Gold economy (and pizza economy while we're at it)

Instead of paying more, why not have an option you can click that gives loot based on the party you are currently using. If you want to keep those chests 100% random at least make the option available for the dungeon rewards.

I think that would be the best way to do it. If I want 3 elf mages in my party I'm going to be real pissed playing a game that wont give me loot they can use 66% of the time. Even if I did get something in the current system I've got two other mages that potentially need the same thing. You alienate those that want to play a specific way to the extreme without this kind of option. The game won't be fun for them.

 

I must disagree.

This isn't really the sort of statement that gets "at least" on it: changing the dynamics of the basic loot source is a big matter, and I can't think of too many videogames that bias their basic loot like this. In this case, it defeats a lot of the point: you say you want 3 elf mages in your party for "playing a game" that gives you loot, but "the game" was never ABOUT your 3 elf mages. You can have an entire stable of adventurers (far more than 3), and in fact you SHOULD have such, because you can need a different build for a different adventure or match-up. The loot is for the you of today, and the you of tomorrow.

As to "alienating those who want to be extreme" . . . modifying the game basics for people who want to be extreme is backwards. Further, people who want to be extreme know what they are doing, and aren't going to be alienated if yet ANOTHER game fails to change its basic dynamics to match their particular extremity. Extreme gameplay like this is, in fact, implemented in the challenges/quests that are in Card Hunter right now: why defeat the point of calling it a challenge?

 

The ability to trade cards with others should fill this gap nicely, get nice gear you dont need? Trade it for nice gear you need ! Thats probably why you dont see it in many games ;o

 

It's actually not a big deal. Many of the newer games actually have adopted this option because they are constantly getting complaints from their player base that the character they play are never getting anything they can use. It's not fun, they get upset, they stop playing, and there goes the community. If everyone has the option to gain items for the characters they are playing then the problem doesn't exist and it's still just as competitive and random as it was before, only now people can make the party they want. If you have what you want at the moment for your 3 mages you don't have to select the option to get loot designed for the party you are in, but instead completely random like it is currently.

I don't normally play niche builds like I've suggested, but at the same time I don't want to be alienated from it because the build is 100% unplayable because I can't even get half the gear I would be getting for a balanced party. This is why games like Dungeons and Dragons Online have an option for class specific loot. Not everyone wants to play with or trade with other people.

 

And then suddenly every single map needs a much bigger item pool or you could just game the system to get 3x of the only warrior gear and so on. Not to even mention the fact that any item that gets a high value for some reason will see masses of 3x (insert class) partys farming for it making rarity almost pointless.

loot should be random, card drawing should be random, changing any of these would massively piss off the oldschool crowd of rpg or ccg.

 

You can't piss off people when they have the option to not click the class specific loot option. They can play the game how it is now and don't have to do anything. Putting in a class only option is going to keep the new gamers from leaving because they can't have fun playing the game the way they want. The system right now penalizes anyone who wants to make a party that is non cookie cutter healer/tank/mage.

Sure players could make a single type party to get 1 specific item but they are going to be farming like crazy as it is. If they want that item they are going to have to level even more characters and are not getting items for their other classes. Honestly, if player trading is in the game it's likely they would be much better off trading for the rare because rare rate is vary low. All rares are going to be valuable, I doubt one specific item is going to be so sought after its more then 2x the going rate of other rares.

 

Then you have never ever played a game like this before, cookiecuter items will appear and they will probably be considered for a tweaking to bring them down to the same level as other items. But for some time they will exist word will get out about them and suddenly 5% of the games population ( the serious pvpers) will all want between 1 and 3 of that item making it expensive for a time at the very least.


Breaking 2x the price is no doubt going to happen on a lot of items that are considered better then the rank and file epics what I'm talking about is more like 30x the price and possibly more.

 

Well, let me just say I'm glad the matter is receiving the debate it's due. I haven't commented further because I'm reading up, thinking, and waiting to see how things settle.

