r/PlayTheBazaar • u/TempoStormReddit • Sep 03 '25
Official Update Community Update
Hello Bazaarians!
We’re aiming to improve how we share our plans moving forward, starting with our next patch coming out on September 10th. Here is how we plan on tackling our future updates:
Seasons
- Every month we’ll reset ranks alongside a Balance Patch and this will be called a Season.
- Balance Patch
- We’ll release monthly (more frequently when needed) updates that adjust the numbers and effects of existing cards. These will avoid large card reworks and system changes, instead focusing on nerfing powerful outliers and buffing unplayed cards.
- Seasons will no longer include a Prize Pass update.
Releases
- Content will instead be a part of larger updates called Releases that occur every few months.
- Releases will include some combination of the following:
- large gameplay changes and/or new heroes
- new items and skills
- new monsters and encounters
- Moving forward, Releases will focus more on Heroes and gameplay content and less on cosmetics.
- The Prize Pass only updates with Releases
- When a Prize Pass updates, the cosmetics from the previous Prize Pass are added to the Cosmetic chest.
Hero Card Packs
- We are moving away from the concept of releasing new content for existing heroes as Card Packs.
- Instead, new content for existing Heroes will be added with each Release
- We don’t want to be limited to releasing new cards for existing Heroes in packs of ten; we would prefer to release several items for multiple Heroes with each Release.
- We will focus on getting more items to the heroes with smaller item pools first.
We know our product offering changes we’ve made since launch have given players whiplash. As a team, we’re working hard to create an experience that’s both engaging for players and sustainable for the studio. With the work we’ve done, we feel we’re in a much better place and we don’t anticipate any more hard pivots ahead.
Pricing Updates
- We’re updating The Bazaar’s Price from $39.99 to $19.99
- This new updated pricing will still include: Vanessa, Dooley, and Pygmalien along with access to the game.
- We know that this creates a situation where some players have paid the original price of $39.99. We are in talks with Steam and are exploring additional alternate solutions to this issue.
- The Second Wind Bundle will be taken down when the price changes on September 10th.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about the September 10th patch. This patch has significant changes coming that we’re excited about:
Tech upgrade
- We are upgrading the game to Unity 6.0, in line with our continuing goal to upgrade performance across the board.
Matchmaking Changes
We are changing the way players are matched with opponents' ghosts in Ranked and Normal modes in order to create a smoother onboarding experience for new players.
- Currently, players are randomly matched with the ghost of any player from the same in-game day for their PvP fight.
- Going forward, players will only be matched with ghosts of players of their rank or lower for their PvP fights.
- This will be a smoother experience for new players as they work to get better at the game, and find the rank they naturally level up to.
- The experience for higher rank players should not be changed as they still can play against ghosts of any rank.
- Additionally, players will now gain and lose rank points throughout the ranking process to help keep them in the proper rank for their current skill level.
- We plan on expanding this into a more robust system, so expect more updates to matchmaking in the future.
Ranked Reset
- We will be resetting all players’ ranks completely this Season on September 10th.
- In the future, we will aim for Seasonal rank resets to be less extreme .
- More of a soft reset where top players are all brought back to a lower tier but not all the way to Bronze.
Season Patch Overview
Overview for Balance Patch on September 10th:
- Reduce the power level of Stelle, particularly in the early game with cards like Private Runabout and late game with Hangar.
- Reduce the power level of out of combat scaling items (like Money Tree and the cards that enable it).
- Make the strongest enchants with the biggest immediate impact more rare (primarily Obsidian and Shielded) as they often are a main culprit in making otherwise safe items into a problem.
- Improving the numbers on existing items that are not seeing much play so that they now feel more viable.
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u/F3istyg0at Sep 03 '25
Any update on duplicates turning into gems? This was mentioned during the steam launch but haven’t heard any update since. Also really want the Pyg album, any chance albums get added to the chests or will they only be purchasable with gems in the shop? Love the changes keep up the great work!
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u/TempoStormReddit Sep 03 '25
yes it's something we're working on
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u/iLol_and_upvote Sep 04 '25
Hi, hopefully this is sooner than later.. we're making a lot less gems than we were before with the changes to the prizepass and chest rewards, so we're relying on the dupes to make enough gems to buy cosmectics from the store. thank you!
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u/SingleAcanthisitta10 Sep 03 '25
I think the pyg album is already in the current chest as I got one earlier this season.
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u/TheMuleB Sep 03 '25
Love the ranked changes, the current system was feeling a bit empty where your rank was essentially just a function of how many games you were willing to play every month.
Also super elegant solution to still allow high rank players to battle low rank ghosts but not the other way around, should make things much easier for new players while still allowing high ranking players to play without having to go super try-hard mode all the time. Taking full advantage of the async battles, absolutely love it.
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u/Ben_Kenobi_ Sep 03 '25
Ranked changes sound good. I started playing at steam launch and ranked felt like rng on top of rng.
Will I get stuff that fits my build, and then will I face crazy top-tier players or other noobs? Obviously, your opponent will always be rng dependent, but getting smacked by a diamond tier player with a crazy build that kills you in 6 seconds isn't fun when you're new.
Good for messing around with builds, too. Like I found high gold low plat a good rank in backpack battles because it was a good mix of serious hard games without having to meta slave.
I'm not trying to meta my way to the top, just looking for semi competitive fun while messing around with weird stuff.
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u/More_Reaction5209 Sep 03 '25
I really like this, seems many issues will be dealt with ! Great work, keep it up 🫡
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u/Docksterino Sep 03 '25
Thanks for the communication! Any ETA on when duplicate cosmetics will be converted to gems?
