Bah, humbug!

Opperstamper

Hello WebCore,

This post is being published on behalf of leaders who represent some of the largest and best known player collectives (alliances) in Magic the Gathering: Puzzle Quest. These alliances contain the most competitive teams and players that take part in coalition events every weekend. We have collaborated in authoring this letter, and provide our signatures below. We write this with the hope that the players we represent can establish a meaningful way to communicate with you.

Thanks to your laudable efforts, MtG:PQ experienced many changes during 2024. Many of these were welcomed by the players and improved the overall game experience. However, there were others that had detrimental effects or were poorly implemented. Besides losing out on rewards and discounts, there have been quite a few negative changes, taking up development time, while many positive changes that would improve our experience are ignored.

The fundamental problem with the negative changes you have introduced is that they directly impact this game’s economy, so that players become progressively less rewarded for their efforts to expand their collections of cards and walkers. This creates an ever-increasing barrier for entry for newer players and reduces the incentive to play for long time players. We acknowledge the fact that you are seeking to rebalance this economy so that the game becomes more profitable. We need to point out, however, that a crucial element in keeping a game financially healthy is ensuring you can entice new players and retain existing ones. Many of us have devoted years to playing MtG:PQ and building communities where we share our thoughts and experiences. As we see more of our friends and teammates leave because of the negative changes you have introduced, the game becomes less meaningful for us.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of changes that have cost the players mana crystals, and while each individual change is a small amount, they add up to a significant change. This was particularly noticeable as we “celebrated” the holiday season this year.

• The holiday event discounts were virtually non-existent. This was the first year that there was no discount on the Revolving Planeswalk and Trial of the Planes events, and that made a big difference. It saved us merely 16 crystals over 2 events (and note we were promised 4 events, but only 2 were actually scheduled - and those were the ones with the lowest entry fees). Did you see that you also mentioned an event here that doesn't even have an entrance fee? Yet you announced it as a celebration? It was delivered more as business as usual.

• The change to the login rewards. While presented as improvements for the casual players, those players receive less for their effort, and invested players lose even more. You have told us that this is the first step in a larger overhaul, but it seems questionable that all players must endure a significant decrease in the daily rewards for some payoff that may or may not balance it later. We have repeatedly been burned in the past by unfulfilled promises that have never materialized.

• We use our past experiences to educate newer players about the Planeswalker Sale prices. These players plan weeks in advance, sometimes longer, to maximize their holiday purchases. Cutting these prices by 98 crystals has disappointed these players (they could afford less than they planned). One of us has sat with at least 20 players to plan ahead their purchases. How many crystals do they need? Which events should they play to earn those crystals? Which essential Planeswalkers should be on their lists? This effort turned out to be bad advice and resulted in numerous disappointed players - both new and old. It makes accidental liars out of us as group leaders to prepare our "troops" based on incorrect information and assumptions of continuing practices that could have been prevented by simply telling us of things that are going to change.

These discounts have been the same since 2018 (and the VIP discount since its creation in 2019). Expecting consistency based on precedent is very reasonable - but while you have every right to reduce the discounts, the lack of upfront communication was a huge misstep. It disempowered the players and did not allow enough time to adjust their planning.

We have evidence that these changes drive players away - from VIP whales to dolphins to F2P. All of these players are crucial to the health of the game and fulfill numerous roles in keeping MtG:PQ breathing. If a newcomer picked up MtG:PQ today, would it be a welcoming environment that facilitates long-term success? Often they are lost until they find one of our established communities, where our veterans help them establish plans and priorities. Eventually, they become veterans, but this is only sustainable if the game isn’t hemorrhaging players due to negative experiences. The most important takeaway is that the fewer players you have, the less engaged the community there is - and the less opportunities for revenue exist.

Hopefully, you appreciate the amount of effort many players put in to help others on their way. This is a tremendous benefit to the developers. We go above and beyond to make sure everyone understands everything from basic deck building to complex card interactions. This rewards us as well! We enjoy seeing results when these players improve their skills, celebrating together when a player gets their first perfect score, and promoting these players to our flagship teams. Many of us even play events outside of our coalitions to make room for others.

