Rivals of Ixalan - Blog Post (3/8/18)

bk1234

Oktagon_Daiane said:

Babo21 said:

Good work. Everything looks nice except for the charges on the nodes. Having only 8 hours untill the max number of charges is reached will impact the way a great number of players will deal with the game. I have a job and do 12 hour shifts pretty often. If the event starts at 9 am local time I'll be at work during the time it reaches max charge. I might not be able to play all my games during those 8 hours and lose some charges, hurting my team's score in the process. Starting with less charges would be better (one charge, and a max of 3).

I also have another concern. Will any other set rotate out of standard?

We want a system that allows players to play the event in the way that their schedule/time zone allows them to. However, with the changes to event design we want newer players, with less access to powerful cards that can handle several situations easily, to have more attempts and tries to beat each node. We are looking into long-term solutions to the node charges problem that will allow both things to happen. For now, we will be closely monitoring the situation and make adjustments as we go.

 

Kaladesh and Aether Revolt will leave standard.

Thank you for this answer, however I find it confusing. Giving any player new or otherwise only 8 hours to finish their first charge gives less opportunity to finish charges. 

Also it makes the game feel more grindy and is a retention factor that way as well. 

Traditinally 5 node events have started at 1/3 more of an opportunity would have been 2/4 or even just giving all charges at once and then maybe something like losing 1 @24 hours and the 1 every 12 hours after that —

But this is exactly the opposite of giving more chances. 

Babo21

Oktagon_Daiane said:

Babo21 said:

Good work. Everything looks nice except for the charges on the nodes. Having only 8 hours untill the max number of charges is reached will impact the way a great number of players will deal with the game. I have a job and do 12 hour shifts pretty often. If the event starts at 9 am local time I'll be at work during the time it reaches max charge. I might not be able to play all my games during those 8 hours and lose some charges, hurting my team's score in the process. Starting with less charges would be better (one charge, and a max of 3).

I also have another concern. Will any other set rotate out of standard?

We want a system that allows players to play the event in the way that their schedule/time zone allows them to. However, with the changes to event design we want newer players, with less access to powerful cards that can handle several situations easily, to have more attempts and tries to beat each node. We are looking into long-term solutions to the node charges problem that will allow both things to happen. For now, we will be closely monitoring the situation and make adjustments as we go.

 

Kaladesh and Aether Revolt will leave standard.

Well.... Starting with 3 charges with a max of 5, with 6 hour recharges means that everyone gets about 18 hours until they lose charges. And you get 3 charges for newer players to try out their chances. This is, in my opinion, a win-win situation.

On the other hand, having 2/3 charges means everyone that's not able to start clearing nodes immediately at event start will eventually lose charges. If event starts at 11 pm local and I usually sleep 10-11 hours straight and go to bed at 10:30pm I'll need an alarm to wake in time to play!!! Is this what you want your community to do? Is this what you think of your players, only the ones willing to abdicate from their sleep and willing to hurt their health deserve to get the best scores? In TeamReckless we ALWAYS told our players that real life comes first, but it seems that our game's developers are having other ideas!!!

@Oktagon_Daiane please think about this with care! No one will enjoy that kind of stress, least of all the new players. I usually help new players get into the game, and that kind of stress (not enough time to clear nodes before loosing charges) is one of the things they usually complain about!

bk1234

Babo21 said:

Oktagon_Daiane said:

Babo21 said:

Good work. Everything looks nice except for the charges on the nodes. Having only 8 hours untill the max number of charges is reached will impact the way a great number of players will deal with the game. I have a job and do 12 hour shifts pretty often. If the event starts at 9 am local time I'll be at work during the time it reaches max charge. I might not be able to play all my games during those 8 hours and lose some charges, hurting my team's score in the process. Starting with less charges would be better (one charge, and a max of 3).

I also have another concern. Will any other set rotate out of standard?

We want a system that allows players to play the event in the way that their schedule/time zone allows them to. However, with the changes to event design we want newer players, with less access to powerful cards that can handle several situations easily, to have more attempts and tries to beat each node. We are looking into long-term solutions to the node charges problem that will allow both things to happen. For now, we will be closely monitoring the situation and make adjustments as we go.

 

Kaladesh and Aether Revolt will leave standard.

Well.... Starting with 3 charges with a max of 5, with 6 hour recharges means that everyone gets about 18 hours until they lose charges. And you get 3 charges for newer players to try out their chances. This is, in my opinion, a win-win situation.

On the other hand, having 2/3 charges means everyone that's not able to start clearing nodes immediately at event start will eventually lose charges. If event starts at 11 pm local and I usually sleep 10-11 hours straight and go to bed at 10:30pm I'll need an alarm to wake in time to play!!! Is this what you want your community to do? Is this what you think of your players, only the ones willing to abdicate from their sleep and willing to hurt their health deserve to get the best scores? In TeamReckless we ALWAYS told our players that real life comes first, but it seems that our game's developers are having other ideas!!!

