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[Minsc]

Also, you can tell that this game is going to be extremely polished by release. I've seen the game turn from a completely buggy, unplayable mess on the first day the alpha went to the backers to now and the improvements are simply amazing.

That's encouraging to hear. I haven't played Hex much, but what you described sounds like the opposite of Hearthstone to me. The game is quick and dirty though, so easy for me to drop a few mins here and there in versus this. But I definitely look forward to spending a lot of time with Hex as well, once it gets a bit further along.

Someone post when the AI isn't dumber than rocks, and I'll start to experiment a little with it again. Hearthstone's AI was awful as well, but from the few games I played of Hex, calling the AI to Hex non-existent would be generous.

 

[QisTopTier]

That's encouraging to hear. I haven't played Hex much, but what you described sounds like the opposite of Hearthstone to me. The game is quick and dirty though, so easy for me to drop a few mins here and there in versus this. But I definitely look forward to spending a lot of time with Hex as well, once it gets a bit further along.

Someone post when the AI isn't dumber than rocks, and I'll start to experiment a little with it again. Hearthstone's AI was awful as well, but from the few games I played of Hex, calling the AI to Hex non-existent would be generous.

You could always play other players unless you are not able to due to time constraint stuff

 

[MOPP 4]

My own downside to Hex right now is knowing once retail hits no one will be able to have 4 of every card to keep it even. I completely understand that it's a TCG and they gotta make money. Just hoping the 4 starter decks and the 100 booster packs will at least give me most of the cards.

At least the alpha will give me a gauge to see what decks I can build.

 

[Saren is Bad]

My own downside to Hex right now is knowing once retail hits no one will be able to have 4 of every card to keep it even. I completely understand that it's a TCG and they gotta make money. Just hoping the 4 starter decks and the 100 booster packs will at least give me most of the cards.

At least the alpha will give me a gauge to see what decks I can build.

Hopefully the trading is in by the time beta starts. Not holding my breathe for AH, but hopefully basic trading is.

 

[QisTopTier]

My own downside to Hex right now is knowing once retail hits no one will be able to have 4 of every card to keep it even. I completely understand that it's a TCG and they gotta make money. Just hoping the 4 starter decks and the 100 booster packs will at least give me most of the cards.

At least the alpha will give me a gauge to see what decks I can build.

Yeah I say at most use this time to see what decks you want to play. Don't forget the whole PvE side of things as well

 

[Saren is Bad]

Tournaments are here: http://hextcg.com/tournaments-and-reserves-are-here/

Not super excited for it, but I know that it means we're one step closer to drafting and limited play.

 

[Proven]

Tournaments are here: http://hextcg.com/tournaments-and-reserves-are-here/

Not super excited for it, but I know that it means we're one step closer to drafting and limited play.

Huh, side boards are in at the same time. Not bad.

 

[Shrennin]

That's encouraging to hear. I haven't played Hex much, but what you described sounds like the opposite of Hearthstone to me. The game is quick and dirty though, so easy for me to drop a few mins here and there in versus this. But I definitely look forward to spending a lot of time with Hex as well, once it gets a bit further along.

Yeah, yesterday I can only recount 3 or 4 games that broke (as far as being unable to continue the game). The progress in the stability of the game is going really well, from what I can tell.

Someone post when the AI isn't dumber than rocks, and I'll start to experiment a little with it again. Hearthstone's AI was awful as well, but from the few games I played of Hex, calling the AI to Hex non-existent would be generous.

The AI in Hex is horrible. With that said, I have heard that a major reason for that is because of the server load and what the server is actually on. I'm not sure why that matters (that's beyond my realm of expertise) but I do know the server hosting the alpha is on regular computer hardware. It's not even on Crypto's actual server hardware yet (because they want to test the game in the most horrible conditions).

 

[repeater]

Hi guys, I'm curious about this game so I'm considering becoming a slacker backer. Googling gave different answers, so maybe someone here can help me with the following question: if I donate 50 USD as a slacker backer today, will I get into the alpha immediately?

 

[Shinjica]

Hi guys, I'm curious about this game so I'm considering becoming a slacker backer. Googling gave different answers, so maybe someone here can help me with the following question: if I donate 50 USD as a slacker backer today, will I get into the alpha immediately?

