Gwent: New comers experience worse than ever!

[amgname]

Gwent: New comers experience worse than ever!

As an interested player i try to test out all the things in games. My next concern is about new comers experience to gwent, i've made a new account just to see how ppl are doing in casual at low level and guess what i've got ? From 1 to 8 lvl i've manage to win 2 games , yeah maybe i tend to suck at this game but don't get me wrong this tread is not about my skill its about ppl ruining the fun for new players.
Players packed from lvl 1 with full tier 1 decks, and it seem's like they are experienced players, in the ways they act, what are you doing at this level?
With starter decks provided in game you cant do nothing but watch how you get destroyed, but most of the frustration comes from players that 2-0 you with top tier netdecks and don't even gg you.
Managed to get my lvl 1 reward after 12 games played.
We all know why most of the players do that... its because of ranking system an the fact that it's affected buy the win rate you got in normal matchmaking till lvl 10.
So the problem is this, to deal with it ranking system should be changed to hit lvl 10 then play 10 games to determine you rank.
Players won't be concerned anymore about win rate in normal matches and it will fix more or less experience for new players.

 

[RKane.]

Making practice eligible for daily rewards would address many of the problems people with limited collection tend to have, if only as a bandaid sollution.

 

[Gambler77]

I've just recently started playing again, and only played a bit in the closed beta. I noticed everything was changed. I got used to how the game works again with the PVE challenges. I got to level 3 in a few hours with a starter deck. Then, I promptly used the LITERAL HOARD of resources CDPR gave new players, milled what I didn't want, and constructed a deck that looked fun and competitive to me. I'm only level 9 now, but that deck changed after every 1-2 matches (Using a reveal Nilfgaard right now), because I evaluated my mistakes and possible opponents' strengths. I threw out cards that I didn't remember giving me much value. I threw out cards that were inconsistent, and replaced them with more solid options. Now after 6 levels I have a deck that is based on the same shell as the first 'fun deck' I made, but drastically improved. It beats current net decks a fair number of times, even though what I see nowadays is raging bears and weather spam. I've a competitive, (but not tier 1 by any means) deck that is interesting to play even though I do also lose a lot to tier 1 decks. (But I do beat them a lot, too.)
So, why did I write this.. It's pretty obvious from this story that a new player has many means at his disposal to be competitive. Just because you actually need to use your brain for once, it doesn't mean the game is unfriendly to newer players. Improve your deck, make decisions. Gwent isn't that easy, but it is not impossible to do well in by any means.

And don't you f***ing dare tell me that you don't have the resources for it, the game hands you enough scraps kegs and millable/usable legendaries at the start that you can comfortably create 2 working decks to begin with, with 4 golds and 6 silvers.

 

[Firekangaroo]

And don't you f***ing dare tell me that you don't have the resources for it, the game hands you enough scraps kegs and millable/usable legendaries at the start that you can comfortably create 2 working decks to begin with, with 4 golds and 6 silvers.

Most new players probably don't want to mill 3 or 4 factions to get a semi-competitive deck. You want to get to know the cards you have and the mechanics of the game. Getting rekt by netdecking tryhards will neither help new players learn the game nor have fun playing it.
You can't blame newbies for being inexperienced.

 

[Tapiir]

Hmmm I recently got Gwent for PS4 aswell and made a Skellige deck. Haven´t played much (I think I´m level 4) but most of my opponents didn´t seem very experienced. I also think that once the game goes live there will indubitably be an influx of green players to play against when starting out. To me Gwent is very fair in the beginning because you can mill all the starter decks and leaders if you don´t wanna play them. Most people probably have maybe one or two factions that they gravitate towards and by milling the others one can get loads of nice cards. One also gets free kegs and scraps in the beginning quite swiftly so I´d say that on the contrary Gwent is fairly newcomer friendly.

 

[fartingunicorn]

If you are F2P and want to make a decent deck ASAP you just kind of have to pick one or two faction you like and mill the rest. Those leader cards of factions you don't want can mill for a lot of scraps. Although I suppose new player will have no idea which faction they want to invest into.

