Card Creator Poll! - For what element and why do you design cards?

[Kuroaitou]

This poll/idea came to me the other day while organizing the polls.

There's a lot of creativity going on in the Card Ideas & Art section on a daily basis, and because of that, we have quite a pool of card ideas that could potentially inspire Zanzarino's mind should he so choose to fish from our large ocean of concepts.

As of late though, I've been noticing that some polls () have several cards in them to the point where other polls don't seem to measure up in terms of quantity (sometimes quality as well).

That said, as a Curator and a member of the community, I just wanted to know:

• For what element do you MOST prefer to design cards for? And for what reasons?
• Do you like designing [insert element here] cards just because [insert element here] is the best element 'evar'?
• Do you prefer making cards that fill in a missing niche for an element?
• Do you prefer card concepts that revolve around synergy with old card ideas or ones that are completely unique and standalone?
• Etc.

Please feel free to change your votes at any time you wish. I hope that this ongoing poll will be a continuous process for us to examine the card-creators of the community and see what they like to make, why they make their cards, and how this data can bring us closer to making even more refined, interesting, and innovative concepts (as well as saving me some organizational time in advance... ^^;;; ).


Also, if you voted, PLEASE explain why you did in your post. It'll greatly help the community as a whole into understanding your card-creation process.

[wizelsnarf]

Please add, all to the first poll. Or please add "Element does not matter that much"

I like making cards when I have a good idea/ artwork, not necessarily a particular element. I would check other, but I don't mean 'Other' CARDS, I mean I prefer to make cards for other REASONS.

As for the second Poll, I chose

-Theme
-Artwork

given a 3rd vote I would have also chosen "interesting" (which I interpret as creative/innovative)

Theme is very important to me because it creates the imaginative elements world. If the theme changed dramatically I think it could create a rift in the already existing world. Basically when I think of this as beyond a card game, I would describe it first by its theme.

Artwork is important basically because I want it to fit the theme, again. I like the current style of art that does not include cartoon style or corny stuff. I like that it takes itself seriously. vrt's work is a prime example but so is most of the art.

The thing I didn't get to vote for, "interesting" is also important. But that doesn't necessarily mean new. Interesting art could be one thing, interesting addition to the element could be another, or the traditional "new mechanic" interesting.

I only create cards when I am inspired and I spend the majority of my time on the art. I won't make a card if I don't have good art. MY most recent card sea sponge was a good idea so I really wanted to make it but the art mattered more than the mechanic. I eventually decided the art I made was "good enough for now" so I went ahead and made the card. But first I was thinking of a better way for water to counter poison. Theme came to mind and I thought that a sea sponge is a harmless filtering creature, so maybe it could "filter" poison too. From there I checked on Wikimedia commons to see if there was an free art. Sure enough there was. From that point I knew I would make the card and worked on the art. Lastly I tried to figure out what mechanic I wanted to give it.

That is my process for most cards...

[TimerClock14]

I have no real elemental preference ( ftw) but i don't really like to make 'other' cards. They don't have enough theme for me to go with. Which brings me to my other votes:
-theme
-mechanic
I don't often make cards simply to get it into the armory, but rather to put my ideas out in the open.

[EvaRia]

Entropy ideas are too much fun to ignore =D

[EmeraldTiger]

I chose Entropy, Gravity and Life mostly because I understand these the best. All but Aether and Time are simple and relatively easy and straight forward to design for. I think New synergies need to be formed in every possible combination. There are a few that are trying to bring about the new synergies even though it is not easy. In simplest terms, what are the skills we have?

[tyranim]

i chose air, gravity, time, and life. the second vote(s) were biased towards air...
it should fit the theme of an element
it should strengthen synergies
(as you can see, the second vote ties in with the first when it comes to air)

[Glitch]

I'm surprised I was the only "no preference" when it comes to card designing.

When I have a good idea, be it based on a card I would like to see or an element missing something I'd like to add, I make it for that element.

