All this sounds generally good. I am sure there are some nitpicks and specific details that might concern some people, but the overall direction makes sense.

One specific suggestion/criticism is that a number of the things highlighted here are not transparent/obvious to the player.

As a Game Designer, my inclination is to always surface things in a way that makes it clear to the player what the result will be - in particular when it comes to things that are not always there (for example, getting a card for first 3 wins).

So some specific suggestions/thoughts:

1. Card Packs

approximately because we implement a bad luck bias to protect against long droughts

​

So this is something that many games do in some way, and makes sense. Humans tend to have a hard time understanding statistical probabilities and it's good design to stave off frustration due to luck.

In this specific case, I'd recommend surfacing this behavior to the player in a transparent manner. There are several ways of doing this, but I personally tend to like the type where you get a meter that fills for each pack that does not have a Mythic - when the bar is full, your next pack is guaranteed to have the Mythic. This makes it clear to the player that there is a mechanicism at work. The benefit for the developers is that this means the player appreciates the mechanicism since it is known and is thus more likely to be engage in purchasing behavior since they are protected from bad luck.

At the same time, when the bar becomes full and the Mythic is imminent, it is also a point where the player is more likely to pull out their wallet to open that pack, or play longer until they have enough Coins to purchase it (both of which are good things!).

1. Match Rewards

Players get an additional bonus pool of 400 coin per day tat applies only to PvP game modes (see below). Bonuses are preferentially drawn from this pool.

So coin rewards in of themselves tend to be fairly opaque. Players enter a gme right now usually with little understanding (or care) about what the reward will be.

The bonus implementation here appears to be intended to create a baseline of rewards for players who play some expected amount with progression beyond the bonuses being slower. This makes sense as a way to mitigate the effects of hardcore grinding and allow you to remove the cap.

I would suggest that the bonuses be given out via the Quest system instead in the form of Quests that are always available and reset each day on their own. For example, Play 10 Games for 400 Gold. The idea here is to surface the reward to the player in a transparent way so that they are aware that it exists and engage with it directly. This has the benefit of incentivizing play in a way that a more opaque system may not.

Similarly with the Daily Cards reward. I'd consider implementing it as a Quest system where completing 3 Wins gives you the 3 cards. This makes it clear to a player if he/she has earned this bonus for that day or not. I'd also consider making this complete 5 games (win or lose), since so many rewards are already favoring winners.

EDIT: You could, of course, also "simply" add UI that surfaces these mechanics without changing anything :D

1. Weekly Chest

I am personally not a fan of the Weekly Chest implementation, especially with the Seal rates.

Instead, I would suggest a reward track system where Seals earned translates to progress and thresholds achieved on the track gives incrementally better rewards.

Seals earned would depend primarily on Game Mode (e.g. 5 for 1v1 Win, 3 for Arena Win, etc.)

~

None of this is gamebreaking, obviously, so it's more suggestions and in some cases largely about presentation and less about intent.

Anyway, keep up the good work!

​

All this sounds generally good. I am sure there are some nitpicks and specific details that might concern some people, but the overall direction makes sense.

One specific suggestion/criticism is that a number of the things highlighted here are not transparent/obvious to the player.

As a Game Designer, my inclination is to always surface things in a way that makes it clear to the player what the result will be - in particular when it comes to things that are not always there (for example, getting a card for first 3 wins).

So some specific suggestions/thoughts:

1. Card Packs

approximately because we implement a bad luck bias to protect against long droughts

​

So this is something that many games do in some way, and makes sense. Humans tend to have a hard time understanding statistical probabilities and it's good design to stave off frustration due to luck.

In this specific case, I'd recommend surfacing this behavior to the player in a transparent manner. There are several ways of doing this, but I personally tend to like the type where you get a meter that fills for each pack that does not have a Mythic - when the bar is full, your next pack is guaranteed to have the Mythic. This makes it clear to the player that there is a mechanicism at work. The benefit for the developers is that this means the player appreciates the mechanicism since it is known and is thus more likely to be engage in purchasing behavior since they are protected from bad luck.

At the same time, when the bar becomes full and the Mythic is imminent, it is also a point where the player is more likely to pull out their wallet to open that pack, or play longer until they have enough Coins to purchase it (both of which are good things!).

1. Match Rewards

Players get an additional bonus pool of 400 coin per day tat applies only to PvP game modes (see below). Bonuses are preferentially drawn from this pool.

So coin rewards in of themselves tend to be fairly opaque. Players enter a gme right now usually with little understanding (or care) about what the reward will be.

The bonus implementation here appears to be intended to create a baseline of rewards for players who play some expected amount with progression beyond the bonuses being slower. This makes sense as a way to mitigate the effects of hardcore grinding and allow you to remove the cap.

I would suggest that the bonuses be given out via the Quest system instead in the form of Quests that are always available and reset each day on their own. For example, Play 10 Games for 400 Gold. The idea here is to surface the reward to the player in a transparent way so that they are aware that it exists and engage with it directly. This has the benefit of incentivizing play in a way that a more opaque system may not.

Similarly with the Daily Cards reward. I'd consider implementing it as a Quest system where completing 3 Wins gives you the 3 cards. This makes it clear to a player if he/she has earned this bonus for that day or not. I'd also consider making this complete 5 games (win or lose), since so many rewards are already favoring winners.

EDIT: You could, of course, also "simply" add UI that surfaces these mechanics without changing anything :D

1. Weekly Chest

I am personally not a fan of the Weekly Chest implementation, especially with the Seal rates.

Instead, I would suggest a reward track system where Seals earned translates to progress and thresholds achieved on the track gives incrementally better rewards.

Seals earned would depend primarily on Game Mode (e.g. 5 for 1v1 Win, 3 for Arena Win, etc.)

~

None of this is gamebreaking, obviously, so it's more suggestions and in some cases largely about presentation and less about intent.

Anyway, keep up the good work!

​