While we understand you can’t disclose all information, it appears as if there are revenue issues, and the perceived solution was to make mana crystals scarce. Unfortunately, whether true or not, this is a significant red flag for both potential spenders and people just starting the game. Nobody wants to spend their money on something that may shut down at any time.

What solutions do we propose?

• Hook new players to the game. For example, instead of new players earning a single Nissa deck, give them an avenue to earn a full collection of Origins cards and/or Planeswalkers. Flesh out story mode. Let them modify beginner/expert/master deck slots. All of these encourage them to build decks and invest in playing, which in turn encourages them to search out communities of like-minded players.

• Ads: Why only 3? Why not make it 10 or more? Many players have said they would support this, benefiting WebCore while earning a small amount of resources.

• And last but not least: provide an avenue for ongoing community feedback beyond the occasional Q&A, such as a Discord channel, a board of player delegates beyond content creators, or more active forum engagement. Our communities are usually well aware of bugs and issues, as well as how changes are actually being received. Players are your best resource, and creating an ongoing and inclusive dialogue would further the goal we both share: making this game thrive.

Any of these could facilitate discussion on a multitude of other topics, such as the recent power creep, the consistent errors on new or returning events, or features that have repeatedly been asked for (gamestate saves, animation speed, additional deck slots, etc.). Otherwise, there will just be yet another long forum post that results in nothing but bad feelings.

Despite the critical nature of this message, we all still love the game. However, we are sincerely worried about its future, particularly as recent changes indicate that MtG:PQ wants to go in a direction that isn’t sustainable. As mentioned in the fourth paragraph, the list is longer than just what’s written here. Please consider this a formal invite for a meaningful conversation about the success of the game, so that we all can enjoy 2025 as a good year. Ideally, we both have the same goal: a thriving game and community that rewards interest and investment.

Sincerely,

Opperstamper (Organizer)
Scydrex7 (BlackPhoenix representative)
Blighted (BlackPhoenix representative)
Madwren (FromTheAshes representative)
Machine (ThePower9 representative)
Bigbill1375 (GodsOfTheros representative)

HellsBells

Just wanted to say a huge thank you to Opperstamper, and all the representatives for putting this together. An excellent job of voicing what I’m sure all the MTGPQ community are feeling.

FCLedZep

Thank you Opperstamper and representatives for all the hard work you have put in this post! This is exactly what I am feeling too.

Tremayne

I don’t get the title. What is that suppose to mean, particularly in the context of the rest of the post.
I think the post is very well worded and I mainly agree with it.

Witchhunter

Thank you, Opperstamper! You took the words directly from my soul. Wouldn't be able to express it myself in a better way.
As a longterm player and leader of BlackVise I fully support this statement and hope for a change that we all can continue to enjoy the game.

Vorazg

Nailedit!

An excellent post that perfectly sums up the feelings of so many, both from SWWagain and our larger group of coalitions. Well done and thank you Opper!

Looking forward to a constructive response!
Cheers,
V

Scrounger

Great post. I think the criticisms advanced in this post are valid and the proposed solutions have merit. We've got a deeply invested community that loves this game and wants it and WC to succeed. I think an idea of a player delegate board/council that has more contact with WC is a great idea.

This is such a great game and there are so many great people in this community. I think that if WC dialogued more with community leaders, everyone could benefit, WC included.

Sarah

Thank you for putting so much work into articulating all of this so clearly!

Nalthazar

This is a really well thought out and written post. It reflects a lot of the things that I have been hearing from my communities for years now, but has been more-so lately. I really like how your post came off as respectful and constructive with what you had to say.

I really hope that the daily log in change is going to either go back to what it was or we will see the updated economy that makes that decision make more sense roll out soon.

The new player experience needs a massive overhaul. I have had a few friends try out the game recently and they have all put it down fairly quickly. The new player experience is very punishing; with issues ranging from matching platinum players while in bronze to figuring out how to start building up their account with cards and walkers. I think what you said is good, but I feel like the Origins five should be updated in that situation as well to better reflect the state the game is in now as opposed to where it was at launch. Those walkers are painful to play with now.

I feel like there is a lot more that could be said and other little tweaks that could go a long way. I really like that the team is trying out new things and has direction, but I’m really hoping that upcoming changes are community wins as opposed to head scratchers. This is such a fun game and it has such a passionate and amazing community. Hopefully we have brighter days ahead of us.

