unranked balancing question and general questions about this game...

[tompudd]

Unranked Questions:
- Is there any balancing in this game?
- I Keep getting slaughtered by experts, How do you catch up in this game to be somewhat decent player? grinding? buying more rare cards?
- How do you test your decks? people still making decks or pretty much pre-canned now? I'm seeing people doing almost the same exact decks...
I think I got about 95% of monster cards and love vampire decks but very very rarely seen anyone using full vampire decks, is it worth making decks nowadays or I'm late in the game?
- if pre-canned, why not the company released the combos for us especially for casual people like me?
- is new contents worth buying? or not worth it because "crimson curse" is just not good...

I'm blaming myself not the experts that have spend months playing, I've only been playing for couple of months or so and have spend $90 on this game (hey, I'm paying for all the freebies players out there ).
I played unranked lost 6 or 7 in a row, looks like it doesn't matter if I'm in winning streak or lost 8 times in terms of pairing up... I thought the game would pair me with higher better player when I'm in streak and pair me with okay players when I lost or if it takes too long ask me if I want to play with the experts.
I'm old and casual gamers, have money to spend but don't have time to grind...
perhaps I'm not a masochist and time to throw in the towel since it looks like it will take a while to catch up (typical MMO problem)....

masochist: a person who enjoys an activity that appears to be painful or tedious.

 

[Theo_FP]

- Balance is a relative term which cannot be applied to a card game such as this one, as some decks are better against others.
- If you are getting constantly beaten by other players: Get better.
- Training mode.
- Question makes no sense.
- Question makes no sense.
- You don't need to buy anything if you are willing to work for it. Buying kegs etc. supports the hardworking people who makes the game.

 

[DRK3]

Unranked Questions:
- Is there any balancing in this game?
- I Keep getting slaughtered by experts, How do you catch up in this game to be somewhat decent player? grinding? buying more rare cards?
- How do you test your decks? people still making decks or pretty much pre-canned now? I'm seeing people doing almost the same exact decks...
I think I got about 95% of monster cards and love vampire decks but very very rarely seen anyone using full vampire decks, is it worth making decks nowadays or I'm late in the game?
- if pre-canned, why not the company released the combos for us especially for casual people like me?
- is new contents worth buying? or not worth it because "crimson curse" is just not good...

I'm blaming myself not the experts that have spend months playing, I've only been playing for couple of months or so and have spend $90 on this game (hey, I'm paying for all the freebies players out there ).
I played unranked lost 6 or 7 in a row, looks like it doesn't matter if I'm in winning streak or lost 8 times in terms of pairing up... I thought the game would pair me with higher better player when I'm in streak and pair me with okay players when I lost or if it takes too long ask me if I want to play with the experts.
I'm old and casual gamers, have money to spend but don't have time to grind...
perhaps I'm not a masochist and time to throw in the towel since it looks like it will take a while to catch up (typical MMO problem)....

masochist: a person who enjoys an activity that appears to be painful or tedious.

Im not sure im reading the situation correctly... Can you please tell us your rank and your level.

If you're being destroyed by pro players, you're either playing casual, where you can get paired with anyone, pro players are likely.
Or, if you're playing ranked, you would only get pro players if your on a high rank, which would mean you should probably be able to handle them.

If you're a newbie, rank 30-25, ranked mode is recommended, as you wont get matched with pro players, only other beginners.

For Seasonal and Arena, im afraid you cant escape pro players though.

 

[Luckless_Jack]

Counter-intuitive as it may sound, most people advise newer players to play ranked mode instead of casual or seasonal modes. (To play ranked mode click on the "Classic" option and make sure the box is ticked for rank progression). This is because you will be matched with players at or about the same rank as you. At the lower ranks, these will more often be other newer players with limited collections. Don't worry about losing, you don't lose ranks during the season, so there isn't really any downside.

In the very early days of Gwent, CDPR said that there was matchmaking in casual mode based on a hidden MMR (match making rating) score that you had earned there. It is not clear if there is any such matchmaking in casual or seasonal modes anymore. It appears not though, so you can be matched with absolutely anyone. Veteran players with full collections often play in casual and seasonal modes for fun or sometimes to test decks out.

"Pre-canned", or netdecks as they are usually known, are sadly an unavoidable thing in the internet era. Many players just want to play the best and most powerful decks, so they copy those that others have created and posted online. Personally I have a lot more fun making my own decks, so don't let it put you off trying out your deck-building creativity. You should also be able to have more success with your own creations at the lower ranks. Things may be trickier at the higher ranks though. (Vampire archetype is a bit weak at the moment, but you should still be able to have some success with it at the lower ranks). If you ultimately decide "if you can't beat them, join them", there are websites out there that list popular and powerful decks to copy.

If you wish to spend money on kegs to boost your collection, it will help a bit, but you do get diminishing returns as your collection grows and your kegs just give more duplicates. The game is pretty generous with what you can earn just by playing though, so perhaps just try playing ranked for a bit and see how it goes. You'll probably earn a fair few kegs (via spending ore and reward points) along the way.

