A few curious things has happened within the Hearthstone sphere the past few days. It could be a sign that a new adventure mode will be just around the corner.
The Leak
If we go a few weeks back some might remember the leak from inside Blizzard which was posted on Yahoo finance. One of the subjects the article mentioned was that Blizzard was working on a new Hearthstone expansion which was set to be released in April.
We here at The Blue Recluse thought it highly possible that Blizzard had something in the works, but we didn’t think a full blown expansion would be it.
Our prediction was that it would be a new adventure mode similar to ‘Curse of Naxxramas’.
Past Timings
If we take a look back in time, the original game was released in March 2014 and just 4 month later we saw the first adventure mode. The adventure mode gave the game a much needed stir up to the meta game, because at this time the game felt very predictable. Most people used the most common builds and you could pretty much predict what deck your opponent was playing just from the class he was playing.
In December 2014 the Goblins vs. Gnomes was released and with 121 new cards the meta was bound to change. But now we have reached March and the meta game seems just as predictable as it did right before ‘Curse of Naxxramas’. So a little stir up is needed very soon to keep the game interesting.
So if we take a look at the timing from the past, then 4 months seems like a pretty good timing to add new content to the game. Which would be around April.
Data mining
This week we saw a post pop up on Hearthpwn with some data mining and one particular string was very interesting. It contained the abbreviation ‘BRM’ which in World of Warcraft means ‘Blackrock Mountain’. On this weeks podcast we suggested this could possibly mean that the next adventure mode for Hearthstone could indeed be called ‘Blackrock Mountain’.
It’s a large area with multiple raids and instances and it could easily be translated into a whole theme. The mountain contains a big variety of mobs and baddies ranging from Dark Iron Dwarves, Nefarian, Ragnaros, elementals to dragons. There’s so much going on in that place so a whole adventure mode theme could easily be made from that place alone.
Card Backs
If we look back in time to the month before ‘Curse of Naxxramas’ was released, the monthly card back was actually a Naxxramas themed design. This week the card back for March was themed around Ragnaros who resides in… you guessed it: Blackrock Mountain.
Possible easter egg?
When I checked the official Hearthstone website today I noticed a little thing was added. A few seconds after the site is loaded a small elemental pops up and starts doing the traditional “elemental-dance” which you know from World of Warcraft.
Could this be a little easter egg that points in the direction of Blackrock Mountain?
Pax East
Our prediction is that Blizzard will reveal an adventure mode soon, possibly at Pax East this weekend and that it will be themed around Blackrock Mountain. A lot of small hints points in that direction at least – and the timing of Pax East is just fitting.
