"The Natives are Restless..."

[True Life]

I'm sure the above statement is more true for some than others, but ongoing delays due tend to test even the most patient individuals.
And I think I read somewhere that hope delayed makes the heart sick. Not sure how many people this might apply to, but I want to keep as many cool players connected to the game as possible.

So, I am posting my thoughts and reflections which will be followed by a few questions.

Overall Positives
1) Wulven Studios is an amazing company and in most ways it is putting the customer first every time.
2) Kyle is extremely generous (more than any other for profit gaming leader I have ever seen)
3) The leadership of Shadowera is also extremely awesome in my estimation.
4) The forum community is amazing.
5) The game itself is great and getting better all the time (as the players actually get access to cards atleast)

Constructive Observations
1) It is almost impossible for Wulven to estimate anything accurately despite their best intentions to the contrary.
2) Almost everything always takes longer than the leadership states they think it will.
3) Wulven Studios in the gaming world is a small company and shouldn't necessary try to be like the big boys yet (shouldn't try to release full complete sets error free every 6 months for example (which is a great goal btw))
4) It seems the new hero art was a recent decision which if true might mean the official release might at some point be delayed by the new hero art.

Questions
1) Does the customer (those who play the game), prefer incremental releases?
1) Is there any chance Wulven will go back to incremental releases? In my perspective it keeps the game much more fluid and the meta always changing. It keeps the game from getting stale. There seems a lot of positives to this strategy in my opinion and I don't see many negatives from a player perspective.
2) What are the negative to incremental releases and why is it so much better to release a whole set in one shot? I've heard that 'it doesn't show proper balance' because all the cards aren't released at the same time, but there must be something more significant than that.

Thanks for your thoughts.
-True

[Demnchi]

I would prefer full set releases. It gives more time for a set to sink in and be learned. Other games update nearly every two weeks, leaving many options unexplored due to the fact there is not enough time to learn the complete in's and out's of the new content, even if its smaller. Since new content is added on a regular basis, each new thing has to be learned with the older stuff. Its very hectic sometimes to keep up. (depending on the game of course) That said, this one has taken too long, they should be faster than this.

It would keep the game more fluid, and I think its a good idea as well. New content doesn't necessarily mean new cards, especially on the digital side. More could be added to a campaign, or a new feature could be introduced. Things like that could help break up the wait for new set releases.

PS: I also doubt that the card art for the heroes delayed the expansion. It seems to me more like the art was done because it was delayed. There was more time to do something like that. Not to mention it may have been planned earlier, but we have no way of really knowing that without an official statement.

[Kip thorp]

True life,
We will take anything we can get, until recently we battled for every scrap of gold and SC just to get a new card or a foil , but as avid players , even a partial relase would be welcome! No disrespect to Demnchi but some of us have limited time to play on the game, test server or forum and nothing would keep us coming back more than a few new cards or even the whole expansion!
We know Wulven wants the best product out there and the test server is a great way to shake out the bugs. But it leaves a lot of us out in the SE cold without the ability to participate in a we loved game.
I vote to get something out there as quickly as possible. Even if it is just a few cards.. That would keep us coming back. Like that's not gonna happen anyway!

[True Life]

That is my thought... anything would be welcome at this point. Even just a few new cards. I know new cards every couple of weeks would probably be to often, but at a minimum wouldn't it be ideal to have new cards on the live server atleast once every 3 months?

[Demnchi]

True life,
We will take anything we can get, until recently we battled for every scrap of gold and SC just to get a new card or a foil , but as avid players , even a partial relase would be welcome! No disrespect to Demnchi but some of us have limited time to play on the game, test server or forum and nothing would keep us coming back more than a few new cards or even the whole expansion!
We know Wulven wants the best product out there and the test server is a great way to shake out the bugs. But it leaves a lot of us out in the SE cold without the ability to participate in a we loved game.
I vote to get something out there as quickly as possible. Even if it is just a few cards.. That would keep us coming back. Like that's not gonna happen anyway!

No disrespect received. Everyone has their opinions on this matter, I simply voiced mine and you voiced yours.

[Raphael Majere]

That is my thought... anything would be welcome at this point. Even just a few new cards. I know new cards every couple of weeks would probably be to often, but at a minimum wouldn't it be ideal to have new cards on the live server atleast once every 3 months?

yeah, i know what u mean.

in the beginning we had heroes with no weapons, then weapons were added (1.25). Then we had the rogues comes in (1.26). Then we had another set of allies (1.27). Then another set of allies (1.28 or 1.29).

[True Life]

yeah, i know what u mean.

in the beginning we had heroes with no weapons, then weapons were added (1.25). Then we had the rogues comes in (1.26). Then we had another set of allies (1.27). Then another set of allies (1.28 or 1.29).

I don't go back that far... I think I came along some where in 1.27. It was definitely nice to get frequent updates back then though.

[Kip thorp]

No disrespect received. Everyone has their opinions on this matter, I simply voiced mine and you voiced yours.

Well said sir! But I still want a Serena hat and tee shirt! Or some cards, new I hope!

[Raphael Majere]

I don't go back that far... I think I came along some where in 1.27. It was definitely nice to get frequent updates back then though.

While I am also with you, i.e. loving frequent updates, i can also see the problem devs face. An introduction of a few cards can cause a lot of bugs due to card interactions, etc.

Also, the meta will be messed up.

IMO, that's not a bad thing.

TBH, just IMHO, I would rather have say, an update of 10 cards every 2 months and small de-bug updates within the 2 months.

I am speaking as a player, of course. That would keep the meta fresh and existing players are kept interested.

From a dev's pt of view, it can be a nightmare. As the card pool grows, the time needed to do an expansion will take longer due to balance issues.

IMO, (from a player POV), just do what the Leader does. aka MTG. Do the best one can at expansion balance; when certain decks are too OP and the meta gets bored, out comes another expansion 3 months later to attempt to balance.

[psychobabble]

I'm sure the above statement is more true for some than others, but ongoing delays due tend to test even the most patient individuals.

Unless you are very new to this game, I don't know how that statement couldn't be true. There has been no new cards for over 12 months now, and the update in early March last year only added 25 cards. While it did also have a number of substantial balance tweaks, the meta has been essentially the same since at least the update before that. I begun playing in Decemer 2011 and the following things have always been true since I began playing:

* Mage rush decks are good, and a large % of the quick match meta. Amber rush decks are also pretty good.
* There are decent zhanna and zaladar control decks out there, built around their 5 mana removal spells.
* There is an NPE wolf deck out there (it changed from darkclaw to moonstalker, but hey)
* Gwen solo decks are a rogue option on the edge of the meta.

The only substantial big picture meta changes in the last update was the nerfing of logan and the buffing of rogues. The eladwen nerf made the deck worse but didn't kill it in any way. Anyway, having played effectively the same meta for a pretty solid period from December 2011 to about October 2012, the thought of actually playing this game atm just fills me with boredom. I tried a few weeks ago to play a QM but I just couldn't bring myself to get over the overwhelming feeling of ennui.

My understanding is that the ongoing delays to the release now are only due to technical issues, so I don't think they can do anything more now. You gotta squash the bugs. Whatever mistakes happened in this process that made finalisation of the design of the cards take so ridiculously long happened months ago, and there's nothing that can be done now. What I do know is that my interest in the expansion has gone from keen anticipation to "i might download the update" and if future releases are on anything like this sort of timeframe I can't see any substantial player base sticking around. And already they're going to have a hell of a time communicating with what I assume to be a fairly large lapsed player base to let them know the expansion is actually a thing - I think many people will have dropped off along the way, never to return again.