Hi folks. Since I was a kid I loved collecting Trading Cards. They came in bubblegum packs. My friends would play games with these cards that I just could not understand. No matter how hard my friends tried to explain the mechanics of the rules, I just did not get it.
But I did love the graphics on these cards so I kept collecting them. I eventually visited several game-nights at local comics shops. But I still could not follow what was going on.
Eventually Magic the Gathering came out and I tried to understand the rules. But to my embarrassment I still could not understand how to play.
I can play all manner of electronic digital video games online/offline/single player/multiplayer. PC/Console/Mobile as well as board-games. Without any problems as a casual player.
So when Hearthstone released for PC I was exited! I downloaded and started playing. My excitement came to a screeching halt! After the basic introduction I tried to follow the tutorial. I got some of that but after 5 minutes it was like my brain just tuned out! So I tried to wing it and just play a regular match. Realized I had no idea what was going on
or what I was supposed to be doing and just logged out.
My question is: Is there something about Card Game Mechanics that differ so much from
regular gaming that some people just can not understand them? Or am I the only one who suffers from some sort of Card Game Dysfunction?
I think it comes down to the fact that in a game like WoW, you actually control the action, and you actually have control (to an extent) of what happens.
With trading card games, it’s essentially 5 card draw Poker with colourful pictures. Yes yes, I know it’s a bit more than that, but yeah.
Well, I just write what I think might be interesting to other players of the Wow community.
I’m sorry that some people think I’m a bad writer or something. Don’t know what else to say?
I play Wow but I’m a very casual player. I’m not an Elite player and have no expertise in playing Wow. So sometimes I feel like posting on the forums but I can’t really talk about
game mechanics or game theory. So I am left writing about random things that are related to Wow and gaming in general.
Edit: Also I would like to mention that I have played Wow since 2004. But I don’t play Wow anymore on a constant basis. I tried the newest ex-packs Shadowlands and dragonflight.
But just don’t find them interesting. Truth be told I spend more time reading and writing in the GD Forum than playing Wow.
In this particular case I was sitting around and thought of Hearthstone. And I wondered why it was that I couldn’t play it or any Trading Card Game. So I decided to ask the question of the Wow community.
I was hoping people might find the post interesting and maybe humorous. And maybe someone could answer the question.
Trading card games, the first and foremost path you should take is an excel sheet (or any other spreadsheet that works for you) Trading card games are not static games (where you have a definite possibility). Each and every card contains, in some form or the other, a group of variables… be it (speed, strength, value, endurance as in a combat game) , or ( cost, liability, profit margin, risks in a business simulation) or (offense, defense, evolution factor , chance as in Pokemon).
You need to create an empty spreadsheet, fill up all the data, create a quick paper prototype, and play test (first with friends and family, then unbiased people), edit and change those values whenever necessary, till you reach values which, according to you lives up to your desired gameplay experience.
A human must have good memory. (Photographic Memory) In order to recognized the
random variables between each card. Plus synergies between card statistics. It would seem similar to shooting at targets that are moving and randomly appear and disappear.
Can these games be played without a good memory? Yes. Will you win? No.
This human explains how it can be difficult to learn to play trading card games:
In this Video a Human explains the basics of playing Hearthstone Online for those not familiar with the game:
And for comparison value Magic the Gathering Basics:
I just don’t like cards or card nechanics. When I am not recreating with WoW, I enjoy tabletop roleplaying and miniatures games. I avoid games with cards. I prefer dice on the tabletop.
Yeah I also prefer tabletop with miniatures and dice. I find the trading card games nice to look at the art, but way too convoluted to play. Just my two cents.
Hearthstone is a pretty simple card game as far as TCGs go, perhaps you have the dreaded
then again this is coming from someone that played the Pokemon, DBZ, YuGiOh, MTG, Digimon, Star Wars, and (physical) Warcraft card games (along with Hearthstone lol).
