Give us old arena back.

[RaikouA]

old arena was better for those reasons:
1. a higher obligation to go forward with so-so decks, since you pay ore to get in
2. the randomness of deckbuilding allowing for more fun and satisfying matches.

the first issue can be fixed by slapping a price on entering draft mode.
the second issue can't be fixed that easily because:
1. busted card combos(bomb witchers, opponent has 2+ sets of summoning-from-deck cards, a lot of other OP card combos)
2. choosing a set of 3 is a lot more committing than picking just 1 card that doesn't fit in your deck. I've had those trash choices where you get 3 bad choices and have to pick one.
3. arena had an issue where one player would get too many golds and another would get too many bronzes, this can be fixed easily by aiming at a certain goal of max provisions for the deck, giving golds when you're below average and bronzes when you're above the average toward the provision goal, or cap the amount of gold cards you can get. but this is a problem in draft too.
draft is way too predictable due to the card sets, where most of the fun in arena in my opinion came from randomness.

What if you had arena alongside draft? ran them both for a month and held a vote for the winner? those are other ideas.

 

[Draconifors]

They've been extremely clear about Arena never coming back, several times over.

Draft is in early access, and being worked on. That has also been stated several times over, including less than a month ago.

 

[DarksideDestro]

They've been extremely clear about Arena never coming back, several times over.

Draft is in early access, and being worked on. That has also been stated several times over, including less than a month ago.

But if enough people want it back; shouldn't they listen. I put in a thousand hours in Arena. There was no meta, you had to think for yourself. I still check this message board a few times a week but haven't played this year. I miss Gwent and Arena so much, but I can't support draft.

 

[Draconifors]

There was no meta

Yeah, because it was nothing but RNG.

 

[Lexor]

The current draft mode is only draft by its name - the real draft mode in other card games (paper and digital ones) is quite different and if CDPR implements this then I'll be more than happy to play it.

What do you need to play actual draft instead if this mode we have now?

1. Drop all these stupid card packs - they are useless as they require constant dev updates after every balance patch and we all know (and see) how CDPR is bad at it (and, also, has no time / resources to do that). Players were playing Arena to have fun with random cards, crazy combos, not to create another deck building meta - and that's the result of these packs.

2. First step of "recipe" to improve draft mode? Allow player to randomly select all the cards one by one (like it was in Arena) but with one big difference: player will need to select MORE cards than it's required to build the deck. Lets set "cards required" at number of 25 and "cards to select" at 35 as example.

3. After selecting all 35 cards there is the next step: now player builds his/her deck using these cards by droping the ones he/she will not use (these 10 cards in our example). That way player during selection (first step) is able to get some "part of combo" cards and can drop them later if he/she wasn't able to get the set he/she thought of.

That is the way draft works in any other card game - it's very similar to Arena BUT it has the next, VERY important step old Arena was missing the whole time. Building the deck will take more time but we drop a lot of randomness that original Arena mode had.

 

[DarksideDestro]

Yeah, because it was nothing but RNG.

Nothing buy RNG??? No, the best thing was knowing all the cards and it was up to you to figure out what could synergize. The possibilities and combos were endless. nothing was "handed" to you. Aren't all card games RNG by nature? The point is, there was no meta. if the other guy pulled 2 or 3 more golds than you was the only complaint the main Arena fans expressed they wish was balanced whenever Arena was discussed. The point is there was no meta, which takes the fun out of any competitive game for me.

 

[Draconifors]

Nothing buy RNG?

Yes, nothing but RNG.

One could also argue there was a meta, because choosing cards that were strong on their own was always the best strategy.

which takes the fun out of any competitive game for me.

For you. Many other people disliked Arena precisely because it was pure RNG in its deck "building". Not to mention all the complaints about how one deck has 4 Golds and another has 15; there was no balance in Arena, which was another factor in why it was not even remotely universally liked.

CDPR undoubtedly have numbers of how many players played Arena and how often, and since the mode was removed it seems safe to say those numbers were not sufficiently high.

 

[Lokiat0r]

Not to mention all the complaints about how one deck has 4 Golds and another has 15; there was no balance in Arena, which was another factor in why it was not even remotely universally liked.

Easily fixed by implementing: Choose a common, choose a rare, choose an epic, choose a legendary, repeat 6 times, draw a final random card.

Or chose a 4 pr card, choose a 5 pr card, etc. There were really simple methods to balance provisions while still keeping the RNG aspect that people enjoyed.

 

[Draconifors]

Easily fixed by implementing

Which they did, in draft. Arena clearly was not worth it; I think it's safe to say there was a lot behind the decision to delete the entire mode (in fact, they stated multiple reasons for it).

I guess this is gonna be another thing that will keep getting posted about for years and years even though it will change nothing. I, however, am done.

 

[DarksideDestro]

Well, since you're done talking about it, let those who have an undying passion for it continue the discussion... You speculate. there were numbers to say it was unpopular but that is pure speculation. You say it's pure RNG when I already stated that all card games are pure RNG even the modes that choose your meta synergizing cards for you. You mention the imbalance in golds which was already mentioned and was always the complaint the Arena players agreed should be fixed. If you believe Arena to be unpopular then I'm sure it wouldn't split the player base enough. And even though I never had to wait more than a minute while matchmaking in Arena, I would be more than happy to wait 5 plus minutes if I had to if they brought it back. You can defend their decision all you want, I just miss it so much and I hope you can understand that love.

Post automatically merged: Jun 3, 2021

I just had an idea. Perhaps they could bring it back as a seasonal event with the gold balance change and ability to choose your vanity items. It would be an opportunity for new players to try it and see what the community thinks.

 

[xSikorX]

Give back the old arena. The rankings are boring and the other modes are a waste of time ... I loved the arena mechanics

 

[starrzz]

Both Arena and Draft are nothing but RNG. Arena was more about the highrolls you got. Draft is more about the lowrolls you don't get (like bricking thinning packages or tutors or just getting nothing but packages that fit nowhere).

But I gotta agree that Arena was somewhat better. Most of those packages either are ridiculously overpowered or just make no sense and fit nowhere. And rolling packages without a single viable option is extra frustrating as it wastes 3 slots instead of one.

There should be a fixed number of rerolls, either to single cards or those packages, or both. And some fun flavors like being able to force a card exchange with a deck you just win against (or the general card pool if you lost, etc.)

 

[enoch_80]

Problem with draft is that it requires you to play meta mechanics. therefore it differs little from the normal game, it takes the strategies that dominate the meta to crazy levels. playing it often encountered the same mechanics and strategies ... in the long run it becomes boring and repetitive.
Arena was pure randomness, never a match similar to another, never a deck created equal to another. this was fun, experimenting with new synergies with every game