First impressions thread

I actually haven't played any table-top RPGs in my life, although I've always wanted to, so this was a totally new experience for me! I'm absolutely loving it so far. The mechanics are deep and I can already tell that this is a very well-constructed game. But most importantly, this games is really really fun. I have a blast playing the levels and getting better loot. I enjoy the story with Melvin and Gary, I think it adds a lot of charm to the game. I also love the little booklets that it shows at the beginning of each module. The atmosphere makes the game a lot more fun on top of the gameplay itself.

I was a bit confused at some points by some game mechanics, such as armor and the dice roll system. I managed to figure that out quickly although I think those could be explained better. I also think the loot and selling screen feel a bit cluttered and claustrophobic, although I'm not sure what could really be done about that. That might just take some getting used to. Part of what makes it feel awkward is that all the panes aren't fully in view and it requires dragging to see everything. I'm used to having all the relevant panes completely in frame, so it feels off to me. I also feel that the gold and pizza counter at the top is a bit large and makes it harder to see; maybe it would be better in a corner? The game can also get a little bit choppy for me (probably because I have other tabs open), but that improves in fullscreen mode. Those are just minor UI gripes though. The game itself is a hell of a lot of fun and I can see myself playing this a lot. Can't wait to see what new adventures await!

 

Hi everyone

After a week of play i must say im pretty impressed and im already hooked on the game. I have been focusing on the campaign mode, bought a few characters and i have been testing with them, the range of tactics and strategies available is pretty good so far but theres room for improvement. I find the race specific items rather limited yet.

User interface is pretty clean and looks wonderful, the gear select screen is pretty well setup but theres 2 annoying things, when you first search by text the space key to open up the cards on the items stops beeing available since it adds up a space on the text field. The other is you have to drag and drop every treasure item to sell them, seems unnecessary.

Even without a manual the learning curve is easy (although i have pleanty of experience with RPGs, DD and MtG), the tips on each text are explanation enough for the most part.

Regarding the gameplay its wonderful, it really feels like a normal board game, the 2 variants of gear setup and actual play are cool and enjoyable, sure you spend a lot of time building up the characters gears but theres no way around it if you want options (in truth its what makes it so good), and like i said before theres lot of room for improvements. Fire is the killer so far, i hope to see element related strategies in the future like water, ice, earth, air and so on.

Overall its a very good game so far that will get even better, im sure i will keep playing daily since i didnt even started on multiplayer yet

 

Hi all,

Joined up about three days ago, and been having fun playing the first few missions, really is a great unique game and brings back memories of Hero Quest.

Overall as a single player game it looks great, feels great and plays great. However I'm not a single player gamer, I usually never finish games that are single player and get bored after a few days, which is where I am right now. As much as I like the game, playing alone against the AI all the time is boring, even if the AI is different and the adventures are different.

I haven't tried the MP side of things out yet, mainly because I've been reading on here about how Gary eventually introduces you to it so thought I would wait for that, but as I said I'm already bored of waiting.

Also reading on here about MP a few things concern me, firstly it appears the matchmaker sometimes matches you against the AI.... why? If I want to play MP I want to play real people, not the AI. I can understand you are trying to reduce queue times, but that is not the fault of the game, but the lack of players playing MP. I would hate to queue up for a game and then find out I'm just facing the AI, no matter how challenging they are, they are still designed to be beatable and are scripted.

Secondly it seems you need to gain items from the campaign to have good items in mp, and also characters are auto-leveled to lvl 18, but again why? Why do I need to play the campaign to enjoy the multi-player? Why can't I play multi-player and level up my characters and gain items by beating other human beings? A proper match-making system and plenty of players should ensure people are matched against similar levels of abilities and items.

Anyway back to first impressions, for a single player game it seems great and very well done, I may play it every now and again when I'm bored with nothing else to do, but not regularly, because as I said I don't like single player games, which is obviously no fault of this game. Though a co-op mode like the table-top hero quest would probably give me some interest in the campaign.

I will probably carry on the beta for a bit and try MP out and hope the things I'm reading on this forum aren't true, because it isn't painting a very good picture to me right now, or hope once the game is released there is some decent competitive mp and community.