Yes, If you buy the Slacker backer you will join alpha.

 

[Ryuukan]

First match, first win

Spoiler

queue seemed to lock up after

 

[repeater]

Hesitating about buying myself into the alpha through slacker backing. How functional (or how buggy) and fun would you guys who are playing say the game is at this stage of the alpha?

 

[Saren is Bad]

Hesitating about buying myself into the alpha through slacker backing. How functional (or how buggy) and fun would you guys who are playing say the game is at this stage of the alpha?

Game is very functional now. I can finish most if not all of my games. Not all the cards are in yet which is kind frustrating, and some of the current cards are bugged. They just added tournaments which are buggy as well, but a cool feature nonetheless. The improvement from October launch to now, though, is insane, it used to be a much worse. I'd only buy in to the Slacker Backer for the value it provides at beta. The game right now is not worth 50$, but the SB package is well worth it if you plan on playing at launch. Also, they're going to turn off SB soon, so just keep an eye on it.

 

[repeater]

Game is very functional now. I can finish most if not all of my games. Not all the cards are in yet which is kind frustrating, and some of the current cards are bugged. They just added tournaments which are buggy as well, but a cool feature nonetheless. The improvement from October launch to now, though, is insane, it used to be a much worse.

Thanks for the info, much appreciated!

I'd only buy in to the Slacker Backer for the value it provides at beta. The game right now is not worth 50$, but the SB package is well worth it if you plan on playing at launch. Also, they're going to turn off SB soon, so just keep an eye on it.

Yeah, basically the value you get from the starter, boosters and premium membership in addition to alpha/beta access (to be able to get acquainted with the game before release) is what makes me want to get in on the SB deal before it expires (I read that they will give a bit of notice before they shut it down, which seems the reasonable thing to do if they like money). Surely 1 additional starter, 25 boosters and 2 months of VIP will be (quite a bit) more than 50 USD after release?

 

[Saren is Bad]

25 boosters would be 50, I think starter is 10, and VIP is 10 I think. But yes, you save money and get acclimated to the game mechanics before release.

 

[Shrennin]

I might as well update this with my more recent impressions:

I love this game. The gameplay is extremely fun and the game is getting a lot of polish. It's quite amazing how much more stable the game is now than it was even one month ago. I can definitely see this game releasing in 2014 - granted, the one thing that does need work on is the presentation. I have a feeling that's going to come and it's probably going to be the last thing they are working on. Also, this is still an alpha (and one that still probably wouldn't normally be released to the public) so, with that in mind, the game is REALLY stable.

With that said - two things were just announced - there's a patch coming soon that will include both sealed draft tournaments (FINALLY!!!!) and the prep phase is coming back as well (this is really needed for this type of card game, honestly).

http://hextcg.com/hex-update-sealed-decks-and-prep-phase/

So that's some welcomed news. I just want this game to be ready for beta so the PVE experience can get here.

 

[Saren is Bad]

I might as well update this with my more recent impressions:

I love this game. The gameplay is extremely fun and the game is getting a lot of polish. It's quite amazing how much more stable the game is now than it was even one month ago. I can definitely see this game releasing in 2014 - granted, the one thing that does need work on is the presentation. I have a feeling that's going to come and it's probably going to be the last thing they are working on. Also, this is still an alpha (and one that still probably wouldn't normally be released to the public) so, with that in mind, the game is REALLY stable.

With that said - two things were just announced - there's a patch coming soon that will include both sealed draft tournaments (FINALLY!!!!) and the prep phase is coming back as well (this is really needed for this type of card game, honestly).

http://hextcg.com/hex-update-sealed-decks-and-prep-phase/

So that's some welcomed news. I just want this game to be ready for beta so the PVE experience can get here.

Yay, this thread was finally bumped! The development is veeeeerrrrryyyy slow, but as you said it's miles ahead of what it was in October when Alpha launched. The introduction of Sealed play will pull me right in, as I have been getting on every once in a while but it hasn't really been holding my attention. I can't wait for closed beta, but it seems to be pretty far away - wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't come until summer time. Alas, sealed is a big step and I can't wait to try it out.

