Biggest problems Gwent is facing right now (March 2018)

[Shadow199026]

The biggest problem in this game is unfortunately one that will never change.

And that is when you get to a good rank (say 18) you just face net decks. Soon as you see the leader you know exactly the cards that are going to be in the deck. Don't get me wrong i understand it because its the strongest and if thats what you need to win people will play it and it just creates a vicious cycle. It's just gets tedious though when there is no creativity with deck building. Calveit oh look vipers surprise, bran bears and so on. With the new addition of arena it does mitigate this, but you can't exactly get a rank for doing well in arena or exclusive avatars/borders so it just feels empty.

Thats the thing that really bugs me about this game, i wouldn't mind as much if the theme was the same say consume but maybe people just experimented with different cards.

 

[Tschjo]

The biggest problem in this game is unfortunately one that will never change.

And that is when you get to a good rank (say 18) you just face net decks. Soon as you see the leader you know exactly the cards that are going to be in the deck. Don't get me wrong i understand it because its the strongest and if thats what you need to win people will play it and it just creates a vicious cycle. It's just gets tedious though when there is no creativity with deck building. Calveit oh look vipers surprise, bran bears and so on. With the new addition of arena it does mitigate this, but you can't exactly get a rank for doing well in arena or exclusive avatars/borders so it just feels empty.

Thats the thing that really bugs me about this game, i wouldn't mind as much if the theme was the same say consume but maybe people just experimented with different cards.

This is called a meta and netdecking is NO PROBLEM. People wanna win and there is nothing wrong with it. Only because you got 2000 hours a week to figure out what combinations of cards are the best that doesnt mean that someone who only has 5 hours wont want to play on the same lvl as you. If you have a proble with netdecking GROW UP! Netdecking just means you get to play with the best cards that exist and can skip figuring out what those are. If you complain about that you are not confident in your own ability to play with those cards better.

Look at magic. Nobody insults someone at a tournament for having the best deck they could have there. Insulting ppl as netdecker is just insane. Nobody cares who build the deck you are playing if you play it the best.

How to increase diversity? Cards like Merciless:Roche! But the old good version with draw a card. Those are the cards we need. Cards that can tech against an archetype so heavily it becomes a risk playing that archetype. Now you gotta figure out what silver bullets you want to run and which ones might be hold against you.


Edit: Sorry about the slightly to extreme tone i just felt that this had to be stated in this manner once

 

[OG.laloquaint]

I'd say my number one problem in the game right now are server problems. I've lost and won matches in every game mode just because of them. It's unfair to both players. I voted for this problem.

I also hate the fact that they simplified a lot of cards so much. I really want them to make the muster cards have their own unique abilities like before. You gave a great example too, with the card formerly known as Brokvar Hunter. I wonder why they removed those abilities, don't see why they would interfere with the gameplay.

 

[DannyGuy]

How to increase diversity? Cards like Merciless:Roche! But the old good version with draw a card. Those are the cards we need. Cards that can tech against an archetype so heavily it becomes a risk playing that archetype. Now you gotta figure out what silver bullets you want to run and which ones might be hold against you.

Woah man, that's some statement... Such punishing cards cannot exist in a resource-based game. Especially because Ambushes already have a clear counter - locks.

 

[NomanPeopled]

I agree with Tschjo's sentiment regarding netdecks, if not the tone. I can understand the frustration with netdecks, but that's not a Gwent issue, it's a game issue.

------------------------------

Regarding the topic, I'd place connectivity issues highest.

Regarding game design, I also loathe rng effects. I think they're fine as long as their pool is limited and the cards within it are approximately interchangeable (Winch, say), but anything with a large impact range is annoying. (I also have two other issues wirh design which nobody else seems to see as hot topics but this not the thread for them.)

The coin flip comes in third for me.

 

[ZenaRose]

Simplifying the game is main problem. Cards with simple mechanic like elf 6+6, bear 1+11, is not fun. They are boring.
They can fix connection problems, or fix some broken cards soon or later, but tendency towards game simplification is depressing.

Why they killed Brokvar Hunter mechanic? It was not even in tier 2.
Why they killed Shieldmaiden's mechanic? It was unique, now it just summon all copies (boring and weak)
Why they killed Alba pikeman mechanic? It was fun, now noone plays them, summon all copies again (Now every faction have 3 body bronze which summons all copies, LUL nice unique faction mechanic)
Why they killed Temerian Drummer, Field Medic and Combat Engineer? now its just point vomit supporters

Why instead they add 5-deal-11 bronzes, which u can have 3 in deck, then ressurect them 3 times (more with new Yenn) with additional 2 body? 6 bronzes with higher power than silver Striga, nice balance.
90% of silver and gold cards is just tutors for broken bronzes or just huge bodies

If they keep simplify game they can release Gwent on mobile platforms sooner, but it will be silly childish card game just like Hearthstone, with straigh forward point spam, very intteractive cards like Aedirnian Mauler(7 deal 4), or RNG clown fiesta with genius create mechanic (I'm not surprised that Lifecoach left that RNG circus after create patch)

 

[BornBoring]

Simplifying cards and game mechanics (e.g. rows/agility) is the biggest issue in gwent imo. I haven't played a single ranked game last season and won't play ranked (or casual) this season and probably won't do it in future seasons until they add more compexity to the game again and promote more synergistic gameplay. I still love the original concept of gwent, but in it's current form I don't have fun playing it.

