HC: First Impression (Poll)

[-Arkane]

After making a few decks and playing a handful of matches I can post some pros and cons.. I've been here since the beginning anyway I'll leave some feedback

: first of all Sabbath I've and well.. My opponent plays Sabbath. I lock him, he then gets destroyed and a copy of him is created and then buffed with 5 point coin.. I pass.. He is now renewed and buffed and given immunity by leader.. Not a good introduction to the game.

: no faction identity
: card abilities not interesting or lore specific, like they randomly pulled abilities from a hat.
: handsize is a bummer and I dislike how if you don't play enough cards by round end your cards are drawn and banished.. Terrible... At least put them back in deck.
:card effects such as damage, lock, and destroyed cards are very very lame.
: cards feel meaningless when played
: when leaders are played I also have to play another card with my leader.
: more rng and less consistently in decks.
: not a fan of new deck building provision costs hurt deck building.
: games are very slow played and overly long.
: passing and card advantage feel meaningless now.
: less architypes
: passing after each play slows down the game.
: I thought the game was suppose to be gory and adult, it is not
: too much boosting

I know there are more. I'm hoping some rebalancing will occur. I understand current gwent would not survive. I'm still remaining optimistic as the cards look nice. The ptr was a shock to my system though

+

The thing is the current gwent was their doing in the first place to pretend to salvage us from it which the PTR has shown will not be the case anyway, players will actually be missing the current version of the game when homecoming hits. Gwent was becoming more balanced in the end of Closed beta and through the beginning of Open beta but instead of making some tweaks and balance patches here and there, they instead slowly stripped away gwents identity with a series of patches. Such as; Gold immunity removal, Faction abilities removal, Agile update and a series of smaller patches changing card effects to more simplified versions that lacked flavour and also made factions feel obsolete, whilst also making archtypes feel universal across the board. And then ofcourse the abomination that was the midwinter update to introduce the rng slap whilst cementing the simplified card effects and point spam solitare gameplay.

They did it slowly and methodically to cater to a new demographic. They want the game to be played on portable devices which I stated long ago, it's the main reason why they were so adamant on removing the third row and stripping down the complexity of the game. Their target audience are casuals now, they want a portion of the pie that Hearthstone has all it's fingers in instead of catering to their core players, they will find out the hard way I guess.

 

[flyhy]

+
They did it slowly and methodically to cater to a new demographic. They want the game to be played on portable devices which I stated long ago, it's the main reason why they were so adamant on removing the third row and stripping down the complexity of the game. Their target audience are casuals now, they want a portion of the pie that Hearthstone has all it's fingers in instead of catering to their core players, they will find out the hard way I guess.

I think you are right. And it's sad that CDPR is steering Gwent into that direction. Game devs should know that assimilation is never healthy for their games. Haven't they learn from EA's attempt at making a CoD game by turning and twisting any FPS game they can get their fingers on into a CoD lookalike? One example I can think of is Crysis series. (Not gonna think about Bioware and ME3. I am over it and have moved on!) Crysis 1 was starkly different from Crysis 2 in every aspect. And both 2 and 3 underperformed.

HC PTR did seem like a bad hybrid of MTG Arena and Hearthstone. You can have 13 golds in a deck or 5 instead as long as those numbers allow you. But unlike MTG, the deck building is no longer for card synergies but rather about finding cards with right numbers to fill in the space.

It's anybody's preference now. There will be a major shift in the fan base. Something to think about tho. Why would anyone stay for Gwent when there's a better version of it, MTG or Hearthstone, the original? I feared they would strip away what made Gwent unique and outstanding. And can't believe my fear is coming to fruition.

 

[devivre]

@Mancoon1980 as frequently mentioned in this thread, PTR feedback should go to the PTR feedback thread: https://forums.cdprojektred.com/index.php?threads/open-ptr-feedback.10985360/

This thread is just for the poll.

