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  1. #1
    Senior Member NachyoChez's Avatar
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    Campaign: Going Forward

    Hello Shadow Erites!

    It's been a crazy few days since the Board of Directors officially took charge and the initial release of campaign. During that time, I've collected a lot of feedback from a variety of places; most of which is basically "WE WANT MORE!". Refining this, I was able to break the areas into 3 core sections of focus: Tutorial, Difficulty, and Story

    The first of those groups certainly make a valid point about the introduction to the game for new players. We're hoping dialog alterations as well as difficulty adjustments will address this, but obviously keeping an eye on it is the best option.

    The second two groups presented a rather unique challenge. The players wanting escalated difficulty outnumbered the players wanting the story to be the first thing flushed out. However, the story players were PASSIONATE about wanting to know more of their heroes' adventures. Picking between the two was an impossible choice, so the Board and I decided to make both a primary focus in Campaign's development. To that end, I have a trio of "Battle Tuners" and a second trio of "Guest Writers" who will be contributing to campaign to bring out the best it can be in as little time as possible. I'll announce these amazing individuals shortly; need a few more things to officialize them!

    So, with that in mind I wanted to take a moment to help set expectations to what campaign is going to be and what we're looking to do from here.

    Difficulties
    The campaign mode features three distinct difficulties. Each of these will feature unique dialog and challenges, but it's important to know what each mode is trying to accomplish.

    Easy: This mode is for beginners and their starter decks, or for players who just want to experience the story. Defeating this mode is intended to be a tutorial for players new to the game or genre, not a challenge (though you'll feel accomplished by the rewards and the story).

    Normal: The majority of players with a decent deck will be able to push through Normal fights. What the aim here is will be for players who want to take a new "concept" and test the flexibility before diving into rated or tournament play. Using one deck, with no tweaks, from missions 1-20 should show it has the right stuff to go up against the variety of decks out in the real world.

    Hard: Hard difficulty exists purely to be a challenge. It won't be fair, and for many it won't be beatable. Unlike normal, you will be expected to have specific options available in each fight in order to complete this, so customizing your deck for each fight is expected.

    Now, with that in mind there's going to be a growth period to fine tune these modes to their designated goals. Player feedback will be crucial to making that happen, so please keep us updated!

    Story
    I love the story of Shadow Era because of all the people who have contributed, even before I was on the team, to making it great. Campaign, as a medium, is so cool for me to tell a story on and I can't wait to show off all of what's going on. Currently, the focus of this story will be on Call of the Crystals; we'll play through Nishaven's discovery of the Crystals, Jericho's uniting of the Human armies, Zaladar's entrance to the mortal plain, Gravebone's resurrection of Arthyle - And if you just went "What?" I can simply say EXACTLY. It's a gold mine of great stories, and I cannot wait to see it unfold for all of you. I genuinely think it'll be something people talk about for a while.

    Expansions
    "Wait, Nachyo, you just said you're only focusing on CotC for now. Does that mean Dark Prophecies and Shattered Fates stories will come out one day too?" Maybe. The 20 missions for 20 heroes that makeup the CotC story will take some time to get fully fleshed out. There's a LOT of things we want to see added to campaign, and a lot of development time that goes into getting it right. I'd personally love to see the stories of Dark Prophecies begin with mission 21, the origins of the heroes in Shattered Fates, and the reasons behind the travels of Lost Lands all brought into the campaign. But there is a lot of ground to cover between now and then, so we'll come to that when it's time.

    MORE!
    Campaign has an endless wealth of features we want to add:
    * More win conditions
    * New Cards
    * Improved AI

    The list goes on. But, before we can get to all of that, we need to refine and improve within the current system

    Next Steps
    Even as I write this, there's an update being tested that adjusts the difficulties of 90% of campaign missions. The story's timeline is being double checked, and the new Campaign Volunteers are being assembled to ready their stuff. The ball is on the precipice of motion, and once rolling it's going to go fast!
    Last edited by Gondorian; 08-06-2017 at 07:54 PM.

  2. #2
    Senior Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by NachyoChez View Post
    Hello Shadow Erites!

    It's been a crazy few days since the Board of Directors officially took charge and the initial release of campaign. During that time, I've collected a lot of feedback from a variety of places; most of which is basically "WE WANT MORE!". Refining this, I was able to break the areas into 3 core sections of focus: Tutorial, Difficulty, and Story

    The first of those groups certainly make a valid point about the introduction to the game for new players. We're hoping dialog alterations as well as difficulty adjustments will address this, but obviously keeping an eye on it is the best option.

