State of the Game: July 2012

==State of the Game: July 2012==
Happy first of the month, adventurers!
Welcome to the July edition of the Clash of the Dragons State of the Game Post!
In June we held our very first Clash of the Dragons Player Council -- a weekend jam-packed with player and developer discussion from representatives from all corners of the community! It was a fantastic experience that you can read about here:http://www.clashofthedragons.com/for...-Council-Recap
Today we’ll be diving into new Clan Brawls, Duel changes and many other fun topics.
From all of us here at 5th Planet Games, we’d like to thank you for helping us celebrate Clash of the Dragons’ 1 Year Anniversary in June! Players had a chance to take a crazy trip to a magical land with the assistance of a very special, and very “magical” mushroom. Hopefully you enjoyed playing through the anniversary content as much as we enjoyed creating it!
Here’s to another great year of Clashing! (Maybe this is the year we’ll Clash with some Dragons? We’ll see...)
We recently announced that we had some very exciting improvements in the works for Clan Brawls, and while this is still very much the case it’s going to take us some time to get the feature implemented into the game.
As a result we’ll be rolling out the second Terror from the Depths Clan Brawl very soon. This Brawl will feature a unique card drop as well as a new crafted card.
It was always our intention that Terror from the Depths would be released in 3 separate Clan Brawls and that is still our plan. We do not currently have a projected time for when the 3rd installment will come out, but Part 2 is right around the corner.
We’ve touched on Zone 7 and how we intend Zone 8 to be fairly different, but we haven’t gone into specifics about *how* Zone 8 will be different.
The first, major difference that you’ll notice as soon as you get into Zone 8 will be the difficulty. Stats and enemy decks will be tuned with the intent that Zone 8 will provide a real challenge for those seeking its rewards. We want to ensure the Zone is fun and worth coming back to without being frustrating.
The progression from Normal to Hard to Nightmare should feel more in line with the name of the given difficulty. We’re also making sure each boss will reward the players with a Brawl unlock! This means Zone 8 will feature 4 brand new Brawls complete with various rewards.
Zone 8 will be coming to your computer screens very soon, so be prepared!
We spoke at length with the Council regarding the Duel system and what we could do to enhance its playability and overall appeal. One of the biggest and most unanimous suggestions was adjusting the points lost when you lose to an opponent. This should resolve the current issue where players take one step forward but then take five steps back while trying to compete.
Currently player loss vs rank is as follows:
5 Higher = 1 Point4 Higher = 2 Points3 Higher = 3 Points2 Higher = 4 Points1 Higher = 5 PointsEqual Rank = 6 Points1 Lower = 7 Points2 Lower = 8 Points3 Lower = 9 Points4 Lower = 10 Points5 Lower = 11 Points
As you can see, there isn’t much room for error with the current system. It’s extremely punishing even under normal conditions.
However, in the near future we will be switching to the following loss vs rank:
5 Higher = 1 Point4 Higher = 1 Points3 Higher = 2 Points2 Higher = 2 Points1 Higher = 3 PointsEqual Rank = 3 Points1 Lower = 4 Points2 Lower = 4 Points3 Lower = 5 Points4 Lower = 5 Points5 Lower = 6 Points
This is a great example of a change that was discussed at the Council meeting and was heavily influenced by their feedback. Points earned for victories will remain unchanged.
Another change we’re looking into is the overall rewards. We want players to feel incentivized to work towards higher ranks, and the effort spent should reflect the rewards given. How exactly we’ll go about enhancing the Duel rewards is still something we’re finalizing internally, but two of the more popular ideas that were brought up by the Council is either buffing all current rewards (cards at the very least), or replacing those rewards with something new. We haven’t decided if we’ll go with either of those options as of yet but it’s a glimpse of what’s on the table right now.
While we feel pretty good about the direction we’re taking Duels in as of now, we still feel as though the Colosseum needs some tuning to get it into a place of true competitive harmony.
The Council gave us some wonderful feedback about the Colosseum and what could be done to improve its overall appeal. Our primary PvP focus at this moment is on the Duel system. However, once we’ve enhanced Duels we’ll be giving the Colosseum another pass to give it the love it needs.
We’ve discussed a great many things both internally and with the Council, and will be posting more details as we get closer to making changes.
West Kruna has heard a very familiar chorus as of late: “We want more Nexus Recipes!” And the answer from us? We do too!
The Nexus is a beautiful feature that we want to utilize and enhance as much as possible. This is done by adding more content (recipes) and other things to improve its functionality. However, as with anything else it’s always a balancing act.
It’s been a while since we released new Nexus recipes or new Nexus hints, and part of the reason for this is because while we want to continue adding to The Nexus, it currently feels pretty good. That is to say we feel comfortable where it’s at while we direct our focus to other portions of the game that really need it (such as Clans).
However (and I forget where I made this post), as I’ve stated before, I already have a few new recipes and hints fired up and ready to go. And with other features now being set in motion it’s almost time for the Nexus to rise again with new recipes and new clues!
The concerns surrounding foil cards and crafting ingredients are still intended to be solved through the Nexus. 
Something else we’re discussing internally is how we’d like to continue to seed Nexus hints into the game. Using the forums is a great way to bring the community together and it’s something we want to continue to do. However, we also realize that quite a few players do not participate within the forums. We have a few ideas to help reach out and bring Nexus clues to non-forum-goers as well, but the details of those plans are currently kept behind thick, dwarven doors. As we get closer to these additions we’ll be sure to post about them!
We’ve already spoken a great deal about what you can expect for Clans in the future, but let’s talk about some details.
The first feature we’re going to focus on is Clan vs Clan. We feel as though this is a very important feature that Clash Clans really need. The current plan is to get the Clan vs Clan feature live without rewards initially and then provide rewards shortly after release for added incentive. The reason we’ll roll this feature out without rewards initially is just to help speed up the process and ensure we get this into the hands of you, the players, sooner rather than later.
Clan vs Clan will start out as a 3v3 feature with the addition of 5v5 combat as a possibility down the road. It will include player targeting, allowing for more tactics and coordination.
That said, this will be a rather major feature that is going to take a lot of dedicated tech time, and while I am providing details and information about the feature right now, don’t expect it too soon.
This will be a month full of fantastic additions to Clash, some things that were mentioned within this post and a few which were left out to keep the element of surprise. Also, my keyboard is running low on ink.
Thank you for taking some time to read the State of the Game Post! And as always...Stay Beautiful, Clash Community! 
Category:State of the Game