OKTAGON Q&A Session - October 2020 *UPDATE (11/06/2020)

Magic:PQ Support Team
Magic:PQ Support Team ADMINISTRATORS Posts: 3,259 Chairperson of the Boards
edited November 2020 in MtGPQ General Discussion

Q&A October 2020 - Answers

1. What is the exact definition of a buffed creature?
Answer: A creature is considered buffed when it has power and/or toughness that is greater than the original power and toughness. (Power and toughness from reinforcing are considered original status.)

2. I'd like to know if legacy crafting will ever be broken into smaller blocks instead of just dumping rotating standard cards into an ever-growing pool with such a wide variability in card quality. Newer players have an extremely difficult chance of having competitive legacy collections if they cannot at least focus on some sets a little bit.
Answer: There are no plans in the near future for that. But we can study the possibilities regarding that matter.

3. A lot of people (myself included) have repeatedly asked if there is anything extra going to be included as a VIP benefit since most of us already have all the cards and there is no real incentive for keeping the membership active. Have you considered giving VIP subscribers the possibility of crafting alternative art cards? Since we already have the regular version there is no real need to buy the alternative art but being able to craft it and master it for extra XP would be nice. I was going to suggest Vanguards too but I've previously asked about that and I know that for some reason Vanguards are treated differently so I won't insist on that subject.
Answer: Thank you for being a Subscriber and thank you for your interest! The Full Art Cards are definitely very attractive and Fblthp is very picky about these cards. Thank you for bringing this up, however, we can’t share anything about changes, or in this case additional benefits for VIP at the moment.

4. Hi, We have a new set of cards every three months with more than 100 cards that no one is going to use unless they have just started in the game, which would be a lot of fun to use if we had a draft or sealing event, as well as a very funny and entertaining way to start knowing the new cards that come out in each set. Is there any reason to not incorporate something like this that already works perfectly in the original game and in Magic Arena? (and I even know people who only play draft and sealing). I think it would be a very fresh addition to the game, one of the best changes you can incorporate in my opinion. May be paying some amount of gold to enter and opening several boosters and get those cards to your collection at the end of the event or another one that you can play for free like a "training grounds" but you play only with random cards you get at entering the event and you don’t get the cards to your collection (Lot of cards that you already invest time and efforts to design). Thus we can use a lot of interesting common and uncommon cards that now we have on our collection but never used because we already have better ones. I really think that will be something people will enjoy a lot and bring new freshness to the game. Another question is about the Season based game mode with Daily Quests and Trophies systems that you speak about more than a year ago (January 30th, 2019) https://d3go.com/details-on-the-new-content-featured-in-3-2-and-mtgpqs-future-updates/ . It seems interesting but never has been known since that. Thanks for reading and greetings.
Answer: We have plans to release a different event format in 2021, that has some similarities with the Draft format. But this is still being designed, so we can’t provide further information about it yet.
Regarding the Daily Quests that you mentioned, we have actually an upcoming feature that will be released soon and that you should check out!

5. Could the game designer(s) elaborate on what the current game design objective is? In other words, what is it for an experience you are trying to create for the players?
Answer: Our main design objective is to create engaging gameplay, where players feel the difference in how they play and interact with the game.
We know that some cards can be meta-defining in high gameplay levels, but our main goal is to create diversity on all levels of gameplay, with different possibilities of combos, decks, events, and playstyles.
Also, with the release of each upcoming set, we’re always trying to bring at least one “puzzle” element to the game, either by new kinds of gems or by interactions with the board.

6. Based upon an answer from Oktagon_support, it seems that the game designer designs cards for several types of players. Could the game designer(s) briefly describe the different players’ types at this time (fall 2020)?
7. Could the game designer(s) elaborate on with player types which is currently closest to the defined player experience (as of fall 2020)? And where you are focusing your attention for the rest of 2020.
Answer 6 and 7: We have different types of players that play the game for their own reasons. Just to mention some of the ones that we must have in mind when designing a new set:
  • Casual Match-3 Gamers, that weren’t necessarily aware of the Magic franchise, and started playing Magic: Puzzle Quest for its fantasy approach and thematic;

  • Veteran MtG players, that want to play an experience of their beloved brand on mobile platforms, and find in Magic: Puzzle Quest the best experience for that;

  • Collectivists that enjoy completing their collections, upgrading all of their Planeswalkers, and mastering every card possible;

  • Competitive players (both veterans and rookies), that seek to get their best result in each event they participate;

  • Puzzle gamers that like to face different challenges (such as events with different rules), and enjoy to build new decks with unusual strategies.

