- The game is to long
This I think scare new players off. It looks and feels like a 45 min to 1h game. At least that is what people expect it to be based on their inner comparison with MtG. Now an average game is more like 2h, and that is way to long for this format. At least to attract a larger player pool. Same thing with Academy in fact. It is to long for what it gives. And to be honest MtG does this format much better, why Arena is the way to go for Mage Wars.
I find that the long games are too long. Not the average or even fast games.
Usually (very) the long games are caused by a bad assessment of one of the players within the first 3 rounds.
Can my mage / book go longer than my opponents?
Another reason why games drag out is that its very difficult to 'attack' in this game because guard markers carry over from last round. In its essence it just means that my grizzly takes 2 attacks from his grizzly in the same round i choose to attack his grizzly once.
It took me many many many games before i learned this what you would think is a simple thing... how to open up for attacking.
Some times i wish that the arena somehow was excately 1 zone smaller, in the sense that the distance from starting zones would be 1 less without making the arena smaller. I believe this would make rushes more viable.
- Armor issue
This bullet is very connected to the first one. In my mind armor and defense are two functions that prolong the game in a less desired way. Thematic it is great. But it is frequently seen that both mages and creatures stack a lot of armor which basically neglects 1/3 of all die rolls. This isn't very inspiring for an opponent. On top this is armor stacking very efficient and a good strategy as well. I would say most Armor spells should have been much more expensive.
Armor issue is a disaster. This is probably the biggest flaw in this game. And apparently AW does not understand this which is a catastrophe.
Armor issue has always been there. Since release.
First catastrophe:
Wizard voltaric shield + armor + Passive regeneration.
Second catastrophe:
Druid treebond - or lifebond. Also you can add vinemarkers to this equation since it also slows the game down in the sense that rushing vs a druid is impossible.
And as if lifebond is not completely and insanly overpowered in itself they also added Barkskin.
Third catastrophe:
Veterans Belt. Congratulations... you have now broken Mage Wars.
If i express my self further regarding this card, i will probably be banned from the forums, so ill leave it at this.
- Destructive spells.
Same thinking as with the Armor issue. Every time you design a card that makes something destructive, and removes something from your opponent, you should think twice before releasing it or determine a cost for it because it will only prolong the game in an unfun manner. Spells like: Dispel, Siphone, Mana worm, Enfeeble, etc. These cards should also had been much more expensive.
I think making armor more expensive would fix this one, as it would also make the removal more expensive.
We got ward stones to help vs enchantments, and these actually work when played right. (Early on i thought they were unusable, but they can be great.)
Otherwise you are right.
- Effect issue
There are too many effects! For new people this is a jungle. In one game I tried to explain the difference of Rot and Bleed. They are basically the same, so why make a new version of it? All these tiny rules will act as a huge barrier for new player to get into the game.
I agree. And its not only markers. Hindered, slow, unmoveable, restrained.
oh... and just slam on its own...
- Ability issue
Wow, look at all these cool creature and conjurations abilities! Well, for new players this can be overwhelming. When each creature has its unique ability and none are just vanilla. Sometimes I play with the thought that what if most creatures were standard creatures and abilities came from the Conjurations, Enchantment and Mages?
I don't think that the creatures is the problem. They are learned pretty easy and because they are all cool i have not experienced the time it takes to be a bad investment.
Effects on the other hand....
Also.. learning the attack sequence is too complex in particular in relation to when to reveal what.
- Card pool count
In revers to several others in here I think the card pool is too large. That is at least the impression I get talking to "mugglers". There is no life cycle of cards. The pool just grow and grow and grow. It is even hard for me to keep track of all cards. Maybe a better format how to use the cards is needed?
I think the pool is okay to be honest. I also think its pretty few new spells that actually comes in expansions.
But ofc... over the years it adds up.
- Critical player count
I hope this isn't too late. But one big reason the game doesn't take off more, at least not in my area, is that a game needs a certain player count to grow from. MW had the chance when it was released but never really came up to that critical level when the crowd could bring in new players by itself. Now head hunting for new players are down to just a few dedicated persons globally, which is not enough. I bet one reason AW don't release new content as often for Arena is that for each release the sells figures has gone down down down.
Spot on.
I'm not too concerned about the release schedule. Actually I think it is just fine. What is missing is a clear well communicated plan for it though. Like: "Every year there will be one Arena release in April and one Academy release in November". Here AW must improve.
I guess it all boils down to what type of game and community we would like to have. Are we and AW looking for a prospering community I think the game needs a remake of some sort. Otherwise it will be you guys who are currently playing the game who will keep doing it, no one else unfortunately.
Spot on. 0 and or bad communication is so frustrating.
The introduction of Academy was really poor in my view. Marketing and production quality were ok, but the choice of mages were horrible. I can't understand how a mana-canceling wizard could end up as one of the basic mages in the core box? Why put in a "super advanced" mage whose only purpose is to deny the opponent to do "anything"? When I was demoing this the first year at one of Sweden’s larges conventions I got the same comment each time: "The beastmaster was cool, but the Wizard just made the game boring". Note, these were the only two mages available by then. Sure there are several to choose from today, but the train has already left...
So true. AW needs to look up the word 'anticlimax'.
I know that a small pool of players think controlling is fun. But i can assure you that many players will walk away with a very bad taste in the mouth after getting trolled for 3 or 4 hours by an experience undo wizard.
