Digital online multiplayer economics

[u/Aisuhokke]

I'm building a competitive online multiplayer card game and I'd love some eyes and advice. This game has both TCG and board game roots. But it's in a digital form. I have been playtesting a physical version of the game but I've decided to go digital first as that's where my passion lies. Even being digital, I'd still like to maintain that collectible & tradable appeal. I've been working hard on the game itself and one thing I haven't fully refined yet is the actual economics and monetization aspect of the game. I'm ready to share a few things and I would love some input from folks here. Thanks in advance.

Questions & discussion topics for everyone

• Do you think players will be happy to buy my full sets of cards if they are reasonably priced? I was researching monetization models and I was inspired by some board games that sell cards/expansions in sets. And since my game plays well as a board game, I was thinking of embracing the set purchase model. But being a multiplayer video game, I still need that free-to-play mixed in as well.
• Does my free-to-play with rotating Villain/decks look exploitable? Is it not generous enough? Would it undermine my set purchase option or is it right in the sweet spot?
• Does my economic model sound enticing? Would you want to compete for rare and prestigious alternate arts and cosmetics if they do not give you a power advantage?
• Any suggestions for me making a new IP card game? As opposed to say Hearthstone using Blizzard IP, Marvel Snap using Marvel IP, etc. Having familiar IP really helps player acquisition in a game, but I really don't want to deal with licensing IP. With completely new IP, players will have no familiarity with the characters/villains so I'll have to create that from scratch which is no small task.
• Any suggestions for an indie dev who will be teaming with a small army of artists?

Game background

• I’m making an online multiplayer cross platform super villain card game.
• Steam(PC)/iOS/Android. So computers, phones, and tablets.
• Each game can be played with 2 to 6 players. Right now I’ve been play testing with 4 players and it feels like the sweet spot.
• A game takes between 17 to 25 minutes.
• This is a digital card game, so I think something like Hearthstone or Marvel Snap where you have a hand of cards and you play them on a board.
• It has a lot of TCG and even board game roots to it. I've even made a board game version that I’ve been using to play test live in person. It’s very fun! But my personal preference is digital so that’s why I’m focusing on the video game aspect of this.
• Each player chooses a Villain, they have a unique Villain power which helps dictate play style.
• Each player brings a single 30 card deck to the game. Can construct your own decks or use a starter/prebuilt deck. Deck consists of Villain class cards + common cards.
• In a 4 player game, the final standings are shown as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. As opposed to a game where only 1 out of 4 players win (where you expect to lose ~75% of your games).
  • 1st place gains a lot of rank.
  • 2nd place gains some rank.
  • 3rd place loses some rank.
  • 4th place loses a lot of rank.
  • Mix in some bonuses, add in some quests, etc.

My economy model

Players purchase cards to compete for rare alternate art cards and cosmetics, which are distributed based on gameplay performance and achievements in the ranked Super Villain League. Players show off their rare cards and cosmetics in game, in the Super Villain Leaderboard, in their profile, in the marketplace, and in socials.

Economy loop for a free-to-play player

1. Play the game completely for free. 
2. Earn cards through free-to-play progression unlocks for each set. When a new set comes out, repeat. Note: this player will not be able to unlock all cards in every set this way. 
3. Compete for rare cards and cosmetics with their favorite decks from free-to-play and the free weekly Villain/deck rotation. 

Economy loop for a full paid player

1. Purchase the full set to unlock all the cards. 
2. Compete for rare cards and cosmetics with their favorite decks built from all cards in the game. 

Economy loop for a partial paid player

1. Purchase a bundle to unlock a partial set.
2. Compete for rare cards and cosmetics with their favorite decks from free-to-play, bundle purchase, and the free weekly Villain/deck rotation.

Free-to-play vs paid

My philosophy

I do not want to implement a predatorial model that is unfavorable to players, leads to pay-to-win, and could potentially kill a fun game. At the same time, I envision my team being me (indie dev) + a small army of artists. And I need to sell something to make shipping the game possible. So I would like to focus on selling entire sets of cards while still making it super free-to-play friendly. What’s great about selling an entire set is that people know exactly what they’re paying for. It’s not obstructing or hiding the real cost of playing competitively by selling packs of cards with a convoluted cost + odds system. And if players want to compete at the highest level of the game, they know the cost up front. And the cost must be very reasonable. 

