i started playing in closed beta. i spent $100 on packs in vanilla and bought more packs with gold, but my collection was still far from complete. when Naxxramas was announced, i loved the idea of single-player adventures and that all the cards were obtainable by playing through the content. i grinded 2800 gold, stayed up late at night for each wing's release, and had a great time. then GvG was announced, and that's when it went downhill for me.

123 more cards to collect, but i was still working on the vanilla collection. i understand that other players had already completed the existing collection, and new content has to be released (and players who spend the most money completing their collections early are the ones who Blizzard least wants to lose), but i just felt left behind. i also wasn't a fan all the randomness being thrown around by GvG cards. and, most importantly for me, they announced GvG while they still hadn't balanced Undertaker.

i was pretty disappointed that it took Blizzard 6 months to nerf Undertaker when players like Reyand had realized how powerful of a card it was before it was even released. surely someone at Blizzard could have worked that out too with all their internal play-testing, right? when Dr. Boom hit the game, i decided i wouldn't spend any more money on Hearthstone until he was balanced (still waiting for that to happen).

i've lost hope in Blizzard's ability to create a balanced card game. i don't have the time to grind to legend with the one-month ladder resets (and outside of getting the legendary card back, i don't see much point in playing ladder). i don't care enough about the game anymore to play arena to grind cards for my collection. i used to play some tavern brawls each week to get the free pack, but i've missed several of those now too. the only time i play Hearthstone anymore is to hit rank 20 each month.