zanz's personal pets

[wizelsnarf]

I think it would be better to have only 1 pet - ever and give it a limited number of abilities. This way you would never have the best and you can't "Collect 'em All". You just have to make a decision about what you want in your pet.

Maybe you could win things that affect your pet.

Idea 1: Your pet's look is customizable. You can win body parts (like spore) and change your pets look. Each part has its positives and negatives on the pet's usefulness but none of them is OP. If you want to have fangs instead of a sucker mouth, go for it, but you can't have both. The point is that your pet never get's increasingly better to the point that it maxes all it stats or it becomes OP or vets always have the advantage. There could be a short experience curve when you first get it and have to earn body parts/armor because you start with a plain creature (or blob) but it should be short and not involve 1000 relics or something insane.

You could win new bodyparts/armor by doing various quests - possibly involving selling a relic or something.


Idea 2: Pets always have a limited number of attribute points. You would never be able to have more attribute points than anyone, just the ability to distribute them differently. Let's say each category has  max of 10 attribute point (AP) slots and you get ?25? points total always.

Possible Attribute categories would include

-element (5 AP on the element of your choice, 10AP for other)
-attack (up to 10 AP, 1 AP=1 attack)
-hp (up to 10, 1 AP=1 hp)
-immortality (10 AP flat)
-momentum (10 AP flat)
-Adrenaline (10 AP flat)
-active skill (if you spend 1 AP you get a weak skill -eg quanta generation, 2AP slightly better -eg photosynthesis, 10 AP is the best possibly skill - blackhole?)
-passive skill (same idea as the active)


To make it more fun, certain Attribute Categories would be faded out and unavailable until you complete certain quests to unlock those Attributes. Your total Attribute points would never change - making it more fair for news.

You would start with only

- element
- attack (limited to 5 max until you unlock more, up to 10)
- hp (limited to 5 max until you unlock more, up to 10)

The rest of the categories and the slots for attack and hp would be faded out in 6-10.

[TheIdioticIdiot]

I still think you should be able to get 12 pets, one for each elements, each with 12 unique abilities based on YOUR mark
but it's only available in AI mode, or a new possible PvP3 (upped cards and pets allowed)

[The_Mormegil]

I like Sir Valimont's suggestions. Although... how would you like something like this? Basically, I tried to mix pet system and quest system, while trying to mantain as much balance and choice as possible, with no clear "winner".

Basics:
You can choose one pet. It is not element-dependant (yet). You can choose, for instance, between different aesthetics - a Bird, a Reptile, a Mammal...
Your pet gains elemental affinities. It starts with 0 in every element, and increases as shown below.
Your pet also gains experience. This increases the maximum affinity you can have, as shown below.

Experience:
The pet gains a fixed amount of experience whenever you defeat an opponent: AI0 - 1, AI1 - 5, AI2 - 10, AI3 - 15, AI5 - 50, AI6 - 60 (this is an attempt to turn AI5 into "pet farming" AI). The following table shows level, experience, and maximum affinity for each level.

Level	Experience	Max affinity
1	0	10
2	500	20
3	1500	30
4	3000	40
5	5000	50
6	10000	60
7	25000	70
8	50000	80
9	75000	90
10	100000	100
11	200000	110
12	500000	120

Affinity:
Affinity is based upon your actions toward a certain Element. It's difficult to increase, and it cannot be easily decreased. It leaves a sign on your Pet, making it look more like the element you are following - if you have high affinity it may be cracking with lightnings, while a high affinity may result in your Pet bursting into flames.
Affinity is not limited to a single Element. You have a different affinity score for each element, and that determines the abilities of your Pet.

Affinity

10

Unlock Aether Quests

Unlock Air Quests

Unlock Darkness Quests

Unlock Death Quests

Unlock Earth Quests

Unlock Entropy Quests

Unlock Fire Quests

Unlock Gravity Quests

Unlock Life Quests

Unlock Light Quests

Unlock Time Quests

Unlock Water Quests

20

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

40

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

60

Unlock Greater Aether Quests

Unlock Greater Air Quests

Unlock Greater Darkness Quests

Unlock Greater Death Quests

Unlock Greater Earth Quests

Unlock Greater Entropy Quests

Unlock Greater Fire Quests

Unlock Greater Gravity Quests

Unlock Greater Life Quests

Unlock Greater Light Quests

Unlock Greater Time Quests

Unlock Greater Water Quests

90

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

*Insert ability here*

120

Unlock Master Aether Quests

Unlock Master Air Quests

Unlock Master Darkness Quests

Unlock Master Death Quests

Unlock Master Earth Quests

Unlock Master Entropy Quests

Unlock Master Fire Quests

Unlock Master Gravity Quests

Unlock Master Life Quests

Unlock Master Light Quests

Unlock Master Time Quests

Unlock Master Water Quests

(Ideally, level 20 and 40 abilities are small effects that may or may not be related to combat, while level 90 abilities are great benefits, such as double mark of that element or something)

Quests, Greater Quests and Master Quests are challanges that are related to the element, can be obtained once per day and bestow great rewards to those who complete them. For instance, a Fire Quest could require you to beat a certain opponent using a mono-fire deck, a Greater Quest could require you to beat a False God using a certain Fire card, and a Master Quest could require you to beat 9 False Gods in a row with an at-least 50% Fire deck. Rewards are a good amount of score/money.

In order to increase affinity to a certain element, you need to:
- beat a False God with a deck at least 50% of that element
- EM a Level 5 with a deck at least 50% of that element
- Beat at least 45 Level 3 opponents with a mono deck within an hour

In order to decrease affinity to a certain element, you need to complete special "atoning" quests (to define later).

