Hey!
Thank you for the massive amount of feedback you provided over these last weeks. You let us know certain stuff would definitely benefit from additional polish (understatement), and we heard you. We released a patch and hotfix which addressed major problems you reported — fixes for things like spies spawning from create, Emhyr’s interaction with an opponent’s hand, and double interactions (e.g. double damage for Alzur’s Thunder). This is just the beginning, as we’re also looking into card names and descriptions, as well as overall balance.
We also believe that we owe you an explanation as to why we wanted to launch this patch before the holidays. It’s a mix of various factors, including one bad call on our part.
Let’s start with the tech and visual changes. We’ve been working on them for a very long time. These under-the-hood changes lay foundations for future updates which will define GWENT, and we wanted to make sure everything worked. Then there’s the content drop (over 120 new cards) and the fact we haven’t introduced new cards in some time. We wanted to close the core set of GWENT’s cards for some time now (so we could divert focus to bigger expansions) and these cards have been burning a hole in our servers. We wanted them to finally be in the wild, in your hands — ideally before the holidays, so you can play with new combinations during your free time. The lesson we learned from this? Don’t bite off more than you can chew, and don’t mix new tech with big content drops. Truth is, we should have waited longer and properly tested everything (for example, problems with full mill value of cards are a result of this) instead of rushing the release. Us wanting you to have stuff to play with is one thing. Us breaking things because of that is another.
We’d like to sincerely apologise for all the problems this has caused — it’s a tough lesson and there will be no more screw-ups like this in the future.
As for the immediate future, we’re continuing to work on balancing the last update (dwarves!!). The latest patch and hotfix addressed only major bugs, so expect adjustments soon. Additionally, starting from early February, we will only be balancing cards after the season ends. This will give you more stability and predictability. The only exception to this are major bug hotfixes.
We’d again like to thank you for being so vocal about what’s happening with GWENT — it means you care, which means the world to us.
Best regards,
Team GWENT
