My feedback on Live as of 22nd April
I've been playing Live for a few months now. I only tried PTCGO for a few days before this, so my impressions are fresh and from the perspective of a new player.
I'll open with some positives from my newbie perspective: the client is pleasant to look at, I like the UI design, and while very limited for options I think the avatar system could flesh out into something worthwhile. Considerable time has been put into making sure all the cards from all these sets work as they're intended, and I know that takes a lot of work. While there are still bugs in the system (I lose occasional matches from being unable to select a viable card) I am enjoying my time with the software.
There are, I feel, issues with the Live client that go deeper than it's technical performance. These are the pointers I'd like the Live team to read and seriously consider. I'll break them down as such;
o The Ladder
Climbing ranked should be challenging. An intense competative scene is heart to many modern TCG's. The Live ladder progress is, sadly, too punishing to be worth playing. With 24 ranks seperated into 5 groups the win percentage required to climb into the Ultraball and above ranks is obscene.
With no point modifiers for fighting higher/lower ranked players it's simply a question of win % numbers, in a game where the top 25 players on earth have 60% winrates, with 70 as the worlds best. With no modifiers, and no rank protections like other online TCG's, I cannot endorse rank climbing in this game... said as a Mythic in Magic Arena and a Plat in Master Duel (I am no stranger to grinding).
o The Reward Currencies
This game has three different virtual currencies. This is a red flag for most people, but given their different functions (and thankfully no way to Credit Card in this game meant for children) I think they function as intended. However, being split between three currencies means game rewards are also 3x slower compared to other games like Magic or YGO where the rewards are also much HIGHER. Purchasing power for gold, in Arena for example, is significantly higher than gems and are obtained in tenfold amounts.
To paint a picture, managing to complete all daily tasks without fail garners 60 gems per day. That's 1260 gems earned from 21 days straight of completing all tasks without missing any. So, for short of a month's grinding you get.... six boosters? Or a last-rotation starter deck.
Yes, I'm aware the battle pass exists, and yes I encourage people to get it every time. But in a game with zero pack or card rewards for playing (which I think exist in every other OTCG?) a couple packs a month for daily grind is far too litle value for the tiny gems you get. That's why nobody buys them... I'll get to that in point 3.
I have less to say on Gold because the currency simply doesn't have use right now with limited cosmetics, and that is fine. The payout on rewards can always be tweaked and I encourage the Live team to rebalance this cash system.
What cannot be revised however is perhaps the biggest issue with the Live client, one that would require some major upset moving out of beta- and I don't have a solution for it...
o Celebrations Club and Infinite Credits
I'm sure the Live team is aware of this exploit. For those who do not know, I'll break it down in brief.
For most players the best way to grind Credits in Live is by buying bundles they already have duplicates of, such as Darkrider or Mew VMAX decks. This 'dusts' the remaining cards into credits and pays out around 4k credits per 1250-ish gems spent.
However there exists a far greater exploit, built around completing the entire Celebrations catalogue (such as trading in TCGO before migrating) and then bringing over the max number of Celebrations pack codes, or buying them with gems. If your Celebrations are maxed out the dusting will pay out a significant number of gems (many streamers showing off their pulls of 15-17k credits per 6 pack bundle). For anyone who migrated with a full 400 pack collection ready to open, that number becomes obscene. I've seen players discussing this method claiming to make 300k + credits on day one, without spending any of the gems yet.
Since the trick is now widely known, the packs have become expensive to buy and few people will trade them. Essentially, a large wave of early adopters managed to get infinite credits in Live.
Which leaves us with the economy issue ; some players have ifninite credits, and the game isn't out of beta. This means the only 'correct' purchase with in game currency is Celebrations packs, especially if you aren't in the Celebrations Club yet.
I don't have a suggestion for this. It's an awkward position of allowing some accounts essentially infinite money, or resetting the credits after beta and making people mad. I hope the Live team can find a solution that doesn't leave us with an already broken game economy.
.....
In conclusion, that was a lot more than I intended to write, but this is how the Live client looks through the eyes of a relatively fresh player, albeit one with extensive experience in TCG's. The client itself is non-offensive and shows promise, however the issues at fault require more significant changes than just tweaks.
I hope if anyone reads this, they understand it comes from a place of support and a desire to see this become a better alternative to the old client. I hear people really liked that one. Adios.