Q&A with Oktagon - January Edition (2/1/18)

[Brigby]

@wereotter

@Thuran

[snip]

• cheaper deck slots

“Are there any plans to make Deck Slots more accessible to players?
Yes, there will be. In fact, you will be able to check out the new prices in the upcoming Blog Post regarding Ixalan’s Planeswalkers.”

More options/new prices doesn’t necessarily mean cheaper deck slots. It might also mean a micro transaction of real currency to purchase a slot.

To my knowledge, they will be cost reductions.

[Szamsziel]

@Brigby may I use an opportunity and ask for some kind of way to spend not rounded gems/jewels? After discounts I have some leftovers I cannot get rid off.

[FindingHeart8]

@Brigby

So… about this 30+ page blog. Is there plans of a quicksheet/abstract/summary for those who are too lazy to filter through 30 pages?

Asking for a friend. Definitely not me. I’m not lazy. Not even a little bit. Nope.

[Gunmix25]

@killwind

This is sort of the same as having a meeting before the meeting to talk about the next meeting.

More like a memo that roughly highlights some of the topics that will be discussed at the next meeting. Pretty Standard stuff really.

• We’ve adjusted the drop rates and card pool for the Elite Packs in Ixalan.
• This means that you should have a much lower chance of getting a duplicate from your Elite Packs, and opening them will get you right on the way to becoming a resident, if not the mayor, of Valuetown!- Finally, new bundles will almost always contain some accompanying Mana Jewels with them.
  We believe that these changes, coupled with the slightly increased earning rate of Mana Jewels, should make for a more enjoyable experience overall. We will continue to keep a close eye on the Elite Collection/Mana Jewel situation, and will be making further adjustments as we move forward.

This is interesting… on one hand the drop rates have been adjusted to increase the likelihood of gaining a new card, whilst still maintaining a chance of a dupe (a possible 500 orbs or 2500 orbs). This basically changes nothing in the new crafting system and improves the elite pack odds.

On the other hand there is this phrase, “We’ve adjusted … [the] card pool for the Elite Packs in Ixalan.” Does this mean that the pool is greater, thus reducing the dupe chances? Hopefully the upcoming Blog will clear this up.

Are there any details you can reveal about your plans for expanding Story mode?
Currently, all we can tell you is that it won’t be an expansion of the current Story Mode per se, but more like a new way of incorporating the rich world and lore of Magic the Gathering into your gameplay experience (rewards included). We are all very excited about this idea here, however, our current priority is closing the gap between our set releases and MtG’s.

I admit that I don’t play this part of the game very much but I do know a lot of other players value this aspect of the game. Sounds like a more in-depth and set flavored experience that hints that it follows the storyline of the set as well and that will be pretty cool if it does.

What are your plans for Events in the future?
Oh… Events… So much to say, so little time.
We are very excited about the new events in Ixalan (You can check them out in the upcoming blog post about Ixalan’s Events),and we will continue to incorporate what is unique about each Plane into our Event Design. Hopefully, this will help make events a lot more interesting and push you to find new and interesting ways to play the game.
Also, a quick note on older sets and events: If you enjoy these new events and would like to see our take on older sets, make yourselves heard in the forums and we’ll be listening.
Finally, just a quick comment on the Color Mastery issue. We understand that it isn’t an ideal solution for ranking, and we’re studying possible changes, however, once again, our priority right now is to catch up to tabletop Magic’s set releases, while making Events more attractive and interesting for all players.

Obviously this a big change considering that it has some extended coverage regarding that in the next blog post. Of the many requests/changes that I have seen the players in this forum asked for… this is high on the list.

Sadly very little is hinted here as to what we could expect. Guess we will have to wait and see but I believe that it will be refreshingly different from what we’ve had in the past. So much so that Oktagon has stated a request that if we like their take on events that they could apply them to past Legacy and Standard events. That statement alone has piqued my interest ten-fold.

