Hey, thanks for joining in! So, if I understand you, I pay to unlock a Trait, and then I pay to use the Trait? Am I paying to unlock Traits over and over again, or just once? What if I don't have enough money when the time comes to unlock a specific Trait? Is it gone for good? Am I essentially earning money so I can buy and equip Traits? I'm loving the game so far, and I'm just trying to see what I'm looking at long-term if I stick with it. Thanks! DBC
Let me try to explain traits. When you reach certain levels you will be given the choice of 1 of 2 traits to unlock. You are given 3 "charges" for the trait that you choose, and when those charges are gone you will need to buy more of them (I don't know the exact price, as I haven't used any traits yet, but I think someone on the iPad forum said that they are about 200 gold each). The trait that you DIDN'T choose during your level up unlock will remain locked and can only be unlocked by purchasing it for gold, between 3000-7500 depending on the traits unlock level. After you purchase the skipped trait it is unlocked and you are given 3 initial charges just like when you unlock it through leveling up. Once those charges are gone, you can buy more for around 200 gold each. HOWEVER, when you are given the choice of which trait to unlock during leveling up, the game will offer you a ONE TIME DEAL to unlock both traits for a discounted price (I have seen between 16%-44% off). If you have the gold, this is definitely the best option as you will save a lot of gold in the long run. I hope that explains it pretty well. If you have any further questions I'll be glad to answer them as best I can.
Man I really pressed my luck, I was this close to actually getting 1 of each suit in a single play The real kicker, the VERY NEXT CARD was a Chest! D'oh, so close.
Yep, that's what the gold is for. Each level you get to choose an unlock without spending any of the gold you earned. Any you skip can be unlocked with gold you save up. As you deplete your traits you can refill them with gold or by getting high scores in tournaments. TRB4's summary was accurate in all the details.
I was really enjoying this for a while until I realized how monotonous and nasty the flow of the game becomes. In most card games you have a really cool combo that comes up once or twice a game where you chain a lot of neat actions for a crazy move that has charm because it happens so rarely. In this game almost every turn has long combos, and they are mostly the same combos. Chest to dig up a Hook to play a Sword to steal a Cannon to discard a big point. Rinse, repeat. That happens a number of times in each game, and happens in every single game. In addition to that, opponents and levels get very nasty very quickly, always aiming for the cannons, as if there might be no other strategies in existence. All of which plays into the "hey, it might not be so tough if you buy this trait NOW!". The game has a lot of polish and very functional design, but maybe I came in expecting a deeper game.
Are there any plans to implement multiplayer besides pass and play? I can see myself playing this with friends/family.
I have a few suggestions for the game as well. Aside from the already requested online multiplayer, I would like to be able to use the special tournament rules during multiplayer matches. I also think that the number of cards currently in the Bust Pile, as it would greatly affect whether one would try one more card for a chest or key. As of now, the only way to know when the Bust Pile is empty is to play a Map or a Key & Chest combo and come up with nothing. While this is very entertaining while watching the AI collect a single Key & Chest with no bonus cards, I can't help but think that you would clearly be able to see the Bust Pile in a physical game of Dead Man's Draw, so there should be some sort of digital representation for it in the game. A count of how many cards are in the Bust Pile would be ideal, but even a simple indicator that ANY cards are in the pile would be good. As of now though I simply have to try to count cards.
It would be better if the computer lost traits like you lose traits. After 3 tries, they can't use them anymore. Or you don't lose traits unless you win. Would be more fun that way, less grindy IAP'ish.
We went back and forth on showing a representation of the bust pile. In the end we considered it a lower priority than a lot of other aspects of the game, mainly because it would add additional complexity/clutter to the UI.
Please consider adding a confirmation dialog for buying/unlocking stuff. Last night I instantly lost all the gold I was saving because I accidentally tapped one of those "fast unlock" buttons So frustrating!
@ Braybot - Could you take a minute to let me know you received the PM I sent a couple days ago? Could be a response in the thread or you could just shoot me a blank reply. Couldn't help noticing you've posted a few times since I sent it so I just wanted to at least confirm you had seen it. Thanks! DBC
A UI design that makes it easy to accidentally spend saved resources. On-screen ambiguity over risk/reward situations. Letting the computer players have infinite traits while the player must buy theirs. It would be easy to go on, but when you pair this with dev silence over important questions, it's hard not to shake one's head and walk away. I would think that the devs would be trying to curry favor with people who buy their app, given the possibility of getting their support to fund the Kickstarter campaign, but instead it looks like a mad cash grab at the expense of credibility. Sad, really, especially when it seems like a game that could find a lot of new fans if things were handled more professionally. Oh, well.
@DBC just sent you a reply, I missed it when it first came in. @hvianna thanks for the feedback, we'll consider adding those in a future update. @Anarkitty "A UI design that makes it easy to accidentally spend saved resources." No evil master plan here, just trying to find the right balance between ease of use & confirmation popups. It's not in our best interest to get people to spend gold on accident as they're more likely to just get pissed and leave. "On-screen ambiguity over risk/reward situations." Could you provide some more info? "dev silence over important questions" Is there something I missed? Not trying to be snarky... I've honestly tried to answer all the questions people have asked so far.
The ambiguity is regarding the bust pile being not being displayed. I know you replied that it was a decision made about keeping the UI clean, but that's a fairly important bit of info not to have when playing. If you feel you're handling questions well, I'll defer to you on that, but it didn't seem that way and it troubled me.
Ah, thanks for the clarification Well it only matters if you guys feel I'm handling questions well, that's why I asked
