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Artifact, the multi-lane card game from Valve is closing in on release and so Valve have given out a bunch of new details on what to expect.

Firstly, it's now up for pre-order on Steam for £15.99/$20 and for that price you will get 10 card packs, 5 event tickets, and two complete starter decks. Considering how much such packs cost for real-life card games, that price is actually quite reasonable I think. Additional packs of cards will be $1.99, each pack has 12 random cards. You will also be able to buy and sell cards on the Steam Market.

As for system requirements, Valve are stating the Linux version will need Ubuntu 16.04 or newer, Intel i5, 2.4 Ghz or better, 4 GB RAM and a Vulkan-capable GPU from NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel. So it looks like it will run on quite a lot of hardware which is nice.

At launch, it will have three different modes of play: Social, Casual, and Expert.

The Social mode is where you will find user-made tournaments, private lobbies and what they call Open Play. Open Play will allow you to have a freestanding invite to anyone within a Steam community. Be sure you're in our GamingOnLinux Steam group for that. Casual will include bot matches, global matchmaking and the "casual constructed Gauntlet" which is a series of increasingly challenging opponents. Finally, the Expert mode is a harder version of the Gauntlet from the Casual mode where you can win packs of cards.

Also, Valve have given out some public APIs to help people build interesting tools. Will be interesting to see what people make with it like the Deck Builder.

I'm extremely curious to try it out, so I will likely be diving in on release day. I'm probably going to be terrible at it, but learning is part of the fun. I've always wanted to get properly into a card game, so hopefully it will run well on Linux.

See more on the official site and Steam itself.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Brisse Nov 13, 2018
Quoting: nitroflow
Quoting: Salvatos
Quoting: nitroflow
Quoting: Brisse
Quoting: Keyrock
Quoting: BrisseHaven't really gotten into any of these card games (except The Witcher 3 minigame :D ). I was mildly interested in this as a potential entry point, but then I learned...

QuoteAdditional packs of cards will be $1.99, each pack has 12 random cards. You will also be able to buy and sell cards on the Steam Market.

...that it has gambling mechanics. No thanks.
In fairness, this is exactly how physical trading card games work. You buy packs of cards and get random cards inside.

I know, but that doesn't make it not gambling.

It isn't gambling because you always get something for your money though, this is how loot box type micro transactions skirt around gambling.
Legally speaking, sure, but spending money to get something that may or may not be entirely devoid of value to you, or whose value is essentially random within limits, in addition to being arbitrary and subject to changes made to the game, is hardly better than risking your money in a game of chance. At least in most games of chance, you can walk away with your money and your earnings aren't designed to keep making profit for "the house," unlike Valve taking a cut of every subsequent trade in this case and controlling your Steam wallet. Unlike WotC with MTG, Valve owns the entire ecosystem this game exists in. You may or may not get your money's worth in entertainment, but you will definitely not make any real money out of it. So I would agree that it is not gambling in that sense, but arguably it is worse than gambling.

This applies to every single purchase you make on your steam account though, you can't make any real money because you can't transfer anything on your account short of selling the whole account.

It is gambling even though it's using a loophole in most legislations. Countries like Belgium has actually started classifying it as gambling and I hope the rest of the world follow in their footsteps because things are getting out of control.

"you can't make any real money"
That is wrong. People trade digital assets, both on Steam directly and through third party's. Rare CSGO skins have been traded for tens of thousands of dollars.
RossBC Nov 13, 2018
Only difference between, Artifact and all the other CCG which aren't TCG because you don't trade.
Is they don't give anything away for free, just like if you were playing any game in proper table top.
Lot's of people are gutted they can't F2p cards out of steam to sell them on the steam market place... everyones crying because they feel they are somehow being cheated out of something...
Then don't play it.
I'm looking forward too it, all the annoying people are effectively phasing themselves out of the game which is probably another reason why steam choose the route they have.
People who actually want to play it, will buy it and will get enjoyment out of it.
nitroflow Nov 13, 2018
Quoting: Brisse
Quoting: nitroflow
Quoting: Salvatos
Quoting: nitroflow
Quoting: Brisse
Quoting: Keyrock
Quoting: BrisseHaven't really gotten into any of these card games (except The Witcher 3 minigame :D ). I was mildly interested in this as a potential entry point, but then I learned...