Are there any plans to make Deck Slots more accessible to players?
Yes, there will be. In fact, you will be able to check out the new prices in the upcoming Blog Post regarding Ixalan’s Planeswalkers.

Not much given here… but it’s certainly a start in the right direction. We will have to see what the upcoming blog covers in-depth about this change.

Are there any plans to improve the game so that it doesn’t drain battery life so much?
We understand this can be frustrating to users and we are currently working on a system that will lower the amount of data downloaded as you play the game. This is one of the main culprits that causes the battery drain issue and the future fix will show improvements.

Someone above mentioned that the phone heats up with animations… So does mine. I am not tech savvy so I have no idea if that is data related. Hopefully Oktagon can help other players have a better experience by fixing or at least reducing the issues and that this doesn’t get shelved for one reason or another.

Does Oktagon have any other plans of interacting with the community, beyond the monthly Q&A?
Right now, we are all working very hard to catch up with tabletop Magic’s set releases and we are very excited to work on MTG PQ. Moving forward, however, we’ll try to be as communicative as possible. While forum activity might not be possible on a regular basis, we are most definitely open to writing blog posts, or even put out some videos explaining new releases! Please provide feedback once the blog posts are live.

This statement alone is a vast improvement over Hibernium. Although I heard that they used to have a presence in here. I’ve also heard some nasty stories of what players had done to the last Hibernium Forum rep. and that he caught a ton of flack from the player base and simply disappeared from the forums [this was before my time so I’m just repeating what I heard]

[Kinesia]

The battery problem actually reveals further information… They are saying it’s network related which means they are LOOKING AT THE NETWORKING CODE which could help all kinds of other ongoing annoyances like SWW error and the time to change pages and any number of game crashes and things… The battery life problem is actually small potatoes compared to all that, it’s just that people will see the battery part more obviously.

[Drewster]

@Kinesia

The battery problem actually reveals further information… They are saying it’s network related which means they are LOOKING AT THE NETWORKING CODE which could help all kinds of other ongoing annoyances like SWW error and the time to change pages and any number of game crashes and things… The battery life problem is actually small potatoes compared to all that, it’s just that people will see the battery part more obviously.

I agree! I don’t care if the game drains my battery fast but I want all those SWW screens to go away for good.

[THEMAGICkMAN]

on the part about changing the pool for elite packs for Ixalan, this makes sense. in paper magic ixalan has no masterpieces, so they’d have to change it somehow. the real question now is how they’re going to change it.

[Gunmix25]

@THEMAGICkMAN

on the part about changing the pool for elite packs for Ixalan, this makes sense. in paper magic ixalan has no masterpieces, so they’d have to change it somehow. the real question now is how they’re going to change it.

Good catch. You make a great point… so does this mean a tinykitty load of mythics? Or will they be bringing in older famous/infamous cards from past paper sets as masterpiece flavor? It’s basically what KLD/AER consisted somewhat of

[Shecky]

@Gunmix25

@THEMAGICkMAN

on the part about changing the pool for elite packs for Ixalan, this makes sense. in paper magic ixalan has no masterpieces, so they’d have to change it somehow. the real question now is how they’re going to change it.

Good catch. You make a great point… so does this mean a tinykitty load of mythics? Or will they be bringing in older famous/infamous cards from past paper sets as masterpiece flavor? It’s basically what KLD/AER consisted somewhat of

They certainly have done it before: Black Vise, Ornithopter, Chain Lightning…

[bk1234]

@THEMAGICkMAN

on the part about changing the pool for elite packs for Ixalan, this makes sense. in paper magic ixalan has no masterpieces, so they’d have to change it somehow. the real question now is how they’re going to change it.

Rarity is not always the same in paper and PQ anyway. They could easily just make a few cards MP.

[Gunmix25]

@THEMAGICkMAN

on the part about changing the pool for elite packs for Ixalan, this makes sense. in paper magic ixalan has no masterpieces, so they’d have to change it somehow. the real question now is how they’re going to change it.

