Yah it makes more combos which makes for more deckbuilding which makes for more activity on the forums. Wait im missing what the problem is here.
Okay, so the problem isn't so much the fun types of combos you can create with Aetheric Portal, but rather, the sheer amount of creatures in terms of numbers that you have to create. Add into the fact that some of the creatures you can 'combine' is based on chance (i.e. - how would this work on a mutated Dragon with Deja Vu and a flying weapon with momentum and adrenaline?), then I'd say that the infinite combos would be a disaster to simplify, let alone be implemented into the game as is.
My suggestion would be to ditch the whole 'half-name' creature idea. That just makes way too many combos as it is. By that system, you would have cards such as 'Deja Dragon' or a 'Paraer' that are not only confusing, but also annoying to 'figure' out since you'd have two images side-by-side on a combined card (and the whole coding process would just be hell to do). Instead, why don't you try this: whenever you fuse two creatures, you simply create a 'new' creature altogether (I wouldn't say Abomination, but perhaps something similar) that has the combined stats, passives, and a random ability. In other words, using this card would spawn a creature (while removing the target creatures on the field) that has the combined stats/passives of the targetted creatures, and a new active skill. To retain the idea that it came from two creatures, you can say that the card would be of a certain element (say time if you merged an Anubis and Otyugh), but
A few other issues that you still run into though:
-How does the targetting mechanism work if you have to choose 'two' targets? Just 'click' on two cards? Or does it select ALL of the creatures on the field?
-(Bigger problem) Your description in the card isn't specific enough in regards to the above questions. Might want to expand on that.
-Aetheric Portals don't really connect with the idea of combining creatures, now that I think about it... but that's a minor point.
Other than the above issues, I'm -okay- with the idea. It's just that you might have to do a few tweaks here and there to get it to what you really want. If my concerns aren't a big deal, feel free to ignore them; it's just my opinion anyway.
Oh, and I never considered the position before to be honest. I'm just tired of seeing all these ideas with awkward tables (or none at all), poorly written descriptions (SEE DESCRIPTION WORKSHOP (
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,9851.0.html) FOR DETAILS!), and other flaws that make it less likely that the card will be propelled into the Crucible. I know my ideas are automatic-failures, so I'd figure that I could at least give other people a better chance of getting their creations being considered at least.
(P.S. - remove the
icon in the 'Element' part of the table. It's redundant with the word "Aether", which is all you need.)