First impressions thread

See that selection button at the top of the item area which currently says 'All items' ? Click on that and select Treasure. (It will only show up in the list if you actually have treasure in your inventory so it can be easy to miss...)

The devs mentioned this is already on their to-do list so it should show up eventually.

Well, there are various ways of getting more cards. Altruism, Talented Healer, Unholy Energy, Inspiring Armor...

 

And my faves:

 

Thanks for that. I had looked for treasure there, and didn't see it. (I would suggest they still have the drop down for it even if you have none and just display a blank area or 'none' in the inventory area.


Thank you though for helping out. It was nice last night, as I got into a fairly detailed chat discussion with several of the players. Lots of great info!

 

I forgot to post my first impressions when I first joined... but I do remember that my earlier impressions were that although I was having fun, I didn't like having Garry hold my hand the whole time. I mean I didn't like that Garry would describe every little detail of the game, and tell me what I should do to win battles and stuff like that. "Move here; use that attack; equip that item; ..."

I certainly appreciate that all that stuff Garry says needs to be in the game somewhere, so that players can be told what the need to know - but for me personally I usually prefer to learn how to play game by just clicking stuff and seeing what happens. I'd generally prefer to be able to skip the tutorial, and if there are some obscure game mechanics that I don't work out by just playing - then hopefully I'll find out about them from one of the loading tips at some later time.

--

Unfortunately for me, in Card Hunter the 'tutorial' is kind of part of the story. Anyway, none of that's a big deal. I'm just saying that that's one aspect of the game I didn't like when I first starting playing.

 

First impressions. Absolutely GREAT game. It hits all my nerdy spots from old school pen and paper RPing, Hero Quest style of board game and trading card game. Great blend and far more simple than it could have become trying to make all genres fit into a new one.

Amazing story in the main campaign. My characters are up to level 13 and massively enjoying every single stereo type being played. Art is great. Maps are challenging and yet can be overcome with better gear/tactics. Loved going back to level 1 module and destroying it with my far better geared new party. MP has been fun but not as addictive as it could have been, a bit boring after a while. Only so many times you can PvP in a day before getting bored. I love how most of purchases don't seem intrusive or necessary, but you find yourself wanting to support the company and buy the available stuff. Still, awesome overall with just a few nitpicky things.

Cons: Story 1) doesn't repeat on second play through. Wish there was at least an option to activate that. 2) There REEEEAAAALLLY needs to be a button to cancel move cards. I've desired to undo a move card selection far too many times. 3) MP doesn't have dungeon co-op. Disappointing. 4) I wish there was a way someone could play the role of Gary during a MP match, kind of bring the whole RPing D&D experience to the PC with friends where one plays GM and the others play against him. 5) There needs to be a way to separate MP toons from single player. I deleted my MP toons by accident. 6) Miss the rogue type character. Picky I am, I know.

Mainly, I can see myself spending money on future modules for SP campaign or future MP co-op more than anything. I bought some pizza already just to support the company. This game can potentially be limitless.

 

From the FAQ thread:

 

Well, those are hopeful answers at the least. Thanks!

 

Yeah today I decided to stop playing the beta. I wouldn't say it's the difficulty as much as the grind. Right now I'm at a point where I need specific setups to take down maps, and to get the equipment I need to redo maps to buy them or train up new members. I don't care about the story enough to put up with it. Couple that with the beta resetting everything, and that's gg.

I don't want to hate this game when it's in the final form so I respectfully quit. So while I think this game is cool, it's just not time for me to play it right now.

 

Card Hunter is a unique mix of Card games, RPGs, and board games such as D&D. (I say unique for I have not checked to see if there are any like it out there.) It focuses on getting epic loot to get powerful cards so you can destroy powerful monsters. I quite like two aspects of this game. The first is the blocking armor system. Whenever I roll the dice to block or reduce damage it brings me back to when I played D&D with my family. (And that was quite fun.) The second aspect is the loot system. It feels so gratifying to open the chest at the end getting the loot. I never really feel that way with other games but with Card Hunter I really feel happy when I get that rare or legendary armor. I think they pulled it off quite well. (I think it's the sound effects.) I don't really have anything bad to say except that they could maybe add one more class. (They have Warrior, Mage, and Priest and they have a Human, Elfen, and Dwarf choice for each of them.) They should still keep the 3 people in the party but I would like to see an archer or a necromancer. It would be interesting to see how they pull it off. Very enjoyable, addictive game and I look forward to see what they will do with it in the future.

