Factions

Anything related to dev. & that doesn't fit in below categories.
Post Reply
User avatar
Erundil
Posts:64
Joined:Fri Jan 21, 2011 23:36
Factions

Post by Erundil » Mon Jul 08, 2013 01:27

I am sort of unsatisfied by how factions have been ruled out: gaians going on small hitters and empire on big is really a punch in the eye. Furthermore, as of now they are the exact copy of the mtg correspective colour, whilst they can be made much more interesting.

Here is my idea of how factions could work.

Empire
Relying on small creatures, tactics and organisation, as it would be expected from an empire. They have the ability to form larger units. Sometimes they might bring a relic or an artifact.
They have an high loyalty cost.

Gaia
Gaians fight with a consistent magic aid, spawning small and mid-sized creatures. Occasionally recurring to more powerful spells.

House of Nobles
HoN would rely on economy and subterfuge to obtain victory, using small creatures.

Shadowguild
Relying on dark magic and sacrifice, they can put down the biggest creatures, often recurring to sacrifices to do so. Alternatively they can use magic to bring down their opponents.

Red Banner
Hordes of small and mid-sized creatures, with limited magic use. They have a low loyalty cost.


This is not exhaustive, but it gives a good general outline.
Last edited by Erundil on Mon Jul 08, 2013 22:02, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Q_x
developer
Posts:334
Joined:Thu Sep 23, 2010 15:10

Re: Factions

Post by Q_x » Mon Jul 08, 2013 05:33

I think you've been struggling with meta-development again. Sorry for being critical, I guess it's my job here, but wasted energy won't lead to anything, but bitter frustration.

Faction design in it's current state, serves an inspirational purpose for creating cards. It's simply a kind of babbling that helps you to put your card ideas into the right drawer. Ideas are what's important, and we can't wait for Cardscape to arrive. If you have a fresh, complete, well-planned strategy, prepared in form of cards - well, that's the thing everybody here is longing for, even though the project is not yet in a state to accept any new card ideas.

I'll send you a PM soon.
I'm the filthy bastard you wish you never met.
User avatar
Erundil
Posts:64
Joined:Fri Jan 21, 2011 23:36

Re: Factions

Post by Erundil » Mon Jul 08, 2013 22:01

Eh, I wanted to hear others' voice before beginning to shape cards following what I wrote. It makes no sense to have a great idea and make cards on it, if then it is rejected.

The fact that I did not post any card for it, does not mean it won't be great. I would find it much easier to make cards from that faction design than from the current one. I'll try to update it as it goes, and to make up cards to it, but do not expect it done quickly.

However, faction design should not be considered babbling. It is very important, and does not help to make cards, it MAKES them.
User avatar
snowdrop
developer
Posts:798
Joined:Mon Feb 01, 2010 15:25
Location:Sweden
Contact:

Re: Factions

Post by snowdrop » Wed Jul 10, 2013 01:31

Erundil wrote:I am sort of unsatisfied by how factions have been ruled out: gaians going on small hitters and empire on big is really a punch in the eye.
Some like, others don't. It's just a matter of taste and what units are placed where is not relevant to the game other than faction flavour (lore identity), game balancing, playstyle and coherency.

I'm sure many people may look at faction x and have had other ideas for it stylistically or in some other regard and that's ok.
Furthermore, as of now they are the exact copy of the mtg correspective colour, whilst they can be made much more interesting.
Yes, they are very close, on purpose. There is nothing gained by mixing it up just for the sake of mixing it up. However, Gaian is not equivalent to green in MtG. It's more akin to white in MtG. How we label the factions doesn't control how they function or can be played. That is purely controlled by mechanics and what set of abilities they have.

Empire
Relying on small creatures, tactics and organisation, as it would be expected from an empire. They have the ability to form larger units. Sometimes they might bring a relic or an artifact.

They have an high loyalty cost.
I think your suggestion about "organizational skills" of Empire is a good flavour one. Now it just has to be somehow translated into some kind of mechanics as well. As for creature sizes, as posted elsewhere in a discussion we had I think, Empire will have the biggest creatures.

The reason is simple: Some faction will have them, and from my point of view it actually makes most sense to let that be the Empire due to the name itself that suggest something large, vast and mighty.

If any faction would be able to amass armies of hard hitting units then these would be the guys.

However, this is just a discussion about fluff and how people imagine an Empire working. For instance in George Lucas world it made sense that an Empire could build a death star, and that scattered resource weak factions could not.

Gaia
Gaians fight with a consistent magic aid, spawning small and mid-sized creatures. Occasionally recurring to more powerful spells.
That's more or less the exact way I pictured them and also to some degree how their back story portrays them.
House of Nobles
HoN would rely on economy and subterfuge to obtain victory, using small creatures.
Yes, more or less. (Again, this does not differ from blue in MtG, really.)
Shadowguild
Relying on dark magic and sacrifice, they can put down the biggest creatures, often recurring to sacrifices to do so. Alternatively they can use magic to bring down their opponents.
Role and story is still in heavy flux and not at a point where it matters much, but it leans towards equivalent of black, yes.
Red Banner
Hordes of small and mid-sized creatures, with limited magic use. They have a low loyalty cost.
Yah, pretty much.


About loyalty costs: Loyalty as it's in the game currently is just a way for us to "mark" very faction specific cards. It matters when building the deck mainly, and then on some more occasions when it happens to be referenced by a card. All factions will have cards that are very characteristic to them, meaning all will have cards that require 3 loyalty, and also the opposite. There will not exist a faction that is "less of a faction" or has "less faction than the other factions", hence there will not be a faction that is low on loyalty requirement. (If any cards would it would be neutral cards that lack the requirement all together)
Post Reply