[Suggestion] Remove artifact cards

[1990BW]

Since the homecoming update artifacts have been a topic of discussion.
The main problem is the lack of interactivity you either have a answer to it or not.
If it get's removed you can be punished hard and lose the game or you win if it doesn't.
It also allows to stack points and play those disgusting game breaking no-unit decks.

In order to change this I'd like artifacts to be wielded by your leader.
Just like the Thronebreaker campaign you can use a token on your battlefield and gain a certain effect.
Instead of a permanent effect it can only be used 1 round and it can't be removed.
The type of artifact you choose affects the total amount of provisions of your deck.

 

[Vedamir]

Agreed. Homecoming made the game more like chess, not cards. It's very boring. Cards are funny, chess are boring. That is one of the reason why Gwent is unpopular like chess are. Another is - dark design. Everything became dark, slow, heavy and boring since HC. Artifacts are one of this slow, heavy and boring things. Another are orders and charges.
Return to real Home - fast, funny and light tavern game.

 

[SonOfTheOdin]

It is no sense to enter an artifacts in game, because if deck a full artifacts it makes disbalance in a game when units deck make a move as a first in a round 1/3 and the last turn decide who will win.
So for example playing on the NR decks where the most of cards have an order and u can't use their value bc is no units on opponent side and make a game senseless.
Add a screen of game with opponent graveyard (yap hi playing a 3 UNITS cards!!!), and screen with last round when my cards were unuseful and opponent had a last turn as a consequence hi won.

 

[Vedamir]

Hah. Yes, that's it. Cause artifacts are dead cards. They have no health. But as I can see now, after addon, more and more cards have just placement mechanic - a base fast and essential card game mechanic, which was the base mechanic in the Beta. Even artifacts (two swords) have placement mechanics as a simple special card - they just deal damage and then just liyng on the battlefield, doing nothing, just taking place and attention.
It was a very bad idea to add such mechanics like orders, artifacts and charges in a CARD game. It's not a card game mechanics, they are too slow for cards. It's chess. U r mixing chess and cards. It's a bad idea. Cards are swift, tricky, fast. Chess are slow and predictable like battle towers. So, u r making a chess game, not a card-like, CDPR.. "Gwent: the Witcher chess game" - that is a real name now.

 

[Amaroc]

Agreed. Homecoming made the game more like chess, not cards. It's very boring. Cards are funny, chess are boring. That is one of the reason why Gwent is unpopular like chess are. Another is - dark design. Everything became dark, slow, heavy and boring since HC. Artifacts are one of this slow, heavy and boring things. Another are orders and charges.
Return to real Home - fast, funny and light tavern game.

Strongly disagree. Artifacts should have a place in the game, but maybe not the place they have right now. I for one always suggested, that artifacts need to be equipped by units, and most units have one slot for that. So one unit = one artifact. Kill the unit, kill the artifact too, something along those line. More interactivity.

Regarding the darkness and the grittyness: that's exactly how it should be. It's witcher lore. If you want bright colours play heartstone.

 

[petr_klokan]

Regarding the darkness and the grittyness: that's exactly how it should be. It's witcher lore. If you want bright colours play heartstone.

I’ve read all Witcher books, and don’t see why the game should be dark and gritty. So referencig ‘witcher lore’ without further explanation is probably not a good argument.

In my view the game is dark and gritty (and the 1st expansion feels like a Monster expansion, and Monsters were too strong for a very long time) because the Game Director loves Monsters and probably loves darkness. I personally don’t.

 

[Guerreroymago]

Desagree.
Artifacts are not cheap. The value of artifacts can be some powerfull gold units.
A lot of people plays the same boring internet decks... if you eliminates another options, this problem is bigger.

 

[Vedamir]

I for one always suggested, that artifacts need to be equipped by units, and most units have one slot for that.