 

[Tschjo]

Woah man, that's some statement... Such punishing cards cannot exist in a resource-based game. Expecially because Ambushes already have a clear counter - locks.

If the cards are narrow enough they can work like a charm. Again my example would be magic where in some formats you will sideboard in cards that your opponents deck can literally not beat no matter what. This is balanced by having a big variety of decks which all have very good silver bullets against them but you just cannot stack your deck with all of those against everydeck cause there are to many decks.

Gwent doesnt have to go down this route but i would love to see them at least experiment with it.

About locks countering ambush... thats not quite the case. You really only have the freedom to play locks on ambushed units if you are on the red coin. If you are on the blue coin and you lock a card you dont know the power of for example the 11 power guy with Auckes and you dont get ahead in tempo well your opponent can just pass and freely gain CA. Locking ambushed cards can be a very dangerous game so i wouldnt call it a counter. Its a way to deal with them for sure but counter is a big overstatement.

 

[FG15-ISH7EG]

Why they killed Brokvar Hunter mechanic? It was not even in tier 2.

Probably for that reason. They thought it was too less played and with the removal of RETALIATION, it would get even worse. Though, I don't agree with this. Also, they gave it new synergies by making them Tuirsearch, which would have been possible without a rework, too.

Why they killed Temerian Drummer, Field Medic

Temerian Drummer was just a worse version of the Reinforced Trebuchet. There was basically no reason to play it. Now it has at least a very small synergie with Temerian decks, though it is pretty useless.
The old Field Medic was great and unique, but lots of people requested a rework. The new one is a bit boring but is still usefull. It can easily get 17 point power changes, but in general it is much worse then similar units like Vrihedd Vanguard or Tuirsearch Veteran, because it can't boost other Field Medics, and there are too many cards that aren't affected.
It would have been much better, if the Field Medic had stayed the same and the Drummer would have been reworked.

Now every faction have 3 body bronze which summons all copies, LUL nice unique faction mechanic

NR, MO and both of ST summon 3 bodies are pretty unique and all have different niches. It is just the reworked SK and NG ones that are bland and bad. And SK already had such a unit in a much better form with more setup, which is the Dimun Pirate. He is 11 strength with 2 deck thinning and two Discard triggers, but only one body. That is much more unique then the shieldmaidens.

They tried their best to rework units that weren't used that much, or were requested for reworks, but failed a lot of times sadly.

Cards with simple mechanic like elf 6+6, bear 1+11, is not fun. They are boring.

Comparing that to poor poor PFI is a joke.

Simplifying the game is main problem.

I completly agree on that.
While coinflip is a big problem, it gets even worse with simplification. As long as the last player can just dump a huge body, which needs no in-round setup, coinflip is amplified.
The same with the faction identity. The more simplified the game is the more all factions become similar. Why was the Panther added for ST? It has no synergie with the rest of the faction, doesn't fit thematically to it, and is just a 11 strength unit denying any setup, by zapping any 7 strength unit you want to play at the start of a round.

There have to be a couple of plain 11 strength units in the game, to allow new players to fill their decks, when they don't have enough synergie cards. But 2 per faction should be enough, or even a zero synergie neutral card.
But most of the other cards should be more complex.
Also, we have a lot meaningless synergies.
-Why do Wild Hunt uses Frost? Is there any benefit for them by having small units reduced or enemies not having units on a row, because they avoid frost or on the other hand, units stacking on a row such that they aren't hit by multiple weather? No. Wild Hunt uses Frost, because most of the other WH cards state that they interact with it. It is basically a forced synegie (exeptions are WH Rider, Drowner, and Jotun, of which the 2 latter one interact with any weather)
-Similar for reveal, what is the benefit of revealing the opponents cards? You get intelligence. But do you use it afterwards? No you just play point units, which interact with it because it states so on them. Having introduced some version of the Gold Morenn for Reveal would have been an interesting interaction. You know beforehand if the enemy has a special card and can decide to play that unit.
And because there is hardly any natural benefit in revealing your enemies cards, the number of reveals has to be that high that combined with a Mangonel it is such a big powerplay.
-The new introduced NR cursed archetype has all its synergie related from a single tag on the cards. Most of the cards are just versions of others, and the only thing special is this 1 tag.

