Briefly Explain Enhancement Cards?

[Dagolar]

Obsidian seems to be a bit short on clarity on several aspects of this game, both within storefronts and elements of the user-interface, so hopefully the community can make up for that in the meantime:

For the cards in the 'Enhancements' section of the store-

1. Once purchased, it is my understanding they add to your collection (as chest/set cards do). Is that accurate?
2. Are they duplicated within the Obsidian Edition on Steam, or are they store-exclusive? In other words, can I safely spend gold on them [while I wait for support to respond to my questions about merging]?

3. If not, are they the only thing in the store currently purchasable by gold (which isn't a consumable) that isn't duplicated within the Obsidian Edition?

 

Thanks for helping out.

Edited December 27, 2017 by Dagolar

[Ethics Gradient]

Greetings!

 

1. Yes.  It will be added to your collection of cards that the game uses to build scenarios.  Additionally, a copy will be placed in your unclaimed stash for immediate use.

2. None of those seven cards are in the Uncommon/Rare or Epic/Legendary DLC packs.  For what it's worth, the DLC packs include every card that should be available in the Treasure Chests.  All the other stuff that isn't necessarily packaged into the Obsidian edition are seasonal extras or special promos.

3. Pretty much, yeah.  Gold is no longer a primary currency for DLC or content.  It's been refocused on consumables and the enhancement cards.  It would be nice if the store rotate stock... but it is what it is. 

 

Lots of people on the steam forums give Obsidian grief for the existence of consumables (claiming it's a Pay-to-win thing).  But now that you basically have nothing else to spend your gold on, and with consumables being so cheap, you're somewhat free to use as many consumables as you want without having to resort to spend cash for gold.

[Achilles]

The justification provided for consumables is that new players might benefit from having something to help while they tackle the learning curve.

 

I’ve “had” to use them twice (higher difficulty scenarios where it was either that or start over and pray for better luck with the dice). I don’t regret either use, but I don’t know that I’d want to get into the habit of using them regularly either.

 

My 2 cents.

[Ethics Gradient]

I’ve “had” to use them twice (higher difficulty scenarios where it was either that or start over and pray for better luck with the dice). I don’t regret either use, but I don’t know that I’d want to get into the habit of using them regularly either.

 

That's been about my experience as well.

 

There's no penalty for losing a scenario every now and then other than "wasting" your time.  If things get particularly unenjoyable, consumables can help drag your party through a streak of bad luck.  

 

Either way, "losing" in the digital game is far better than playing tabletop.  Setup fatigue is a real bummer when you spend ten minutes sorting tiny piles of cards to realize a few turns later that you're cruising toward a loss.

[Dagolar]

Thank you for the solid answer, Ethics.

Being that I never use consumables in games, even within games like RPGs [with the exception of potions in Diablo-likes and the occasional phoenix down in Final Fantasy], the current design is rather... eyh. Not that I'm stressed about the shift to expansion-style content releases, that feels rather agreeable given the nature of the game (even though I did have the game installed on android previously [before my android device broke] so there's a bit of a "aw, lost opportunity" vibe to it).

On the other hand, unlocking *real* content through gameplay is a major draw in gaming, in any genre or style. That's not part of the pay-to-play/free-to-play dynamic, that's just basic RPG-style methodology. You remove that, and the compulsion to play the game can become significantly minimized. In other words, Obsidian shouldn't be doing an either/or approach: They should be releasing expansions (as they currently have it structured) in addition to providing in-game unlocks.

At the moment, it feels like they're pulling actual core game content [ie, unlocks] out of the game in an attempt to cater to instant-unlock gamers exclusively, and that's an approach that'll only hurt the game in the long run. That they retained Enhancement cards in the store is promising, but hopefully they'll end up expanding on gold-based unlocks (especially as gold purchasing is apparently still an option for instant-unlock-minded gamers) so as to give the gameplay the significant increase in depth [or, rather, addictiveness] that such provides.

In the meantime, I've no issue with expansions- I spent around $200 on Dungeons & Dragons Online and around $80 on Card Hunter over the years, and not a penny spent on currency or consumable purchases. Likewise, I thought every cent worth it- meanwhile, I refuse to pay for any subscription-style game, because I lose that ability to decide my own purchases. 

In other words, I'm fine with purchasing extra content- in excessive, expensive amounts, if the game warrants it- but the game has to also give me something to unlock via gameplay. DDO let you earn premium currency rather easily, so outside of expansions, I regularly was able to unlock new content just via playing. Card Hunter relies on its addictive collection-building, where the unlocks are integrated deeply into the gameplay [unlike Pathfinder Adventures, which has a limited storage stash and the ability to permanently lose certain items, meaning there's a strong RPG dynamic, but nearly no collection one].

So.. hopefully that's all something Obsidian is considering. It should help cut down all this gold-is-now-useless-why-would-you-do-that-Obsidian drama I've seen browsing the forums, as well, eh?


--

As far as digital versus tabletop- I love tabletop. It's like books: You've got tactile, manipulable, aesthetically-pleasing, shareable content that enriches your home by existing in it.

And then there's digital, which is just bloody damn convenient- typically being easier to set up, play for shorter periods with, and close up. In addition, we often see additional content and features that tabletop wouldn't be able to reproduce. It's a great thing, and Pathfinder Adventures seems to do it well-

...well, other than some interface clunkyness here and there, and some vagueness in the tutorial, and- as this thread indicates- some lack of clarity on content details.

The game is fun, and I want to get into it as much as the other games I've been really into, but right now I see a lot of things [as noted] that could run new users off (or, as the forums indicate, distance older players). I'm hoping that's all just a phase that Obsidian'll get past, given the company's positive reputation.

Of course, that's why I messaged them [before investing in steam purchases], hoping to get a clear idea of how good their response to their customers is.
Unfortunately, I haven't heard back yet, but I assume that's just the holidays at work- or are they known for slower support times, usually?

Edit: It ended up being a bit delayed (apparently they had quite the support backlog after the holidays), but for record, I ended up getting an awesome support response.

Edited January 10, 2018 by Dagolar

[Jenceslav]

Something interesting happened to me - I opened 6 treasure chests (2500-gold deal) with the Runes active, and one of the obtained cards was Mountain Pattern! So apparently at least some of the Enhancement tab cards can be found in chests. Or it was some bug But if it isn't, I am hoping for some Achaekek's blessings.

Fun fact - I just bought my own Skull and Shackles and Achaekek is a B deck blessing there (along with Gozreh, Abadar, Silvanus&CaydenCailean&Milani) instead of 5 deck uncommon.

Edited January 13, 2018 by Jenceslav