Surely, I'd have fun with the game any which way. Not everyone has the same expectations that I do, though. And I also empathize with the devs, and want to see them get out of this game what they need, too (e.g., the same happy-and-spending-money customers you are discussing).

 

You can use ANYTHING you find, no matter your class or race, you sell it to the NPC's and buy things with gold ! Then theirs some items that anyone can use, and even if you are three warriors and ONLY want warrior drops, doesnt mean you'll get good warrior drops and you'll end up selling/trading the excess all the same. I could maybe see it as a pizza feature, to magically make a chest ONLY contain one specific item type, and i'd be fine with that, as it is you can unlock dungeons to earn a specific item already.

Also im sure some items will be VERY valuable compared to others of the same rarity... Stuff with Guardian Angel will be extremely important on certain challenge missions, in fact most missions want you to change your tactics up, if there is a particularly difficult dungeon with excellent rewards, any card that specifically helps against that dungeon will be sought after, even if its low level because people might want to twink out there characters for low level challenges.

 

I got the multiplayer 30 slice chest out of curiousity and i would strongly advice against it based on my experience but it is random offcourse. Best value so far seam to be the premade packs giving you lots of usefull items all in one pack for almost the same price as the pizza chest.

 

I guess I'll need to wait and see how loot and rarity really work once I'm invited to the game. It's difficult to see just how important specific items are until I get the full picture how the game runs currently.

I still think that many players will be turned off after trying the game out a little and leave being disappointed with the allusion that they can make any party they want, until they find out they can't even mildly gear their characters without taking forever and a year. The impact of losing customers becomes of they can't have fun they way they want is something to consider, against the downsides of changing how the loot is distributed for non standard parties.

 

Well, if you ask me, loot should be definitely random. Of course it can be frustrating when you can't get anything useful for your party, but you can sell this items, right? That's the way you get gold, so it should be fine. You shouldn't be able to get useful items very often, it can lead to boredom or frustration when you get again same item 'crafted for your party' for 6th time in a row..

 

You would be right about being able to sell your items to get the ones you want. The problem from what I've heard is that the price of items increases dramatically in short order. I guess I would have to get in the beta to see if the scaling is acceptable. However, it sounds like you will be struggling to complete dungeons right from the start, causing you to take substatially more time to farm for a single item bought in the shop. I wouldn't want players to be taking 3x as long to grind gear out in an already grindie style game because they happen to like fighting in a specific way.


Alternatively, what about increasing the chance of getting gear for a specific class based on how many are in your party?

Grant a 5-10% per member bonus when using multiple characters of the same class.

Normally I would get all random gear for having a mage, warrior, and healer. Instead of the warrior and healer I chose two more mages. I receive a 20% increased chance that the items I pull are instead mage specific. If I had two warriors and a healer I would receive a 10% chance that each item would roll out to be more favorable to be used by a the warrior class.

The increased rate helps everyone's play style without really making the influence so high that everyone will level up three of the same thing just to farm specific items. If items already have classifications on them like warrior only hidden in the coding it would be relatively easy to add this to the loot system.

I'd like to not have to farm gold on a mage/healer/warrior to pay for all the gear I need to have fun playing my healer/healer/healer.

 

Jon explained this on the prior page:

They have programmed a remarkable amount of uniformity across prices: if you are a high enough level to be using those items, they are made cheaper for you. Things are only super-expensive if you want to "jump ahead in the power curve."

 

Oh okay, the post didn't clearly explain that the higher level you are the cheaper items are the lower their level is. That or I can't read, which is likely the problem.

 

I just got a cool Legendary Drop. (thanks it was very nice )
It's bit disappointing that I could only get 100 gold for it in the shop. And the legendary I wanted to swap it for cost 2500 gold.

 

No no no, it's the opposite. Items of any level are the same price. There's just a markup on items if you try to buy an item if it's higher level than your characters. If you're party is level 16, then a level 18 item will cost three times as much *until your party reaches level 18*, and then it will cost the same as every other item of the same rarity.

 

That's some necro!

 

Thanks for the answer. I haven't had the time to get in game yet. :/

At least Kogi didn't necro it a year later.