THE PROBLEM
I just posted a huge rant on these forums, mostly criticizing the Gwent devs... But im not done, this one is on us, the players.
Are you familiar with the concept of 'tragedy of the commons'? If you are not, i suggest you give a quick read on the following link, its a very interesting concept that can be useful in many fields, but im gonna use it now for a parallel on Gwent.
en.wikipedia.org
The concept is we live in a community, and when there is a resource available to all, each individual will act selfishly and explore more of that resource for personal gain.
Some individuals might have noble intentions and just take what they need, but when they see others taking more, without immediate consequence,, they feel like fools and end up doing the same. But when everyone does that, that resource will run out in the long term, and everyone is screwed.
Do you see the similarities with Gwent? If not, dont worry, i will share my view:
The resource in question is 'personal deckbuilding', except here it doesnt run out because everyone is doing it, but the opposite.
Some players are more focused on winning, and resort to netdecking. Others prefer to try and explore new things, not so focused on competition.
It would be sustainable if these groups were around 50% each. But when the former is significantly larger than the latter, which is the reality in Gwent, what happens?
The player who wanted to try something interesting is repeatedly matched with players who crush him and dont allow him to do his goal, mostly through control and pushing for 2-0s with the strength of metadecks. The original player is driven to give up on his idea and join the ranks of netdeckers, resulting in the extinction of varied decks.
To think how many times this has happened to new players without them being conscious of the 'big picture', makes me want to cry...
THE SOLUTION
Note this is a small scale solution, and wont fix the problem in Gwent globally.
But if you're reading this, congratulations, that solution is available to you if you're interested.
GWENT'S SAFE SPACE
FRIENDLY FOES (name updated 01-10-21)
Its basically a group.
Its not truly new, i wont take credit for the invention of the concept. I've seen it done a few times in posts, mostly on gwent reddit, where players got incredible results, certainly done with the collaboration of a friend in a friendly match. In a controlled environment.
And i suspect the Gwent pro teams or streamer's discord private groups might also do the same ocasionally, but i dont know of anyone doing it publicly, so this what we're doing here!
What am i offering?
A chance to join with other Gwent players to play friendly matches in a controlled setting. To try out all your wild ideas and combos that always get disrupted in ranked or casual matches.
I know non-interactive decks have a bad reputation, usually for being "brainless", but it doesnt have to be this way. Gwent has a huge cardpool by now and +90% of the so called 'meme strategies' are unexplored because they are so wild its completely ridiculous to attempt them in regular matches.
Lets do them, for science, and for art too!
GUIDELINES
1. Anyone is welcome as long as you follow the rules. You dont need to be an experienced player or have a full card collection.
You dont even need to have meme decks to try of your own, you can just be a witness and help out a fellow player doing his own crazy deck.
2. The default procedure is non-interactivity - no damage, no removal, no locks, no seizes, no banishes. And to go for a standard 10-card R3.
Why R3 and not R1? Because you have thinned and mulliganed on R1 and 2, so its more likely to get all your combo pieces in hand on R3.
3. Players can arrange the conditions of the match before or during the match if necessary, through GOG chat or discord or other way.
The non-interactivity is just a default, but it can be changed into anything, as long as both players agree.
A player can even do a last turn nuke or wipeout if the other agrees, as by then the latter will have finished his combo and got the information needed.
4. Doesnt matter who wins, but you can keep track of the points you got and possibly we include a leaderboard.
This way we might find what's the meme deck with the highest point potential of all!
5. Screenshots, videos or streams of the matches can be shared anywhere if both players are aware and agree to do so. In fact, i encourage you to do so.
-------------------------------------------------------
If you're interested or just curious what this will be, just post on this thread saying you want to be a part of it AND say if you think making a discord channel for it is a good idea (to organize matches better), please.
Members will add each other on GOG to allow friendly matches. Hopefully 'Safe Space' (the name might change) will expand outside the borders of this forum, but lets start here for now...
I will wait for responses until Sunday night/ Monday, then the 'Safe Space' will begin. I already have 2 decks in mind...
