I'll give my feedback, and I think a lot of people (will) agree

[RubenVDB]

I'll give my feedback, and I think a lot of people (will) agree

Greetings fellow gwent lovers!

Let me start by saying how much I love gwent, it is absolutely crazy. Gwent is my life, gwent is my family. And I want to thank cdpr for making gwent a full and standalone game. I've always dreamt of this moment, being able to play gwent but on a much bigger and larger scale than a simple minigame. So that's what I did at gamescom, and I freaking loved it!

I couldn't get enough of it and got really hyped, someone made a mod on tabletop simulator where you could recreate a real life gwent battle (gamescom version). Played that tons and tons of hours with some friends. It was simply amazing, truly, absolutely gorgious.

Now we have a stress test and we can play ourselves! Amazing!

Not so much :\

• Unfortunately A LOT has changed, and the biggest change of all, the mechanic that made gwent truly unique and drilled casuals in the ground was the 10 cards limit. There was no other recource, no mana, no lands, nothing! But now we suddenly draw cards after rounds?! WTF?! Why? Why oh why has this been changed? I can probably see why, because it's more accessible for casuals. Okay...
• But is that the direction you want to go with gwent? More casual? That's not what made gwent great.

Look, I love gwent, I truly do, but I got bored of the stress test in about an hour. Most likely because the decks were really simple and boring (and very bad!). But I feel like I want to go back to playing on tabletop simulator. Because that gave me a real competetive feel. This really doesn't...​

Maybe it's because we only have 2 decks, because there is no deck builder or because there is no progression yet. But still, you can't just change THE core mechanic without telling us why at least. ​

The least the gwent team can do now is give us an explanation with some of these changes. Because most of them.. do not make sense. I have faith in cdpr (because they are the coolest and chillest company on this earth). But this makes me the dwarf from blood & wine that wants the good n ol' gwent back!
:threaten:

with that I mean gamescom version

• It was going in a really good way. Lots of crazy combos, easily countered by some cards. Lots of strategic decisions, lots of cards that just simply did crazy things! Hero powers felt so right. Cards could do crazy things in just a few turns. Lots of different and strategic directions you could go in with just a limited amount of cards. We really recreated a very close representation of gwent with tabletop simulator. And we were deckbuilding, stratbuilding, putting a lot of time in finetuning and all that good hardcore stuff (we only had a limited amount of cards to work with as well (gwentdb cards)). Eventually we both had our 'ultimate' decks. Man, we were playing at a high and good level, it was truly a good feeling to be able to play gwent at that level and depth.

Now it feels like it's gone, a lot of cards have been.. simplified. Card draw? Are you kidding me? In presentations you boast that there is none! Suddenly you would implement it? Very questionable indeed. I hope cdpr knows what they're doing, they probably do know. But if we don't give feedback they will never know that we find this the wrong direction.

Conclusion: Casual direction = wrong direction!
:surprise::youdontsay::what3::whut:

• ps: I want to explain a little thing I see a lot on the internet and it's called evangilizing (or however you write it). Basically it means that you will defend something you love or have followed for a long time blindly. There is no logic behind it, simply you have put a lot of love and time in this 'thing' (mostly a game) and you defend it even though the criticism is really logical or purely opinion based. Let's keep it civil in the comments. I probably love gwent a lot more than you do! (trust me I printed 2 full sets of the original gwent.) I'm just saying, it's not because I don't like this stress test or this version and give it a lot of criticism that I am 'attacking' gwent or something. just an example, no man's sky had this a lot. A fun game, but lots of stuff missing that they showed in demos and trailers. So a lot of people were disapointed, still people were telling the people that said stuff wasn't there to f#ck off. They were blinded! Fools! No seriously, some people can go really far, don't put up your rainbow glasses. See the true light! Try to accept that there is something wrong even though you love it so much and want to believe that it's perfect!
• ps #2: what do you guys think of my dank bbcode? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 

[SkyHeadCaptain]

Yes the card draw after each round is really really bad other then that, the card changes are for the better i feel, Keep in mind this is only 2 factions we have yet to see how the other decks do.

But yes drawing after each round is BAD. Kills bluffing

 

[LK96]

in case of those card draws I think it's only thing for this KTS, to let us test/play/use more cards maybe ?
For the second point, This is why I think that for some reason, some kind of earlier game build has been used for those tests, many cards seems simpler, other from what has been on gameplays so far, I don't think they would be SO drastically changing cards, mechanics and decks so far

 

[Ecceptor]

agreed. the game at previous event (E3 BGS) better that this.

