The New Player Experience From 0.8 to 0.9

Feedback and Suggestions
#1

Hello. I’ve played Faeria since it went free to play, and this is what I’ve experienced so far. The feedback I’m providing is potentially for even newer players than myself, but mostly for the devs. Please try not to construe anything I’ve said to be an attack, I offer this criticism with the utmost respect.

The Build Up
I Heard about Faeria from Kripparian videos. The play style was immediately interesting, as I love both tactics and card games. Before the announcement that Faeria would be f2p, I read about it some and decided not to try it yet. I’m not interested in giving money to anyone up front for an experience I might not enjoy. The announcement of f2p reached me through PCgamer.com, so I read about it some more, and watched some gameplay on youtube. My impression before playing was that I would definitely enjoy this game.

The First Month
I installed Faeria on August 16 and had an absolute BLAST playing through the solo content. The puzzles especially, I felt gratitude toward the people who could so seamlessly and rewardingly teach me their game. Then, I ran into Fugoro. Losing the first pack felt bad, the second worse, and the third and fourth, I just threw those games to get past him on to other things. I started playing just pandora and puzzles, leveling and racking up packs. I built a red deck and beat Fugoro a couple times, surprised to see him again, and again…

The Second Month
My gaming routine includes very limited windows of play time. Pandora matches (and the match making) take a LOT of time, so I started trying to roll the free runs into each other, playing out the end of a run after the next run’s coin was given. that didn’t work, and resulted in lost coins. I did go 6 wins once, and the fact that I got a full run free was pretty cool, but ultimately not enough inducement to play through 6 long games (and the match making). So, I turned back to the solo content, having opened enough cards and crafted enough to make my red deck work, and then I ran into Rapala. And Queen Magda. And Fugoro… Again.

Since 0.9 Released
My collection, even after all the free cards in this latest update, is nowhere near beating these 3 quests, and I refuse to lose another pack to that frog. So I can’t beat all three lanes, and I don’t want to try anymore. My deck can’t win most ranked matches, and I don’t want to try anymore, and Pandora “practice coins”, while shortening the length of a full run, now only grant a 1/3 pandora coin, not a full run. The result is, I don’t feel like my collection is strong enough, and the rewards for playing other modes are all behind a thicker layer of tedium than before. I know how F2P works, and I’d be willing to grind it out if time allowed. Time doesn’t, and the time it takes to find and play a multiplayer game is still as slow as before. I’m patient, but as I said, on a limited schedule to sit and enjoy a game. So, I feel at an impasse, where everything I enjoyed about faeria at first is over, and the rewards for continuing aren’t sufficient to overcome how stagnant I feel my experience has become. I’ll be able to explore the update further, soon, but I’ve demoted Faeria in my list of priorities significantly since before these changes, an exception to which is this thread.

-DeRock

#2

Thank you for your feedback.
If you want some help with those quests or need some deck/pandora building tips etc., feel free to ask people in the official dischord channel. There’s a lot of nice people around who are eager to help you.

Also, at this point, just try to have some fun in the normal battle mode. There’s no need to start with ranked ladder already, when you’re still insecure about your playstyle/what decks to use etc. Just try whatever you like.
You can find a lot of streams you can learn a lot from in the Dischordchannel above. Those are really helpful, just give it a try. :slight_smile:

Regarding Fugoro, I understand your frustration. The pressure of having to win at try #1 can be preventing from even trying it. Fortunately, the 0.9 update offers some help in that regard: You have a “replay” section in your solo content (just click on the button next to the lanes), where you can replay every quest you’ve completed so far. I suggest some practise against Fugoro there, until you find a deck you’re confident to constantly beat him with. His deck doesn’t really change; I think it gets a bit harder with the lvl 15 and lvl 20 challenge, but that’s basically it. You won’t get a reward for beating him in the replays, but you won’t lose anything as well.

Some general tips for deck building/playing vs Fugoro:

  • Early on, he uses fortune hunters and also lore thiefs. Make sure you have something to deal with those 1/1 bodies right from the start. Your best bet would probably be a red deck (burn or rush style; maybe even a mix!) with Flamespitters and Groundshakers (if you have those). However, Falcon Dive and Famine do a great job as well.
  • The easiest way to deal with his Wandering Monks would be Punishment. You can use a Royal Judge as well, if you have some. Punishment works vs. his treasure creatures as well. For example, a Crystal Dragon dies to punishment + any 1 damage source (see above: Falcon Dive, Flame Spitter, Groundshaker)
  • I suggest to play quite aggressive vs him, even with burn. Like going straight to his face (rush play) or concentrate on one side of the faeria wells and build your way towards him quite quickly. If he attempts to build lands towards your orb, 2 quick praeries can block off his lands.
  • Don’t flood the board with creatures that have only 2 or 3 life. This will make you really vulnerable to his Earthfireshaker (the creature that deals 2 damage to everything and gets buffed +2/+2 for each kill with the AoE) and Flameburst Ruby.

Hope to see you around.
Taiyodori

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#3

Solid tips, a happy coincidence that red burn is my most consistent deck. I have decided to go into Faeria only when I have a specific game goal I’d like to meet, and practicing is as good a goal as any. Thank you.

I want to add that Faeria is the kind of game I’ve dreamed of since I started MtG in 1999. I played table top tactics and turn based games on computer since well before that, and I had even made a couple rip-off table top games for friends and I. The idea of loadouts and gear and spell books is very close to a hand of cards, and a deck brought into battle. Managing to combine Tactics and Cards isn’t new, but the way you’ve presented it here is very aesthetically pleasing. Faeria matches, when they’re close enough, feel like malleable puzzles and the misplays can really add up, but there’s often room for error if you know what you did wrong. With more consistent and faster matchmaking, I think Faeria could easily be my favorite game.

To be fair, what is frustrating about the “wall” I feel I’ve hit, is the time I think I’ve wasted, and the resource value I’ve missed on so many consecutive sessions. Perhaps the practice I’ll be playing for will pay off?

-DeRock

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