I think this observation only further shows my point. The power rating is relative to the deck being built. I guess, as others have pointed out, it's just important to remind yourself frequently that the quality rating is "just a guide" or "just a tool". But it just feels... off to me that the game is telling me that a card is quality X. Me too! I get the hand display aspect. That in and of itself may be sufficient enough of a reason, and I'm eager to try it out for myself to get a feel for it. But your deckbuilding argument falls flat for me, because you say that you use the quality to help you judge whether or not an item is worth it, and that is PRECISELY the reason I think quality is dangerous. Players may be writing off items/cards because the "game" told them that the cards on them are "average", but what if they aren't!? What if they are actually "great" in the right deck?
It's a quick reference, not necessarily the first reference. Besides anyone who never looks closer than the quality rating is the same kind of person who plays a MtG Deck with nothing but rares and wonders why they loose because the have "all the best cards man"
My friend and I did it with Chaos Draft (effectively, take a bunch of rares, re-pack them as 15 card boosters, draft with them) or all-rare deck (except basic lands) Although when someone drop a Savannah Lion 1st turn and Spectral Lynx on 2nd, I can't help but give him a "= = you bastard" glare. EDIT: There's actually enough good rares that Green/White deck can probably get away with one, with Glorious Anthem, Mirari's Wake, Mobilization swarming your enemy with infinitely spawning soldier tokens like some sort of the crusade cross with zombie apocalypse.
I can't speak for how everyone remembers / mentally processes their cards, but for me the color of the quality rating becomes part of the visual recognition and recall. My warrior draws a red background with an emerald title bar: that's Obliterating Bludgeon, the only card she currently carries with that combination. I would venture to guess that I recall all my cards (and probably my opponents' cards as well) more quickly thanks to the "landmark" of the title bar narrowing my neuronal search. And this isn't limited to recognizing cards as I draw them. Locating a card by its colors continues throughout the round, since there's no rearranging a hand. Plus there is the "Ooh, shiny!" factor already mentioned. The illustrations are good, but even so with just background colors the game would be plain and dangerously repetitive. I think the art and psychological value justifies the metal & jewel tones even if assigning them is a judgment call. (Well informed judgment, to be sure. I've found plenty that I haven't personally used but I see why they are what they are. Sometimes it took another look to appreciate the nuances.) I can assure you that they have never impeded my sense of discovery or craftiness in choosing cards, only added to excitement of drawing and looting and even on occasion shopping. The rarity labels, on the other hand, I could live without. Not distinctive or pretty enough.
FalconGK81 From my experience pretty much every card game "lies" about rarity/quality. You could even take it as tool to grade players as good/bad. =) And why do you take rarity/quality as good or bad? Is it how some people think quality of life = bad or good life? =)
I'm not sure I understand your second question. As for your first observation, I disagree that Magic the Gathering "lies" about rarity. If a card says it's a rare (barring misprints of course), then that means a very specific thing about it's number of times printed versus the other cards in the set. The rarity of a magic card is a concrete data point, it says something VERY specific about that card. If it were possible to say with perfection what each card's quality is, then I guess it would be fine. For instance, I would have no problem with aces in a poker deck having a label on them that said "the highest rank!", because that is a fact. But since the quality of the cards in most TCGs is subjective, it seems odd to me to label it. So I was kinda wondering what the dev team's reasoning behind it was. It sounds like the answer is "ui functionality... along with 'ooh shiny' factor".
FalconGK81 Still you own experience with rarity/quality will vary from statistics. And card hunter has many cards like (chop/chop+1/chop+2/chop+3) where mechanic of card stays the same but strength/cost rises. This quality thing works in the "the highest rank!" manner for them.
