Gold Stake is such a horrific slot machine grindfest

[Dollop of Mayo]

Not saying it should or shouldn't be changed but higher difficulties kinda turn into "play perfectly and more importantly get the perfect Jokers or restart for the 5000th time, idiot"

It's even to the point where I restart if I don't get a good benefit from the first small blind and skip (why wouldn't you, it's a huge waste of time) and I'm so sick of playing against the first big blind, it feels like that's where I spend 95% of my time now

Obviously I don't HAVE to touch this part of the game but I'm trying to be part of that 3% in SOMETHING in my life :P

[Boneless Banana]

It took me awhile to get it, too. I used the magic deck with the tarot and just kept rerolling the early blinds until I got a judgment through an arcana pack. It was enough to get me into through the earlier blinds and I ended up winning with Burnt joker, brainstorm, fortune teller, vagabond and supernova as final jokers. I think I got the burnt joker very early on. I dont know how many times I restarted in the beginning though...too many times for sure.

[Drateryako]

Originally posted by Dollop of Mayo:

Not saying it should or shouldn't be changed but higher difficulties kinda turn into "play perfectly and more importantly get the perfect Jokers or restart for the 5000th time, idiot"

It's even to the point where I restart if I don't get a good benefit from the first small blind and skip (why wouldn't you, it's a huge waste of time) and I'm so sick of playing against the first big blind, it feels like that's where I spend 95% of my time now

Obviously I don't HAVE to touch this part of the game but I'm trying to be part of that 3% in SOMETHING in my life :P

i agree hard. im only on blue stakes currently, but even at this level you still have to reset a bunch to get the ball rolling

[Dollop of Mayo]

Originally posted by Gekyume:

Originally posted by Dollop of Mayo:

Not saying it should or shouldn't be changed but higher difficulties kinda turn into "play perfectly and more importantly get the perfect Jokers or restart for the 5000th time, idiot"

It's even to the point where I restart if I don't get a good benefit from the first small blind and skip (why wouldn't you, it's a huge waste of time) and I'm so sick of playing against the first big blind, it feels like that's where I spend 95% of my time now

Obviously I don't HAVE to touch this part of the game but I'm trying to be part of that 3% in SOMETHING in my life :P

i agree hard. im only on blue stakes currently, but even at this level you still have to reset a bunch to get the ball rolling

Yeah it's not just Gold for sure. It just gets worse and worse as you go up. Honestly Small Blinds being basically worthless almost immediately might be the biggest offender. There's no point to playing them most of the time, especially early, so you want a good Tag for skipping so you end up restarting if you get a bad one.

[CWEastwood]

Originally posted by CMDR Shven:

The inherent problem is that this is not a game with physical skills, reflexes, etc. so the only way to make the game more "difficult" is to stack the deck against you, pun intended. If they change parameters on higher stakes to offset the added restrictions, it would cease to be harder and just be different. I'm not saying Gold is fun, just that I don't know how you can fundamentally fix it based on how the game and the entire genre is built.

Understood, but then I guess the question is "Does it need to get that hard?". Maybe the max stake should be purple. If Gold stake is putting a bad taste in people's mouths but purple is tough but doesn't tire players out then maybe gold needs to go. There's a sweet spot for max difficulty somewhere and idk if gold stake is it.

[acheq]

I did first the black deck, now the hardest part is done

[Dollop of Mayo]

Yeah I give up. I've gotten some runs in Gold Stake that can't get past Ante 6 that would easily hit Ante 12+ in lower difficulties. The game genuinely wants you to get a ludicrously busted run and trying for it over and over has, for now anyway, ruined my enjoyment of the game as a whole.

It's more my fault than the game's, I should've stayed away from it like I stayed away from Ascension in Slay the Spire. C'est la vie

[JudgeTy]

99% of Gold Stake players stop their consecutive runs right before they acquire a God seed run.

[Goblin]

Originally posted by JudgeTy:

99% of Gold Stake players stop their consecutive runs right before they acquire a God seed run.

99% of Gold Stake players hold R on god seed runs because it didn't start with the ski tag they wanted on the first small blind.

[JudgeTy]

Originally posted by Goblin:

Originally posted by JudgeTy:

99% of Gold Stake players stop their consecutive runs right before they acquire a God seed run.

99% of Gold Stake players hold R on god seed runs because it didn't start with the ski tag they wanted on the first small blind.

