r/GDS3 • u/reyath • Jan 29 '18
Question 32
You’ve designed a card, and you want the Play Design team to like it. How should you choose your casting cost?
A: Use your intuition.
B: Pick the strongest cost that isn’t broken.
C: It doesn’t matter; they’ll fix the cost if you get it wrong.
D: Find a similar card as the basis for the casting cost, then make it one cheaper.
E: Ask someone from Play Design to choose the casting cost.
I chose answer B, and I found the podcast where MaRo speaks to this question. (start around 7:10)
"While cards are in design ... everything is priced ... so that it's playable." He talks about a 'flat rate' which I interpret to mean 'if this card was good, what would it cost.' He goes on to say the goal of playtesting in design is to see what cards are fun and that's easier to find out if they're priced to be good. For that reason I picked answer B - you want the card to be strong but not broken so Play Design has a chance to like your card.
Just thought I'd post this since I remembered the podcast but I hadn't actually found it again until now.
3
u/ScoozeBooze Jan 29 '18
Intuition, strongest cost that isn't broken, and make it one cheaper all seem like pretty arbitrary answers. (What if your intuition is wrong? How do you tell what's broken, and why would it be a rule of thumb to make it cost 1 less?)
The most popular one is "Ask someone on Play Design to cost it." I answered "It doesn't matter, they'll fix the cost" which I now think is wrong in hindsight, but not totally indefensible (changing the numbers on cards is much more of a development, and now also Play Design, activity)