QuoteAdditional packs of cards will be $1.99, each pack has 12 random cards. You will also be able to buy and sell cards on the Steam Market.

...that it has gambling mechanics. No thanks.
In fairness, this is exactly how physical trading card games work. You buy packs of cards and get random cards inside.

I know, but that doesn't make it not gambling.

It isn't gambling because you always get something for your money though, this is how loot box type micro transactions skirt around gambling.
Legally speaking, sure, but spending money to get something that may or may not be entirely devoid of value to you, or whose value is essentially random within limits, in addition to being arbitrary and subject to changes made to the game, is hardly better than risking your money in a game of chance. At least in most games of chance, you can walk away with your money and your earnings aren't designed to keep making profit for "the house," unlike Valve taking a cut of every subsequent trade in this case and controlling your Steam wallet. Unlike WotC with MTG, Valve owns the entire ecosystem this game exists in. You may or may not get your money's worth in entertainment, but you will definitely not make any real money out of it. So I would agree that it is not gambling in that sense, but arguably it is worse than gambling.

This applies to every single purchase you make on your steam account though, you can't make any real money because you can't transfer anything on your account short of selling the whole account.

It is gambling even though it's using a loophole in most legislations. Countries like Belgium has actually started classifying it as gambling and I hope the rest of the world follow in their footsteps because things are getting out of control.

"you can't make any real money"
That is wrong. People trade digital assets, both on Steam directly and through third party's. Rare CSGO skins have been traded for tens of thousands of dollars.

It is still not gambling. The case of Belgium applies to loot boxes though which have the same mechanics but a wider pool of stuff you can win, in the case of Artifact you always get a pack of cards with the same chance of getting the same types of cards, just like in any other TCG as pointed by others.

Regarding making any real money from steam by bypassing steam is a clear violation of TOS and steam has been cracking down on sites that do it.
N30N Nov 13, 2018
Quoting: GuestI'm not touching it unless I can earn cards in game without it trying to bait me to constantly buy more like real card games. This is part of why I've enjoyed faeria, it's upfront about it's costs and is set up so you don't necessarily need to buy each expansion. Plus it's a beautiful game!
The (updated) FAQ states: "You can also earn packs by winning games in Expert Gauntlets". Also Faeria's art style is an acquired taste. :P

Quoting: devnullI wanna like this game but I have NFI how to play it. Seems like you really need to know the lore behind Dota?
I've no knowledge or interest in Dota but still plan on picking this one up. There's a nice intro to the game over here on twitch.


Last edited by N30N on 13 November 2018 at 4:00 pm UTC
huwjenjinn Nov 13, 2018
If you're looking for a card game don't forget the totally free Argentum Age. http://www.argentumage.com/

Still in development and not quite published on Steam yet although I believe Steam keys are available to download from the nice people at Argentum.
Nezchan Nov 14, 2018
Quoting: huwjenjinnIf you're looking for a card game don't forget the totally free Argentum Age. http://www.argentumage.com/

Still in development and not quite published on Steam yet although I believe Steam keys are available to download from the nice people at Argentum.

Yup, I've been playing with it and it's pretty spiffy. They can always use some help too.

Just go on their Discord and ask for a key, they'll give it to you for nothin'.
N30N Nov 14, 2018
When talking about Artifact with a friend he recommended SolForge. It's free to play, has linux support and it seems GOL never covered it.
Nezchan Nov 14, 2018
Quoting: N30NWhen talking about Artifact with a friend he recommended SolForge. It's free to play, has linux support and it seems GOL never covered it.

Solforge got shut down by its developers early last year. The fans took it over and are running it as ReForged.

http://reforgedgame.com/

I played it for a while, and it's got a really interesting mechanic, but after continually losing I just lost heart and gave up. Haven't played the current version.
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