Rarity is not always the same in paper and PQ anyway. They could easily just make a few cards MP.

I agree. Hence why I think bringing back older cards from various random sets would ptove to be interesting. Pegasus stampede anyone?

[THEMAGICkMAN]

@THEMAGICkMAN

on the part about changing the pool for elite packs for Ixalan, this makes sense. in paper magic ixalan has no masterpieces, so they’d have to change it somehow. the real question now is how they’re going to change it.

Rarity is not always the same in paper and PQ anyway. They could easily just make a few cards MP.

I hope they don’t do this, and use non Ixalan cards as masterpieces, especially if some key cards for, say, a pirate deck ended up at MPs. I’d much prefer older cards as MPs or even no MPs to that.

[Drewster]

@THEMAGICkMAN

@THEMAGICkMAN

on the part about changing the pool for elite packs for Ixalan, this makes sense. in paper magic ixalan has no masterpieces, so they’d have to change it somehow. the real question now is how they’re going to change it.

Rarity is not always the same in paper and PQ anyway. They could easily just make a few cards MP.

I hope they don’t do this, and use non Ixalan cards as masterpieces, especially if some key cards for, say, a pirate deck ended up at MPs. I’d much prefer older cards as MPs or even no MPs to that.

I agree. I think there will be MP’s in Dominaria. We can wait imo. This is still an officially licensed Wizards of the Coast product.

[Mburn7]

@THEMAGICkMAN

@THEMAGICkMAN

on the part about changing the pool for elite packs for Ixalan, this makes sense. in paper magic ixalan has no masterpieces, so they’d have to change it somehow. the real question now is how they’re going to change it.

Rarity is not always the same in paper and PQ anyway. They could easily just make a few cards MP.

I hope they don’t do this, and use non Ixalan cards as masterpieces, especially if some key cards for, say, a pirate deck ended up at MPs. I’d much prefer older cards as MPs or even no MPs to that.

I have the weird feeling that they are just going to take a bunch of mythics that would be exclusive and use them as “masterpieces.” Not change the rarity, but make them only accessible in Elite Packs.

[wereotter]

With the sound of the comment, I’m going to expect no new masterpieces. And since they’re increasing the methods of obtaining jewels and decreasing the chances for a duplicate, I’m going to believe the point will be that’s where you go to try to obtain mythics, at least that’s my hope.

[Gunmix25]

@Mburn7

@THEMAGICkMAN

@THEMAGICkMAN

on the part about changing the pool for elite packs for Ixalan, this makes sense. in paper magic ixalan has no masterpieces, so they’d have to change it somehow. the real question now is how they’re going to change it.

Rarity is not always the same in paper and PQ anyway. They could easily just make a few cards MP.

I hope they don’t do this, and use non Ixalan cards as masterpieces, especially if some key cards for, say, a pirate deck ended up at MPs. I’d much prefer older cards as MPs or even no MPs to that.

I have the weird feeling that they are just going to take a bunch of mythics that would be exclusive and use them as “masterpieces.” Not change the rarity, but make them only accessible in Elite Packs.

Doubtful, they make far more money by packing them as exclusives rather than as a masterpiece. Masterpieces are purchased only with jewels of course and of the three means to collect, two are technically F2P. Event rewards and TotP progression. The third is through buying exclusive packs… and if you take those away… you get the idea.

@wereotter I think you’ve hit the nail on the head with your prediction. It certainly looks like it is headed that way

[Matthew]

Can’t believe nobody’s said anything yet. I’m sure I’m not the only one who would like some info.

[Amadeus]

par for the course at this point!

[Mainloop25]

We’re all just waiting. Starting new threads about it is just redundant at this point.

[Matthew]

Sure, but here’s how I look at it. They’re annoying me with the silent treatment. So I will pester them until I get something.