Sure, some sets or specific products intend to be targeted to one group more than the other, but we generally do our best to offer interesting options for all kinds of players that are currently playing the game. And as I mentioned before, those are not even all the types of players that we have.

8. Will we be able to see planeswalkers from commander sets like Lord Windgrace or Aminatou? These color combinations are not present in the game currently and have proven to be a lot of fun in paper magic. 
Answer: Yes. We have plans to release Planeswalkers for each of the combinations of colors available in the game. So probably these two will be seen in the game soon or later.

9. A huge part of playing Magic is the enjoyment of collecting cards. If Rising Tensions disappears on the next set rotation, what plans are there to replace it with a regular free to play event that provides excellent resources for newer players? RT gives me around 2000 booster orbs a week, which along with orbs from daily free boosters and other booster packs from events, lets me craft one legacy mythic per week. Without RT or similar, I won't be able to collect cards and the game will become stale for me.
Answer: The new collection Zendikar Rising has been released and the new event series Zendikar Expedition is already replacing the Rising Tensions series. Check out the new events and let us know what you think.

10. Please provide an overview of the frequent server issues that are preventing players from playing on weekends and at other times. What is the timeline to resolve this?
11. What is the reason behind the recurring Saturday morning server lag which oftentimes makes coalition events unplayable? What steps are you taking to prevent this from happening in the future?
Answer 10 and 11: Thank you for your questions regarding these issues. Please allow us to join the answer for both. We have actually applied fixes already in relation to this in the 4.5.1 Patch from 10/29/2020.

12. Can you please change the code so there are no duplicate cards in a booster? This is one of my biggest frustrations, I save up gold crystals for months, purchase a bunch of premium packs for the latest set, and pack after pack contains duplicate cards. It can't be difficult to ensure 5 different cards?
Answer: Thank you for your feedback. We are sorry to hear that you have had this experience. This can happen and at the same time, it is possible to pull several cards with a higher rarity, too. 
The current Booster Product is conceived and designed with the attached price point and drop rates.

13. "Will the Walking Dead Secret Lairs cards be available in this game?
Answer: No. Third-party content will not be available in Magic: Puzzle Quest.

14. I am a former Platinum player who has been away from the game for over a year.  I've considered returning, but would be at a severe disadvantage having not kept up with card sets that are now in the current standard (and even the sets most recently pushed to legacy).  I would essentially be forced to play at the highest level with far fewer resources.  Are there plans to rebalance the tier ranking/matchup building/event deck restrictions for these situations, or am I just out of luck?
Answer: Yes. We have plans to make it easier for players to face opponents with a near power level. Including plans for new types of formats.

15. I am a former Platinum player who has been away from the game for over a year.  What changes are on the horizon for the following setups that were announced/in progress around the time that I left?
Answer: I am a former Platinum player who has been away from the game for over a year.  What changes are on the horizon for the following setups that were announced/in progress around the time that I left?
  • Set/Block Restricted Events
  • Daily/Coalition Quests
  • Updated Matchmaking/Revision of Color Mastery System/"Seasons" 
  • Old PW Rebalancing 
  • Player XP purposes and ways to earn
Answer: Regarding each of the topics:
  • Set/Block Events are already present in the game. Some events, such as Seize the Day and Ravnica At War featured these restrictions. And we have intentions to make new events in this format;

  • Daily Quests are very near to be released in an upcoming feature;

  • Old PW Rebalances are made according to our release schedule and to their need on the current meta. We already did this to Kaya, Orzhov Usurper, and Arlinn Kord, but we have plans of rebalancing others as well;

  • Additional ways to gain Player XP We have an upcoming feature that will be released soon that will focus on additional Player XP gain!

Updates on the Matchmaking/Seasons/Color Mastery are still in our plans, but we’re prioritizing the Quest System and other minor features on the next releases. So we still don’t have a deadline for that.