@Oktagon_Daiane please think about this with care! No one will enjoy that kind of stress, least of all the new players. I usually help new players get into the game, and that kind of stress (not enough time to clear nodes before loosing charges) is one of the things they usually complain about!

I am going to have to agree with this 100%. 

As an alliance leader, I saw teams torn apart over similar decisions that made the game more grindy -- games should be fun -- one shouldn't have to set an alarm, or hide in their work bathroom, or put off time with their family. This decision has the implications of doing all of these.

(And to be very clear -- it's the only having one charge until they are full that is the problem -- I'm not sure you are exactly grasping that -- we have no problem with the event starting at 2 charges, but maxing at 3 is absolutely detrimental to engagement.)

Thésée

Oktagon_Daiane said:

Babo21 said:

Good work. Everything looks nice except for the charges on the nodes. Having only 8 hours untill the max number of charges is reached will impact the way a great number of players will deal with the game. I have a job and do 12 hour shifts pretty often. If the event starts at 9 am local time I'll be at work during the time it reaches max charge. I might not be able to play all my games during those 8 hours and lose some charges, hurting my team's score in the process. Starting with less charges would be better (one charge, and a max of 3).

I also have another concern. Will any other set rotate out of standard?

We want a system that allows players to play the event in the way that their schedule/time zone allows them to. However, with the changes to event design we want newer players, with less access to powerful cards that can handle several situations easily, to have more attempts and tries to beat each node. We are looking into long-term solutions to the node charges problem that will allow both things to happen. For now, we will be closely monitoring the situation and make adjustments as we go.

 

Kaladesh and Aether Revolt will leave standard.

It seems to me you are making a confusion here between the number of charges available and the max charges one node can have.

The number of charges (at the start, or also the refresh rate, or event length) has an impact on the number of games each player can play. So yes, having more games to play can help newer players to reach progression rewards and it gives more attempts to beat bosses.

On the other hand, the max number of charges has no impact on that. It is just a question of quality of living for all players. What @Babo21 describes is true for veterans or new players alike. Having to hurry playing within 8 hours to avoids having full nodes is bad gaming experience.

This is true for both the new version of Race to Orazca we will discover tomorrow and the new PVE event. Please simply increase the number of max charges per node, It has no impact on new players and will allow everyone to play when we want / can

ZW2007-

There's no reason to ever have nodes have a maximum cap in my opinion, at least not in a PvE event. I understand in PvP it's needed so people join and play and provide others with opponents to play against but that just isn't the case for PvE. If someone wants to let 8 charges build up on a node, or has to for some reason or another, so be it. It at least gives them the chance to try and catch back up later.

Sorin81

bken1234 said:

Babo21 said:

Oktagon_Daiane said:

Babo21 said:

Good work. Everything looks nice except for the charges on the nodes. Having only 8 hours untill the max number of charges is reached will impact the way a great number of players will deal with the game. I have a job and do 12 hour shifts pretty often. If the event starts at 9 am local time I'll be at work during the time it reaches max charge. I might not be able to play all my games during those 8 hours and lose some charges, hurting my team's score in the process. Starting with less charges would be better (one charge, and a max of 3).

I also have another concern. Will any other set rotate out of standard?

We want a system that allows players to play the event in the way that their schedule/time zone allows them to. However, with the changes to event design we want newer players, with less access to powerful cards that can handle several situations easily, to have more attempts and tries to beat each node. We are looking into long-term solutions to the node charges problem that will allow both things to happen. For now, we will be closely monitoring the situation and make adjustments as we go.

 

Kaladesh and Aether Revolt will leave standard.

Well.... Starting with 3 charges with a max of 5, with 6 hour recharges means that everyone gets about 18 hours until they lose charges. And you get 3 charges for newer players to try out their chances. This is, in my opinion, a win-win situation.

On the other hand, having 2/3 charges means everyone that's not able to start clearing nodes immediately at event start will eventually lose charges. If event starts at 11 pm local and I usually sleep 10-11 hours straight and go to bed at 10:30pm I'll need an alarm to wake in time to play!!! Is this what you want your community to do? Is this what you think of your players, only the ones willing to abdicate from their sleep and willing to hurt their health deserve to get the best scores? In TeamReckless we ALWAYS told our players that real life comes first, but it seems that our game's developers are having other ideas!!!

@Oktagon_Daiane please think about this with care! No one will enjoy that kind of stress, least of all the new players. I usually help new players get into the game, and that kind of stress (not enough time to clear nodes before loosing charges) is one of the things they usually complain about!

I am going to have to agree with this 100%. 

