Brainstorming reward restructuring

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TheDragonHermit
TheDragonHermit Posts: 465 Mover and Shaker
in MtGPQ General Discussion
One possible issue in the game is the idea that the rich get richer. Progression and coalition rewards reward the powerful with more power. Restructuring rewards can make it so that newer players can catch up while veterans are still engaged, but only if done right. I have seen bell curved rewards proposed, and while on paper it seems a good idea as it make getting the best vital of progression easier, I must ask, how many people continue TG after 4 rounds? Might the drop-off in prize value end up disengaging players faster? A proposal I would like to put forward, and can swear I have seen it elsewhere, would be foil tokens. For high progression in the higher tiers this could be an end game currency for purchasing foil effects:
For creatures an effect on summon and an effect while in play.
For spells an effect on cast and an effect as it works.
For supports an effect as it is placed on the field and a changed gem shape while in play.

This could be a fun and creative way for players who are at a high enough level to earn them to show off, and as more people get to show off I can see the feature being more desirable. As a feature it shouldn't be too hard to program in and expand on. And it does absolutely nothing to the way the game is played, just acts as bragging rights. Something exciting to chase while keeping rewards steady.

What ideas do you guys have for how to balance the rewards needs of veterans and newcomers?

Comments

  • Gunmix25
    Gunmix25 Posts: 1,435 Chairperson of the Boards
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    octal9 said:
    Leave the event rewards as is. 

    Leave the drop rate. 

    basically just don't touch anything currently in place. 

    Just implement a pity bar (call it Loyalty) That fills when spending crystals on cards - a rare is 16.5% of bar, guaranteed non-dupe rare for 33%, a mythic for 50% of your bar and a guaranteed non-dupe mythic is 100%. Make the full bar cost, idk, 1200 crystals worth or something. 

    done. People can get more mythics by playing the game and whales can potentially fill out their entire collection. 

    This is honestly one of the best ideas to date as well as its simplicity. You sir, have a supporter. Kudos
  • Mainloop25
    Mainloop25 Posts: 1,940 Chairperson of the Boards
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    octal9 said:
    Leave the event rewards as is. 

    Leave the drop rate. 

    basically just don't touch anything currently in place. 

    Just implement a pity bar (call it Loyalty) That fills when spending crystals on cards - a rare is 16.5% of bar, guaranteed non-dupe rare for 33%, a mythic for 50% of your bar and a guaranteed non-dupe mythic is 100%. Make the full bar cost, idk, 1200 crystals worth or something. 

    done. People can get more mythics by playing the game and whales can potentially fill out their entire collection. 


    Waiting to see if booster crafting will be something similar to this. 
  • Gilesclone
    Gilesclone Posts: 735 Critical Contributor
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    So far they have not said anything to indicate Booster Crafting will be anything more than trading dupes for boosters.  Dupes for more dupes.  I fear people are expecting something much more generous and when they find out, they will be very angry.

    i hope I’m wrong, but I’m not counting on it. 
  • TheDragonHermit
    TheDragonHermit Posts: 465 Mover and Shaker
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    Gilesclone said:
    So far they have not said anything to indicate Booster Crafting will be anything more than trading dupes for boosters.  Dupes for more dupes.  I fear people are expecting something much more generous and when they find out, they will be very angry.

    i hope I’m wrong, but I’m not counting on it. 
    Having reread the announcement post I am suspecting that will be the case, despite stating it would help in getting new cards, there was no mention of any mechanism. I truly hope it isn't the case though, I am not sure the game would survive the fallout an untargetable booster crafting would bring with the current drop rates. I feel that targeting doesn't need to be 100% specific, but there needs to be a way to control what we might get (ie by rarity, card type, and/or color)
  • Mainloop25
    Mainloop25 Posts: 1,940 Chairperson of the Boards
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    Yeah I'm not expecting anything too generous either, but since Octal 's idea is so good, I can only hope that they aim  towards a good idea. 
  • GrizzoMtGPQ
    GrizzoMtGPQ Posts: 776 Critical Contributor
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    I expect crafting will allow us to target boosters with known cards. This allows us to chase but still get dupes. It'll be like Elite Packs.
  • bk1234
    bk1234 Posts: 2,924 Chairperson of the Boards
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    GrizzoMtGPQ said:
    I expect crafting will allow us to target boosters with known cards. This allows us to chase but still get dupes. It'll be like Elite Packs.
    Oh! I haven’t heard this theory before. Interesting. I would like if it pans out that way. 
  • shteev
    shteev Posts: 2,031 Chairperson of the Boards
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    GrizzoMtGPQ said:
    I expect crafting will allow us to target boosters with known cards. This allows us to chase but still get dupes. It'll be like Elite Packs.
    Never assume, because D3
  • Thuran
    Thuran Posts: 456 Mover and Shaker
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    Based on what has been said, I'm kinda expecting something like "craft mythic booster standard: get a guaranteed nondupe random mythic from any standard set", and same with lega

    Or just " craft standard booster, get 1 new guaranteed nondupe card from standard, can be any rarity"
  • Furordraco
    Furordraco Posts: 142 Tile Toppler
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    octal9 said:
    Leave the event rewards as is. 

    Leave the drop rate. 

    basically just don't touch anything currently in place. 

