I consider casual play (unranked) to be for those who want to play standard Gwent without the pressure of ranked success. I play it almost exclusively except to end a season at rank 14 for the rewards, or when the game obnoxiously resets me to ranked play and I forget to change it. To me, unranked should be a fun place for people trying new factions or cards, people playing homebrew decks, those trying to complete Gwent’s quests with suboptimal cards, those with limited card collections who have risen to a rank beyond which they can be competitive, etc. These players still often want or need to earn crowns or have a chance to fill “win rounds” type quest conditions.
Thus I consider it very discourteous to play polished net-decks and especially decks designed to 2-0 an opponent in unranked. I recognize there is no way to enforce this courtesy; I cannot really tell the difference between a net-decker exploiting the mode for quick rewards and an experimenter trying a new faction or a subtle new modification of a familiar deck. About all I can do is to ask players to respect the spirit of the mode. And most players do.
However since the expansion, I have been increasingly annoyed by the playing of Viy decks on casual. I consider a broken, binary deck like Viy to be the worst possible abuse of unranked mode. Normally, I automatically give good games — if only to express appreciation for my opponent playing. (To me, that is also just courtesy.) I also always play at least one card so my opponent can advance in quests, and I only forfeit if interrupted and I cannot finish, although I will pass if the game or matchup is hopeless.
Out of frustration with casual mode Viy players, I now immediately forfeit the instant Viy is played in unranked — hoping to make the game a little less fun for such an opponent. And I don’t give GG’s unless my opponent gives me one first.
Then I noticed something interesting — monster players almost always give good games! This contrasts with NG players who seem to frequently not give good games. Has anyone else noticed this, or am I suffering confirmation bias? And if so, do you think it is related to curmudgeons who refuse to GG an entire faction (usually NG or SK) regardless of the opposing player’s deck?
Thus I consider it very discourteous to play polished net-decks and especially decks designed to 2-0 an opponent in unranked. I recognize there is no way to enforce this courtesy; I cannot really tell the difference between a net-decker exploiting the mode for quick rewards and an experimenter trying a new faction or a subtle new modification of a familiar deck. About all I can do is to ask players to respect the spirit of the mode. And most players do.
However since the expansion, I have been increasingly annoyed by the playing of Viy decks on casual. I consider a broken, binary deck like Viy to be the worst possible abuse of unranked mode. Normally, I automatically give good games — if only to express appreciation for my opponent playing. (To me, that is also just courtesy.) I also always play at least one card so my opponent can advance in quests, and I only forfeit if interrupted and I cannot finish, although I will pass if the game or matchup is hopeless.
Out of frustration with casual mode Viy players, I now immediately forfeit the instant Viy is played in unranked — hoping to make the game a little less fun for such an opponent. And I don’t give GG’s unless my opponent gives me one first.
Then I noticed something interesting — monster players almost always give good games! This contrasts with NG players who seem to frequently not give good games. Has anyone else noticed this, or am I suffering confirmation bias? And if so, do you think it is related to curmudgeons who refuse to GG an entire faction (usually NG or SK) regardless of the opposing player’s deck?