Small Change — Big Thanks

bk1234

Just want to tip my hat to the decision makers at D3 Go! and Oktagon who scaled back initial charges for RtO. 

Small changes like this make the game more fun and manageable for all play styles and levels.

Sorin81

I was just about to post this. 

Thank you Oktagon and D3! 
Thank you for listening and for taking your players time and lives into consideration.

Bullvinne

Here Here! Thanks Octagon!

HypnoticSpecter

Yep. Awesome.

ArielSira

This and I also like the 5-2-2 scoring .

Matthew

I'd like to agree with this, and I mostly do. Especially the bit about the starting number of charges. That's fantastic, and I would like to believe it's because we all exercised our voices and they heard us. If that's indeed what happened, they you guys at Oktagon get further kudos from me. Now, all that being said, I feel the need to add the following lengthy caveat (and accompanying explanation) to my expression of appreciation: it looks like the team that designed the bonuses for each node lives on, like, the moon or something, while the team that designed the objectives lives way out in the asteroid belt.

Let me explain:

White node: Summon 5 or fewer creatures, take 30 or more damage. Vamps get Vigilance. I loathe Vigilance. And the fact that this perk exists on a node where you want to avoid losing creatures is just plain dumb. Those creatures will die, so what's the point of even casting them!??!!?!!?!?? The Dino buff on this one is meh.

Blue objectives: Cast 4 or more creatures, 5 or less spells
Blue bonuses: Pirates get a buff, and help supports; Merfolk are Unblockable and care a lot about spells. The fact that the objectives directly conflict with what could potentially make this node fun is just ludicrous. Unbelievable.

Black objectives: Lose 5 or fewer creatures, take 30 or less damage.
Black bonuses: Vampires get Flying and a life-gain-related buff; Pirates get a buff and care when they die. Why would I want to use creatures that will die on a node where I can't afford to have creatures die??? This is just as dumb as the problems on blue node.

Red node: Objectives are to cast 4 or more spells, win with 40 or less life. I don't really have any complaints here, except that it seems like a missed opportunity to take advantage of the different synergies of the set. For instance, the ability trigger when Dinos enter the battlefield seems like an utter waste. It targets opponent creatures, instead of your own. Given that Enrage is a Dino mechanic, it would be awesome if it targeted your creatures, or even if you could just pick a creature anywhere in play. The Pirate effect is great. I've been a fan of Treasures since XLN dropped. I'm glad there are more ways to make use of them.

Green node: Destroy 4 or more creatures, win in 12 or less turns. This one isn't the worst offender (I reserve that title for Blue), but it's not great either. The fact that Merfolk make it harder for your opponent to cast stuff is kind of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it helps manage tempo. But for a node that cares about speed, slowing things down is not ideal. I really like the Dino perk on this one, because it is a perfect pair for Enrage abilities.

Finally, another common theme I noticed was multiple instances where Dinos and Humans care about each other. I get that we're trying to encourage the interactions, but with the limited board space for creatures and the lackluster perks that come from using both of these tribes together, there's really no point in using the Humans at all.

I guess you guys probably had a full plate, what with trying to get RIX out into circulation on such a short time frame. There probably wasn't much room left for thinking about synergy, so you just tweaked the objectives to make them less onerous. That's fine, but it's a bandaid on a wound that should be getting stitches. I really hope that now you've pushed out RIX (a development for which I am extremely grateful, don't get me wrong!!!), you can spare some extra design manpower to go back and make Race to Orazca more interesting, and more fun. You've given us all of these awesome new cards, but you've given us a playground where we're highly discouraged from using them in a way that will provide the most enjoyment. That just feels bad, man.

madwren

Thank you for the changes to the charges!

GrizzoMtGPQ

Oktagon is listening! Love it! Love. It.

tfg76

Hi, 

Want to second this! There were many changes recently that shows an open ear towards the public.

I also agree with @Matthew that the objectives still are contradictory to some of the bonuses, which would otherwise entice me to play more tribal, which is what you're trying to achieve I think. I also think no one loves the "win with 40 or less life", since it encourages all kinds of weird behavior.

The adjustment of the cards is also a very nice gesture, and one I think we didn't expect, as well as small things like new art.

Some notes for the future: 

- Create a clear policy for standard rotation
- Communicate event objectives in advance of the event (and: show them in the "information" pane in the event itself in-game).

FindingHeart8

well done Octagon

Machine

I'm also very happy with the change in the initial charges, ESPECIALLY since this event is run during week(work)days. This event has turned from absolutely horrible into fun to play. One of the disadvantages in the objective changes is that there are a lot of ties for first place.

Thanks for listening!

Edit: I noticed that the final recharge still allows for only 6 hours to complete them. In my opinion that's not time zone independent and could be improved. Please add that to your list (*cough* together with bringing back rare rewards *cough*).

Laeuftbeidir

Nobody's going to mention the adapted matchmaking? At least I faced only appropriate decks, designed for the very node I was playing, so the tribal supports were actually useful(ish) for the ai. I like it.

wereotter

Laeuftbeidir said:

Nobody's going to mention the adapted matchmaking? At least I faced only appropriate decks, designed for the very node I was playing, so the tribal supports were actually useful(ish) for the ai. I like it.

I noticed this. Also I was using Angrath on one node and even noticed that on top of that I still got level appropriate opponents since I don’t have the runes to level him entirely. That was a welcome fix. 

Gilesclone

I thought the appropriate color matching was an excellent solution to the permanent colored support problem.  

Mainloop25

Laeuftbeidir said:

Nobody's going to mention the adapted matchmaking? At least I faced only appropriate decks, designed for the very node I was playing, so the tribal supports were actually useful(ish) for the ai. I like it.

Honestly I didn't even notice it but that's cool. 

Laeuftbeidir

Mainloop25 said:

Laeuftbeidir said:

Nobody's going to mention the adapted matchmaking? At least I faced only appropriate decks, designed for the very node I was playing, so the tribal supports were actually useful(ish) for the ai. I like it.

Honestly I didn't even notice it but that's cool. 

Thought so, too. This actually solved two problems at once - not only gave it a passive boost to all tribal decks, but it also made it impossible to face à creatureless white or black deck (you know.. Except for this cycling ****) on the green node