Blacktulip

Thanks Opperstamper a.o. I totally agree

khurram

Thank you for being the community's voice. This addresses all of the concerns that I've had with the recent changes. I couldn't have worded this better.

k1ck4ss_mtgpq

An excellent post that has undergone a vast amount of discussion prior to that on what and how to address the current state of the game. Thanks a lot to the initiators and leaders.
This surely should not be ignored or even demised by the ones in charge of the game.

Cvszn

@Tremayne said:
I don’t get the title. What is that suppose to mean, particularly in the context of the rest of the post.
I think the post is very well worded and I mainly agree with it.

It's likening them to Ebenezer Scrooge, basically saying that they were greedy with holiday rewards.

BrSchnitz

Excellent, well thought out post representing the thoughts of myself and other players that I've spoken with recently. We love the game, but are sincerely worried about the future of it. Also, the new player experience is definitely frustrating, as compared to 6 years ago when I started playing

CMatador137

I 100% agree with this post! As a player since Origins and VIP for about 5 years now, I have been more and more off put by the new player experience. I am a bit more forgiving on the long term stuff as I don't usually compete at the highest levels.

I have been sadly disappointed by the story mode over the last year as well as the Origins PWs. They really should get all 5 as a start at this point. None of them are worth the crystals long term, but you almost have to grind them to save up for the better Walkers. Either that or they need a massive overhaul. They can still be weaker and cheaper, but they need to be at least competitive. A total +5 mana bonus compared to an average +8 for most others just leaves you further behind every turn. And this is with weaker abilities at a time when you don't have powerful cards to make the interesting synergies that can really make them work. I'll save a dozen other thoughts for later if this conversation gets off the ground, but I will add that I usually buy 2-3 PWs at the year end sale and was only able to pick up 1 this year. Very disappointing.

Artemis07

Very well said guys! The care for this game is very apparent and the community wants MPQ to thrive... I've played since 2016 and dealt w/ many of the issues, and I have to say, WC has done a good job implementing fixes/changes, but there is SO MUCH potential for this game if the right balance is found! I have faith in WC and pray they take this seriously and devote many resources to fixing these issues to ensure a successful and productive gaming experience for this wonderful community! We want you to thrive as well WC... They better the game does, the better for you! Thank you for listening!!

LoboX01

Masterpiece summary of where things are. Not sure if devs are aware, but those coalition alliances listed in the signature represent the majority of the top players, top teams, and many more, including the new players joining them. If I were them i would pay very close attention to all what was said above, because this is a huge deal.

TheHunter

Brilliantly well articulated and to the point, thank you for expressing the frustrations so many of us are feeling about unannounced or incomprehensible changes to the game we love so much. I'll look forward to Webcore's response.

Mainloop25

Man Webcore is so fortunate to have a player base that, although relatively small, is willing to give a company such articulate feedback from the consumer base. Companies normally have to spend so much money to get this kind of data. I really hope they implement some positivite changes based on it, or else there's not much hope to be had.

_Valiant_

Absolutely agree!

I'd really appreciate a faster and thorough follow-up and fix for the quite extensive bugs list that we've been building. To me, game bugs are the most frustrating thing.

Thank you in advance for picking up this post and hopefully following up/responding to it. You'll find many people willing and capable if devs would like to reach out.

Valiant

gozmaster

Wow, well said my friend.

I appreciate the thought and respectful effort you put into this.

I think it's safe to say... we (the players) all VERY MUCH want to see the game thrive both in player base growth as well as economically.

I THINK we can also all agree, that prior to WC's takeover, this game was NOT sustainable. The player base was tanking FAST, and headed to the "Discontinued" bin.

So changes, HAD and still have to happen. We all agree, something's gotta give? Right Players?

Now, I think it's also safe to say, no matter the change, we will always lose veteran players at some point (Attrition is just a thing in all games) , however, if these changes ARE bringing in new players (much more than we're losing), most could see that as a "good thing" for the game.

However, it's REALLY hard to see how the daily reward limitations can be anything other than a "Less than" for the player base... And if newer players that do pick up the game, find it hard to get ahead (which many are voicing in my servers already) that makes it MUCH harder to want to open the app and play. And for veterans, of course we're going to get peeved if you take our resources. (we like nice things)

Here's my slap on the tush from all of this...

