Does Guildmaster mode ruin playing the eventual campaign?

[MakeTheMostOfLife]

I've never played the board game and am 135 hours into Guildmaster mode playing solo controlling 4 characters. I've maxed out 3 characters, and still playing daily to level up the others.

The thing is I can feel my enjoyment for the game slowing draining away as it all starts to get a bit same same after a while. Find good synergy, rinse and repeat for a while and then look for new synergy to keep things interesting.

I was very excited for this much talked about campaign, but now I'm wondering if a lot of the enjoyment that people experience playing it for the first time will now be lost. I imagine a big part of the enjoyment is learning the game, the enemies, the synergies, the excitement of leveling up for the first time not knowing what what cards are coming, what items there are etc.

Most of that fresh enjoyment will be gone. By the time the campaign hits there will be very little left to figure out. I will know what characters to play, my tactics, what builds to work towards, what order to take perks and enchantments etc.

Will I just be going through the motions like it is increasingly starting to feel like now?

Is the campaign going to feel that different to all this time playing Guildmaster? Will it be worth to start everything all over again at lvl 1?

[TheBandit]

For reference, I've played the TT through twice and it's expansion once and for the digital game, I've maxed every character except for saw bones.

In the campaign, you get a lot less choice in your team and you will be forced to update your tactics to accommodate.

How it works. There are a set number of initial characters available at the start. You pick two quest cards, which usually contain a hero unlock. When you complete the quest, your current character retires and you pick a new one. (Doesn't have to be one you unlocked). (There are stacking perks to retiring multiple characters)

Since the game forces you to retire characters, you aren't going to be able to pull off amazing synergies as easily. Not to mention, the shop unlocks differently so your accessibility to items is also more difficult. Money isn't pooled in the base rule set, so having one character being really good at looting is going to cause others to fall behind. Not to mention, when you retire a character, their money and items are returned to the shop. So you don't get to snowball items.

The campaign is going to force you to adapt much more frequently. I love the flexibility of GM mode, but I am really looking forward to the difficulty that the campaign introduces.

[Raretalent212]

As someone who has the board game, the Campaign is quite amazing. You'll find yourself familiar with the game play, and be able to simply enjoy the story.

[Ertzi]

Originally posted by 76561198857250521:

I've never played the board game and am 135 hours into Guildmaster mode playing solo controlling 4 characters. I've maxed out 3 characters, and still playing daily to level up the others.

The thing is I can feel my enjoyment for the game slowing draining away as it all starts to get a bit same same after a while. Find good synergy, rinse and repeat for a while and then look for new synergy to keep things interesting.

I was very excited for this much talked about campaign, but now I'm wondering if a lot of the enjoyment that people experience playing it for the first time will now be lost. I imagine a big part of the enjoyment is learning the game, the enemies, the synergies, the excitement of leveling up for the first time not knowing what what cards are coming, what items there are etc.

Most of that fresh enjoyment will be gone. By the time the campaign hits there will be very little left to figure out. I will know what characters to play, my tactics, what builds to work towards, what order to take perks and enchantments etc.

Will I just be going through the motions like it is increasingly starting to feel like now?

Is the campaign going to feel that different to all this time playing Guildmaster? Will it be worth to start everything all over again at lvl 1?

You described EXACTLY why I have not been playing the GM mode, even though I have owned the game from the beginning. I have dabbled a little, but I have not unlocked a lot of things. I have not even seen most of the classes yet. No idea about their cards or playstyle. I need the journey to be a surprise, along with the actual immersive story, so I can be excited about every new card unlock, plot development, item and new strange classes. Playing GM right now would ruin everything for me, as awesome as the game is already. I am very hyped to play the actual campaign. I have patience. Your post actually made me feel very good about my decision.

[slimpwarrior]

While you may not experience the joy of opening a new character, you'll still enjoy the campaign and the story. Don't worry about it too much. If you're not a materialistic kind of person, you'll enjoy the campaign anyway :)

[Zeel Ara]

It sounds like the way you are playing the game now could the campaign much less fun. The idea of "maxing out" all the mercenaries will leave you with absolutely nothing new to see or do in terms of gameplay, so the campaign will just be a story told while you do all the same things you've already exhausted completely.

I don't think Guild Master mode ruins the campaign in and of itself. But playing the game into the ground just might.

[[MOSS]-BurningUp]

I have not been playing GM at all and i've this owned this since last year. I would not put any more time into it in a way GM mode is a spoiler for the real game.

[pitiflauticus]

It depends. Is your enjoyment tied to uncovering the story and plot, or to unlocking and maxing out characters? If the latter, then guildmaster will reduce your enjoyment because you will know all characters in advance. However, you could build them differently... there are several viable building strategies per char, and you could test one of the in guildmaster and a completely different one in the standard campaign...

