Marc, why are you doing this?

[hobo]

I was sceptical about this game's success. There's already board games around, some are quite big and have tournaments. Now, there's another one looking promising.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shardbound/shardbound/description

Yes, the game's description make it feel like this game is going to be interesting. But throughout your experience do you really expect Brawl of Ages to last any longer than Savage Resurrection? If there's even no studio, why are you still trying to stay around games? Or is Brawl of Ages going to be a success indeed (or at least a game worth attention)?

[Sudsie]

We think this game will be successful. There is not currently any leading titles on the PC for this genre. There are genre defining titles for this on mobile but nothing has been brought to the platform we all love yet.

[Tom7i]

Hi, long-time HoN player here.

I've been following S2 games through thick and thin since HoN went f2p and i've started playing it. That is, untill they've announced they sold it to Garena and wanted to focus on their new baby Strife.

Even when they first announced they were working on Strife (while simultaniously claiming they were still in charge of HoN), many of us players tried to tell them that the MOBA market was already oversaturated with MOBAS at that point as anyone and their grandmom made a moba game and there was no way it could have worked.

Ofcourse, they didn't listen and went ahead with Strife; we all know how well that turned out.

But S2 didn't give up so easy; they decided to jump on to another genre which was quickly gaining attention thanks to Smite - the 3rd person moba, which is Savage Ressurection in a nutshell.

Guess what happened? Since by that point anyone and their grandmom made a 3rd person moba game, Savage Resurrection fell flat as well.

Now, they're looking around for another game idea and guess what genious idea they have come up with? Let's make a card game!!! Becouse this idea is so fresh and radical, that surely it will attract a load of people who would like to play a card game made by a small indie company. Right? Right.

Since you've adressed Marc directly in your OP, let me put in a couple of words myself: Marc, remember when you wrote in your Strife post-mortem, how you thought that you knew what the market wanted and you guess that you were wrong?

You're just as wrong now. The market doesn't need yet another rehashed version of a game that is currently popular (Hearthstone in this case), but something new, fresh, exciting or at least an old proven concept with a fresh twist (check out Strafe for instance).

As long as you or whoever else is left at S2 studios will only try to latch on to any game concept currently popular and try to emulate it, your games will continue to fail.

Idk if this will get deleted or not, but it's my honest 2 cents for what is worth. HoN still kicks a**, so thanks for that

[Tom7i]

Originally posted by Sudsie:

We think this game will be successful. There is not currently any leading titles on the PC for this genre. There are genre defining titles for this on mobile but nothing has been brought to the platform we all love yet.

https://www.pcgamesn.com/best-pc-card-games

And to think i just used google for this info.

[Sudsie]

Tom, I wanted to make a couple of corrections for you.

1.) Savage Resurrection has absolutely nothing to do with Smite. It was a 2016 update to the completely original, award winning game we released in 2003 Savage: The Battle for Newerth.

2.) Brawl of Ages is not inspired by Hearthstone in the slightest way. You will soon see this with game play videos. In fact, not only is it unlike Hearthstone, it is unlike any of those games in the link.

I understand your pessimism but I hope you sincerely like what you see in Brawl of Ages. Stick around and check it out.

[SEVERUS SNAPE]

Oh... S2 =) First of all - I wish you good luck with your new project. I was one of the players who purchased HoN. It was a great game and I loved it very much. I know how this project ended and know about Strife. And remember what happened with HoN modifications - I was creating mods for HoN. Even after all these sad things I'm still happy that I had opportunity to play HoN and enjoy unique heroes such as Nomad, Balphagore, Arachna, Bramble, Bushwack and more. So good luck!

HoN > DOTA2

[F😈CK HOPE]

Originally posted by Tom7i:

Now, they're looking around for another game idea and guess what genious idea they have come up with? Let's make a card game!!! Becouse this idea is so fresh and radical, that surely it will attract a load of people who would like to play a card game made by a small indie company. Right? Right.

Since you've adressed Marc directly in your OP, let me put in a couple of words myself: Marc, remember when you wrote in your Strife post-mortem, how you thought that you knew what the market wanted and you guess that you were wrong?

You're just as wrong now. The market doesn't need yet another rehashed version of a game that is currently popular (Hearthstone in this case), but something new, fresh, exciting or at least an old proven concept with a fresh twist (check out Strafe for instance).

from the gameplay videos this game actually looks more like a MOBA than like Hearthstone

which, you are still right that no one alive in clamoring for more tiny variations on that theme, but it does look like another effort to re-mine that pit than an actual card game

[Sudsie]

Thanks Blind Dog :)

HOPE, this game is really nothing like a MOBA (and not a lot like Hearthstone either). I'm curious what you think after you get a chance to play.

[🍋Warp🍋]

Originally posted by Sudsie:

We think this game will be successful. There is not currently any leading titles on the PC for this genre. There are genre defining titles for this on mobile but nothing has been brought to the platform we all love yet.

dream on.

[Brigitte Mohnhaupt]

Originally posted by Sudsie:

We think this game will be successful. There is not currently any leading titles on the PC for this genre. There are genre defining titles for this on mobile but nothing has been brought to the platform we all love yet.

First, thanks Sudsie for taking the time to answer people here despite the acrimony.
However, I have a really hard time feeling positive about this game. The "Clash of Clan/Clash Royal" genre worked on the mobile because it bypasses the restriction of the platform, but on PC i'm afraid it will just feel a bit empty…
I hope I'm wrong and that it will allow you to get funds to maybe do a more succesful Strife successor afterward though! Because STRIFE BEST MOBA!!!

[hobo]

It does feel empty on PC, that was the feeling I've got after a few matches.

[hobo]

http://steamcharts.com/app/529840
rip?

[Dry]

Originally posted by Sudsie:

We think this game will be successful. There is not currently any leading titles on the PC for this genre. There are genre defining titles for this on mobile but nothing has been brought to the platform we all love yet.

Minion masters: http://store.steampowered.com/app/489520/
not to mention it's a whole genre built around copying clash royale...

[Vileguy]

Originally posted by DryEagle:

not to mention it's a whole genre built around copying clash royale...

Copying another game is how genres come about. How many games were copies of Wolfenstein or Doom? The entire MOBA genre is just copies of DOTA. Clash Royale is also very similar to a WC3 map called Castle Fight. It didn't have cards, but you could say that it's a copy of that game. This is an emerging genre even though Clash Royale came out quite a while ago.

[St3gm4]

Originally posted by Sudsie:

We think this game will be successful. There is not currently any leading titles on the PC for this genre. There are genre defining titles for this on mobile but nothing has been brought to the platform we all love yet.

it's just funny and saddening when something that you were fighting for at the first place will bring you down in the end..