OKTAGON Q&A Session - August 2023 (ANSWERS PUBLISHED - UPDATED 09/20/23)

Magic: The Gathering - Puzzle Quest MtGPQ General Discussion
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We received LOTS of questions this month. Thank you!

Also, by now you should have gathered why this took a bit longer to be published but we wanted to be able to be more open in our answers. :wink:

We grouped with similar themes together. Let’s get right into it.

  1. Will any of the earlier sets like BFZ get elite packs and can legacy elite packs be slightly cheaper?
    Answer: Great idea! We will discuss internally the viability of bringing that content to the game in the near future. Regarding legacy elite packs, look out for promos. :wink:

  2. Fblthp’s vault only contains alternate art cards. Is it possible to add exclusives that we can no longer get that might help complete Planeswalkers Basic/Advanced/Expert decks, or just older exclusives lost to time?
    Answer: Thank you for bringing this topic! We care about making the game accessible for everybody, including finding ways for new players to obtain these older cards. It seems like a nice idea for rewards in events or new kinds of boosters. Not necessarily Fblthp, but we took note of it.

  3. The BFZ set has 3 full art cards. I have two of them. I don’t have the second Plummet with the art of the falling Dragon, pierced by an arrow. I don’t think it has ever been offered before via Fblthp. Will it become available any time soon?

    Answer: We are currently looking into content that has not been offered in a while so we can bring it back. That’s definitely a goal of ours. The plummeting dragon, specifically, was brought recently via Fblthp. :wink: Hope you got it!

  4. Would you consider changing duel deck events to remove the victory/defeat rewards and making those rewards progression based instead? They current system makes some aspects of those events annoying because the same side tends to always win. If you want to collect the mythic from the side that rarely wins there’s not much you can do. Also If you prefer to play the side that typically loses you get stuck with the defeat rewards no matter how well you individually did. Having the a winning and losing sides is still a fun thematic aspect of duel deck events but it would be more enjoyable if everyone could simply play whichever side they like without feeling like they may have to sacrifice rewards to do it.

    Answer: The Duel Decks events have this unique experience of gathering forces for objectives and rewards, and we like the way that works right now. But we recognize that some reworks in the display of this event would help a lot for the community to keep track of what they already have and which side is more advantageous to them, so we intend in the future to give a help for Eldrazis to win. :wink:

  5. Most of the time, when a swap results in more than one match-5 (without involving any gem conversion), a player is awarded a single extra swap. There are some events, however, that award an extra swap for each match-5 that occurs. Is this intentional and if so, what prompted the decision to break from the standard design? Are there any plans by development to standardize on how extra swaps are handled when matching five (or more) gems during a swap (with no gem conversion)?
    Answer: The match-5 per swap gives a single extra swap, even if the event would make one or more match-5 in that single swap. Keep in mind that cascading matches can generate extra swaps too, but a 5-gem match created directly by gem conversion won’t be considered for extra swaps. You can find information on this topic in this FAQ. If there is a situation that would give more extra swaps than that, we would love to receive additional info about that through the Bug Report page. We are already testing this after your report here, but examples through the report channel would help as well.

  6. Will you consider adding more functions to searching for cards when deck making? Such as a button for tokens or standard / legacy. Not everyone remembers what the packs for standard are.

  7. Why can’t I order my Planeswalkers in any way?! Even if it was just by Color or HP or Favorites, it would be such a small quality of life improvement that would make so many people happy.

  8. Can we have a toggle for standard/legacy in the card list? Especially when deck building? We have toggles for mastered/unmastered cards, we even have a toggle for regular/full-art cards. This should be as simple an implementation as either of those, but would arguably be more important.

  9. Oh, and maybe the Holy Grail of MTGPQ: the ever sought after Standard Filter Button (or SFB for short)! That would make deck building o’ so much easier. Either way, like I said, great job on the game and I’m really looking forward to Wilds of Eldraine. Thanks guys.

    Answer: We agree those are much desirable features - our team also plays and misses them! It is in our plans for the future - together with other features and events - we just don’t have a date yet.

  10. Are you still going to making crafting legacy cards from the specific legacy pack a thing?

  11. What’s the status of the legacy crafting revamp?

    Answer: This project is paused . We are quite fond of this idea but we prioritized some other aspects of the game for the time being. It is definitely not forgotten!

  12. And finally are you going to consider making it easier for the stop loop button to come up? I like some loops but overall they suck. They make me give up and quit. A lot of the time I come across loop decks and no stop loop question comes up and I’m stuck waiting for a while because Greg won’t stop the loop. Or I quit the match out of frustration.

    Answer: Our development team is currently analyzing the status of the loop prevention system and possible actions that might be taken to better achieve these goals.