For instance, I had a wonderful idea for a card that could target as though all creatures were targetable called "backstab".  While I would /love/ for life to get that card, it fits thematically with darkness, so that's where I would put it.

[pepokish]

Though I have never posted any of my card ideas, I do sometimes enjoy thinking of potential ideas for cards.  Kuro informed me that this was just fine and that I was allowed to vote in the poll, so I did.  c:

For my elemental preference, I chose four of my favourite elements: Life, Water, Darkness, and Air.  I find each of these Elements to be inspiring to me. 

Life, as my number one favourite element, is my favourite element to think of card ideas for.  I admire the healing theme, and that it is one of the least 'aggressive' elements in the game.  The addition of adrenaline and thorn carapace have somewhat changed this slightly-more-passive characteristic, and it's something that I would rather not like to see disappear entirely.

Air is inspiring to me simply for it's theme.  The idea of flight often haunts my imagination, so it's no wonder that I particularly like thinking of ideas for Air. 

Darkness follows suit with Air, in that I like thinking of card ideas for it simply because it's darkness!  It seems like all of the side-swiping, stealthy, shadowy trickeries belong to Darkness, which makes for a lot of intriguing ideas...

Lastly, Water marks high on my list of elements for card ideas.  I like the theme, but I don't think the current elements cards really do it justice.  Water in and of itself is a powerful substance, capable of breaking down almost anything over time.  Yet, in Elements, water seems to depend on other elements to give it power, which I think is a shame.  I'd like to see this element buffed up a bit, which is why I enjoy trying to think of ideas of my own.

As for the second poll, I had a bit of a tough time deciding between the options.  Virtually all of the options are important in some way or another.  In the end, I decided that the two things most important to me would have to be:
The card fits thematically with the element and The card's mechanic helps strengthen the mono-element as a whole.

The first option I chose for two reasons: First, that having each element remain unique and separate from the others (while, naturally, remaining equal in terms of gameplay) is highly important to me.  I think it's really important to make sure that the elements don't just have all of the same cards and abilities given different names. 

Secondly, even if a card fits within an element's theme on the whole, I also think each card within itself should fit thematically.  For instance, I'm not going to like a card called "Giraffe" with the ability " Duplicate target creature".  It just makes no sense, and that's something which I personally find to be important when it comes to card ideas.

Anyway... wow, I've said way too much.  I'm just going to stop here and appologize for writing so much silly nonsense!  D:

Edit: Oh, I didn't even explain why I voted for the second thing.  Mostly it's just because I like mono decks, and I'd like to see every element able to stand on its own as a viable mono.  c:

[Kuroaitou]

Hm... interesting posts so far.

I suppose I should explain myself as well.

Initially, when I began designing cards, I starting focusing on the elements that had either: a) the lowest amount of cards of a certain type/category or in general (Aether & Darkness), or b) the ones I felt were overly vulnerable to certain tactics (Time against Permanent control, or against specialized shields that blocked attacks). Even now, I do tend to design towards those elements (unintentionally) despite their new updates, but I suppose I seem to like those three the most.

Nowadays, I try to avoid designing cards if the polls are overflowing (20 or more) with card ideas for a certain element (See Life, Darkness, & Other in the past). ^^;;; Also, Curator work tends to make me feel less inclined to put forth my idea to prevent bias when it comes to generating card concepts, but I enjoy giving my opinions to help advance everyone's cards up to the Armory (or beyond O_o).



As for the latter two... I choose not to vote for those yet. It tends to vary too much for me to place an opinion. ^^; That said, it appears a large amount of card creators seem to focus on the theme first; do you guys consider this a good, or bad thing when it comes down to card innovation?

Just curious. Keep on posting and keep on voting!

[TimerClock14]

hmmm, well imo the most important aspect of a [themed] game, other than game mechanics and such, is the theme. Theme is the second-most important aspect of a game, especially a card game like elements. If you don't stick to the theme, then the game becomes slightly confusing to the players and it snowballs. Again, imo.