Artifact is in the toilet, too

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Beefinator, Mar 11, 2019.

  1. Beefinator

    Beefinator The King of Potatoes

    I was taken aback by this statement:

    "After launching with tens of thousands of simultaneous players in November, though, Artifact quickly declined in popularity, to the point that only about 500 players have been online at any time in the last week, according to stats collected by SteamDB."

    From here: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019...aves-valve-puts-artifacts-future-in-question/

    500 players was pretty darn good for Pox back in the day, not a game of the level of Valve's creation. I know the game has a ton of flaws and focuses way too much on fancy animations rather than a decent game, but I still imagined they'd have a decent following, certainly far more than 500 people even in the state it's in.

    Perhaps CCG mechanics are just not what people wany anymore? That would be surprising considering how well microtransaction based games can do with the right hooks.

    Just thought it was interesting to see yet another game in this market have such a struggle.
     
  2. JazzMan1221

    JazzMan1221 Better-Known Member

    Not really surprising tbh. Gotta shell out $20 for the actual game, plus a bunch of microtransactions to be even semi-competitive, AND there's no way to trade cards in-game. Personally I've never really felt that TCGs/CCGs transition well into digital media. Back in my day (*strokes old-man beard*) buying and collecting physical cards was fun because the social aspect was a huge part of it. Schoolyards were littered with huddled-up kids pouring over their physical cards, passing them between each other, trading lunch desserts or favors for rare cards, and lording their collections over the poor schleps who couldn't convince their parents to loan them money for packs. It's just not the same when it's digital, and burnout is common.

    Furthermore, the generation that TCGs were initially marketed towards is now in their 20s and 30s, meaning they're (usually) smart enough to realize a scam when they see it, and TCGs bear many of the markings of a scam. In what other industry would you pay for something you're not actually guaranteed to obtain, or even OWN for that matter? We don't own the runes we bought in Pox, and we don't own the cards we buy in MTGO, Hearthstone, Artifact, or any other online TCG. At least with the physical version we actually do possess them, even if they're worthless. I browse the League of Legends boards on occasion, even though I no longer play the game, and it amazes me how many threads I see authored by naive, entitled children threatening to sue Riot Games for banning their accounts, simply because they "spent money on their product, therefore I own this account". In the digital world, just because you pay for something doesn't mean you own it, which doesn't sit right with the kids of this generation. But my generation is wise to this scheme, which is why TCGs and many other microtransaction-based games have fallen out of favor recently.

    Personally, I miss the days when you could buy a game for a flat one-time price and get every piece of content the game had to offer. But that's just an old man's opinion (*sits back in rocking chair*).
     
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  3. free20play

    free20play I need me some PIE!

    the game was a flop because it was a literal money grab.
    i think you even had to pay money to get tickets to play the equivalent of artifacts ranked mode or something.
    something like 5 dollars or someshit.
    anyways it was a Bane Shift game.
    should've gone free2play to begin with.
     
  4. Bondman007

    Bondman007 I need me some PIE!

    Free to play was the worst thing to ever happen to online/digital TCG games. I personally don't believe the two can co-exist. Realistically, the only way for the company to make money is to sell cards. If you give them away for free you make no money...
    Just ask SOE or DOG either one.... oh wait, they are BOTH out of business...

    Of course, honestly, If I were a game designer now a days, I would design a time machine so I could go back in time to assassinate the idiot that developed the "free to play" model in the first place... I hate it...
     
  5. soulmilk

    soulmilk I need me some PIE!

    If an online/digital TCG doesn't have a decent free to play option I won't even try it.
    I personally believe free to play is important nowadays.
    Look at MTG Arena's rise and MTG Online's fall.
     
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  6. Sokolov

    Sokolov The One True Cactuar Octopi

    I loved the gameplay of Artifact, but it's not a "TCG." Or at least it shouldn't have been. The design is clearly a board game (and if you look at Garfield's design history, even early Magic, you will see that his forte is not constructed format games - but board games - Keyforge is the latest example). Artifact plays badly in constructed (even if you ignore the business model), but with a more random set of cards (like in Draft) and a "broad game" outlook, it is much more enjoyable - but a constructed competitive card game it is not.

    The fact is though that card games look deceptively simple to make/design, but are actually pretty hard to pull off regardless of business model.
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2019
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  7. Bondman007

    Bondman007 I need me some PIE!

    To each their own...
     
    soulmilk likes this.
  8. Morfeas

    Morfeas I need me some PIE!

    Good thread.
     
  9. Baskitkase

    Baskitkase Forum Royalty

    @JazzMan1221 what schoolyard favors are we talkin about here???
     
  10. JazzMan1221

    JazzMan1221 Better-Known Member

    A few of the smarter kids would do the homework of the slower ones (cliche, but I saw it happen a few times). I knew one shy kid who traded some rare cards to an older boy who would protect him from being bullied. One kid gave a few other kids from his class a ton of cards so they would let him win the upcoming track-and-field races. Then there was the pornography ring: kids would trade for up-skirt photos of the girls (and sometimes the teachers).



    Nah, I'm kidding............or am I?


    Yeah, I am.




    Or am I?
     
  11. Anima26

    Anima26 I need me some PIE!

    I remember being at Primary School and resident crazy girl was offering out sweet pokemon cards to anyone that would roleplay marrying her on the playground, lmao. She was quite big and terrifying so i chickened out. I regret it to this day, couldve had myself a shiny Venusaur.
     

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