Ok, so you've provided a list of what you think are the weaknesses of Gemp. Fair game.
And please don't think I'm Mr. Negativity, here. I think Gemp is FANTASTIC. Just trying to make it even better.
What about instead providing a suggestion, how a good system (in at least your opinion) should look like? How people should be given a currency, how much entry should "cost" to tournaments/leagues, what prizes should be given, etc. Once you come up with something, I'll have a go at it and find the weaknesses myself (I have to warn you, I'm pretty good at finding exploits, as it's a part of my day-time job). The system we have in place is something that me, hsiale and CoS actually spent quite a bit of time working on to provide the best experience possible.
And I appreciate it! But I don't think you are suggesting the current system is perfect. So, maybe there's room for improvement somewhere. Here's one thought: This is your current prize schedule (which you linked me to previously):
1st win - a booster choice,
2nd win - a foil common,
3rd win - a booster choice,
4th win - a non-foil promo,
5th win - a booster choice,
6th win - a foil promo,
7th win - a foil uncommon,
8th win - a booster choice,
9th win - a foil common and a non-foil promo,
10th win - a booster choice.
...this being the most wins someone could have in a given week, if they played ten games that week. What if you altered this a bit to:
1st win - a booster choice,
2rd win - a booster choice,
3th win - a booster choice,
4th win - a booster choice,
5th win - a booster choice,
6nd win - a foil common,
7th win - a non-foil promo,
8th win - a foil promo,
9th win - a foil uncommon,
10th win - a foil common and a non-foil promo.
The limit for the amount of prize support someone can possibly get would be unchanged, but you wouldn't need to play quite so often. Maybe you think five wins a week isn't enough participation? I suggest you check the data you have on how many games leaguers play per week on average, throw out the outliers of course (people who play zero games), and figure out how many wins per week is more-or-less average. I suggest prize support booster packs for that number of wins, and anything beyond that gets something that wouldn't affect the economy as much, but perhaps something that would be valued. Things that aren't available in the merchant. Alternate image foils, maybe?
Let me just explain, what I mean by value in this (and other) threads. Yes, Gemp is free-to-play and all the "product" is free as it doesn't cost to "produce" it. But to simulate any kind of collection aspect in a free-to-play, you have to provide a limited amount of currency of some kind, that is acquired by players in an even and fair fashion - X/day, week or month or alternatively as a payment for performing some tasks or quests.
Agreed. But in the world of Gemp, time is money. Those with more time on their hands, who can play more often, will see their collections grow more rapidly than those who cannot. That does not strike me as even or fair.
So, when you enter a league and pay 50g and you want to finish the league with at least comparable value, is actually very easy.
Well, to be fair, I'd think you'd want to get significantly MORE than comparable value. Because it takes a lot more effort to play 10 games over the course of a month, than it does to go into the merchant and click on a few products.
So with 50% win percentage you have to play 10 games in a league (4 weeks). I don't think it's a lot to ask.
You may be right. I haven't seen the data, so I couldn't say. You tell me: How many wins per week does average joe league player achieve? Maybe I'm off base. All I'm going by is my impressions, having just participated in a league for a month, and having just joined another. All I can say, is that my experience so far doesn't make me want to pay 50g for leagues in the future. I don't feel like I'm getting value for gold. And admittedly, part of this is knee-jerk because it feels "wrong" not to keep the cards from your sealed deck tournament. You were talking about things that feel weird and wrong? For me, that's one of them.
As I said, I think that entering a league should be an option, rather than requirement (in order not to lose potential "value"). So if someone doesn't like sealed, he or she should not feel obliged to enter to get the "free" boosters.
But the thing is, I actually DO like sealed. I like sealed, and yet I feel like I'm losing money when I spend 50g to join the sealed league. And admittedly, part of this is the mindset from traditional sealed deck tournaments: The boosters and starter are not free, you paid for them when you paid the entry fee for the sealed deck tournament. They served as an entry point for new players that allowed them to learn on an even playing field, as well as build their collections from the cards they got. Now, with this league, you get more cards every week added to your pool. You don't get that in a traditional sealed deck tournament, so I could see not being allowed to keep those at the end of the event. But how about the ones you got at the beginning? Or is it too complicated to code that, once they're all opened up and mixed in together?
To address you comparison to real life sealed deck tournaments:
In real life, sealed deck tournaments cost the equivalent of the products you were to use (and keep) in the tournament plus some extra to cover judge, venue expenses and prize pool. So if you translate it to Gemp, where there is no need for judges and venue. To just cover the "value" of boosters you would be keeping in a sealed league, the entry would have to be 305g and that's not even considering covering the prize support. I'm willing to add an option to enter a league with keeping the product you open for the price above, however I doubt anyone would be willing to pay it (but I might be wrong).
Okay, how about this: What if when you paid your entry fee to the sealed deck league, in addition to getting the cards for the league (which you eventually lose at the end of the league), you also got a one-time amount of product added to My Cards? That product could be equal in value to the 50g entry price for the league, and you'd get to keep those.
It's also important to understand, that once someone collects the playset of all cards, the game is sort of "over", as the collective aspect (for that person) stops to have any meaning.
Thanks to the mechanic you've added of trading in 4 copies for a foil, I think the collective aspect is going to be a looooong way from "over" for a long time to come.
All I wanted to achieve with the system, was a balance between providing a positive experience in Collector's tournaments (being able to build a deck), without reaching the "acquire the playset of all cards" too fast.
And I agree with you in principle. It just feels to me like a balance has not yet been reached, that it will take an extremely long time before an average player can build a viable collected deck.
But I could be wrong!
Here's a thought: What is the purpose of having entry fees for the leagues? Is this again to minimize the rate at which people can acquire cards for their collections?
Ideally you want as many people joining and participating in the leagues as possible, right? So, why not really incentivize it?
I'd also suggest awarding gold for referring new players to Gemp, once those players have completed a certain number of games. And by "completed," I mean games that correspond to something players actually put some effort into, and not just a bunch of instant concessions. It shouldn't be that tough to incorporate an equation for that.
I'd like to point out that you complain that the league system should give more product than just buying the packs/decks,
No, I think the league system should give out an amount that is at least equivalent to the sealed deck entry fee. Doesn't have to be more.
and then you complain that the league prizes reward people who play more.
That is correct.
Limiting how much a league pays out protects those of us who don't have time to play in every league from having our collections become meaningless
That is precisely my point. If it were up to me, I would front-load the booster prizes to the first 5 wins, and backload the foils and promos to wins 6-10. Law of diminishing returns. In this way, someone who is able to play 10 games per week can't get twice as much product as someone who can only play 5 games per week. With the current system, the 10-gamer's collection will grow twice as fast as the 5-gamer's collection, assuming an equal win percentage.
Topic: Suggestions to Improve Gemp (Read 17839 times)