 

I can sum up my first impressions thus: addictive but not fun.

It's something I'm still learning to be able to tell difference between. It's easy to get addicted to mechanics, especially RPG-like mechanics where you level up and get better equipment. There are a lot of games that take advantage of this - you feel like leveling up, but is the core game actually interesting?

I realized (after playing for about 5-6 hours, getting up to level 8) that I wanted to go back to play, yet at the same time there was no mechanic that I wanted to go tell anyone about (which is a usual sign for me when I love a game). Thus: addictive but not fun.

It's surprising to come to that conclusion, because I'm a perfect intersection for this game: a lifelong turn-based game player and a recent board game addict. But for some reason this game scratches neither itch. Ultimately I think it comes down to having a lackluster deck due to basic items. As a result I get a lot of draws with nothing good in it. My one or two good items don't make up for it most of the time.

The game could be fun if I had better access to items (and thus could actually do some deck building) but I'm not going to grind (I hate it) nor put money in when it's not fun yet. So it seems like I'm stuck in a catch-22; it would be more fun if I had better cards, but I won't have better cards because I won't play the game much more.

I do want to give props to the good parts of the game. The engine is incredible; I can't believe flash could run so well. It's solid and whoever coded it gets my kudos. The art direction is great and the back story (brothers GM) is funny. I think the tutorial does a good job introducing the game.

In other words - I think most things are great about the game except some of the core game mechanics, which is unfortunately the most important aspect to me. The game needs to make money, thus there must be a carrot of better items - but without better items, it is uninteresting to me.

 

I'm only level 6 or so. First impressions:
I love the mechanics and the theming of Card Hunter, and I'm very turned off by the cash-grab feel of the emphasis on pizza slices.

The way the core game works, building decks from items and using them to move characters, is great. I'm gradually learning how to be successful, it's easy to tweak my deck when I realize I need more cards of a certain type, etc.
It is really annoying sometimes when my human Warrior draws nothing but move cards 3 turns in a row (out of a deck that's 75% red), but that is somewhat the nature of card games.

The theming, with the campaign books, the brothers arguing, etc, is also top-notch. It's very charming and does a good job of teaching you the game as well.

I'm absolutely in love with these aspects of the game, and yet I'm torn - I'm not even sure I'd recommend it to friends because the emphasis on in-app-purchase of pizza slices for success is so off-putting and feels so exploitative.
Within the first couple of hours of the Campaign/tutorial, you're shown three different ways to spend real money on the game, two of which have serious gameplay ramifications. It feels like from the moment a new player starts you're just doing EVERYTHING possible to trick them into spending real money, in the worst, Zynga-y way.

I have no objection to free-to-play games in general, but I'm easily turned off by exploitative purchases. League of Legends is, in my book, the perfect way to structure a fair, profitable free-to-play game:

• Everything that has a gameplay effect can be purchased with the non-cash currency earned in the game
• Everything you can purchase with real money is an explicit purchase of a specific item, not a random chance at something

A card-based game doesn't necessarily have an easy way to do the latter, but nothing turns me off faster than "Spend some real money for a small chance at something useful to you and a large chance at a useless item!".


Likewise, at level 6 it already feels like the grind to get good items WITHOUT spending real money is going to be absurd and unpleasant.


Again, returning to the League of Legends example: to "grind" more Influence Points and purchase stuff without spending real money, you play the game normally. You have no particular gameplay disadvantages - just a smaller roster of champions to pick from. Every game is different by virtue of being multiplayer, and your skill is by far the largest factor in your success. Card Hunter already feels like the options (in the campaign, at least) will be: do the same low-level stuff over and over and over OR spend cash. Or play against random strangers, who were able to spend cash to augment their decks, completely overshadowing the skill element.


