Opinions are opinions. I love the new "Hearthstone is Home" short and I love the Mei Overwatch short. They are both awesome storytelling pieces that bring a lot of life to both universes.

Also, Hearthstone makes me proud to play WoW. The awesome universe they've created is based within our own universe, and the team has really built an epic story experience taking place across Azeroth.

But this is the forums, so of course anyone who likes anything is an outcast, right? :P

<span class="truncated">...</span>But man, if that's your outlook on a cinematic, I don't know how you get by on the day-to-day.
I like HS though I am too busy with WoW and D3 and MtG to play anymore, but um aren't you kind of required to like other Blizzard products?

Not necessarily. I've never been a huge Starcraft or Diablo fan, but I can still admire their work and such.

<span class="truncated">...</span>But man, if that's your outlook on a cinematic, I don't know how you get by on the day-to-day.
Not entirely sure what you mean by this. Looking at the cinematic, it does look like a pixar film for children. That's just the style it was seemingly made it, it even has a musical number to compliment that point.

My only issue is, I remember having epic, fantasy story worthy experiences going to places like Northrend or Outland for the first time. Going to Pandaria and fighting a war again the other faction. Taking that and saying its equivalent to the Hearthstone cinematic just doesn't feel right, and downplays the general theme associated with the game. It would be like taking a game like Fallout and then saying "and through this door you can visit the set of Little Einsteins".

I get by on the day-to-day same as most people I imagine. I enjoy my games, live my life, and point out the obvious when I feel it needs to be pointed out. My interpretation of a cinematic isn't something I would consider life damning.

I meant it's a bit hard to get by in this day without seeing the works of studios such as Pixar, Disney, etc. So if you're turned off by a cinematic that reminds you of those animations styles, it's hard to imagine you enjoying any entertainment media in general. I get that you see it as a "childish" animation, but I personally think that the art style you're seeing is timeless, and, as we can easily see by Pixar and Disney's incredible success in their films over the last two decades, it's not going anywhere.

Not all stories in Azeroth are of war and destruction, and I don't think they need to be - sometimes people want to relax in an inn and play a game with each other. Don't forget that Azeroth is a world within itself, so people do have lives outside of what you see represented in World of Warcraft - even in Fallout, your example, taking place on Earth, people in the wastes would often stop for a break and play the card game 'Caravan'.

I get what you mean by the note that they aren't telling an "epic" story full of action and combat, like we often do with World of Warcraft, but - I think that's entirely the point. Hearthstone is typically whimsical with the stories it tells, and even when they do tell a more serious story, like the current Lich King expansion, it is carried along by the same whimsical nature (such as the Lich King breaking the fourth wall playing a card game). And, honestly, Warcraft has always had a very similar nature. Take a look back at the Warcraft RTS games, or the silly-ness of plenty of quest lines across WoW; if you somehow missed some of the tongue-in-cheek moments, I think you'll be surprised by how often we take those turns.

Anyways, all of this to say: all of our game universes across our titles and franchises are not meant to portray the same fantasy tropes. Where we are now certainly doesn't mean World of Warcraft will be any less epic in the future.

Edit: Sorry for the 8,000 edits.

Hearthstone makes me embarrassed to play WoW