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Valve releases details about Artifact (MtG creator, PC & mobile, not F2P)

Randomly Generated

Member
Oct 27, 2017
17,446
Latest update: Closed beta in October.

Gameplay footage:

jon bones said:
New video out: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/see-valves-new-dota-card-game-in-action-for-the-fi/1100-6457773/

Game looks so good.
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edit 4: Steam store page is up:

shira said:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/583950/Artifact/

Page up
12/27/18 placeholder date (?) , date removed
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edit 3: One of our own posters with a big write-up:
samred said:
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018...hands-on-with-artifact-digital-trading-cards/ - this reiterates some points from other press at the event, obviously, but if you're hungry for more info and insight on it, plus conversations w/ other Valve staffers about game economies, knock yourself out.
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So they're doing some event about Valve's "card game" Artifact right now and details are starting to come out. I'll update the thread as they come, but here's what's known so far:

Pay structure:
At a presentation on Artifact today, Valve's Gabe Newell confirmed some details on the game's pricing structure. Notably, unlike many other digital card games, Artifact will not be free-to-play.

Newell says they want to stay away from "pay-to-win," but you will be able to purchase cards via the marketplace, and apparently "bargain hunting" will be a key element for strategic deck building. However, cards will not have their power tied to rarity.
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https://www.pcgamesn.com/artifact/artifact-free-to-play

Game is on Source 2, and there will be mobile versions later:
Artifact will also come to iOS and Android in mid-2019, bringing the Source 2 engine to mobile devices for the first time. This opens the door to further Source 2 games on those platforms, though there will obviously be caveats in terms of input and performance compared to running it on PC hardware.
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https://www.pcgamesn.com/artifact/artifact-source-2-ios-android

And the creator of Magic the Gathering is involved in the project:
Richard Garfield, the creator of Magic: The Gathering, is working on Valve's forthcoming card game, Artifact.

That's according to Valve boss Gabe Newell, who was speaking with PCGamesN and other journalists at an Artifact reveal event today.

Garfield has an academic background in computer mathematics and combinatorial mathematics. He designed Magic as a grad student at the University of Pennsylvania, launching it in 1993, and dropped out next year to work on it full time at publisher Wizards of the Coast.
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https://www.pcgamesn.com/artifact/artifact-magic-the-gathering-richard-garfield

I'm interested in how the paying structure will work. Also really surprising to hear Source 2 will work on mobile.

edit: First screenshots are out now:

saci said:
First Screenshots are appearing on Twitter, can you add these OP?

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More:


edit2: Here's a much longer write-up of the event:

https://www.pcgamer.com/artifact-guide/

Another tidbit:

Card games don't seem like the natural place to push a storyline but Valve are finding using every opportunity Artifact affords them to develop Dota's world. This includes having heroes talk with each other when they share a lane.

Gabe Newell told us at the Artifact reveal event that the card game wouldn't have a single player mode beyond an AI to train against. That doesn't mean Artifact won't tell a story, though.

"We said no campaign, not no story," Valve developer Jeep Barnett tells us in an interview. "We treat our cards as characters that exist within [Dota's] world. Just like in Dota, they banter with each other - if you put two rivals in a lane together they're going to yell at each other and comment on the spells that you're playing.
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https://www.pcgamesn.com/artifact/artifact-lore-heroes
 
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Dylan

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Oct 28, 2017
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I imagine I would be stoked for this if I were a kid. But then I remember playing Magic as a kid and thinking "This is less fun than Hearts."
 
gordofredito

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So it is a card game and is not F2P? They probably know something I don't but I cannot see how this will do better than "okay"
 
chaobreaker

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I'm cautiously optimistic over this. Valve always manages to make their own spin of a game genre interesting.
 

Deleted member 2840

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Holy so they actually released info.


Mobile ports seem nice.
The game not being F2P seems pretty damn weird, and I can't really see the game getting a sustainable playerbase that way.
 
creamcake

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Oct 25, 2017
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The Richard Garfield information is really interesting, as well as the Source 2 tidbit and its compatibility with mobile devices. I wonder if that implies anything about how users will be able to use the engine to create content.

I can't really tell what the F2P stuff is about though. Do they mean there is a base price? I absolutely can not imagine paying money to access a game that wants me to buy cards to play the game with. Maybe they mean that there will not be free cards and you will need to buy packs or trade to acquire any cards. Either way, I don't think I plan to spend any money on this, but I'm really excited to see how it actually plays.
 
Windu

Windu

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Does this have online play? Because if they want to avoid pay to win... Selling cards on the market kinda goes against that.
 
OP
OP

Randomly Generated

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saci said:
Holy so they actually released info.


Mobile ports seem nice.
The game not being F2P seems pretty damn weird, and I can't really see the game getting a sustainable playerbase that way.
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I don't quite get what Newell meant by that. Obviously they want to avoid pay to win, but wouldn't free-to-play be a requirement for a game like this?
 
Compsiox

Compsiox

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I'm sure it will be a good game, it's just not what I want for Valve.

