MOST OF THIS IS JUST SOME IDEAS TO THROW OUT THERE. I FIGURE NOW IS THE BEST TIME TO TALK ABOUT THIS IF SOMEONE IS GOING TO BE REBUILDING THE GAME FROM SCRATCH.IMPLEMENT AI IF POSSIBLEIf you can implement AI (Computer Opponent), that will really open up the possibilities with this game.
- TUTORIALS - Players can play against the computer starting out to learn the game, earn basic cards by defeating the computer as they level up (gain experience). For example, one of the initial opponents in the tutorial could introduce the player to scouts and explain their benefit. Upon completing the scouting tutorial, they are awarded a couple scout spirits to add to their kingdom. Have them learn what defenders and spells are and award those at the end of their respective tutorials as well. Next, have them build a small deck (maybe 10 spirits) and give them advice on what to their dungeon. Once they are able to beat the tutorials, open the game up to PvP, Raids, Campaigns, Tournaments, etc. and let them try to build full decks and populate their kingdom with spirits.
- CAMPAIGNS (SCENARIOS) - Have challenging campaigns and campaign packages (which have a cost to enter) in which a player has to defeat certain themed decks, or fight epic mythical battles, special maps, etc., using either their decks or a provided deck. Have increasing difficulty levels and offer rewards (gold, spirits, etc.) for defeating each campaign. A campaign may have multiple levels/sub-campaigns.
- RAIDS - Multi-player team challenges where players team up to fight tough challenges, raid bosses, etc. For example, a 2-player raid might be a slightly larger map where 2 players have to work together to take out a computer army, or defeat a dragon with unique abilities (like double strike, or an AoE flame breath).
LEVELING/EXPERIENCE SYSTEMAs players complete campaigns and win battles, they earn experience. As they level up, players receive rewards, such as gold to be used to purchase card packs, or a unique spirit. For example, for reaching level 4, a player might receive 200g. At level 5, he is awarded an Apulian Lancer or Lowlands Skeleton. As players level up, different Campaigns, Tournaments, Raids, etc., become unlocked.
CASTLE SPIRITSA lot of CCG's went away from a generic health pool (such as 20 life in MTG or a castle with 10 defense in SpiritWars) and introduced multiple General/Commander/Structure/Castles cards to replace it with different amounts of health and sometimes special abilities or attributes. I think this would work great for SpiritWars and would be a good way to introduce quite a few more cards to the game, which is something that will be greatly needed moving forward. SpiritWars would have various Castles that players had to acquire either through card packs, win in campaigns or tournaments, as a reward for leveling, beating a raid boss, etc. They should still be very basic (not overpowered), but have slight modifications/enhancements.
For example...
Starter Castle #1 - 8 health
Starter Castle #2 - 9 health
Basic Castle - 10 health (reward for reaching level X, something everyone receives relatively early into the game at an early level)
Castle #1 - 10 health + 5% extra gold for win
Castle #2 - 10 health + 5% extra xp for win
Castle #3 - 8 health + regen 1 health at the beginning of each round if health is less than 4
Castle #4 - 9 health, 3 vision (instead of 2)
Castle #5 - 12 health, 1 vision (instead of 2)
Castle #6 - 10 health, can heal 1 health to adjacent unit at start of turn (3 round cooldown after use)
Castle #7 - 10 health, takes 1 less damage from ranged attacks
Castle #8 - 6 health, armor 1 (takes 1 less damage from each melee attack)
Castle #9 (rare) - 11 health
Castle #10 (ultra rare) - 12 health
Castle #11 - 10 health, +1 health to all friendly defenders
Castle #12 - 10 health, +1 power to all friendly defenders
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ACHIEVEMENTS I think most players are familiar with achievements as well. Achievements can reward small bonuses like gold, a special card, unlock a campaign/raid, unlock other perks, etc. Here's some examples of possible achievements, some of which are easy to achieve and others quite difficult. Some will have to be accomplished against the computer/campaigns to avoid sandbagging or achievement trading. Most of the achievements would have a witty name, such as "Animal Lover". Here's some examples...
Reach level 10/20/30/40/50/etc
Complete 10/25/50/etc campaigns
Win 1/10/25/100/500/1000/etc games
Enter 1/10/25/etc tournament(s)
Win 1/5/10/etc tournament(s)
Acquire every basic (core) spirit
Acquire every (insert expansion here) spirit
Achieve a PvP rating of 1000/1200/1400/1600/1800/2000/etc
Kill 1/5/10/etc raid boss(es)
Defeat campaign X without using a combat spirit with an attack above 1
PACIFIST - Defeat a specific campaign without killing a combat unit
A RARE FIND - Acquire a rare spirit
MEDIUM RARE - Kill a rare spirit
Acquire a diety
Kill a diety
WHERE'S MY BUBBLE GUM? - Buy a card pack
Kill unit X in campaign Y and win the game
Do X in campaign Y and win the game
Defeat campaign X without using a specific spirit/homeland/ability/attribute - for example, beat campaign X without using Black Death
ANIMAL LOVER - collect at least one of each type of animal (Rodent, Feline, Canine, Swine, Reptile, Ursine, etc)
WHEN IN ROME - collect all 19 Roman spirits
TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER - collect 5 Leader Spirits (13 total)
TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER 2 - collect 10 Leader Spirits (13 total)
THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY - Collect "Baldur the Good", "Armasi Assassin" and "Medusa"
OK, a lot of the names are pretty lame, but you get the drift.
Some collection/library achievements could just be a common grouping ("Animal Lover" or witty combination ("The Good, The Bad And The Ugly"). Some of them would be relatively easy to achieve and others extremely difficult.
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TITLESAllow players to add titles to their name for certain accomplishments. For example, any player who defeats an extremely difficult raid boss that is a dragon could get the title "Dragonslayer" after their name, such as Psyclone the Dragonslayer.