How about another option for upgrades?

[dark ripper]

This was discussed in chat, and I found it quite interesting. How would it be if we had another upgrade option for some cards? That meaning, instead of the already implemented upgrade option, for some cards you would have a second alternative option. Let me give you some examples.

-You want to upgrade devourer, you currently have the upgrade option of pest wit 0/4 stats. You could have another option for a pest vol. 2 with 2/2 stats and 3 cost.
-You want to upgrade abomination. The current option would be mircro abomination. Another upgrade could be major abomination with 8/3 stats and 6 cost.

The difference here is that both upgrades will coexist in the game.
(stats are just for examples)

So that was one of the ideas that were discussed. Another one was a third tier of upgrades to a card. That meaning:

-You want to upgrade a purple dragon, and you get the amethyst dragon. There could be a second upgrade to another dragon with better stats.
-You upgrade shrieker to elite shrieker, then you upgrade it a second time to mega shrieker with better/different stats.
 
A more sustained suggestion for this kind of "second" upgrade was that every element could have just one card with this option.
Those could be nymphs, dragons, or any other card one can think of.

I believe that this game, in order to stay alive and kickin, has to be updated constantly. If the feeling that no more other cards will be implemented due to balance issues, a similar concept like this could. I believe it wont be that hard to achieve and will renew the interest of people for the game.

---Discuss!

[iancudorinmarian]

We discussed this here

Steal-Improved Steal-Grand Theft Elements xD

Now on a more serious note, that would be quite interesting, but some cards can't really have this kind of upgrade. How would you upgrade a micro abomination further? Or an ash eather, or a minor phoenix. The upgrading choice seems quite interesting though.

[dark ripper]

We discussed this here



Now on a more serious note, that would be quite interesting, but some cards can't really have this kind of upgrade. How would you upgrade a micro abomination further? Or an ash eather, or a minor phoenix. The upgrading choice seems quite interesting though.

Heh, havent seen that. Humor Section.

Well, thats why many different possibilities were discussed. From the more harmless(just one double upgrade per element) , to the most game altering(every card could have an alternative upgrade). We are here to suggest different ideas. My personal choice, would be for some cards, instead of the usual upgrade, to have a different upgrade(coexisting with the original), for cards that can take two different upgrades. Basically, this would give quite a versatility to the game.

[ARCAGNELL0]

Possible Secondary Upgrade for the Devourer

Unupgraded unit
Devourer  Cost:2 Darkness quanta 2 HP, 0 attack, borrow skill (cost of 1 earth quanta) and devour attribute (1 every turn)

Upgrade option  #1
Pest  Cost:2  Darkness quanta 4HP 0 Attack, borrow skill (cost of 1 earth quanta) and devour attribute (1 every turn)

Upgrade option #2
Devouring Fitoplasm Cost:3 Darkness quanta 1HP 0 Attack Preserving skill(cost 1 darkness quanta) and devour attribute(2 every turn)

This monster when summoned has 2 HP and is in the Preserved state (equal to borrow plus the following), wich allows him to gain 1 hp per turn (up to 3), but does not allow the devour attribute to function while doing so.Once the Preserve state is interrupted(free cost) the Devouring Fitoplasm will regain his devour ability, but will lose 1 Hp per turn until it dies. If a skill is applied to the Devouring phitoplasm, it will remain at 2HP and won't lose HP anymore. If the Nightfall / Darkness cards are in play, the Devouring Fitoplasm won't lose HP when not in the Preserved state

[dark ripper]

This is how it could be implemented in the game. A few chosen cards could give a second upgrade instead of the original. Any other ideas are welcome.

[OdinVanguard]

We discussed this here

Steal-Improved Steal-Grand Theft Elements xD

Now on a more serious note, that would be quite interesting, but some cards can't really have this kind of upgrade. How would you upgrade a micro abomination further? Or an ash eather, or a minor phoenix. The upgrading choice seems quite interesting though.

I think the idea is a little different. This isn't a second level of upgrade, its an alternative upgrade.

E.g. For abom you could have the choice:
Option A)Upgrade to micro to get a 2|4 for 1
Option B)Upgrade to Greater to get an 8|8 for 6   ... or maybe Upgrade to Dissonant Abomination to get a 5|5 that scrambles up to 3 quanta per attack

For ash eater you could get
Option A) Upgrade to brimstone eater to get a 2|1 that produces for a cost of 1
Option B) Upgrade to Obsidian eater to get a 2|2 that bypasses shields 1

For reverse time:
Option A) Rewind return a creature for 1
Option B) Fast Forward - move the nearest copy of target creature to the top of your deck or shuffle a new copy in

As ripper mentioned, not every card would necessarily need an alternate upgrade. It could be limited to a handful of cards or even singular cards in each element.

I.e. Dragons could get alternate upgrades that give them breathe weapons instead of improved stats.

[CuCN]

See also:
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/card-ideas-and-art/alternate-story-series/
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/card-ideas-and-art/the-underground-upgrade-%28series%29/
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/design-theory/concept-alternate-upgrades/

[OdinVanguard]

I think I remember one of those vaguely. I'm not so big on the randomness part unless ETG starts going with some kind of pack system or something... I think being able to choose which upgrade to get is good enough.
I also think that the alternate upgrades should have the same level of balance as other upgraded cards.
-If not, then the imbalance needs to be addressed somehow... I.e. require a higher or lower cost or require multiple copies of the unupgraded card etc.
-That could get needlessly complex. It would make things interesting, but would also make balancing even more tricky.

One interesting point with the alternate upgrade is that players would have to choose which type of upgrade version to include in their deck. It adds a little extra layer of though and planning to deck design. Particularly if both upgrade routes serve unique roles (especially if those roles compliment one another).

For example, you could have an alternate upgrade for chysaora that has the ability
" : Allergen - The next time a water creature inflicts a status effect, +2 poison status is also inflicted upon its target."
That would pair very well with other chrysaora, but you would have to choose how many of each to include (or rely on puffer fish).

[Blacksmith]

I like this idea either if it is as a second upgrade or an alternative.

But if this is going to be implanted in the game we need to restrict it a bit. There is no way Zanz will add this to ≈250 cards. If it would get implanted it would be restricted to one group of cards like pillar/pends, potion spells, dragons etc.

• My idea for pillar could be that they produce 1 quanta of your mark when played.
• Dragons could get abilities.

And so on. So if we want this in the game we need to locate groups and have people come up with ideas for each group.

[CHV]

How about allowing second upgrades to every series (pillar/pends, dragons, nymphs, weapons, maybe marks, maybe shards [with some nerfing/balancing])?
Not so sure about an alternative to the first upgrade, it would require a lot of thinking and for some cards it would be very different to the original card...maybe that's a good thing, yet we still need Zanz to agree to any of the things we decide...

[artimies7]

You know, oEtG has a bit where you combine six of the same card into an upgraded card. What if that mechanic was implemented to create these 'alternative upgrades?' I mean that not as in some super saiyan two second stage of upgrades beyond what we already have, but as a different path to take to upgrade the same base card.

For example:
Cockatrice -> Elite Cockatrice (normal mechanic)
OR
Cockatrice -> Plume Cockatrice (oEtG mechanic)

EDIT: Sorry if I was being redundant and any of this was already mentioned; I probably didn't read the rest of the thread as closely as I could.