 

[bojerbela]

Come on, didn't you said you didn't wanted to bother me? At least if you type a courtesy, it would be appreciated if you actually meant it instead of the usual acidic sarcasm.

Since you asked, you shall receive a reply.

1) Hand limit force people to stop drypassing. Which is imho a big improvement. I always prefer 3 fought out rounds that 1 or even 2 rounds with drypasses for CA. Maybe you guys find it fun, i don't. It's very annoying going blue and knowing that if you can't win the round on -1 you will 100% lose the last say because oppo will 100% drypass r2 if he have a wincon (letho-regis, scorch, ciri nova, etc...).

2) Gaunter O'Dimm, Usurper (this guy will be annoying), Keltullis, Vattier, Saesenthiss (this ability alone open up a ton of deckbuilding possibilities), Letho, Sihil, Letho Kingslayer, Ihuarraquax, Phoenix and much much more. Notice those are only new effects. We still have very interesting effects from the beta (ex. Borkh and co.)

3) Better visuals, better UI, easier to balance. Most importantly, swarm isn't affected at all.

4) It feels great! I just love the battlefield, unlike the dull wooden plastic-looking board we have now. Now it feels like a real battle.

5) More variety of cards. Finally we'll stop seeing 10% of the cards used, because with 2 bronzes and the provision system you will need to use even less "valuable" cards, that are cheaper.
It's also vital for the developers, since they now can develop and release in the future expansions a variety of cards and effects knowing people will sometimes find a room for them in their deck. Tech cards (ex. Dimeritium Shackles) which never saw any play in current gwent can be a very viable pick depending on the meta that will be formed.

Currently the only way for them to make new cards (esp. bronzes) is to powercreep and/or make new archetypes. That's not a solution i wish for this game (see YuGiOh). With this change, they have much more design space and will be able to provide bronzes in the years to come that can have their places in the deck without powercreeping current content.

6) You may want to look at the cards again if you can't find them. And personally, the less of them i see the more i'm happy. Never liked the archetype-centric games like HS and Yugioh. And in Magic, i never liked tribal decks (dinos, merfolks, etc...) while i much prefer to let my creativity flow when making a deck (atm i'm having a blast with a mono black deck with open the graves, reassembling skeleton and a crapton of sacrifice effects)

Good enough?

Thanks. I do not agree with your answers, but it's my problem. I see this thing completly different. And to make it clear: I wanted to hear your opinion about the things I asked, I meant, I do not want to bother you with my other 100 questions. Sorry for the misunderstanding, It was my fault, because my English is not so great.

 

[oOxhaosOo]

I like the New battlefield, the reduced strength is also a food thing and the leaders feel like leaders now.

What i dont like is that many of the old abilities got changed or just deleted ... i love my ambush cards and noe they are gone, i loved my burn deck with Schirru and Villentretenmerth.

With HC i lose many of my deck strategies and dont get many things to replace them ( buff with traps , buff with dmg or just buff).

HC Gwent is not a bad game but it lacks the strategic possibilities of the old Gwent.
Sure we have a balance problem now but the ptr shows that they will always balance problems and we lose a huge amount unique abilities for a ui overhaul and new balance problems.

I will play HC Gwent but i will always miss the real Gwent we have now.

 

[DMaster2]

Thanks. I do not agree with your answers, but it's my problem. I see this thing completly different. And to make it clear: I wanted to hear your opinion about the things I asked, I meant, I do not want to bother you with my other 100 questions. Sorry for the misunderstanding, It was my fault, because my English is not so great.

No probs, happy to have clarified my ideas.

 

[oOxhaosOo]

I have to say, by all critic and problems i have with HC Gwent, i still like the game and i think i will played ( not only because of the thronebreaker preorder).

I hope we will get a Android app now that the battlefield is small enough for smartphones.

 

[PandaLin]

I think we need some time to get used to homecoming. Its pretty much a different game now. I was also pretty sad when I played yesterday. Got my ass kicked and lost about 20 games. And the decks I build didn't work as I thought. But today after taking some time building new decks and focus on the game more, I start winning and like how it works.