 

[IllumiNate]

Of course the game will release in 2014 lol! I will say though Sealed has me very excited. I also agree that presentation/polish is what they need for this game. Smoother UI make it feel less robotic. Get rid of the stupid pass priority prompt... Make it smaller and move it to the left or right side of the screen or give us the option to remove the popup all together for us MTGO vets.

 

[Shrennin]

Yay, this thread was finally bumped! The development is veeeeerrrrryyyy slow, but as you said it's miles ahead of what it was in October when Alpha launched. The introduction of Sealed play will pull me right in, as I have been getting on every once in a while but it hasn't really been holding my attention. I can't wait for closed beta, but it seems to be pretty far away - wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't come until summer time. Alas, sealed is a big step and I can't wait to try it out.

While the game was delayed, the progress to me seems to be happening really fast but that may be because I initially played it when it was pretty much unplayable and playing it now it's pretty much completely stable so I've felt the progress in that regard.

Of course the game will release in 2014 lol! I will say though Sealed has me very excited. I also agree that presentation/polish is what they need for this game. Smoother UI make it feel less robotic. Get rid of the stupid pass priority prompt... Make it smaller and move it to the left or right side of the screen or give us the option to remove the popup all together for us MTGO vets.

While pass priority should stay, it would be nice for there to be a way to do it without it being in the player's face all the time. I actually think it would be better to just use the space bar (or a designated button of the player's choice) to pass priority once they are done with his or her turn - but there probably needs to be some kind of designation that the player is on his turn.

Also, I know the game was definitely releasing in 2014 obviously but now I can actually see it releasing in 2014 based on how stable the game actually is - and this is in its alpha state and not even on the actual servers that the game will release on. With that said, I don't see the game releasing fully until the end of this year and I think Saren's prediction of a summer 2014 for closed beta is probably spot-on actually. They are probably going to get everything PVP related into the closed alpha and make sure all of that stuff is running stable before they release beta (which means that we'll probably have to wait until tournaments are fully implemented and even the auction house itself).

 

[Saren is Bad]

I'm hesitant for even summer 2014 on the beta. I mean think about what we need for the game to go into beta, at least as has been advertised. We need: draft tournaments, all cards, trading, collections, auction house, store front, packs/decks/etc., bug fixes, all balance changes in in place. Barebones tournaments came out in like November I think? They still hardly work. I think we're missing like 30 or 40 cards. Sealed will be a big step, but at the 5-10 card rate we're going per patch, we have at least a month until all cards are in, assuming they work perfectly (they won't). I could easily see us being a complete year delayed in terms of when the original beta was supposed to occur (September 2013, lol). Oh yeah, and we need all the rewards we've been promised (minus the PvE stuff, which is admittedly a large portion). It's not a big deal, though, at least for me.

Sealed is all I need to satisfy me for a while. It's what I've been waiting for. It'll help me learn all the cards along with the current meta, since I really haven't sat down and looked at the first set because, in my opinion, it's kinda pointless since we're missing a ton of cards. I really want the collection piece of the game to come out, but sealed queues will keep me busy for a looooong while.

 

[Shrennin]

I would say 7 months or so would be plenty of time for CZE to release a closed beta so I think late summer/early fall is probably the most realistic - I agree that early summer seems a little soon, but I think that all depends on how stable sealed deck tournaments are. Also, we're still not sure if a lot of the remaining instability (like with tournaments) is due to the tournament implementation or due to the servers being overloaded - once the client is on the actual server hardware then the game could be perfectly fine for a beta. With that said, Cory did mention that they wanted to do a alpha/beta for people that want to just break the game so that has to happen too.

On second thought, the full release might not be until 2015 haha

Either way, I definitely agree that once sealed deck tournaments are here, I couldn't care less for when the actual beta comes. Sealed deck tournaments are what make TCGs truly fun for me. Also, when the game does release, I'll probably save my packs for sealed deck tourneys just because I also love opening the packs in the sealed deck tournaments (like with MTG) and realizing that I got something good/rare which could take the sting out of losing the tournament.

 

[Saren is Bad]

Sealed patch is up.

