I'd be curious to know how they assign rarity to certain cards, with regards of how the feels/drops paradigm is considered.
For example, how is a mediocre card like the Sax Soloist an epic, and the Guitar Soloist (a net superior card in every way, shape or form), just a common?
A couple of years ago, that battle cry would have appeared on a legendary...overpaying a mana or two to tutor out 3 specific cards? now that's value...getting another 1/2 to play on your next turn, maybe...not so much.
DK buffs don't seem like they will be enough to make the class a meta player, the nerfs were all expected and in line with what was expected.
As for wild, I for one have had more than one game where TT was on the bottom of my deck, which in wild means you lose, and even when it wasn't, the deck started to get more and more countered by the day, the high rolls just didn't happen as often as some content creators might have had us believe.
Despite the general consensus, the game knows how to put you in your place if it decides you're having too much of a good time.
I was really expecting another undead merc to come with the track, Patchwerk, or any undead from Naxx if the selection from the next expansion wasn't good enough...but not this.
It's disappointing to see another blunder like this make its way into the news feed, especially when the hype train was gaining some decent momentum...similar to how the voice lines from the task progression just disappeared after the last patch dropped, I don't see any real solutions for this event coming any time soon.
I've opened a ticket with blizzard support a few days after the patch went live asking if the voice lines were taken out, or if it's just a bug that will get fixed with 25.0.
It's still open...I would have been thankful for a simple "yes, they were intentionally taken out" or "it's just a bug, stay tuned for a fix", but no, they either don't know what really happened with the voice line, or they just don't care enough to justify their absence.
Is it just me or are they deliberately going in the wrong direction when it comes to player retention?
How much damage would have an extra pack from the next expansion left on their bottom line that it's come to this? Posting one thing, and having another thing happen...with all the competition HS is having these days, you'd think the last thing they'd want to do it give the player base more reason to spend their LIMITED time (and possibly money) on other card games. I'm no marketing expert, but every time a blunder like this happens, I can't help but wonder what's going on inside their heads when they decide to screw the players time and time again. Are they forgetting it's not 2017 anymore? Peak HS has long passed, they should be doing everything they can to keep the players base around, or maybe I'm missing something in the bigger picture?
20 or so event XP can be earned every half hour just AFK-ing in merc bounties, if you're time constrained and still want the portrait, just q up a couple of bounties while doing chores on the weekend and you'll finish in no time.
There's no need to invest time in ranked games if that's not your thing if you just want the skin with minimal effort.
Loved the article, even though it was discussed over and over in the past few weeks, the read was quite enjoyable, with enough curiosity spikes to keep me reading all the way to the end, even if most of the things mentioned were already known.
My first guess went towards alternate skins for certain legendaries, like how we kept joking that Rag should get an alternate card art with him all dressed up, looking fancy, with his name changing to Swagnaros. (the joke is over 7 years old at this point, just to clarify)
It would be another "harmless" way of bringing in more profit while making old cards see a spark of play here and there.
Or there's the ideal route, where they make a new quest chain that would rewards the new skin upon completion. That might end up boosting pack sales, depending on the requirements of each quest. And the effort would be minimal on their side, with a nice payoff if done properly.
I'm still waiting for Wizards of the Coast to release a proper Duel Masters online TCG...had high hopes after the success of both Yu-Gi-Oh games that they will shortly follow suit, considering the games is popular to this day, and the success of a proper online version is more than guaranteed.
As an * to the 3rd idea, they could make it so all existing excess coins get converted into universal coins automatically after the patch goes live.
You'd get universal coins depending on the rarity of the merc that had extra coins, to a 2:1 ratio; for example, 10 coins from a rare merc would become 10 universal coins, that you could trade in for 5 coins for another rare merc. Rarity scaling could use the same logic as what we currently have for merc crafting, or somewhere along those lines. For example, right now you need 500 of a given merc legendary coins to craft that merc; with the system I've outlined above you'd need 1000 extra coins from a random legendary merc in order to be able to craft your chosen legendary merc.
A solution for the coins problem would be to simply make it so you can't get any more coins for a certain merc after you've accumulated enough of them to fully upgrade everything; considering the fact that new mercs get added quite frequently, and that the popularity of the mode isn't through the roof, I believe it could be a decent solution.
That, or at least make the unowned portraits craftable/purchaseable with your excess coins.
Or, and hear me out here, they can make a universal coin, that could be traded for coins from other mercs as needed, whenever you'd end up getting coins for a merc that doesn't need them anymore.
IMHO any one of these ideas is fairly easy to implement, and would go a long way towards impimproving the experience/enjoyment of the mode.
I'd be curious to know how they assign rarity to certain cards, with regards of how the feels/drops paradigm is considered.
