"Hearthstone" contenders can now rest easy, as the online competitive card game from Blizzard gets a promised improvement to its Championship scene after the tournament's rough incident last weekend.
Blizzard, publisher and developer of the online "Hearthstone," has since acknowledged the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and equipment malfunctions. They also thanked all the viewers and participants of the tournament. Stating that the blunder was unacceptable, Blizzard sincerely apologized to the player base and, most importantly, to the competitors who were inconvenienced during the tournament.
The gaming company is now discussing several improvement options that they would like to implement at the start of the next Championship Tournament season. The equipment requirements are also going to be reevaluated, and the venue capabilities will be inspected in order to minimize or avoid any connectivity problems with the online card game. Fallback plans were also promised, though the company was not specific as to what these will entail.
Blizzard also compelled its "Hearthstone" players to reach out to them via social media should they want updates on the progress of the improvements. Needless to say, "Hearthstone's" Championship Tour Americas Summer Playoff left many players disappointed.
The tournament was beset by numerous DDoS attacks — acts by anonymous online offenders that disconnect intended users from a network. This had a disastrous effect on the tournament, as several players were reportedly booted out of their games and had to start over.
Aside from the DDoS attempts, several reports of equipment malfunctions also disrupted the tournament, forcing many pairs to restart their matches. This caused extended waiting times in-between game sessions.
A reply on Blizzard's forum post regarding the tournament debacle alleged that players who spent money in the tournament would be compensated by Blizzard with one Grand Tournament card pack. Players on social media who want to voice out their concerns were also advised to use the #HCT hashtag to reach out to the company.
