Schrei's All-in-one Suggestion thread

[Schrei_VonWeisheit]

I've been with this game since it's birth, and have read -most- suggestions, as well as sat through thread after thread, week after week, I'd actually like to be condusive to this game, because it is something I enjoy(and have spent an discomforting amount of money in). This post is meant to house my ideas, and is open to criticism and reform.

Boosters/Cards
Before I suggest anything for boosters, I have a question.
What was the basis for the formats of the boosters?

Issue:
1-Currently there are cards from several different acts within the base booster, and several, worthless cards from the same acts within the Veteran's booster
The sortie seems counter intuitive, and the gameplay within the rooms reflecting these sets seems forced and compromised from such.
I understand more legendary cards were released in different periods of the game(as well as Anti-Magic Glyph being removed), but there are also Rares and characters that seem out of place.
Ex: Archmage Anreya in Basic, Anreya in Global. Commander Zahal in Standard, Zahal in Global etc etc.
2-Bans: This is a purely digital card game, cards that are banned in global are cards that more or less break the game. They can be fixed, and it wouldn't be the first time Feerik has changed card effects.

Suggestion:
-Remove old version of characters that exist in the Basic/ Standard packs
--OR
---Add the old versions of characters into the basic pack(except Abyssien), as well as the Act 1 and 2 characters(at least) adjust prices fittingly.
-Clearly print in each booster's description which group of players each booster is for.
--Basic should say Recommended for beginners
--Standard for intermediate,
--Veteran in big bold letters RECOMMENDED FOR ADVANCED PLAYERS ONLY
This is especially important due to the way the cards are distributed through the packs. Some unfortunate soul could, in theory, spend in Veteran packs(Because ego's are larger than brains) hoping to enter into high level play, then get rares like Zahal, Anreya etc, which have superior version in standard and basic respectively, but cannot be played outside of the (All inclusive) Amnezy room/ level rooms.
- Change 's effect to grant chain to work for the first turn of the game, or change it into a permanent effect that only works with a certain non-chain card. Change his order to either Attack+2 or Attack +1 Per Rune worn, he's got far too much going for him.
-Change to If one of your character's dies, Ourenos deals a physical attack to the opposing character equal to his printed base attack. In his current state, he uses his current attack(which is ridiculous), and attacks a random character(which is also ridiculous)
-Change to 2 turns, and have it's secondary effect changed to Non Multi-Class Mage: each time a Lightning spell is activated he suffers X+1-2 magic damage where X equals his spirit. The problems with thunderstroke were that it a)Lasted too long for the amount of damage it did in conjunction with other lightning spells.(It's secondary damage max is 16, and that isn't considering Attracts lightning)

Reasoning:
In other card games, when cards became completely obsolete, they were removed from the game completely, and cards from those sets that were of player interest/player use were condensed and rereleased in later boosters.(Prime Example: Yugioh, The Dark beginning and Dark Revelation sets were core cards of several sets with redistributed rarity and common/useless cards removed). Last I heard YGO is still releasing cards, and the game was released in '96, 17 years, still a successful AND playable game for anyone willing to join the player base.


Non-competetive Rooms:
Issues:
The current room system (non ELO) can (and does) deter newer players. Once a player enters the all levels rooms, the power gap can be (and is) demoralizing, and may drive new players to quit before actually buying into the game. It brings a feeling of dread when a new player is confronted with an ultimatum between spending untold, incalculable amounts of money for the ability to get the cards they want, or lose 98% of the time to more experienced players, or players with more disposable income.

Suggestions:
It's hard to suggest a fix for the level rooms with the series in disarray due to their spread within the boosters. But at the very least:
-A room where Legendary and Exploit(black) rarity cards are banned for each format
-Players using Boss characters have a marker stating such (A simple Mercenary Guild sign next to their level/name) and are not allowed to take part in Random games in the unlimited rooms. Many a player(Including myself) has fallen into red fairplay from continuously randoming boss characters and refusing to waste time playing against them.


Reasoning:
People who genuinely enjoy something tend to spend more maintaining it.
People who want to play casually have a "safe zone" to play and enjoy the game with people on an understood platform.
Trophies and events are actually plausible for a wider group of players
The rest of the player base is unaffected.


Adventure mode:

Issues: The only thing I can think of that seems valid is the design of the bosses and custom characters. The methods of beating them are quite narrow.

Opinion: There should a cap on how many times one can receive the same card from adventure mode, even if that cap is 10 neither I, nor anyone else playing it would complain. I know this would make the rewards cumulative, but at the same time, I'm fairly certain there hasn't been any good feedback about having 15+ of the same, non destroyable common in your collection.

Personal note:
I took a hiatus from this game before the level alterations, card limit raise, and tournament alterations, it's very rare that the average amount of players in any given room reaches what it was then. It concerns me because I actually enjoy this game, and I commend Feerik on the changes it has made. I was here when the beta of the first guild packs were released, and when there was one booster to rule them all, there has definitely been an improvement ^^

[Xabelius]

Matchmaking is the single big issue. The power difference between decks can be enormous.
It is not matter of fairness - chess may be entirely fair, but being pitted against world's champion is still no fun.

I do not think banning cards is the way though. Matchmaking should take in consideration past performance of players. Amnezy tournament should work in theory, but there are so few players, that no matter how deep you fall, you are still matched with the top players.

In my opinion, Feerik should either make enough incentives for players to play in tournaments, or "random" match should take into account past performance (say last 20 games or so).

[Schrei_VonWeisheit]

The best alternative to bans is to rebalance the broken cards. Matchmaking is a difficult thing to change, especially in the way you've stated. Amnezy is simply the equivalent of a world championship, altering the matchmaking would have little to no effect on the actual gameplay, because it would mean dropping below a certain point would cause the game to avoid pairing you all together.
The battle log has solely been nothing but a battle log, it's only taken into consideration to judge fairplay.
Most trophies and legendary cards are very viable for competitive play, or have effects that cause the power gap. There are many players in the game that really don't care in terms of ranking play with non competitive deck types, so, altering the matchmaking system in Amnezy or the FFA room will do very little for the people who are severely behind, as well as newer players. In essence, Amnezy is the "endgame" of Eredan, unless you've got something in the higher tiers, you shouldn't really be there. Hence why limiting underpowered cards from the first few acts to global is counter intuitive.
There is a sparsity of new players because of the current unforgiving rooms, so long as million crystal decks can sit in the same room with someone just getting past the beginner's threshold it won't get much better.
Say you have a non competitive deck in the level room and what you've suggested is implemented, after winning 4 or 5 games, you'd likely be paired against something boasting the ability to reach upper 1500/1600 elo, and wind up being ended by t3.

The goal is to create an environment where players can grow, and that encourages players to continue playing.
Chess is a completely fair game, but a game based entirely on skill, where as card games have a lick of luck, so can only be as fair as what players are limited to using.