The Dawn of GWENT
Hello community! GWENT Beta has been running over a year now and during this beta phase, we have gathered a nice community into these CDPR forums. Some of you are already regular residents in here, while some are still newcomers, and some are just randomly passing by. Some people already know the history and origins of GWENT: The Witcher Card Game and the company itself, but some of you may not be familiar with it yet. Now that this year is getting close to its end, our Blue Team wanted to share some glimpses of history with you. Hopefully, this will help newcomers to get familiar with the game and the forums. And if this wakes up some warm and happy memories among older GWENT/forum veterans, feel free to share those with us!
So, how did it all begin?
The whole Witcher game series and its lore is based on Andrzej Sapkowski's book series. GWENT was originally a minigame in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and it looked quite different back then. The main Witcher 3 game introduced four factions: Monsters, Northern Realms, Scoia'tael and Nilfgaard. The Hearts Of Stone expansion added few new cards, and a bit later, Blood And Wine introduced the Skellige Faction. Standalone GWENT characters are based on the books and Witcher games. For example, did you ever wonder why there is a GWENT card with a horse standing on the roof? Well, it just so happens that a certain, little horsey became quite legendary in Witcher 3 (be ware of the game spoilers!). Following its introduction in The Witcher 3, many people fell in love with GWENT. All kinds of fan-made products started to appear, from fan-made cards to fan-made boards. During the time of The Witcher 3 expansion releases, we were finally able to get official and physical GWENT cards. Soon after that, first unofficial GWENT tournaments started to happen. Unfortunately those physical cards were limited editions, and many people were still left hungering for more GWENT. The developers started to ask questions from the community, whether they would like to have a real GWENT game. At this point, it's pretty obvious what the community answered
When CDPR finally announced GWENT, they told us that the office had been flooded with requests for standalone GWENT game.
Some key moments in standalone GWENT history.
Before Closed Beta started on PC and Xbox One, some lucky people were able to test the game in two Kill The Servers events. The GWENT board had pretty much achieved it's current form, but the cards have changed quite a bit since those early events. Just before the Closed Beta went live, we also saw the first developer live stream. And finally, 25th of October 2016, Closed Beta started. Because this was the Closed Beta, you needed to sign up for the game and patiently wait for your beta key before you could play. 25th of November Xbox One players were able to buy kegs for the first time. The Closed Beta started with four factions (Skellige,Northern Realms, Monsters and Scoia'tael), but some months later, on the 6th of February 2017, Nilfgaard also joined the battlefields. PS4 got its first weekend-long touch with GWENT on 31st of March 2017, when PS4 Technical Beta test was announced. However, PS4 players had to wait until the start of Public Beta, before they could fully enjoy the game. At 16th of March 2017 CDPR announces the first official GWENT Challenger tournament. The game went through the complete account reset and transformed into the Public Beta on the 24th of May, finally allowing PS4 players to also fully join in the fun. Thronebreaker and Public Beta development roadmap update were released on the 22nd of November 2017.
Some landmarks in GWENT gameplay history.
Adding the Nilfgaard faction was already mentioned above. So, what else has changed in GWENT? When we first saw this standalone game, it was a bit of a schock to some Witcher 3 GWENT fans (myself included). Let's see. For example: Spies! Spies were totally different compared to the original Witcher 3 GWENT. Originally, spies in Witcher 3 had very low or no impact on strength, but now we had spies that gave our opponents twelve (12) gersh-derned points. Like... seriously? What the "heyhou" happened to our slightly overpowered Northern Realms and Nilfgaard decks? How are we supposed to maintain a 100% win rate now?
But jokes a side, many other things have also changed, and the game has become much more playable in player vs. player mode. Here is a list of the most memorable (and/or schocking?) changes:
21st of December 2016, ranked matches enters the game.
6th of February 2017, Nilfgaard enters the battlefields.
23rd of March 2017, positioning patch lets us place our cards wherever we want to, on the correct rows. Taunts and "cards played" history also becomes available.
24th of May 2017, Public Beta starts, full account reset, all cards get animated versions and faction abilities were removed.
29th of August 2017, gold cards are not immune to effects anymore. Game profile and social features enters the game. Console players are now able to play friend matches.
7th of September 2017, first pro ladder season begins.