It's too complicated. It will be hard to count all stats. That was a mistake of Valve Artifact - they made game too complicted: atrifacts on the cards which already have 3 stats: armor, health and damage. No, no, no - it's a dead end. Cards must not be so complicated, because it will be a headpain for people, and they will leave ur game.

Regarding the darkness and the grittyness: that's exactly how it should be. It's witcher lore. If you want bright colours play heartstone.

A home for Gwent is tavern! Tavern is not dark and boring. Tavern is full of light and fun. People are having rest there. They come to the tavern to have a good time with friends, not to have more depression, as new Gwent gives us with it's darkness and boringness. So homecoming is in reallity a homeleaving.

 

[Draconifors]

This thread is not about the visuals of the game. Use Join the Light Side! Popularity Analysis for discussing the dark vs. light aspect. Further posts about that in this thread will be deleted as off-topic.

 

[Archan6el]

Agreed. Homecoming made the game more like chess, not cards. It's very boring. Cards are funny, chess are boring. That is one of the reason why Gwent is unpopular like chess are.

Comparing chess with Gwent is like comparing apples with oranges potatoes. Chess is a truly strategic and very complicated game. Every move is a real strategic decision and there is no luck based on RNG and variance. Calling it unpopular and boring is just ridiculously nonfactual. Special effects and funny pictures may be "less boring" if you prefer visuals, but don't make it a better or more popular game. HC has not at all made the game more like chess/more like a strategic game. I wish it had, as advertised, by significantly reducing RNG and variance.

Another is - dark design. Everything became dark, slow, heavy and boring since HC. Artifacts are one of this slow, heavy and boring things. Another are orders and charges.
Return to real Home - fast, funny and light tavern game.

I agree with this. Artifacts, orders and charges make the game slow-paced, complicated (in a bad way) and in multiple instances simply unbalanced, abusable and unfun. This stuff was introduced with HC, but who wanted this? Imo, everything should be unit-based (artifacts and spells should be played/tutored by units and/or leader) and immediate (a card is played and the ability is immediately executed). Instead of charges, there can be additional units that allow another unit to repeat it's ability immediately (like Monsters having units that trigger another unit's Deathwish ability) or that could even repeat a stronger version of another unit's ability when there are multiple copies (Bonded mechanic). That would make it a fast-paced and interesting card game again, with the focus on units working together to create a true battlefield feel. This would also make the bronzes more interesting and powerful if they can pull of a combo (Tailbot recently mentioned weak bronzes as well). In addition, I think this will also help the mobile version, because I can see technical difficulties/frustration with executing orders and charges on a mobile phone.

 

[Vedamir]

I agree in most. It will be really hard to make this charges playable on phones, because it's sometimes hard to play them even on PCs. This system make this game more like Heroes of M&M. It's not cards, it's figures like in chess. That is what i meant. Cause they are not immediate. Cards must be swifter: more came-and-gone mechanics.
All complications are making things unpopular. And charges are too complicated. Before update it was really not understandable, when u can recharge unit, and when u cannot. Now u can see it in difference of charge signs. But still it's too confusing. Why do some cards have one charge, but why can another ones be rechargable?..
And artifacts are mostly needed for their charges. If u remove charges, artifacts are unneeded. Some artifacts can be removed now, cause the have just placement mechanic. For example two new swords and a book, which just lying without any charges on the board after use. Why is this done? Just to have some cards for Avalakh and some other which play artifacts? U can just revert it to special card with keyword "artifact", and u will loose nothing. Artifacts are still a special cards, but somehow they are separated from other special cards. It's unneeded complication. It is needed only for charge mechanic.
Now Gwent is more like strategic heroes-like game with armies. It was a tavern game, it has a tavern board and cards was like cards. Now cards are more like living creatures or figures. Because they became more static with charges and orders. They are perceived as cards less than in OBT. And I dont' like it. Now they are like armies going throug mud, swamps and so on like in HoM&M. It's not what I personally want from a card game.