Devs, please explain rotating card blocks and planeswalkers

Barrelrolla

Why were the planeswalkers removed without warning? When are they coming back?
And I'm even more interested in BfZ. Why is it going to be removed? When is it coming back? Will we be able to use BfZ cards in QB and events after BfZ is removed? If so, why?
What's the idea behind all this?
I know there are different formats in paper - Standard, Modern, Legacy, Vintage and I agree that they should be added here too, but everything in currently in the game is still Standard. Also, even if you make different formats, there is no reason to remove old blocks for purchase, unless you make them unusable. But if you do, I don't want to buy anymore packs from it. But I still want a few cards, so I do wanna buy a pack. Should I?
Explain please!

Morphis

This definitely requires more than an explanation(that would be good to have) an actual statement.

So far we do not know for sure if we will be able to play the cards or not.

It would have a HUGE impact on the game.

Planeswalker rotation really screwed some people that was waiting to buy it cause it came with no prior notice.
The fact in itself(if properly announced) is not that bad assuming the planeswalker will be rotating fast enough.

Pqmtg-

Yup. Right now, we're in the dark with a timer counting down.


With the block rotating out, should we buy the packs now while we can? But we can't commit because we don't know if the cards will be allowed for later use.


I don't mind the mechanics of block rotation. It keeps things fresh and possible for new players to hit the ground running. I just want to know what exactly to expect, so I don't burn my crystals on bfz packs that will potentially become unusable.

Reaganstorme

My theory is that there is going to be only one continuously rotating "bonus" set to purchase from. As we've had Ally creature sets, Mystical Creatures, Mono Colour sets, Dual Colour sets, and so on, BfZ/OGW will just become another set type that will cycle through the Vault to purchase from.

They could still award packs from these sets of course, and i wonder how many players would choose to voluntarily drop an Event tier if given the choice purely to chase lower level rewards to try to fill in their collection.

Pqmtg-

Can we drop tiers?


I was under the impression it was one way.

Reaganstorme

We can't drop tiers, but i imagine that there would be a few who would want to to chase sets.

Squirreljester

This really irritates me, as I was just about to buy Garruk. I'd been working on Anji for a long time, and picked up Koth, but if I would have known these were going away, I would have actually spent a bit of real money to get the coins to get him.

Because of this, and the many other issues listed pretty much everyone on the forum, I'm seriously debating flat out leaving this game entirely now.

Hibernum_JC

Sorry I haven't been on here much guys, we've been crunching and it's been difficult to make time for the forums. That's on me, and I'm sorry about it.

As for rotating Planeswalkers and Card Sets, here's the logic behind it.

The Vault is getting crowded, and we want to keep releasing new sets and planeswalkers. Instead of having a huge list that is had to read and manage for players, we decided that we would rotate sets and planeswalkers in and out going forward. This makes the Vault a lot more readable, keeps the focus on the newer set and helps newer players not feel too overwhelmed with the ever-increasing amount of choices. I know that this feels counter-intuitive to most of you who have been playing for a while, but it is what the team considers to be for the best going forward.

For card sets, the plan is to keep 4 distinct options in the Vault at all times - Free Boosters, Origins (it's a great set for beginners), the current set (at this time Shadows over Innistrad) and the 4th slot being something that will rotate every week. Some weeks it will be Battle for Zendikar, sometimes it'll be unique sets or offers, etc.

For Planeswalkers, the plan is similar. We'll always keep the four basic ones (Chandra, Liliana, Jace and Gideon) and we'll rotate 4 others in and out. Every week, we'll rotate a Planeswalker out and rotate a new one in. This lets us, again, not overcrowd the Vault and make sure it's fully readable and accessible for players.

Certainly, we could have communicated our plans much better (and some of these were mistakenly omitted in the patch notes, and we are very sorry about that) and we will make sure we will communicate them going forward. We will always announce what is coming in and out before it actually happens so you guys will have a heads up.

Netatron

Hibernum_JC wrote:

Sorry I haven't been on here much guys, we've been crunching and it's been difficult to make time for the forums. That's on me, and I'm sorry about it.

