Has Iron Judgement finally killed Gwent?

[Pacifixer]

The relentless matchups against META net decks, the endless broken combination, the constant feeling of "why am I matched against this?" and "how the hell has my opponent drawn the perfect hand R3, yet again?".

I can feel myself getting the same level of rage I felt back when HC76 was originally released, to gasps of "what the hell have they done?" and "where did Gwent go?". I've rage quite three games on the bounce - twice against the absurdly overpowered Monster bleed deck, and I've just played an absolute monster deck for NR where my opponent had the defender and every, single Gold you could possibly imagine (Dandelion/Priscilla/Anna/Shani/etc.). It was just a relentless boost fest with absolutely no counter. We're talking about a game that's supposed to be balanced, yet the opponent was basically slamming 10+ points on the board with every turn.

How does everyone seem to have these perfect decks? How does everyone seem to get the perfect deal? My Skellige deal had Dagur still in the deck whilst my opponent - with no thinning - pulls gold after gold after gold.

It's getting to the point where I'm not just bored with it, I'm sick of it. There's no room for error, there's no allowance for trying new things, you either copy what everyone else is doing and subscribe to Team Aretuza or just don't bother. God only knows how bad a new player must find the whole experience, but it's such a narrow game there's no ability to grow with it. Add in the fact some of us spent scraps getting leaders, only to then see it all disappear in favour of 'skins' (which I really couldn't give a stuff about) and again you feel cheated. Feeling cheated is a very common theme in this game:

- Let's try an Arachas deck. Vs. Usurper? Cheated.
- R3 where's my finisher? Still in the deck. Opponent playing perfect hand? Cheated.
- Mill my leader cards, and give me skins instead of scraps? Cheated.
- Spent money on Gwent Beta, only to see this game replace it? Cheated.
- Playing a defender R3 - opponent happens to have a purify card? Cheated.

I'm not saying it's actual cheating, I'm saying it's the feeling of being stitched up, with nothing you can do about it. Bad matchup? Nothing I can do. Crap deal? Nothing I can do. Seems to me that no matter which way CDPR turn with this game, it's always down a blind alley. No more hard removal? Well you better have enough scraps to craft the mega boost meta else you're just going to lose, time and time again. It's not even as if you can spend money to get anywhere. I've opened 30+ Iron Judgement kegs and have found ONE Gold card. One. Out of 150. I had to craft the couple I wanted to use, and they're not even that good - that's an expensive waste of scraps when you're trying to experiment.

I dunno, my love for the game is hanging by a thread. It feels pointless - I don't see why people clearly copy a deck, what's the point? I played IDENTICAL Monster decks twice in a row. Identical (bleeding/big units). That means something is desperately, badly wrong with the game. And, honestly, I'm probably about half a dozen games away from uninstalling it. Anybody else finding that their love for Gwent is being sorely tested?

I don't agree with everything you're saying, but recently i started to feel that devs are steering Gwent in a wrong direction. Broken combos and broken cards are more important than ever, most of them are very difficult, if not impossible, to answer. That makes matchups and draws much more important, thus increasing the impact of luck and RNG. Add bad balance and we are left with a game that makes people sick when nothing changes at the start of the season. On top of that, this season is 2 weaks longer than usual! If devs keep on ignoring obvious problems and creating new problems with every expansion, Gwent might require second Homecoming.
I assume that the length of this season is foreshadowing some big changes, which i would be grateful for, but i really don't like that they are keeping the community in the dark. We can only guess what are devs doing, and from what we have seen in past half year it looks like they are doing nothing to balance the game. What is even worse, it looks like they don't know what is wrong and what to do about it.

 

[Archan6el]

I don't agree with everything you're saying, but recently i started to feel that devs are steering Gwent in a wrong direction. Broken combos and broken cards are more important than ever, most of them are very difficult, if not impossible, to answer. That makes matchups and draws much more important, thus increasing the impact of luck and RNG. Add bad balance and we are left with a game that makes people sick when nothing changes at the start of the season.

