Duelyst Forums

An honest discussion on bad card text design

#1

This is a topic that I feel isn’t probably being discussed nearly as much as it should be and really one I feel quite strongly about personally.

Duelyst has never been known to be the most intuitive of games. but recent trends in the wording of cards in our soon to be newest expansion has me baffled to say the least. The card wordings as of late leave a lot to be desired, with some card effects being unclear without looking at the actual card text or others having similar wording to other cards but being mechanically different. This inconsistency in design, especially a CCG with limited tooltips and honestly relatively complex mechanics for newer players as is really should not be excusable for a game that wants to be held to any level of professionalism .

I have a special relationship with Duelyst, same as most of you, but as a community it is vital that we be able to levy criticism where it is due, especially one that potentially effects our growth and our ability to be taken seriously as a CCG in the current market space.
Duelyst has done many a thing wrong, but this doesn’t need to be one of them and frankly we as a community deserve better, veteran and new player alike.

This is a honest discussion on bad card text design in Duelyst…question is, do we care enough to talk about it?

15 Likes
#2

I Really don’t mind the wording, I like the aspect of playing the cards and learning the interactions.

1 Like
#3

I have said it and i will say it again

The sentinel tokens need to add “cannot be dispelled” to the card text to prevent the next 200 rage posts since apparently they cant be dispelled anyway

9 Likes
#4

I stated my input on one at least. Ryv stated that at least one wasn’t finalized text, so I would figure that they’ll tune the text a bit before hand.

But to support your point, yes, card clarity and consistency is important.

4 Likes
#5

There’s been so many requests for the UI to show what minion hatches from which egg. Now that we’re in the age of Bandai Namco, maybe the devs will give up and embrace the fact that this is a DIGITAL CCG that can DO THESE THINGS without cluttering their pretty card text.

5 Likes
#6

If I made a card that read, 2 mana, deal some amount of damage, it would be unexceptionable by any metric in CCG standards, so why aren’t we making as big of a fuss when the ability of a card in a card game cannot be inferred by simply reading the card itself.

This is not a example of “digital design space”, this is simply sloppy and lazy implementation.

2 Likes
#7

I personally disagree. If anything the devs are putting extra time to add flavour into the card text. Although it does detract from effect clarity it makes the cards more interesting and discoverable

And for the players that are concerned with cometition you’ll probably play enough of the cards to know them and pretty much all of their interactions.

2 Likes
#8

I don’t have problem with the wording, but I think the text/mechanic indeed need more consistency.
Like, why in the name of all that holy Allomancer can’t summon Trigon Obelysk as one of the random Obelysk??? T_T

3 Likes
#9

I disagree with that conclusion because grinch, who has played and streamed duelyst a lot since before launch date, (as well as everyone in chat at the time) learned that you can use ritual banishment to kill your own minions without any enemy minions on the board.

I dont think it ever occured to anyone to try it before.

That sure was one educational wraithling

2 Likes
#10

The reason why is because when they add ezpansions they dont go back to old cards and update their “pool” of summonables. So its quite likely that khymera, grimes, and even lkian wont be able to bring out cards from unearthed prophecy

#11

which makes very little sense as they DO update Grincher and have said in Discord that a card such as Conjurer is being updated with newer archanysts…so yea

4 Likes
#12

Opening Gambit should be changed to Summoning Condition on Dagona.
Watchful Sentinels should have the tribal tag of Sentinel so that players would understand the difference and give them a reason as to why they cannot be dispelled (because they are not regular minions). This would obviously add issues with Grimes and pals so honestly anyway of indicating to players the unique capabilities of a card would help. This game is also lacking in tutorials. Having additional tutorials which included these special cards and scenarios would help a lot.

7 Likes
#13

The reason they don’t update Allomancer with Trygon is because that’s totally friggin busted, it would break the card and increase bad/salty RNG.

1 Like
#14

they really should specify it tho

#15

maybe they could add “under 4 mana” to allomancers text

#16

yes.

solves future issues as well

#17

So it’s ok to NOT update Grinchers pool if say a really powerful artifact gets printed? Or if they selectively choose what Conjurer can and cannot pull based on a arbitrary list?

I’m not so sure I agree with that sentiment.

again these are simple, easily solved wording inconsistencies that need not be in the game at all.

2 Likes
#18

Or maybe “can’t be summoned by Allomancer” in Trygon’s text but I guess the obnoxious char limit stops them from doing so.

#19

That also limits future Obelysk design though, a cleaner suggestion would to have it simply pulls from a non-legendary pool.

#20

I care plenty about it. This kind of stuff drives me berserk as I plan out the F.A.Q.

How do I explain things and in what order?
And if I can’t explain, will someone else? So I can share it?

And, trust me, I do respect the other views to the contrary: that there is some sense of accomplishment and satisfaction to be gained by self-discovery. But, given the nature of this game and the anger it can induce by misplaying, I believe a whole helluva lot more good can be gained by providing some logical baselines in the expected outcomes of card interactions.

But…that’s just my opinion.

5 Likes