The RPG Group » Discussions


The Witcher - Gwent Open Beta

  • May 30, 2017

    Sorry all five of the Elder Scrolls Legends Fans, but we've got a new card game to celebrate. Gwent: The Witcher Card Game has now been given an open beta on both Xbox One and PC (and possibly PS4...not sure there, but I'll have to check back in). 

    For anyone who hasn't played The Witcher 3, Gwent is perhaps one of the best (I'd say that it is the best) card games/mini games ever coded into a game, it isn't ridiculous to consider the idea that people spent more time hunting down Gwent Cards and playing the mini games then they did...doing whatever else it was that we were supposed to do, something about saving someone...Dunno, but ooh another Gwent quest huh?

    Anyway, it's a bloody good card game and they've just given it out as an open Beta (as a standalone game from the Witcher 3 just to clarify), which is really cool so even if you haven't played The Witcher I would reccomend giving it a shot. 

  • Member
    May 30, 2017

    DB it's an open beta :P And I have the reward for participating in the closed beta :D

  • May 30, 2017

    Bah, you expect me to read things before posting them :P Eh who cares about that, the point is that it's out in some form so I'm down for it. 

  • Member
    May 30, 2017

    Yes I do actually. You're ineptitude aside, people should play this game if for nothing else just to see the troll that runs the store, he's just so happy about everything.

  • May 30, 2017

    Bah you people expect too much of me :P 

    I'm downloading it right now, so we'll have to see about this store-running troll who is happy about things. I'm really eager to see whether there are new cards, I'd love it if they just poured every possible idea they had into it and turned it into an even bigger thing than it was in-game. Bugger, now I'm going to be all excited. 

    Note - Oh and GOG is also giving away a free copy of The Witcher: Enhanced Edition and a... Card Keg if you supply to their newsletter, I actually checked this one (did the reading thing) and I'm now a proud owner of a keg of cards, oh an the game. 

  • Member
    May 30, 2017

    They've changed some things up from what it is in the Witcher, mainly to add more depth and variety since it''s people playing against other people and not just computers. I don't think decks have unique abilities anymore (they did at one point during the closed beta) such as the Monster deck getting to keep a random card on the field at the end of the round. And a lot of the cards don't work in the same way as they do in the Witcher.

  • May 30, 2017

    Bugger, that was one of the coolest bits about a Monster Deck (though admitedly unfair as all hell.). I didn't even think of changes like that, I mean looking back on it the game really was designed to be played against computers, it'll definitely be interesting to see how much the game changes and see how much I suck against real people. I mean, really the game was kind of broken now that I think about it, ugh, alright just 30% before I can see the differences for myself. 

    Still, I'm fine as long as I can get my Ciri card eventually

  • May 30, 2017

    Right, wow it's pretty different. I like what they seem to have done with the Skellige by making them kind of...Berserker types (both boosting and damaging hemselves), it really makes them a lot more fun when to be honest they originally felt like the most boring choice.  I just love how many different new abilities there are and how they've changed the old ones a little to make them more fun.

    I'm going to be hooked on this now, it's even better than I thought (which is hard to believe).

  • Member
    May 31, 2017

    I didn't know this was even a thing, but Gwent was/is one of my favourite things about the Witcher 3, in fact I'm pretty sure its why I haven't completed the game yet, so I'm gonna download the beta asap. Does anyone know how long it lasts for?

    The thought of playing against other people is weird to me, though, is there a PCvsComputer mode in it at all? If anyones played the Magic: The Gathering Xbox game, the player against computer aspect was great, even had a load of different campaigns, so I never even thought about playing against other people.

    Do you still get cards as you progress/win? Just thinking it could be hard for new players to do well if everyones already got the most OP cards available, like 10 Hero cards or something.

  • May 31, 2017

    No idea how long the Beta lasts (as I proved earlier, I do not read things fully :P). As far as I can tell it's the sort of thing where we'll be able to download the Beta and they'll just update it eventually to the real game and we might not even notice the difference (so no end date for the beta).

    There is a PC vs. Computer stage, at the moment it's just made up of challenges (beat this guy for this reward, that guy for these) and I think there are about 30 challenges (6 for each of the factions) but they are planning to implement a full on story mode, not sure what that'll be like in terms of a story but there should be plenty of CPU action there. Plus they'll probably have multiple other forms of single player gaming just to be inclusive so I wouldn't worry about that.

    So far the system is you get to buy these Card Kegs which have 5 cards (and the system there is awesome) which you buy with Ore (or real life money of course). The only thing I've seen that gives you any card is that every third faction challenege will give you a Leader Card while the others give your Ore. You can also create copies of cards by recycling any copies of shitty cards so there is that. So it's pretty standard for card games, I suspect the Story Mode will give you cards every few missions (or at least kegs/100 ore) so that you can keep a decent supply but we'll have to see.

     

    Oh and the whole Card Keg system is pretty great. Basically you get 5 cards per keg and get 4 random cards along with 1 that you can choose from a random selection of 3 cards. It adds some choice to the whole system which is really enjoyable for me (and something that I think more card games should do)