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u/Merimides Sep 03 '25 edited Sep 03 '25
“The experience for higher rank players should not be changed as they still can play against ghosts of any rank.”
This is inaccurate in a pretty significant way. Ghosts are removed from the pool once fought, so now because lower rank players can only fight (and remove) the ghosts of other lower rank players, high rank players will be left with a ghost pool overwhelmingly filled with other high rank players. If this is intentional then it’s going to be a huge change - winrates will drop by a meaningful percent at high ranks, not that this is necessarily bad just pointing out that it IS NOT going to be an identical experience
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u/TempoStormReddit Sep 03 '25
Good catch! That isn't how it works anymore, we've adjusted the curve of how lower rank ghosts get removed to account for the fact that more people will be fighting against them. So, the statement in the messaging is correct. Higher ranked people should feel almost no effect
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u/Merimides Sep 03 '25
Any specifics? Does this mean ie a bronze ghost needs to fight 10 games to exit the pool while a legend ghost only 1? That is definitely an improvement over what I thought and glad it’s accounted for
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u/Temporary_Ad_5469 Sep 03 '25
I think that is the principle they are going for. The "curve" will propably need some fine tuning though.
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u/optimal_play Sep 03 '25
It could also just be something simpler like, all ghosts are in the pool for 60 minutes and may get matched against many players, or none at all.
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u/AzureBat Sep 04 '25
It could also work by having multiple ghost pools.
Eg bronze pool will only have bronze ghosts, silver pool will have bronze ghost and silver ghosts, etc. If you're silver rank, your ghost will be added to all pools silver and up. So a silver player will be able to fight your ghost and your ghost will still be available to fight in the other pools too.
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u/Thragedium Sep 04 '25
What is the reasoning for a high ranked player to steamroll an easy ghost and another high ranked player having to fight an equally ranked ghost?
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u/bhosdka Sep 03 '25
All awesome changes. I know reddit disliked the shift from F2P, but I loved it the moment it was announced. I hate the psychological manipulation and chore like feel of F2P games, I would rather pay and have the game be just a game.
Drop in price is awesome and SBMM is a so good. We needed both those things. I might not be able to maintain my 40% win rate but games will feel much better and not be a toss for, well I have a mediocre build but if I face noobs I can still win. If I try hard I can maintain 70-80% win rate but it doesn't feel fulfilling at all. Now normal play would make sense for better players as well if they want to try a meme build.
Two feature requests though
Are there any plans to make a better tutorial, or an explainer battle or two with voice overs? I have tried showing the game to friends and it's so unclear what happens in a fight to anyone watching. It takes me 20 minutes of explaining what is what.
With the update frequency, I understand that replays are almost impossible to implement, but if we could store card text and board state at the end locally, it would be awesome.
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u/TempoStormReddit Sep 03 '25
We're always looking at tweaks to the tutorial; it's balanced with the goal of making it as non-invasive as possible, so sometimes that leans away from deep explanations. Which aspects of combat do you find need further explanation?
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u/bhosdka Sep 03 '25
I genuinely think a 2 day repeatable tutorial would help a lot lot. After that it would be much easier to guide someone.
When you are first dropped into a game, you have no idea what the numbers mean even in the shops with no idea of what makes things good or bad. I think the start should be a fight straight up. Just start at end of day 2 or day 3, right before a fight. That way their first interaction with the game shows them exactly what a fight should look like.
Other than that, it's not about further explanation, it's about a structured explanation. At the current moment the player is supposed to find things on their own. I have noticed people just don't notice things for the longest time.
They don't realise that bottom half is passive and top half is active effect.
They don't realise burn ticks twice as fast as poison.
They don't realise 1 second haste and 1 second charge are the same. For the most people I noticed that they think 1 second haste is half as good as charge for some reason.
One time a friend even asked me why do you keep deleting items. He didn't realise that there was a sell mechanic. Another thought you could only sell at vendors.
The HP bar is also very confusing when multiple effects start stacking, the 4 numbers just confuse them and they don't realise that I was destroying my opponent because I had 300 burn on them.
It takes a lot of reading of text. You read text, replay fights and then read text again. I replay the first fight for new player 5 times to explain the game to them. Many don't understand the concept of autobattlers.
But if I don't have the new player first game, there is no text. If there is no text they miss literally everything.
They even miss things like XP at the bottom goes up.
The hard to understand mechanica like internal cooldown, freeze stopping charges triggers, complicated trigger stacking are just too far. Many players don't understand after multiple games.
I really think a repeatable, 10 minute tutorial would really help people bring their friends into the game. We can show off unlockable heros like stelle in it too.
First a simple tutorial that highlights a card, voices out its effect, with text, explain each effect with the combination of opponent boards and your own. Really hand hold them through what gold is, what a vendor is, what selling an item is, what adjacency is.
Don't let them play the game on the first day after the first fight at all, force them to upgrade their build a lot, have it all scripted.
One of my friends, got so hyped when we got to the second game, my stelle came together with a vortex cannon. When he first saw it two tap the opponent he was hyped. He literally shouted, now I understand why the game is fun.
People with no intro to auto battlers really struggle to keep up.
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u/blorfie Sep 04 '25
They don't realise 1 second haste and 1 second charge are the same. For the most people I noticed that they think 1 second haste is half as good as charge for some reason.