28th of September 2017, Mahakam Ale Festival, the first puzzle event is here.
29th of September 2017, many cards changed as agile units. First signs of a big, upcoming and mysterious gameplay change?
5th of October 2017, GWENT is now available in Windows store.
4th of December 2017, first Faction Challenge arrives.
So, what has happened on the forums since the beginning?
After it became clear that a standalone GWENT game was going to happen, these official GWENT forums were born. At first, there was only one separated section for News. Everything else was happily mixed together. People were waiting for the game, making lots of suggestions (and this fine tradition still continues, so good job, everyone!) and guessing what the future will bring to us. When Closed Beta started, General Discussions, Tech Support and Tactician's corner were added. When Public Beta started, we got faction-specific rooms in Tactician's Corner and platform-specific rooms for Tech Support. Then came the rooms for Thronebreaker and Tournaments. Nowadays, there are also new language sections on the forums, and our Blue Team has gotten new reinforcements. Things have grown quite a lot forum-wise since the beginning.
And then the most important part, the community! We would like to offer a few kind words for you.
It has been nice to watch this community grow. There are already many familiar faces, people have made new friends and you have been very helpful to new players seeking advice. That's awesome! When Closed Beta ended, everyone was in an eager mood, waiting for the Public Beta to began, and wishing each other luck. Those few days when servers were down between Betas, felt like an eternity. We all know, that there are many dark and toxic places on the internet, but together we have kept these forums as a nice place for civilized discussions. It is all of you that have made that possible! So, from the moderation team: Thank you! We are all here, because we like CDPR and their games. They deserve a community as awesome as this one. So, we all share a goal for the next year -- let's keep being awesome!
Lastly, plans for the future! Lately there was a GWENT survey, which made us think about what could be done better. During the last holiday season we saw a nice, little contest organized by CDPR. It was fun for us moderators to help with that, and it seemed that the community also enjoyed the event There have also been some fan-organized GWENT tournaments, fun little forum quizzes, helpful members who gathered voice lines and animated avatars for everyone to enjoy, GWENT board mods and guides to GWENT forum slang, and many, many other useful, fun, or otherwise valuable threads. So, a question for you guys! What would you like to see here on the forums?
Hello community! GWENT Beta has been running over a year now and during this beta phase, we have gathered a nice community into these CDPR forums. Some of you are already regular residents in here, while some are still newcomers, and some are just randomly passing by. Some people already know the history and origins of GWENT: The Witcher Card Game and the company itself, but some of you may not be familiar with it yet. Now that this year is getting close to its end, our Blue Team wanted to share some glimpses of history with you. Hopefully, this will help newcomers to get familiar with the game and the forums. And if this wakes up some warm and happy memories among older GWENT/forum veterans, feel free to share those with us!
So, how did it all begin?
The whole Witcher game series and its lore is based on Andrzej Sapkowski's book series. GWENT was originally a minigame in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and it looked quite different back then. The main Witcher 3 game introduced four factions: Monsters, Northern Realms, Scoia'tael and Nilfgaard. The Hearts Of Stone expansion added few new cards, and a bit later, Blood And Wine introduced the Skellige Faction. Standalone GWENT characters are based on the books and Witcher games. For example, did you ever wonder why there is a GWENT card with a horse standing on the roof? Well, it just so happens that a certain, little horsey became quite legendary in Witcher 3 (be ware of the game spoilers!). Following its introduction in The Witcher 3, many people fell in love with GWENT. All kinds of fan-made products started to appear, from fan-made cards to fan-made boards. During the time of The Witcher 3 expansion releases, we were finally able to get official and physical GWENT cards. Soon after that, first unofficial GWENT tournaments started to happen. Unfortunately those physical cards were limited editions, and many people were still left hungering for more GWENT. The developers started to ask questions from the community, whether they would like to have a real GWENT game. At this point, it's pretty obvious what the community answered
When CDPR finally announced GWENT, they told us that the office had been flooded with requests for standalone GWENT game.Some key moments in standalone GWENT history.