If Card Hunter were balanced around campaign primarily through gameplay, NOT expecting users to spend money to get items:


I would happily spend a chunk of one-time cash to "buy" Card Hunter.
I would happily spend cash to buy new campaigns that were released, with new storylines/enemies/items/characters.
I might spend small amounts of cash on specific cool items... but only if you can save up gold and get the same stuff.


I will NOT spend a monthly fee for an extra random chance at a good item. I might do this one-time (this could be the "buy Card Hunter" option), but not monthly.
I will NOT spend cash on treasure chests hunting for decent items.
I will NOT spend cash to unlock single treasure hunt missions.


Maybe this is just me. But the cash-grab Zynga feel of the emphasis on pizza just utterly turns me off, and that makes me super-sad because the actual game here is a gem.

 

Regardless of how good the value actually is for real money, the fact that it's SO in your face right away is a turn-off.
Basically it doesn't even matter what the actual business model or value is, because the immediate impression I get is "this is like Candy Crush (or any number of other exploitative Facebook games)". It has the FEEL of those games, which makes me distrust it and makes me less likely to spend money.

I realize the devs have to pick a model that makes money. But if it FEELS like you're trying to get rip people off, it's going to be a turn-off for some folks.

Add to this the fact that I have basically ZERO desire to play multiplayer because I know that anyone I'm up against could have sunk a bunch of cash into their deck while I have not, and it adds up a negative impression.

And remember, LoL doesn't have the model it does because they have 30 million players - it had the same purchase model from its launch. Arguably it has 30 million players partly because its purchase model feels so fair.

 

I agree about the "in your face" aspect, for me it is specifically because after each adventure you are shown exactly the item you are "missing". That's fine the first time to demonstrate the value of the Club, but after a few times it gets a bit weird and sometimes frustrating. I can see why it is done that way, but still.

Also, I'm not a big fan of the fact the Club subscription is time-based. I'd rather pay for a number of bonus chests (like 100 chest instead of a month), especially as you can't go below one month at a time. I'm not confident enough in my playtime in the coming month to pump money in it. That would feel more fair to me if I just paid for the next 100 aventures or something, especially since the value of it is really measured in the number of chests you'll get, unlike a MMO subscription that gives you playtime for example.

 

ok my very first impression was "YES!!! finely a D&D game that looks just like i remember playing ." then i started playing and got to Gary talking about buying pizza to open some things up in game, then i was "CRAP!!! its going to be P2W." However after playing for week i do see that really its not that big of a deal. you really only paying to progress faster and i can live with that. (i will be most likely buying a membership to the club later )

Now i've been playing for about a week and am loving the game. there are some things i like more then others , but thats how it is in any game.
things i don't like:
seeing the locked adventures that you can only do if you pay for them. also i think they cost more then they should be as well.

that sad feeling you get when you see what could have got for a reward if you were a club member. that said, im not against having the reward for club members, just think you should have a turn on/off option to see it.

things i do like:
the new way you've reinvented getting cards for your deck. and the fact that they are all available to be found for free.

the look and feel of the game is very fun and the re-playability is great.

i really like how you've made buying gear so easy. the sorting options are great and the double click on gear slot to bring up only that gear is very nice to have.

some things i would like to see improved: (and im sure some may very well be already in works)
races, would love to see more races put into the game over time.

classes, i know that the rouge class is coming soon.

in the create your own map i would love to see you be able to add AI mobs along with 2 real players just to really give that extra edge and to be able to create your own campaign would be awesome

as more things come to mind i'll come back and write them down
over all so far so good, keep up the good work.

 

I haven't played enough yet to comment on game mechanics (some things I'm not liking or understanding might have a perfectly sound explanation, I'd guess) but besides that my first impression is that the game is really really cool.

I've been playing classic rol and board games for years, although as we grow older it becomes increasingly hard to hang with friends and play. It's great to get a game that gets so close to the experience.

The first thing that catches the eye is that Card Hunter looks stunningly good. The design is just great, and it's filled with lots of little animations that bring life to what otherwise is just a board with a bunch of figures. Congratulations to Blue Manchu, they got it perfectly right.