Good luck with your deadlines, hope you can release sets not full of bugs once you're caught up to paper magic.

Squirreljester

Thanks for the update.

So does this mean you'll just rotate the Plainswalkers in and out to keep the Vault cleaner, but they'll all still be available at some point? Or you'll rotate the old ones out and rotate the new ones in?

I honestly didn't think the vault was crowded yet, and a decent list gives new players a lot of options for where to start. Having them just vanish without warning just made a lot of players irritated (like me and a lot of others on the boards) because PW's they were saving for are now just gone.

If they'll eventually rotate back in, that's one thing, but if they are gone forever, and are still able to be used by the players that have bought them already, new people coming in will go up against PW's that they have no option to obtain, and I know that would be really annoying if I was in that situation.

-Erik

Hibernum_JC

Squirreljester wrote:

Thanks for the update.

So does this mean you'll just rotate the Plainswalkers in and out to keep the Vault cleaner, but they'll all still be available at some point? Or you'll rotate the old ones out and rotate the new ones in?

I honestly didn't think the vault was crowded yet, and a decent list gives new players a lot of options for where to start. Having them just vanish without warning just made a lot of players irritated (like me and a lot of others on the boards) because PW's they were saving for are now just gone.

If they'll eventually rotate back in, that's one thing, but if they are gone forever, and are still able to be used by the players that have bought them already, new people coming in will go up against PW's that they have no option to obtain, and I know that would be really annoying if I was in that situation.

-Erik

They will always rotate back in, and we'll make sure to update you guys every week to let you know of the schedule in advance. There are absolutely no plans to permanently remove Planeswalkers or card sets from the game (this would be incredibly counter-productive).

Barrelrolla

Hibernum_JC wrote:

For card sets, the plan is to keep 4 distinct options in the Vault at all times - Free Boosters, Origins (it's a great set for beginners), the current set (at this time Shadows over Innistrad) and the 4th slot being something that will rotate every week. Some weeks it will be Battle for Zendikar, sometimes it'll be unique sets or offers, etc.

This is reasonable, but if there will always be 4 sets in the vault why are you removing BfZ in 10 days? There is nothing to take it's place at the moment. I don't believe Eldritch Moon will be released in 10 days.

Rootbreaker

Barrelrolla wrote:

Hibernum_JC wrote:

For card sets, the plan is to keep 4 distinct options in the Vault at all times - Free Boosters, Origins (it's a great set for beginners), the current set (at this time Shadows over Innistrad) and the 4th slot being something that will rotate every week. Some weeks it will be Battle for Zendikar, sometimes it'll be unique sets or offers, etc.

This is reasonable, but if there will always be 4 sets in the vault why are you removing BfZ in 10 days? There is nothing to take it's place at the moment. I don't believe Eldritch Moon will be released in 10 days.

I assume this means stuff like the spells packs, the green pack, the mystic creatures pack, etc.

Hibernum_JC

Rootbreaker wrote:

Barrelrolla wrote:

Hibernum_JC wrote:

For card sets, the plan is to keep 4 distinct options in the Vault at all times - Free Boosters, Origins (it's a great set for beginners), the current set (at this time Shadows over Innistrad) and the 4th slot being something that will rotate every week. Some weeks it will be Battle for Zendikar, sometimes it'll be unique sets or offers, etc.

This is reasonable, but if there will always be 4 sets in the vault why are you removing BfZ in 10 days? There is nothing to take it's place at the moment. I don't believe Eldritch Moon will be released in 10 days.

I assume this means stuff like the spells packs, the green pack, the mystic creatures pack, etc.

Pretty much, yes.

shteev

Will BFZ story mode be rotating out with the set? Will it be unavailable to play when the set is unavailable to buy?

Hibernum_JC

shteev wrote:

Will BFZ story mode be rotating out with the set? Will it be unavailable to play when the set is unavailable to buy?

No, the story modes won't be rotated out. There'd be no point in doing that.

Brigby

Please discuss the topic of older story modes HERE