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Everything Wrong with TCGL

This is a discussion post, so feel free to add bad experiences you have had to PTCGL below. I will address these issues and will write down what I think can be improve about it. I appreciate that The Development Team have many things to think about with this game but I thought why not just have all the issues in one place so they don't forget what to work on next 😀.This is probably gonna be a long post.

KEY:

= Things TPCI/The Development Team CAN DO to PTCGL to make it Better.

= Things TPCI/The Development Team CAN NOT DO to PTCGL(Makes it worse)


The User Interface(UI): I think it is safe to say that this needs to be improved. This aspect has so much potential and I think that it could rival Hearthstone and other popular online TCG clients. Can't the Development team think of something a bit more complex than drawing hexagons.

Get rid of the score board on the side of the screen and place that number(of prizes you have remaining) where the prize cards. This is way more simple and just makes the in game feel more clean.

Get rid of the avatars in game. This is arguably one of the worst parts about this game and seems the development team have put the most amount of time into. In this regard, I think the screen name should be displayed instead of the avatars(especially in game) as it will make the game look more aesthetically pleasing and I won't have to put up with avatars spamming emotes on me in game

Get rid of in game avatar emotes: Following on from my last point get rid of emotes they super annoying, not only this it again ruins the aesthetics of the game. Instead, why not just add text and/or small emojis like they did with PTCGO. This adds to the simplicity aspect of the game and makes the game just that little bit more enjoyable and aesthetically pleasing

DON'T get rid of(most) of the in game board visual effects, I personally think most of them are cool but some of these could be improved to not give headaches to players. Yes I know that these visual effects can be turned off but visual effects are used in all other competitive online TCG's why not do the same. PTCGO did this well in my opinion.



The Deck Builder: This is arguably one of the worst aspects of the entire game as a whole. This It is not intuitive. It is not easy to navigate. Making decks from scratch is a hassle. These improvements are mainly to save time for users but I'm sure that other people in this discussion can pick up other negatives of the Deck Building aspect. This part of the game is supposed to be easy to do/understand so users can play the game quickly and make their new deck ideas a reality quickly. The deck builder requires its own section because there are so many things wrong with it.

Card Rarity within Decks: The amount of times I've searched for a card whilst building a deck to play a specific rarity of that card in my deck is countless. This can be improved by adding a feature the user can mark a specific rarity of a card that they want to play in every deck. So, when they search for a card of that rarity in the deck builder to add to their deck that is marked it automatically comes up on the screen and save the user from having to scroll for ages to find that particular card. PTCGO did well in this regard.

Importing/Exporting Decks From Clipboard: The amount of times I have had to import a deck to PTCGL and it not being successful due to me not having a particular rarity of a card or card from a particular set are countless. Why can the game not just recognise that I have a card with the same name in my collection as the deck I am importing from my clipboard and use that one instead. It just means that I have to spend a lot more time just adding particular cards I want in the deck and having to build the deck from scratch. This builds on my previous point above. When I export decks from my clipboard from PTCGL, why do the amount of Pokémon, Trainers and Energy come up as completely the wrong numerical amount compared to that are actually in my deck. This seems an easy fix. Go into any description of YouTube videos and you know what I'm talking about.

Deck Display on Screen: Currently when you try to view a deck in the deck builder, it appears very small on screen unless you go into the deck to edit it. Even then, the display is pretty small. If The Development Team prioritized being able to view your entire deck with ease that would be much easier and would make the overall user experience better as the deck builder would be easy to navigate. Again PTCGO did this relatively well.

Playability/In game:

Expanded Format: This is pretty self explanatory but the expanded format has to be added to PTCGL. This is because it provides diversity within this game rather than just only having standard format. Yes I know there is expanded beta format(sun and moon onwards) but by adding Black and White Cards and XY cards too), this opens up many opportunities and increases the playability for users as they aren't forced to play with a specific time period or pool of cards. Also more formats have been introduced which involve expanded such a GLC which has become increasingly popular. Not to mention having expanded friendly battles means that GLC can be played and means that expanded tournaments can be played on PTCGL.

