Artifact, the failed card game from Valve, released in November 2018 and within the space of only two months had lost almost the entire player-base. Valve don't appear to have given up, quite the opposite.
In it "for the long haul" the Artifact team at Valve said in December 2018, then in March 2019 they said how they were going to "re-examine" the decisions they made when designing everything on it. Since then, pretty much silence in public. Well, until today that is.
On Twitter, the official Artifact account said "Artifact: Under Construction" and linked to a post on the Steam page to thank people for their continued interest which had been "encouraging". Not only that, we can expect to see some changes "soon" (keeping in mind Valve Time here) as they're "starting tests on our systems and infrastructure" and we can expect to hear more about what's going on after Half-Life: Alyx launches (which should come to Linux later).
The thing is, I genuinely liked the gameplay in Artifact a lot. It made card games fresh again for me, it was graphically great and felt interesting to play with so much to think about. The economy ultimately ruined it and Valve knows this.
GamesRadar+ notes that during the interview for Edge Magazine, Valve are preparing a relaunch that's so big they're calling it Artifact 2.
You can follow Artifact on Steam. Once we learn more, we will let you know.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Quoting: PatolaI hope they succeed specially if they let go of these ridiculous monetization schemes, but I couldn't help but start chuckling incontrollably when I read these news. Frankly speaking, I think it's too late to recover from the failure.It's exactly too late for people to remember the failure so the timing is right. They can essentially relaunch the game so that it looks almost like nothing from before. Make it F2P, give some bonuses (like battle pass) to those who bought the game before and fix the most glaring issues. They had plenty of time for that, although I'm pretty sure they only recently started working on Artifact because they were busy with Underlords and HL:A before. I'm optimistic about Artifact, Valve learned a lot and they can make it right this time attracting new audience as well. Many people never even heard about the game before or didn't want to buy it due to the high price or pay-to-win mechanics.
2 Likes, Who?
Despite the somewhat awkward monitarization, it is by far my favorite card game. But I don't know if I still feel like playing it after over 1000h. Especially if it's simplified now (without having to calculate the RNG etc.).
Actually, I just need a second set to bring some more movement into the meta.
Last edited by 1xok on 20 March 2020 at 10:50 pm UTC
Actually, I just need a second set to bring some more movement into the meta.
Last edited by 1xok on 20 March 2020 at 10:50 pm UTC
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salamanderrake Mar 20, 2020
If they keep this stupid three lane gimmick BS in Artifact 2, it will just up and die again.
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Kimyrielle Mar 21, 2020
Quoting: rkfgMake it F2P,
100% of all so-called "free"-to-play games suck. As in all of them, no exceptions. Because all of them are designed to suck unless you dump more money into it than you ever would in an actual for-purchase game.
Why anybody still thinks FT2 is the solution is beyond me. In today's gaming business, it's the root of the problem.
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: KimyrielleOh, like Dota 2?Quoting: rkfgMake it F2P,
100% of all so-called "free"-to-play games suck. As in all of them, no exceptions. Because all of them are designed to suck unless you dump more money into it than you ever would in an actual for-purchase game.
I'm fine with buying a digital card game if I can play a trial mode first. I was too hesitant to put money down on Artifact and so never experienced it. I wish they had a free weekend or a trial mode of some sort. I also think it's OK to charge money for card packs just like Magic (etc) does in the physical world... as long as the game includes a Draft mode!
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Kimyrielle Mar 21, 2020
Quoting: 14Quoting: KimyrielleOh, like Dota 2?Quoting: rkfgMake it F2P,
100% of all so-called "free"-to-play games suck. As in all of them, no exceptions. Because all of them are designed to suck unless you dump more money into it than you ever would in an actual for-purchase game.
I'm fine with buying a digital card game if I can play a trial mode first. I was too hesitant to put money down on Artifact and so never experienced it. I wish they had a free weekend or a trial mode of some sort. I also think it's OK to charge money for card packs just like Magic (etc) does in the physical world... as long as the game includes a Draft mode!
Not sure which part of "100% no exceptions" wasn't so clear. If a game was -designed- to be "free" (haha!) to play, it sucks. FTP is probably the most successful fraud ever conceived. Except that it's (yet) legal.
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Well, when it comes to a revenue model . . . a hat is technically an "artifact". Just saying.
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Quoting: KimyriellePath Of Exile - completely free to play from start to finish, with nothing to buy affecting gameplay, skills classes, etc.Quoting: rkfgMake it F2P,
100% of all so-called "free"-to-play games suck. As in all of them, no exceptions. Because all of them are designed to suck unless you dump more money into it than you ever would in an actual for-purchase game.
Why anybody still thinks FT2 is the solution is beyond me. In today's gaming business, it's the root of the problem.
The only thing you might want to buy are stash tabs, if you really want to sink hundreds of hours into the game. The default stash is more than fine for a playthrough or two, though.
And that would still make you end up with much less money spent than if you bought a full-priced game.
I've played a lot of card games by now, with various forms of how you acquire new cards. Some of them are absolutely designed to suck the money out of you, no doubt.
But by far not all are. I've been playing Eternal for a few months now, for example, and in total spent about 10$ on it. Since then I'm just doing my dailies and slowly build up my card base. Same with ES: Legends before that (RIP).
I see no problem here - those without patience can spend money. Patience is a virtue and if you don't have it, blame yourself, not the game.
I'd even find it contrary to the fun of the game if all cards were available to me from the get-go. Earning them over time by playing is a fun goal in itself. Starting with a deck idea with tons of shitty cards and slowly improving the deck until you can steamroll enemies with it is incredibly rewarding.
If I had all the cards right away, it would be like I'm already done with the game without even having played it.
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Quoting: salamanderrakeIf they keep this stupid three lane gimmick BS in Artifact 2, it will just up and die again.
It's the best part of the whole game. I haven't been able to play any other card games since Artifact, because they have simply become boring.
1 Likes, Who?
It's really silly to me the way they monetized it. I still bought stuff but you could have avoided all the backlash by selling cosmetics like alternate art cards, sleeves, foils, etc. But these are learning moments and I hope Valve does just that.
I can't wait to play more artifact.
I can't wait to play more artifact.
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