[Feedback] Pizza is boring.

Are you sure? Can someone confirm this? I wasn't sure about epic gear, but I'd be really surprised if we're actually able to buy legendary gear with gold. And if that is in fact the case, then damn, I can definitely see your point about converting pizza to gold being a bit P2W.

Yeah, if it were restricted to rares and under I wouldn't mind. But then comes the question, would people be willing to pay for that? It would be a tough balancing act.

 

Yes I said I have them in my shops every week. Just checked one and it has Reynoldo's boots and Trolls Ire.

 

Why do you make so many assumptions? What reason do you think there would be to NOT allow purchase of legendary items? Have to think about it from both sides.

 

You expected to be able to buy legendary gear with gold when you first started playing Card Hunter? If so, then I guess you're just not used to games holding real value to their 'epic'/'legendary'/'god' gear like I am. Don't get me wrong, I don't suddenly think Card Hunter is a bad game or anything, I'm just surprised we can actually buy legendary gear with gold is all. I didn't know we could. I thought legendary gear would only be obtainable through chests(random & bought). Kind of makes the gear less 'legendary' to me, but eh, whatever. No big deal in the long run, I suppose.

 

The moment I looked at the store and learned that they were randomized I figured most, if not all of the items could randomly appear in them. Now being ABLE to buy them seems so far out of reach when I first started playing due to the amount of gold I got for selling items, but yes, the simplest conclusion to come to with the explanation of the stores was that you will find all but promotional/quest reward items in the stores.

Not sure why you would take assumptions from other games and apply them here before looking first at the mechanics here and judging based on what they might suggest of the game design.

 

Hmm. This is probably more of a question for the devs: Considering the discussion here around the (in)direct attainment of gear through pizza, what is your stance on that considering balancing purposes? Both for singleplayer and multiplayer. A far as I can tell having great gear is an immense boost to a party's effectiveness. Now, through the purchasing of adventure packs, multiplayer packs and the subscription, there are already ways to get more gear as it is.

Personally, I would prefer to pay for cosmetic items or content (the adventures, regardless of the items) rather than to pay directly for gear. If the game is balanced for that way of playing, people who get more items have a far greater chance of getting what they want in terms of upgrades/options for their characters and they might find the campaign too easy. If the game is balanced the other way around, the campaign might be too difficult for those who don't get more than the standard gear.

Something related: My party's only level 7, but I find that when I see an upgrade in the shops it's usually either too expensive or I don't see them at all. I wonder how lucky you have to be to get at least one decent item for each slot (not to mention necessary upgrades so as not to get below the curve of power as your characters level up). Standard gear from adventures could help out here, but then the question remains how said gear is generated, especially given the various types of parties players can make (three characters of the same class all competing for similar gear, for instance).

 

I have a question, if you are not a club member and you are on the reward screen and see something on the pillow that you really want, can you buy club membership at that point and obtain that item that was previously grayed out? Another F2P game I have played uses this model and actually has a "join club now" button right next to the bonus item. If this is implemented in a non imposing way, that could make it more appealing.

Another thing the other game does is give bonus "gold" and xp for each mission completed when one is a member. This might not be a great fit for this game especially since we don't actually get gold for each mission, but it would be nice. It does seem as if membership and pizza in general isn't that valuable. I like unlocking missions for a specific piece of gear, and opening chests with pizza gives a sort of the pack-opening feel of a card game, but the chests being the same as mission chests make them feel like a waste of pizza.

Someone mentioned having more options in the expensive shop for spending gold, which could encourage changing pizza to gold for buying expensive items... but that really doesn't feel right. Pizza being just a pay-to-"win" currency and gold being the real valuable currency.

I had an idea for another pizza-sink that feels more natural to a card game. The starter packs in MP felt really valuable the first time you buy one. Looking through the other packs though, it doesn't seem like they are as good a deal as the first one you get when very low level, especially paying for more characters too that one may not need. My idea is for semi-expensive packs that contain a specific type of gear, guaranteeing at least one rare, uncommon, whatever. Similar to classic card-pack buying, one would be able to see what gear they could get in the different packs and get something that might be just what they need, or at least could be something to shore up a weak spot in their gear set.