Hope I'm not being too negative, as I said the campaign looks excellent and great work on the single player side of things, I'm just not a single player gamer.

 

Ok so I got introduced to MP last night and here are my first impressions of it:

Well I only played Gary, which as I said is against the AI so it's not multi-player it's a custom game that adds rank to MP. I realise there is an option to not play against the AI, and I hope this is a temporary thing due to lack of players in the beta and it is removed and no AI is used once the game goes live.

I also don't understand why everybody is high level and get loads of high level items. I didn't know what half the items/cards do and it seems over whelming. Why can't MP be separate from SP and everyone starts at level one with basic items and is awarded xp and items based on wins and losses in MP ie 2 or 3 items for a win and one item for a loss.

This will give people a chance to learn the game and level up in the MP side of the game just like the SP game but without having to actually play SP. It will also allow in the future for different types of MP games such as level X and below parties/items only. If you are going to make everyone level 18 with decent items from the packs then they shouldn't be allowed to be used in SP, parties/items etc. should be totally separate and not cross over between the two game types

Also with a proper match making system and a good number of players it should ensure parties are matched against other parties of similar level and once people have enough games under their belt against players of similar skill level.

Anyway I shall keep playing the MP side of things to see how it goes, but as my fear always is when a single player game is made the MP side is usually an after thought and not the main focus, despite the MP offering the long term potential to retain players.

 

There's an option to turn off the chance of getting AI opponents, so this shouldn't be a great drawback for you.

 

You're supposed to take it slowly, starting from the top left, gloating over and savouring each one!

 

Joined fairly recently. Really liking the game so far. I hope more classes/races come out, and I wouldn't mind the option to stop playing between battles mid campaign.

I actually haven't tried quitting mid campaign yet but I seem to recall seeing something that said all progress would be lost if you do that. Not sure if it was just talking about quitting mid battle or anytime mid campaign.

 

You can safely quit from the inventory screen between battles.

 

Ok, so I've been in beta for a week or so and wanted to post some thoughts. Progress so far, I've beat the single player campaign, haven't really started the challenge quests though. Currently rank 1048 in 1v1, game says I'm 24-19. I pretty much ran 3 elf group(war/priest/wiz) for everything.

When I looked at previews I was worried I wouldn't like the art and style, but after playing a few games it really grew on me. Game is really stylish while still being clear.

Singleplayer starts off nice and friendly. The tutorial works well enough to get acquainted, and pausing for new cards you haven't seen before is nice. Giving some pizza to show off the multiplayer, starter parties, booster(chest) purchasing is nice. Game gets challenging at like level 8 or so. Really required a lot of build refinement as mob HP and skills improved rapidly. The AI, surprisingly, isn't really that exploitable and tends to position well. Might have been a bit tough because my elves had low HP, but there were also many times when I'd have 1-2 characters with low HP kiting around the map until I got the cards I needed, barely managing to win. It is great that the GM's offer suggestions when losing some battles.

Directing the singleplayer campaign into the multiplayer mode is fantastic, and easing the player in is as well. Incentivizing multiplayer with the daily chests is also quite cool. I'm wondering what will change when higher level singleplayer content is released, and if multiplayer will have more than 1 level bracket(besides 18). Matchmaking is pretty quick right now, just want to make sure the player base sustains itself if there's a time when there are multiple 1v1 queues.

Haven't been around long enough to see a lot of the metagame, but it's good to see some announcements with discussion given for making changes, i.e. talented healer which is out of control.

Suggestions/thoughts:
A key/button that allows you to view line of sight from a particular square, maybe include range as well. Would help with LoS confirming your range 8 spell so you can be as far away as possible. This would supplement LoS checking on figures' current positions, which already works quite well.

I forget about ongoing effects a LOT. Yay, killed something, oops my Superstitous warrior just lost all 5 cards. I would like a debuff bar, or representation of buffs/debuffs near the character hp/cards area at the top/bottom. Seems like there's some screen real estate there that can be used without being intrusive.

Movement seems like it should be displayed after factoring in Encumber. I'm aware that "Slowed" is random, so maybe a warning(magnify Slowed and show it somewhere?), or different color to represent that you may not be able to move as far. Encumber is fixed though, so I think the game take that into account when hovering over your move if possible.