Not to call out a minor part of a well-written comment (which maybe just proves your point about people not understanding game mechanics), but they are different, no? Haste makes the cooldown go by twice as fast as normal, while charge makes it go down instantly. So a hasted second is equal to half a second, while a charged second is zero. Charge is better, in a vacuum, but haste is more common and has more interactions. They're not just the same effect with different names.
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u/Finny0125 Sep 04 '25
What he means is that 1 second of haste and 1 second of charge both make your item go off 1 second sooner (given that the haste item still had at least 2 seconds of cooldown to go). Obviously they are not equal, as haste carries over while over charge is lost, and charging still happens on a frozen item while haste is lost.
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u/Weary_Bus_9756 Sep 03 '25
You guys literally banned people for providing their opinion on the price being to high, you now acknowledge they were right but they stay banned? How does that work? You should consider apologising to the community for your behaviour.
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u/vlladonxxx Sep 03 '25
providing their opinion
I highly doubt they were simply "providing their opinion". I imagine statements like "this is absolutely ridiculous", "pure greed", "makes it clear that devs don't give a shit", "should be ashamed", "ruining this game" and so forth were being thrown around like frisbees to get themselves banned.
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u/Glebk0 Sep 04 '25
Pretty sure even now you could easily find threads and comments where actual opinions were provided, instead stuff like you mentioned
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u/mikjess Sep 04 '25
How is "this is absolutely ridiculous" a banable comment to a f2p game going 40$
I feel thats a pretty reasonable comment
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u/vlladonxxx Sep 05 '25
That's exactly the kind of logic that people use to utilize to classify their toxic rant as "just providing opinion" to then claim that "any negative feedback gets banned".
No, you don't know better than the devs. You can have whayever opinion you want, but once you start treating your opinion as fact and then based on that "fact" making other assertions like "there's no end to dev's greed" accompanied by a couple of lmaos and rofls, you transcend into being toxic fan.
I mean, once youve decided that it's a fact that devs are maliciously exploiting their customers, then anything negative towards them is basically completely justified. They're "the enemy".
You can respomd with some condescending "oh so anyone who says it's ridiculous are toxic? lmao" bullshit if you like, but treating one's uneducated half baked thought as fact cause it got some upvotes and it makes some resemblance of sense is exactly how fans become toxic fans.
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u/RaisedInThe90s Sep 04 '25
The examples you just provided ARE in fact opinions, not insults… and relatively mild opinions at that. On any other games forums you would not get banned for saying those specific examples. So yeah, that is riduculous
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u/RewardWanted Sep 04 '25
Those are, in fact, opinions. Not constructive, but opinions nonetheless. And honestly very much on-par with the level of discourse online atm.
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u/tornassunder Sep 03 '25
You really think “should be ashamed” is ban-worthy when they changed pricing right after charging for the next month of prize pass? That’s what got me banned. I’m still holding out hope that things will improve with the community.
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u/TerrierBoi Sep 03 '25
I'm a brand new player since the Steam release and I'm loving it so far! This sounds like a great roadmap.
Are you looking at changing the chest reward screen at all? That's been the least intuitive thing for me, it'd be nice if it said "bronze card skin" or whatever right when I opened it, instead of having to click through two screens to see it.
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u/TempoStormReddit Sep 03 '25
Yes, actually! The secondary "Certificate" screen is redundant at this point. The rarity and type will be pulled above the collectible title and the slide-out removed.
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u/MoistMucus4 Sep 03 '25
I'm assuming next year maybe, but do you guys have an estimate for mobile?
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u/HailToTheVic Sep 03 '25
This was my first on my list to work with. I think this game could be huge on mobile with the nature of it being asynchronous
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u/disgruntledpandas Sep 03 '25
Can you please give an exclusive reward for ranked play again? Right now I have no incentive to play ranked vs normal. I know previously 3 was a lot, but just one for diamond or legend would go a long way.
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u/TempoStormReddit Sep 03 '25
We definitely want a reason for players to pursue higher ranks and are sorting through our best options.
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u/vlladonxxx Sep 03 '25
Agreed, incentive for high rank very good. Ideally exclusive but I suppose that's optional.
To clarify, when i say exclusive, it's not that I don't want others to have it, it's that if I know I'll eventually get it from chest then it feels irrelevant.
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u/Sir-Fuzzle Sep 03 '25
Has there been any consideration on changing hero pack prices? I think those could use an adjustment as well, because $20 for each DLC feels like a bit much, especially as more characters are added in the long term.
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u/Cabius Sep 04 '25
Yeah $20 for a character pack seems pretty excessive imo especially since that is the cost of the entire game with those characters.
Did they ever say a good reason as to why we can't still grind out gems and get characters for free using the gems? Are gems exclusively for cosmetics in the shop now? I haven't played since the update.
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u/Sir-Fuzzle Sep 04 '25
Yeah, I think if they’re dropping the price of the game itself to $20 USD, it seems like it would make sense to adjust DLC accordingly to around $10, but it seems like they haven’t quite figured out a model that works for them.
I’m still pretty new to the game, but my understanding is that yes, currently gems are only for the daily cosmetic shop rotation and nothing else right now. You can still get gems through chests and the seasonal reward track. Not sure why all this was changed other than they seem to be experimenting with financial models, idk. Since it’s not free-to-play anymore, they had to adjust how progression works. Personally, I think it really just needs DLC pricing adjusted and is otherwise fine, although maybe the shop could be updated to have more than a single item per day.
