General game feedback
been playing since launch date and have a few gripes about some features of the game
Gripe 1: Battle Stance - This is, i believe, intended to function as the match-making difficulty setting for random matches, the issue is, both “Beginner” and “TCG Player” are identical… both are flooded with the same 2-3 decks with no actual distinction between the two settings.
This is primarily awful for new players because they have no real way to actually play the game and win any matches until they pull the three main EX cards (more on that later), but its also awful for anyone trying to test-build decks. Theres a lot of cards with the potential for decent or interesting decks, but its nearly impossible to test decks when every match is against either Mewtwo EX, Celebi EX, or Pikachu EX. Why bother trying to make a new interesting deck when i can just spam one of those three cards and almost assure a win?
Proposed solution: Ban EX cards from beginner, or at least make a mode where EX cards are not permitted. This will give new players an opportunity to play on a more fair field, while also giving current players a place to test builds.
Gripe 2: Abilities - there are currently ~17 abilities present in the game, ~15 excluding duplicates. This is such a horribly underused mechanic of the game. Water has 4 abilities, while most other types have 1 or 2, and fire has 0. Not a single fire pokemon with an ability. The bigger issue is that the few abilities that we do have largely arent viable, of the ~17 abilities, 3 or 4 are even remotely viable. The two main one being Gardevoir and Serperior.
Proposed solution: Simple. Give more cards abilities, and stop doing fire dirty with 0 abilities
Grip 3: EX cards - EX cards are… terribly unbalanced…
Mewtwo was able to one-shot all but 3 of the original cards, two of which were Venusaur… throw a Giovanni on Mewtwo and the only card it couldnt 1-shot was Venusaur EX.
Articuno EX with a “lucky” turn 1 misty can win the march before the other player even gets a turn. To my knowledge this is the only card capable of this…
Exeggutor EX is arguably worse being able to do 80dmg for 1 energy, which is vastly disproportionate to every other card, even by EX standards. The only one thats close is Starmie EX which has the same “lucky misty” issue ad Articuno…
Celebi EX… oh boy… any game mechanic that makes a player have to sit through 20+ coin flips is a bad mechanic…
EX cards single handedly alienate new players, while stripping enjoyment from the primary interaction of the game… and as stated above, make any attempt to create a deck that is not the primary 3 decks a fools errand…
proposed solution: Instead of creating increasingly more broken EX cards, nerf existing ones to at least be not totally game breaking? Idk… i think this ones a lost cause…
Now, with all that said, i have managed to find a single deck that can stand up to EX decks, while not using any EX cards itself, that is an Alakazam deck, but this only works sometimes and is reliant on Giovanni and some “luck”. I would love to see more decks that dont use EX cards but why bother having fun crafting interesting decks when you can use the same 3 cards over and over again… Play lame, win game…
Comments
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There isn't a single EX Pokemon in TCG Pocket (those rotated out of the original TCG Standard format long ago), there are some ex Pokemon tho. Also none of your suggestions make sence from game play point of view and also game economy wise.
Pokemon ex are a core part of the original TCG... TCG Pocket it's a simplified version of the original, and the original TCG it's a giant success, it would be insane of them to change the game formula that gets them so much revenue and a huge player base.
So ex are here to stay and in the future I'm sure they will be "replaced" by the next era multi-prize/point Pokemon, once those become available on the original TCG of course.
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Okay forgive me for not knowing theres a difference in “EX” and “ex” cards. Given this is a forum for TCGP then I did, and am going to continue to reasonably assume that you know what I'm actually talking about when I say EX, Ex, ex, or whatever.
Id like to know how making the game more accessible to new players by having match making actually make a difference, and the better use of a underused game mechanic, don't “make sence from game play point of view and also game economy wise.”
Seeing as one makes it easier for new players to actually play the game and progress, and the other is already in the game just underused.While yes, PTCGP is a simplified version of the original TCG, they inherently did change the formula of the game by simplifying it. Energy is no longer cards you need to draw, you can only have 4 Pokémon out, and prize cards are no longer a thing. The formula and dynamic of the game is inherently changed by those differences.
You can see this in so many cards. Take the Hitmonchan card for example. it has one attack that does 30hp for one energy and 80hp.
The card it was based on has two attacks, one that does 20hp for one energy, and one that does 40hp for three energy, and has 70hp.
This card, and many others, were changed from their TCG counterpart because the literal game flow and formula of the game was changed, and the cards needed to reflect this change.EX cards, dont fit well in this new formula as is. At no point did I say to get rid of them, I suggested nerfing them, so that they better fit into the new game format. There are some that already fit fine. Arcanine ex, Wigglytuff ex, Machamp ex… these cards are all stronger and deal greater damage, but they don't break the game. Mewtwo ex and Celebi ex absolutely do. I’m not saying remove them, I’m saying fix them.
My problem with ex cards goes away if theres a game mode that lets you get away from them. Theres around 300 different cards in the game but only about 10 of them ever see any use. Thats a horrible use rate. I want to see the ability for that to change.
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I think the game would really benefit from a proper ranked ladder to keep the sweaty players occupied. Also, the battle stance thing isn't necessarily obvious to a lot of players (I myself just noticed it a few days ago despite playing since launch) so more competitive players may unintentionally intrude in beginner games.
Then you have the competitive players who go into casual games to test their decks, and the more unscrupulous ones who go there deliberately to beat up newer players.
Whatever you do, the casual modes are going to have competitive players using meta decks. That cannot be avoided.
I do think all TCGs benefit from having multiple formats, so that different types of players are not forced to play together all the time. I think a "no-exs" format could be interesting. But again, you will still get competitive players playing the best decks of that format.
There isn't a single EX Pokemon in TCG Pocket (those rotated out of the original TCG Standard format long ago), there are some ex Pokemon tho.
I agree that people should be clear in their terminology to aid clarity of communication, but I think you are being unnecessarily pedantic here.
Given that EXs were never in the game, it is clear what OP meant. Also I think it was silly of TPC to introduce two different mechanics with the same name only differentiated by capitalisation.
Let OP know the difference, sure. But you didn't need to be so snarky about it.
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