OKTAGON Q&A Session - May 2023 *UPDATE (6/15/23)

Magic:PQ Support Team

Answers

1- Please introduce a setting to the game that disables ALL animations, including tokens entering the board, and buffing animations. For us advanced players, we could always look at the battle log to see what happens if we need to, but animations take up way too much time especially when playing cards such as Tainted Adversary (zombie token animation), Rabble Rousing (token animation), and Jetmir (buffing animations). There is evidence of this possibility with the way that Academy Token reinforcement stacks instantly. So why not make this a thing across the entire game?
Answer: Thanks for sharing your idea with us! We currently have no plans to create a setting that disables all animations in the game. But we'll discuss your idea with the rest of the team, and if there are any changes in plans, we'll let you know!

2- Hi all! Couple of questions:
1 - Why is the BftA event seem to be irregular in its appearance for play? I thought it was every month, but it seems to be more infrequent now.
2- Any chance of getting a filter by colour option for any time you have to choose a planeswalker? I don't have many yet, but scrolling through my options seems time consuming. it would be great to be able to click on 1, 2, or 3 colours and have planewalkers of those colours be the only ones listed to sort through and choose from. Thanks in advance for your reply.
Answer: Thanks for your interest! The Event Schedule has been adjusted and Battle from the Ages will be available once a month at least. Which is your go-to Planeswalker for that event?
Also, there are no plans yet to create a filter by color option for Planeswalkers, but we will definitely consider your feedback! Any change of plans regarding this, we will let you know in the forum. Thanks so much for sharing your idea with us!

3- There has been a lot of discussion about the Rare Vanguard packs. Are you considering to change how rare vanguards can be obtained in the future? Currently players are wasting a lot of high end resources (jewels) and in return they get dupes and a lot of frustration. 120 jewels acquires quite some time to accumulate.
Answer: Thanks for your question! We don't have any plans regarding changing the way Vanguard Rares are obtained, but we are aware that this is a much-desired change from the community and will be sure to discuss with our team the possibility of a future change.

4- Might be a little late in the process to ask or consider this, but are y'all given some freedom in what color you make some Planeswalkers?
It's maybe been shown that there is some with the color of individual cards, such as Chord of Calling (from Guilds of Ravnica set, where in paper it just appeared as mono-green) - and sometimes with sorta the opposite approach of sticking to cards' strict color, and not their full color identity (the Mythos cycle, excluding the other colors that they use to Adamant abilities).
The latter case of what you can and might do is kinda shown with Planeswalkers already with Kaldheim's Tyvar Kell pw (making him mono-green when paper has an ability relevant to black) as well as Strixhaven's Lukka, Wayward Bonder pw (where while it can spellbook/draft Mila (a white card) with a loyalty ability, is still a planeswalker restricted to mono-red). What I'm getting at is, if you wanted to, could you make the Wrenn and Realmbreaker pw for the upcoming March of the Machine set into a Jund planeswalker (Black Red Green), where they could utilize more graveyard strategies than what the Mono-green that paper gave them has access to?
Answer: Thank you for your interest! We don't have the freedom to change a planeswalker's color. What happens with Tyvar and Lukka is that even though they have abilities that relate with other colors other than theirs, their original color identities allow that, yet their cards' colors aren't the same as their identities.

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Hi everyone,
How are you?
Here's another Q&A SESSION.
We will answer the questions posted by May 31st, so please send your questions and doubts to the following link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeYqub9Qek-ycIeX8mddiH9MPqudIxeRfiNECZRaKCHHxDBGA/viewform.
Make sure to submit only 2-3 questions maximum, this way the team is able to focus and will try to answer all questions in a given month.

Thank you for all the support,
Rebeca

Janosik

The app is more unstable now than it's ever been, do you have any idea what's causing the crash to the OS that started to appear this year?

Question also submitted via webform

Mainloop25

Please introduce a setting to the game that disables ALL animations, including tokens entering the board, and buffing animations. For us advanced players, we could always look at the battle log to see what happens if we need to, but animations take up way too much time especially when playing cards such as Tainted Adversary (zombie token animation), Rabble Rousing (token animation), and Jetmir (buffing animations). There is evidence of this possibility with the way that Academy Token reinforcement stacks instantly. So why not make this a thing across the entire game?

(Also submitted via form)

wraszowixuXuxi

Might be a little late in the process to ask or consider this, but are y'all given some freedom in what color you make some Planeswalkers?

