When you signed up for the beta, you accepted the terms of use, which includes the passage that Gwent can be shut down at any time with no refund possibility. Those were known risks. Now, we have Homecoming (which is better than shutting down Gwent). It might not be what you had hoped for, but you certainly aren't being tricked, nor robbed. Also, please realize that CDPR has given you full scrap value for your whole collection, while they just as easily could have reset your account, like they did with closed beta. You can say a lot of negative things about Homecoming, but you cannot deny that CDPR is one of the most generous, if not, the most generous game studio out there.
While I agree with most things that you state in your other post, you cannot tell me that you believe that the way the company handled the situation was professional or fair. I agree that they are in their legal right to do what they want if they believe it services the betterment of the game (we all know this), but after almost 2 years passed, after promises made to a community that gave support with engagement by playing and testing the game, giving feedback to the game and some even giving money to them, it is completely reasonable for us to feel betrayed. This game is in a way comparable to the case of Mighty No. 9’s Kickstarter.
- We wanted this game because we wanted to be able to play a version of Witcher 3 Gwent with others.
- They showed us what the game was going to be, we played it for more than a year(most of us loved it), a community was built around it that entrusted, supported and some even gave money to it because we believed and loved the project.
- However, after releasing a letter stating that the game was “returning home” to the game we loved (seriously this oversight in naming is still baffling to me) they decided to shut communication off about the project (I cannot remember how many times poor Burza had to retract dates for info during the 6 month period), they decided way later that the only way to know about the game we are invested in was with snippets of info in an 80 – 100 page forum of questions in the Ask a Dev, then they release the first bit of surprising concrete info a month or so before release just so that a week or so later we are left to figure out during the Open PTR that the game we supported for them to deliver for almost 2 years was scrapped when 90% of it has changed to become something that seems on par with other games and seems to be made to satisfy another player base. It was redesigned to water-down, diminish or remove almost everything that made the other special and appealing to all of us.
- Oh and to put the cherry on top, after 2 years of feedback and waiting for an official release: they tell us console players to wait, the official release is more of a beta, and to this day we have an incomplete game that is underperforming with slow speeds and crashes.
All of this is in their right, but how is any of it acceptable from this big a company? It doesn’t matter if this was an oversight because of the huge task they wanted to accomplish or if this was an intentional move to not tell us about the changes, it is still unacceptable. They bit off more than they could chew planning to deliver something better, we were left unsatisfied because this was not the game they promised from their initial statement (and it’s not in any way as good or polished), and now we have to abandon the project we loved because it’s not meant for us. As you state:
@RVG1926
Homecoming moved away from what gave Gwent its identity.
How can this be defended? and if this was the case, why didn't they mention it? Why didn't they tell us before? or even acknowledge it now? Why do they decide to brush off this fact? The letter didn't say that which we all know and you clearly state, that they are moving away from Gwent's identity.
In Noclip’s Warframe documentary the lead designer Scott McGregor talks about how people found an exploit that could be considered “game-breaking” by the team, but they decided to embrace it and adapt it to the game in a controllable way. He says “the community latches on to things for a certain reason.” I know these are significantly different games and the situations are different, but in Gwent most of the time it felt like the philosophy was the opposite, and now that is Homecoming. We latched on to a lot of things in Gwent, but instead of embracing what we wanted they smacked us in the hand and said “no that's not my vision,” Homecoming is... so I guess that's it?
Gwent was never meant to be a competitive CCG and that's the most important reason why it could never work have worked long term. There was not enough design space to make the game balanced. Some users might think there was, but they rarely look at the whole picture. Gwent would have worked for a while, but it would quickly collapse under the weight of multiple expansions. Homecoming, while trespassing into a new territory, still has potential to become something great; not Gwent, but still great, nonetheless.
I agree that "Gwent was never meant to be a competitive CCG," but I cannot comprehend why Homecoming has a better base for a
game than Gwent (I don’t play CCGs so I don’t see it because of ignorance in those games, and based on the little I’ve learned, and on my knowledge on the board/card games I play, I don’t agree). However, I believe that including me, some of us didn't want a CCG. Gwent was a freaking awesome card game that could have been great for what it was, and it was that game we wanted to be expanded upon (similar to card games like maybe
Star Realms or
Smash Up). The Team deciding to ignore what we want (the community that supported them because we loved Gwent), deciding to disregard what the game is (its roots in a fantastic game like
Condotierre based on bluffs, card advantage and management, taking away our ability for free flexible gameplay, taking its speed, its simplicity and elegance in deckbuilding, its incorporation of Witcher lore that wasn’t always perfect, but there was a cohesiveness to this world presented by the cards abilities and rules in Gwent that presented a full picture that felt deep) and its decision to fulfill an agenda that seems to want to bring another player base is wrong and shameful in my opinion, but that’s just me.
Sorry for so much text, needed to let some frustrations out. I guess now I’m ready to leave this game until they announce a physical Beta Gwent (ha ha ha) or until I finish my own. Peace, and much love to Burza.
RIP Kambi, Johnny, Ciri D ash and Skellige!
