Meltdown, Ratings and the Value of your Time
Hoi,
So, I’ve been thinking for a while about how to formulate this post and where to put it, but didn’t really find a good solution, so I just decided to make this threat and I have to warn you that this might get a little onto the rambling side of things. You have been warned ;)
I wanted to chip in on the general discussion surrounding the new rating system and also a personal pet peeve of mine which is Meltdown. To steal a line from TB (who brought quite a few of us into the game I suspect) “this game does not respect your time”. I don’t think anybody could argue with this assessment, considering the new rating system. And while I could get over the fact that I’ll never be able to play in tournaments or see myself on the ladder, this really spoils all enjoyment for me when it comes to Meltdown.
I think Meltdown would be a great way for new players (or those with severe time constraints, like myself) to learn all the cards and to hone their skills, but one look into the mechanics of it immediately kills any hopes of ever getting anywhere with it. I mean really, to even apply I’d need some 10000-20000 Gold, a week off from work and the will to suffer through hours of "play", just to be sure to break even. This excludes new players (provided they visited the forums and found the tremendously detailed posts about Meltdown mechanics) and locks veterans in an endurance contest until the last drop of joy is squeezed out of the game and they ask themselves WTF am I doing with my life. Well, excuse my hyperbole but I read many posts from veterans complaining that they have more Gold than they know what to do with it and here I sit grinding out my days to farm enough gold to even make it feasible to enter the game mode I was so excited about a couple of weeks ago. I think this shows that the organization is fundamentally flawed.
I really don’t see how Wulven gain anything by keeping us all lock in this perpetual abusive relationship. The goal should be appealing to new players and retention of the old ones, no? So why exclude the former and bore the latter? When your players feel they have to work not play something is inherently wrong with your game. And it also kills the joy of watching the Worldcup and all the big tournaments, because all I can think of is: “Those are not necessary the best players but those without a job or a social life”. Again I am overstating my point slightly, no offence meant, but I doubt I am the only one feeling this way.
I feel especially meltdown could be fixed, very easily. You could limit the games per day per account. Implement a league system or different divisions which play out over a longer time elimination style, or best out of three. Or if wulven really feel it necessary to keep the format, add a free variant in which you aren’t eligible for any rewards. Or at least have players buy in with Shadow Crystals to prevent the horrible gold inflation amongst veterans. I mean there are so many ways to improve upon the formula and I for one would find meltdown tournaments, like this way more exciting to watch.
Similar things could and should be done to fix the overall rating system. Take a look at LoL or Starcraft and the systems they implemented. I think it would be so much more gratifying to reach a higher rating based on skill and not purely by spamming QM. And please, please count DC as an auto-loss! With our without Jasmine! A system in a competitive cardgame which punishes you for playing fair needs to be abolished ASAP. Sure we would all complain about losing points due to crappy connectivity, but this would be far less damaging to the culture of the community.
I am sorry for the rambling and somewhat whiny post. It wasn’t my intention to mimic iClipse’s epic (and sadly still relevant) threat on the state of Shadow Era, but I really do care about the game. This might not be apparent by my lack of posts over the two years I have been playing, but I really wish I would be able to spend more time with this game without bouncing off of it due to those easily fixable issues. I love the game for it’s incredibly fair business model and I even love the updates in wulven time ;), because then I at least can hope to collect and learn all the cards and don’t have to be afraid that all my purchases will be invalidated in a few months or feel like forever chasing the carrot on a stick.
Again sorry for the rambling. Just use the amount of words as a sign of affection :D
And please bring back State of the Era / Shadow Era Radio.