Should be 100%. What kind of idiot wants to play -5 Value on first tag.

[S♥ShiMe]

Originally posted by JudgeTy:

Originally posted by Goblin:

99% of Gold Stake players hold R on god seed runs because it didn't start with the ski tag they wanted on the first small blind.

Should be 100%. What kind of idiot wants to play -5 Value on first tag.

free shop is ssss tier in gold stake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bouncer]

Originally posted by CMDR Shven:

The inherent problem is that this is not a game with physical skills, reflexes, etc. so the only way to make the game more "difficult" is to stack the deck against you, pun intended. If they change parameters on higher stakes to offset the added restrictions, it would cease to be harder and just be different. I'm not saying Gold is fun, just that I don't know how you can fundamentally fix it based on how the game and the entire genre is built.

It is more limited yeah, but I can think of one way. Ramp up the difficulty but also give the player bonuses, like expanded shops, free rerolls, or a goodie after every boss blind. Counter the increased difficulty by reducing RNG.

But as is the difficulty is very anti-fun. Too many roguelites suffer this terrible difficulty system that's all about weakening the player, limiting their options, and piling on RNG so most high-end gameplay is repeating the first few stages over and over until you get lucky, and Balatro is sadly no exception.

[S♥ShiMe]

Originally posted by Bouncer:

Originally posted by CMDR Shven:

The inherent problem is that this is not a game with physical skills, reflexes, etc. so the only way to make the game more "difficult" is to stack the deck against you, pun intended. If they change parameters on higher stakes to offset the added restrictions, it would cease to be harder and just be different. I'm not saying Gold is fun, just that I don't know how you can fundamentally fix it based on how the game and the entire genre is built.

It is more limited yeah, but I can think of one way. Ramp up the difficulty but also give the player bonuses, like expanded shops, free rerolls, or a goodie after every boss blind. Counter the increased difficulty by reducing RNG.

But as is the difficulty is very anti-fun. Too many roguelites suffer this terrible difficulty system that's all about weakening the player, limiting their options, and piling on RNG so most high-end gameplay is repeating the first few stages over and over until you get lucky, and Balatro is sadly no exception.

it would make more sense if Balatro is a skill based game on gold stake. Unfortunately it is not. A simple tweak by allowing players to say, "Lock" a joker or voucher, would be a much much better "skill-based/decision-making" effort instead of the repeated first couple of stages imo.

Currently at higher stakes, "Better" skills (skills still DO matter, but the game puts a hard cap on your skills) does not matter as much as thunderstruck luck, that is where the problem is: a grind instead of fun.

[SandTag]

Originally posted by Dollop of Mayo:

Not saying it should or shouldn't be changed but higher difficulties kinda turn into "play perfectly and more importantly get the perfect Jokers or restart for the 5000th time, idiot"

It's even to the point where I restart if I don't get a good benefit from the first small blind and skip (why wouldn't you, it's a huge waste of time) and I'm so sick of playing against the first big blind, it feels like that's where I spend 95% of my time now

Obviously I don't HAVE to touch this part of the game but I'm trying to be part of that 3% in SOMETHING in my life :P

Reached gold stake on Erratic and yeah game is like kind of dysfunctional at gold stake, stops being fun past blue tbh.

[poop]

Originally posted by Dollop of Mayo:

Not saying it should or shouldn't be changed but higher difficulties kinda turn into "play perfectly and more importantly get the perfect Jokers or restart for the 5000th time, idiot"

It's even to the point where I restart if I don't get a good benefit from the first small blind and skip (why wouldn't you, it's a huge waste of time) and I'm so sick of playing against the first big blind, it feels like that's where I spend 95% of my time now

Obviously I don't HAVE to touch this part of the game but I'm trying to be part of that 3% in SOMETHING in my life :P

since when are roguelikes not basically slot machines with a game faced over them? serious question, and im thinking of a couple WILDLY popular roguelikes here

[Zelakon]

Originally posted by poop:

since when are roguelikes not basically slot machines with a game faced over them? serious question, and im thinking of a couple WILDLY popular roguelikes here

Are you serious? I'd argue most roguelikes are more skill than luck-based, otherwise what would be the point/efficacy of you continuing to play and improve? Balatro is no different until you reach the upper difficulties, at which point the RNG undermines you.

Do you really think Hades, Dead Cells or Spelunky start off with the majority of their seeds as unwinnable? Utter rubbish.