 

[Selestes]

I hope they read it...
I hope they read it...
Please do not kill Gwent(((
I still hope. Up until 23 october...
Please...(((

 

[AvernusAlbakir]

In short - I could play the old Gwent without buying a new computer, which cannot be said about the PTR. And the new look does not justify it at all. Quite sad about it, but what can you do, it's not the Gwent I enjoyed last year anymore. I'd prefer evolutionary change to the extreme makeover we got, but maybe I'm just not the target audience, so - good luck on the trail, folks.

 

[Theodrik]

@Theodrik this thread is just for the poll.

For your feedback on the PTR please use this thread:
https://forums.cdprojektred.com/index.php?threads/open-ptr-feedback.10985360/

Thanks for the warning. If you could move my post to the right topic I'd be glad then .

 

[devivre]

Thanks for the warning. If you could move my post to the right topic I'd be glad then .

Done

 

[WaterJack]

I was thrilled 2 days ago but I can't say I feel good after playing for like 10 hrs and watching streams on Twitch. This HC feels really dull right now.

 

[highhand]

Dmaster thanks for your infinite wisdom. The world is better for it. Have fun.

 

[Silas4179]

Huh, the formatting of the poll looks different than I expected...

(1. excellent
2. good
3. not sure yet
4. bad
5. D'oh!)

edit:
fixed, thank you mysterious mod

It's not particularly recognizable that "D'oh!" is supposed to mean "terrible." I wouldn't surprised if we have a sizable number of voters who selected "Bad" simply because "D'oh!" is unclear and doesn't sound like anything they would ever say.

 

[TheWhiteWolf_02]

It's not particularly recognizable that "D'oh!" is supposed to mean "terrible." I wouldn't surprised if we have a sizable number of voters who selected "Bad" simply because "D'oh!" is unclear and doesn't sound like anything they would ever say.

me, for example. I had no idea what it meant.

 

[BornBoring]

It's not particularly recognizable that "D'oh!" is supposed to mean "terrible." I wouldn't surprised if we have a sizable number of voters who selected "Bad" simply because "D'oh!" is unclear and doesn't sound like anything they would ever say.

I'm ignorant and don't care for people who don't have basic knowledge of The Simpsons.

That reminds me that despite the Simpsons being mediocre for nearly twenty years now I can still enjoy the golden days by watching the DVDs. Sadly, I can't return to the point I enjoyed Gwent.....

 

[Raukoainur]

I do not know what to vote because all the answers are very "definitive" ...I'm 50-50%, because the visual changes, Cards effects, board, interface etc. everything seems perfect! ... but the "game system" lost a lot quality, few archetypes, too many golden cards, and in general much less fun than the current gwent .. then, what vote?.... "Not sure yet" it's not possible because I'm really sure that I don't like this game system...so... D'oh! ???

 

[heretiq]

I loved Gwent because of simple but very catchy and tactic gameplay. Now it looks like devs ruined it completely and done another chaotic RNG card game like Heartstone and others... Pity.

 

[Silas4179]

I'm ignorant and don't care for people who don't have basic knowledge of The Simpsons.

That's great except it's skewing the poll for dubious reasons. I watched The Simpsons, I recognized the reference, and even so I still wasn't sure what exactly "D'oh!" was supposed to mean (Was it an obligatory "This poll sucks!" option? I thought it might've been that.) and didn't realize "D'oh!" was supposed to mean "terrible" until I recognized the "excellent -> good -> dunno -> bad -> d'oh" progression on the poll.

That reminds me that despite the Simpsons being mediocre for nearly twenty years now I can still enjoy the golden days by watching the DVDs. Sadly, I can't return to the point I enjoyed Gwent.....

Yeah a lot of people would be on pre-Midwinter Gwent if they had a choice. Part of the beauty of always-online Games-as-a-Service nonsense is that people can pay for a game and then get updates that ruin the game for them without the ability to stick to older versions they like better.