We say goodbye to Sorry
With Hearthstone’s most recent expansion, they made a UI change affecting how players communicate. There have always been six different preset emotes that you can send at your opponent during a Hearthstone match. Until recently they were: Thanks, Well Played, Greetings, Sorry, Oops, and Threaten. Each had their own special phrases and every hero had a unique phrasing and tone for each emote. However, they decided that Hearthstone was not a place for people to apologize, and replaced the beloved “Sorry” emote with the new ever-sarcastic “Wow” emote.
Over the past weeks many players have been in situations where they desire to express their concern for their opponent, and have sadly been unable. For the Canadians out there it has been especially difficult, some quoted as saying they “just didn’t know what to say,” and that they “haven’t been able to emote in weeks”. In light of these dark times, I have compiled a list of all the times that Hearthstone players used to say sorry, a tribute to a more polite time.
Five: Poor randomness
We all have those times where your opponent plays an Unstable Portal, pauses to ponder their life, and then plays Captain’s Parrot. Or their last-ditch Imp-Losion rolled a two on your 6/3 when you have lethal in play. Or your Tuskarr Totemic gives you a Totem Golem. Randomness is a big part of Hearthstone, and bad results are fairly frequent. The new “Wow” emote is fairly good at dealing with your own bad randomness, but when your opponent experiences keyboard-breaking levels of bad RNG, there is no longer a way you can tell them how Sorry you are.
Four: When your opponent plays into a big board clear
Have you ever been holding onto a Twisting Nether only to see your opponent use two Innervates in order to play fourteen mana worth of minions in one turn? It really isn’t fair that you can no longer tell your opponent that you understand his plight. You’ve been there. You know how it feels to lose four or more cards to a single one that you weren’t expecting or couldn’t play around. Maybe they didn’t know your deck ran Twisting Nether. Maybe they thought that Flamestrike didn’t suit your deck at all. Maybe they just thought that it was worth the gamble. In any case, it cost them big time, and we’ve all been there. Letting them know that you understand their pain is important, and Oops just doesn’t cover it.
Three: Top-deck lethal
Your opponent puts you down to one life. He has a massive board, a few cards in hand, and ten life. You have nothing in play, nothing in your hand. He passes the turn. What do you draw? Pyroblast, dealing exactly lethal damage. Pulling that off is awesome, but being on the receiving end is one of the worst feelings in Hearthstone. How better to express your completely sincere remorse to your opponent than a well-timed “My Apologies”? In fact, in such an unpleasant situation it would almost be rude not to tell your opponent that you are Sorry! Now that you can only express amazement, your opponent could be under a misguided impression that you are being rude. Bring sorry back, for all times you draw the one card you need.
Two: Combat BM with BM
Have you ever been against someone who emoted at you constantly the entire game? How about one that said “Well Played” every single turn? Perhaps a player who waits until the end of the rope before passing their turn – every. Single. Turn? Of course you have! Well what better way to end the game than by telling them that you apologize that their strategy failed? Telling you how well you played every turn was incredibly nice of him, it’s only fair that you are equally polite as you defeat him. Let them know exactly how much regret you are feeling that such a friendly person was unable to claim victory. You could chose to surrender, but it seemed a better scenario to express your understanding of their unfortunate situation. What do we say now? “Well Played” can replace “Sorry” sometimes, but if your opponent was particularly expressive regarding your level of play, you sometimes simply need more!
One: Pee breaks
When you gotta go, you gotta go. Sometimes you force your opponent to sit through your entire mulligan, sometimes you even miss your first turn! After making them wait it’s only fair that you let them know that you do not have an affinity for the rope, you were merely answering nature’s call. This category can actually extend to far more than urinary expeditions, you could inform your opponent that it wouldn’t happen again with a quick “Sorry” when you got back. Sometimes the doorbell rings, sometimes you get a phone call. Your oven buzzes, your significant other yells at you to set the table. As much as we may protest, Hearthstone isn’t our entire lives, and sometimes things happen that call us away. Owning up to our mistakes and conveying our return to our opponents was an important way of keeping the peace in a world full of so much rudeness and bad manners. And into this world was thrown the “Wow” emote, removing “Sorry” and our last hope for happiness and friendliness between Hearthstone players.