I think that's the (very bad) idea that the devs have: lazy "balancing" through RNG. They seem to think it's fun to pull off crazy (OP) combos, but forget that it's crap when used against you. Then they have RNG "balance" it through draw luck. The devs purposefully add this non-strategic gambling aspect, thereby limiting the chances for Gwent to become a serious and unique e-sport. The RNG/luck adds the necessity for players to grind even more games because luck beats skill very often.

I assume that the length of this season is foreshadowing some big changes, which i would be grateful for, but i really don't like that they are keeping the community in the dark. We can only guess what are devs doing, and from what we have seen in past half year it looks like they are doing nothing to balance the game. What is even worse, it looks like they don't know what is wrong and what to do about it.

I agree that communication is terrible and the devs don't seem to understand or listen to the (older) community. They have made several big changes in the past, but not much for the better. (Re)implementing stuff that was already there in beta, adding broken and/or hard to balance mechanics and not fixing the root causes of many things that players have complained about since the release of HC is not something to be happy about, let alone grateful.

 

[Jan_Szybawski]

I've stopped playing Gwent nov 5 , 2019 , with balance od 76W/21L in ranks 4 to 0. I am writing these only to let You know, that i didn't quit gwent because i didn't know how to play and win, but from other reasons. The first and foremost of all is , that without any bigger changes in cards power/abilities, and without any new cards on the end of last season, current season was exackly the same as previous one - same decks, same gameplay , on and on over again. And it was too much for me to bare, so after few days of new season I stop playing. On top of that, current season will last almost 40 days until Dec. 10 - only for the most persistent players , I guess. So I am looking for a solid deal of changes, even a revolution in cards and meta in the next patch. Without a lot of new things, I will pass next boring seasons until gwent will finally suprise somehow

 

[Pacifixer]

I've stopped playing Gwent nov 5 , 2019 , with balance od 76W/21L in ranks 4 to 0. I am writing these only to let You know, that i didn't quit gwent because i couldnt play, but from other reasons. The first and foremost of all is : without almost any changes in cards power/abilities, and without any new cards , current season was exackly the same as previous one - same decks, same gameplay , on and on over again. And it was too much for me to bare, so after few days of new season I stop playing. On top of that, current season will last almost 40 days until Dec. 10 - only for the most persistent players , I guess. So I am looking for a solid deal of changes, even a revolution in cards and meta in the next patch. Without a lot of new things, I will pass next boring seasons until gwent will finally suprise somehow

I would have done the same, if a wasn't so stupid to try to get to top 200. I want to get that highest ranked reward at least once, but i just had to pick the one and only long season Now i don't have the willpower to grind MMR anymore and i'm not sure if i have enough to stay in top 200 for 9 more days.

 

[Jan_Szybawski]

I would have done the same, if a wasn't so stupid to try to get to top 200. I want to get that highest ranked reward at least once, but i just had to pick the one and only long season Now i don't have the willpower to grind MMR anymore and i'm not sure if i have enough to stay in top 200 for 9 more days.

I am glad that there are more people who sheare my point od view on current season - maybe if more people will stop playing bored with same meta on and on, it will force devs to put a little bit more effort in monthly patches and necessary changes than they did last time

 

[Archan6el]

What on earth happened to SK? Instead of self-wound, it is now all about hitting armor and boosting the sh*t out of everything. "Damage a unit" is not damage some armor, that's why the unit has armor in the first place. What a nonsense and power creep.

 

[nedders]

I still read these forums with interest, even though I've given up Gwent. I'll maybe see what happens mid-December, but to be honest I don't think CDPR have the time, or ability, to make this game playable.

It's been interesting (and a good thing!) that so many seem to be quitting, and for various reasons. I had so many examples of the game just being rigged/scripted trash that I couldn't even get angry anymore. I quit with a smile, because I came to the realisation the game is irreparably broken. I mean, I'd never faced Geralt Pro in weeks or months. Built a meme deck around Keltullis and suddenly faced, several times, monster thrive (i.e. the lowest unit's always 1 STR) with Geralt Pro on hand to kill Keltullis. Or I'd play with boosting units and Geralt Yrden would appear. These "anti-my-deck" decks were only peppered by the boring META's, usually Echo, Seize or NR, but it was always, always the same units appearing every time. It really felt like the matchmaking would take this into account, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why CDPR just don't care. I emailed them about it because, for me, the matchup algorithm is the thing that finally killed any sparse enjoyment of the game. If it's fixing who I'm playing, what - exactly - is the point in playing at all?