  13. Hey guys, great job with the game, been playing since it released; here’s my question: is there any chance of y’all going back and reworking the original five planeswalkers? Nothing major, maybe just a slight tweaking to their abilities and especially their mana bonuses. Just enough to make them competitive in today’s events.

    Answer: The 5 Origins Planeswalkers have a very straight-forward goal: to give the new players fast access to use any of the cards they have available. Acquiring other and more powerful Planeswalkers is a step in the learning curve we motivate the players to do so they can learn about the differences that a Planeswalker can bring for each match or event. So making the Origins Planeswalker stronger would work against that purpose. That being said, we do recognize that they could have a better power-up curve so the new players don’t get frustrated for not being able to use their ultimate skills at early stages, for example. We are considering changes to improve the first-time user experience, so they might get a careful review in the future.

  14. The community have asked for more story mode for years and have even offered to make the decks for the story mode chapters themselves. What is the primary obstacle for moving forward with this solution?

    Answer: The primary challenge for the story mode is priority. We have to choose which battles we must deal first. We love Magic: the Gathering lore as much as you do, but we must focus our efforts on a few things first, like the matchmaking system and the bugs and loops that are hurting the game right now. Be assured, we will take a closer look at the story mode as soon as we can.

  15. If there is a game breaking problem, what is the fastest way the devs will see it? Forum? In-game support?
    Answer: Both ways would be equally as effective! It is important that these concerns and bugs keep being reported so our team can act on it.

  16. Hello Octagon friends. I would like to know why it is not possible to change the Nick name in the game. When I started playing I didn’t even have the intention to continue and chose any name, but this time it’s been 6 years. You could think of that opportunity, a change through some event or payment through crystals. Please think about it.
    Answer: Right now, the names can’t be changed for security reasons. That being said, we are willing to give this matter a second look. Right now, we actually see changing nicknames as a good thing, and we surely will consider that for the near future. Right now, if you need a change for correcting offensive names or personal information being exposed, you can contact us on www.d3go.com/mobile-games-support for assistance with Player Names.

  17. Do the game devs strive to always have one low rarity two-card combo when a new set drops?
    Answer: It’s not intended to, but we are aware that unrestricted triggers per turn will always give a margin for those loop combos to happen. We test the card designs, but as you can see, not nearly enough to find all of the possible interactions. What helps a lot in this are the Bug Reports: We do read, test and discuss all of them as we can, including the ones we can’t reproduce. So keep sending them, they are a very important part of the process of making the game better.

  18. Why should we bother submitting questions when you don’t actually answer them? Today is August 30th and you have not yet answered July’s questions.
    Answer: We checked July’s post and saw you already saw the answers were there. Glad you found them. <3 But from now on we’ll try to make more clear on the post title when answers are published (like we did on this one!).

Hi everyone,
How are you?
Here’s another Q&A SESSION.
We will answer the questions posted by August 31st, so please send your questions and doubts to the following link: Magic: Puzzle Quest Monthly Developer Q&A.
Make sure to submit only 2-3 questions maximum, this way the team is able to focus and will try to answer all questions in a given month.

Thank you for all the support,
Rebeca

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I think this is the first time i have ever submitted a questions. cant wait for the answer.

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Documenting my question for posterity.

  1. Do the game devs strive to always have one low rarity two-card combo when a new set drops?
  2. The community have asked for more story mode for years and have even offered to make the decks for the story mode chapters themselves. What is the primary obstacle for moving forward with this solution?

Thanks, looking forward to hear the GD answers

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I submitted my question via the form but wanted to ask it here too:

What is the point of submitting questions if you don’t actually answer them? We are still waiting for answers to July’s questions.

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thank you @Magic_PQ_Support_Team

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Thanks for this. Feedback is awesome.

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These answers read VERY Differently knowing that it’s WC behind the responses and from a team that is just taking over and evaluating all options.

Great to see @Magic_PQ_Support_Team !

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@Magic_PQ_Support_Team , Please remember, as vocal as many people are “AGAINST” Loops (many think they shouldn’t exist at all) I Promise you, there are JUST as many who LOVE loops (Myself included)

…So PLEASE do not remove loops from the game.

I do agree there has to be a balance as to how easy the loops can be for “Greg” (the AI) to pull off, but as many as are grumbling about them, removing them completely will cut out just as many players enjoyment from the game.

In response to:

“Answer: Our development team is currently analyzing the status of the loop prevention system and possible actions that might be taken to better achieve these goals.”

