>>8956337
Here’s the evidence. If this leaks out, this will be the biggest scandal in esports history. I should call it Blizzard Gate.
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN/9789406
Read this patent very carefully. This patent is for rigging multiplayer matchmaking systems on a free to play game to influence microtransactions by intentionally pitting an inexperienced player against a high level player.
The logical conclusion we can take from this document is that random events and pseudo random events such as the matchmaking system are controlled on the server side.
Implications for a digital card game like Hearthstone:
Given random events being server side, it is logically feasible for this patent to be able to rig ANY random events in Hearthstone (due to being server side) such as turn order, card draws, random targeting cards, and transformation effects.
How does this relate to the topic:
The Chinese player in Blizcon’s World Championship had absolutely crazy good luck all tournament long, even winning the finals 3-0 via such luck. However, due to this patent, its possible this wasn’t luck, but instead Blizzard rigging the tournament for political purposes ie please China. It got to the point where the Twitch chat was constantly chanting “rigged”. Here are some examples of the “luck” that occured:
In Druid mirror matches, the Chinese player ALWAYS went second. In Quest Druid, this is a MAJOR advantage due to The Coin.
When using Evolve Shaman, the Chinese Player almost always had the Desert Hare + Evolve combo in hand by turn 4. When Evolve was played, the transformations were mostly high rolls (ie transformed into optimal 4 mana minions to get from an Evolve transformation).
All tournament long, the Chinese player was getting the exact right top deck for optimal plays. For example, in her Highlander Hunter games, always having Zephrys the Great in hand early in the game, or drawing the correct card to counter an opponent’s play.
This was a controversy that plagued the championship. With that patent, its plausible that this is not a coincidence.