#564827
First, regarding the Photonic Turncoats et al, the issue comes down to enforcement. In a video game, the system watches every battle, every action, every happenstance and can catalogue the occurrence of noteworthy circumstance to award achievements when appropriate. As much I would LOVE for that to be possible while playing Star Trek CCG (some day I will make it happen!), the reality is our system can only award achievements based on what is in your deck. And unfortunately, there is not an easy way to, as you say, look at a deck and clearly tell it is a good-faith attempt at such a deck. The only measurement we have to gauge where you are committed to particular strategy is to see how many cards you have in your deck to try and make it happen. With lesser requirements, you could just splash a few cards into a deck for the achievement and never actually attempt the theme or strategy in question. If you are forced to include more cards, we can at least hope you'll try to use some of them. It is not ideal, but it's what we have.
Regarding Equinox, part of the reason there has not yet been an Equinox achievement is because it never actually felt thematic with all the holograms running around. Random Treachery folks that might have joined in are one thing, but a crew full of evil alternate Voyager mains throws the theming a bit. Especially with this release, the pool has finally grown large enough that its doable to play a more thematic Equinox deck, a restriction that is actually challenging and, well, achievement-worthy. It felt like a good time to bring this in.
Your points, however, are good ones. Despite the dichotomy, Equinox crew and holograms is a combination the meta has grown accustomed to when thinking of a standard "Equinox deck." While not a terribly thematic combo, they are mechanically (mostly) all there there has been to work with for some time. In addition, celebrating a new expansion with an achievement in theme with the expansion but limiting use of the new cards isn't much of a celebration. While I don't feel like removing the restriction provides much of a challenge, achievement-wise, it is a more appropriate celebration. So:
In addition to the already published, more restrictive Equinox achievement, we will also be adding a simpler "Equinox Player/Equinox Victor" pair of achievements, that will remove the restriction on personnel, more in keeping with the celebration of the set. As a subgroup, it will be a one-off, without iterative levels, but it will be a less restrictive way to play and celebrate the Caretaker release. The new pair will be retroactive to the street legal date of Caretaker, so you can play freely, knowing you'll get this once its instated.
Again, thank you for presenting a thoughtful, respectful argument so I could re-examine how these release achievements were presented.
Gorgo Primus wrote: ↑Sat Oct 16, 2021 12:49 am Yeah, why can’t I use Kim or the new Chakotay when playing Equinox? And why do I need three copies of Implant for Holocapture other than that you choose to name the achievement after it? The new Chakotay was partially made for Equinox decks and I stopped running Implant at three during testing because I found that for me it was overkill with three Photonic Turncoats et al. These achievements seem arbitrarily strict for no reason. If someone can look at a deck and instantly know “oh, this is clearly a good faith attempt to make a focused X deck” shouldn’t it qualify?Thank you for taking the time to thoughtfully detail your perspective, I appreciate your considered comments.
I’m really happy with the choice for what the new achievements should cover, but the way in which their requirements have been set is very disappointing to me. It’d be like coding it so that Relatively decks that include Holograms and Delta Klingon decks that don’t include three copies of Kohlar, Pilgrim Commander don’t qualify for their respective achievements. Like according to the new achievement there has virtually never been a real Equinox deck played before in 2E history because most use Revised personnel or Kim or whatever. The Hologram (holocapture) and Equinox deck lists made for articles by the designer of the new Caretaker cards to showcase the new/improved deck types and offer suggestions for how they should be used don’t qualify for the new achievements released alongside Caretaker. Isn’t that a pretty good sign that something is wrong with how strict these are?
I’d therefore like to respectfully request that the requirement for the Equinox achievement not block the use of personnel, and that the Holocapture achievement not specify the number of any of the cards listed so long as you have all of them. The former restriction especially does not reflect how 2E players actually conceptualize or play Equinox.
First, regarding the Photonic Turncoats et al, the issue comes down to enforcement. In a video game, the system watches every battle, every action, every happenstance and can catalogue the occurrence of noteworthy circumstance to award achievements when appropriate. As much I would LOVE for that to be possible while playing Star Trek CCG (some day I will make it happen!), the reality is our system can only award achievements based on what is in your deck. And unfortunately, there is not an easy way to, as you say, look at a deck and clearly tell it is a good-faith attempt at such a deck. The only measurement we have to gauge where you are committed to particular strategy is to see how many cards you have in your deck to try and make it happen. With lesser requirements, you could just splash a few cards into a deck for the achievement and never actually attempt the theme or strategy in question. If you are forced to include more cards, we can at least hope you'll try to use some of them. It is not ideal, but it's what we have.
Regarding Equinox, part of the reason there has not yet been an Equinox achievement is because it never actually felt thematic with all the holograms running around. Random Treachery folks that might have joined in are one thing, but a crew full of evil alternate Voyager mains throws the theming a bit. Especially with this release, the pool has finally grown large enough that its doable to play a more thematic Equinox deck, a restriction that is actually challenging and, well, achievement-worthy. It felt like a good time to bring this in.
Your points, however, are good ones. Despite the dichotomy, Equinox crew and holograms is a combination the meta has grown accustomed to when thinking of a standard "Equinox deck." While not a terribly thematic combo, they are mechanically (mostly) all there there has been to work with for some time. In addition, celebrating a new expansion with an achievement in theme with the expansion but limiting use of the new cards isn't much of a celebration. While I don't feel like removing the restriction provides much of a challenge, achievement-wise, it is a more appropriate celebration. So:
In addition to the already published, more restrictive Equinox achievement, we will also be adding a simpler "Equinox Player/Equinox Victor" pair of achievements, that will remove the restriction on personnel, more in keeping with the celebration of the set. As a subgroup, it will be a one-off, without iterative levels, but it will be a less restrictive way to play and celebrate the Caretaker release. The new pair will be retroactive to the street legal date of Caretaker, so you can play freely, knowing you'll get this once its instated.
Again, thank you for presenting a thoughtful, respectful argument so I could re-examine how these release achievements were presented.
-----
Sir Rogue I
Emperor, Terran Empire
Achievements Master, TCC
Agent, Section 31
There shall be no peace, as long as Kirk lives...
Sir Rogue I
Emperor, Terran Empire
Achievements Master, TCC
Agent, Section 31
There shall be no peace, as long as Kirk lives...