I'm definitely at a point in multiplayer where I'm outclassed by superior decks fairly often. Obviously this is a CCG to some extent, so this isn't preventable. I've looked over some peoples builds, occasionally look at their card when they play it to see what items they use, also sold a legendary treasure for 1000 gold that helped me pick up some rares to supplement my characters. Probably a non-issue, since it's the nature of the game. Still, after beating GM's to get to ~700 or so, then getting matched against higher/better built players since then, has made it rough to win. Not that it shouldn't be challenging. I'm used to playing on level playing fields though.

Inventory is a mess. It's just a big jumble of icons. Multiplayer has a separate space for setting things aside while planning your build, singleplayer needs this too. Item icons need a little more detail without mousing over EVERY single item, which is what I have to do often, and it's a pain. Maybe show fewer items, show mini-skill icons. At least show power tokens, although that's sortable. Sorting is nice, but select any given type of item from the dropdown, and sort, and it's still a jumble of items.

Here's something I'd like, Search for: xxx skill. I want a Wizard item that has Wall of Fire for example. Or I want to equip Bruiser, find me items that have Bash
I have now noticed, that this feature is already present after trying it while I was writing this. Prior to, I thought the little search bar was to find items by name, and had never used it. Silly me.

I would like multiplayer replays, preferably with both sides hands viewable, if that is controversial then only my cards is fine. I know you guys are patching/rebalancing a lot, so that makes this difficult I believe.

Would like to rotate the view by 90 degrees if possible. Just a couple spots where it's difficult to see something hidden behind a tall figure. The transparency currently implemented is a good feature though.

Movement on terrain attachments overrides difficult terrain. This isn't immediately obvious, and was confused when I first realized I could make new paths over difficult terrain with smoke or lava etc.

That's all I can think of for now, game overall is a great experience!

 

Having taken a few days to get through a decent amount of content I really have to say I'm very impressed with the game. Not sure how far along the beta period you are but I've had a great time and not encountered any bugs. I've already bought the extra adventures and would be more than willing to do so again if any more extra adventures are made, or if an offline/mobile version is released.

Coming from a background of reasonable card game experience (mainly MTG), yet no tabletop/D&D type play I have found the game really easy to get in to. The tutorial and early levels were involving and the nuances of the cards were clear. I also love the running storyline when playing through the campaign, adds a nice touch to the experience. The in game map and adventures are also really involving. Having only played card games in the past this extra layer beyond my usual battle only experience much more fun and immersive. Also liking the rpg juggling of equipment and the freedom of switching out for new cards during adventures to try out new tactics and overcome mechanics.

My only qualms about the game come down to a few choice cards:

The first of these are the "move X and attack" style of card like "Lunging Hack", personally these cards seem to go against the general game rules of allowing the player to change their mind and unclick a card if they have made a mistake or suddenly realised they could do a better move. Being locked in to the move and suddenly realising I've got a debuff which stops me from reaching my target etc. was really frustrating the first few times it happened. I'm not sure if this is a balancing decision for the cards but it reminds me of the touch piece rule that put me off chess as a child (might just be a personal thing). I have a tactile playstyle with this kind of game and naturally begin an action while I'm thinking to decide if it'll work, won't stop me playing the game if this is intended but might give me a few headaches from time to time.

The other is the implementation of fire cards in the game for mages. I found an arcane skill quite early in the game and decided that it would be a really great idea of specialise my mage to fire magic. However, having found a fire staff and a number of fire arcane items I soon found my mage wasn't a very versatile character. Not getting any single target or long range fire spells (this might just be a lack of luck on my part), which I assumed would be the next step after cone attacks, I soon found my mage severely disadvantaged at long range or in situations with teamates nearby. This got serious enough that that I decided to get a new lvl 1 mage and use lightning/a bit of acid on the side, which has been much more successful. My question would be why there are arcane skills to add damage to fire spells yet much fewer spell types than are available for spark spells?

If these two issues come from my lack of tabletop rpg experience I'm sorry, just my initial reactions to these two types of cards. The overall game really has me hooked though, can't wait to see what the future holds.