It would be cool to know if they really have other games they plan on releasing in a addition to this.
 
antennastoheaven

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Oct 26, 2017
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I wonder how they'll tie Steam Marketplace with the iOS verison.

The App Store is really closed to other marketplaces. Maybe it won't be crossplatform?
 

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Windu said:
Does this have online play? Because if they want to avoid pay to win... Selling cards on the market kinda goes against that.
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I mean, this is finally an actual TCG. Games like Hearthstone where you can't trade/buy the cards you want have it worse. This is the best way to do a card game that's not just giving all cards for free.
 
Yukinari

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Using the steam market/third party websites to get cards you need automatically puts this above Hearthstone if i were to play it.

One of the few positives to valve having their own economies is the ease of access for items you want without always relying on RNG.
 
Dylan

Dylan

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Oct 28, 2017
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Actually I'm just gonna flip-flop and say if their business model is the same as classic cards games, where you buy a "pack" of cards which are unknown until you after you've made your purchase, then this is just Loot Box redux; the same immoral predatory business practices that we've all been pushing back against.
 
Tim

Tim

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Interested to see how this is. Didn't realize Richard Garfield was involved. Maybe they can make an (official) Netrunner digital version next :P
 
Toxi

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Richard Garfield being involved is a very good sign. He has an extremely good record in game design even ignoring Magic the Gathering.
 

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The lack of a singleplayer bums me. I actually like DOTA 2's lore, and would kill to have some voiced, lore-heavy content.
 
Arulan

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The ability to sell and trade your cards, much like other items that use the Steam marketplace, makes this much more attractive than other card games.
 

Deleted member 28523

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Man I just want them to release Source 2 already. It's been in the works for so long.

Artifact seems fine. That fact that it's not F2P makes it infinitely more appealing. Hopefully they won't fuck it up like Blizzard did Hearthstone.
 

Cap G

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Oct 27, 2017
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This game is more expensive than the game it's based on. Huh.

Edit: i have no idea how they can rationalize the game having an up front cost when they're going to be taking cuts every time cards and currency change hands.
 
sibarraz

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I wonder when are they Going to reléase a beta?

I will totally buy an early Access for this
 
OP
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I wonder if you can play this in VR. That seems like a no-brainer, especially if it's Source 2.

edit: More screenshost:
 
samred

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I am at Valve HQ right now. I'll have a story up at Ars tomorrow. I can try to field questions in the meantime!
 
Ketch

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saci said:
First Screenshots are appearing on Twitter, can you add these OP?

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These screenshots look terribly unremarkable


Not the 3 lane setup I had in my mind

And those items are not dota items

Travelers cloak? That gives hp?
Shield of basilus
Fountain flask


Hype deminishing
 
samred

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First question y'all are asking: no f2p means you will be able to buy a starter deck, card packs, and/or singles. I have interesting comments about why you can win with just the starter set of default cards, and why sticking with that will ultimately fail you as an advanced player.
 
Eggiem

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''...and apparently "bargain hunting" will be a key element for strategic deck building.''

Hahaha. I will never touch this game.
 
Xiaomi

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Artifact will not be free to play.
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And so the CCG kids and streamers will not even look up from Hearthstone to give this a try. Valve might have had something if this released back in 2014-15, but this market is super stratified at this point, even cooling if the declining month-over-month revenue reports are to be believed. I will be really surprised if this makes a splash.
 
samred

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Arulan said:
Is there a concept of a trap, or reaction cards that can be played/activated on the other person's turn?
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We sampled two decks. The spells you play are limited to the color of whatever hero(es) are in a given lane. So we played one round as red/black. one round as blue/green. (Those are the four current colors.) No cards we saw worked like "traps," but they could be activated to trigger at the start of every round, or to mount bonuses based on how long a certain hero stays alive.
 
Firestorm

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Newell says they want to stay away from "pay-to-win," but you will be able to purchase cards via the marketplace, and apparently "bargain hunting" will be a key element for strategic deck building. However, cards will not have their power tied to rarity.
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Uh, if the game isn't a living card game where you just buy a set and get every card, then the card values are going to be based on supply + demand. There are uncommon cards in Pokémon worth $8 each right now and ultra rare cards worth $2. This just means there's an entry price and that having more money available will give you a better chance of building the deck you want.
 
Metroidvania

Metroidvania

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Newell says they want to stay away from "pay-to-win," but you will be able to purchase cards via the marketplace, and apparently "bargain hunting" will be a key element for strategic deck building. However, cards will not have their power tied to rarity.
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.....Does not compute for a card-game, especially if rarity 'isn't' a factor - buying more cards will literally get you an advantage, unless Valve flat-locks the amount of cards you can win/earn in a given time frame - thus trying to force you out into the marketplace.

And Fee-to-play means this is pretty much (relatively) DoA compared to Hearth or MtG.
 

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Can you ask some more about the mobile versions? All 3 platforms(iOs, Android, PC) will have crossplay right? What about integrating the Steam marketplace in a non-Steam platform, how are they going to do that?
 
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