The purpose of this forum

You're right that statements such as "the logo is drab doesn't covey the sense of excitement I feel it should" are completely subjective - and so I think it's fair to say that such feedback would benefit from further clarification. For example, it would be helpful if the person could describe specifically what they think is drab about it, and how they'd change it to be more exciting (and perhaps even why they think it should be exciting at all). And I also think it would be fair to point out that origin of the logo's style, because that may help the person see why it looks the way it does and thus they may decide to withdraw their criticism.

... Obviously that was just a hypothetical example. As far as I know, no one on the forum is arguing about the logo. But the same kind of principles apply to the RNG stuff as well, which people are discussing. (By the way, since RNG stands for 'random number generator' it's probably better to say "there's too much randomness in the game" rather than "there's too much RNG in the game".)

If someone just said "there's too much randomness", I think it would be fair to ask that person "what makes you think there is too much randomness?" But generally speaking we don't have to ask, because people generally elaborate on that themselves. The complaints about randomness don't just say "there's too much randomness"; but rather they say "every game is decided by luck", "I lose too much because of luck", "I can't use any strategy because of luck", "the game is unfair because of luck", and so on. People give their reasons for why they don't like the randomness, and then other people dispute the reasoning.

Rather than just saying 'oh, you don't like randomness. ok then', I think it's probably more helpful to explain to the person why the game is the way it is, and how their complaint can be addressed. For example, I think it's fair to point out that luck certainly definitely doesn't decide the outcome of every game, and that the randomness of card draws and things like that are core to what this game is about. ie. That randomness isn't just a balance decision. It is part of the game's raison d'être.

There are many possible reasons why someone might criticize the game for being too random. And in my opinion if someone else happens to know an explanation or a counter-argument relevant to the criticism then they should post it. To me, that seems like healthy discussion, and I think that's generally what happens on these forums.

 

Karadoc, you hit the nail on the head. But the issue is that I am seeing negative responses to some of these statements rather than discussion.

Stuff like "Have you tried to build your deck thusly?" or "Do you try to adjust to the campaigns?" is potentially helpful. Stuff like "What can we do to make the game agreeable for you while retaining the good things that RNG brings to the table," even more so. But I have definitely seen a non-trivial amount of responses of the "No, there isn't too much RNG!!" variety. That's just not a correct way to approach that discussion.

 

Well, something like that...

Then again, there's plenty of ways to modify playstyle and deckbuilding to reduce the effect of randomness, and hence sometimes "heated" discussions. Which usually degenerates rather quickly, as those are things people don't want to and/or don't like to chance.

Applies to many usual topics. Ofc it's still valuable feedback, but for old members it seems more along the lines of "I want another game, won't bother to learn this one" atleast after few posts.

Edit: And then there's recurring topics that recieve plenty of support every time they appear. Probably not as much as they deserve, just because longtime members have expressed their support for the idea multiple times.

 

@Pengw1n: I think the opening to that thread was excellent. I haven't had a chance to read the whole thing yet, but I'm very intrigued to see how it pans out.

@Forduc: I understand where you and other seasoned players are coming from. However, nobody is actually saying "I want another game, won't bother to learn this one." However badly they're saying it, what they're really saying is "I want to like this game but it's making me frustrated." Players that aren't interested or invested at all don't make posts talking about their frustration, they generally just move on to another game in a quiet way. There is nothing wrong with the game evolving to ensure that new players tend NOT to be frustrated by it. A negative attitude towards frustrated new-comers is always, ALWAYS detrimental to the success of a game.