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Hearthstone is fantastic as a quick, anonymous multiplayer game, where you can always find a never-ending line-up of worthy opponents ready to do battle, but strangely for a game set in a bustling Warcraft tavern - not to mention one of the most popular attractions on Twitch - it's not actually that social. You can't really talk to other players that much, and the system of canned emotes - conceived to limit griefing - has already been subverted by sarcasm. Take too long to act and you generally get a "Greetings!" to hurry you along, while the intent behind "Sorry" and "Thanks" is nakedly hostile.Blizzard has obviously noticed this, because it has started to encourage real-world meet-ups. Called Fireside Gatherings, these Hearthstone socials bring people together in coffee shops or public spaces where multiple players can connect using the same wireless network, and they are officially sanctioned. There's even a small in-game reward - a unique card back design for those who take part, a token from Blizzard for taking your hobby out on the road.
If I'm being cynical, Fireside Gatherings and the card back are also blunt tools to boost word-of-mouth, but I don't need much encouragement to tell people how much I like Hearthstone at the best of times, so I'll let it go. I certainly didn't feel manipulated when I went to a Fireside Gathering in London last week - and I wasn't just there for the card back, either. I was curious to talk to other people who were playing one of my recent gaming obsessions, fans who didn't come from my usual group of friends playing at lunchtimes in the office. What tactics did other people use? How much real-world money had they spent on the game? Did everyone else hate Priests as much as me? (Yes, thankfully they did.)
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