I just posted a huge rant on these forums, mostly criticizing the Gwent devs... But im not done, this one is on us, the players.
Are you familiar with the concept of 'tragedy of the commons'? If you are not, i suggest you give a quick read on the following link, its a very interesting concept that can be useful in many fields, but im gonna use it now for a parallel on Gwent.
Tragedy of the commons - Wikipedia
The concept is we live in a community, and when there is a resource available to all, each individual will act selfishly and explore more of that resource for personal gain.
Some individuals might have noble intentions and just take what they need, but when they see others taking more, without immediate consequence,, they feel like fools and end up doing the same. But when everyone does that, that resource will run out in the long term, and everyone is screwed.
Do you see the similarities with Gwent? If not, dont worry, i will share my view:
The resource in question is 'personal deckbuilding', except here it doesnt run out because everyone is doing it, but the opposite.
Some players are more focused on winning, and resort to netdecking. Others prefer to try and explore new things, not so focused on competition.
It would be sustainable if these groups were around 50% each. But when the former is significantly larger than the latter, which is the reality in Gwent, what happens?
The player who wanted to try something interesting is repeatedly matched with players who crush him and dont allow him to do his goal, mostly through control and pushing for 2-0s with the strength of metadecks. The original player is driven to give up on his idea and join the ranks of netdeckers, resulting in the extinction of varied decks.
To think how many times this has happened to new players without them being conscious of the 'big picture', makes me want to cry...
THE SOLUTION
Note this is a small scale solution, and wont fix the problem in Gwent globally.
But if you're reading this, congratulations, that solution is available to you if you're interested.
FRIENDLY FOES (name updated 01-10-21)
Its basically a group.
Its not truly new, i wont take credit for the invention of the concept. I've seen it done a few times in posts, mostly on gwent reddit, where players got incredible results, certainly done with the collaboration of a friend in a friendly match. In a controlled environment.
And i suspect the Gwent pro teams or streamer's discord private groups might also do the same ocasionally, but i dont know of anyone doing it publicly, so this what we're doing here!
What am i offering?
A chance to join with other Gwent players to play friendly matches in a controlled setting. To try out all your wild ideas and combos that always get disrupted in ranked or casual matches.
I know non-interactive decks have a bad reputation, usually for being "brainless", but it doesnt have to be this way. Gwent has a huge cardpool by now and +90% of the so called 'meme strategies' are unexplored because they are so wild its completely ridiculous to attempt them in regular matches.
Lets do them, for science, and for art too!
GUIDELINES
1. Anyone is welcome as long as you follow the rules. You dont need to be an experienced player or have a full card collection.
You dont even need to have meme decks to try of your own, you can just be a witness and help out a fellow player doing his own crazy deck.
2. The default procedure is non-interactivity - no damage, no removal, no locks, no seizes, no banishes. And to go for a standard 10-card R3.
Why R3 and not R1? Because you have thinned and mulliganed on R1 and 2, so its more likely to get all your combo pieces in hand on R3.
3. Players can arrange the conditions of the match before or during the match if necessary, through GOG chat or discord or other way.
The non-interactivity is just a default, but it can be changed into anything, as long as both players agree.
A player can even do a last turn nuke or wipeout if the other agrees, as by then the latter will have finished his combo and got the information needed.
4. Doesnt matter who wins, but you can keep track of the points you got and possibly we include a leaderboard.
This way we might find what's the meme deck with the highest point potential of all!
5. Screenshots, videos or streams of the matches can be shared anywhere if both players are aware and agree to do so. In fact, i encourage you to do so.
-------------------------------------------------------
If you're interested or just curious what this will be, just post on this thread saying you want to be a part of it AND say if you think making a discord channel for it is a good idea (to organize matches better), please.
Members will add each other on GOG to allow friendly matches. Hopefully 'Safe Space' (the name might change) will expand outside the borders of this forum, but lets start here for now...
I will wait for responses until Sunday night/ Monday, then the 'Safe Space' will begin. I already have 2 decks in mind...
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