MArcomage

First of all I would like to thank all players who helped us with the testing of the new MArcomage app. The testing is going well and I expect the new version to be released during Christmas update on 17th December. One of the main features of this update is a complete user interface overhaul. The change doesn't necessarily try to alter current layout, but is rather more focused on adapting it to modern screen resolutions.

For example, if the screen size is large the content will be displayed in multiple columns next to each other. On smaller screens the content will be displayed in a single column, thus avoiding the annoying horizontal scrollbar at the bottom of the screen. This change should allow players to play MArcomage on mobile phones, iPads and other portable devices without any layout issues.

Here are some screenshots of the new interface on a large screen:

Game screen and Deck screen

Here is a full list of changes contained in the Christmas update:

- in-game cheat menu (AI non-challenge games only)

- in-game card preview is now displayed in standard game visual instead of simple text message

- sorting by card name in the cards section

- new BBcode for cards, concepts and keywords

- "steal" card filter in cards and decks sections

- skip tutorial button in the settings section

- CAPTCHA validation in player registration

- AI player now has it's own nationality and flag

- country flags are now displayed in replays sections as well

- card tutorial now suggest to play the card that AI player would play instead of suggesting all playable cards

- AI challenge decks can now be used by players in friendly game mode (non AI challenge games)

- game refresh no longer reloads the page unless there is an active game available

- games are now ordered by last action like other game lists (most recent first)

- keywords can now be sorted either by keyword name or execution order in the keywords list

- hover tooltip layout improved

- info, error and confirm dialog layout improved

- error page layout improved

Notifications

I've moved all menu bar notifications to the player name section on the upper left part of the screen. I think it's more practical to have them all in one place and it also improves the menu bar layout a little bit. Clicking on the notification icons will take you the the related section.

Flush cache system

I have added a system that allows us to flush browser cache, so in future updates you no longer need to manually flush your browser cache to apply all new layout changes.

Card lookup

When you place a mouse cursor on card text that contains a reference to another card, the referenced card will be displayed below the current card. This makes understanding of the card effect easier. Additionally, this functionality is also present on card BBcode on forums.

Obsolete settings

Following settings were removed:

- avatar display correction for Firefox 2.x bug (it's no longer an issue)

- disable card images (this setting didn't make much sense in the first place and was never fully supported)

- number of cards displayed per row in deck editor (number of cards per row is now determined dynamically based on available screen size)

- display avatar in players list (avatars are now always displayed for players who have them)

- display nationality text in players list (nationality is available as a hover tooltip on country flag)

- advanced games list (last game action is now always displayed in the games list)

- hide card pool by default (this setting is no longer necessary because card created filter is always active by default)

Flare attack

Renamed to Flare blitz. Effect changed to "Replace up to N lowest rarity non-Burning cards in each player's hand with Searing fire, N based on played card rarity (Common - 1, Uncommon - 2, Rare - 4)."

Two new keywords have been added:

Cursed

If a card with this keyword is discarded, it will be returned to its former position.

Forbidden

Card with this keyword can't be used in deck building.

Balance changes preview

Common

Blood shrine - added Cursed keyword
Elven apprentice - summoned card is revealed
Harvest fairy - card text improved
Pile of ashes - renamed from Purified ashes, added Cursed and Forbidden keywords
Searing fire - added Cursed and Forbidden keywords, card effect changed
Whirlpool - card text improved
Wildfire gem - removed stock reduction, added gems gain

Uncommon

Ancient castle - renamed from Forgotten castle, added Cursed keyword
Ancient ruins - added Cursed keyword
Battle rager - card text improved
Cursed amulet - stock gain replaced with random resources gain, added Cursed keyword
Flame obelisk - card text improved
Gate guardian - added Cursed keyword
Ice queen - added Cursed keyword
Last order - summoned card is revealed
Night raid - renamed from Bloody moon
Northern fortress - card text improved
Orc regiment - card text improved
Risen angel - added Cursed keyword
Shapeshifter - summoned card is revealed
Wishing lagoon - summoned card is revealed

Rare

Archmage - summoned card is revealed
Beast mistress - card text improved
Cerberus - card text improved
Crimson general - summoned card is revealed
Crystal cavern - half of the facilities gain is now conditional
Gate of Babylon - card text improved
Goblin emperor - card text improved
Hydra - card text improved
Spirit of Air - card text improved
Steam golem - card text improved

Feedback is appreciated.

I want Little Timmy :)

Oh, now I've seen Trolldem.
That one too.

What about Purifying fire? Would it be able to discard Cursed cards like all the other ones?

NG_Beholder wrote:
What about Purifying fire? Would it be able to discard Cursed cards like all the other ones?

Not at this time. Cursed cards will return to their former positions in hand unless stated otherwise on the card. I will be monitoring the situation and if necessary there will be balance changes applied to address this.

Wait a minute...
Cursed cards cannot be discarded at all?
I thought they could not be discarded explicitly by hitiing the "Discard" button, but that they could be discarded by other cards. Oh my, this will be interesting(?). I hope it will not be too irritating.

