Speaking on behalf of the oetg admin team, I'd like to add a bit of clarity to a few points made above and serprex's comments.
1. Majofa has repeatedly contacted serprex and other members of the oetg admin team to suggest that oetg be abandoned and that its staff transfer to a new project based on existing etg that is led and directed by majofa while still being developed by the existing team. The oetg admin team does not intend to scrap the extensive amount of work it has done over the last six years. The oetg admin team has, in each instance, invited majofa to take a look at oetg, provide input, and even join the dev team, which he has so far declined to do. Majofa has continued to make this request approximately annually for quite some time. This is the only course of action that serprex or the oetg team has told Majofa it will absolutely not do, notwithstanding Majofa's comments to the contrary above. We still welcome him to join our efforts and help shape the future of the game. We want to be clear that collaboration is vital to our success.
2. As serprex mentioned, oetg-v exists (though some recent oetg changes have caused issues that are still being corrected) and will continue to exist as long as oetg exists. It will exist as a permanent snapshot of original elements and will not be changed away from original elements, but will continue to be hosted indefinitely. Further, we are exploring ways to easily implement oetg-v accounts to allow for oetg-v collecting, pve, and arenas. Those potential steps forward are still under development, but I would not be surprised to see them implemented fairly soon.
3. As a part of the infrastructure being developed to implement pve and such under oetg-v, we will also have the infrastructure to implement additional different cardpools (such as cygnia, for example, or another card pool based on original elements with only the changes that any individual person believes would be best). This infrastructure does not, sadly, come with the people necessary to develop those different card sets. However, serprex has repeatedly offered (to both majofa and the rest of the community) to provide support (consulting support, not coding support) for anyone looking to develop their own fork. Speaking personally, I am open to implementing multiple different card sets as fully usable within the game as a method to explore different paths that could be taken by both oetg and original elements, but again, that requires someone to do the work.
4. In addition to the ways to support both oetg-v and other alternate card pools, we are actively discussing and implementing both in-game and out-of-game resources designed to smooth the transition to oetg for anyone who has interest in taking a look. Most importantly, we recently released an extensive out-of-game FAQ/guide aimed specifically at veterans of original that describes the changes and other details that will be most relevant to someone coming from original. We are looking at implementing other in-game transition-supporting pve questlines and such as well, though that is a lower priority than the UI revamp.
5. We also have gone to great lengths to ensure that oetg pvp is accessible to any players regardless of wealth level, and that decklists of decent oetg pvp decks are available while people are learning the new cards. The FAQ/guide does include a section on how to build a pvp collection quickly. To directly address dragonsdemense's question, new players will not start with a full collection or anything of the sort, but the economy is balanced to allow wide access. It will be no problem for a veteran of original to have a competitive pvp playset the same day they create their account. We also sometimes offer free gold promotions at times when there is a large influx of new players. I suspect that if we hosted an official elementscommunity pvp event on oetg that cared at all about wealth level, we would concurrently be offering reward codes for gold to jumpstart new players.
6. With all of that being said, though, this exact thread is really how we have a slow transition to oetg. Original elements is going to die next year. Doing nothing until it dies is how you will end up with an abrupt transition. Starting now to move some more pvp events over to oetg allows the community to ease into oetg with limited cardpool events and other events that can help people slowly adjust to the changes over the years.
League is currently in session in oetg, and is rather active. New players (new to elements entirely, not just transplants from original) are joining the community due to oetg, even if you don't notice them until they move from the oetg-specific areas of the elements community out into the other areas. There have been massive improvements to the oetg UI lately, and development is still ongoing. The card text has been completely rewritten, so the game is far more accessible than it was in the past.
There are extensive changes from original, yes, and change can be hard. But we would strongly encourage you to view the changes we've made in-game in the context of oetg, not in the context of original. Original's development stopped in 2012. The new changes have been being tested and tweaked for the last six years. I know we don't have perfect balance yet, but I bet we're a lot closer than you'd think we are when looking at some of the changes in a vacuum through the lens of original. We'd really like it if you'd come help us make it even better.
To get us back on topic, pvp events will run in oetg. We would absolutely love it if those of you who have the interest join us in some of those events, or help design events. If not, we hope you remain part of the original/oetg community even if you don't want to play.