Customisable Board Art: I've seen this on Twitter through the imagination of TCGL players that believe that the actual playmat should be completely changed from what it currently is to making people be able to choose from a selection or import their own image so they can have their own image displayed on half of the game board to make it look like their own playmat. This would be extremely cool even though it could be hard to implement as users will be able to make their in game experience personal to them which I think will increase retention rates of users on TCGL.

In Game Currency: Personally, I think that the poke coins currency in which you by clothes and deck boxes/sleeves etc. should be removed. This is because, you could give these in game cosmetics out to users when they complete challenges or achieve a new ladder rank. I think that the 2 main currencies(crystals and credits) are enough to fund both purchasing products from the in game shop.

PTCGL Card Art: I'm going to be real, the card art on this game is horrible. It is not aesthetically pleasing. I mean go look at any past PTCGO videos and the art on those cards are 100 times better than that of PTCGL. The Development Team have slightly touched on this already but this has to be fixed in order to make the game look smooth and clean for the viewer to look at especially if you are a collector.

Daily Rewards: As well as daily challenges, why can't players get a daily login reward such as a small amount of credits. This will definitely increase the retention rates of users as they will keep coming back each day to play your game.

In Game Tournaments: I think that the Development Team should implement in game tournaments to PTCGL like PTCGO as it will provide an extra way for players to get the cards they need by winning games to get credits. PTCGO did this so well and adding this feature to the game would add to the diversity of the game which I think will benefit TPCI when it comes to other competitors in the market.

DON'T Remove the ability for users to craft their own cards. This is one of(if not the BEST feature) of this game and like the main reason you decided to abandon PTCGO.

DON'T Remove the battle pass. This is again one of the best reasons this game was created as it improved the playability of the game for all players which meant users didn't have to spend a huge amount of capital to get the latest cards.

Make the Game Playable on ALL Platforms/Devices(regardless of how old they are): This is a MUST do as I know many users(including myself which play on older devices such as Tablets/Phones and Computers which want to access this game but can't due to the amount of RAM PTCGL uses. So please make this game run smoothly on all devices because there are some people who do not have the budget to afford the latest tech to run your game.

Fixing Bugs: I think that it is normal for any game to have a bug especially at the beggining of a games life cycle. However, this game has been out now for 2 years and realistically, from what I've seen most of the bugs that users are experiencing in game should be fixed by now. If you are able to crack down on these bugs that would be awesome as it just makes the games for users that much more enjoyable knowing that they can have a play session experiencing no faults or bugs.

These are all my thoughts on what can be improved about this game. I am sure that there are many other things I have not mentioned which The Development Team could improve to make this game better. Let me know your thoughts below. If @TPCi_CursedSoup could read this post and all the comments that are going to be below it or pass this feedback onto the Development team of PTCGL, that would be awesome.

Your Passionate Pokémon TCG player,

Cricketplayer10

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Comments

  • TechHog
    TechHog Member Posts: 2,869 ✭✭✭✭✭
    2500 Comments 500 Agrees 250 Likes 50 Answers

    Make the Game Playable on ALL Platforms/Devices(regardless of how old they are): This is a MUST do as I know many users(including myself which play on older devices such as Tablets/Phones and Computers which want to access this game but can't due to the amount of RAM PTCGL uses. So please make this game run smoothly on all devices because there are some people who do not have the budget to afford the latest tech to run your game.


    This is literally impossible. The game can be optimized to run better, but it can't be available on everything.