And horribly buggy, haha, best to hold off.

 

[Yaari]

Is it possible to combine pledges yet? I did not follow the game much lately but still need to do that.

 

[Shrennin]

Sealed patch is up.

And horribly buggy, haha, best to hold off.

The whole client is really unstable right now - probably due to this patch - but I'm sure the game will get a lot more stable in the next few days. I'm not sure how long it'll take sealed deck tournaments to get less buggy, but once the entire tournament system is stable then beta won't be too far behind.

Also, I happened to notice a lot of nice little touches added (some of which are clearly placeholder sounds) for when cards are played (I think playing a legendary card creates a train sound) and the passing priority button changes depending on what stage the player is in now and it comes with its own sound to let the player know it's his turn to pass priority whenever.

Is it possible to combine pledges yet? I did not follow the game much lately but still need to do that.

I BELIEVE that is later - like in the beta when rewards will be given out. I think CZE should send an email regarding that when it's time.

 

[Saren is Bad]

The whole client is really unstable right now - probably due to this patch - but I'm sure the game will get a lot more stable in the next few days. I'm not sure how long it'll take sealed deck tournaments to get less buggy, but once the entire tournament system is stable then beta won't be too far behind.

Also, I happened to notice a lot of nice little touches added (some of which are clearly placeholder sounds) for when cards are played (I think playing a legendary card creates a train sound) and the passing priority button changes depending on what stage the player is in now and it comes with its own sound to let the player know it's his turn to pass priority whenever.



I BELIEVE that is later - like in the beta when rewards will be given out. I think CZE should send an email regarding that when it's time.

Yeah I managed to play half a game in my sealed tournament before syncing issues mucked everything up, but the pass priority QoL changes look really nice. New sound for resources I'm pretty sure too. Also noticed that cards I drew in sealed were then in my collection, I so I assume that functionality is in place now. Still need to see the store front and any booster stuff before I really think beta is near, but definitely a good step in this patch. Hopefully they spend the next week or two just fixing it all.

 

[Shrennin]

New update from Cory's new weekly blog:

http://coryhudsonjones.tumblr.com/post/75708632816/so-a-blog-yes-i-am-going-to-do-a-weekly-blog-i

In short, mercensaries are now tradeable. Cory mentioned that he was pretty much the only one on the team that thought mercenaries being untradeable was a good thing but when he thought about it objectively he decided that it wasn't a good thing. I'm actually happy with that decision - I think the ability to trade is honestly what creates value so mercenaries, to me, now have real value.

 

[Saren is Bad]

New patch out as well. Cards are sloooooowwwly dripping in =(

 

[IllumiNate]

New patch out as well. Cards are sloooooowwwly dripping in =(

Did the patch fix up some of the sealed bugs?

 

[Saren is Bad]

Did the patch fix up some of the sealed bugs?

Notes say there was an 'optimization' pass. I sat in queue earlier for 30 minutes and gave up, so can't comment exactly if sealed is doing any better.

 

[Proven]

New update from Cory's new weekly blog:

http://coryhudsonjones.tumblr.com/post/75708632816/so-a-blog-yes-i-am-going-to-do-a-weekly-blog-i

In short, mercensaries are now tradeable. Cory mentioned that he was pretty much the only one on the team that thought mercenaries being untradeable was a good thing but when he thought about it objectively he decided that it wasn't a good thing. I'm actually happy with that decision - I think the ability to trade is honestly what creates value so mercenaries, to me, now have real value.

Fun read.

 

[Shrennin]

Fun read.

It was, and I'm really excited for his future blogs too - especially if they give more hints or reveal more information. Mercs being tradeable now is also kinda a huge bit of info thrown in there so there may be a lot of awesome info revealed through the blogs that Cory does.

Also, Hex member Funktion along with some others went to the CZE offices and asked some questions from the community - this is the result of that visit:

http://forums.cryptozoic.com/showthread.php?t=32324

One thing that's reassuring - most everything unstable right now within the client is purely server related AND most things UI wise are just placeholder as the team is more focused on polish rather than looks right now. There will also be a big marketing push when the time is right but the team feels that right now it would be unwise to waste marketing power since the game is actually in a true alpha state.

