Please Don't Restrict Cards From Ranked Play...
Here's the thing, Ranked play is a realm where only the most powerful cards, combos, and decks survive and thrive. It's not just competitive, it's cutthroat... and that's a good thing. Ranked is where you should see the hardcore players testing their mettle against those with a similar mindset. Casual play is where the those looking for a less competitive environment go. It's full off oddball deck ideas and newbies either learning the ropes, or building up their collections to an effective Ranked deck are to be found.
So what happens when you declare some cards too powerful or too effective to be played in Ranked? They end up in Casual of course.This provides a horrible experience for newbies, since they won't have the collections nor the experience to play in either with any hope of advancement. It's also detrimental to the creative deck builders since they'll be swamped out by the power cards banned from Ranked. In either case Casual ends up as a cheese fest that doesn't serve the function of a "casual" environment to learn and play.
But it isn't fair to just say "don't do X" without offering up some alternatives, so here are some that might work....
Alternative 1: Commit to rebalancing all cards as time goes on, and not restricting any
I know some people will hate this idea, and it means extra work for CDPR... but it does preserve the nature of both Ranked and Casual play modes
Alternative 2: As above, but only restrict cards from Casual play mode
This would go even farther to encourage the division between these modes and prevent Ranked players from preying on Casual players for cheap wins for various events/rewards
Alternative 3: Only restrict cards at the Pro Ladder level
As a benefit it would be easy to change restriction lists each season, but at the downside of discouraging some players from entering the Pro Ladder
Alternative 3: Expand Ranked to two divisions, Pro track / Ranked Track
In this both Tracks would be identical in structure/rewards, but only the Pro Track would see card restrictions, and only the pro track would be eligible for Pro Ladder (which would have the same restrictions). The pros and cons are similar, but with an additional effect of dividing the player base more, which may be good or bad depending on how large the global user pool is.
Here's the thing, Ranked play is a realm where only the most powerful cards, combos, and decks survive and thrive. It's not just competitive, it's cutthroat... and that's a good thing. Ranked is where you should see the hardcore players testing their mettle against those with a similar mindset. Casual play is where the those looking for a less competitive environment go. It's full off oddball deck ideas and newbies either learning the ropes, or building up their collections to an effective Ranked deck are to be found.
So what happens when you declare some cards too powerful or too effective to be played in Ranked? They end up in Casual of course.This provides a horrible experience for newbies, since they won't have the collections nor the experience to play in either with any hope of advancement. It's also detrimental to the creative deck builders since they'll be swamped out by the power cards banned from Ranked. In either case Casual ends up as a cheese fest that doesn't serve the function of a "casual" environment to learn and play.
But it isn't fair to just say "don't do X" without offering up some alternatives, so here are some that might work....
Alternative 1: Commit to rebalancing all cards as time goes on, and not restricting any
I know some people will hate this idea, and it means extra work for CDPR... but it does preserve the nature of both Ranked and Casual play modes
Alternative 2: As above, but only restrict cards from Casual play mode
This would go even farther to encourage the division between these modes and prevent Ranked players from preying on Casual players for cheap wins for various events/rewards
Alternative 3: Only restrict cards at the Pro Ladder level
As a benefit it would be easy to change restriction lists each season, but at the downside of discouraging some players from entering the Pro Ladder
Alternative 3: Expand Ranked to two divisions, Pro track / Ranked Track
In this both Tracks would be identical in structure/rewards, but only the Pro Track would see card restrictions, and only the pro track would be eligible for Pro Ladder (which would have the same restrictions). The pros and cons are similar, but with an additional effect of dividing the player base more, which may be good or bad depending on how large the global user pool is.