  • Nickalooose1
    Nickalooose1 Member Posts: 43
    10 Comments 5 Likes 5 Agrees Name Dropper

    "emotes are annoying"

    Lol, I've had someone giving it the thumbs up until I play my hand and practically go on to win, nothing wrong with them and they don't interrupt the game in any way... Personally, I use the thumbs down if I'm exiting the match or that awful confused face one, if they can 1 shot me and win but they're playing cards and switching etc., like using Comfey... Other than that, I would flood thumbs up if they did it to me while they were "winning", but I'm going to win in the end anyway!

    Maybe focus your attention on matchmaking, like being forced to play 17 Charizard decks in a row lol or the unfortunate amount of time wasting 1 can do since there's an infinite 15 second loop so long as you do "something".

    Most of your things that will benefit the game in whatever way you think, is nothing but part of a wish list, things you want... The scoreboard is fine, the game board is fine... The prize layout is fine... None of it is game breaking or interrupting...

    I'd like them to fix the game winning move though, so whoever wins the match, doesn't have to pick that last prize card, just end the match with victory or defeat... No need for picking the final prize cards!

  • Mod_Skrilla
    Mod_Skrilla Member Posts: 325 ✭✭✭
    100 Comments 25 LOLs Second Anniversary 25 Likes

    Hello Trainers, Thank you for your feedback! Please let us know if you have any other suggestions.

  • OlderAngel11
    OlderAngel11 Member Posts: 1,699 ✭✭✭✭✭
    500 Agrees 1000 Comments 250 Likes 25 Answers

    Knew he was gonna say that.

  • Ampersundae
    Ampersundae Member Posts: 75 ✭✭
    25 Agrees 10 Comments First Anniversary 5 Likes

    That's a lot to take in at once. I agree with your sentiment, but there's only so much they can do. We did just get the Battle Log features, so there's active development on a major user request.

    I would support the idea of more tournaments, or things like that, but I think they've got momentum. A road map of what they are thinking of working on next is always cool, and maybe some of those tournaments to keep me busy.

  • Water-Kriz24
    Water-Kriz24 Member Posts: 49
    10 Comments 5 Agrees Name Dropper Photogenic

    It's maddening when someone does that stupid thumbs up emoji with that dumb cocky smile right before that Bosses Orders your weak Pokemon up to knock it out and take their last prize card(s.) They know what their doing. They know their being A-Holes by doing that. :/

  • Water-Kriz24
    Water-Kriz24 Member Posts: 49
    10 Comments 5 Agrees Name Dropper Photogenic

    Gengar VMAX… the one that uses a big attack and then can't attack the next turn… is able to use it's big attack every turn.
    The opponent did not retreat and come back out… they didn't have any Pokemon with some kinda ability on their bench that would let them do this… they didn't have some kinda Special Energy or Pokemon Tool attached that would let them do this…
    There was nothing that would allow them to do this, yet the game allowed them to… and People wanna tell me the game don't cheat.
    They wannt try to tell me, the Players ain't trying to cheat… well, then why was every single match I played today against Gengar VMAX?? They know it's broken and they are out to exploit it… LIKE CHEATERS. >:(

  • Cricketplayer10
    Cricketplayer10 Member Posts: 29 ✭✭
    10 Comments First Anniversary 5 Agrees 5 Likes

    @TechHog yes I mean to optimise the game so it’s playable on devices that are slightly older. I agree it is difficult to make it run on EVERYTHING. I’m just aware some people are not made of money.

  • EpicSince81
    EpicSince81 Member Posts: 6
    First Comment

    @TechHog @Cricketplayer10
    Naah, be honest… this game is all about displaying images, letting the user drag n drop them into the middle of the screen and the rest is animation gimmicks to make it look better.

    This game can easily run on everything that has 640x480 and something like a CPU in it. If the display would be bigger, it would be able to be developed for a GameBoy classic really :D

    Of course this is meant if you focus on the core functionality, not 3D avatar animations and stuff.

  • Mister-Burkes
    Mister-Burkes Member Posts: 114 ✭✭
    10 Comments First Answer First Anniversary 5 Agrees

    This is a good post, bumped.