I don't hold out any hope for its' future. I mean, look at the changes - bring in Syndicate, yet no other faction has something like coins. Bring in armour, yet leave the likes of Eithne's ability. Huge prov cards such as Scorch, Ruehin, Phoenix, Yenn, Zoltan are just garbage. Defenders was an abysmal idea, it's like they just "forgot" they had OP order cards like Syanna, Stefan and Damian. The card pool is already small, then there's only around 30% of the cards that are actually viable. Some mechanics are just plain bad. 5 provs for NG Knight that just gives you 7 points off the bat, because there's no punishment to it? Or cards like Yrghen, which aren't just strong to begin with, but can add 13 point boosts to two separate cards for just 10 provs. T

Then there's the ignoring lore, which really frustrates me. Mystic Echo + Dwarves, what the actual f? And Skellige are NOT armour wearing warriors. They're nutters who damage and enrage their own folks. You can't then include a tonne of Armour into that faction because it makes ZERO sense. Then you see what having armor does to things like self-wound, or Mardroeme, and again it's just like the Devs "forget" the cards they already have. Why would Iris have any kind of sympatico with a massive sea turtle? Then there's the likes of Olgierd. What is the point of the card? It doesn't "do" anything. It might as well just be immune. Vampires, another example - it's like they picked 25 cards and tweaked them to make sure it all worked together., so there's only one viable deck with vampires and no variety, apart from the card deal. There's a funny video on The Great Dandelion Show about Assimilate from a few months back, where the 25 cards you'd pick would pick themselves. Then it's just about the deal and/or matchup every, single time.

I think they really need to bring in an external team to fix the balancing. They cannot do it themselves.

 

[OrniTheorynque]

i had a sweet dream about 3 rows turned back .

 

[nedders]

i had a sweet dream about 3 rows turned back .

One year ago eveyone was told to stop moaning about Gwent dying in favour of Gwent HC. Yet today we're all still yearning for it. Shows 2 things:

1) What a good game Gwent Beta was.
2) What a pigs ear CDPR have made of it ever since.

 

[hachri80]

Yet today we're all still yearning for it.

No, I'm not, so please speak for yourself. I'm fine with the state of the game but still hope for further improvements.

 

[Jan_Szybawski]

I don't hold out any hope for its' future. I mean, look at the changes -

For Me personally the most irritating change was rework of Hubert Reik (he was boosting himself by total amount od ally dmg in turn) , without any rework of NR leader princess Adda ability, That perfectly synergize with Hubert, what made Her ability useless. Of course it is only one of many poor changes (You correctly pointed also some of them) , but I really like'd play Adda and point-swing tactics That they killed, and for what?!

 

[hachri80]

For Me personally the irritating change was rework of Hubert Reik (he was boosting himself by total amount od ally dmg in turn) , without any rework of NR leader princess Adda ability, That perfectly synergize with Hubert, what made Her ability useless. Of course it is only one of many poor changes (You correctly pointed also some of them) , but I really like'd play Adda and point-swing tactics That they killed, and for what?!

It's true, Addas ability is almost useless atm. and needs some fixing. But I also did't really like the design before the change because she was a perfect one-trick-pony. You could only play this Hubert deck and everybody knew what was going to happen. The only question was if you could win round one and have an answer to Hubert in round three. To me that was completely boring because you knew pretty early if you had a chance to win or not no matter how you played.

 

[Jan_Szybawski]

It's true, Addas ability is almost useless atm. and needs some fixing. But I also did't really like the design before the change because she was a perfect one-trick-pony. You could only play this Hubert deck and everybody knew what was going to happen. The only question was if you could win round one and have an answer to Hubert in round three. To me that was completely boring because you knew pretty early if you had a chance to win or not no matter how you played.

