By Alain Valchera and Pedro Rauiz – Game Designers at Oktagon for MtGPQ
Hello, fellow Magic players, we’re back again with a special post to provide some insight on a couple of the features we recently implemented in MtGPQ’s v3.2 update and what’s to come in the next few. We also hope to answer some questions and ask for your opinions. These are still in their early stages and there’s much to be done still.
EVENTS EXPERIENCE
Unlimited play Node Events and similar encounters that allow repeated play work as follows: the first play/charge will award +20 XP towards full mastery for each card used, while repeat plays award +2 XP. This is applicable to Story encounters as well. Players are encouraged to try more Events in lieu of the story mode; this should help populate events pool with more players, and they also yield better rewards too. Heroic Encounters are similar, but give +50 XP on the first play and +6 XP on additional playthroughs. Charges-based events, though, remain the same: each charge awarding +20 Card XP.
HOW MASTERING CARDS WORKS
The presentation of the experience gained on each card as a value is new; these gains were always present but not clearly denoted. The values required for mastering cards depend on its rarity: Commons take 100 XP to master, Uncommons take 200 XP, Rares take 400 XP, and Mythics take 800 XP. We’re looking into possible issues regarding different sets and varied experience gains, but the correct cases are as mentioned. Cards do not have more than one experience bar; the bar should progress every time a card gains experience, no matter where it comes from. A related issue to the card display, where Power/Toughness were not being show on the list format during deck building, will be fixed on the 3.3 update.
VETERAN REWARDS
Given that the profile and level features weren’t in the game from its inception, we felt veteran players should at least be compensated for their dedication to the game and not miss out on rewards new players would receive through normal progression at this moment. At the same time though, in order to maintain a healthy economy in MtGPQ, these automatic rewards could not be equivalent to the normal progression total. Rest assured though that more content and free rewards for long time players with many mastered cards should be available soon (see Planned Additions). Additionally, we’ve just added 36 decks that were missing from older Planeswalkers, which grant currency upon completion and also weigh on those values. Additional rewards are also planned for when new features will be put in place in the future (see below). The values have been automated, considering each 10 levels. An issue where level 28 was registered twice has been fixed.
LEVEL PLACEMENT AND PROGRESSION
The conversion system for determining a player’s Level and the progression system aim to determine how much dedication the player has invested into the game through the card variation and experience they gained. During the initial conversion, all players were placed according to a conversion curve that differs from their current card mastery, in order to still allow level gaining. The veteran rewards were directly influenced by that conversion, in an attempt to provide boosters, currency and options for players who might have a lot of mastered cards in stock. The planned Seasonal modes will require this initial balancing as we plan to use these earned levels as a guide instead of just the Color tiers – which can be held back by using only key cards from each set, such as using only one or two decks with several Rare and Mythic cards. This should avoid an extreme segmentation of the community and fit the projections for overall experience gain through the following month. The progression curve and its rewards are still open to adjustment (some rewards might be granted, none will be taken back), but it should be noted that it takes into consideration the addition of the new features that will also grant Player Level experience that isn’t tied to card mastery. Players will be notified if anything changes in regards to progression.
PLANNED ADDITIONS
As mentioned in our previous updates, we have plans involving additional game modes, not just events. Those will provide experience gain for Player Levels without being tied to card mastery. Yes, card mastery is, as of this moment, the only way of raising your level, but won’t be for long. Our main focus right now is designing a functional and rewarding “Season”-based game mode. We have Daily Quests and Trophies systems in concept phase to go along with that feature, the latter of which will consider retroactive gameplay to some extent. The new matchmaking system for the Season content is intended to be more balanced and fair, and should NOT consider color mastery as the main method of matchmaking (as it’s currently present in the game). Thus, no new color mastery level will be added as of this moment and instead, players that reach or have reached some quantity of mastered cards will be awarded Trophies and reward bundles (which ties into our Trophies feature). All of these new systems are currently in design/development and should become progressively available throughout the year.