[teffy]

And with game mechanics , which make fun for all.

Well, at this point, you should remember something:

pets could kind of imbalance the game between veteran players and newer players
vets would have most, if not all, the pets, and the newer players have only a few, if any at all...
which does offset the balance quite a bit

Seeing vets twelve miles avobe you isn't fun. Seeing how others can have 2xHP, 2xDraw or whatever, and you can't, isn't fun. It's like adding OP rares. It would just imbalance the game.


So I agree that:

pets should be limited to just AI

I think you misunderstood something:

A spontaneous idea I had:
Players get a special pet, which is better (better attributes, bigger or more wonderful art, whatever), when you have more electrums, and is less wonderful, when you live in poverty. You can choose some of it´s attributes . It can assist you in a way. It could fight, give you access to some PvP Duel features (higher HP games, open hands , 2 drawn cards /turn, whatever), and the opponent could see the pets. Or it could simply be there. But that´s boring.

If I talk about PvP Duel, I mean PvP Duel, not PvP1 and PvP2. The pet could give access to features like 200 HP games (BOTH players would have 200 HP) and the pet is practically going to the other pet to negotiate about battle conditions.

Unfair PvP1 and PvP2 games are the last thing I want, and if you know, the current pets don´t appear in PvP games.

[Ekki]

If I talk about PvP Duel, I mean PvP Duel, not PvP1 and PvP2. The pet could give access to features like 200 HP games (BOTH players would have 200 HP) and the pet is practically going to the other pet to negotiate about battle conditions.

Unfair PvP1 and PvP2 games are the last thing I want, and if you know, the current pets don´t appear in PvP games.

Huh, it's OK then

Maybe pets could be used to make the AI's easier. That way, you could farm FG's once you have the experience to make a FG farmer, the upped cards to make yourself a FG farmer, or a high level pet that would make the things easier for you.
I also like the idea of turning AI5 into a "pet farm", as to give it a niche in the game.

About the pet choice, I see Elements as a game in which you don't have "unavailable" features, since there aren't paid-only cards, and you can choose any mark regardless of what element you choose when you start playing. So I think we should be able to change our pet's element whenever we want (althought that doesn't mean it will have only one experience/affinity/relics eating bar)

[xdude]

pets could kind of imbalance the game between veteran players and newer players
vets would have most, if not all, the pets, and the newer players have only a few, if any at all...
which does offset the balance quite a bit

I think pets should be limited to just AI

NO! Why do you all think that jmizzle should have NO advantage over MrStartedPlaying5MinutesAgo? Veterans DESERVE advantages. Otherwise, there's no reason to play the game for a long time.

[The_Mormegil]

NO! Why do you all think that jmizzle should have NO advantage over MrStartedPlaying5MinutesAgo? Veterans DESERVE advantages. Otherwise, there's no reason to play the game for a long time.

Sure they do. Huge PvP benefits? Not so sure. I think a quest + pets system would give veterans advantages - in the form of higher gains and more game variety - but not unbalancing game breaking advantages.

[TheIdioticIdiot]

people get disappointed when they are very far behind other players
disappointed players = quitting players
a lot of ppl have this attitude toward games such as elements: well, I can't catch up to those ppl anyway, so why bother?
not too mention that if this is allowed in PvP, the unupped to upped pet would be so imba in PvP1... those who have more or higher level of pets vs those without or lower level of pets
currently, older players have more upped cards than newer players, and it's balanced because there are two PvP systems (PvP1 and PvP2), and tourneys, events, wars, leagues, and whatnot, restricting the use of upped cards
which is why pets should be limited to AI, or restricted like upped cards

[Sir Valimont]

infants get disappointed when they are very far behind other players

^
Fixed.

Good game design provides a balance for veterans and newbies.

In this type of strategy game, the balance is struck between three concerns:

1) Most of the determining factors in PvP are based on skill rather than experience.

2) Veterans retain advantages for their long experience and new features do not undermine these advantages.

3) Newbies have a chance to adapt to the game rather quickly and get a sense of improvement of their status rather quickly, independently of others and based on game structure.

1) is true: Most success is based on deck building, which is entirely player controlled.

2) is true: Veterans have advantages. The best part is they have advantages in some places and not in others.

3) is true: The basic structure of the game is why we are all here in the first place. Nothing has changed from the value of what you can accomplish in your first month, for example.

--

In my experience, game design is much harder than it seems. Just totally for example: The experience table I built on page one is not something I put together haphazardly. I have literally YEARS of experience analyzing experience growth charts in games old and new. Who cares about me, but I'm just saying that it's very tough to create a system that has balance without having ever tested it.

Lots of folks have had some super ideas here ... I still think that the best pet system would be one that does not interfere or overlap with battle, AI or PvP, in any major or game-changing way. There is just no reason to invent a new master variable to a system that already works: That is how you break the system. Besides, that would turn a pet from an optional fun thing into a requirement for any player who wants to remain competitive.

[TheIdioticIdiot]

you spent years to analyze experience growth charts?
O_o
what are you!!!!

[Sir Valimont]

you spent years to analyze experience growth charts?
O_o
what are you!!!!

Haha ... well game design has been a hobby of mine for about 15 years. Mix that in with an inclination towards math and statistics and voila.

[The_Mormegil]

you spent years to analyze experience growth charts?
O_o
what are you!!!!

Haha ... well game design has been a hobby of mine for about 15 years. Mix that in with an inclination towards math and statistics and voila.

:O teach. me.

No, seriously, would you? I like game design, I like maths and statistics and am quite proud of the results I get in those areas (I'm quite good on a national level). So, since you appear to be my older self who invented a time machine to go back in time to avoid the third world war, would you teach me?