 

[Aeradom]

I actually do disagree on this. This idea that because you can draw 13 cards instead of 10 suddenly makes the game "casual" is ridiculous. It's not like you are going to scrap your whole hand and draw a new one. And the decks that I saw (couldn't double check as we killed the servers) still have 30 or more cards. Which means you still are drawing less than half (barring card abilities of course). What I really like about the card drawing mechanic is that it throws in an element of luck/chance. If you just draw ten cards at the beginning and that's it, then just by looking at the hands (from a spectator's point of view), you know with a fair degree of confidence who will win. This can lead to some really tense scenarios where you play everything in that second round and hope that the next card you draw can be what saves you. The other thing is that you don't have opponents automatically drop if their first hand is terrible, which will happened if you don't give the ability to draw.

Ultimately this changes nothing about the game. It's still a game of brinksmanship; one where you push the opponent to the point that a) he passes and you win the round or b) you get such a lead that you pass knowing the opponent will need to play more than 1 card to make up for it and thus give you the card advantage. I welcome the change and hope that it remains.

 

[GwentStefani]

i love the new card drawing and i don't understand why you're conflating card drawing mechanics with being "casual". if anything, having a basically static hand leads to more RNG dependency as you're working with less of your deck and i see that as more casual friendly

 

[insartpl]

Ultimately this changes nothing about the game.

Really? In my oppinion this affects your strategy. Very little, but still. For example you want to drop your witcher (Vesemir) at first round, and grab additional two from deck, because you don't want completely waste card draw after first round giving it chance to draw second (Eskel), or maybe even third (Lambert) witcher. I was so unlucky in one game today: three witchers in my hand after first round, which completely wastes their ability -_-

 

[Mythic_Pilot]

I like that muster doesn't take from hand but other than that it's just all wrong .. Card draw mid-game kills the planning Gwent had

 

[Aeradom]

Really? In my oppinion this affects your strategy. Very little, but still. For example you want to drop your witcher (Vesemir) at first round, and grab additional two from deck, because you don't want completely waste card draw after first round giving it chance to draw second (Eskel), or maybe even third (Lambert) witcher. I was so unlucky in one game today: three witchers in my hand after first round, which completely wastes their

They'll always be that element though of how the cards can screw you. But at least with the card draw, you have a chance to get out of it. You draw a bad hand at the beginning of the game and take away the ability to draw additional cards, you might as well just forfeit. But having that draw means there's a chance you can turn it around. In fact, I think it even adds another layer of strategy to the game. For example, one of the last games I played with the Monster deck was complete crap; not a single gold in the grouping. If I had to rely on that deck, especially against another Monster Deck, I'm screwed. But I held my own in the first round and made the opponent play more cards than me. Then with the next 3 draws, I got some great cards that got me over the hump. So even if my opponent did have overall better (at least quality) cards than me, I was still able to manipulate him to get the hand advantage.

To me that sort of mind games, the bluffing/brinksmanship is still very much at play whether you take away the ability to draw cards or not. It's just that with the card draw, it does present you with an opportunity to get over a bad first draw. I wouldn't want any more card draw because you should still be forced to use less than half your total deck and you still have to play that same style like I mentioned.

 

[RubenVDB]

Ultimately this changes nothing about the game. It's still a game of brinksmanship; one where you push the opponent to the point that a) he passes and you win the round or b) you get such a lead that you pass knowing the opponent will need to play more than 1 card to make up for it and thus give you the card advantage. I welcome the change and hope that it remains.

come on, gwent is so much deeper then those 2 steps and you know it. This changes the whole game, gwent is about bluffing and planning. Suddenly when you get 2 random cards mid game. It does change everything, everyone can see that right? I can understand if you like the change, but I hope you can at least see that this changes A LOT!

 

[Mythic_Pilot]

I think this build have made with one purpose dont let players to see real cards. And test servers.
E3 and Gamecom build its how gwent will be look like and played. This KTS only show real interface and card arts all other things fakes !