 

[Saren is Bad]

It was, and I'm really excited for his future blogs too - especially if they give more hints or reveal more information. Mercs being tradeable now is also kinda a huge bit of info thrown in there so there may be a lot of awesome info revealed through the blogs that Cory does.

Also, Hex member Funktion along with some others went to the CZE offices and asked some questions from the community - this is the result of that visit:

http://forums.cryptozoic.com/showthread.php?t=32324

One thing that's reassuring - most everything unstable right now within the client is purely server related AND most things UI wise are just placeholder as the team is more focused on polish rather than looks right now. There will also be a big marketing push when the time is right but the team feels that right now it would be unwise to waste marketing power since the game is actually in a true alpha state.

Lots of cool stuff. Hope they are getting the hang of it all and can start pumping out features more often.

 

[Shrennin]

Lots of cool stuff. Hope they are getting the hang of it all and can start pumping out features more often.

I'm really excited to hear about the new stuff they likely have planned - one of the things in particular is the opening pack animation. I think it's going to be really cool - and one of the things they have to nail is the feeling of opening an actual (physical) pack of cards.

Also, even though I want the finished product as soon as possible, I have no problem waiting till late 2014 or even early 2015 for it if it means that it'll be polished, have really awesome UI/art, and be extremely stable. Also, maybe even launch with a potential money auction house! =P

 

[Saren is Bad]

I'm really excited to hear about the new stuff they likely have planned - one of the things in particular is the opening pack animation. I think it's going to be really cool - and one of the things they have to nail is the feeling of opening an actual (physical) pack of cards.

Also, even though I want the finished product as soon as possible, I have no problem waiting till late 2014 or even early 2015 for it if it means that it'll be polished, have really awesome UI/art, and be extremely stable. Also, maybe even launch with a potential money auction house! =P

I guess just from a first-to-market standpoint I'd really like to see them get to beta, at least, by summer 2014. I'm not holding my breath for PvE in 2014.

 

[IllumiNate]

I'm really excited to hear about the new stuff they likely have planned - one of the things in particular is the opening pack animation. I think it's going to be really cool - and one of the things they have to nail is the feeling of opening an actual (physical) pack of cards.

Also, even though I want the finished product as soon as possible, I have no problem waiting till late 2014 or even early 2015 for it if it means that it'll be polished, have really awesome UI/art, and be extremely stable. Also, maybe even launch with a potential money auction house! =P

2015,2016 doesn't really matter they have all the time in the world since MTGO version 4 will still be in Beta.

 

[repeater]

2015,2016 doesn't really matter they have all the time in the world since MTGO version 4 will still be in Beta.

I've got the feeling Hearthstone will be at least as relevant a competitor as MTGO, and Hearthstone will be pretty damn polished by 2015.

 

[Saren is Bad]

New Cory blog up: http://coryhudsonjones.tumblr.com/post/76449580127/blog-post-number-2

Amazing insight in it. They're shutting down Slacker Backer on April 1st. Also talk about Closed PVP Beta (when Kickstarter rewards come), so perhaps we're inching closer.

 

[helloresolven]

Those cards shown at the bottom + frame look so much better. Look forward to it finally getting Mac support so I can start playing.

 

[Shrennin]

I guess just from a first-to-market standpoint I'd really like to see them get to beta, at least, by summer 2014. I'm not holding my breath for PvE in 2014.

I'm really not sure where they are in terms of the beta - the closed beta is when we get our kickstarter rewards - so pretty much whenever beta starts - so that means all glitches and whatnot would pretty much be gone. At least the major ones. I'm thinking beta may be sooner than I think just because the game isn't even running on their servers yet and I imagine when that happens the game will improve drastically!

2015,2016 doesn't really matter they have all the time in the world since MTGO version 4 will still be in Beta.

MTGO is never going to be competition for Hex just because Wizards doesn't want to risk converting Magic to the digital space. I think what Wizards could do is make a digital version of Magic with its own sets and keep the physical version with separate sets and then they could do whatever they wanted with the digital version but it won't happen.

As far as Hearthstone is concerned - I do not think Hearthstone and Hex will really be competitors in the grand scheme of things. They are drastically different games that just so happen to have cards as the center of gameplay.