Of course I Fully agree That when You've seen Adda You knew that it will be combo with Hubert as a finisher; but it was really different for any other meta decks in gwent? You've seen woodland and You knew it will be thrive; You've seen Ethienne and You knew it will be shirru or/and scorch , or you've seen Crach and you knew it will be control ; You've seen Emhyr or Ursurper and You knew it will be locks - that the way it is in gwent ;
But regardless of that I have another thought about why present gwent is so annoying for many people - I Think that introducing in game a lot of mechanics with ability to play two or more cards in one turn - with is omnipresent in current gwent - is confusing for many players. IMHO the system when You play'ed one Card for one opponents Card + decision about right moment to use leader ability was more fun and less unnecessarely complicated , at last for Me

 

[Moors-]

1 card per turn feels fair (gives your opponent at least 1 turn for counter-play), and gives more satisfaction when you can setup such cards as Igni, Scorch or Villen (when it used to destroy multiple units).

 

[Pacifixer]

We can only hope, that devs make the right call. I still belive in them.
Gwen is not dead yet

 

[Jan_Szybawski]

We can only hope, that devs make the right call. I still belive in them.
Gwen is not dead yet

On Polish forum sameone sheared CD-PR financial report, including financial report about gwent after 3 quaters of 2019, and it wasn't impressive - I am afraid that due to poor financial results of gwent in compare to CD-PR results from selling hi-budget single player games like Wither or incoming Cyberpunk , they don't put a lot of attention to gwent project and that is a reason of many game imperfections

 

[Pacifixer]

On Polish forum sameone sheared CD-PR financial report, including financial report about gwent after 3 quaters of 2019, and it wasn't impressive - I am afraid that due to poor financial results of gwent in compare to CD-PR results from selling hi-budget single player games like Wither or incoming Cyberpunk , they don't put a lot of attention to gwent project and that is a reason of many game imperfections

Gwent has shitty marketing, that's all. Lot of people dońt even know it exists.

 

[Jan_Szybawski]

Gwent has shitty marketing, that's all. Lot of people dońt even know it exists.

In My opinion it is a mistake to count only for new players kegs purchases, and not even tryin' to fight for advanced players money - if sameone is playin' gwent longer time, he usually have more kegs and Gold that he even need to spend for strong cards. IMO really good cards should be able to obtain only with real money - not a lot of money to made them easly affordable for every player - IDK, 1$ for a card with 11 provinsion or more, 50 cents for 9 - 10 provinsion will be much? SuperLike on Tinder costs more for God's sake :/ So if one's really wants to create strong deck and play on pro , he need to pay these peanuts for it to support game and devs - It will cause strong cashflow to devs from game, and undoubtedly get them more motivation to constantly improve game - so something, that what We all players wish for

 

[Pacifixer]

In My opinion it is a mistake to count only for new players kegs purchases, and not even tryin' to fight for advanced players money - if sameone is playin' gwent longer time, he usually have more kegs and Gold that he even need to spend for strong cards. IMO really good cards should be able to obtain only with real money - not a lot of money to made them easly affordable for every player - IDK, 1$ for a card with 11 provinsion or more, 50 cents for 9 - 10 provinsion will be much? SuperLike on Tinder costs more for God's sake :/ So if one's really wants to create strong deck and play on pro , he need to pay these peanuts for it to support game and devs - It will cause strong cashflow to devs from game, and undoubtedly get them more motivation to constantly improve game - so something, that what We all players wish for

Pay to win mechanics would instantly kill the game! I'm one of those people who buy everything just for the sake of having everything, but gameplay related microtransactions are big no no for me.
If they improve the game, people will be more willing to spend money.

 

[Allistre]

IMO really good cards should be able to obtain only with real money - not a lot of money to made them easly affordable for every player - IDK, 1$ for a card with 11 provinsion or more, 50 cents for 9 - 10 provinsion will be much?

Ok Satan.

I bash Gwent a lot for becoming full of filler cards and dumbed down abilities, but the ONE good thing left in gwent is that it's free to play and they only chose to heavily monetize cosmetics. I would never pay $1 per card. That's evil.