    Just implement a pity bar (call it Loyalty) That fills when spending crystals on cards - a rare is 16.5% of bar, guaranteed non-dupe rare for 33%, a mythic for 50% of your bar and a guaranteed non-dupe mythic is 100%. Make the full bar cost, idk, 1200 crystals worth or something. 

    done. People can get more mythics by playing the game and whales can potentially fill out their entire collection. 

    sounds extremely good to me! Hear Hear @Brigby !
  • Gunmix25
    Gunmix25 Posts: 1,435 Chairperson of the Boards
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    bken1234 said:
    GrizzoMtGPQ said:
    I expect crafting will allow us to target boosters with known cards. This allows us to chase but still get dupes. It'll be like Elite Packs.
    Oh! I haven’t heard this theory before. Interesting. I would like if it pans out that way. 
    Brigby already gave fuel to this theory somewhat in May and it's been floating around every since.  If you want to bring mr. Pessimism out of the woodworks... this is one of those subjects.  Lol

    Brigby: may 25th 2017 "Hi everyone!
    We are excited to officially announce a new feature that we've been working on - Booster Crafting!

    What is Booster Crafting?
    Booster Crafting lets you turn your duplicate cards into new cards. Duplicates will be converted into crafting tokens, which can be used to craft custom boosters. Importantly, Booster Crafting will provide a way to guarantee getting new cards! Looking for a new Mythic? Not a problem with Booster Crafting!"  

    Later on in that same thread... brigby posted this statement. 

    "K    eeping in mind that it is still in development, and certain details might change before release, last I heard was that players will have the ability to customize their boosters, in order to hone in on what kind of card they're looking for." 

    At the time it was believed that you could build a pack with just new cards... but the statement simply says new cards in a pack... not non-dupe cards.... but what throws a wrench in the works is that "Guarantee" ... whatever that entails and how... is beyond me. 

    But if I was a gambling man.  Octal's idea certainly fits that "buy and build to guarantee that card" concept
  • tfg76
    tfg76 Posts: 258 Mover and Shaker
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    TheDragonHermit said:
    One possible issue in the game is the idea that the rich get richer. Progression and coalition rewards reward the powerful with more power. R
    I think the solution is to not intermingle the rich with the "poor". In other games, like soccer or MTG, there are various levels of tournaments that award different awards. Playing Friday Night Magic might win you a foil card, while the Pro Tour might award you $50k (please don´t correct these examples, I´m not recent on the exact prizes). 

    In Friday Night Magic, you´re not that likely to play against a world champion player. At the Pro Tour, you are. 

    So why not implement something like this in MTGPQ? Allow players to move up in Tiers based on event prowess. This would allow them to constantly receive new challenges (more difficult matchups), while improving their collection in such a way that isn´t detrimental to those just starting out (who would continue at their level until their collection and skills were appropriate to move up).

    I would like to see some kind of system where your last N events counted, and if you had a good enough showing, you would move up a tier. If your showing was very poor (perhaps you were at the wrong tier), you would move back down.

    Another great thing about such a system is that the "rich"/"elite" would also be incentivised to improve their game and have fun with a more challenging atmosphere.

    I´m sure some of you will counter that the current tier system emulates this. I don´t agree at all. In Platinum, I constantly see decks that clearly are made by people with a small collection or little knowledge about the game. This is because reaching Platinum requires almost no skill, just a tenacity to master every card you have (in other words, a willingness to "grind"). Platinum is indeed somewhat harder than Gold (and so on downwards), but the difference is minimal. The prizes are better, though.

    A tiering system like this would also allow for more advanced rules at the higher tiers. For instance, you may be required to have 20-card decks rather than 10.
  • babar3355
    babar3355 Posts: 1,128 Chairperson of the Boards
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    @tfg76Amen.

  • blacklotus
    blacklotus Posts: 589 Critical Contributor
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    @tfg76 your idea of the tier system based on player skill levels was what i initially thought the system would be. Hibernum proved me totally wrong and disillusioned with this current implementation. 
  • blacklotus
    blacklotus Posts: 589 Critical Contributor
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    i too thought as one advanced in tier, one can increase one's deck size from 10 cards to a larger number. again, i was totally mistaken. 
  • khurram
    khurram Posts: 1,080 Chairperson of the Boards
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    Custom boosters, eh. Crafting customized booster packs makes it sound like you will have some sort of control over which cards will be in your booster. That does sound very promising.
  • shteev
    shteev Posts: 2,031 Chairperson of the Boards
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    tfg76 said:

    I think the solution is to not intermingle the rich with the "poor". In other games, like soccer or MTG, there are various levels of tournaments that award different awards. Playing Friday Night Magic might win you a foil card, while the Pro Tour might award you $50k (please don´t correct these examples, I´m not recent on the exact prizes). 

    In Friday Night Magic, you´re not that likely to play against a world champion player. At the Pro Tour, you are. 

    So why not implement something like this in MTGPQ?
    Because throwing new players without powerful cards against players who have powerful cards is one of the principle ways to entice new players to buy powerful cards.

    https://kotaku.com/activision-patents-matchmaking-that-encourages-players-1819630937

  • TomB
    TomB Posts: 269 Mover and Shaker
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    Or just...leave instead... :/
  • theyrejustelves
    theyrejustelves Posts: 34 Just Dropped In
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    @octal9  &   @tfg76

    I think we could use both of these ideas.  I like the fairness of grinding to get new cards.  Also the idea of having a better tier system is a welcome addition.

    Great ideas from you both!!  We can only hope that this reaches the right folks.

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