A simpler Gwent?

[duracell1955]

I've been playing Gwent for a couple of years now, starting around the time of the Crimson Curse expansion. I came from Witcher 3 and although the game was more complex than the Witcher 3 version I thought I'd give it a try. Since then there have been a number of expansions, each of which has added to the complexity of the game, and introduced more powerful cards.

Whilst this is welcome to long standing players who have collected most or all of the cards it is my view that this makes the game more daunting to the new player. How many potential new players look at the game, see that there are around 400 cards to collect and are simply put off by the scale of the game now; we'll never know as those potential players will just leave quietly and find another game.

I'd like to make a suggestion which I feel will help new players, and that is to create an additional game mode where only the base set cards are available, together with restricted leader abilities. This would give new players a more gentle introduction to the game if that is what they desire, and when they have developed their base set card collection, they will mostly move on to the full game. I suggest that there should be separate base set mode ranks but no possibility of reaching pro rank through progression. It would be helpful if the base set mode also attracted rewards as per the full game.

An additional benefit could be that players who have left Gwent may be tempted to return with the possibility of playing the game they originally liked.

 

[InkognitoXI]

The thing is that new players start at rank 28 and as such (since one cannot drop that low later on) their opponents should also be new players (which is also indicated by the fact that Fruits of Ysgith still has the highest winrate at that rank).
Furthermore if you know which decks to craft you can always look up lists from the current meta and there are even people sheedrunning to get to ProRank on fresh accounts (obviously without spending money), so being able to craft a meta deck and keep up should be doable fairly quickly.

 

[Messyr]

I believe OP is talking about a different aspect, at least that was my impression.

I fully agree that it is everything but difficult (given one puts in the effort and actually plays the game) to build at least 1 solid meta deck relatively quick for a newcomer.
On the other hand, I also believe OP has a point here - many might not even get to the game seeing the sheer complexity, layers upon layers of mechanics, a moderately large cardpool - even though they could have a good chance to advance, they might not even get to it as they get intimidated by the factors above.

I have to say I like the idea of a "classic mode" for the game. Both for the newcomers to practice and for those with a rush of nostalgia.

 

[Madlax1992]

I remember when I got into the game and thought the same thing. The game is a bit too complex and overwhelming for someone new. The reason why I stubbornly stuck with it is because I loved the Gwent mini-game in Witcher 3, otherwise I probably would have dropped it.

There are a lot of cards, a lot of leaders, a lot or archetypes. There are the easier archetypes, such as Thrive and Deathwish. No wonder Monsters are recommended for beginners. They are pretty straightforward in this regard. Then there are the complex ones that requires advanced knowledge of the game to understand and master.

A classic or at least tutorial mode where the game teaches new players about how factions and archetypes functions would be great. In addition to that, Gwent offers the players too little at the beginning. The starter decks are fine before rank 25, but after that... it becomes clear that if you don't increase your card pool you don't really stand a chance.

 

[InkognitoXI]

I believe OP is talking about a different aspect, at least that was my impression.

I fully agree that it is everything but difficult (given one puts in the effort and actually plays the game) to build at least 1 solid meta deck relatively quick for a newcomer.
On the other hand, I also believe OP has a point here - many might not even get to the game seeing the sheer complexity, layers upon layers of mechanics, a moderately large cardpool - even though they could have a good chance to advance, they might not even get to it as they get intimidated by the factors above.

I have to say I like the idea of a "classic mode" for the game. Both for the newcomers to practice and for those with a rush of nostalgia.

Draft would be an alternative though.
It is a much simpler mode with regards to deck building and with no entry cost new players cannot get punished for bad initial results.