ToT Idea: House Rules

JHartEllis · January 9

I really enjoy Tales of Tribute. I've played thousands of matches and consistently do well on the leaderboard. The game is very well designed, and there are lots of ways that matches unfold that keep competitive gameplay interesting.

On the other hand, I hear a lot of frustration from players, especially those trying to figure it out. I think the main issue is the core game is relatively dry instead of being a fun casual thing.

Adding modes that slightly bend the rules could make things more engaging while helping players learn about game mechanics. These modes would help mix things up--giving players more options and more varied gameplay.

My vision on this is that players would be presented with ~6 game modes as agreed-upon House Rules (either queueing up for particular modes, or vetoing unwanted ones). "Standard" matches could be one of the modes.

Here's a brainstorm of potential house rules that hopefully wouldn't require a lot of additional coding:
• +3 Coin at the start of each turn
• +1 Patron interaction at the start of each turn
• +2 Power at the start of each turn
• +1 Draw at the start of each turn
• -1 Coin cost on all cards
• Free Patron costs
• Destroy up to 1 card from your played/discard pile at the end of each turn
• Starter deck is 2 of each patron Starter card plus 2 Gold cards (4 of the Gold cards are replaced with suited Starters)
• Starter deck is nothing but 3 of each suited Starter card (All of the Gold cards are removed)
• Both player hands are always visible
• The 1st and 2nd picked decks become the same "color" for combos and same for the 3rd and 4th decks
• All cards are individually set to random colors after deck selection

These are focused on quicker access to various mechanics, which would hopefully help players learn key lessons like the importance of ramping up coin per turn, how patrons work, the importance of thinning your deck, the importance of hitting combos, etc. These lessons might then be used to progress more adeptly in the NPC storyline or in competitive matches.

Overall, this should have broader appeal and make the game a bit more fun.

jaigrim · January 9

Some interesting ideas there,

I have witnessed some stange things recently so i would propose that that any addons a player has should be disabled during matches and a system like Punk Buster (like from counter stike back in the day) be used to enusre no funny business.

All cards should move across the screen at a fixed speed just like when it deals your hand, both players should see all cards that are purchased during game go into each cooldown pile.

the scoring system in Ranked matches has me baffled and is very frustrating

SummersetCitizen · January 10

I don’t think Tales of Tribute is inherently dry or unfun… think the issue is that it appeals strongly to a niche audience. One reason some players invest heavily in it is precisely because most of the broader player base avoids it, which lowers the competitive bar and makes mastery more rewarding for those who stick with it.

Personally, I only engage with ToT when it’s required for an Endeavor or a Golden Pursuit. I understand and respect your suggestions, especially since they seem relatively lightweight from a development standpoint.

My concern is more about opportunity cost: I’d hate to see additional development time diverted toward a game mode that a large portion of the player base actively dislikes, rather than toward areas with broader appeal.

katanagirl1 · January 10

Interesting idea, it looks like you have put a lot of thought into it. Were you envisioning this as a mode for matches against npcs only or also against other players?

I used to play ToT fairly often when it came out, I enjoyed it at first but when Almalexia and Mora decks came out, it just got too complicated for me to keep up when I would really rather be doing other things instead. I just did not want to put in the time to learn how to play all the decks effectively since it was not my main activity. I never enjoyed the patron flipping matches either, preferring to have time to build a deck instead.

EDIT: typo

JHartEllis · January 10

katanagirl1 wrote: »

Interesting idea, it looks like you have put a lot of thought into it. Were you envisioning this as a mode for matches against npcs only or also against other players?

As an Unranked Casual option, or as replacing Unranked Casual entirely with "standard" just as one of the choices.

I don't think it would make a lot of sense for NPC matches since it would require too much dev attention to adjust NPC behavior.

Starbridge84 · January 10

I would like to see a station you can put in your house to play players at and NPCs of different difficulties.

katanagirl1 · January 10

Starbridge84 wrote: »

I would like to see a station you can put in your house to play players at and NPCs of different difficulties.

I thought that was what we were getting when we got the furnishing item from doing the questline. Instead it is just a regular table. It would have been great to use for actual games in your house.

MoonPile · January 10

SummersetCitizen wrote: »

I don’t think Tales of Tribute is inherently dry or unfun… think the issue is that it appeals strongly to a niche audience. One reason some players invest heavily in it is precisely because most of the broader player base avoids it, which lowers the competitive bar and makes mastery more rewarding for those who stick with it.

Personally, I only engage with ToT when it’s required for an Endeavor or a Golden Pursuit. I understand and respect your suggestions, especially since they seem relatively lightweight from a development standpoint.

My concern is more about opportunity cost: I’d hate to see additional development time diverted toward a game mode that a large portion of the player base actively dislikes, rather than toward areas with broader appeal.

Agree...
That is, I do hope the invested players will have their needs met. I'm sure there are ZOS team members who are at least partly, if not entirely, dedicated to ToT, so I personally wouldn't worry about Dev allocation.

But I do think it's worth speaking up about this:
In general, people often confuse disinterest for inexperience.

In any similar discussions you'll hear "it's easy once you get it! you'd like it once you learn!" No; there are things I'm good at that I don't actually enjoy and don't do unless I'm paid to. But this isn't a job and I don't want to learn or get better at ToT. I just don't enjoy card games, even when I win them. For players like me, stuff like suffering hours of ToT just to get Zerith-var's pool furnishing – a reward totally unrelated to ToT, but necessary for the gameplay I am most here for & shove $$ into this game for – was a pain and only made me hate ToT more.

OTOH, it's cool that ToT players can sell rewards they earn from an activity they enjoy. So us haters

can still buy the tapestries etc., fueling the collaborative cycle. Likewise sellable IA and PVP furnishings. Cross-pollination via the market is great – more of that please!

(So I support JH's idea: Yes as a hater I just want to be left alone, not given any reasons to play this xD But maybe it would convert those who are more on-the-fence.)

katanagirl1 · January 10

It was confusing to learn the game since the tutorial is so lacking in teaching it. It was tough when there were only four decks, and those were rather straightforward to use, but now the complexity of the decks has skyrocketed. It’s definitely not a new player friendly system now.