As an alliance leader, I saw teams torn apart over similar decisions that made the game more grindy -- games should be fun -- one shouldn't have to set an alarm, or hide in their work bathroom, or put off time with their family. This decision has the implications of doing all of these.

(And to be very clear -- it's the only having one charge until they are full that is the problem -- I'm not sure you are exactly grasping that -- we have no problem with the event starting at 2 charges, but maxing at 3 is absolutely detrimental to engagement.)

@Oktagon_Daiane

I'm going to have to second (or third) this. 
While I am not a new player it seems that your logic behind this decision, that according to you would help new players, is flawed. 
Like many players I have a family and a job and the basic human need for sleep, all of which will suffer because of these changes. Starting an event with 2/3 charges is a horribly irresponsible thing to do.

Regardless of your intent the fact is that new players will have exactly the same number of chances as veteran players, the only difference being that a new player may have to face one opponent several times in order to win thereby losing his chances against the next opponent. 
If you wish to give new players more attempts to beat each node then design the event so that bronze players can fight until they win. 

Babo21

Maybe a system where if you lose a game you could try it again but gaining no points from bonus objectives and only gaining half points for a victory. And if you lose again you have another chance, but gaining just 25% of victory points. And if you would lose again you lose the charge.

ElfNeedsFood

Babo21 said:

Maybe a system where if you lose a game you could try it again but gaining no points from bonus objectives and only gaining half points for a victory. And if you lose again you have another chance, but gaining just 25% of victory points. And if you would lose again you lose the charge.

Even just -1 or -2 ribbons per loss is probably enough. 

Matthew

First off, thank you Daiane for providing us those updates and insights. This community is very active, so your engagement with us is very much appreciated.

On that note, I felt the need to clarify something of a trend I noticed while going through the responses to your own responses. I noticed a lot of the wording on these subsequent posts seemed to be pointing a finger specifically at you through the use of words like "you" and "your" in reference to decisions about the game.

I just wanted to make it clearly known that when we use such language, our intended target is Oktagon. You just happen to be a convenient focal point towards which we can direct those frustrations.

To everyone else, let's try to fix this trend. Our frustrations are legitimate; I share in many of them with you all. But Daiane is new here, so let's try not to do anything that might disillusion her towards us.

And just to get back on topic, I think I'll reiterate a question that's been asked but not answered: When can we expect these new goodies to show up??? We're a pretty rabid fanbase, if you couldn't tell. Give us something to look forward to, please!

madwren

bken1234 said:

Oktagon_Daiane said:

Babo21 said:

Good work. Everything looks nice except for the charges on the nodes. Having only 8 hours untill the max number of charges is reached will impact the way a great number of players will deal with the game. I have a job and do 12 hour shifts pretty often. If the event starts at 9 am local time I'll be at work during the time it reaches max charge. I might not be able to play all my games during those 8 hours and lose some charges, hurting my team's score in the process. Starting with less charges would be better (one charge, and a max of 3).

I also have another concern. Will any other set rotate out of standard?

We want a system that allows players to play the event in the way that their schedule/time zone allows them to. However, with the changes to event design we want newer players, with less access to powerful cards that can handle several situations easily, to have more attempts and tries to beat each node. We are looking into long-term solutions to the node charges problem that will allow both things to happen. For now, we will be closely monitoring the situation and make adjustments as we go.

 

Kaladesh and Aether Revolt will leave standard.

Thank you for this answer, however I find it confusing. Giving any player new or otherwise only 8 hours to finish their first charge gives less opportunity to finish charges. 

Also it makes the game feel more grindy and is a retention factor that way as well. 

Traditinally 5 node events have started at 1/3 more of an opportunity would have been 2/4 or even just giving all charges at once and then maybe something like losing 1 @24 hours and the 1 every 12 hours after that —

But this is exactly the opposite of giving more chances. 

I'll have to second this. The focus should be on "when are the nodes maxed", more than "how many do they start with?"

ElfNeedsFood

@Brigby are we going to get a card gallery at all?

IM_CARLOS

ElfNeedsFood said:

@Brigby are we going to get a card gallery at all?

Just use the ingame card gallery. 

ElfNeedsFood

IM_CARLOS said:

ElfNeedsFood said:

@Brigby are we going to get a card gallery at all?

Just use the ingame card gallery. 

Yeah, it's just that they had a very mediocre set released with tons of fanfare followed by a much better set (and lots of fixes to the mediocre set) released with no advance notice and no fanfare whatsoever...  I am hopeful it at least gets the same treatment as every other set in the gallery.

bk1234

IM_CARLOS said:

ElfNeedsFood said:

@Brigby are we going to get a card gallery at all?

Just use the ingame card gallery. 

@IM_CARLOS

Also Octal scrubs clean images from the D3 gallery for mtgpq.info -- we had a group of volunteers pull from the game, but they don't look as good.