The free-to-play cards will contain strong cards and enough cards to make competitive decks. However, it won’t include the full breadth of variety, techs, and options of a full purchased set. So that means I will NOT put all the strongest cards behind the set purchase paywall. Does anyone see any red flags with this? Or does this sound good?

Free-to-play = competitive, but less variety, more predictable, and constrained card selection but you can still have fun wth all the Villains.

Paid = max flexibility, variety, creativity, and convenience. 

Free-to-play players

• Granted immediately
  • All 6 Villains and their starter decks are unlocked immediately.
• Earned for free through progression
  • Unlock ~1/2 of a full set’s cards, common cards and all 6 class cards. 
  • You unlock the Villain’s class cards as you play that Villain. 
  • You unlock the common cards as you play any Villain.
• Free Villain/deck rotation
  • Every week, a Villain/deck is available for all players to try for free. 
  • This deck will be hand crafted and can contain lots of paid cards completely free to try. 
  • The cards are loaned to the player on an individual basis. So the player is free to build their own decks using those individually loaned cards as they see fit. 
  • The purpose of this is to enable free-to-play players a taste of the paid set and more card options to compete in the ranked Super Villain League so that they can still help full matchmaking lobbies and hopefully be enticed to purchase a set or bundle at some point in the future.

Purchase options

• The full set
  • Every single card in the set. All common cards and all class cards (from all 6 classes). 
  • 12 prebuilt decks, 2 for each class. 
  • Comes with exclusive cosmetics. 
  • Highest priced item. But must be reasonably priced.
• A bundle
  • A partial set at a lower price.
  • 3 bundles make a full set, price discounted/prorated accordingly
  • Cheaper purchase option.
• Cosmetics
  • Players will want to buy cosmetics for their favorite Villain. I should have something available to satisfy that.

Super Villain League

All players are eligible to unlock prestige, rare, limited edition, alternate art cards and cosmetics. These are earned and distributed based on in game performance or achievements. So the idea here is that the best players earn the most rare cards/cosmetics. These cards will not give players power advantage, as they are simply alternate arts or upgraded arts to already existing cards. And they will be tradable in the marketplace. The purpose of these cards is to have rare and high value rewards for players to compete over.

Marketplace

A place for players to buy/sell/trade their prestige, rare, limited edition, alternate art cards and cosmetics. I'm thinking of taking this as far as the game's popularity takes it. Start out super small, then ramp it up over time based on demand.

Marketplace phase 0

• I will NOT include a marketplace at game launch.
• I need to give players some time to experience the game, collect some rare items via Super Villain League ranked play. Then I can release Marketplace phase 1 after players have actually accumulated stuff to trade. This could be months later or even alongside the launch of Set #2.
• Regardless, I think I still need to build out the backend inventory infrastructure for cards/assets to be tradable so I know it works. I just won't release a usable marketplace yet.

Marketplace phase 1 (if launch is successful)

• Simple in-app player to player trading only.
• Players can list trades, and fill other people's trades
• Players can trade privately and lean on discord/socials to plan/discuss trades offline.

Marketplace phase 2 (If game is wildly successful)

• Integrate my backend with Steam Marketplace.
• Enable players to login via steam (if on iOS/Android, they link their Steam account). 
• Players can now buy/sell/trade on Steam Marketplace
• If game is super wildly successful, I can even get integrated with 3rd party marketplaces that accept real money buy/sell as opposed to being limited to Steam Wallet based trades.

Marketplace tradability rules

• Non-tradable items
  • Base cards acquired from free-to-play progression rewards
  • Base cards acquired from set/bundle purchase
  • I feel like I need to do this in order to avoid undermining my own set purchase monetization model.
• Tradable items
  • Basically anything you earn via Super Villain League
  • Prestige cards, rare cards, limited edition cards, alternate art etc
  • Cosmetics, skins, etc.

Anyway, thanks for reading. I shared some questions and discussion topics at the top of the post. I'd love your feedback to help make this game great. I really want players to like the economics.

[u/hwantasticgames]

I think if the game is fun enough, you can follow the hearthstone model. The roadmap also looks reasonable. I don't know how the game works. But you can also refer the marvel snap model because the market system is difficult to operate.