The way WC painted this as "This is better for the players that log in less" ... Really? C'mon WC... lol... C'mon man.

No. You know that was a LAME way of addressing this. (lol, c'mon man)

If you'd come out and said...

"Hey, for the long term VIABILITY, we've done a full analysis of the economy of the game, and realized, BECAUSE we're TOO generous in our free resources, it's ACTUALLY THREATENING the long term sustainability, here are the changes we're needing to make, ASAP to ensure we can continue to support the game we all love PLUS with these new resources, here's the changes we'll be committing to getting out over the next 90 days/6 months/year, (Stuff the player base ACTUALLY Wants), PLUS here's a way you can continue to get those resources in 'microtransactions'... (IE .99 Cent Resource bundles, new skins for existing planeswalkers $9.99 etc.) "

And although many won't like it , and some will STILL QUIT, at LEAST we can see the logical, strategic, game-plan, and have some buy-in to the future of the game, which we ALL want to see.

To me, the biggest issue here is the lack of transparency on all of this. WC, just TELL us why you're making a move. I THINK most of us would be ok with it, but that is one thing that has been consistent from ALL the devs over the years, this "close to the vest" level of communication, that just doesn't make much sense.

Even in the PW sale... if you knew you weren't going to give the SAME discounts as years previous, why not tell us in advance, so we're not caught off guard during the sale?

Personally I never understood why the discount was more on dual color walkers, but it's what was done... but JUST because it's always been done that way, should it always be? Not to me... but again, JUST TELL US in advance so we're in the loop...

YES, people are STILL going to grumble, nothing is going to stop that, but at least it's upfront and something we can account for.

Finally the underwhelming Holiday rewards , this just seemed... "poorly planned/executed". Like a last minute , thrown together set of things that really weren't planned in advance, like... at all... lol.

And frankly felt anticlimactic for the season.

To me, THIS is most concerning "miss" as a business owner/operator...

This is (WAS) the time of year, people are justifying spending on themselves the MOST during the year.

"It's the holidays, why not treat myself" is a VERY big justification to spend money.

And frankly WC, you whiffed here HARD! There were SO many promos, discounts, bundles, special deal, deck slots (I see you @Janosik ) and COUNTLESS other stuff we would have GLADLY thrown cash at this last month, but NONE of it was offered to us... Guys... What are you doing? (Insert Jackie Chan Face).

THAT, above ALL else, THAT concerns me... SELL US STUFF! (Stuff we want) We WANT TO BUY STUFF.

But YOU HAVE To make up compelling offers, great value and KILLER deals to get us to fling our IRL bucks your way. And frankly... You blew it. SMH. (I'm serious, like... what's wrong?)

IF money is the thing, SELL US STUFF, lol (Am I alone here players?)

In Closing...

Listen, we (the players) don't know what WC has in store for the next year, i'm HOPEFUL it's so amazing all this will be something we laugh about, this time next year... but whatever those changes, I just hope you (WC) can have a LITTLE more faith in this tiny (RABID) Player base than other devs and you have shown to this point.

Dude... just tell us. We're adults (Mostly) , and an upfront level of communication is MUCH better than trying to mask your actions with half-baked , turd-polishing.

Look, I know you CAN'T tell us "ALL THE THINGS" , priorities shift, and resources are limited to do ALL the stuff we want ALL at once, we get that...

But for me, this lack of communication is the biggest thing that creates the distrust in the player base, instead of just telling us, you're making us guess, and when that starts happening, the conspiracy-folks start seeding distrust and fear... that's just human nature.

I'm resisting putting on my tin-hat, but it gets harder and harder my friends.

Listen, You have been the BEST devs we've had on this game, and we are all SO passionate about it, that we are actually HOPEFUL at the future (most of us anyways ) with you at the helm...

...so PLEASE don't read this as "YOU SUCK!", cause it's far from it, for me... I feel the most hope i've had on this game TRULY getting the treatment it deserves under your direction (That's what i wished for from santa) , we'd just like a little of that trust in upfront transparency as well. (Insert a "talk to me" meme of some kind)

Thank you again @Opperstamper for posting this thoughtful and respectful discussion.

I PRAY it leads to a better relationship going forward with and for the game.

GM