Alright, so I've finished the single player campaign, done a couple of quests, and won an epic chest in multiplayer. I haven't done any of the treasure hunts because I'm a pizza hoarder. I am now qualified to post feedback . First: I really like the game. Obviously if I've done all that since getting into beta in the latest round I've kind of played the crap out of it. The combat is tight and making builds is fun. I have no complaints about the balancing of the missions. There were a few I had to try a couple of times, but that's legitimate: sometimes a challenge is going to require you to rethink your tactics, and that's what I felt like I was doing, rather than hoping to get lucky. Also: DAMN YOU DAMN DIRTY WAR MONKEYS. I like the writing in the campaign. It really did remind me of my good old adolescent days of 2nd edition D&D (I'm 30, as a reference point). Upon reading the notes on the last mission you may imagine me wiping away a single tear of joy. Melvolous reminds me of the more egregious bits of fanservice inserted into campaigns for previous characters and made me grin. (Also: with one super obvious lyrical change, this: ). I only experienced a few bugs. There is the one that's been discussed here about the inconsistency of the application of encumber. I'm also still not sure how encumber applies to group enemies. Occasionally a card gets 'stuck' on screen and you have to play around it. This seems to happen when multiple things are trying to resolve at the same time. Once this stopped the battle and I had to reset, otherwise it's just stuck on screen and you have to play around it. It's pretty likely these are two different bugs. Multiplayer has been fun so far, but I haven't played a ton of it. The epic chest is REALLY hard to get in 24 hours and I ended up staying up until 2 in the morning to do so, even though I won 20/23 matches. If you calculate an average 3 minute wait and 15 minute match (seems reasonable based on my experience) you get SIX HOURS of playing and that's if you win every match. Maybe that's a bit much? I mean, I understand it's supposed to be a challenge, but that's just a lot of time. The one card I'm worried about for degenerate strategies as people get more complete collections is illusionary wall. That's really tough to counter and I think you should probably have LOS into it from the next tile. Speaking of those three lost matches... they were ALL to Amy! So you're AI is pretty good. Of course, I got her number after that and beat her a couple of times, but she forced me to change my build up for the better. Sometimes the AI does ridiculous things, like passing in really bad situations, and randomly moving around a bunch at the end of the turn when it could have gotten 'first strike' by just passing and discarding all those worthless moves. On pizza: this is something people are always going to have strong opinions about because money. A lot of people have complained about it, but I think the current club implementation is fine, I don't mind being teased, and in fact sometimes its nice to see items I've never seen before. For your marketing department: As a 30 year old moderate gaming programmer with more money than time, who likes the game and wants to sink some money into it, these are the things I am likely to buy and why: 1. I am very likely to buy the big pack that unlocks the treasure hunts. I really enjoyed all the maps, and opening up more maps seems like a good deal for that amount of money. 2. I am not likely to buy chests with pizza. This feels like cheating and shortcuts the reward system. 3. I am fairly unlikely to buy the club membership as I don't feel like the month subscription is a good deal and I don't want to commit to a long-term relationship. 4. I may buy some skins as I want to look cool in multiplayer. I'd probably be more likely to buy them if they were even mildly customizable (my dwarf has RED pants! I'm unique!). I understand that opens up a bit of a technical can of worms. Things I want: Inventory management/build management has been discussed a lot in the forums, if I'm getting the vibe right. I've read a few threads but haven't read extensively. I think build management (being able to save an equipment set) is far more important, as build management is really the reason I want most of the functionality of item management. Item management (separate folders, labeling items as 'to sell' etc.) would be nice. Perhaps it's a lower priority for me as I just started doing quests and realizing I should have just kept EVERYTHING. Long term (you don't want to split a small multiplayer community, but I believe you'll get large) I'd like to see 'level leagues' where you scale down the party to level 5, 10, or 15. This is a pretty common desire in other communities, sort of a powered down, often more casual multiplayer setting. Like pauper in MTG. Everyone's going to ask for co-op and here's why: when I play with strangers, I want to show them how cool I am by beating the living crap out of them. When I play with friends, I want to show them how cool I am by saving the day with my greatness. The infinite dungeon. Surely you've played Star Ocean right? The 'endless dungeons' were a really fun single player endgame. Something like that would extend the life of the game. Combined with co-op, this would be really fun. There's a minorly annoying glitch when you first start getting square talents where if you're using all your talents (and of course you are) an item using a clear talent starts using a square talent. You have to unequip this item to equip a square talent item, rather than the game realizing it doesn't actually need a square and swapping the talents. I know you can fix this. Search your feelings. You know it to be true. Edit: Small addition about the maximum wait timer in multiplayer: it's brutal in beta, and part of what makes it take forever to get the epic chest. This is another problem I expect to be somewhat ameliorated by going live, as I'll have a lot more opponents! =)
Really nice post - and I couldnt let it pass without some approval, plus it resonates with my impressions so far. Youngster! I love the writing, naming and the art - the early campaign references The Keep on the Borderlands (D&D 1979/80) and, I think, the style of the UK modules like Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh - really took me back. Same. Same. Bought it already - impatience to see more fun stuff and combos got the better of me. And I do want to support the devs here. I'll buy them to look good for me, in single player - I am an RPGer at heart, so my little guys' appearance matters to me I'll be asking for it - I play online games with my friends and co-op is BY FAR the biggest draw for us into a game - give co-op and I can guarantee at least three others joining. Any form of replayability that isnt on a timer would be a massive bonus - I just read a thread in which two people discussed how they were both just sitting waiting on timers, and I am typing this for the same reason. I dont understand why they exist here, there seems no need. I play a lot of Poxnora, (a salute to the cactus that is Sok, who I have seen posting here) and in that game I can play single player content endlessly, trying new combos and just having fun levelling up my folks. Gray
Hey, you mentioned quests: could you help out over here? A bunch of us are having some trouble, but we're folks who played everything before the reset: you started playing (I presume) after the reset, and don't seem to have any problem with getting at the quests. As to Encumber (or Halt, or Move boost) effects on a group: here's a recent thread. It depends on the "individual" who "played" the card. No, that's not very helpful for understanding.
I agree about the incentive for co-op. I tend to draw a lot of people into a game if I can play some co-op with them. It also becomes yet another incentive for collecting the shinies when you can show them off to people you actually know in a context where they will appreciate them.
