Midwinter update review, problems and solutions
The Midwinter update seems rushed, with many things incomplete, bugs everywhere, and for some reason, I am having connection problems (I've never had any before). I am not going to be covering balance changes too much, mostly the UI and design philosophy.
Please keep in mind that I like most of the things in the new patch, like the UI, the new cards, and the new animations. But this is a critique, and I want to keep it short, so I will only be covering issues with the game
Card names
No patch notes in client and no increased milling values for changed cards
New leaders must be crafted and cannot be earned through challenges
Giving Arachas Queen to all players for free was a good step forward.
The "Create" keyword
The new UI
Midwinter Hunt singleplayer challenge
Bugs
There are too many bugs in this patch to list, but here are the three biggest outliers I've encountered.
I trust CDPR will fix all the issues with the game eventually. It's possible that we will have to wait till after the holidays to get these fixes though. It'd be nice to get some message though. This isn't a relationship where the boyfriend is constantly checking up on his spouse, this is just us wanting CDPR to communicate with us.
The Midwinter update seems rushed, with many things incomplete, bugs everywhere, and for some reason, I am having connection problems (I've never had any before). I am not going to be covering balance changes too much, mostly the UI and design philosophy.
Please keep in mind that I like most of the things in the new patch, like the UI, the new cards, and the new animations. But this is a critique, and I want to keep it short, so I will only be covering issues with the game
Card names
Why were the card names shortened? Is it a part of the future mobile update? I don't mind the shortening of the Skellige cards like "Clan x Warrior" or "Dol Blathanna x" but the characters that are a part of the games and the books don't deserve to have shortened names.
Solution:
A great compromise is to add an option to the settings menu to toggle long names on/off. This could be toggled off by default to help out new players.
A great compromise is to add an option to the settings menu to toggle long names on/off. This could be toggled off by default to help out new players.
No patch notes in client and no increased milling values for changed cards
Many cards have been changed/buffed/nerfed, but none of them have gotten increased dusting values. Why? What if I have 3 premium Ekimmara's but I don't like their new ability? Let me mill them for full value so that I may craft 3 premium Berbegazi.
Also, there is no list of balance changes in the client, but that can be fixed in under 5 minutes (not counting upload speed and all that).
Solution:
Update the new patch notes to appear in the client and offer full milling value for all cards that have had their abilities changed or values decreased for the next 3 days.
Update the new patch notes to appear in the client and offer full milling value for all cards that have had their abilities changed or values decreased for the next 3 days.
New leaders must be crafted and cannot be earned through challenges
I am surprised that the midwinter update didn't come with new singleplayer challenges to earn the new leader cards. Allowing all players to have access to all leaders was a huge step forward, so why the limitations again? This wouldn't be that much of a problem if some of the leaders hadn't had their abilities transferred to newer ones (Unseen Elder - Arachas Queen).
Solution:
Add new challenges to unlock the new leaders
Edit:Add new challenges to unlock the new leaders
Giving Arachas Queen to all players for free was a good step forward.
The "Create" keyword
The create keyword is problematic. On some cards, it works fine, like Adda, but on other cards, the range of cards is so big, and you'll run into moments where you'll get a fitting card (which is the expected result) and moments where every single card screws you over. The reason the Discover mechanic is so good in Hearthstone is because you can save the card for later. An easy solution would be to allow some create cards create the card, but instead of it being played immediately, it'd be added to your hand and you'd then have to play another card from your hand (even the card you just created).
Solution:
Add the "created" card to your hand instead of playing it instantly and then play another card from your hand (even the one you just created).
Add the "created" card to your hand instead of playing it instantly and then play another card from your hand (even the one you just created).
The new UI
I like the new UI, it was long overdue for an update. I am a bit disappointed in how vibrant the new collection and deck creation screen is (I always saw Gwent as a bit grim and serious, so the vibrant colors seem out of place), but I am glad the deck creation and collection screens are now merged. I think that the only thing I would change in the new UI is the screen that shows up when you're queuing up for a game. Get rid of the Yennefer art that shows up there and I'll be happy.
However, I'm not a fan of the sped up leader intros at the start of the game. It's noticeable (coming from someone who's played all the Witcher games), and it feels unnatural. The extra 0.5 seconds shaved off by speeding up the one-liners is not worth this feeling for me. If other players like this change, a good compromise could be adding a setting to the options menu to speed up intros, which would be on by default.
However, I'm not a fan of the sped up leader intros at the start of the game. It's noticeable (coming from someone who's played all the Witcher games), and it feels unnatural. The extra 0.5 seconds shaved off by speeding up the one-liners is not worth this feeling for me. If other players like this change, a good compromise could be adding a setting to the options menu to speed up intros, which would be on by default.
Midwinter Hunt singleplayer challenge
I am really disappointed with the difficulty of the challenge. I beat all the normal and expert challenges on my first try. I was really looking forward to having to solve some sort of puzzle, but the difficulty is too low. I beat the Mahakam Ale festival and the Saovine event all by myself and it made me feel really good because it took me about a dozen tries to complete some of the levels, which followed with increased satisfaction when I beat the levels on my own. There is no satisfaction in beating the new event. I hope future events won't be dumbed down as much as this one.
I'm all in favor of making the challenges easy on normal mode, but at least make them challenging on expert...
That being said, the event was fun, and as always, I loved the voiceovers.
Bugs
There are too many bugs in this patch to list, but here are the three biggest outliers I've encountered.
- When queuing up for a game, sometimes the game freezes and you cannot stop the queue. The only way to exit the queue screen is to then restart the game
- Huge connection issues. Never had any before. In one game, a "connection lost" pop up was covering my screen. I couldn't mulligan or play cards, but I could see my opponent play cards and I could pass.
- When opening a card keg, there is a short delay before you can reveal the cards. This starts to get really annoying when opening large quantities of kegs at a time
I trust CDPR will fix all the issues with the game eventually. It's possible that we will have to wait till after the holidays to get these fixes though. It'd be nice to get some message though. This isn't a relationship where the boyfriend is constantly checking up on his spouse, this is just us wanting CDPR to communicate with us.
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