Should we add an "environment shift"?

Question

The idea is that we periodically "shift" the environment theme around for some sort of minor power boost or purely aesthetic reasons.

The in-game explanation of this is that there's an open time portal in the middle of the game board that keeps pulling cards into different eras/dimensions.

Some ideas from the chat:

• Give card types a bonus based on the environment (warriors do well in medieval, techies in cyber)
  • The card types would shift to match the theme
• Give cards a bonus that match the environment (elves get a bonus in fantasy, hackers in cyber)
  • There might be some strategy in deckbuilding, so users can focus on being great at a few themes or being OK at every theme
• Have a countdown timer on the shift, that can be influenced by certian cards (delayed or accelerated)
  • This could be a number off to the side somewhere
  • This could be visual/textual, so the rift doesn't do much until a few turns before it shifts, then gives warnings about growing bigger until it shifts 
• Have single (random) theme for whole battle
• Users can pick how quickly/slowly they want to shift environments
  • Chaotic - shifting every few turns
  • Calm - shifting rarely
• Each theme has slight terrain differences
• You only get the bonuses if units of the proper theme are next to each other

 

This is probably too complex to fit in vanilla or core, maybe in an expansion.

Comments

I like this idea, applying it might be difficult. We could have cards that specifically affect the environment, giving an advantage to other cards. Like an enchantment, or field spell that changes the environment to fit a deck you build. It could enhance a type of unit you would have in your deck. I think the specifics posted with this question may be a little to far out of the box, a little too complex as you put it. We could simplify it a bit. For example: I build a deck that focuses on hackers. I have an enchantment that is called "server room" for the sake of argument. That is an environment change. Would give +?/+? to my creatures that fall within that card/unit type. Or: I had an elf deck. I would use a card called "Forrest" to change the environment. It would enhance my elves by whatever means, and lets say it would decrease the attack/defense of a Mech deck. That environment would not be suited well for a Mech.

Answer 1

Of course I like the environment shift idea, it is neat and fresh, etc.  But the downsides to trying to do it are massive, so definitely it is the kind of idea that would be better for an expansion.

The biggest problem (aside from programming it and balancing it) is that it seems like it quadruples the amount of artwork that we need for the game.  I might be wrong, but I don't think any of us are artists currently.  It's already going to be a challenge to get the art we need for just one theme, even a very basic theme.  If we want the project to succeed we need to limit the scope as much as possible.

One way that the idea may work however is if we have 4 or 5 "environments" or "backdrops", and each one could have a constant effect (or some of them could have an effect) that applies equally to both players.  The effects could be strong enough that players would need to consider the possiblity when building their decks, but would not fashion a whole strategy around them.  I don't know if this would be a good idea for gameplay or not, though.

Answer 2

I think that at this point (and maybe always?) we should consider features based on whether they are crucial for playability, balance, completeness, or enjoyability and not based on whether they would be cool to have.

For example we need an overall theme for completeness, but something like environmental shift just doesn't seem crucial to the game.

On the other hand, if we approach it from this direction it could work:

• The player who goes first has an advantage, how do we balance that?
• Have a cycling environmental shift, and shift it in player 2's favor at the start.

But then I'd probably be inclined to reject that in favor of something less complex and game-altering.

Relevant: What guidelines should we follow when considering a feature?