I was going to start a thread, but this one addresses a lot of the things I wanted to rant about, so I'll just reply here and agree with what has been said.
I have been playing Dominion online since about when the Goko version started, and though the MakingFun implementation wasn't perfect, it was pretty darn good. When I look at the new client, I see an implementation devised by people who have forgotten what it means to be new to Dominion. They seem to have spent too much time on certain advanced features while all but ignoring many basic ones. The GUI is shockingly cluttered and counter-intuitive, in both the game screen and the menus. I've watched tournament games between the ultra-masters (on Twitch), including the guys behind Shuffle iT, and the new game GUI is reflective of the way those guys play: the game log is always on, and they keep one eye on it constantly. I think that's why things like reveal/discard animations have been overlooked. The information is there in the log, so why bother? What really blows my mind is that the trash pile and Tavern/NV/Island/VP token/Coin token mats are all excluded from the GUI. The features for customizing kingdoms are so robust, them seem specifically geared toward tournament play. There's nothing wrong with that, but the menus are confusing to me. I can't imagine a brand-new player being anything but hopelessly lost.
The AIs were smarter in the MakingFun version, too.
I used to play Dominion Online every day, and now I must admit that my enthusiasm for doing so has been largely destroyed. I feel bad saying that, because obviously a lot of hard work has gone into this. I got a partial subscription for free because of my MF purchases, but there is no way I will pay money for this unless a serious overhaul happens. I guess the upside is that I'll end up making new friends when trying to find people to play the physical game with.
I have been playing Dominion online since about when the Goko version started, and though the MakingFun implementation wasn't perfect, it was pretty darn good. When I look at the new client, I see an implementation devised by people who have forgotten what it means to be new to Dominion. They seem to have spent too much time on certain advanced features while all but ignoring many basic ones. The GUI is shockingly cluttered and counter-intuitive, in both the game screen and the menus. I've watched tournament games between the ultra-masters (on Twitch), including the guys behind Shuffle iT, and the new game GUI is reflective of the way those guys play: the game log is always on, and they keep one eye on it constantly. I think that's why things like reveal/discard animations have been overlooked. The information is there in the log, so why bother? What really blows my mind is that the trash pile and Tavern/NV/Island/VP token/Coin token mats are all excluded from the GUI. The features for customizing kingdoms are so robust, them seem specifically geared toward tournament play. There's nothing wrong with that, but the menus are confusing to me. I can't imagine a brand-new player being anything but hopelessly lost.
The AIs were smarter in the MakingFun version, too.
I used to play Dominion Online every day, and now I must admit that my enthusiasm for doing so has been largely destroyed. I feel bad saying that, because obviously a lot of hard work has gone into this. I got a partial subscription for free because of my MF purchases, but there is no way I will pay money for this unless a serious overhaul happens. I guess the upside is that I'll end up making new friends when trying to find people to play the physical game with.