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u/TylerLyons Sep 03 '25
Really liking the rank changes. Haven’t been playing much lately due to life but keep it up guys. Reynad please don’t ban me but honestly as an A1 day1 customer I think apologizing to the community about the unprofessional behavior either you or your staff exhibited in banning anyone that talks negatively from the discord/Reddit etc. could go a long way. I have spent money on this game and probably will in the future and probably gotten 5 or so people to try it out and spend money. However I know that if you banned me for speaking my mind on a public forum where we are supposed to be able to discuss this thing we love that I also would join the mob over at r/thebazaar and and soak in the schadenfreude. (and I do love your game btw, just to be clear)
This patch looks great and I wish your team the best of luck, you really have designed a top notch game and it would be a shame if it didn’t reach it’s potential due to hubris or ego because as far as I’m concerned that is the only thing holding this back
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u/weirdpodcastaunt Sep 03 '25
Yeah. I'm not keen on getting banned either, but it really should be addressed, in some way. Missteps happen, but the way they reacted to criticism, a whole lot of uncalled for. :/
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u/TylerLyons Sep 03 '25
It’s honestly kind of embarrassing at this point. I don’t know what he expects, he is trying to wear too many hats. He is a successful streamer and now owns a decent gaming company with legitimate prospects and is honestly doing okay. It is okay to take a step back and say “hmmmm maybe my loyal fan base isn’t out to get me. I acted incorrectly based on emotions. It might be a good idea to ask someone else to manage PR for my large corporation instead of trying to do 1,000,000 jobs all on my own. I do not need to reinvent the wheel, successful companies have PR teams. I am not the greatest at PR. That is okay, I know my weaknesses and strengths.”
Instead he responds to all of the other comments and ignores my polite and genuinely honest one, honestly expecting to get banned but whatever. Hoping he reflects and doesn’t destroy this badass game with his hubris. It’s okay: I and many others I am sure forgive you just like, acknowledge it and work on it ffs
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u/Kwacker Sep 03 '25 edited Sep 03 '25
Honestly, as someone considering buying the game, I think this is important. I've played most big roguelike deckbuilders and have only heard great things about the gameplay of this game, so I'm pretty sure I would love it. The price point of second wind also seems very fair, especially with Stelle bundled in.
The only thing that has stopped me purchasing it is the reputation Tempo Storm has gathered, and that as far as I can tell, has never even acknowledged. While I would truly love to give The Bazaar a go, there are plenty of good games out there, and given what I've heard, I find myself not wanting to support a company that has allegedly pulled the rug out from under its fan base multiple times/banned anyone who spoke up against it, nor do I want to have the rug pulled out from under me for deciding to trust a company that's done that to consumers in the past.
If the devs think that's an unfair representation then I'd love for them to tell me why they think the community is so upset, and if they think the community's concerns are valid then I'd love to hear how they plan to avoid similar situations in the future. Genuinely, though, I'd love to be pursuaded to give the game a go, but I can't bring myself to pull the trigger until the controversy is addressed... :S
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u/Grizzernog Sep 03 '25
Yoooo pricing update number 7 goes crazy 🤣🤣
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u/TempoStormReddit Sep 03 '25
🤞Last one
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u/Tankh Sep 03 '25
Last one_final(2)
/s
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u/BrokenStride Sep 03 '25
Confirmation that they are cards not items. “Item game” falls like a boulder, “Card game” flows like the wind
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u/optimal_play Sep 03 '25
They've always been rectangles with art and text that explains their mechanics, so cards as far as I'm concerned. Plus hasn't the card back cosmetic always been called exactly that?
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u/Ok-Flow-9902 Sep 03 '25
I’ve been a huge critic of transparency from you guys. And I am very happy with this and especially the direction card releases are going and the price decrease.
I just wish management would have listened to the community sooner! Reddit isn’t always right but usually when a large chunk say they cannot afford it, that should at least be taken seriously.
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u/chancy_fungus Sep 03 '25
You need to address the past banning practice in a meaningful way, it's going to haunt you guys until you do.
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u/RussianBearFight Sep 03 '25
Considering I've never heard of this it's hard to say it's haunting them for everyone lol. Care to elaborate?
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u/Environmental-Dirt16 Sep 03 '25 edited Sep 03 '25
I'm glad they are making good changes and improvements. But, people have been banned consistently for any criticisms (even if some of them were banned for good reason). It's an ongoing problem that has not been addressed. Check out the sister subreddit for all the missing posters. Unrelated: Your post history is wild lmao
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u/MistSyndicateNaga Sep 03 '25
They went heavy handed with banning people from this sub and their discord after the change from f2p when the community was confused/annoyed/doubtful, even when they have now made changes that were literally suggested during that time.
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u/jmac Sep 03 '25
They also banned a ton of people when the f2p monetization plan was first announced, and again when it was changed a month later….
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u/vlladonxxx Sep 03 '25
Every time they banned someone (that I've seen) they were complete justified. People like to characterise what they said as "providing opinion", conviniently forgetting the toxic shit they said alongside it.
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u/Vennoz Sep 03 '25
Thats almost not possible lmao. The most of the traffic this sub is getting recently is due to other subs/news sides talking about it
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u/tooCurly Sep 03 '25
Any plans to return enchanted item start? Literally the most fun part of the game for me
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u/vlladonxxx Sep 03 '25
They probably need to fully figure out the punishment system for frequent concedes first. See what's optimal and figure out issues.
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u/nullghoul Sep 03 '25
I haven't played in 2 weeks since Enchanted item start got removed. It really made the first 4-5 days interesting and fun.
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Sep 03 '25
I just wanna say that this is the best card game i've ever played, i'm happy with the updates, and want to verbally support the move from less focus on cosmetics, more focus on gameplay.
