a bit more effort. With 3 expansions per year, this goal is looking to be impossible unless I quit my job and just play Hearthstone year-round.

Because my primary goal in playing is to feel satisfied with my collection, 3 expansions a year will make this much harder to attain. Therefore, with this change, I feel that a lot of the joy of the game will be lost for my type of player. Most others don't care too much about their collection - they are more interested in the competitive side of the game. Others might be unhappy opening Nat Pagle or Millhouse Manastorm, but I wouldn't be since that's how I measure my progression and enjoyment with the game.

I come from a very poor country where spending "disposable income" on pixels isn't as smart as putting savings in the bank. 3 Expansions a year is going to be impossible for F2P players with collection goals to keep up with.

I moved to Hearthstone from WoW because I couldn't keep up with all the stuff they were adding. There is no reliable way for completionists to keep up with all the pet battle achievements, mythic raiding, archaeology, PVP, mythic dungeons, mount collecting, pet collecting, brawler's guild, and other content they keep adding in to keep the players busy. This is coming from a player with over 25,000 achievement points in that game. I quit WoW because completing close to 100% of the game was no longer in my reach. Like I said, I'm in a very small minority that plays for that reason.

Now, Hearthstone is doing the same thing. Team 5's decision to go in this direction is probably better for the game and most of its player base as a whole, but it just doesn't work for me. Does anyone else feel this way?

Thanks for reading.

Somewhat related good reads:

https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone/comments/5ui9mo/how_much_more_expensive_is_the_year_of_the_mammoth/ https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone/comments/5uhxmx/so_blizzard_made_the_game_more_expensive_and_all/