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Thanks for the answers—they are much appreciated! :wink:

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Loop decks are for cheats, no thinking involved, ban loop decks!
I can’t count how many times I’ve been close to winning then these loop deck losers come up with Whir of Invention which then starts an unstoppable loop, cards fetched and cast one after the other non-stop… this ain’t fun, who likes these one-sided cheap wins?
It is time…
LOOP DECKS SHOULD BE BANNED, NOW!

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Loops decks should not be banned. There are just as many or maybe more players who love them then those who don’t. Most importantly they make the grinds easier and faster and thats a quality of life feature imo in a game that lacks many qol features. Anyone who occasionally loses a game to it in TG or other daily legacy event and as a result is super sore, just know that its not personal. Its not a big deal if we occasionally have to lose a game in legacy solo events where ranking doesn’t matter and the only rewards are progression.

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@khurram - do you really think that due to bad design, the developers should implement more bad design in order to mask the original bad design?

Couldn’t we try to fix the things that make loop deck desirable?

Right now, if you don’t get score of 100%, you get extremely poor prizes. When I began playing, winning more than half the time was barely achievable and prizes were still usable.
The reason you need 100% is because Greg is incapable of piloting any deck. Greg mainly wins when RNG gives him an insane amount of mana AND the cards in hand aligns perfectly. IF that doesn’t happen, it is my experience that a single destroy spell can often counter the mana casacde.

This situation leads to huge frustration amongst players, when the bugs causes lost points, which again leads to players complaining on the forum and to CS.

(And don’t get me starting on the missing puzzle part of MTGPQ.)

So the first thing the players should learn is that perfect scores are impossible.
I would recommend that “Clever” Greg becomes the standard opponent, BUT for the love of god, inform about this weeks in advance and the devs should primarily communicate this in-app, it also other places like Facebook, forum and where ever they otherwise communicate to players.
This of course will necessitate the prize system and how prizes are given.

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@Metroplex78 said:

@gozmaster said:
@Magic_PQ_Support_Team , Please remember, as vocal as many people are “AGAINST” Loops (many think they shouldn’t exist at all) I Promise you, there are JUST as many who LOVE loops (Myself included)

…So PLEASE do not remove loops from the game.

I do agree there has to be a balance as to how easy the loops can be for “Greg” (the AI) to pull off, but as many as are grumbling about them, removing them completely will cut out just as many players enjoyment from the game.

In response to:

“Answer: Our development team is currently analyzing the status of the loop prevention system and possible actions that might be taken to better achieve these goals.”

Loop decks are for cheats, no thinking involved, ban loop decks!
I can’t count how many times I’ve been close to winning then these loop deck losers come up with Whir of Invention which then starts an unstoppable loop, cards fetched and cast one after the other non-stop… this ain’t fun, who likes these one-sided cheap wins?
It is time…
LOOP DECKS SHOULD BE BANNED, NOW!

So Yeah, no. Respectfully…

I love me some loopy loops. They’re fun to figure out and execute. Not cheating. bruh cmon.

They’re efficient ways to collect daily prizes and get through grindier events or as solid OTK win cons once you’ve completed event objectives

That said, I DO agree they need to be more difficult for Greg to pull off, upsetting your perfect run.

But as much as you’re against the loops, I am equally for them. And based on everyone I’ve heard from, the spread is about 50/50 in the player base for and against.

Bottom line, there is no right answer here.

But let’s talk economics for a second…

MOST players have been playing for a while, and each day we log in and collect our daily rewards. Most of the time, we play broken loop decks to get those rewards as quick as possible…

Now, If you remove loop decks, you’re essentially saying we have to grind through those daily rewards and frankly, that just isn’t worth it most times for a piddly 5 pinks or 10 gold.

I agree, we need to address the rewards system, it needs a complete face lift.

However, the less a person logs in to play the game, the more likely they are to eventually delete it all together… Not Good for business. ..

Furthermore, part of what I enjoy in the game is building 10 card synergies that result in perpetual motion.

Remove that, and honestly, it makes the game less appealing to play.

Again, come loops are TOO powerful (Dani/Kiora) and Greg shouldn’t beat us every event. But let’s make something clear, being perfect every event, Isn’t something you’re entitled to. And if they redesign the AI to be more competitive, you’d lose more anyway.

So either, get good, build to combat the meta, or avoid playing in legacy if you want to enjoy the spoils.

For everyone else, we’ll be looping our way to the finish line :wink:

Frankly, you don’t need loop decks to play the way you want. But I do. :wink:

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Huh, these read like real answers, not just a 45+ day wait for six responses all reading “interesting, we’ll bring it to the team.”

I still won’t hold my breath for meaningful change, but communication like this is a step in the right direction. Thanks.

