Ability to play matchmaking games without expansions for subscribed members

[drifblim]

I'd like to be able to choose to play matchmaking games without expansions, or select which expansions I'd like included, as a subscribed/paying member.

As far as I can tell, there's no way to change this option when I have a subscription, and matchmaking games are no longer fun when they're full of completely random cards - they often drag on for far longer than they should due to no card synergy and can be incredibly random/more luck-driven than skill-driven, etc. This is okay when I'm playing unranked games with friends, but when I'm playing ranked with strangers it doesn't give me what I want from the game, and I don't believe this kind of kingdom accurately reflects skill.

As a result of this experience, I have gone from playing every day before I bought a subscription, to having barely played at all in the weeks since I paid for a subscription. I regret this purchase deeply and would not have made it (at least on my main account) if it had been anywhere obvious that I would no longer be able to opt out of expansions for matchmaking.

[bajo]

This is a question of personal preference and you obviously have every right to have yours, but don't you think you're limiting your Dominion experience by wanting the games to feature only a very modest number of cards that you already have figured out through and through? I've been playing Dominion for about 3 years and I'm perfectly familiar with all existing cards. I can easily spot the most obvious synergies. Does it mean that I usually find the optimal strategy. No, of course not! Sometimes, the kingdoms are very rich and offer cards of which several combo strongly. It's difficult to know for sure which of them will be the most promising one. But isn't this the point of playing? Isn't it most fun to keep discovering the possibilities?

[artsfols]

I'd like to be able to choose to play matchmaking games without expansions, or select which expansions I'd like included, as a subscribed/paying member.

As far as I can tell, there's no way to change this option when I have a subscription, and matchmaking games are no longer fun when they're full of completely random cards - they often drag on for far longer than they should due to no card synergy and can be incredibly random/more luck-driven than skill-driven, etc. This is okay when I'm playing unranked games with friends, but when I'm playing ranked with strangers it doesn't give me what I want from the game, and I don't believe this kind of kingdom accurately reflects skill.

As a result of this experience, I have gone from playing every day before I bought a subscription, to having barely played at all in the weeks since I paid for a subscription. I regret this purchase deeply and would not have made it (at least on my main account) if it had been anywhere obvious that I would no longer be able to opt out of expansions for matchmaking.

If I understand your concern correctly, it's similar to the frustration I had when I purchased a subscription.  The solution was to match "unrated" which does limit the cards to the expansions and individual cards with which you are "familiar".  In addition, the algorithm will add unfamiliar cards based on an "option" screen setting, i.e. 0, 1, 2 or more unfamiliar cards. So that has kept me playing to this point.

I'd like to be able to play on the ladder though, at a level other than all expansions.  I understand the objection to allowing the use of 'familiar' cards on the ladder.  That is, you'd be able to tune your deck to a few familiar, synergistic cards in order to generate more wins. 

There are any number of ways to overcome this possibility.  The easiest would be to have a 'use familiar' option for rated games, but require a minimum number of familiar cards, perhaps 100 or even 150 cards. You would be matched only with players who also specified this setting and the card selection would occur on the same basis as an unrated game.  I don't see how that wouldn't work, but perhaps I'm missing something.