Well technically they can be discarded. It's just that when they get discarded they will be returned to their former positions, so you will actually see them in the discarded cards list. This effects both manual discard action and discard by card effect.

Then you should completely rework Flare attack. Forcing to play Searing fire 3-4 times in a row is too painful.

also it seems there is now some chance (in extreme situation) to fill both hands with cursed amulet as it stays in game while played

How about cards such as Dream shift, Scepter of evolution, Veteran militia etc?
Will they also not be able to remove "Cursed" cards from hand?

It could be interesting to have effects for increasing and decreasing rarity of "cursed" cards.

NG_Beholder wrote:
Then you should completely rework Flare attack. Forcing to play Searing fire 3-4 times in a row is too painful.

That's a good point. I have also realized this and for this reason I'm currently testing a different version of Searing fire that has Quick keyword with only negative effect.

I have updated Searing fire to current development version.

new changes:

- gained Quick keyword
- added "You lose 3 random resources" effect
- bricks production x0 removed
- wall gain removed

That's better for Wildfire gem, but in this case at least Phoenix (and Burning keyword as a whole) should be revised. Phoenix works as attack card mainly because of Flare attack effect, but with this change would be impossible to get any benefits from it. You'll just get rid of Searing fires right after being hit by Phoenix, that's it. And if you play a Mage/Swift deck, it could be really funny — your chances to draw Ice queen, i.e. get more resources and more wall/tower than your opponent managed to destroy with his Phoenix, are incredibly high. And don't forget that Elementalist is the uncommon banisher of choice for Mage decks, so Phoenix most likely would be discarded immediately.
With this version of Searing fire Phoenix would be mediocre at best, and Burning keyword would be the weakest of all — something like very, very weak version of Brigand.

NG_Beholder wrote:
Phoenix works as attack card mainly because of Flare attack effect, but with this change would be impossible to get any benefits from it.

You can put Phoenix in burning deck to get benefits from it. It's up to 80 attack.

NG_Beholder wrote:
You'll just get rid of Searing fires right after being hit by Phoenix, that's it.

No. You can't get back rare cards you lost.

NG_Beholder wrote:
And if you play a Mage/Swift deck, it could be really funny — your chances to draw Ice queen, i.e. get more resources and more wall/tower than your opponent managed to destroy with his Phoenix, are incredibly high. And don't forget that Elementalist is the uncommon banisher of choice for Mage decks, so Phoenix most likely would be discarded immediately.

So? You can build special counter deck for any strategy. Including strategy with Phoenix.

Sorlag wrote:
You can put Phoenix in burning deck to get benefits from it. It's up to 80 attack.

Yes, but Burning cardset is expensive and pretty weak in terms of defense and resource accumulation. Pure Burning deck doesn't have many chances to last long enough to draw Phoenix and build enough resources to use it.
And easy way to summon Phoenix is not available for Burning deck, because you'll always have more than 2 Burning cards in hand.

Sorlag wrote:
No. You can't get back rare cards you lost.

IF you lost any. Plus having 4 draws for the cost of 12 resources is actually pretty good, even if you can't draw a rare. I'd even say it's better than saving a rare, especially if you have something like Scepter of evolution, Second chance or Auxilia in your deck.

Sorlag wrote:
So? You can build special counter deck for any strategy. Including strategy with Phoenix.

It's not a counter deck for Phoenix. Basically, all is needed to counter Phoenix is an uncommon Banish, and we have plenty of these cards so one can find something useful for any deck. Searing fire with Quick keyword gives you at least 4 chances to draw that banisher and discard Phoenix.

Phoenix is hard to balance properly. In its current state it will be either extremely strong or extremely weak. Adding Quick to Searing fire will make Phoenix below-average at best — 62G/44R (16G refund) for up to 160 attack (120-130 is more realistic) for 2 turns and giving your opponent an EXCELLENT chance to counterplay? I'd rather use Suzaku or Golden dragon, thank you very much.

NG_Beholder wrote:
Searing fire with Quick keyword gives you at least 4 chances to draw that banisher and discard Phoenix.

What if there will be different types of Searing fire - some with Quick keyword and some without?

Sorlag wrote:

NG_Beholder wrote:
Searing fire with Quick keyword gives you at least 4 chances to draw that banisher and discard Phoenix.

What if there will be different types of Searing fire - some with Quick keyword and some without?

That's certainly a possibility. However I'm currently working with a different approach: A change to how many cards are replaced with Flare attack based on played card rarity. I feel like this keyword was never properly balanced because only two cards have it.

My current development version of the Flare attack is as follows:

Replace up to N lowest rarity non-Burning cards in both players' hands with Searing fire (non-quick version). N based on played card rarity (C-1, U-2, R-4). Of course I would need to rebalance Wildfire gem, but that's not a big issue. I also wanted to add some uncommon cards with flare attack keyword, so I think the keyword rebalance is a good idea.