 

Think this has been mentioned before, but wanted to reiterate

The power token concept confused me at first. After buying a chest, or getting the multiplayer starter party(don't remember which) I saw the little token slots but didn't understand how they worked. All I heard was "you get them as you level up." Had a few major power token items granted, without it being clear when I was going to be able to use them in the campaign exactly. I had to manually go to the wiki and discover which power tokens you get at each level. Should be a bit more clear in-game somewhere, more thorough explanation, maybe a chart.

 

After about a week of playing, here are my first impressions. I am currently level 10 in the Campaign, just finished the Gladiatorial Arena, Finals. Multiplayer ranking is currently 919. 19 wins vs. 16 losses of which are 9 wins vs. 3 losses against AI.

Most of the level 1-5 modules seem to be well balanced and enjoyable. Each of the modules do well at instilling the basic concepts and strategies. It isn't until the level 5 modules with the Lizardmen that there seems to be a big difficulty spike. I found this to be especially so in Slub Gut's Sanctum's last encounter.
It seems to me that, for a new player, the only way to win that encounter is to load up on a many big hitting attacks you can, hope you draw enough of those attacks on the first round to kill one of the opponents and hope your first target hasn't drawn a second move card to dance out of range. Basically luck. After the first round I can expect to have my fighter killed or be killed on the next hit. There's almost nothing at that level with Parry, anything with enough blocking doesn't seem to come in enough numbers to form a defensive strategy and armour is still rather thin. Even if you were lucky enough to draw some defense, the Lizardmen will still have killed the fighter by the second round since you haven't drawn any significant attack. This assumes that the new player was lucky enough with early loot drops to even start the "strategy".

I don't think it is a matter of them being "too hard". It seems to me that it is a matter of the new player having a tiny pool of equipment in which to form a coherent strategy to meet the challenge.

Since there are relatively few module chests for a new player and the gear appears to be pretty close to the module level, a daily grind for gear is limited. It also makes it very difficult to get at level gear when the player is having difficulty with at level modules.

[Suggestion] Perhaps there could be an addition of a "Barrel of Weapons" added to the "Chest and Barrel" shop.
This barrel would be aimed to help fill out a new player's inventory and thus their ability to form strategies to meet early challenges. Perhaps this Barrel would contain 5 random pieces of gear, level 1-6, Common rarity only, maybe costing 10 gold. Players could get more usable gear for the cost balanced by randomness and rarity limitations and it won't compete with the shops gear specificity and higher rarities.

That leaves the Multiplayer area. Early on the challenge is good, when the new player is matched with Gary or other similarly equipped new players. That only lasts about a dozen fights though. By that time your Ranking has skyrocketed and you're being matched with players who have been around a long time and have a large pool of equipment to make strong, focused characters vs. your still relatively basic Multiplayer characters equipment.

[Suggestion] Playing in Multiplayer against the AI should not affect the player's Ranking. Leave it strictly for PvP.
From what I've read on the forums, the AI opponents have their rankings pushed all over the place making the AI difficulty spike earlier than it should. This suggestion will keep the AI Ranking locked in place.

[Suggestion] Perhaps there could be an option to only play against AI.
Since many people complain that the AI is too easy, this would be balanced by having the basic loot chests (but not the gold or epic chests) give out the normal selection of Treasures but only Common and Uncommon rarity gear. People won't be able to use this to farm for Rares, Epics and Legendaries but will allow for more deck building ability.

 

BEST DIGITAL GAME EVER

this game feeds my D&D, CCG urges, costs less and alllows for my I-have-kids-so-i-cant-leave-the-house lifestyle.

I WOuld love to see this ported to paper!

 

I was able to play for a few hours yesterday and I enjoyed the game. I really like the interface with the little extras next to the board that make it seem like you are sitting down playing a tabletop game.

I like that the first few battles are with more powerful characters/spells but it was a little confusing because there was virtually no explanation of anything until after you get past the first couple battles. I was actually alright since I am an experienced gamer but I could see where it could be confusing for people who have never played Magic or similar games. I am not one of these people so maybe they are fine with it as is.

