Matchmaking issues
So, after a few days playing I get enough cards to put together a not very good, but at least functional deck other than the one you start with. No EXes, mostly filler cards, but the important part, the core of Lapras and Misty is there so I decide to give some PVP a try. I go to the PVP section and see that I can choose between a "Beginner" and "Experienced TCG player" mode. Sine I'm all too aware that my deck is objectively terrible I obviously choose beginner. But as I do so I can't help but notice that if the game allowed me to just choose my experience level, that it wasn't doing anything on its end to match me with similarly-beginner level players… and that I was going to find a bunch of high level players who are just SAYING they're beginner level…
…yeah, that's exactly what happened. I played seven matches, and of those seven opponents, six of them were fully decked out with all the rarest and strongest cards in the game. One of them even had the infamous golden Charizard! It's transparently obvious that these are "expert" level players who choose "beginner" mode to score easy wins against ACTUAL beginners. This is why you shouldn't just "honor system" matchmaking. If there is some level of matchmaking based on player level, then that doesn't work either. Most of these guys were actually at or below my level, and yet they have all these insane cards while my rarest card is a Dragonite that I can't even use because I don't have any Dragonairs. Not sure how that's even possible, since you get xp from opening packs, and these guys have clearly opened way more packs than me, but the results don't lie.
So what to do about it? Well, funny you ask, because it just so happens that a ranked mode is the single most requested thing in the playerbase right now. So yeah, you should do that. But also you should have a "random mode" where literally any player can be matched against any other player too. Not as fun if EVERYONE you fight is on the same level. Probably would lead to you seeing a lot of the same decks.
Comments
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It's a P2W game... if it releases like expected even a beginer that spends money will have a significant advantage. They may actually be beginers but just "bought" a top deck.
If the money was just for the looks (card rarity and cosmetics) the game would be fair, but since it will be possible to buy stuff that directly gives you advantage, the free players will always have a less satisfying experience.
Not sure how often they will release new cards, but if it's similar to the regular PTCG set releases it will give P2W players a large advantage that will only increase with time... sadly
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Bit of an update to my findings: Earlier today I found a Cloyster so my deck's a little better now, and I tried some more PVP All of this is still on """Beginner mode""", mind you. I've now done a total of 20 duels, and 16 of those opponents were decked out with all the rarest and strongest cards. One opponent I couldn't tell what his deck was at all because he conceded first turn, and only 3 other players had actual beginner-level decks. The highest player level I saw was a whopping 19, indicating that there is in fact no level-based matchmaking after all. The game literally just assumes that high-level players would not play on the beginner-level gamemode. SUPRISE! THEY DO! A LOT!
Shoutout to those 3 guys with beginner-level decks, they were worthy opponents and our duels were legendary.
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