Of course there are archetypes that are pretty unique in my opinion. Axeman, Spies, Death-wish, NR machines and to a degree also Movement, are some of them in my opinion, which feel pretty unqiue (if they are good gameplay wise is a different question).

 

[gabusan]

I can live with connection issues. I am sure developers are doing their best to ensure the best possible connection. But what irritates me is not being taken out of the game right away when I forfeit. The connection issues I can forgive, but forcing me to see the "end of round" and animations after I said i want to forfeit already is something that seems easly fixable and is not, so it is more aggravating to me.

 

[DannyGuy]

I can live with connection issues. I am sure developers are doing their best to ensure the best possible connection. But what irritates me is not being taken out of the game right away when I forfeit. The connection issues I can forgive, but forcing me to see the "end of round" and animations, after I said i want to forfeit already, is something that seems easily fixable and is not, so it is more aggravating to me.

I rarely forfeit - but when I do, waiting 1 second for an animation to finish doesn't bother me in the slightest. As I mentioned at the beginning of the post - this is such a minuscule "issue" compared to something like the coin flip for example, that it's like comparing a pebble on the road to a gaping hole a few meters further.
This doesn't affect gameplay nearly as much as connection problems, as you often have to wait upwards of 10 seconds for the game to resume, and it sometimes takes you out of it entirely. Sorry, but this is just a pet peeve. Everyone has them (I, for example, hate the direction reveal NIlfgaard is taking) but most people won't relate.

 

[Cardzilla]

the servers still suck, that is the biggest problem in the game.

heck, if anything not only are the servers worse after their "hotfix", but i'm more pissed off about the entire situation because i feel it is an insult to the people that have gotten screwed for so long by disconnects when CDPR is trying to say that they "fixed" things.

 

[RazTheGnome]

I just played my first couple hours of Gwent online (having spent a few hours with the tutorials), and I had one opponent disconnect. Is that a typical disconnect rate, or was I lucky?

 

[MaroonJack]

I stopped playing for various reasons a month ago:
- not having fun with the game itself, simplification, lack of variety and decaying faction identity,
- a shift from the skill-based game, to a point-spamming RNG fiesta,
- lack of direction and community interaction from CDPR (one Paweł Burza is not enough),
- underwhelming keg opening experience, especially for someone who used to buy them,
- lack of balance (mostly fixed as far as I know),
- unachievable greyed-out trinkets and customization options,
- the fact that they don't announce patches properly (I was away for a few days and had no access to PC when the patch was released, I wasn't sure if I missed the "mill cards for full value" window, but was informed by a Gwent forum moderator that it was over, while it was still on; that was the last straw really, although by no means the most important reason).

I never had a real problem with the coinflip, even though I suggested a solution a while ago. Never had real connection issues which seems to be a major problem right now. Anyway, as of today I don't see myself coming back. I have fun with Eternal and Shadowverse and I doubt Gwent is able to deliver it right now. I'm still hopeful though, that's why I still visit the forums from time to time, waiting for the day when the game drops the BETA tag and assumes its final shape.

 

[ky3mo]

+1 for connection issues. Australia has terrible internet, but I don't think that is the only reason I'm having trouble finishing a game.

 

[Doc-6]

All these issues are far too nit-picky. THE biggest problem facing Gwent right now is that people can only play it on their PCs. One simple reason is holding Gwent back from much more widespread adoption: people can't play it on the go.

 

[iamthedave]

All these issues are far too nit-picky. THE biggest problem facing Gwent right now is that people can only play it on their PCs. One simple reason is holding Gwent back from much more widespread adoption: people can't play it on the go.

I heard they were working on a phone version, that's why they added the row limit and other things.

 

[Cardzilla]

fix the servers now. the hotfix made things worse for xbox players

 

[DannyGuy]

All these issues are far too nit-picky. THE biggest problem facing Gwent right now is that people can only play it on their PCs. One simple reason is holding Gwent back from much more widespread adoption: people can't play it on the go.

Though it'd be really nice to play it on the go, CDPR has already stated that they're working on a mobile version (albeit it's not their top priority right now), and I wouldn't call the coinflip and connection issues "nitpicky." But yea, I really want a mobile version - though I'd prefer it if CDPR fixed their servers and balanced the game first.

 

[Shadow-Stalker]

It's amusing how simplifying the game is a greater issue than the coinflip and nearly on par with actually being able to play the game (The connection issues) Isn't it.

Because that right there tells you the game has taken a whole Uturn away from what people want it to be. People would rather have a dysfunctional game that is what Gwent is supposed to be, than a functional one that is just a generic card game.