The Next Update (and beyond)!

Hello everyone,

Just thought I would keep you all informed about our update plans.

We’ve decided to start doing some stuff a little differently, and have been reorganizing things here for the past month.
What we’d like to do is to deliver twice as many updates, containing half as much stuff.

Now that’s not quite as easy as it sounds, because each update contains a lot of extra work just to release it, so in effect, we’ve made extra work for ourselves, but we think that it will help us all (players AND devs) in a number of ways:

  1. The less stuff we put in each update, the easier it is to keep the game stable
  2. We get faster turnaround on fixes for any nasty issues
  3. We can split these updates into “minor” & “major” updates (probably alternating), allowing us to spend longer working on BIG things, while delivering SMALL things faster.

So what about this next update?

We’re happy to announce that we have a 2.0.1 update on the way soon… with a proper preview VERY soon.
This kind of marks the halfway point to the really huge 2.1 Guild update.

This 2.0.1 update will have a few cool minor features you’ve been requesting, along with a new (hopefully more interesting) way to earn Arcane Traitstones (not crafting though… don’t get your hopes up!)
It will also contain something SUPER important for the game which should be TOTALLY INVISIBLE to you if it works correctly - the final move to our new servers.

So, stay tuned… more info coming!

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I smell an auto disenchant button comming hurrray ;p

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nice! looking forward to the frequent updates.

Great news! Looking forward to seeing how this Arcane Traitstone earning takes form!

Permanent new traitstones tab in the shop. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Hehe, while I wouldn’t be surprised… he did say “earn” rather than “buy” so I’m hopeful it’s a method that isn’t just a direct purchase…

Cool minor features = Quality of life features?

A few possibilities include (but are not limited too):

  • Option for short OR long ascension clicking?
  • Option for easier troop leveling with adjustable arrows?
  • Kingdoms show what kinds of Traitstones they’ll drop? (For Early-Mid game players)
  • Half scaling magic is portrayed with clearly noticeable Tooltip?
  • Original troop rarity clearly portrayed on troop at a glance?

Or maybe the most important QoL feature fix of all!

  • Blinking Tier Rewards doesn’t take 30 seconds to get through every time it’s clicked.
  • Or the alternative: Don’t get forcibly tossed onto the PvP Stats page unless it’s for Tier Rewards.

And if none of these features are included, at least an alternative way to earn Arcane stones will be able to comfort me.

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Could it be… a new mini game? :scream:

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I’d love a new minigame, and hope each kingdom will receive one, they are a great diversion from the main game, and fun!

But yeah hopefully its not just an update to the shop, even in the form of glory currency.

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A non-grindy, new mini-game with a non-time consuming way to earn arcane traitstones would… a good day for Gems of War! Especially considering we are getting new troops - and mythics, regularly. Wow, I’m cautiously optimistic about this news!

I think more regular and stable stream of updates to game would be welcomed by all.

3 cheers for new servers!

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Assuming that doesn’t delay the 2.1 guild release, that all sounds great. :slight_smile:

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I think you’re going to be disappointed, if that’s what you’re expecting. There may be a new mini-game, and it may be a source of arcane traitstones, but I seriously doubt it’s going to be non-grindly or non-time consuming. Arcanes are not meant to be trivial to acquire. It’s not a problem if there is something in a game that can’t be achieved within a matter of weeks. Traiting troops is meant to be a long-term goal, not something to grind through before you can really start playing. When resources are limited, your choices on how to spend them are meaningful. If you can trivially acquire as much of a resource as you need, then it might as well not exist, because it’s not affecting your behavior.

Treasure maps are currently a meaningless resource for most players. Most people acquire them faster than they spend them, because of guild tasks, looping teams, or Tyri, and because the reward to time ratio is poor for most players compared to PvP. People wish that Treasure Hunt was worth their time, or that they could trade their treasure maps for something, just to make them meaningful. However, because they’re so easy to acquire, the devs can’t really improve the rewards for Treasure Hunt much without creating damaging incentives. Either players should ignore treasure maps, and only play Treasure Hunt because they enjoy it, or the devs should eliminate maps as a resource, because it’s not meaningful.

Players are always trying to race to the end, collect everything, complete everything, but then they complain that they have nothing left to do. It’s more satisfying to enjoy the journey.

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The most rage-inducing of all. I’ve stopped clicking the damn thing, going to hit that once a day or something.

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For most forum visiting players, which is a very very very small percentage of the player base.

They have stated that “most” players play treasure hunt, a lot. Most meaning the 80% of the player base.

