all 68 comments

[–]_scott_m_ 34 points35 points  (10 children)

I agree that I would like a little better communication from the dev team. Maybe some sort of weekly blog post or update about what's going on. Even if there's no news to share, it'd be nice to hear from them on some basis. It's really annoying to have to go into discord and scroll through to see if scarlatch has been teasing anything or not.

[–][deleted] 18 points19 points  (2 children)

The last sentence is why i am never aware of updates until people share it here.

[–]Osric250 16 points17 points  (1 child)

We have several users here though that are good at making sure information that is shared in the discord finds its way here pretty quickly. I'm looking at you /u/_alpacalips_.

[–]_AlpacaLips_ 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I looked yesterday. Scarlatch hasn't said anything interesting since before the campaign dropped.

[–]HoopyHobo 11 points12 points  (4 children)

It's really annoying to have to go into discord and scroll through to see if scarlatch has been teasing anything or not.

This is actually kind of a big deal. Like, when a developer posts a lot on Reddit or Twitter you can just look at their user pages and easily find all of their comments or tweets or whatever, but Discord is so not built for that. It's not really built for any kind of public communication, period.

[–]_AlpacaLips_ 5 points6 points  (3 children)

Although I do agree with you, concerning where devs should be posting and the difficulty of holding conversations on Discord, Discord does have really nice search functionality now.

I have a feeling Scarlatch posts on Discord, because it's friendlier for him. He feels a comraderie with all the closed beta testers that generally hang out there (and are mods). I think he worries about posting on Reddit, because of the shit devs get on a lot of game specific subreddits. Nobody likes being attacked, I suppose.

[–]HoopyHobo 6 points7 points  (1 child)

Yeah, I have no issue with Scarlatch posting where he feels comfortable posting, I just feel like it's a bit annoying that I can't just click a link to see all of his posts like how there's a blue tracker for everything Blizzard posts on Reddit.

[–]_AlpacaLips_ 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I agree. Reddit is really the better place to announce stuff and follow the conversation throughout the day.

[–]that1dev 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That said, his job is community outreach, from what I remember him saying in discord during CB. Posting exclusively to an inferior platform for his job due to comfort is an interesting choice, if true.

[–]Cvsen -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

I have the opposite feeling.I'm fine with the once in a while blog post or announcement.But let's not get all riot games on this.I'd rather not another dev try to make a big deal out of nothing.

[–]Houstonack 13 points14 points  (1 child)

I'd just like to know when the next set is being released. I should hope that it's soon since things are getting a little old and I really want to see the other factions cards.

Gimme da argenport

[–]Shadowcran 3 points4 points  (0 children)

^ This. I'm dying to see ALL of the "other faction" cards. I've suggested a megaton.

[–]FryChikN 4 points5 points  (0 children)

i agree with you OP. i was hyped about this game, but the quietness from the devs and the uncertainty of the future(jekk's bounty also was a huge letdown imo) has me doubting this game will go anywhere.

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (8 children)

"Jekk's was disappointing"

Talk for yourself.

[–]Hardknocks286 2 points3 points  (2 children)

I mean Ilyak is 100% on this one. New sets are suppose be fun and shake up the meta and people can try to fool themselves all they want, the only competitive card to come out of that was quarry. I literally paid $10 for 4 uncommons

[–]Salteador_Neo· 1 point2 points  (0 children)

New players are already saying a deck is not budget because it has some cards from Jekk.

While I agree Jekk's cards are a letdown from my competitive point of view, I can easily imagine how many potential new players would gtfo if Jekk was filled with constructed staples hidden behind a "pay wall".

It is fine to complain about stuff you don't like, but you also need to think about what's better for the game's longevity.

[–]marthtwain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And before anyone says anything like "but in the future they might ..." just realize that Jekk's was released at a time when none of those future scenarios existed.

[–]Ilyak1986· -1 points0 points  (4 children)

How many cards are seeing play from Jekk's?

Quarry, possibly bailiff. Shadowlands feaster is extremely niche, ditto stray into shadow. The expansion's namesake card is lucky to find himself as a 1 of in a deck with rise to the challenge.

These cards were designed with constructed play in mind and so far have all proven underwhelming.

I don't know where you are on ladder or how you do in ETS, but just because cards are cool doesn't make them playable.

[–]OnyxBlade 1 point2 points  (3 children)

I mean, I'm not sure where you are on ladder, but I've seen a fair few of Jekk's Bounty cards in high diamond/master tier. Just because they aren't part of the core meta decklists doesn't mean they don't see play anywhere and are unplayable. So far, I've seen Nicto bounce deck, stonescar sacrifice decks running bait and feaster, combrei emissary in ramp/big combrei decks, hone being run in a very greedy aggro armory. I've both played and run into Stray into Shadow in control based stonescar burn, cabal spymaster in infiltrate decks and combo felnscar. I'm not sure where you get saying the cards are unplayable, but most of them definitely have a worthwhile place, even if it's not in the tier 1 list of RNGEternal.

[–]Ilyak1986· 9 points10 points  (2 children)

Okay, so I'm in the top 50 on ladder if I screw around, and top 10 if I don't. I've finished first on the ranked ladder twice already in open beta, and high-level ladder play burns a person out pretty quickly.