There are a few beginners' guides out there that you may find helpful. I don't have links to them all at hand at the moment, but here's one to get you started and another one with some deckbuilding advice.

Hope this helps, and good luck.

 

[tompudd]

My gosh, the competitiveness on online game is scary. Thanks for the inputs especially Luckless_Jack. three thumbs up for the explanation and links. that's a lot of stuff to learn, my gosh it's like taking 5 credit hours college class with tests and all + the decks combos and all.... lol, but good stuff though.
yeah, I was doing decent until I get into "unranked" and get slaughtered like 7 times in a row, I would win like 1 in 6/7 maybe. so in short, "unranked" is cream of the crop elite pro-mode or getting bullied mode for beginner since the elites dominate this arena, I wish the game explain that on screen but good thing they didn't otherwise I wouldn't see the true nature of elite competitiveness in this game built for elite card gamers as DRK3 pointed out that both roads lead to elite players not suitable for casual players.
Theo_FP, my problem is that I don't grind for free cards, I don't have time for that, I keep buying cards and play similarly to physical card packs that you buy in the physical store.... Perhaps simply the problem is me that I don't have time to grind and take gwent college class to learn for a person as casual as me ( I only play about 1-2 hours/day or less sometimes).
Thanks, this settles it, this game is too much for me. Back to playing non-online game or MTG shandalar against computer (old PC game from the 90s)... a better fit for me.
Note: admin, you should pin Luckless_Jack links, those are good links for beginner...

 

[Camaban]

Unranked Questions:
- Is there any balancing in this game?
- I Keep getting slaughtered by experts, How do you catch up in this game to be somewhat decent player? grinding? buying more rare cards?
- How do you test your decks? people still making decks or pretty much pre-canned now? I'm seeing people doing almost the same exact decks...
I think I got about 95% of monster cards and love vampire decks but very very rarely seen anyone using full vampire decks, is it worth making decks nowadays or I'm late in the game?
- if pre-canned, why not the company released the combos for us especially for casual people like me?
- is new contents worth buying? or not worth it because "crimson curse" is just not good...

I'm blaming myself not the experts that have spend months playing, I've only been playing for couple of months or so and have spend $90 on this game (hey, I'm paying for all the freebies players out there ).
I played unranked lost 6 or 7 in a row, looks like it doesn't matter if I'm in winning streak or lost 8 times in terms of pairing up... I thought the game would pair me with higher better player when I'm in streak and pair me with okay players when I lost or if it takes too long ask me if I want to play with the experts.
I'm old and casual gamers, have money to spend but don't have time to grind...
perhaps I'm not a masochist and time to throw in the towel since it looks like it will take a while to catch up (typical MMO problem)....

masochist: a person who enjoys an activity that appears to be painful or tedious.

1)Unranked has no balance, really. I’ve learned the hard way that ranked is where you will fight persons with your skill. In unranked you may fight from the oldest experts to just accounts barely created .
2)As I said, in ranked mode you will have an easier time. The unranked is a very scary and luck depend place in terms of opponents. It may sound strange, but is the "casual" way, just play without bottering with your rank (as I do)
3)There’s a practice mode, but I don’t know if it’s what you’re looking for
4)At this moment full “tribal” vampire decks are not that good, but can be fun in a “jank”match
5)Crimson Curse is.. ok, and the new expansion seems promising, but can’t say for sure

And about “catching up”, don’t worry, go in your time, the ranked ladder is a lot less punishing/polarized than unranked (not perfect, but better)

 

[Luckless_Jack]

Thanks, this settles it, this game is too much for me. Back to playing non-online game or MTG shandalar against computer (old PC game from the 90s)... a better fit for me.

If you prefer single-player card games, have you heard of Thronebreaker? It is a single-player RPG style version of Gwent with a good story. There are card game puzzles and card game battles with gameplay very similar to the current multiplayer Gwent.

If you buy it via GOG, you even get free things (cards, kegs, reward points, trinkets) to use in the online version of Gwent. If you do buy it, make sure you buy it using the same GOG account that you play Gwent with.

It's currently at full price on GOG, but it is regularly on sale. Last week it was at half price.

 

[Riven-Twain]

@tompudd , I can also highly recommend Thronebreaker . It's jolly fun, with a very good story! You can find more details here.

 

[tompudd]

Luckless_Jack and Riven-Twain ok bought it now, it's $26, quite cheap, the cards are totally different than gwent but that's okay, not bad though. thanks, I might just play this one, suits me well. Gwent online game might be suitable and challanging for some folks out there but definitely too intense for me...
since I'm not playing gwent but thronebreaker and both have totally different cards, I have lots of legendary cards and would give away my cards to anyone that willing to invest time on gwent online but I'm guessing it's not possible? I'll put it on the forum as suggestion...

 

[Riven-Twain]

thanks, I might just play this one, suits me well.

You're welcome. I'm glad you're enjoying it!