I also like the little bits of story that I've seen. They add a little bit extra and keep it entertaining.

 

First impressions (without reading others so apologies if there's an overlap):

Pro's
- Very polished feel (not a huge fan of the log in text but purely personal opinion)
- Even funner than I imagined, and I came in with high expectations!
- Love the characters and customization
- Cards tied to gear/weapons is pure genius
- Love the GM's and pizza girl, adds as much flavor as the quest text
- Friendly and approachable with almost mind boggling depth... And I'm only level 5!

Con's
- I haven't figured out how to cancel a movement card after selecting it, is this possible?
- Combat text isn't very clear on DOT's or reactive abilities. It says something along the lines of '<character> takes 3 damage...' Would be helpful to have '...from <spell name>' at the end for clarification. Perhaps coloured coded?
- Damage types are not clearly explained, crushing damage for example. Are there benefits to using fire spells over electrical?
- Block values weren't immediately obvious and I don't recall the tutorial covering kept armor vs un-kept armor. I may be wrong?
- Card tooltips in the loot screen only show damage values, they don't state range

Overall I'm totally infatuated with the game and the con's are very minor but if you don't ask you don't get

 

Oh boy, ive got to say. my first impression is overwhelmingly positive.
i havent gotten that far yet but so far i just see a very slick and endearing game the whole way the game is set up just oozes charm.

From a gameplay perspective i can just say that i love the mashup between tabletop and card game.
So there realy are no flaws id like to point out, cause i havent seen any.

The only two things i can think of that id like to see (correct me if im wrong here, i didnt get this far so that may actually in the game and i have missed it) are: 1.) asynchronous Multiplayer: as in, havea predetermined scenario and let one of the Players take the controll of the DM. I always liked asynchronous multiplayer and while this may not be a particulary balanced way of playing, its definitly an incredibly fun one. And very much true to the roots of oldschool pen and paper RPGs.
2.) More interactive maps. For example around the earlier Dungeons we get to see some magic circles. For example in the Trogg Wizard Dungeon. I would find it kind of neat if stuff like this could enhance characters standing on top of them. Making positioning more important.


Other than that. Well id LIKE to spend money on this game. Primarily because i find it awsome and i want it to be continually updated. But as of now i dont see any reason too. But the Costumes might be a pretty good way for me to support this game.
Things id like to see here would be a Barbarian option for the Human Warrior and a Druid option for the Elven Priest.
Also since there are those badass undead options for Dwarven and Human priests we may get a few more in that style. maybe limit them to the PvP portion of the game to create a bit more flavor in the versus mode. Have a Trogg option for the Dwarves or a Lizardman option for the elves.

But thats just flavor. From what i have seen of the game it is one of the most polished and enjoyable Betas i have ever played. Keep up the good work! i love it.

 

There are many different build paths you can follow with each class. You can build a "Druid" from a priest if you have the items, as well as a "Barbarian" beat stick warrior. More classes would be nice though.

 

Im refering to a COSTUME so my character can actually look like that.
you know, just some more options.

I like this game and im willing to spend some money to help its development. stuff like that would be perfect for that.

 

My bad, that is a cool idea.

 

Hi.. Been gone for a bit, but have returned and saw everything reset. Figured it was coming sooner or later, but that since it did happen it gave me kinda a new first impression. Going through the tutorial again, I realized a few things. As I had to do the tutorial 3-4 times before it went through. Not because of difficulty mind you, but as it locked up, and then disconnected at other times. Two things came to mind though as I played it..

One, if you are going to lock someone out from being able to do other things, it might be good to either alert them when they click on other things to no.. do this first. =)

Two, the connection is really sensitive. I lost a couple pings, and it immediately asked me to reload. Which mean I had to restart again. Thankfully if you are on mission 2 of the tutorial that it stayed on that mission and not completely restart, but is there any way to make it wait just a little bit before it kicks you out back to the log in screen? Maybe a minute or two, not long.. just something so if your connection wavers for a second or two it doesn't start ya all over?

Other then that things went well.. not sure bout the whole extra item thing. But that is a different topic, and I not really sure how extra it is since I don't know what the %'s are yet... etc.