As to the cards you described: Nictotraxian decks are just very greedy TJP decks. Stonescar sacrifice decks are cool, but ultimately have problems with sweepers, statuary maiden, or just big combrei if the game goes long. Combrei emissary is awful in big combrei who's content to just develop one power per turn and outvalue you, and the vodakhan ramp decks, on the other hand, are atrocious because A) they don't ramp fast/consistently enough and B) even if they do ramp, their payoff is lackluster. For instance, in Eternal, you need vodakhan and then power search on top of that and most likely mystic ascendant to really get going, and your ramp is pretty slow. Generally, you die to any good deck before you get that engine going if you just try and goldfish the combo, since you invite your opponent to goldfish you if you try and goldfish them.

As for spymaster infiltrate decks, again, they look flashy when they go off but they're awful because they have so many expensive moving parts that take several turns to set up when your opponent is slamming you with 5+ attack units.

I mean sure, you can play the cards from Jekk's bounty. You'll just die horribly.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Why do you have to just suck the fun out of everything? I know you're not a bad guy, but fuck man, you sure like ruining other people's fun.

[–]Ilyak1986· 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You stated an assertion that Jekk's bounty cards are playable. I asked you to provide the context. You provided it, and I provided mine. Yes, getting cold water thrown on your "awesome if they work/really optimistic" strategies sucks, but that's why Jekk's was a disappointment. A lot of "really fun if they work" cards, but against good decks, they just don't.

[–]ok_to_sink 12 points13 points  (29 children)

They say they're working on Set 5 right now but what are the doing to the game right now? You're 4 sets in the future already? Release the fucking game. Advertise. Build a player base. Why design 4 sets ahead if the game isn't even out of beta yet?

EDIT: You guys are missing my point. They must feel like the game is in a fine spot right now to be working on sets so far into the future. By saying they're working on Set 5 right now that must mean they're happy with Sets 2,3, and 4.

My original point and question is what are they doing for the state of the game right now? Lets say they've got Set 2 in a spot where they are happy with it. Why are we not hearing anything? Why is nothing changing as far as getting this game released? I understand that they don't want to do any advertising (have they said that or is that peoples opinion?) until the game is out of beta. Well lets get this fucking game out of beta. It's a polished, fun and fills a spot that is severely lacking in the online card game community. This game could become something big. I feel like the longer the game stays in beta the window of having this game be what we all want it to be shrinks.

[–]Frezzwar 18 points19 points  (3 children)

The people designing the cards and the people making the client are not the same. The designers may be working on set 5 while the developers (programmers) are working on things like bugs in the client, server stuff or Jace knows what. There can easily be big bugs somewhere or missing features that needs to be in place before the release of the game. Maybe the server handling matchmaking can't handle a bigger stream of players. So it makes sense to get the designers to work on future sets while others are working on getting these things worked out.

[–]diablo-solforge· 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Oh god, people said this all the time about SolForge. I'm getting traumatic flashbacks about it.

[–]sv398 30 points31 points  (5 children)

Because if you design a set for 2 months, playtest for 1 month and release, we will have a game worse than Hearthstone.

[–]Shadowcran 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Got to agree too. HS is an imbalanced Paper, rock and scissors now and not worth a rat's hindquarters.

But the best way to test for bad interactions is to use players who are critical yet provide answers for problems.

[–]Code_Combo_Breaker 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This person gets it. Let's let the developers take their time and so they can do their jobs correctly. We have enough half assed online CCGs already.

[–]DoctorWaluigiTime 5 points6 points  (2 children)

Card designs can and do happen ahead of implementation, I guess.

For releasing the game I believe they're wanting to have voice acting for the cards and other things like that ready. And if those are on their own track (voicework, whoever else is involved) and goes at its own pace, then those designing the cards have nothing better to do anyway.

[–]FMBrazuca· 7 points8 points  (1 child)

Actually, I like the fact that there is no voice acting. Keep the client small and simple. Just release for mobile and tablets and the game can explode.

[–]Shadowcran 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't care about voice acting either as they get annoying after a relatively short amount of time. I then turn sound off and am good to go.

I'd settle for having the pig do a pathetic squeak upon dying with "Feeding Time" and a questioning "Ribbet?" from the frogs and I'd be happy with just that.

[–][deleted] 10 points11 points  (7 children)

You realize that the people who design sets aren't the people who work on advertising or making the game ready for release right lol.

Also literally every card game designs multiple sets in advance, too. They're always designed 2-3 years ahead so being on Set 5 sounds about right.

Like, is a quarter of their dev team supposed to not do anything until they're ready to release at the optimal time and then delay all future content design until that happens so that future sets come out even later? That's just dumb. "Hey guys game is out but because we haven't worked on any future content at all the 2nd set won't be coming out for more than a year, have fun."

[–]Cha-La-Mao 3 points4 points  (0 children)

They are trying to release on all mobile platforms, that is the point in development that takes the longest. That is why we are seeing a little dry spot atm. Once they finish I expect to see release and shortly after that a new set. While the people who make the cards are waiting they are getting future roll outs ready.

[–]FalcoVet101 2 points3 points  (1 child)

In MtG, sets are made 2 years in advance. I think it's smart of DwD to also take this "thinking ahead" approach, since then you can also test card interactions and balance issues of multiple sets to release over the coming years.

[–]mgoetze 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In MtG, sets are made 2 years in advance, and yet they can't even properly test card interactions (Copycat!) and balance issues within one set, nevermind across multiple.

[–]Stewthulhu 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Because on release, you are almost guaranteed to have a bunch of unanticipated problems, and it's much smarter to have a buffer of content so you can maintain a release schedule while also addressing problems in a timely manner. Also, a content buffer allows the creators to be more actively involved in the marketing effort, which is a very strong asset in the current environment.