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It was said with tongue in cheek. I’m not expecting anything. It’s a game, whatever it is, it is. No worries. :grin:

On treasure maps, you are preaching to the converted bud! I have well over a 100 at present. My kids like doing the treasure hunts though, so I let them crush them from time to time. However, I’m sure plenty of players rely on the treasure hunt as a source of resources. I know I eyeball it regularly, but just see it as a mini-game of time, with little resource gain, and no progress toward things I’m presently interested in. It’s a grind in the worst way. I’ve said elsewhere, it’s the equivilent of a slot machine… and as such, I think it needs an auto roll button if it’s to stay as is… that way, I can just have it auto calculate my 100+ maps and I can go back to what I want to be doing in the game.

When I say new mini-games could be fun, I mean just that - like Arena. It still lets me use cards, I still get class and character level rewards, and it has a mini-ladder or finite game parameter to get to end with. It’s a fun game type honestly. The problem with it at present, is that it’s rewards need updated and need to reflect the time spent in the game on average. If say the last couple of tiers had arcane trait stones in them - it would get played much more by a numbe of folks.

In my opinoin, I would embrace the idea of more mini-games that contributed to progression as we find core in the game, and that rewarded more on par with time spent. If I can build a team and just go farm a challenge or play PvP and make more, then I’m not going to play that min-game as I feel like I’m missing out and my time is not well spent in game.

However, I’ll always look to a fun gaming experience and new mechanic or event with a twist, if it’s equally rewarding as is found elsewhere and if I’m still leveling my class and character while gaining loots towards goals.

So a variety of different ‘game types’ letting the players explore their collection and making use of the many fun cards with valued rewards for the time spent - yeah, I’m all for it! Will it happen… we will see. I don’t think they are looking to build more grind and kill the enjoyment long standing players have come to enjoy. My guess is, sure there’s a balance, can’t give away the farm and still want folks to have some incentive to buy whatever and that won’t leave as long as they have a compelling environment. Some folks will always short cut and fast track… some folks will always pay finish out collections or gain traits they need / want… etc.

What the wider variety of mini-games do is keep the game fresh and give the player control to choose how they spend time. It also keeps them coming back for new and additional options as games, troops, kingdoms, etc are all refreshed.

There are any number of ‘mini-game’ ideas out there… imagination is the limit. Here’s a few examples, and hardly fleshed out or an exhustive list - just spit balling ideas that they could consider:

@Tacet does a youtube vid where he opens a gold key chest at a time, and build a team with the first 4 common cards he receives and throws down against folks at max level in pvp… okay, he has nearly everything at mythic, full kingdoms leveled, and has all cards traited… so, his ability to pull that off is different from the rest of us… but, a mini-game like this could be interesting somewhere… what if you rolled a set of random cards and all were full traited and full leveled and played as mythics… but, your pool was only those of the white / green value (initially). Similar to arena, you were presented a set of cards to draft from… but instead of only seeing 3 at a time, you got to pick from 4 or 5 at a time, to improve your curve chances… and, you get no hero option.

You cold also do a progression game, where no matter what you draft (different draft mechanic) round 1, you got lv 10 cards all rarity of white… Round 2 you received ascention to all cards to blue and max level, round 3 they all ascended to purple and you received top most trait, round 4 you receive all gold / legendary cards ascended and a second trait, round 5 you received a mythic ascention of all cards and final trait unlocked. You are paid on performance similar to arena, and AI’s deck is bosted along the way as well. Again, placing arcane trait stones in the mix…

What if there was a mini-game yet different again, but payout was based on how many troops you lost along the way… instead of earning loot, you draft or select or random roll a team… whatever… and you start with a full loot bag! However, you must finish all 6 or all 8 games… and with the mechanics in play… you are losing loot along the way if you lose troops during combat along the way. Your team refreshes and/or buffs or whatever between rounds… but the mini-game keeps track of your losses each match till complete, and you watch your loot fall away on the trail if you cannot maintain your team’s health each round. Just another fun twist idea.

I think possibilities with the kingdoms, with the environmental effects and with the quantity of cards are near endless to the prospects of mini-game possibilities.

Again - just some thoughts,

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Sounds great - one day we will live in a world where this is also possible on consoles!

Thanks for the update, always good to hear what is coming our way.

Keep up the good work.

Too much stuff, i am game overload. How long before we see your team at a convention @Sirrian

Has there been any mention of what to expect with 2.1 anywhere here on the forum or elsewhere? I’m curious as to what changes will be coming to guilds.