For example there could be a Shields pack, a racial traits pack, or you could even be more specific and have like a Piercing Weapons pack, etc. I think if prospective pizza purchasers had more options to spend on something with a greater chance of being actually useful, without just turning their pizza into gold, pizza would increase in value.

More cosmetic options would be another great choice that won't offend free players.

One last thing, "pizza" seems, well... dumb. I get that you are trying to fit into the theme of the game, but the first time I saw it I said, seriously? The feeling has not subsided, how can I take the real money currency seriously when it is called pizza. It also makes no sense, how do you spend pizza to get packs, its not even roleplayed as like buying pizza for someone in exchange for their characters gear. Gary even mentions, i'll give you some of my personal pizza stash for that stuff for your character... what?

I think it should be "cash". No ambiguity, you pay cash and you get cash. Your characters have gold, your pc has cash to buy stuff for his characters. I assume you wanted to lean away from making it so obvious that you had real money currency, but that's what it is. Honestly I would pay for "cash" without a second thought if I thought it would increase my enjoyment of a good f2p game. I would have second thoughts about spending that same money on in-game pizza. Just some (chuckle) food for thought.

 

What I want most is Card Hunter to be still around in a year or two. And as the Blue Manchu guys need to pay for servers and such, and eat, and pay their mortgage, I find it important that the Card Hunter item store makes sufficient money to pay for all that. And honestly, I don't see that happening if only cosmetic items are sold. The shop needs to sell items that are useful for all players to make the game financially viable.

I like the current selection of things for sale. In addition I would like to be able to spend pizza to advance time by a week, that is enabling me to play the adventures I already played today again, and getting a new selection of items in all random shops.

 

A good sentiment. And it's certainly possible that you're right. We don't know that.. and considering we're in beta the devs probably don't know either how it's all going to turn out. Going back to what I was saying: I would prefer cosmetic microtransactions and additional content over.. convenience-related microtransactions. But that's me. And like you there are plenty of people who don't.

Think of it like this: the more the devs know what we like the more they can (if they wish) adjust Card Hunter. My point is two-fold:
-There are players who prefer not to purchase microtransactions for convenience's sake.
-There are players who wouldn't mind paying money for additional content /cosmetic microtransactions.
This doesn't mean I would rather see all convenience-related microtransactions go, I would rather see that the devs make sure that the players aren't pushed into using them. Of course those who wish it can use them if they want to improve their gear selection or the like.

 

Yes, you can.

 

Here is my thoughts on how to let folks use pizza. Let them unlock saved equipment sets. Make sure you can name them. 25 pizza for the first one, 50 pizza for the second, etc. Things like a fire set for my mage, and then a quick-swap for a spark set.

No real gameplay advantage, but well worth it!

 

IMO, this sounds like something that should be in the game for everyone, regardless of pizza.

 

That was my # 4 suggestion

4. Purchase item swap sets (or whole party sets)- one click to re-equip your character/party with your alternate items.

 

I don't think that feature should be restricted for paying players only, however I think with the new party swap introduction additional party/gear swap set slots for few pizza slices would be nice!

 

How about nice sounds that can be bought with pizza and added to single cards. Like you can add a "Ha Ha" sound to you parry or a war cry sound to your War Cry.
You and your opponent could hear it. Another layer of customization that is not P2W....

 

I would totally pay for an evil "Muahahahahahahaha!!". Lol. Seriously, though, I like this idea. Only thing is, I would want to be able to adjust the volume for these sounds.

Also, sorta along these lines, I like this person's idea: http://www.cardhunter.com/forum/threads/suggestion-add-amusing-animations-for-massive-overkill.2304/

 

Brilliant! Take my pizza now!
no seriously, it is getting a bit stale and I'm so full...