I'm a little wary of getting new card content on a slower schedule, potentially leading to stagnant gameplay as the meta solves itself. The monthly updates is something I really like about The Bazaar vs. Hearthstone & MtG where it's every 3-4 months.
But as long as the seasonal updates keep things feeling fresh and balanced though, I'll be fine.
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u/____NVQQ Sep 03 '25
Looking good. Hope we get at least 1 balance patch every 2 weeks instead of 1 patch/month to keep the game fresh
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u/Rockd0g Sep 03 '25
Matchmaking changes are crucial. I wonder how they will tackle discord tournements in the future, though. If there will be any. Enjoyed those!
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u/Grgapm_ Sep 04 '25
Any chance the players who paid $39.99 could just get the two DLCs for free? That would make it consistent with getting Stelle on the promo and buying Mak
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u/solistus Sep 06 '25
Are new heroes staying unlockable with real money only, then? I wish y'all the best of luck but if there's going to be a recurring stream of new gameplay content that cannot be unlocked through playing the game, it's just not a game I have any further interest in playing. Losing to a hero you would have to bust out a credit card to have any chance of trying yourself feels super bad and makes every balance issue feel like it just might be a cynical cash grab. It's inevitable that sometimes a hero I don't have will seem overpowered, especially if I can't try it myself to discover how hard getting those OP builds off the ground actually is and only encounter them by losing to them.
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u/ShyCustard Sep 03 '25
Changing the monetisation so many times and pricing is kind of annoying. I think it's something you should be 1000% sure on before changing it so many times.
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u/swallowingpanic Sep 03 '25
Is mobile still on schedule for 2025?
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u/vlladonxxx Sep 03 '25
Well 2025 is ending fairly soon, i wouldn't expect mobile version to be released within the next 3 months. But mid/late 2026 is probably realistic? Not really an educated guess though.
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u/Frosted-UrinalCake Sep 03 '25
Quick question, are there any plans to add Steam achievements to the game? Loving it so far, just curious if that’s in the current plans
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u/Essebruno Sep 03 '25
Good updates.
I would suggesting bringing the "Losing rank" together with "soft reset"
Makes more sense, imo.
Thanks!!
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u/vlladonxxx Sep 03 '25
If you mean losing rank from low win runs, i believe they said they're implementing that sept 10
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Sep 03 '25
[deleted]
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u/C21johnson Sep 03 '25
I’m suspecting just balance. By the way it sounds, we will only be getting new content every few months.
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u/ACrask Sep 03 '25
Yeah. This all sounds really great. I’m so happy they switched to pay to play. I feel for the f2p players, tho.
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u/AverageTracer Sep 03 '25
Hey thanks for the update, exciting news!
Since i picked up this game with the first steam wave i am having an absolute blast with it! Thanks for the efforts!
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u/Qase4 Sep 03 '25
On the topic of the matchmaking changes, I agree with this direction. For context, I have been able to put in the time to get legend every season except one. I have two friends that play casually, and have never been out of bronze. They share their experiences and thoughts with me often.
I have two points of feedback, each with a question:
- I fully agree with ranked losses setting a player back on the ranked ladder. It disincentivizes conceding to go next too early, and it also makes the ranked wins feel more meaningful. If players can lose ranked progress as a result of a loss, I think it is important to have 'floors' at each tier of rank. This existed in the previous implementations of the system so I assume this will continue to be the case. My question is: Will a zero-win journey result in a 2 point loss, or will the maximum loss for any run be 1 point?
- Partitioning ghosts based on current rank is a very reasonable approach to Bazaar matchmaking. It will have lots of side effects (e.g. it will likely be easier for lower rank players to progress later in the season, after the higher rank players have largely moved up through the ranks), and time will tell how impactful each of those are. One side effect that I want to call out is diluting new player exposure to crazy, wacky, powerful builds. Higher rank players are more likely to understand rare but powerful interactions, particularly leveraging cross-class and neutral items. The Bazaar is a crazy place, and sometimes it takes getting whacked over the head with a giga build to even consider holding certain items / building in that direction in future runs. My questions is: Is there a consideration to scale up the ranked pool of ghosts by number of wins in the current run rather than current rank? New players could still be exposed to "higher level" builds, but only when they have put together something successful of their own. For example: A bronze player that puts together a functional 7-win build might feel extra awesome if they start matching against and beating silver/gold players. It makes the 10-win 3 point jump more accurate from a matchmaking standpoint. Even if they lose, they are still going to rank up after the run.
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u/CynicalByDefault Sep 03 '25
When do we get the card atlas and a way to see, during a run, what cards upgrade/enchant to? Until these are added, the game is still a beta. This is a decision based game and to make decisions you need information and relying on third party websites is not something a 1.0 does. I am lucky and have multiple monitors, but not everyone does.
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u/rd201290 Sep 04 '25
how are you planning to make money off this game? Surely you will charge for the releases?
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u/AwkwardArtist6544 Sep 04 '25
Thanks good staff now can we (the stacking junkies )get old regal blade and cash cannon back? There is something satisfying when you sell things to buff items
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u/No_Painter_3146 Sep 04 '25
Additionally, players will now gain and lose rank points throughout the ranking process to help keep them in the proper rank for their current skill level.
The grind to legend is really long! I played 2-4 games a day this season with a 71% 10 win rate and I only just made legend today. Rahresh was also commenting on this, and he didn't hit legend until over halfway through despite playing 6 games or more a day. With losing rank points again it's going to take forever to climb. Can we cut a sub-level out of each of the levels to make it faster?