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Couldn’t agree with you more @gozmaster

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First let’s agree upon what an acceptable loop deck looks like. 1-2 card loops? Sure, I can get on board with that. Anything more than that and it gets tough to reliably pull off. A loop that takes 3 or more cards played in a specific sequence is not gonna happen enough times to worry about having to nerf.

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@gozmaster - Some of your message is fair and well communicated.
Where I disagree with your is when you advocate; allow us to fix bad game design by making it intolerable for other players to enjoy the app.

MOST players have been playing for a while, and each day we log in and collect our daily rewards. Most of the time, we play broken loop decks to get those rewards as quick as possible…

When you say that loop decks are required to get daily rewards, then are you not really complaining about something else? Like, poor user interface which slows down playing the game? Or that matches in general is to slow? Or that the current setup with legacy and standard results in to a stale meta which requires the same decks to win?

What has been bugging me lately is the missing puzzle aspect of this game. I’ll admit that there is a puzzle in making the loop deck, but what about all the other types of decks that is not explored because loop decks are so prevalent? Types of decks that are not viable and not only because they loose to loop deck, but because the app makes playing some types of decks to slow.

So the threat of loop decks, makes the app less fun for me!

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The only reason those who want to keep loop decks are so against banning them is because it benefits them, they know that as long as they have loop decks they can win events easily because the vast majority do not have the cards required, only a select few have loop decks, if every single player had and started only playing loop decks then they will complain the game has become a loop deck fest and is not enjoyable anymore.
Their hypocrisy was laid bare with the DaniBoss loop, when it starts to disrupt their easy wins they cry out for the loop to be nerfed, but when it benefits them they turn around and say: Keep loop decks!

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@Tremayne said:
@gozmaster - Some of your message is fair and well communicated.
Where I disagree with your is when you advocate; allow us to fix bad game design by making it intolerable for other players to enjoy the app.

MOST players have been playing for a while, and each day we log in and collect our daily rewards. Most of the time, we play broken loop decks to get those rewards as quick as possible…

When you say that loop decks are required to get daily rewards, then are you not really complaining about something else? Like, poor user interface which slows down playing the game? Or that matches in general is to slow? Or that the current setup with legacy and standard results in to a stale meta which requires the same decks to win?

What has been bugging me lately is the missing puzzle aspect of this game. I’ll admit that there is a puzzle in making the loop deck, but what about all the other types of decks that is not explored because loop decks are so prevalent? Types of decks that are not viable and not only because they loose to loop deck, but because the app makes playing some types of decks to slow.

So the threat of loop decks, makes the app less fun for me!

Trying to puzzle out new decks is fun and its a puzzle you solve once, you make that deck you optimize it , its done. You may tweak it once in a while and then you move on to building a new deck and that is fun too.

Constructing and Playing new decks all the time is also time consuming. While farming dailies, like TG and TotP you want to be done with those games and get the progression rewards asap. Those are the events that FtP players rely on the most for resources. You try new decks in those events once in a while , especially when a new set has dropped but it always comes with a cost of spending more time during each match and that quickly loses its novelty. Its no fun having to spend hours on dailies. And then its time to bring out the trusty and fast combo decks. When i talk about daily events requiring loop decks, i do mean decks that will allow a player to finish the match as soon as possible.

Even if the game interface becomes faster, which it should, the fun new innovative decks will still result in more interactions and longer games. The combo decks have a place in the game and they should not be completely shut down. The solution is to put in checks which then make it harder for Greg to go off. Before anyone talks about unfair advantage to Greg, we all know that he’s already at a disadvantage. The reason people are even against loop decks is because it makes greg win against them once in a while. Loop decks actually give Greg a chance to win sometimes. :man_shrugging:t4:

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Is the only reason that you’re against loop decks is because you don’t have the cards yet and the players who started playing years before you, have a better collection?

Honestly, i don’t blame anyone, I’d be sore too. Its a daunting prospect for new players. I hope webcore comes up with a better system that allows newer players to keep acquiring higher rarity cards at a reasonable pace.

Back to the point. Whether i play a loop deck or not Greg WILL lose. Do i want to spend 5 minutes or 2 minutes finishing that match? the choice is not that difficult. I’d not be happy if i lost access to those decks and ended up having to spend twice or thrice as much time all because the players who started playing years after me were sore about not owning those cards yet and complained. Once in a while, and also when a new set is dropped, i don’t mind spending 5 or 10 minutes per match experimenting with new cards and concocting new decks. Not daily.

People who already own the old combo pieces and have bigger collections were technically more equipped in dealing with DaniBOSS. Again people were frustrated about it because it allowed greg to pilot it more easily than anything. I won against it so many times and lost to it twice, it wasn’t the end of the world. It was the only time greg was able to have a head start in quite a while. Waiting for the animations to resolve was actually more irritating.