Over the last few days I have read a lot of posts and threads about dissatisfaction with Gwent. To be honest, ever since coming back in February I have been growing less and less content with the game. I figure the solution is to leave again and maybe comeback after a few more expansions. Before I go, I wanted to share my thoughts on why I am dissatisfied and how we got here.
1. Too much focus on asthetics. In the old days each avatar had unique voice acting, which made them more interesting to work towards. Moreover, boarders were on display during matches, this made them more interesting if nothing else. Now, borders are almost never visible, taunts are leader specific and generic, and avatars are less important than ever. This wouldn't itself be an issue, if the game didn't base so much of the contract achievement on these aesthetic rewards. Instead, rewards should focus on things like unlocking lore, mini animated scenes which build on the world of the Witcher. It may be more costly and more work for CDPR, but genuine rewards inspire genuine interest.
2. I just can't get with 2 rows. It is so silly to me that when they finally make units abilities row specific they reduced the number of rows to reduce the number of options. Strategy is all about choices, you restrict the choices you limit the strategy. Moreover, the notions of reach, weather, spying, row limits, etc... are all impaired when the size and scope of the field are reduced.
3. Hand limit is awful. Talk about making the coinflip more relevant instead of less, this is just a bad idea. You took away the dry pass option for bad hands, gave added importance to the draw, and thanks to things like point slam and point swing put the first player at a huge disadvantage. Worse, the five point boost almost always makes the recipient at or above the 8 point big removal threshold. When to pass should be a choice, when you restrict choices you restrict strategy.
4. I have talked about this at length elsewhere so I will only touch on it here. The lack of faction identities and the removal of unique mechanics has compromised the very foundation of Gwent. Seeing the same finishers in every deck is not only not fun, it is boring. There is so much potential for faction identity, and more factions. Yet CDPR has continually ignored these opportunities and squandered the things that Witcher players loved about the mini game, one update at a time.
5. Finally, the ranked system is just too flawed. Downgrading rank is just not ok. It punishes players who don't have enough time to get to the top of the leader board, and ensures the pro rank will only be for the designated pros. It is a huge handicap and time suck to have to climb back up. Not to mention, the ranks are over run with net decks because CDPR does not provide sufficient mechanics to encourage deck diversity. In the 2 years I have been around this game (admittedly with over a year Gap in that span of time,) only arena and seasonal modes have been added. Arena is so luck based (how many golds you get, which leader you get, what cards you get,) that i struggle to find any true enjoyment out of it. Seasonal is awesome, but it gets boring after a while, especially when bugs like spy steal and op gimmicks like lippy during bear are over running the mode. Variety is the spice of life. New modes, new cards, just plain new is needed to keep the game fresh, and from what I have heard from the developers, new is going to be few and far between.
I hope they fix this game. I really wanted to like it. But honestly until they do, it just isn't worth the time investment.
1. Too much focus on asthetics. In the old days each avatar had unique voice acting, which made them more interesting to work towards. Moreover, boarders were on display during matches, this made them more interesting if nothing else. Now, borders are almost never visible, taunts are leader specific and generic, and avatars are less important than ever. This wouldn't itself be an issue, if the game didn't base so much of the contract achievement on these aesthetic rewards. Instead, rewards should focus on things like unlocking lore, mini animated scenes which build on the world of the Witcher. It may be more costly and more work for CDPR, but genuine rewards inspire genuine interest.
2. I just can't get with 2 rows. It is so silly to me that when they finally make units abilities row specific they reduced the number of rows to reduce the number of options. Strategy is all about choices, you restrict the choices you limit the strategy. Moreover, the notions of reach, weather, spying, row limits, etc... are all impaired when the size and scope of the field are reduced.
3. Hand limit is awful. Talk about making the coinflip more relevant instead of less, this is just a bad idea. You took away the dry pass option for bad hands, gave added importance to the draw, and thanks to things like point slam and point swing put the first player at a huge disadvantage. Worse, the five point boost almost always makes the recipient at or above the 8 point big removal threshold. When to pass should be a choice, when you restrict choices you restrict strategy.
4. I have talked about this at length elsewhere so I will only touch on it here. The lack of faction identities and the removal of unique mechanics has compromised the very foundation of Gwent. Seeing the same finishers in every deck is not only not fun, it is boring. There is so much potential for faction identity, and more factions. Yet CDPR has continually ignored these opportunities and squandered the things that Witcher players loved about the mini game, one update at a time.
5. Finally, the ranked system is just too flawed. Downgrading rank is just not ok. It punishes players who don't have enough time to get to the top of the leader board, and ensures the pro rank will only be for the designated pros. It is a huge handicap and time suck to have to climb back up. Not to mention, the ranks are over run with net decks because CDPR does not provide sufficient mechanics to encourage deck diversity. In the 2 years I have been around this game (admittedly with over a year Gap in that span of time,) only arena and seasonal modes have been added. Arena is so luck based (how many golds you get, which leader you get, what cards you get,) that i struggle to find any true enjoyment out of it. Seasonal is awesome, but it gets boring after a while, especially when bugs like spy steal and op gimmicks like lippy during bear are over running the mode. Variety is the spice of life. New modes, new cards, just plain new is needed to keep the game fresh, and from what I have heard from the developers, new is going to be few and far between.
I hope they fix this game. I really wanted to like it. But honestly until they do, it just isn't worth the time investment.