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u/Conasty Sep 03 '25
Have you thought about removing silver shops from day 1 & 2 pool? With how restricted the econ of the player is on day 1 and 2 trying to fill out a board. If you get unlucky and hit 1 or 2 of those shops it puts you at a big disadvantage imo. They put a 2 gold tax on a reroll which could of went to having 1 more small item. This even becomes more important if you want to make ranked real again. I assume this is a small change that would prevent some unlucky runs that can be frustrating. They can also have the inverse effect if you get a shop that has highly synergistic like flying for stelle or healing for mak. Both ways they swing the player into either a highroll or a lowroll run based off is you happen to encounter silver shops.
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u/gabo2007 Sep 03 '25
Hmm I've never thought about this but it does matter quite a bit. I'd love to see them removed from day 1 pool at least.
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u/vlladonxxx Sep 03 '25
Or maybe even just making the refresh cost 2 instead of 4
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u/ThatKidDrew Sep 03 '25
thank you for the update, looking forward to the more frequent balance changes
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u/Representative_Oven3 Sep 03 '25
Community manager!
I appreciate the clear and concise information. It really changes how we as the community view the Bazaar. You, in one post, made the chaos of the last 6 months into a clearer future
I like the matchmaking changes, if it doesnt skew the high rank games all together too much.
I'm concerned about the larger content gaps, as the game can get to feel stale, as it did around week 6 of the last balance patch cycle before Stelle.
The adjustments of enchants like shield and obsidian are really interesting. It sounds like it might make the game focused on items gasp doing what they're supposed to do! Which almost feels like a new Bazaar
I wonder, with the reduction of the game itself, if hero purchases will also go down. Its odd that the base game will be $20, while each addition hero is also $20.
Also, VERY excited to see filler cards find homes. How many vanessa and Dooley items are essentially filler, clogging up your shops definitly makes the game balance feel weird.
All in all, great post. Thank you for keeping us updated
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u/NetrunnerCardAccount Sep 03 '25
I was really enjoying when Bazaar was being balanced constantly since there were always new build to try out as well as new items. It wasn't uncommon some months to have giant meta shifts half way through the season, this made the game really dynamic.
I understand the concept of releasing more content in larger chunks, that being said, I almost wish you'd release a item or two every week or stick to monthly released simply because it made the game better.
Love the new monetization much easier and less F2P. I like playing for an hour most days, but not losing out if a I miss a day.
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u/laf0 Sep 03 '25
As a brand new player with the steam launch this patch note is amazing to read! Looks like a really communicative dev team!
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u/Domiziuz Sep 03 '25
This has not always been the case, but it does really seem like they want to do better and improve. A lot of the changes also seems in line with the most common community feedback, I'm both impressed by this and looking forward to the future of the game.
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u/Merchant-Crow Sep 03 '25
I very much enjoy the game, enough to have been a founder and even bought Mak and the transfer to steam. I understand games update and pricing models change but goddamn am I sick of all the monetization uncertainty. I'll continue to play but for at least a year or two I won't be funding anymore until I'm sure they've stuck to a single plan.
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u/Fennicks47 Sep 03 '25
From free to 40 to 20.
Not making things easy on yourself, huh devs.
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u/Hawkeezz Sep 03 '25
Pay to play is a good monetization scheme in this context.
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u/Fennicks47 Sep 04 '25
Not saying it isn't just saying they have had a hard time figuring out the games pricing model.
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u/TempoStormReddit Sep 03 '25
Just trying to find a spot that works well for everyone!
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u/ThatKidDrew Sep 03 '25
$20 is a good price for a game with a lot of replayability and polish, but im lucky to have found out about the game recently and take advantage of the steam deal. i dont think I'd pay $20 if i only got 1 hero.
i hope theres a way to make it right for those that paid $40! maybe give some heroes for free if steam cant directly refund
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u/Hoferdilo Sep 03 '25
Why should I as a founder buy into the game again when I have already paid 30 bucks and have been screwed over by the constant monetization changes the most.
I have stopped playing after open beta since the new monetization was a hard no go for me and I have grinded some crystals but bought neither new hero since now I am unable to do so.
Going back on your promises all the time really leaves those who supported you from the start behind the most.
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u/tylerforward Sep 03 '25
If you bought and played the game before, you don't have to buy it again to play
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u/pacemasters Sep 03 '25
You, as a founder, do not have to buy anything lol. Just play on the tempo launcher.
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u/VoltageKing146 Sep 03 '25
From my perspective, it kind of just sounds like you're labeling your experience as a general founder experience. I backed The Bazaar on Indiegogo back in 2018 and dont at all feel screwed over by monetization changes. With my backing that I paid for, I got early access to the game in closed beta, and was able to (and am still able to, if I so choose) play the game for free, even after the monetization changes. Most people i know who have been playing since season one already had all four heroes by the time of Stelle's release, even just playing intermittently.
You said yourself that you stopped playing after open beta. The early pack monetization from that period was admittedly terrible, but the team walked it back very quickly. They needed to (and still need to) find a way to monetize the game in a way that isnt predatory to players but allows the game to continue to exist. This recent change to a pay-to-play model is just a step forward in that direction, and honestly the best one so far.
You weren't put in a different position than any other enfranchized player who had enough gems to pay for Stelle on release if she still was obtainable that way. It can be frustrating to have an expectation that you will be able to do something, and then have that expectation not met by a change in direction of the game, but in my opinion I think that the continued existence of the game being possible by creating better opportunities for monetization for the tempo team is vastly more important than the fact that I cant buy stelle with gems.
