August Dean Ayala is an Associate Game Designer, working in final design on the Team 5 Hearthstone design team.[1][2]
History
Prior to Hearthstone, Ayala had worked as Quality Assurance on StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm[3] and on Diablo III.[4] When Ayala first heard what type of game Hearthstone (then code-named Pegasus) was, he was "actually a little bit disappointed", thinking "I don't really play card games." However, after taking the game home, Ayala soon began playing it for several hours each night. With no substantial experience with similar games, Ayala describes Hearthstone as "the first collectible card game I'd ever put a lot of time into."[1]
With the first Ranked Season in December 2013, Ayala was surprised to discover he had achieved rank 1 legend, ranking as the top player in the Americas region at that time. After sharing decklists for his current decks on an internal mailing list for Hearthstone players at Blizzard, Ayala was contacted by Mike Donais, at that time the sole member of the final design team, focusing on card balance. Ayala began to help Donais with playtesting, and a few months later on 16th June 2014 officially joined the team.[5][6][4]
Notes
- In the reveal streams prior to the release of new expansions such as The Grand Tournament and Whispers of the Old Gods, Ayala has served as opponent in showmatches designed to reveal new cards. He has also designed the decks used by both players.[7]
- On December 14th 2014 Ayala reached Legend rank 1 in the Americas region.[8] Prior to joining Team 5, Ayala had previously reached Legend rank 3 in the May season,[9] as well as rank 4 in the June season.[10]
Trivia
- Ayala describes himself as a "very, very, very competitive person", determined to win even during playtesting matches. He has stated playtesting Yogg-Saron was the first time he intentionally passed up lethal in Hearthstone, in order to see its effects play out.[1]
- The World of Warcraft NPC Shadow-Sage Iskar was created in tribute to Ayala, referencing his username, 'Iksar'.[11] The legendary ring Ayala's Stone Heart, added with Legion, is also a tribute. The ring's flavor text reads, "In the pits of Valhalas, Ayala the Relentless cut down foe after foe on his way to legend. Becoming more lethal as his opponents weakened, he was truly terrifying to spectate."[12]
- Ayala states that it took 4 rejections and "a lot of work" before he was hired at Blizzard, and encourages those seeking jobs in the industry not to give up after a rejection.[13]
- Ayala says World of Warcraft quest design is what first made him want to be a game designer.[14]
Card art
The art for Ayala's credits card was created by James Ryman.
Gallery
  Ayala in 2014 |
  Credits card artwork |
Patch changes
Patch 2.7.0.9166 (2015-06-15): Added to the game's credits. Credits card added.- (2014-06-16): Joined Team 5.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Angry Chicken: "The One with Iksar". (2016-05-18).
- ↑ IGN - BLIZZARD ON DESIGNING HEARTHSTONE’S OLD GODS. (2016-06-20).
- ↑ Dean Ayala on MobyGames.com. Retrieved on 2014-06-17.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 August Ayala on MobyGames.com. Retrieved on 2014-06-17.
- ↑ Yong Woo on Twitter. (2015-06-16).
- ↑ August Dean Ayala on Twitter. (2014-06-17).
- ↑ Stated during the Whispers of the Old Gods live stream, April 2016
- ↑ August Dean Ayala on Twitter. (2014-12-14).
- ↑ IksarHS on Twitter. (2014-05-21).
- ↑ IksarHS on Twitter. (2014-06-05).
- ↑ Don Adams on Twitter. (2014-11-26).
- ↑ Dean Ayala on Twitter. (2016-08-25).
- ↑ Dean Ayala on Twitter. (2016-06-19).
- ↑ Dean Ayala on Twitter. (2016-08-09).
External links
- Selected media
- The Angry Chicken: "The One with Iksar" (2016-05-18)