Whats the point of buying cards and playing the game if cards get nerfed, every 2 wks

**bkmage** · 04-15-2011, 08:36 PM

Honestly I really think this game has good potential but every patch that comes out brings hard nerfs to cards, destroying deck strategies and forcing ppl to buy new cards only to have them nerfed.

this would be ok if it brought balance to the game but all these hard nerfs don't seem to balance much, this game isn;t that much more balanced than the original (proof: ppl still flock to the Fotm OP deck)

Solution carefully thought out and tested soft nerfs through implementaion of new cards also fix the rating system so that using a deck that everyone else uses nets u much less rating points than using decks that aren't very popular

**Jovai** · 04-15-2011, 08:38 PM

bkmage, see my sig thread. Seriously, it's relevant to what you are talking about. You talk about card changes but the cost of shadow era is a *pittance* (to quote a friend of mine) compared to most CCGs. Try having alll the cards in a given card pool in Magic. Haha good luck.

**Montag451** · 04-15-2011, 08:41 PM

Originally Posted by bkmage

this game isn;t that much more balanced than the original (proof: ppl still flock to the Fotm OP deck)

I don't see your point. Even a perfectly balanced game, people will always and forever swarm to whatever appears to be the best deck, even if it only seems slightly better than everything else. That's just how competitive players play, winning is all that matters so play whatever nets the most wins.

That said, overall the game is getting more and more balanced. 1.24 changed the game from Eladwen

being the only deck you saw, to several decks, despite tons of players flocking to Zaladar

. 1.25 of course aims to level the playing field more (as well as a gajillion bug fixes).

**Aydin** · 04-15-2011, 08:45 PM

Yes, it's annoying.

But also I understand why. Atm whole game is in "creating" stage. So therefore every new update will put upside down everything (more or less but it's a fact).

I guess the best way is just keep playing and not pay attention to any kind of ranks. Since there are (or at least I hope there will be) less suddenly "defeat" screens here we might enjoy a fun that this particular update gives.

And what I'm waiting for is increasing minimal deck to 40. In my opinion that would be an update which might put a new quality in this game. Untill we wont have 40+ decs here it will be the same thing every update - some decs will be ruined while other decks will get OP status. With 30 card's every deck that was able to avoid nerfing will be OP because 30 cards almost guarantee a perfect draw in every game.

**Unfan** · 04-15-2011, 08:52 PM

Honestly, proper R&D should allow the set to be balanced before it even goes up on the server. If this game had a halfway normal development cycle instead of nerfs everything would've been fine when it came out.

**Jovai** · 04-15-2011, 08:56 PM

Unfan, don't fall into my signature thread either. You'll make Sully sad.

**Montag451** · 04-15-2011, 08:56 PM

Originally Posted by Unfan

Honestly, proper R&D should allow the set to be balanced before it even goes up on the server. If this game had a halfway normal development cycle instead of nerfs everything would've been fine when it came out.

Sure. But:

1. All evidence suggests that Kyle is developing the game by himself. If anything, we're now part of the R&D department since the test server is public. So we've only ourselves to blame if he makes bad nerfs; we called for them.
2. Unlike all the games that exercise those development cycles, SE is entirely free. Free to download, free to play, in-game currency earned to buy cards, and even free offers for shadow crystals. Paying money is entirely up to us.

**Zethal** · 04-15-2011, 08:56 PM

Yes, well new business models allow games to be 'free' and poorly developed or released early in their development and have them make profit. While allowing developer errors as much of the community rationalizes those away cause it is 'free' even if it makes more money than if it wasn't 'free'.

**Montag451** · 04-15-2011, 09:02 PM

Originally Posted by Zethal

Yes, well new business models allow games to be 'free' and poorly developed or released early in their development and have them make profit. While allowing developer errors as much of the community rationalizes those away cause it is 'free' even if it makes more money than if it wasn't 'free'.

But it's up to the players to spend money on it. If the company makes a lot of money, then clearly a lot of players feel the game is good enough to be worth the money. If you don't think it's good enough, don't spend money.

But you can't ask that SE be developed with as much time and effort that's put into Magic. You pay money to play Magic and it has a massive development team, owned by a successful gaming company. SE is done by 1 guy.

**Unfan** · 04-15-2011, 09:09 PM

Originally Posted by Montag451

Sure. But:

1. All evidence suggests that Kyle is developing the game by himself. If anything, we're now part of the R&D department since the test server is public. So we've only ourselves to blame if he makes bad nerfs; we called for them.
2. Unlike all the games that exercise those development cycles, SE is entirely free. Free to download, free to play, in-game currency earned to buy cards, and even free offers for shadow crystals. Paying money is entirely up to us.

1. While this is true, the least he could do is not be misleading. 1.x implies a full game that has been patched. Shadow Era is not a full game that has been patched. It is part of a set (incomplete game) that has been patched. The other huge problem is that SE is marketed as a TCG/CCG but it isn't. The "cards" are not static like actual cards. The only time a card should change is having it's text changed to fit rules and rules erratas. In other words, if you release a card game let it be a card game. If you're in the process of developing a card game say you're in the process of developing a card game.
2. Free is not an excuse for bad design decisions. Gamers are seemingly the only group of people who allows this excuse to fly. When you listen to free music is it ok if the music is bad because it's free or do you listen to something else? If you're watching free TV and the show is bad do you keep watching because "hey it's free so I can't complain" or do you change the channel? I'm not saying SE is a bad game btw, I'm just saying that if it were bad free wouldn't excuse it.