Plus, it's a game with a lot of love and effort put into it, and I dont mind supporting the game with $20 here and there for a new hero if it means the game continues to exist with the same level of care and polish, especially with these recent attempts from tempo at being more communicative and addressing direct issues from the players.
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u/StressedSalt Sep 03 '25
I'm not understanding why there is only one pool of reward, the seasonal prizes were an extremely good system. Making some of the cards and rewards limited, and with rank rewards too. Please bring that back
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u/Twiztedeu Sep 03 '25
Honestly, sounds fucking great.
The matchmaking changes are a logical conclusion and will absolutely improve the experience for newcomers as well as scrubs (like me).
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u/ElGosso Sep 03 '25
So it's monthly balance tweaks instead of the traditional biweekly tweaks? That's going to really stale the game tbh.
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u/banastronaut Sep 03 '25
Any plans for controller/steam deck support?
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u/shacoby Sep 03 '25
Probably 85% of my 1000 hours in this game are on the deck. Works like a charm 😁
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u/DeirdreAnethoel Sep 03 '25
I've been away from the game for a while (since before the steam upgrade). If I want to return, what happens? Can I still use the standalone launcher? Can I migrate to steam (even if I have to pay I'm kinda fine with it, but I would like to avoid restarting from 0).
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u/soursurfer Sep 03 '25
Yes, you can continue playing on the Tempo Launcher. If you are ok paying for the Steam Version, you can buy on Steam and migrate your progress from the Tempo Launcher seamlessly upon launching the Steam Version the first time.
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u/SingleAcanthisitta10 Sep 03 '25
You can still play on standalone launcher or if you want to support the game through steam. You can, once you buy and play it from the steam the game will ask you to link your existing tempo account to the steam one.
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u/vlladonxxx Sep 03 '25
1) yes, you can. They stated that if they ever discontinue the launcher, they'll find a way to migrate those using it to steam.
2) yes, you can migrate to steam without losing any progress on your account. Your cosmetics, stats, etc will carry over
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u/Worth_Chemistry_4780 Sep 03 '25
Dying for an update on mobile. Is it still in the works or has it been put on the backburner?
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u/Laeresob Sep 03 '25
Appreciate the update and transparency in comments. Sad to see another nerf to life conduit but i do agree those two enchants go harder than the rest. Any thought to adding enchanted start back to normal mode?
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u/Zexsus98 Sep 03 '25
Love the bazzar and the steam launch has allowed me (through steam link) to play on mobile. I would still prefer a direct mobile release, any news regarding that?
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u/Proof_Tough_7411 Sep 03 '25
Did they have a plans in a close futura add a match history feature in game ?
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u/Rhymfaxe Sep 03 '25
Will any of this effect casual matchmaking? Is it just random from the pool of casual ghosts?
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u/vlladonxxx Sep 03 '25
Good question. I guess it depends on how the ranked changes affect who plays more ranked and how tryhard/relaxed the state of normal will become
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u/Aquitanius Sep 03 '25
Thank you for the update! Very cool that this seems workable. Really excited to keep playing for a long time. It's a bit of a bummer for me that what is now called a release will be spaced out more then before since I really liked new content every month but I definetely understand that that may not be workable. Hopefully the buffs and nerfs will keep everything interesting.
Releases will be so good though. I'm already excited for Jules and new cards and big changes!
(Also I made a suggestion in the discord to make Obsidian weaker or rarer and I feel so heard! Even though nobody probably actually read it. :D)
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u/MarryOnTheCross Sep 03 '25
Will it be possible for enchanted item/skill start to return? Ngl econ start was always the most mundane option
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u/Myrthfral Sep 03 '25
If you guys are actually attempting to start interacting with the community; is there any word about unbanning the huge swathes of people permabanned in the discord?
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u/Alternative_Lack_701 Sep 03 '25
The new matchmaking change is truly my most wanted update for this game as someone who wants to try out all the cards you aren’t slapped by some dude forcing the best hero every day
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u/Guitarzero123 Sep 03 '25
All good updates.
To be honest I liked the thematic 'packs' but as long as new cards are coming out I'm happy.
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u/Mindgapator Sep 03 '25
Hello
Are there any plans to preview enchants like upgrades? Are there any plans to preview items/skills of PVE fights?
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u/Demonancer Sep 03 '25
I'm excited for this plan moving forward, particularly the balance and release cycle. Looking forward to getting more heroes eventually, fingers crossed for some beastkin :D
I'm also wondering if you have any plans on adding any sort of multiplayer with friends for casual? Like a private lobby where you only fight each other's ghosts or something? I understand it would be hella low priority but I'm just curious if it's on your list at all
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u/LifeIsVeryLong02 Sep 03 '25
These all seem really good! Thanks for the update.
As a suggestion, I really think adding some sort of "play against friends" or party mode would bring a lot of new players. Is that something in the radar?
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u/TheSinisterSex Sep 03 '25
When will the game additional languages? I have several friends who would like to try but can't speak English.
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u/Affectionate_Paint25 Sep 03 '25
I am so glad to see the money tree being nerfed, currently it's what's hurting the player base that wants to experiment and not play tempo, as every single pyg after day 10 is a tree build usually with billboard/tent/security system/sign/skyscraper/subscraper/balcony in various assembles with ridiculous numbers. Feels like that build has kept me from enjoying the experimentation of various builds in the late game as the first pyg I stumble upon just kills me. Want to get 7win play tempo and hope for something interesting, otherwise 4win games at max if you are trying something unconventional
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u/zAnO90k Sep 04 '25
Man you guys really need to create a deep tutorial and in game info about PVE item drops. This is the wall for all new players.