I wish, hope and think that's the case .. But in case if it wasn't then at least we can still speak our minds

 

[RubenVDB]

i love the new card drawing and i don't understand why you're conflating card drawing mechanics with being "casual". if anything, having a basically static hand leads to more RNG dependency as you're working with less of your deck and i see that as more casual friendly

So you're saying: less cards = more rng, i'm sorry but you can't argue with math, those are some basic facts.
You work with less of your deck you say. Isn't that the whole point? You make a deck that has a lot of synergy, so much that if you draw a part of it, you should be able to do some cool stuff with it. But not everything, because you only get a limited amount. That's the planning and bluffing part of gwent. And it's a core part of gwent, by drawing cards mid game, you simply remove this. (not entirely, but 89%)

 

[LK96]

I wish, hope and think that's the case .. But in case if it wasn't then at least we can still speak our minds

Well in 3 weeks (13-16 October) there will be Warsaw Games Week with ability to play Gwent, we will see on gameplays from there what is the deal with cards

also Marcin Momot has answered me that only stability of servers was important thing today, others, well, not + maybe developers didn't want to spoil too much cards for completely newer players, not everyone I think is aware of how much has changed in this game, this why I had "W3 Gwent" vibes from today's games

 

[BlackWolf500.298]

To be fair, I can see both sides.

On the one hand I agree that the "not drawing any additional cards" was a unique feature about the game. It also put a lot of stress on you, and in the end it rewarded a good strategy.

However I also agree that giving the player more cards to draw prevents people from just forfeiting if their first round went bad, they get the feeling they might yet be able to turn it around. A simple card with a good ability can change the entire game. For example if you get a card that allows you to play an additional card from your or your enemies graveyard and the card you draw has the ability to draw an additional card from your deck that would be a possible win-combo.

But here is the crux, and that is the dilemma. You can change a game in an instant, therefore even precise and intelligent planning can be thrown over and not pay off due to the enemy having an incredibly lucky draw.

Neither of the two options (draw no cards, or draw 2 cards after the 1st and 1 after the second round) are ideal. Both have their negatives.

I have an idea though. It has 2 versions.

Version 1: You only draw 1 card after each round (draw 1 card before round 2 and 1 card before round 3)
Version 2: You do not draw additional cards before round 3 but 2 cards before round 2 (after the first round)

That would reduce the "luck" factor in the game while not completely negating it. Since 1 card can be enough to turn a whole game, I personally have the feeling that letting everyone draw 2 cards after round 1 seems a little bit extreme, especially if you draw another card after that round. So you either give the 2 cards which raises the chance of a turn-around a lot, while giving the player no additional cards after round 2 (before the "last round" if the players are tied), or your reduce the cards given after the first round to 1, giving the player still a CHANCE to turn the tide, but making sure that luck does not play TOO big a role when it comes to the 2nd round win...

 

[RubenVDB]

I think this build have made with one purpose dont let players to see real cards. And test servers.
E3 and Gamecom build its how gwent will be look like and played. This KTS only show real interface and card arts all other things fakes !

I really really really hope that's the case!

 

[Mythic_Pilot]

Well in 3 weeks (13-16 October) there will be Warsaw Games Week with ability to play Gwent, we will see on those gameplays what is the deal with cards

Yeah I was and still looking forward to that because I'm sure we'll to get new information but KTS is distracting us

 

[LK96]

Yeah I was and still looking forward to that because I'm sure we'll to get new information but KTS is distracting us

And also I think that noone should post cards from today's KTS in Current cards lists - Gwentify thread, at least until then

 

[Aeradom]

come on, gwent is so much deeper then those 2 steps and you know it. This changes the whole game, gwent is about bluffing and planning. Suddenly when you get 2 random cards mid game. It does change everything, everyone can see that right? I can understand if you like the change, but I hope you can at least see that this changes A LOT!

Brinksmanship is a single word for bluffing and planning. You are ultimately vying for the oppponent for the advantage in the second and/or third round. You accomplish this by bluffing the opponent into playing more cards than he should (thus providing you a card/hand advantage). I can still put out a weaker 11 card, force the opponent to use scorch, and then drop my 15 unit eater card and make him wish he held it. I can still look over my deck and plan a combo where I drop unit that pulls from the graveyard another unit that then pulls yet another unit from the graveyard. To me, those are what Gwent is about. The only change now is that the game isn't decided in the openning hand. There's a chance that with a little skill and luck, you might be able to turn things around. Otherwise you'll have people dropping from games just on a bad draw because they are for the large part stuck with it.

To a major change would be if they added in even more card draw because at that point it's less about managing your resources and using them to maximum effectiveness to just any other MTG clone card game. But three is a happy medium I think and a change I do welcome.

 

[SkyHeadCaptain]

get rid of the draw in round 2 and 3 and let people redraw 4 cards in the opening redraw phase less people will rage quit from bad starting hands and we can have gwent again.

 

[taeyeonSS]

I just have to agree - the game with passive end round card draw does not feel like the Gwent I know and love. I'm not saying it's a bad mechanic, I'm saying it's a bad mechanic for Gwent. I just hope this is still open to change.