What have I been up to? 28/12/2019

Introduction

Ever since Version 31 came out, and the card database site has been launched, I've been busy planning the next update for Fairtravel Battle.



At first I was going to start working on the campaign mode alone, but I've been thinking about things that the game lacks and also things that need to change.

I have recently began once again to play the game that originally inspired Fairtravel Battle, the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game, and the more I play it I find more and more aspects of it that I love, that I have long since forgotten. After all, the game has been abandoned since late 2014, so it's been a while.

Card Design Direction

A big part of it, that I think would be good for the game, is the deckbuilding.



In WoWTCG, you have classes instead of colors, which brings more lore to the game, as well as helps guide the design aspect of the cards since you know what a class is all about and can create more interesting gameplay than using colors/affinities, which are typically a representation of emotions or particular effects.

Although colors are interesting because you can mix them, I feel that for Fairtravel Battle it makes more sense to use classes. Fairtravel is a fantasy world, after all, even if that hasn't become clear yet in the game's development. That will change further with each update.

That said, I don't like the way games like Hearthstone do class-based design. You have too many cards that are class-specific, and once again WoWTCG does it better.



There's a small amount of class cards per class in a set, and they are usually mostly abilities. Additionally, there are faction-specific cards and neutral cards.

A hero can have one or more classes, and 0 or more factions. Meaning, you have far more choice (From my calculations, you'd have about 18 heroes, 2 for each class since there are two factions), and can have more interesting deckbuilding as well.

By making almost all followers neutral or faction-specific, there's more cards that can be shared between classes, which means less class-specific cards, which means less unique cards necessary per set.



There's also the matter of equipments. Rather than having an equipment only work for one class, it works for one or more classes. This means less unique equipments to make, while keeping equipments accessible. This was a very smart move from the WoWTCG creators.

An equipment from World of Warcraft TCG



What else is changing?

I'm going to add a priority window and stack to the game, as well as adding instant/quick play cards. The reason for this is that I feel they add a lot of strategy and interesting gameplay to the game, even if it means duels will take longer. This essentially means you'll be able to respond to things like combat and other cards being played.

Additionally, a brand new 120-card card set will be done for this update, which will increase the workload considerably, but I consider it very important.



What does this mean for Fairtravel Battle?

Fairtravel Battle will become much closer to World of Warcraft TCG's design. It's honestly always been part of the goal, since Fairtravel Battle was always a world of warcraft TCG spiritual successor. It will also help the game be more different from Hearthstone. which has been a complaint from several people for a while, so it works out for both sides.



How long will this take?

I estimate it'll take at least 5 months to finish Version 32.

I know that's a very long time, but you'll get Development Builds to try out regularly, meaning you won't be content-dry for those 5 months.



I think it's a big step for Fairtravel Battle, that will really start to shape the game in a really awesome way.

I thank you all for your patience and support, and hope you'll love these changes as much as I am hoping for!