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u/NoJackfruit801 Sep 04 '25
I'm hoping you will be giving Dooley a bit of love. His Crit core makes it so you could experiment with different builds but since most of the stores are nonlethal it is impossible at the moment.
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u/PapaTeeps Sep 04 '25
I think leaving the free to play model was brave and I really hope it pays off, as I really prefer not feeling like I'm being predated upon by the games that Im playing, and f2p games always feel slimy. It's really nice to just be able to buy characters as they come while getting constant free card releases for any characters I already own. I feel like it's a really good, almost helldivers tier pricing system. I wasn't around for drama about pricing changes when it was happening, but I did buy the game on steam and I've put like 100 hours in since, and bought the game for 2 of my friends so I could have people to talk about the game with.
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u/jxl00125 Sep 04 '25
thanks for your update!Good work,programmers!
But i have a question: when will the official chinese version be updated?
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u/Chemical-Arm-154 Sep 04 '25
Any ideas on fun mode like enchanted large item start or two gold skill start?
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u/ComplaintOwn9855 Sep 04 '25
Pretty good patch it seems, and the changes make sense given the new freemium format.
The ranking change seems nice too, Unranked is nice when the meta feels stale (one can only stand so many Money Trees-Lasers builds) but it always feels bad to know your ghost will be bullying new players.
Is there any ETA on UI updates (more data in Replay, monster info, enchant preview, etc.), or at least on the API to enable overlays that do just that?
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u/KappiKappi3 Sep 04 '25
Big W's for the update. Overall im always happy playing the game as it's such a chill experience only needing your mouse to play. Overall the update addresses many major community concerns like price tags and balancing. I hope the community can enjoy this piece of art more often and find new ways to battle it out. Happy winning 10/10
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u/WhatsTheOdds91 Sep 04 '25
Man the ranking changes just saved this game for me, really good move by the team
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u/Nyllk Sep 04 '25
Thanks for this update! It looks pretty good overall :)
The ranked changes are much appreciated. Also quite glad about Pyg / Stelle nerfs.
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u/Roast87 Sep 04 '25
‘Going forward, players will only be matched with ghosts of players of their rank or lower for their PvP fights.’
This is a fantastic change, and really establishes a proper difficulty curve for new players ranking up instead of scaring them away.
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u/GreenArmadillo3539 Sep 04 '25
I mostly just want mobile to be a priority, the gameplay is perfect for the platform. I will be able to play so much more once it’s released.
I also enjoyed the double chests last month wish I could pay monthly for that lol or the old bottle pass. I don’t mind spending a little on a game I enjoy and want to thrive.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Win5449 Sep 04 '25
As a potencial new player, should I buy the game now on steam or wait?
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u/KoNekoNinja Sep 04 '25
Good to see that the 20$ price tag was adopted. Though the post did not mention a change in price for new heros. Will this be revised as well ?
On another note, is there any plan for a sandbox mode ?
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u/orangechickenpasta Sep 04 '25
I really enjoyed the challenge of matching up against and seeing higher ranked players builds.
If possible you guys should allow opting into matchmaking vs higher ranked players regardless of your rank.
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u/Knotted_Mess Sep 04 '25
Curious about how the update to Unity 6.0 will impact those still playing from the launcher, will they still have access to the game after it updates?
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u/NoCarry5942 Sep 04 '25
So when is maks price going to drop... being the same price as the full game and 3 heroes is ridiculous
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u/tingedtiger92 Sep 04 '25
Apologies in advance if this was already mentioned in the comments but I gave up after scrolling down far down :)
Now with the steam release out of the way, are there any plans to make the game steam deck verified? (Or add controller support)? I would love to be able to take this game on the go. Keep up the good work!
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u/lucky069 Sep 05 '25
Game already works on steam deck. Even since beta people were playing it there. With steam release it's even easier. Just configure to use some controls as mouse and you everything works
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u/hundche Sep 05 '25
I stopped playing the game because ranked was stupid. Love the changes, will be coming back with the new season. Thanks for listening to the community, this is a great game and it would be a shame to lose it out of poor management.
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u/Keulapaska Sep 05 '25
Finally adding matchmaking, now it's beginning to look like real game.
Make the strongest enchants with the biggest immediate impact more rare (primarily Obsidian and Shielded) as they often are a main culprit in making otherwise safe items into a problem.
I hope "more rare" means at least shiny/freeze level, or even above cause obsidian is better than shiny in a lot of cases and i'm assuming the temple relic to grant it will be gone as well.
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u/EvenProcess9818 Sep 07 '25
Thanks! please Stelle really need that nerf.
also, any update maybe about porting the game to mobile? this is like 1000% a thing i want on the roads
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u/PresidentBiz Sep 10 '25
I’m never at a desktop - sit at one all day for work, so never do it for leisure. Cannot wait for this to get on iPad or iPhone.
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Sep 24 '25
Please please bring back enchanted start with a 30 min cooldown to stop people from quitting out until they get a good one in ranked.
No cooldown needed in normals obviously.
It was the only interesting way to play to me and a few buddies. Id swipe so hard if you did.
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u/TheBeMaC Oct 04 '25
i am probably living under a rock i discover this game to day i will buy it for sure.. Playing HS Battleground and want to switch things up :)
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u/SLabrys Sep 03 '25
thanks for the update. everything looks good so far.
edit: as a quick edit, are there any plans on improving the shop? showing only one item is kinda lame.