For example, how is a mediocre card like the Sax Soloist an epic, and the Guitar Soloist (a net superior card in every way, shape or form), just a common?
A couple of years ago, that battle cry would have appeared on a legendary...overpaying a mana or two to tutor out 3 specific cards? now that's value...getting another 1/2 to play on your next turn, maybe...not so much.
Or maybe I'm missing something here?
Considering they didn't add it with the current track, my guess is it's gonna get added with the next one
DK buffs don't seem like they will be enough to make the class a meta player, the nerfs were all expected and in line with what was expected.
As for wild, I for one have had more than one game where TT was on the bottom of my deck, which in wild means you lose, and even when it wasn't, the deck started to get more and more countered by the day, the high rolls just didn't happen as often as some content creators might have had us believe.
Despite the general consensus, the game knows how to put you in your place if it decides you're having too much of a good time.
I was really expecting another undead merc to come with the track, Patchwerk, or any undead from Naxx if the selection from the next expansion wasn't good enough...but not this.
It's disappointing to see another blunder like this make its way into the news feed, especially when the hype train was gaining some decent momentum...similar to how the voice lines from the task progression just disappeared after the last patch dropped, I don't see any real solutions for this event coming any time soon.
You forgot to mention that none of what was revealed has a chance of seeing meta play considering what druid has going on right now.
Is it just me or are they deliberately going in the wrong direction when it comes to player retention?
How much damage would have an extra pack from the next expansion left on their bottom line that it's come to this? Posting one thing, and having another thing happen...with all the competition HS is having these days, you'd think the last thing they'd want to do it give the player base more reason to spend their LIMITED time (and possibly money) on other card games. I'm no marketing expert, but every time a blunder like this happens, I can't help but wonder what's going on inside their heads when they decide to screw the players time and time again. Are they forgetting it's not 2017 anymore? Peak HS has long passed, they should be doing everything they can to keep the players base around, or maybe I'm missing something in the bigger picture?
20 or so event XP can be earned every half hour just AFK-ing in merc bounties, if you're time constrained and still want the portrait, just q up a couple of bounties while doing chores on the weekend and you'll finish in no time.
There's no need to invest time in ranked games if that's not your thing if you just want the skin with minimal effort.
Loved the article, even though it was discussed over and over in the past few weeks, the read was quite enjoyable, with enough curiosity spikes to keep me reading all the way to the end, even if most of the things mentioned were already known.
Kudos!
My first guess went towards alternate skins for certain legendaries, like how we kept joking that Rag should get an alternate card art with him all dressed up, looking fancy, with his name changing to Swagnaros. (the joke is over 7 years old at this point, just to clarify)
It would be another "harmless" way of bringing in more profit while making old cards see a spark of play here and there.
Or there's the ideal route, where they make a new quest chain that would rewards the new skin upon completion. That might end up boosting pack sales, depending on the requirements of each quest. And the effort would be minimal on their side, with a nice payoff if done properly.
Still one of the best looking card backs around, even after all these years.
I'm still waiting for Wizards of the Coast to release a proper Duel Masters online TCG...had high hopes after the success of both Yu-Gi-Oh games that they will shortly follow suit, considering the games is popular to this day, and the success of a proper online version is more than guaranteed.
That "shuffle your deck" part is giving me mad Yu-Gi-Oh vibes from back in the day.
As an * to the 3rd idea, they could make it so all existing excess coins get converted into universal coins automatically after the patch goes live.
You'd get universal coins depending on the rarity of the merc that had extra coins, to a 2:1 ratio; for example, 10 coins from a rare merc would become 10 universal coins, that you could trade in for 5 coins for another rare merc. Rarity scaling could use the same logic as what we currently have for merc crafting, or somewhere along those lines. For example, right now you need 500 of a given merc legendary coins to craft that merc; with the system I've outlined above you'd need 1000 extra coins from a random legendary merc in order to be able to craft your chosen legendary merc.
A solution for the coins problem would be to simply make it so you can't get any more coins for a certain merc after you've accumulated enough of them to fully upgrade everything; considering the fact that new mercs get added quite frequently, and that the popularity of the mode isn't through the roof, I believe it could be a decent solution.
That, or at least make the unowned portraits craftable/purchaseable with your excess coins.
Or, and hear me out here, they can make a universal coin, that could be traded for coins from other mercs as needed, whenever you'd end up getting coins for a merc that doesn't need them anymore.
IMHO any one of these ideas is fairly easy to implement, and would go a long way towards impimproving the experience/enjoyment of the mode.
a very fun one, bring back the nostalgia of playing the cards when they were still fresh :D
very well put together, nice little brain exercise :D
Borderline acceptable fluff level in the neutral package, otherwise most classes got a decent boost to their deck diversities. But that's just me.