I'm playing the beta with the new armies right now (with the filth, swamp orcs, etc) and I've even gotten to check out a review copy of the alliance factions. Each new set of armies from master set, second summoners, and alliance have a couple that throw a wrench into the app because they work so differently. The Filth being able to mutate units while transferring damage and the Deep Benders' boost tokens/conjures are not easy mechanics to retrofit into the app. The good news is that the Ascension app just hit parity with the boardgame so it does give some indication that the Summoner Wars app will continue to grow the same way, especially if the online tournament system takes off. so maybe 2018
True, the last update for SW was 501 days ago but I did say I'm currently beta testing the new update which is 6 new factions and the first version of Playdek's mBer system with chat and tournament functions. That same mBer system is coming to at least Ascension and Twilight Struggle which is why the update is taking so long, it has to well implemented or users won't want it. You can't fault a company for not releasing an expansion in a long time when they're currently working on a huge one. Not only are the new factions harder to implement they also require rebuilding parts of the app for these new abilities and the abilities to come with other factions. The factions also need to be tested against all the other factions and with mercenary substitutes. I'd rather an update take a long time to come out and be virtually free of bugs than have it rushed out and be a mess of cards that don't interact properly. A comparison to Ascension is far more appropriate than a comparison to Nightfall since Summoner Wars is the flagship for Playdek's online, cross platform, organized play system. To not keep producing factions for Summoner Wars would be leaving money on the table and I can't see Playdek or PlaidHat wanting to do that.
Over on the Plaid Hat Games forum they've been having a long beta run with all of the unreleased factions, along with Multiplayer updates, in game tournaments, and a bunch of other stuff. There are several posts describing it. I'm speculating that the SW team got pulled off SW to work on Twilight Struggle, which is why no updates. That's just speculation though, I don't have any idea.
Good for them, maybe there will be a miracle and we will get new content on the 3 year anniversary. Also, the beta only has the Master Set + Filth/Mercs factions. No second summoners, and no alliances. And I asked Plaid Hat about the DLC on Twitter a while back, it's a fun read.
While never a huge fan of this franchise, it was going to be the flagship release of Playdek's new chat and tournamnet features. So whatever happened with all of that?
Or more accurately, good old Playdek biting off more than it can chew happened. The last post in the beta thread at PHG forums says that the actual gameplay portion of the DLC is more or less done, and has been done for a while but the mBer platform isn't ready. Now Playdek seems to have frozen development on that front to focus on delivering on projects where they already took people's money like Unsung Story and Twilight Struggle.
The 3 year anniversary came and went without a peep from Playdek. Oh, by the way, tournaments are gone from the beta. Infer from that what you will. Fro. The PHG forums beta thread:
PT seems to think so. It won't include mBer, but it does bring a rudimentary chat system. Beta was stable, and the six new factions shake things up a bit, and the Mercs even more so.
lol no mBer, I guess PHG pushed them to finally release the damn thing. The question is who is going to keep them accountable for Unsung Story, no publisher to push them into meeting deadlines there. And even though I'm not a big fan of Playdek these days, it's ridiculously easy to recommend picking up the new factions. $3.99 for 6 factions is silly.
If you're up to stomping someone who is incredibly rusty and knows next to nothing about the new factions, hit me up. I'm onlyphoenix on GC.
I'm downright bad, but am thinking it would be fun to be not. "Ayjona" on GC, very irregular times, but most often unavailable at 06:00-13:00 GMT+1.
