People seemed pretty chill with the Leadership nerf, 'cause the game is in beta and everyone expects changes. But after release, when people have spent real money to get an item/card, they might not be quite as chill. I'm guessing devs have thought about this some, but I'd love to hear what people's ideas are about ensuring balance after release.
I think the developers should just go ahead and make whatever balance changes they think are necessary without worrying too much about people becoming upset that their overpowerful items are no longer overpowerful. It would be nice if every card and item was well balanced on the first release of the game, but I think that's unrealistic - especially if new content is being added after release. When an item or card is found to be choking variety and innovation out of the game by being too powerful, then it should be changed. The long term balance of the game is more important than the short term cost of devaluing people's items and builds. I can think of lots of different multiplayer games which have had frequent and significant balance changes made well after the game's release - and although no everyone is happy about every change, the updates are generally seen as a positive thing by the community.
And luckily in a computer game, there's a better option than the Magic approach of just banning certain cards from tournament play.
Yeah, we're going to have to suck this up. I know people will get upset but we don't really have a choice. Cards and items are going to change after release. You heard it here.
Even if cards never change their text, they can get nerfed by the metagame anyway. So there's no way round it, really. Also, I feel that in Card Hunter, at least with current marketing models, there will not be the same connection between a specific card and the money spent for it, even if it came from the Card Hunter Club or was in a treasure hunt (I think most people will buy treasure hunts mostly for the content).
No one will blame a dev who is frank, open and forthright in doing their work ensuring the playerbase is well-looked after and their fun is maintained. Perfect balance is a mythical creature. Its only when a sudden major balance patch changes the entire meta-game landscape that causes tsunamis of flames/whines/complaints/youknowhat and throws the playerbase into disarray.
I'll be frank here and say there's no argument for not changing item post-release. There isn't any item you bought directly with money (unlike D3's RMAH). You either bought a chest or get that item randomly. (Except treasure chest guaranteed reward. Technically you didn't buy that item either, you win it yourself). So obviously cards/item is going to change in the future and there won't be a problem with that.
That wasn't bought with pizza (real money). The argument is with real money equivalence of virtual items. Gold are just in-game currency.
Who says it wasn't? Think it through a little more. I see a legendary items I want/need. I purchase pizza, convert to gold and purchase the item I really want. The item then changes to remove the card that was the reason I wanted the item in the first place. So yes, you can pay real money to acquire a specific item should it appear in a store.
You can do it doesn't mean its value is equivalent. Gold and Pizza are not equivalent currency. Otherwise you can freely convert between them. Converting pizza to gold is considered a loss. I agree that by doing so, you can feel like you paid for the item with real money. However, no one sell you for that item with real money since you purchased it with in-game gold. Therefore, no one is responsible for refunding you. The decision to convert pizza to gold is the moment that argument lose its value. (Here is where the game sell you gold for real money. Asking for refunds is allowable at this stage only if you are not satisfied with the gold you bought (or gold value got changed)). There's even another layer of abstraction between real money and pizza, but I won't get into that. Even, and even if, an item can be purchased directly with pizza but can still be earned by playing normally, I would still go for a no refunds policy. Unless that item cannot be obtained otherwise without money like skin, costume; then I will start asking for refunds if suddenly my costume is changed and looks downright stupid.
But hasn't Magic been very successful with this approach? Could it be because there is something about feeling overpowered (all be it in a limited format) which means people hunt for banned OP cards?
Not feel like, you ARE trading real money in order to get an item. I'm not suggesting you should get a refund, just stating that you can pay real money to get an item.
