Evolution of Card Art

Off Topic
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@TheDragonSeoul Harder to read cards with bright colors all over, UI/effects etc., jumbled mess of text, and other times text too small that even a 50" screen can’t improve (I feel the pain for anyone reading small text on anything smaller, at 50" can barely see it). V4 Has some improvements over V3, but its still horrible compared to V1 or V2. Not to mention the UI was far better in the older versions. I think whoever they had do the original card art, effects, UI must have left. Because there was a huge shift in design capacity, that it can not be the same person who did V1 and V2 previously. And if it is, I would be shocked. As V1 & V2 had a clear grasp on UI/card design. V3 and V4 looks more like what some amateur high schoolers would toss together without much grasp on design. So a lot of amazing art downgraded by a poorly designed UI. V3 & V4 smothers even the troop art, instead of working with it. And that’s not just me saying it. The developers could inquire to various professional UI designers about their UI. A professional being professional about it, would clearly note the current UI’s many flaws. My 2 cents.

P.S. Not to mention the old company I worked for would never have amused V3/V4 as a applicable replacement to V1/V2 if GoW was their product. It wouldn’t have even gotten out of the room, let alone to the higher ups. And I often thought my old job was pretty lax on a lot of things. Even if you have a few people it doesn’t mean quality suffers. My old job had only 20 people. And for what we did it was not even enough. Busy … busy … busy, rush … rush … rush. Day after day. You just learn to micromanage better / structure plans / maximize effort while minimizing production time.

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V5…or V2…I like to be optimistic about the future. :wink:

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Why I like Version 2 (front-face) the best:

The most important details of the troop, Life, Armor, and Attack, were well displayed and very distinctive. The eye easily notices them on the card frame, which helps players subconsciously keep notice of their troops remaining life total. The troop name, rarity, level, and troop type are also well labeled while not being invasive to the art. The card frame is also very distinctive and help differentiate rarities, or brought a feel of significance to the rarity of the troop. A Mythic actually felt Mythic.

The one downside is that the symbol on the bottom of the card meant nothing to me as I didn’t know what kingdom each symbol represented… The traits were also a little iffy being placed on the right side of the border.

Version 1 was the second best:
It was simple, like the game I was signing up for. It reminds me of an older Magic card, which helped me consider trying this game out. Everything was nicely displayed, but had a lot of open space, so it could have more applied to it. (which V2 did).

Version 4 is… okay?:
The troop name is in your face. You can’t miss it. The Kingdom its from is finally listed on the card. The level is also nicely displayed, perfect in case a troop needs to be leveled up later down the line.

That’s about it.

The life, armor, and attack are even smaller than ever this time, as if they’re not supposed to matter. Troop name/location being written as white text on the troop art is bad. I love art as much as the next player, but not if it sacrifices being able to play the game properly. The card frame just looks too basic, too busy and doesn’t eye catch the right information. Its functional, but I still give it a thumbs down. Status effects still cover up important information in battle.

and Version 3 was a disaster:

Pro: It has the magic number written on it

Con: The art is pretty, at the expensive of everything else. Troop type and Troop level were super tiny. Kingdom details were left off the design. In-battle, status effects covered up everything important and the art. What’s the point of featuring the art then? The card shape also felt very cheap. Even a Mythic felt like a 50 cent cardboard card that you’d casually chuck to the side when you no longer needed it (so almost immediately). The cards felt cheap (quality and value).

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Version 2 was the best, which is why the official screenshot gallery on gemsofwar.com uses it, and the Google Play screenshots still use them in some cases.

The best advertising is false advertising.

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I wasn’t around when V1 was a thing, but I have seen it in action. It definitely looked very… “We’re just starting out”. It was their Origin Story, if you will.

And, then V2. Ah, V2, I remember it pretty fondly. And even after looking at old videos of it being used (like on Tacet’s YouTube), I still love it. Is it a little “dated” for 2018? A little bit, but all it needed was a little updating, not a complete overhaul.

Thus, enters V3, the new UI and the reason I made this account. I hated it. It doesn’t even look like the same game anynore. It looks like you tried to make a Gems of War 2, but with less fantasy and more Sci-Fi elements. Which, is fine, I don’t mind that you wanted to do something different, but why did you have to strong arm all of us into this?

I remember when you first released it. The global chat, the Facebook page and this very forum was flooded with people who hated it. Not only did they dislike the design, but they disliked the massive overhaul without warning. You changed almost the entire look of the game on us in 1 update and finished it off in a second without any warning.

Honestly, for me, the new UI introduction is when this game started to really go down hill. Between that, the gem nerf, and adding gem sinks like Raids and Invasions, I believe this game is far cry from what it used to be.

Like I said, you basically tried to make Gems of War 2 without telling anyone and now we’re all stuck with this thing. The only reason I still play is because I still get mild enjoyment from seeing the new cards and spells and such. But, I haven’t loved this game in a long time and it shows. I don’t spend nearly as many hours or as much money (it’s almost zero now, expect for the occasional sale) on it, as I used to.

Whoever made the decision to do that, to make V3 and the new UI, I honestly hate you for it. You took my love for this game, stepped on it, spat on it, and wiped yourself with it. The only reason I am still here is because you haven’t ruined everything (for me). At least… Not yet

As for V4, it’s better than V3, as far as readability and such. But, it’s nothing compared to the old UI and what this game used to be like. I’m sorry, but it’s just not. And, if you disagree, well, you have a right to your opinion. But, so do I.

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Version 2.

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Version 2. I miss it :frowning:

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Along with most of the thread, my vote is for Version 2. While, for what it is, Version 4 is likely the best possible incarnation of the new formatting style, it’s cold and emotionless compared to Version 2’s flairs and designs. There’s no identity amongst the units. To an average player, the cyan bars around an ascended mythic look exactly the same as on a base mythic. There’s no differentiation at all.

I love Puzzle Quest, and still enjoy playing this game, despite the changes and the continually harder and harder push for monetization.

I remember a post from Sirrian that was the harbinger moment for me for these changes. Two distinct comments within the same post spoke more than entire volumes of prose.

Those lines right there was the moment most people dread, but never really writes or talks about. No one ever wants to admit when THAT moment happens. But, there it was. It was in that moment that I realized that the reason for the UI changes and the card design shift from V2 to V3 was because that we (the traditional playerbase at that point) were no longer the target demographic for the game moving forward. The game refocused its targeting towards the Millennial/Gen-Z demographics, and to do so, needed to abandon the traditional fantasy motif in favor the current modern styling.

Coupled with this comment, within the very same post,

Having played the other mobile-designed versions of Puzzle Quest (that were not designed by Sirrian), I was fearful about what that collaboration likely meant. And, indeed, my fears were realized in the 3.3 patch which brought about the hard monetization push for GoW. To that extent, I’m fairly confident that the push isn’t over yet by any stretch of the imagination. 3.4 will bring pets, which will surely be monetized in one way or another. Also, there are doomskulls, which will assuredly bring nightmarish levels of instant annihilation powers in the hands of the “lucky” AI. Yes, players will have the same potential of destruction. But, you can bet your diamonds that in upcoming events, players will be restricted as usual to a set of troops or kingdoms, while AI opponents will have access to doomskulls and all the tools needed leverage them for maximum carnage and faster player defeats than ever before.

The game is changing, and the realization that the game is no longer being designed to our tastes is saddening for sure. Becoming older and not being the target demographic sucks, for sure. Doubly so, when one has a collection that spans multiple years’ worth of gameplay to acquire.

5 Likes