The future of Shadow Era

[d31m]

Reflecting on a post in the "New stretch-goals" thread got me to thinking there would seem to be a few ways Shadow Era could evolve.

One is a linear evolution, which would be Humans vs Shadow ad infinitum, with the addition of new classes to their respective factions and card pools that continue to grow on both sides.

Another would be cyclical, with set rotation a la MtG et al. I don't know what Wulven policy is on the subject but I'm not a fan personally.

Yet another way would be an outwards evolution by the addition of more factions. I know this would be unpopular to more conventional fans of the Shadow Era universe. It does seem that central to the game are two opposing factions: Human vs Shadow. But I got to thinking that adding new factions would be good for the game and I'm all for busting up the good vs evil dichotomy in favour of a more nuanced take.

By adding new factions, a check could be kept on the way card pools grow, which I think would be one of the greater challenges of a linear model where I imagine card pools would eventually become unweildly. It would also mitiagate the need for set-rotation, at least in the near-term (or as long as new factions can be conceived).

Classes from other factions could be used so all existing class cards would still work, but new Ally and Ability pools would be created, so it would be a fresh starting point without invalidating any existing cards. It could also be seen as a chance to institue previous ideas that were considered unbalanced due to existing card interactions, a kind of soft reset. It would keep people interested in building new sets of cards to support emerging strategies instead of shooting for a select few from the latest release. As far as I can tell, it would be adding to the game without taking anything away.


For those that haven't yet tuned out, I'll offer the ideas that I came up with for flaming and try to instill them with a little justification as to why it could work from a lore perspective. Keep in mind that I am no Lore buff when it comes to Shadow Era, so substitute appropriate fluff where necessary. Also keep in mind Lone Wolf

The idea that triggered the thought process was the mention of Bobbypim's Dwarf class (I've wondered in the past, "why no dwarves/elfses?"). Instead of being a class, I was thinking along the lines of a seperate faction to both Humans and Shadow; a conferderation of demi-human tribes that share a similar fate - that of being caught in a war between Shadow and Light.

All these Shadow Portals that are popping up everywhere just happen to be on sacred ground (ie. near the presence of Shadow Crystals), and tribes of less populous races band together to form an alliance protecting their way of life from being marginalised by the imperialistic Humans and threatened by the destructive Shadow forces (hence an independent motive).

It could be any group of appropriate demi-humans, but my take was Dwarves, Elves, Orcs, Tengu and Centaur and call the faction Tribes. Their Ally card pool would revolve around these groups plus animals and a spiffy new keyword. Abilities would have some kind of nature/renewal flavour. Classes could be the established Warrior/Hunter/Mage plus one or two new unique classes, for example Shaman (caster) and Savage (combat). It could even be a chance to set a precedent an borrow a Shadow class like Elemental and have an Ice/Fire Elemental that was using the Crystals and Portals for their own reasons. Mix and match race/class combinations like Elven Hunter/Mage, Orc Warrior/Shaman, Tengu Hunter/Savage etc.

So I'd run my little thought experiment and was all like, "So what would come after?". Well, surely Shadow Portals occur under the surface as well, what about a subterranean faction with Deep Dwarves, Dark Elves, undersea creatures, Thri-kreen, Arachnids etc. all vying for control of the Portals to invade the other way/for their rival Dark God/to picnic somewhere weekends. Steal a Human class like Assassin, the introduction of their own keyword etc.


The factions wouldn't need to be that big of course, just where I went when thinking about it. Could just as well have a Dwarf/Elf faction or an independent Tengu faction for example which would extend the life of the concept. Ultimately, the idea had to do with the longevity of the game and concerns about ever-expanding card pools within the current format, and seems to me the best of the options. Any that I missed that others think are better? I know it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, and of course that Wulven have their own ideas, but what are people's thoughts about the future of Shadow Era beyond Shattered Fates?

Commence flaming.


PS. Soliciting job offers from Wulven

[Atomzed]

It does sound like a viable idea. However I think the difficult thing is to ensure there's sufficient flavor for the new races. Right now, the humans and shadow have distinct flavor (smaller synergistic allies vs big menacing fatties).

Ultimately it depends on the DT. Try to convince them

[Gondorian]

Clearly you put a lot of thought into this and the discussion is very welcome here.

[udy]

Well, I've wrote this somewhere. There is another option to limit Hero's cards pool when more expansion is coming.
It is by creating classification of card, or used to be called as tribe cards.

For SF, we allready see Homunculus/Twilight deck theme being strengthen. Tribes card combine with other card from the same tribe may produce strong effect, but "less powerfull"/"have no effect" when combine with other/non tribe cards.
On next expansion after SF, they can make anoter tribe cards that have "less interaction"/"no interaction at all" with the old tribe.

In the future, we might be bored with this kind of things. Then, creation of new faction/ class of Heroes is not impossible.

[Caitlyn0]

elfses?

[Daemon Rayge]

New factions and classes are s pretty big thing, especially factions. Requires a lot of thought and balancing.

However I can see Angelic or Heaven or Divine as a faction. Shadow being creatures of Hell and the other being creatures from or supporting Heaven.

[Wyell125]

Personally I think that adding new classes and factions is a virtually inevitable conclusion if shadow era wants to survive and thrive in the longer term. As you mentioned eventually card pools will become unwieldy fif more are simp added. I too hate the concept of set oration although I suspect that would become necessary even if factions were added for the next few years...

I hope they don't go with something as simplistic as dwarves and elves. They've already proven to be better than that at writing content having done the wulves and elementals. I trust them to continue to be original.


Sorry for typos and brevity I'm on the iPad.

[Riccardo]

I hope they don't go with something as simplistic as dwarves and elves. They've already proven to be better than that at writing content having done the wulves and elementals. I trust them to continue to be original.

I totally agree with that. Imo dwarves and elves are a little bit inflated....we may have in game some creature or a family tree of this races, but in a borderline way. I think it is more interesting create and give something different and not so foreseeable. Elementals, wulven, homunculus...stuffs like that are all we need!

[Snowstalker]

I totally agree with that. Imo dwarves and elves are a little bit inflated....we may have in game some creature or a family tree of this races, but in a borderline way. I think it is more interesting create and give something different and not so foreseeable. Elementals, wulven, homunculus...stuffs like that are all we need!

I agree, no to elves and dwarves! (no racist offense meant :-))

[Mightyoak713]

I love elves. But they like others are over done. I thought when I started that the rogues and priests and all the heros was a good idea bc they are out there but then games like mtg have boosted goblins and elves and orcs and the like. I like se bc it stands out with some many unique points and gameplay its too hard to pass up