The other recent thread about ramping (in)consistency got me thinking about the Excess Mana card that is generated by Wild Growth and Pilfered Power when used on turn 10. To be clear, this thread is not to discuss the inconsistent nature of Excess Mana nor the fact that is a hidden effect that is completely disconnected from the card text. This is also not to discuss balance.
The point of this thread is this: "Why is the effect of Excess Mana draw a card and not something else?"
Blizzard always talks about "flavor" when designing cards and effects. According to Blzzard flavor is equally important as the dsign itself, as the flavor creates cohesiveness, helps with intuition, and improves overall fun and feel of the game.
In my opinion the flavor of Excess Mana is garbage. The effect 100% unintuitive and unpredictable if you have never seen it before. I asked 5 friends of mine who have never played or seen Hearthstone their opinions. I described the mana system and told them about ramping cards, and how when played at max mana instead of giving an extra crystal they give a zero mana "Excess Mana" spellcard.
I then asked all 5 what they thought the Excess Mana card would do. ALL FIVE said "Refill an empty mana crystal" (or equivalent mechanic with different wording). What they described and imagined Excess Mana to be and do is precisely Innervate/The Coin. And it occurred to me they are right to think that. It makes sense both mechanically and flavor-wise. Even the naming is appropriate. In the case of Wild Growth you would waste 2 mana on the current turn for the ability of having 11 mana the following turn.
What do you think of the flavor and design of Excess Mana? Is it appropriate? Is it intuitive? Do you have other thoughts of what it could or should be?
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Anger is the punishment we give ourselves for someone else's mistake.
How do you apply interpretations of flavor rooted in reality to an imaginary concept like mana acceleration? I think you're overstating how flavor affects design, it's a guideline, not a strict guiding principle. Mitigating the cost of playing ramp spells, which are already strict card disadvantage, was something the designers felt was appropriate to make the card viable.
Also lol at asking people who've never played HS their opinions. That's some grade A+ research methodology.
The other recent thread about ramping (in)consistency got me thinking about the Excess Mana card that is generated by Wild Growth and Pilfered Power when used on turn 10. To be clear, this thread is not to discuss the inconsistent nature of Excess Mana nor the fact that is a hidden effect that is completely disconnected from the card text. This is also not to discuss balance.
The point of this thread is this: "Why is the effect of Excess Mana draw a card and not something else?"
Blizzard always talks about "flavor" when designing cards and effects. According to Blzzard flavor is equally important as the dsign itself, as the flavor creates cohesiveness, helps with intuition, and improves overall fun and feel of the game.
In my opinion the flavor of Excess Mana is garbage. The effect 100% unintuitive and unpredictable if you have never seen it before. I asked 5 friends of mine who have never played or seen Hearthstone their opinions. I described the mana system and told them about ramping cards, and how when played at max mana instead of giving an extra crystal they give a zero mana "Excess Mana" spellcard.
I then asked all 5 what they thought the Excess Mana card would do. ALL FIVE said "Refill an empty mana crystal" (or equivalent mechanic with different wording). What they described and imagined Excess Mana to be and do is precisely Innervate/The Coin. And it occurred to me they are right to think that. It makes sense both mechanically and flavor-wise. Even the naming is appropriate. In the case of Wild Growth you would waste 2 mana on the current turn for the ability of having 11 mana the following turn.
What do you think of the flavor and design of Excess Mana? Is it appropriate? Is it intuitive? Do you have other thoughts of what it could or should be?
Anger is the punishment we give ourselves for someone else's mistake.
How do you apply interpretations of flavor rooted in reality to an imaginary concept like mana acceleration? I think you're overstating how flavor affects design, it's a guideline, not a strict guiding principle. Mitigating the cost of playing ramp spells, which are already strict card disadvantage, was something the designers felt was appropriate to make the card viable.
Also lol at asking people who've never played HS their opinions. That's some grade A+ research methodology.
The goal of asking people who have never played HS was to help assess the intuitiveness and predictability of the design, no more.
Anger is the punishment we give ourselves for someone else's mistake.
It is unintuitive but balanced.
A mana refund (generate an Innervate if at (10)?) would be intuitive, but nearly useless.