I've been doing a lot of questing in the context of developing and testing quest worlds. I generally lose interest at around 30 wins (rarely incurring more than 1 loss since I'm pretty experienced.)
Some observations with regards to the economy:
Disclaimer about downloaded card prices:I have
not downloaded card prices. As a result, all my rares cost 120 credits, uncommons 40 and commons 6.
I play in old quest worlds where some cards have crazy real-life prices. However, these prices do not always reflect the performance of said cards in the context of just that world (case in point:
Bazaar of Baghdad.) Moreover, part of the appeal of an old world is actually getting to play with the cool cards, and that means being able to snatch them up when the Spell Store has them on offer. This has not proven feasible with downloaded card prices.
The term "credits":I would prefer "coins" or "gold". "Credits" is a bland, generic and modern-sounding term that looks out of place in a fantasy themed game.
The cost of commons/uncommons/rares:The store charges 40 credits for an uncommon and 120 for a rare. In real life, a rare is worth more than 3 uncommons. The thing with lower rarities is that, after a while, you have more than you need. Real-life prices increase exponentially compared to rarity. As such, I suggest a price structure of 5-30-180.
Booster pack prices:A regular booster pack contains 11 commons, 3 uncommons and 1 rare. If I were to buy these cards separately, I would pay 306 credits total. Not only do I get to choose which actual cards I get, it is also significantly less than the cost of an actual booster pack. Therefore, the only reason for me to buy packs is if 1) the store doesn't have what I want
and 2) I'm swimming in credits
and 3) I'm not willing to travel.
"<Color> Booster Packs":These are not "real" products. I would prefer if they were limited to Fantasy quests.
These packs cost 600 credits, which is cheaper than most "real" packs. That means that there is no reason to ever buy "real" packs, especially in some of the older worlds. Moreover... if you're looking for particular cards, the chances of finding them in a pack of the right color are roughly five times as high. So even in the rare instances where the "real" packs are cheaper you're probably still better off buying mono-color packs. To be balanced relative to "real" packs, mono-color packs would have to cost at least 5 times as much as "real" packs, probably more.
Tournament entry fees:I have played a dozen quest worlds to at least a 20-0 record (which is where "hard" opponents show up), amassing 1k-2k credits in the process by selling off the cards I won. However, I have never been able to afford the 4500 credits tournament entry fee. I don't even know what these tournaments look like. I would have to win another 25 matches against that same dozen of "hard" opponents to save up that much, but by that time I've gone way past the point where I lose interest in the quest.
Duel rewards:Winning a duel earns both a booster pack
and 100 credits. Why both? Credits alone should be sufficient. If I want a pack, I can buy it in the store. Of course, the prize would have to be increased to cover the cost of a pack.
Booster box prices:A booster box containing 36 packs costs the same as 35 packs. That's a mere 3% discount. There's no way I'm going to save up for such a colossal investment for just 3%. Saving up for a box means not improving your deck in the meantime, which means more games lost, which means less money earned, so that's totally counterproductive. There has to be more incentive. Like,
at least 10% off, preferably more like 20%. My LGS is pretty stingy when it comes to discounts but even they offer 10% off for whole boxes.
Spell Store contents:I was under the impression that the store cracks a set number of packs for its inventory. However, the store inventory rarely matches up with these expectations. For instance, I'm currently looking at a store with just 9 cards from
Visions (1r, 1u, 7c) and 24 cards from Mirage (2r, 8u, 14c). What's going on?