My username is pyrotica
1. An offline client, allowing you to play campaigns against bots /
I don't think this should be a high priority.
This would be fun for some but to be honest the online community is not currently lacking in opponents, I can at a moments notice play against another human which IMO is much more fun than playing against a bot. Although to be honest I did play the old campaigns on the MF client. Perhaps if you made there to be some reward for playing the campaign, like you get the latest promo card for free but only if you beat the campaign etc.
2. A bot with a setting for different play styles
Again, low priority.
I think if you are going to have bots you will need to have a variety of them with all kinds of different play styles otherwise it will get old super quick to play against them. Also if you are going to do bots you need to have them of all different strengths - weak bots, strong bots, and everything in between. This is how the old MF campaigns stayed interesting, because the different bots you would play against had all kinds of different strengths and weaknesses.
3. A strong bot.
Again, low priority.
See above.
4. Options for timed games
Yes this should be a high priority for you.
In fact I think it should be the default. Perhaps 10 minutes for each player for the standard game. Also you could run something like the byo-yomi timing system from Go where there is a main time and then a set number of time periods of a set number of seconds which reset when you finish your turn, but after which the game is forfeit. This would prevent slow playing. So then the default would be something like each player gets 10 minutes plus 5 periods of 30 seconds each to play. The host would be able to set the timing in the table, so you could have a long game or a blitz game or whatever.
5. Options for undo settings
High priority.
Yes I think this should be standard as well. You could see upfront if there is an undo allowed, if permission is needed, or if no undo at all. And you could change the setting for each table.
6. Online mini-tournaments; the option to easily create one for you & your friends.
Low priority
This would be fun, I would probably use a feature like this more if there were online tournaments, like weekly tournaments at the same day and time each week, separated for different rankings like 45-50, 50-55, 55-60 etc. I dont have enough friends who are interested in the game to run a tourney at home.
7. Option to invite specific players to your table
High priority. Absolutely, this should be standard. As well you should in your settings be able to set it to auto-invite people when they come online.
8. More translations (to what language?)
I think you should although it wouldnt effect my game at all.
9. Better animations when cards are gained/bought/played/...
I think sound effects are more important. The animations seem fine for the moment. When you get too carried away with animations to the point that the game runs slow, it really sucks. The latest iteration of MtG on steam is like that, it runs so unplayably slow its just ridiculous. However I think sound is important. It provides your brain with information. The shuffle sound is the most important, but perhaps some small subtle sounds that correspond to certain things like +action, +card, +buy, curse, boon, hex, etc.
10. Better visualization of split piles, Archive/Crypt contents, Prince targets, ...
High priority.
Absolutely this needs to happen. Its playable as it is but to be honest its easy to forget what is where in the current version. Although it is understandable that the screen scales the way it does, there should be a way to change it. When I play on my 34" gaming monitor the cards are humongous but then some of them are still hidden. If the game scaled more intelligently, there would be plenty of space for all the cards at least on my big screen. You should be able to change that in the settings.
10. Option to hide the log
Yes and it should apply to the whole table. The host should be able to change the settings much like they can change other settings.
11. Android app (or just improved compatibility?)
Well right now I can't say its very playable on the android. I probably would use this, the web page doesnt lend itself well to little touch screens.
12. iPhone app (or just improved compatibility?)
Nah just make the android app, screw those apple people. JK you should do a poll and find out how many of your users use apple vs android, make that app first, then the other one.
13. Downloadable game logs
I would not use this feature.
14. Improved moderation (dealing with chat abuse, slowplayers, ...)
Slow playing can be entirely eliminated by making timed games the default. Chat abuse is pretty annoying, probably because you have a lot of teenaged boys playing the game. I don't encounter it now as much as I used to, it has already improved. I'd say mods are good, cant hurt anything. Maybe give people free subscriptions for certain number of mod hours or whatever.
15. Tutorial on how to play Dominion
Yes! And it needs to explain key concepts, help make everyone into stronger players. Absolutely.
16. Tutorial on how to play dominion online.
Nah its very self explanatory as it is.
A couple of things that I think should be implemented-
- Matching games should default to VP counter OFF. For god's sake, that's half the challenge of the game is trying to figure out if you are ahead or behind. Having it on by default really dumbs down the experience on average.
- On that note you should be able to match with a preexisting table, or have someone match with your table. That way you can host a table, set the settings how you want, then wait for someone to match with you. Also you can choose match settings when you select to match. Say rank 40-60, vp off, time limit no more than 10 minutes, etc. This would make matching games much more interesting.
- I am of the opinion that the payment system should never have been implemented the way it is. I realize that in this day and age you have to have subscription dollars coming in to stay solvent. However there might be a better way to do it. For example, a base charge to acquire the card sets followed by a fee. I was both pleased and butthurt when dominion.games came along because when MF went belly up I thought my investment was gone. Now I can still play dominion and in fact dominion.games is better than MF ever was. However, I am still butthurt that I don't get to keep the cards forever that I had already payed for (I had the entire set when MF went belly up)
- In general I think you should focus on improving the online PvP aspects of the game, rather than offline. Even though I stand to gain the offline for free when it comes out. ;) Because playing against other humans is just better.
- In general I think you guys have done a great job. When my free subscriptions run out I can't say for sure whether or not I will renew because of the price. But I do play a lot and I will consider it, especially if you improve the online PvP environment somewhat. It is currently acceptable but certain things such as improved matching, time limits, sounds, etc are important and I would really be happy to see them implemented. If you simply continue as is I think you will eventually lose players over time, and I would be sad to see that happen. Half of what is fun about your site is that you have a large and diverse player base and I can match with someone of similar strength any time of the day or night.