Should we start talking about the Card Strength Algorithm?

Question

I'm sure some of the brainer ones among us have a lot of good ideas about this already.  I have some ideas myself, though I have never built anything quite as sophisticated as this.  The question is, should we start discussing this or should we wait?

I feel like this is a major part of the game, and it will need to be really good for the game to be successful.  But we may need to nail down more more of the specifics of the game to talk about the specifics of the algorithm? The other concern is that we may not want to talk publicly about the algorithm at all.  Thoughts?

Comments

Are you thinking of things like, how much should it cost to cast a 2/2 card vs a 5/5 card?

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Yes, the math that will determine the costs of cards based on their strengths, their abilities, and their potential combos in the metagame

Answer 1

Well I think with that, we need to discuss what strengths, abilities and combos that can be used. Essentially we need to discuss what the card will cost to cast, what the card's defense is, attack, effects/abilities and so on. We also need to discuss what and how the life points of the player will work. Will we do more of a 20 life point game like MTG, or 8000 life points like Yu-Gi-Oh. That will also determine how much attack and defense the creatures/units will have as well as any other cards that can deal damage. That might help us figure how much a card is worth, or how much mana a card will cost to play it.

Answer 2

Even though I really like the concept of a card strength algorithm, I expect it to be a balancing nightmare. As cards will become more and more complex (have more abilities), this algorithm will also have to become more and more complex.

One reason why I suggested that players can vote for cards they like and don't like in a card-suggesting system is that it will be up to the players to do the balancing.

I like the concept of a card strength algorithm, but I think it's way too early to start working on it.