NS Cards: Permanent Feature Update

[Vangaziland]

I think we should make an app where we can take our phone to the train station or local mural and catch nations in the real world.

[Sapnu puas]

Where’s my (1) by the news?

[Arumdaum]

I suspect Influence was a factor here.

You have an extremely low absolute (58) and relative (hatchling) Influence rating. Now I didn't do an analysis of nations at the rare, ultra rare or epic levels because there are so many of them, but at the Legendary level I only found a handful of nations with Legendary cards that were not WA Members/Delegates, Moderators, Administrators or Editors of some sort, recognized otherwise by the WA or having completed Easter Eggs. Every single one of those type nations had Superpower or higher level of influence with absolute levels in the upper thousands/10,000

Maybe there is other data here, but I suspect that may have been a factor as to why you were a rare instead of something higher. A similar nation with no other accolades but a moderate level of influence only would have been bumped up to Ultra Rare so its not like you were one component away from Legendary I would suspect

Actually, I have a counter theory. I propose that card rarity has to do with the amount of posts you've made on the forums.

i wish

theres people w lower postcounts than me and theyre legendary

[Vangaziland]

It seems like a mix of population and awards earned from your daily issue quizzes. Those with less population probably have more issue awards. Stuff like moderator, WA delegate tags and other roles seem to also be a part of the card.


So it would be a good idea for people to do some issues, if they want to be Legendary or at least Ultra Rare.

[ScotlandSerenity]

hopefully card upgrades will happen over time anyway as well as new cards.

[Arumdaum]

does anyone know the actual formula

[Mushet]

I'd like to be able to get any ex-nation card that is forever ineligible for their name to be taken again, or with stricter parameters in their population before becoming an ex-nation. There's some ex-nations, quite prominent in their day but long gone, that I would like to collect and I think this is reasonable. So I say we should be able to draw ex-nation cards, and that there should be a way for us to easily make buy offers on them since before I couldn't figure out how and nobody seemed to know when I asked. It's because most nations when you want their card you can look their nation up, view card, and make an offer, not so with ex-nations.

[Frisbeeteria]

I'd like to be able to get any ex-nation card that is forever ineligible for their name to be taken again, or with stricter parameters in their population before becoming an ex-nation.

We're not going to change how nations Cease To Exist (CTE). It will remain 28 days of inactivity, 60 days in vacation mode. You may be talking about nation name re-use. There's a topic on that in Technical, which is also where you should suggest changes. Not that they're likely at this point - we're pretty happy with the current profile.

I couldn't figure out how and nobody seemed to know when I asked

You can buy ex-nation cards if they exist in player decks. You'd simply have to browse other players' decks. There is no way to look up an Ex-nation card any other way. I suppose we could add something to the Boneyard, but I'd be against it. CTE nations should not be a factor. This is a game for existing nations.

So I say we should be able to draw ex-nation cards

This is unlikely to be true in any future round. It was broadly disliked. What's more likely is that cards for nations that are drawn and then CTE, once drawn, will remain until Junked. However, you won't be drawing ex-nation cards. They'll most likely be filtered out of lootboxes.

[Mushet]

I'd like to be able to get any ex-nation card that is forever ineligible for their name to be taken again, or with stricter parameters in their population before becoming an ex-nation.

We're not going to change how nations Cease To Exist (CTE). It will remain 28 days of inactivity, 60 days in vacation mode. You may be talking about nation name re-use. There's a topic on that in Technical, which is also where you should suggest changes. Not that they're likely at this point - we're pretty happy with the current profile.

I'm just talking about getting the cards of CTE nations, (although I did think it was 30 days of inactivity, 28 is a weird number, the more you know), I think that if it's ineligible for getting the name we should be able to get the card, or at least for that to be the case for ex-nations of a certain stricter caliber.

You can buy ex-nation cards if they exist in player decks. You'd simply have to browse other players' decks. There is no way to look up an Ex-nation card any other way. I suppose we could add something to the Boneyard, but I'd be against it. CTE nations should not be a factor. This is a game for existing nations.

Is it so wrong to want to collect your dead friends? Well I guess it sounds wrong when I put it like that.

This is unlikely to be true in any future round. It was broadly disliked. What's more likely is that cards for nations that are drawn and then CTE, once drawn, will remain until Junked. However, you won't be drawing ex-nation cards. They'll most likely be filtered out of lootboxes.

I didn't see any dislike, there was an even a market for them since they were pretty unique and rare.

[Luna Amore]

The problem with being able to draw ex-nations is that the overwhelming number of nations (something like 97%) that played this game are ex-nations. It'd be discouraging to pull ex-nations more often than not.

That and from a technical aspect I don't think an ex-nation could be ranked rarity-wise without some sort of update. Even if you only use nations currently blocked by name release rules, it's still gotta be an enormous number of ex-nations to update.

[Mushet]

The problem with being able to draw ex-nations is that the overwhelming number of nations (something like 97%) that played this game are ex-nations. It'd be discouraging to pull ex-nations more often than not.

That and from a technical aspect I don't think an ex-nation could be ranked rarity-wise without some sort of update. Even if you only use nations currently blocked by name release rules, it's still gotta be an enormous number of ex-nations to update.

Yeah that makes sense, dissapointing though.

[Sapnu puas]

The problem with being able to draw ex-nations is that the overwhelming number of nations (something like 97%) that played this game are ex-nations. It'd be discouraging to pull ex-nations more often than not.

That and from a technical aspect I don't think an ex-nation could be ranked rarity-wise without some sort of update. Even if you only use nations currently blocked by name release rules, it's still gotta be an enormous number of ex-nations to update.

What about a rarity involving that?