16. First of all, thank you for your time reading this. You mentioned that you got a set of 'ai' settings, which you called Manu in older Q&A sessions, which is more or less a smarter Greg, who plays more aggressively and who caused an outcry of ppl shout at you, because it was difficult to beat. Can we get some kind of event, to play against this harder to beat and smarter ai? (maybe only for the top level players, I see no need to crush newer players who are just trying to make sense of this game). I would love to see it again, since I think I remember when I got screwed on a regular basis. It just felt more like actual magic to me, when I don't win about 95% of all matches I play. Good luck for the future. Nyarlathotep, from the FTA family.
Answer: Yes, definitely! Thanks for asking! It’s great to see someone who is up to a real challenge!
I’ve been just waiting for the last 10.000 years for someone to request this, and to finally unleash my evil plans to harvest all the Playerwalkers’ sparks with the assistance of Manu Bolas!

17. Is there any way of making a trade system work? I know we get points for our dupes but let's say Person A has a card that they aren't using but Person B could use it and somehow trade a card he isn't going to use for Person A's card. It would be nice to trade between friends and coalition members. Plus doing it that way would make players feel better about pulling dupes because they won't have said card anymore and could pull it again and not feel like **** pulling a dupe mythic.
Answer: No. We don’t have plans for a trading system in Magic: Puzzle Quest. But thank you for sharing this idea.

Observation: We know that some of our answers in regards to questions about new features and questions and feedback related to your ideas seem repetitive. It has to do more with the fact that we often can't say much about upcoming features nor give an estimate on when these ideas could potentially come to the game.

Hi everyone,

How are you? All safe and healthy?
Well, here's another Q&A SESSION.
We will answer the questions posted until October 19th, so please send your questions and doubts HERE.

Thank you for all the support,
Marcela.

Comments

  • Scydrex7
    Scydrex7 Posts: 49 Just Dropped In
    I am safe and healthy enough to ask a question here, thank you!

    I'd like to know if legacy crafting will ever be broken into smaller blocks instead of just dumping rotating standard cards into an ever growing pool with such a wide variability in card quality.

    Newer players have an extremely difficult chance of having competitive legacy collections if they cannot at least focus on some sets a little bit.
  • BlessedOne
    BlessedOne Posts: 256 Mover and Shaker
    When is the next set, Zendikar Rising, being released?
  • Bubbles_CS
    Bubbles_CS Posts: 332 Mover and Shaker
    @Scydrex7 and @BlessedOne you will need to submit your questions through the form by clicking the all-caps “HERE” link. Comments here won’t be addressed by the team. Thanks!
  • Scydrex7
    Scydrex7 Posts: 49 Just Dropped In
    Thank you @Bubbles_CS! I copied my question on the form. 
  • Bubbles_CS
    Bubbles_CS Posts: 332 Mover and Shaker
    @Oktagon_Support October Q&A is now closed for questions. Can you please post the November Q&A? Thanks!
  • jtwood
    jtwood Posts: 1,285 Chairperson of the Boards
    @Oktagon_Support October Q&A is now closed for questions. Can you please post the November Q&A? Thanks!
    Pretty please
  • jtwood
    jtwood Posts: 1,285 Chairperson of the Boards
    @Oktagon_Support bumping this on a Monday in case that's smarter than bumping it on a Friday. Can we please get the new Q&A thread?
  • jtwood
    jtwood Posts: 1,285 Chairperson of the Boards
    Thanks a ton!
  • jtwood
    jtwood Posts: 1,285 Chairperson of the Boards
    If you’re like me and had no idea they answered the Q&A submissions... hopefully, this bump catches your eye
  • Mburn7
    Mburn7 Posts: 3,427 Chairperson of the Boards
    jtwood said:
    If you’re like me and had no idea they answered the Q&A submissions... hopefully, this bump catches your eye

    Funny I read them and I'm still not sure they answered any of the submissions
  • Tremayne
    Tremayne Posts: 1,607 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited November 2020
    @Mburn7 - oddly enough, I get the feeling that several of the questions were misunderstood. Otherwise I can’t explain how the answer are so off target as they are.
  • jtwood
    jtwood Posts: 1,285 Chairperson of the Boards
    Mburn7 said:
    jtwood said:
    If you’re like me and had no idea they answered the Q&A submissions... hopefully, this bump catches your eye

    Funny I read them and I'm still not sure they answered any of the submissions
    Hmm. I would disagree. Seems like they answered a lot of the questions.