Before Closed Beta started on PC and Xbox One, some lucky people were able to test the game in two Kill The Servers events. The GWENT board had pretty much achieved it's current form, but the cards have changed quite a bit since those early events. Just before the Closed Beta went live, we also saw the first developer live stream. And finally, 25th of October 2016, Closed Beta started. Because this was the Closed Beta, you needed to sign up for the game and patiently wait for your beta key before you could play. 25th of November Xbox One players were able to buy kegs for the first time. The Closed Beta started with four factions (Skellige,Northern Realms, Monsters and Scoia'tael), but some months later, on the 6th of February 2017, Nilfgaard also joined the battlefields. PS4 got its first weekend-long touch with GWENT on 31st of March 2017, when PS4 Technical Beta test was announced. However, PS4 players had to wait until the start of Public Beta, before they could fully enjoy the game. At 16th of March 2017 CDPR announces the first official GWENT Challenger tournament. The game went through the complete account reset and transformed into the Public Beta on the 24th of May, finally allowing PS4 players to also fully join in the fun. Thronebreaker and Public Beta development roadmap update were released on the 22nd of November 2017.
Some landmarks in GWENT gameplay history.
Adding the Nilfgaard faction was already mentioned above. So, what else has changed in GWENT? When we first saw this standalone game, it was a bit of a schock to some Witcher 3 GWENT fans (myself included). Let's see. For example: Spies! Spies were totally different compared to the original Witcher 3 GWENT. Originally, spies in Witcher 3 had very low or no impact on strength, but now we had spies that gave our opponents twelve (12) gersh-derned points. Like... seriously? What the "heyhou" happened to our slightly overpowered Northern Realms and Nilfgaard decks? How are we supposed to maintain a 100% win rate now?
But jokes a side, many other things have also changed, and the game has become much more playable in player vs. player mode. Here is a list of the most memorable (and/or schocking?) changes:
21st of December 2016, ranked matches enters the game.
6th of February 2017, Nilfgaard enters the battlefields.
23rd of March 2017, positioning patch lets us place our cards wherever we want to, on the correct rows. Taunts and "cards played" history also becomes available.
24th of May 2017, Public Beta starts, full account reset, all cards get animated versions and faction abilities were removed.
29th of August 2017, gold cards are not immune to effects anymore. Game profile and social features enters the game. Console players are now able to play friend matches.
7th of September 2017, first pro ladder season begins.
28th of September 2017, Mahakam Ale Festival, the first puzzle event is here.
29th of September 2017, many cards changed as agile units. First signs of a big, upcoming and mysterious gameplay change?
5th of October 2017, GWENT is now available in Windows store.
4th of December 2017, first Faction Challenge arrives.
So, what has happened on the forums since the beginning?
After it became clear that a standalone GWENT game was going to happen, these official GWENT forums were born. At first, there was only one separated section for News. Everything else was happily mixed together. People were waiting for the game, making lots of suggestions (and this fine tradition still continues, so good job, everyone!) and guessing what the future will bring to us. When Closed Beta started, General Discussions, Tech Support and Tactician's corner were added. When Public Beta started, we got faction-specific rooms in Tactician's Corner and platform-specific rooms for Tech Support. Then came the rooms for Thronebreaker and Tournaments. Nowadays, there are also new language sections on the forums, and our Blue Team has gotten new reinforcements. Things have grown quite a lot forum-wise since the beginning.
And then the most important part, the community! We would like to offer a few kind words for you.
It has been nice to watch this community grow. There are already many familiar faces, people have made new friends and you have been very helpful to new players seeking advice. That's awesome! When Closed Beta ended, everyone was in an eager mood, waiting for the Public Beta to began, and wishing each other luck. Those few days when servers were down between Betas, felt like an eternity. We all know, that there are many dark and toxic places on the internet, but together we have kept these forums as a nice place for civilized discussions. It is all of you that have made that possible! So, from the moderation team: Thank you!
We are all here, because we like CDPR and their games. They deserve a community as awesome as this one. So, we all share a goal for the next year -- let's keep being awesome!Lastly, plans for the future! Lately there was a GWENT survey, which made us think about what could be done better. During the last holiday season we saw a nice, little contest organized by CDPR. It was fun for us moderators to help with that, and it seemed that the community also enjoyed the event
There have also been some fan-organized GWENT tournaments, fun little forum quizzes, helpful members who gathered voice lines and animated avatars for everyone to enjoy, GWENT board mods and guides to GWENT forum slang, and many, many other useful, fun, or otherwise valuable threads. So, a question for you guys! What would you like to see here on the forums?