Regarding the free-to-play/pay-to-win (or whatever you want to call it), so far no complains. I dislike games that try to get you addicted with a free price tag only to make you hit an unavoidable paywall later on... again this is just a beta and I've been playing only for a couple of days, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.
I've finished every adventure up to the Forest of Souls and only got my ass handed to me on Beneath the Frozen Earth. While it sure would be easier if I was forking money to improve my equipment I'm getting enough rewards to progress nicely.

As long as it stays that way, I'm fine with it.

I don't think I'll ever spend money on equipment. If it comes to be that I actually need to spend money on that to progress I'd seriously consider not playing anymore.
What I might pay for, though, is for things like unblocking extra quests (as you can currently do)

I haven't been following these forums for long and I haven't read every thread so I don't know if this has been mentioned, but one thing I'd like is being able to play complete standalone alternative campaigns. Those campaigns could be unlockable with pizza and selectable from the main menu.
The thing about alternative campaigns is that you could set up a story with, say, a main enemy, named specific foes, objectives... if you have played Descent you should know what I mean.

Maybe that's out of the scope for Card Hunter, but I think that kind of adventure would be well work some pizza, much unlike (in my opinion) chests, figures and extra reward items.

Other thing I'd really like (and this one I know has been requested already) is coop. For me, playing rol/board games is intrinsically tied to playing along with friends, and it feels somewhat odd to play alone. I mean, it's fine and fun, but I'd like it as an option rather than the main single focus (I know there's PvP but I'm not really into that).

 

My first impression was "wow"! This is a total amazing throwback to the old days of D&D when I was growing up. Graphics.. controls.. learning curve.. challenge.. loot system.. pretty much everything I've been impressed with and was very much looking forward to buying pizza and telling my friends about it. However, I ran into one thing that I did not care for at all. When you get to multiplayer for the first time and are given the Adventurer's Starter Pack for PvP.. I'm not digging that those much more powerful items are added to your campaign's pool of items. I get that you can earn items in PvP and PvE and use them between each play type (that's cool) but I feel those items that come with the starter pack (and perhaps all purchased PvP packs) should not be added to your general campaign items. The item progression to that point was fun, exciting, and engaging (made me want to join the Club!) but to all of a sudden get these "higher tier" items it totally through off the pace of item progression for me in the campaign(I realize you can't use most of them at that point due to power).

Please consider a solution to those PvP pack items.. like bind them to PvP only(just the starter items not ones actually earned through PvP) and not allow them to drop into your campaign inventory right after trying out the PvP tutorial and going back to campaign. Thanks for listening.

 

Ok i got my key today, and got most of my characters to lvl 4...

and i must say i had lots of fun. Didn't care much for the gm's story and his brother... it didn't really engage me...

had fun getting gear, and trying out new powers for my characters. When i got the free pizza to buy a chest, i bought a gold chest. I was lvl 2 or 3.... and i got 4 pieces lvl 15-18 gear out of it... uhm yeah... can't use this, and now i have to carry this around for a long long time until i can even try to use it... not good design...

then in one of the first missions, before you truly know the game, i ran into some golems. With stacks and stacks of armor... was almost impossible to get through, since i had no idea i would need a setup, and didn't have much that was piercing or removed cards or armor... not good to have that kind of enemies this early in the game, unless you have it in the tutorial to begin to worry about enemies with really good stacking armor.

Also, the troglodytes, which does nothing but constantly move away from you, forcing you to only defeat them with one tactic.... same goes for the imps... both of them have too much ranged, and too much movement... ranged combat encounters should have the ranged side be limited by movement. They simple weren't fun to play, as it was mostly a chess match, trying to checkmate one mob... then the next... then the next... repeat and repeat for a long long time... not fun at all.

And having boss encounters, where they take over 50% hitpoints per hit from your tanks... uhm with the few cards i have, i had to run away with all characters, whittling them down. And if it was lucky, it had 3+ movement cards and hit for 11+ hitpoints a hit... instantly removing one of my characters from the board... again, not fun...

besides that, i'm having fun... wish there were more low level missions i could repeat, instead of them only refreshing once a day...