[Suggestion] Hide cards during discard phase & remove item names

Pretty self explanatory. I think it would add a nice strategic element if you didn't quite know if a player kept certain cards or not between rounds. During the round, a card would still be visible once activated.

Obviously you'd also have to make it so visually your opponent couldn't see which card you were discouting (by tracking the card positions of the previously seen cards).

 

It may seem self explanatory to you, but I'm really not sure what you're talking about.

Are you saying that cards in your hand which have been revealed to your enemy should stop being revealed at the end of the round? I think that would be a strange bit of game-design, and it probably isn't what you mean. But I don't know what you actually mean.

 

Yes, that is what I mean. Why would it be strange?

 

I don't personally like games that add hidden but trackable information. Also, Devastating Blow etc. would change a bit.

 

I would prefer the opposite. Make the discard pile searchable would be a nice thing and I would not have to keep track of so much information.

 

This idea has merit, and it actually doesn't just hide trackable information if implemented as suggested. Here's what an end-of-turn phase would look like:

1. All revealed cards are hidden (perhaps excluding ones that don't count towards the hand-limit and not hiding any cards if the character doesn't need to discard any)
2. Each character discards down to the hand-limit, but the discards are not shown to their opponents

What does #2 imply? Obviously, the current "So-and-so discarded X." messages would need to be removed from the battle log, but it also entails changing the animations associated with discarding. Instead of the current animations that reveal which cards were discarded, it would need to be replaced with one that only shows how many cards were discarded. At this point, it's very possible for cards to go from a player's deck to their hand to their discard pile without the opponent ever knowing what they were, and it would be impossible to know whether that enemy warrior decided to discard his Cushioning Armor, Laser Thrust, or Laser Whip (although it was probably the laser whip ).

And if all of this were done along with removing the item names from cards, it would make something like this highly impractical. It's probably also worth noting that replacing the item names on cards with character names would make certain elements of game-state much easier to keep track of (think Varied Combustion).

Should this be done? Maybe. But either this or making all of that currently trackable information readily available in-game should be considered; otherwise players using third party tools are eventually going to have a very large advantage over players without them, which probably isn't a great thing. Regardless, players should at the very least be able to see what's in their own decks/discard piles.

 

I think making all cards go back to hidden would actually detract from the kind of meaningful strategic choices you make during/after the discard phase. But then probably it's only me.

That being said though, I do agree that

1) Item names shouldn't appear on the card's description. Several people (including me) have suggested this before and I would totally vouch for it.
2) Cards shouldn't be revealed upon discarding (assuming they haven't been revealed already).

 

I agree. The less people know about what you are playing, the better, especially if you didn't even play it!

 

I don't like this one bit. I wish when you checked the log it contained the item tag instead of just the generic card.

Since this is virtual there is not really a discard pile, but traditionally in CCG discards or graveyards are fully open to be viewed and in MtG specifically some cards can effect or trigger based on the graveyard.

 

The fact it is virtual doesn't change much. In fact the game does keep track of all of your discards just like it'd be the case in a physical game.

It just so happens that we do not have that kind of functionality (going through your discard pile). Yet. The devs might very well add cards which do stuff with the discard pile in the future.

 

It changes the very real feature of being able to see the item name since it not visible when you review the log. Like I said not really a discard pile. In QD especially I am very aware of the numbers for cards left in deck vs. cards in graveyard, since you can be left with a 0 deck and cards like Inspiration won't have it's effect if your target's deck is at 0.

 

Flavour wise, I see the point of having the item name being present on the card name, after all visually the character is supposed ot be wearing/using the item, so in-universe my characters just SEE that that elf is using a vibrant pain rather than a lochaber axe.

Mechanically, I would prefer that cards would have the character name ( or position) rather the item name, knowing that that elf is using a vibrant pain for sure rather than lochaber axe takes away a layer of strategy from it. such as "Ok I know for sure he has 2 major tokens invested here and on a bejewelled, so i don't have to worry about there being an aegis or prismatic crown, so I can XXX or YYY" , I'd rather have "ok he played a nimble strike, could be vibrant pain, could be lochaber axe so I could ZZZ or JJJ". I find ZZZ and JJJ preferable to XXX and YYY

 

Yeah I see what you mean. I was actually meaning it from a technical perspective, rather than a functional one.

All I was trying to say is, BM could very well show item names in the log too, if they wanted to, as all the required data is already in place and being kept track of. The absence of item names from the discards in the log are due to how the log has been implemented, rather than the lack of a discard pile.

Regarding QD, I don't see much of a difference (again, from a technical point of view). Pretty sure you would see the same behavior in regular MP games. It's simply much rarer that a player ever empties is whole deck when it is 42 cards rather than 7.

Would you like the ability to browse a character's discard pile/graveyard? I know I certainly would. Although I still think item names shouldn't be displayed on cards, be it those from the discard pile or otherwise.

 

How much has removing item names from cards been discussed in the past? I think this is a good thing to do. Is it worth making a separate thread about it?

 

It has been discussed quite a bit, although I do not remember if we ever had a thread entirely dedicated to that specific point. A quick forum search didn't bring up anything.

Also, I don't think posting a brand new thread is worth it, as you could edit this thread's name into "[Suggestion] Hide cards during discard phase & remove item names " or something.

 

I don't really want to be able to view the discard piles since this is a tactical advantage (a minor one) that I don't feel like I would take the time to do much.
But I really would want the log to have the item names on it. It is already exposed information, I just choose to not pause cards, because I am impatient and have less free time than I would like.

I just brought up QD because the 0 cards left in deck matters and it is so very rare with the full 36 card deck, in a longer match it might happen once, where as in QD it happens in round 3 with no traits or draws or can happen earlier although from my (slightly questionable) memory the deck only "flips" before the draw and doesn't for in round draws.

Honestly it is a very minor point of item names being present or not, I am usually more interested in seeing what people are running from a future deck building perspective vs. in-game strategy but with certain items (e.g. Searing Pain) knowing someone is firing a Flash of Agony from a Searing Pain vs. something w/o Fireball is nice to know.

But I can say I have never felt like I had an advantage from knowing items or not.

 

It's actually a pretty useful piece of information. I think most high-rankers do check it regularly as cards are being played. I know for a fact I certainly do.

Granted, even without item names, you can get a somewhat of good idea of the equipment being played.

But if you really get into the habit of paying close attention to item names on cards, I think you'll rapidly get a feeling of the kind of advantage you can get. It doesn't even slow you down in any meaningful way, once you get used to it.

 

Yeah I'm usually tired or intoxicated or both when I play... adding an extra layer (e.g. having to click every time a card is played) is not a good idea. I tried it a few times and I am constantly holding up the game because I forget it is my turn.
Yes I am a veteran player despite ignoring what my opponent does half the time... WHICH, excuse me, which is why i want item name in the log.

 

I'd really like to be able to see the item a card is from in the battle log, not just when it's played or revealed in hand. Like @Bandreus said, some players user this info to gain an edge. But players also use it to learn about other player's builds. So yeah, improved spying features

 

I'd rather it let you browse their build after the game is over and keep the items out of sight during the game.