New Cory blog up: http://coryhudsonjones.tumblr.com/post/76449580127/blog-post-number-2

Amazing insight in it. They're shutting down Slacker Backer on April 1st. Also talk about Closed PVP Beta (when Kickstarter rewards come), so perhaps we're inching closer.

I just saw this and was about to post in this topic again to keep it alive but I'm glad it was already posted lol

Anyway, I can't wait to see the PVE. That leveling and might system sounds amazing. Also, never realized that the guy who apparently came up with the TCG concept of mulligan is working at Cryptozoic on Hex. That's pretty cool.

Those cards shown at the bottom + frame look so much better. Look forward to it finally getting Mac support so I can start playing.

Those frames do look so much better. I have a feeling this game will look super nice when all is said and done. Apparently almost everything in the current alpha is placeholder.

 

[Saren is Bad]

I'm really not sure where they are in terms of the beta - the closed beta is when we get our kickstarter rewards - so pretty much whenever beta starts - so that means all glitches and whatnot would pretty much be gone. At least the major ones. I'm thinking beta may be sooner than I think just because the game isn't even running on their servers yet and I imagine when that happens the game will improve drastically!



MTGO is never going to be competition for Hex just because Wizards doesn't want to risk converting Magic to the digital space. I think what Wizards could do is make a digital version of Magic with its own sets and keep the physical version with separate sets and then they could do whatever they wanted with the digital version but it won't happen.

As far as Hearthstone is concerned - I do not think Hearthstone and Hex will really be competitors in the grand scheme of things. They are drastically different games that just so happen to have cards as the center of gameplay.



I just saw this and was about to post in this topic again to keep it alive but I'm glad it was already posted lol

Anyway, I can't wait to see the PVE. That leveling and might system sounds amazing. Also, never realized that the guy who apparently came up with the TCG concept of mulligan is working at Cryptozoic on Hex. That's pretty cool.



Those frames do look so much better. I have a feeling this game will look super nice when all is said and done. Apparently almost everything in the current alpha is placeholder.

I really like the 2 bottom bars on the card, looks like the double back feature is the left one, perhaps?

 

[Shrennin]

I really like the 2 bottom bars on the card, looks like the double back feature is the left one, perhaps?

It very well could be - I imagine one of them is double back and the other is extended art.

 

[NIN90]

Anyone wanna play?
Steam: http://steamcommunity.com/id/NIN5/
HEX ingame name: Artvandelay

 

[NIN90]

feels good man

 

[Proven]

So starting right now is a big Hex TCG online tournament hosted by HexTCGPro.com. The hosting stream is http://twitch.tv/htp_jtatta. It's a two day tournament that will last most of both days, so just pop into any random stream and watch a bit http://www.twitch.tv/directory/game/HEX: Shards of Fate/live.

My only issue is that the inclusion of that new artifact, Chimes of the Zodiac, seems to have completely overtaken the meta. There are a handful of banned cards too.

 

[Justice_Bolt]

This card is overpowered?? At cost 7 ?

 

[Proven]

This card is overpowered?? At cost 7 ?

I didn't call it overpowered, but with the chance of randomly stalling out on shards/mana or not getting your hard counter, and the fact you can play against a deck with 16 creature removal cards, it gets annoying.

Mana Screw/Flood is annoying enough right now that I wish you drew two cards per turn instead of one.

 

[Shrennin]

There are a handful of banned cards too.

I have a feeling Set 1 cards will be altered if they prove too powerful or too weak so I'm not too worried about balance right now. CZE even has a section on the forum where players discuss card balance and what cards they feel are over or underpowered. Since this is an alpha, CZE's no altering cards rule doesn't apply.

 

[Saren is Bad]

Pack opening revealed: http://coryhudsonjones.tumblr.com

It's...something

 

[Boken]

:/

anyway, RE: pack opening, i prefer one card at a time styles. sometimes i still want dat uncommon!

 

[Luigi87]

:/

anyway, RE: pack opening, i prefer one card at a time styles. sometimes i still want dat uncommon!

*stares*
... wait what's this about pack openings?
... Oh right, cards!