PvE droprates are too low

I'm fine with that stance, but that has little to do with how good the the rewards in SP are, or aren't (which is the thread's topic).

Keep in mind, CH still is a relatively young game + it's developed by a real small team.

It doesn't help that the vast majority of players just copy-cat the cool builds being posted on the forums. Nothing wrong with that, per-se, but then the process of exploring/discovering more and more varied builds is slowed down considerably, resources (time, gold) are poured into acquiring a relatively small set of cool items, and the meta gets less interesting.

Again, nothing inherently wrong with it, it's just how things go, especially early in the lifecycle of a game/product.

Obviously, the game could help some tweaks, allowing for even more build diversity. Not intended as a bash on Blue Manchu, those guys have been doing an awesome job, given they're not EA, Blizzard or Wizards.

We did get some "good" (YMMV) rounds of balance changes. I can't say I liked each and every change which has been done, but I did appreciate the effort + I think most changes were for the good.

Ofc, more can be done, but this is no easy task. I'm pretty sure Blue Manchu will keep doing its best.

Think I'm done with the OT

 

There is a bit of money involved in getting into MTG, which varies a lot depending which format you want to play. That said, a card is always available for some amount of money and in practice players build with the absolute best cards and easily acquire them to build whatever deck is desired. It's basically unheard of not to be able to find a card that you need for what you want to design. There's nothing legal in the game that you can't immediately have in your deck if you need it, and the more popular formats Standard and Modern aren't even that expensive to play. All these cards can be sold again for the same value too, so any deck easily morphs into any other one because the cards generally maintain their value.

Another model that's taken gaming by storm these last few years is the LCG, Living Card Game. The idea is it's entirely non-collectible. The cards are offered primarily in expansion packs which contain full playsets of each new card. You buy in, then you own everything from that set in the max playable amount. Contrary to what several players have suggested here, owning everything doesn't seem to stifle the variety of decks one bit - there is a huge amount of diversity in games like Android: Netrunner and Doomtown: Reloaded right now. Designs like this empower the innovation process; people innovate to challenge the existing ideas of what is good, to force other players to adapt to new ideas. These games don't seem to need artificial scarcity to cause or encourage that process.

I guess what I'm saying is there's a difference between innovating because your collection sucks and innovating as a response to the metagame. The former is artificial and arises not from a desire to do something differently or promote diversity by challenging the deck ideas of others, but simply because you can't build what you actually want to. I don't like that form of forced "innovation" because it limits my potential responses to the current field of decks I am seeing. I can't challenge the status quo very well because I can't field a deck that does that for lack of the proper items. I could brainstorm all day and decide that design X probably has a good shot at making things interesting... but the odds I can actually build that with the random set of items I have is pretty low, so there isn't much point in exercising that kind of high level theory because I can't readily put it into action like I could in the other games I mentioned. Maybe if I make it to a year in this game I might not feel that way any more, but will I find it interesting waiting for the chance to actually build the things I want to try? The answer is probably no. In the meantime I pretty much have to play 2 war 1 priest, not because I can't innovate a better deck than that, but because the game hasn't given me items that make any kind of workable wizard of any build, and only semi-passable priest items.

 

Yeah that's basically the LCG model I was just talking about. It would be a total shift in the game model though, like you'd probably have to charge for the base set and the expansion (to receive unlimited item access to each set, that is) and then come out with new sets regularly to keep new items/cards and thus new profit entering the system. I realize that's probably impossible at this stage, but I would pay for that to be the MP in this game, because it's so much better than the new player MP experience... and probably a lot more money than you could hope to get out of me in the game's current state, where my expenditures after the basic edition are probably just going to be weekly club here or there.

I can honestly say the new player MP experience in this game pretty much put me off MP entirely. Not that it was difficult - I won a hell of a lot. I couldn't shake the feeling that my deck was terrible even while I was winning. I guess it means a lot to me to have the right cards and items for a job, or perhaps more correctly it bothers me a lot not to have them.

 

I don't get what the point is, or how this has anything to do with SP droprates.

Alas, lots of things (both reasonable and unreasonable) have been stated in this thread already, so it doesn't really matter what's the direction this thread is going.

I still think this should be moved to the feedback subforum

 

Well, in MtG, there's no singleplayer mode that expands your collection... that's the point of reference, I'm pretty sure?

 

Exactly my point. I also think that's totally different.

+1

Well thread has gone off-topic way before this.. but better rewards = more competitive items = more variety ..

You cannot really order players to become deck-builders.. some like that, some not.. I even think, the more items player has the more changes he introduces into his deck..

 

Thinking more about the all-access option, I don't think it's as impossible as I initially judged it to be. Lets call it "Unlimited" for now. It could be a new MP game mode, with its own separate queue. Unlimited would unlock all the items in the max playable qty, but only available when you queue for Unlimited (similar to how your characters are only level 18 when you play MP). We'd have an Unlimited keep where you'd make your builds for that mode. It could be a 1-time fee per set you unlock in Unlimited, or a small monthly subscription to keep the mode active on your account - necessary because it removes the collectible aspect that currently drives purchases in other game modes. The point is it doesn't have to replace existing MP, so players can play with whatever experience they prefer - restricted items if playing challenged builds due to lack of items is preferable, or building anything they want but also knowing everyone else can do that too if a player prefers that experience.

 

Obviously there are varied opinions whether all items should be available or not. However it seems for those who would prefer an "Unlimited Mode" as Foz has coined it, maybe a possible idea in the current version of the game would be to start a regular "Unlimited" hour over on the test server. Use the forums to gather interest and set a time each day for people to play "Unlimited" on test. User created pre-set time game modes are already working well for those who want to get into co-op before it is in full fledged mode, I see no reason why it wouldn't work here if there's enough interest. And the test server provides everything already pre-packaged as everyone has access to every item in the game using the console codes. Please don't take this as me being dismissive, I see this as a legitimate option for what you've expressed you're looking for and as a potential means to get it in game at some point. User created events on the test server have spawned other actual game features (e.g. quick draw), and if enough regular interest builds on the test server, it's a concrete sign that is that much more motivating to the devs. Meanwhile you would get your "Unlimited Mode" right away rather than it merely being something on a "possibly someday" list.

 

I'm against unlimited mode .. there is joy in collecting for sure .. and I think that wont be an option ... first some players spent real money into this .. it's not fair so all get unlimited cards now .. second that changes game way too much..

 

My vote goes to more Karen drops

 

I still believe drops should be improved slightly across the board. Small enough that experienced players would just feel "a little luckier than normal".