I agree with your solution to have placement matches after you hit lv10 tho. This way new comers are free to experiment.

 

[Gambler77]

Getting rekt by netdecking tryhards will neither help new players learn the game

How does that not help new players learn the game?

Oh, I just got rekt by this netdeck multiple times. His weather spells destroyed me. Solution? Put additional weather clears into your deck to counter if anything like this happens again.
Oh, I just got rekt by this netdeck multiple times. His unit combos were insane and his power really got out of control. Solution? Put more removal or some reset cards into your deck.
Oh, I just got rekt by this netdeck multiple times. I didn't have much to play going into the later rounds. Solution? Next time, don't overextend and reserve some important cards for the second and third rounds.

And it goes on and on. This isn't an FPS game where you cannot build up the physical skills of opponents, this is all about using your intelligence. This isn't like Hearthstone either where you get deleted just because you have worse cards. There are specific ways to deal with all sorts of stuff, and everyone has access to them.

 

[StrykerxS77x]

Most new players probably don't want to mill 3 or 4 factions to get a semi-competitive deck. You want to get to know the cards you have and the mechanics of the game. Getting rekt by netdecking tryhards will neither help new players learn the game nor have fun playing it.
You can't blame newbies for being inexperienced.

You can't blame people doing their best to win either. Matchmaking needs to be good so that new players are playing other new players.

 

[Vaishar]

Worse than ever. Not even close. It's way better than CB and way better than any competitors out there. Single player content (can be done with starter decks even the Dagon one ; there are plenty of vids out there that explains how) gives you around 8 packs. Plus if you finish all the challenges you find out alot about the game and interactions.

In CB you needed to win 3 games for T1 Daily Rewards now you need 6 rounds so it's easier.

 

[Burza46]

As an interested player i try to test out all the things in games. My next concern is about new comers experience to gwent, i've made a new account just to see how ppl are doing in casual at low level and guess what i've got ? From 1 to 8 lvl i've manage to win 2 games , yeah maybe i tend to suck at this game but don't get me wrong this tread is not about my skill its about ppl ruining the fun for new players.
Players packed from lvl 1 with full tier 1 decks, and it seem's like they are experienced players, in the ways they act, what are you doing at this level?
With starter decks provided in game you cant do nothing but watch how you get destroyed, but most of the frustration comes from players that 2-0 you with top tier netdecks and don't even gg you.
Managed to get my lvl 1 reward after 12 games played.
We all know why most of the players do that... its because of ranking system an the fact that it's affected buy the win rate you got in normal matchmaking till lvl 10.
So the problem is this, to deal with it ranking system should be changed to hit lvl 10 then play 10 games to determine you rank.
Players won't be concerned anymore about win rate in normal matches and it will fix more or less experience for new players.

Thank you for your feedback

 

[Snake_Foxhounder]

No, the daily rewards were the same.

 

[Jeydra]

I'm pretty new as a player and I agree, the current state of the game is not good. I outplay my opponents (e.g. go into rounds 2 and 3 with a 2-card advantage) but lose anyway because my opponents have things like res effects with three Queensguards in the graveyard, and they're able to use it multiple times. This isn't fun and as of right now, I feel no urge to log on.

Some honest feedback, beginning with the good:

What you guys did great -
1. The game is surprisingly deep even though the mechanics aren't very complex. This is very well designed, so props to you guys.
2. Good players will always beat poor ones. Unlike other CCGs where a great player can still lose to someone who makes obvious misplays (even in BO3 games like Magic: the Gathering), a good player in Gwent will always beat a poor one.
3. Apparently at top level, playing something that's completely meta actually puts you at a disadvantage. This is something I think is great.