    The second two groups presented a rather unique challenge. The players wanting escalated difficulty outnumbered the players wanting the story to be the first thing flushed out. However, the story players were PASSIONATE about wanting to know more of their heroes' adventures. Picking between the two was an impossible choice, so the Board and I decided to make both a primary focus in Campaign's development. To that end, I have a trio of "Battle Tuners" and a second trio of "Guest Writers" who will be contributing to campaign to bring out the best it can be in as little time as possible. I'll announce these amazing individuals shortly; need a few more things to officialize them!

    So, with that in mind I wanted to take a moment to help set expectations to what campaign is going to be and what we're looking to do from here.

    Difficulties
    The campaign mode features three distinct difficulties. Each of these will feature unique dialog and challenges, but it's important to know what each mode is trying to accomplish.

    Easy: This mode is for beginners and their starter decks, or for players who just want to experience the story. Defeating this mode is intended to be a tutorial for players new to the game or genre, not a challenge (though you'll feel accomplished by the rewards and the story).

    Normal: The majority of players with a decent deck will be able to push through Normal fights. What the aim here is will be for players who want to take a new "concept" and test the flexibility before diving into rated or tournament play. Using one deck, with no tweaks, from missions 1-20 should show it has the right stuff to go up against the variety of decks out in the real world.

    Hard: Hard difficulty exists purely to be a challenge. It won't be fair, and for many it won't be beatable. Unlike normal, you will be expected to have specific options available in each fight in order to complete this, so customizing your deck for each fight is expected.

    Now, with that in mind there's going to be a growth period to fine tune these modes to their designated goals. Player feedback will be crucial to making that happen, so please keep us updated!

    Story
    I love the story of Shadow Era because of all the people who have contributed, even before I was on the team, to making it great. Campaign, as a medium, is so cool for me to tell a story on and I can't wait to show off all of what's going on. Currently, the focus of this story will be on Call of the Crystals; we'll play through Nishaven's discovery of the Crystals, Jericho's uniting of the Human armies, Zaladar's entrance to the mortal plain, Gravebone's resurrection of Arthyle - And if you just went "What?" I can simply say EXACTLY. It's a gold mine of great stories, and I cannot wait to see it unfold for all of you. I genuinely think it'll be something people talk about for a while.

    Expansions
    "Wait, Nachyo, you just said you're only focusing on CotC for now. Does that mean Dark Prophecies and Shattered Fates stories will come out one day too?" Maybe. The 20 missions for 20 heroes that makeup the CotC story will take some time to get fully fleshed out. There's a LOT of things we want to see added to campaign, and a lot of development time that goes into getting it right. I'd personally love to see the stories of Dark Prophecies begin with mission 21, the origins of the heroes in Shattered Fates, and the reasons behind the travels of Lost Lands all brought into the campaign. But there is a lot of ground to cover between now and then, so we'll come to that when it's time.

    MORE!
    Campaign has an endless wealth of features we want to add:
    * More win conditions
    * New Cards
    * Improved AI

    The list goes on. But, before we can get to all of that, we need to refine and improve within the current system

    Next Steps
    Even as I write this, there's an update being tested that adjusts the difficulties of 90% of campaign missions. The story's timeline is being double checked, and the new Campaign Volunteers are being assembled to ready their stuff. The ball is on the precipice of motion, and once rolling it's going to go fast!
    great writeup Kevin! Congrats to all of you, you are doing a hell of a job so far.

    Sent from my Lenovo P1a42 using Tapatalk

  3. #3
    Senior Member Bluejet24's Avatar
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    Good stuff. Keep it going

    Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
    IGN: TJ BlueJet24

    Founder of Team Juggernauts

  4. #4
    DP Visionary Morettos's Avatar
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    Awesome writing NachyoChez! keep on the good work. It was easy for me to get hooked up into your writing as I felt a general sense of PASSION while I read. Those spoilers you made in the Story segment were mindblowing! Looking forward to your writings and the campaign evolution. thank you.

  5. #5
    Senior Member Veles's Avatar
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    Minor feedback based on limited play I put into it. After playing Amber and Boris the first 3 missions vs wild allies are a bit repetitive. I know they are meant to be super easy, but at least something would be nice to be added to set them appart, eg one only vs snakes and spiders, second vs beasts, third mixed...
    Retired Card Game Designer

    “Let the future tell the truth, and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishments.
    The present is theirs; the future, for which I have really worked, is mine”
    ― Nikola Tesla

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