AtWar Ideas podcast 01 & 02 - Cards, Medals, Upgrades and Cargo Ships

Ok, i understand what you are getting at here i think, but you are not liking the evolving of your cards through medals, and the ugrading it to give a passive skill.

so here i will try to explain exactly why i decided to implement it this way.

note: the purpose of using italics (and the name change) is to try and define the two ideas different , which i didn't do very well in the video.

1. The Evolving through medals to give better activatable abilities in your cards
The entire point of this is so that the player gets some sense of achievement when they unlock a medal, they already know that there card will evolve at that point and they will feel great when it does, and they know that when they have, they will have an extra benefit to use in game.
You say them evolving will make High ranked members more powerful. Yes, it will, each medal level gives a new ability that you can also use with your previous ones all at once. but you can only use this ability for one turn. If for example you were to use it at the wrong time, on the wrong stacks, or your enemy tricked you into using them at the wrong time, then you will have wasted the card. it will be more about using the ability at the right time, instead of having tons of passive upgrades like the current high ranks have.

2.The purchase of Upgrades to give passive abilities to your cards
The entire point of this is to give a reason to your sp that is far less overpowered than the current upgrades that are in game. You say this will still be overpowered, no, high ranks will still be at an advantage, it only makes sense that they should be, but they will be at far less of an advantage because they can only take a maximum amount of cards into the game default 5, and customisable in options, you can even DISABLE cards, premium feature, to give a completely level playing field etc so it will be so much less powerful than the insane 20-30 something upgrades we currently have. also, if high ranks want to go crazy and have 20 cards in a game for some fun, they are more than welcome to.

3. why your ideas of buying passive cards, and cheap active cards is a bit messy (and also IMO helps higher ranks)
Ok, so while low ranks are concentrating all their sp on buying the passive benefits, which of course they will be doing because they give the permanent benefits throughout the entire game. high ranks will be using all the sp they have to pump as many active cards as they want and using them in game, giving them the advantage right?.

So now the reason why i have combined the idea of having active and passive abilities.
It is so you can very easily pick out the benefits of the card and what strategy it goes with which is perfect because in your strategy cards menu (out of game menu) you will have the ability to set up, in order of importance (in case in game there are more or less than 5 cards) all of your cards and hook them to the strategy you currently have selected in the menu where you currently choose your strategy. this is so that when you go in game, you will never actually have to pick out your cards every game you play, you will of course have the option to adjust them slightly, but you should always know the benefits of your strategy, and the cards you have chosen for them so you have a definitive strategy going into the game. (thanks to desu and acqui especially for thoughts on this)

4. there must be standard cards all players get.
Yes, of course there should be, i always had this in my mind and assumed you all would expect there to be, but i wasn't entirely sure how they would work originally, so i didn't say anything until i was sure, i have been thinking it through and i have come up with a way they could be implemented very easily.
Originally i said in the first video that strategy medals (winning so many games with a strat would give you a medal that gives you a card that you can upgrade, blah blah)
instead of this, all strategies will have a FREE for ALL players card that are exactly the same as the ones we can earn but are un-upgradable and already start at silver level with a passive ability. this will give you a good selection of starting cards to give every player a fighting chance, and also introduce everyone to the ideas of cards.

5. certain cards are earnable through gameplay (or missions... maybe)
thinking and looking back to the way Amok and Ivan originally envisioned cards to be in the first place, cards that are earnable through gameplay and you lose them at the end of the game. this is something that is very very easy to fit in with the ideas we currently have thought of.

you would get very simple "Rare cards" earnable through gameplay, one active OR one passive (eg, +1 defence for all units, +1 reinforce, +% pop increase etc) that you would earn exactly the same way that you earn Rare units in game, you have a small chance to to get them (passive less so)

rules:
They only effect the country of the city you received it in
again, like all cards they are only activated on turn 4, but you can find them before that
the cards will have either a positive or a negative bonus
passive cards can be stolen (or effectively they just always stay in the city, you lose it's bonus to the city if it's taken) thanks to hugo especially for this idea.
active cards cannot be stolen (for strategical purposes)
cards can be ditched (deleted, dumped, w/e)

reasons:
reason for ditching is obvious, so that your enemy doesn't get the bonus if you think you can't win.
reason active cards aren't stolen is so that if the enemy takes the city, you can use the negative active bonus to help you regain it, (but keep in mind it effects the entire country)
reasons for not till turn 4 is to stop stupidity.
reasons for both negative/positive is so that it mixes the gameplay and strategy. for example you could ditch your city that has a negative active card, to lure him in, this will also make people think twice before trying to jew countries that seem to be under-defended also you could keep the negative passive card and hope he isn't paying attention, meaning you have an easy route to taking it back and him wasting his forces.

6. How will strategies and new units be unlocked? Also, how will they be effected by this update.
These will be upgrades exactly the same as they are now. the prices will have to be standardised of courrse. currently the prices for new strategies are all over that place. i am thinking a standard of 2500SP for strats and 1000SP for new units is fair. this allows new players to try out everything new very cheaply and also get those all important easy to get and free with the strategy cards.
Also of course with change comes a large amount of balancing issues that will be ironed out eventually, so strats may have to be changed accordingly.
the only possible major change to a strat i can think is lucky bastard. The change will add a few more benefits to lucky bastard in that it will have a higher drop chance for Rare cards and Rare units. The ultimate Gambler Strategy

7. How is my General Effected by this Update?
Again, General upgrades will be exactly the same, the only difference will be the way the general is customisable. basically you will be able to customise your general in exactly the same manor that your preset your strategy with cards. there will be a maximum amount of passives you can stack your general. you can of course change your generals passive and pre set them so they fit perfectly with your current strategy. WIth here being a limit to general passive abilities, this also means there can be a larger variety of them, capped at a standard price er upgrade. I am thinking maybe 1000SP per general upgrade and new upgrades will include attack, defense, hp, range for all different variation's of unit's and such.

8. Will my upgrades be Refundable?
Simple answer. No
you succeeding in game is all about you making the right choices, buying the right upgrades, selecting the right loadout. This idea would be totally be removed if you could just take back what you did and try all over again to get everything right, high ranks will of course have that adaptability because they have the earned the right to have it. but adaptability doesn't always give you an advantage, survival of the fittest deems those who adapt the best will succeed.


Thanks to Hugosch for his especially for his suggestions, and everyone else i have talked to and have given ideas, Learster, Fruit, Terminal, Tophats, Acquiesce, desu and more.




extras for interest

Converstation with Learster, these two conversations cover things i may have missed, or goes into a (possibly) more understandable dept about my ideas
edit: added a third very relevant disccussion with fruit and terminal.

this should also hopefully make you more confident that i am up for a chat, in game, in the forums, in pm, and that good ideas are always appreciated. thanks

please read all of these, the are defo some really good ideas from acqui especially concerning game options and cards