[Frisbeeteria]

Is it so wrong to want to collect your dead friends?

I don't think you understand where the ex-nation cards came from.

About 12 hours before the event started, a snapshot was made of all existing living nations. There were no ex-nations in that database. Over the course of the one week event, hundreds nations ceased to exist. Those are the only ex-nation cards that were ever in play.

If your friends stopped playing more than month prior to the event, they never had cards. They never will have cards until or unless they revive those nations and get gathered into the cards database. I have no idea how that will be handled at this point. The necessary decisions haven't been made.

There will never be a time when you can search out your six-months-dead friend's nation and load a card. Those cards won't exist. The database is drawn exclusively from living nations.

[Tessen]

I have no idea how that will be handled at this point. The necessary decisions haven't been made.

So, I suppose it's safe to say that the Max-announced "one week of no trading", for the trading card game, is likely to go a lot longer than the one now-completed week. Trading may not start up again for while, eh?

[Nationstates the Gathering]

I have no idea how that will be handled at this point. The necessary decisions haven't been made.

So, I suppose it's safe to say that the Max-announced "one week of no trading", for the trading card game, is likely to go a lot longer than the one now-completed week. Trading may not start up again for while, eh?

I suspect the longer it takes to get back up and running the better it is for those who want cards to become a permanent feature of the site.

The card game that existed during April Fools was very fun but likely requires (and also desires by way of feedback) many tweaks to make it more future-proof and enjoyable for a timeperiod longer than one week.

[Tessen]

I suspect the longer it takes to get back up and running the better it is for those who want cards to become a permanent feature of the site.

The card game that existed during April Fools was very fun but likely requires (and also desires by way of feedback) many tweaks to make it more future-proof and enjoyable for a timeperiod longer than one week.

Indeed. However, as Max's announcement did state, "cards trading will remain frozen for the next week, and there will be a future announcement on how they will work as a permanent site feature", I wouldn't say no to an update (now that that week has passed), or some bit of insight into some of the permanent ideas that may be in the works. If this is indeed going to take a while to re-code, providing a, "hang in there, this is what we're working on" update -- at the time an update was suggested -- could go a long way toward keeping the players who loved the trading game informed.

[Frisbeeteria]

If this is indeed going to take a while to re-code, providing a, "hang in there, this is what we're working on" update -- at the time an update was suggested -- could go a long way toward keeping the players who loved the trading game informed.

It's less a matter of "we're working on it" than "we're working on other things to put food on the table". I've not seen any movement on coding, or on any other aspect of site improvement since the card game ended. That's not at all unusual - our admins are volunteers, and they donate their time only when available. When you see the "future announcement", you'll know that they found some time.

[[violet]]

Where’s my (1) by the news?

Sorry, coming soon!

[Die Erworbenen Namen]

Where’s my (1) by the news?

Sorry, coming soon!

psst you should totally make a card for yourself and then give it to me

[Tessen]

psst you should totally make a card for yourself and then give it to me

I can only imagine how valuable and expensive a [Violet] card would become! NS would almost need a new card level, above "Legendary", to truly reflect such a card's worth.

[Die Erworbenen Namen]

psst you should totally make a card for yourself and then give it to me

I can only imagine how valuable and expensive a [Violet] card would become! NS would almost need a new card level, above "Legendary", to truly reflect such a card's worth.

Yeah. It should be colored Violet.

[Drawkland]

I can only imagine how valuable and expensive a [Violet] card would become! NS would almost need a new card level, above "Legendary", to truly reflect such a card's worth.

Yeah. It should be colored Violet.

Uh, like the Ultra-Rares?

[Thornid]

My two biggest concerns are 1) Limiting deck size and 2) WA being a requirement.
Anyone who looks at the WA sees it clearly and obviously swings towards a certain political leaning, in addition, it alters nation stats. Making WA membership compulsory for those who wish to get those sweet, sweet lootboxes would require some players to make a choice totally antithetical to their country/playstyle for the sake of this fun collecting game, or it would totally exclude them (us) from participating at all. It's a hard choice to make, especially as someone who absolutely LOVES to collect cards, and there is really no alternative that I can see. At least, no alternatives that aren't a pain in the rear. Also don't limit my desk size please I N E E D to collect my cards I love them.

[Nationstates the Gathering]

2) WA being a requirement.

I believe the announcement states that WA Membership will *NOT* be a requirement, and that other restrictions/features will be introduced to mitigate the effects that would be gained from this.

Deck Size will be expandable by spending bank. What will be interesting is where that limit is set and whether it will change over time (with folks adding 15-20 cards a week through their loot boxes thats still about 1,000 new cards a year for active users - which would double, triple, quadruple the size of most players decks in the first year. And what will happen with the excess cards of a nation such as minoa who presumably is already over the 'limit'

The other thing I believe that is unaddressed is regards to the cards themselves. Will there be a new card drop when the game is re-introduced with a re-assessment of the rarity level of cards of players who have gained population/influence/x-factors since the initial snapshot last month? Might we see some players who's cards were formerly common become uncommon? etc. And will that result in a new card being produced for that player - or will it update the old card (that could be dangerous in the case where a card loses a rarity level in the future)

[Drawkland]

Glad we finally got some confirmation on what the coders have been working on.

I just have one question: what will be done about deck size? Decks being expandable at the expense of bank sounds like a good deal to me, but what about all the cards we already have? If they go over the limit of the established first-level max deck size, will cards be removed? Will the cards stay but we won't be able to add any more? Will our decks be grandfathered in to whatever max size level matches our current deck size?

Besides that, my only other question is what is said above me regarding new nations' cards being generated and if rarity will be able to be modified in the future. Thanks to all the admins and such for their hard work on making this a great permanent feature!