It's maybe been shown that there is some with the color of individual cards, such as Chord of Calling (from Guilds of Ravnica set, where in paper it just appeared as mono-green) - and sometimes with sorta the opposite approach of sticking to cards' strict color, and not their full color identity (the Mythos cycle, excluding the other colors that they use to Adamant abilities).

The latter case of what you can and might do is kinda shown with Planeswalkers already with Kaldheim's Tyvar Kell pw (making him mono-green when paper has an ability relavent to black) as well as Strixhaven's Lukka, Wayward Bonder pw (where while it can spellbook/draft Mila (a white card) with a loyalty ability, is still a planeswalker restricted to mono-red).

What I'm getting at is, if you wanted to, could you make the Wrenn and Realmbreaker pw for the upcoming March of the Machine set into a Jund planeswalker (Black Red Green), where they could utilize more graveyard strategies than what the Mono-green that paper gave them has access to?

Posting to the form as well.

Machine

@Oktagon_Support : when can we expect the answers on the questions asked in May?

Magic:PQ Support Team

(6/15/23) UPDATE - Answers
Thank you to everyone who participated 🧡 the June Q&A already started here.

Machine

3- There has been a lot of discussion about the Rare Vanguard packs. Are you considering to change how rare vanguards can be obtained in the future? Currently players are wasting a lot of high end resources (jewels) and in return they get dupes and a lot of frustration. 120 jewels acquires quite some time to accumulate.
Answer: Thanks for your question! We don't have any plans regarding changing the way Vanguard Rares are obtained, but we are aware that this is a much-desired change from the community and will be sure to discuss with our team the possibility of a future change.

I really would like to see any changes to how this is currently designed. However, you don't have my confidence in doing this on short term. Reason for this is for example promising a "top priority" fix for Vraska, Golgari Queen's ultimate ability, which still isn't fixed.

Janosik

@Mainloop25 said:
Please introduce a setting to the game that disables ALL animations, including tokens entering the board, and buffing animations. For us advanced players, we could always look at the battle log to see what happens if we need to, but animations take up way too much time especially when playing cards such as Tainted Adversary (zombie token animation), Rabble Rousing (token animation), and Jetmir (buffing animations). There is evidence of this possibility with the way that Academy Token reinforcement stacks instantly. So why not make this a thing across the entire game?

(Also submitted via form)

Careful, there... do we want to get rid of ALL animations? All the ones you mention, definitely. But not ones that will result in hiding information from the player, surely. Seeing what cards you draw as your combo deck is comboing off is important sometimes. And the existing 'Card Visual Aid' does not show you which supports Greg puts into play when he plays them, and that's something we want to see.

ambrosio191

@Janosik said:

@Mainloop25 said:
Please introduce a setting to the game that disables ALL animations, including tokens entering the board, and buffing animations. For us advanced players, we could always look at the battle log to see what happens if we need to, but animations take up way too much time especially when playing cards such as Tainted Adversary (zombie token animation), Rabble Rousing (token animation), and Jetmir (buffing animations). There is evidence of this possibility with the way that Academy Token reinforcement stacks instantly. So why not make this a thing across the entire game?

(Also submitted via form)

Careful, there... do we want to get rid of ALL animations? All the ones you mention, definitely. But not ones that will result in hiding information from the player, surely. Seeing what cards you draw as your combo deck is comboing off is important sometimes. And the existing 'Card Visual Aid' does not show you which supports Greg puts into play when he plays them, and that's something we want to see.

If I'm using a no animation mode, I do not need to see animations of any kind. I understand the risks, and can always check the battle log if something unexpected happens. If I'm playing a loop/combo deck, it doesnt matter what I'm drawing, it's going to loop/combo. I dont need to see it. I dont need to see a creature get reinforce one by one 50+ times in a turn. I do not need to see what support Greg played on his turn. I can always check the support on my turn if I care. I do not need to see any creature get buffed one at a time.

The animations are such a time sink in this game. I forego playing several "good" cards because the animations associated with them are too much. I cant count the number of games I've quit out because Greg played some card with animations that take an eternity.

Mainloop25

Totally. I can just look at the battle log if I miss something, because that's what I already do

TIMEWARP

Even with animations off, you still see your own draws right? So maybe add an option to fully disable card pop-ups and swirley animation with buffs, mana/loyalty gains,etc.

Additionally, I find myself clicking on the screen as soon as the game moves to my attack fase, this is ingrained after all these years to cut the "opponents turn" animation as short as possible. Maybe set the default for those letters/words popping up to even fewer milliseconds ?

gozmaster

So the answer to all our questions this month is...

No. And we don't plan to. Maybe in the future. But no.

lol