What can be better -
1. Possibly add the ability to pass, but still continue to play if the opponent makes a move, like checking in poker. A round ends if both players pass consecutively. This is a major mechanic change though and I don't know how it'll turn out.
2. You could give rounds 2 and 3 "both players draw until they have at least __ cards" effects, so for example if the threshold is 6 cards and Alice has 5 cards while Bob has 3 after round one, then Bob would draw 3 (6 - 3 = 3) and Alice would do the same (to preserve her advantage). This way there's always game to play. As it is if both players play round 1 to the bitter end, round 2 is just 2 cards and round 3 just one, which isn't very deep. However this is again a major mechanic change and I don't how this will turn out.
3. Some kind of "well played" and "hello" emote ala Hearthstone would be nice.
4. Some way for new players to play without getting crushed by opponents with much better decks. Limited formats like Hearthstone arena for example, or games against the AI (with rewards, even if small). You could give AI top tier decks and let player skill compensate for the rest.

What I dislike about gameplay -
1. I think some cards are too random. Take Vesemir, which summons Lambert & Eskel if they're in your deck. If you draw Lambert / Eskel you're effectively forced to mulligan them. On the other hand if you don't draw them the card is super, adding 20+ power in one move. This is a layer of randomness for no apparent reason. Mulligan decisions especially in rounds 2 and 3 might hinge on how likely you are to draw Lambert / Eskel if you mulligan a subpar card in your hand. I would simply make Vesemir have Deploy: summon Lambert & Eskel, and decrease the power of the three cards accordingly to compensate for the increased consistency.
2. The same goes for cards like Biting Frost and the Wild Hunt Hound.
3. The final problem I have is how good certain cards are relative to others. Triss Merigold for example is way way better than Wyvern, on multiple fronts: she's gold, adds 12 power, can be placed anywhere; Wyvern is vulnerable to damage, adds 9 power, and can only be placed on the siege row. Triss is strictly better (much better) than Wyvern, which makes Wyvern an uninteresting card. I would try to minimize "strictly better" cards, like in Hearthstone. I would also try to minimize how much better gold cards are than the non-gold cards, because otherwise mulligans again boils down to "mulligan into your gold cards".

Thanks for reading.

 

[Vaishar]

No, the daily rewards were the same.

Sorry about that. I forgot they were changed in closed beta.

 

[Snake_Foxhounder]

Sorry about that. I forgot they were changed in closed beta.

No need to apologise for that.

Anyway, the game is pay to win when you're a new player. Someone who bought kegs might not get the cards he wanted but he got enough scrap to create them. So people who paid for the have a good advantage. When you're just starting out, going up against someone who has just 2-3 good cards, can be an instant loss. It's not easy.

However, once you get to a certain point, when you have a few decent cards, it becomes much easier and more fun. The thing is, it doesn't take THAT long to get there. You get a keg each day after 6 rounds won. Plus you get scraps or ore for each 2 rounds won, on top of GGs from opponents. So before you know it, you have a decent collection or scrap to create something you want.

TL;DR

The game is pay to win when you're starting out. At the same time, it's generous with daily rewards and scrap, especially after the latest patch. It takes a while to get going but it gets better after a little while.

P.S.

This is something I DON'T RECOMMEND to new players but its always an option. I milled all factions but Monsters and Nilfgaard to create a good Nilfgaard deck. I was in the same spot as you so that really made me interested in the game again, because I had a decent deck. I now have most good NG cards, with other factions coming along nicely, simply through getting that one keg each day.(The nerf milling helped )

 

[Dreatlan]

I get a feeling this subject relates to what I was saying in the Suggestions. I made a post about an All Card Package.

The part from that, that I think applies here, is what I said about Smurfs. Gwent is generous with cards but, with how quickly the game change.. 1 account cant possibly be in multiple places at once. What a lot of high end players are doing now is creating new accounts specifically for a faction. They mill the ones they dont need an instantly have a Tier 1 deck from the start.

By the time they are level 10 they usually have 2 full faction decks. That is just the state of the game at the moment. There really isnt much of a point buying kegs when there is a loop hole. That loop hole screws over the new players because now you have a 3K+MMR player in casuals at level 5.

 

[kdfailshot]

I think its fine. I've been good. Lots of cards, fun games, full decks in less than month.