[Ertzi]

Originally posted by pitiflauticus:

It depends. Is your enjoyment tied to uncovering the story and plot, or to unlocking and maxing out characters? If the latter, then guildmaster will reduce your enjoyment because you will know all characters in advance. However, you could build them differently... there are several viable building strategies per char, and you could test one of the in guildmaster and a completely different one in the standard campaign...

I am definitely a player who needs both. With a game like this, I would say the ratio for me would be about 70/30, with the gameplay elements being the more important thing. I love tinkering, deck-building, optimizing and min-maxing with interesting progression, so to be able to do all that with a solid story is a dream come true.

Gameplay will always be more important to me than story though. I learned this years ago when I jumped into the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO. I was like "oh yeah, finally an MMO with a good story!", but I uninstalled only after a few months because the gameplay loop was boring and repetitive. The cool cutscenes and great storylines did not matter at all anymore. But funny how there still needs to be something story-wise as well, eh? Would be lame to just play a series of encounters. Prob why it is so easy for me to keep away from GM mode. Anyway, nobody asked for my life story, so I will go away now. Very hyped about the campaign though!

[MakeTheMostOfLife]

@Ertzi The more I play, the more I think you made the right decision waiting for the campaign.

Regarding story and plot, well it depends. I loved The Witcher 2 which was more political based complex story, Red Dead 2 is absolutely amazing. But, I'm sick to death of the standard fantasy trope like in Witcher 3 Ciri story, Pillars of Eternity 1 &2, Divinity Original Sin 1&2 Assassin Creed Odyssey etc where the main story is all around being the chosen one... special bloodline... prophecy.... save the world blah blah... I just tune out these days as soon as it starts to get like that.

[Shad]

Guildmater & campaign won't be that much different. If you are tired with guildmaster, it'll probably be the same with the campaign.

[markakeen]

You got 135 hours enjoyment out of a £20 game and somehow that's a problem?! This just shows what a fantastic game and digital implementation this is. Just have a few weeks break and you will soon be restless with anticipation and ready for the campaign...

[MakeTheMostOfLife]

Originally posted by markakeen:

You got 135 hours enjoyment out of a £20 game and somehow that's a problem?! This just shows what a fantastic game and digital implementation this is. Just have a few weeks break and you will soon be restless with anticipation and ready for the campaign...

I'm from the UK but live in Indonesia. It only cost £6 :p

The money is not important. It's about whether the experience of the campaign can end up ruined or diminished. It's only a question and a warning for people thinking about playing the early access who are new to the game like I was. I think there is nothing to be gained playing Guildmaster for people who have never played the campaign before. It's possible learning the game in this way will take away much of the experience of playing the campaign for the first time.

However, from what i can gather, if you have played the campaign already, it might be quite a lot of fun because you can combo characters with more freedom than the campaign.

[Ertzi]

Originally posted by MakeTheMostOfLife:

@Ertzi The more I play, the more I think you made the right decision waiting for the campaign.

Regarding story and plot, well it depends. I loved The Witcher 2 which was more political based complex story, Red Dead 2 is absolutely amazing. But, I'm sick to death of the standard fantasy trope like in Witcher 3 Ciri story, Pillars of Eternity 1 &2, Divinity Original Sin 1&2 Assassin Creed Odyssey etc where the main story is all around being the chosen one... special bloodline... prophecy.... save the world blah blah... I just tune out these days as soon as it starts to get like that.

I'm with you there! Can't stand those cliched tropes. You always have to save the entire world or find a mcguffin that will save the universe or at least the kingdom from a horde of evil creatures, but I find these storylines desperately boring these days. And dragons. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ I hate dragons. It's always dragons everywhere. There are other fantasy creatures you know! Or make up your own. I love me a good simple story nowadays. Let me just be a woodcutter in a small village doing some local stuff and give the character the proper depth. Make it about the local politics even. Just make me care and keep me engaged without always going overboard. That's all I ask. But noooo! Has to be a mystic confluence of ancient powers and entities that threaten the existence of all life, every time. The evil is arising, we must find the Cauldron of Creation and throw the Circlet of Time in before it's too late. Booooring! And repetitive. Okay, rant over. Your post awoke something in me. :D

[Halcyon]

Originally posted by KhanPrime:

Since the game forces you to retire characters, you aren't going to be able to pull off amazing synergies as easily. Not to mention, the shop unlocks differently so your accessibility to items is also more difficult. Money isn't pooled in the base rule set, so having one character being really good at looting is going to cause others to fall behind. Not to mention, when you retire a character, their money and items are returned to the shop. So you don't get to snowball items.
.

Does this mean you run out of characters faster in a 4 player game? Would 2 player with 1 each be better?

[Slow Dog]

Originally posted by Halcyon:

Does this mean you run out of characters faster in a 4 player game? Would 2 player with 1 each be better?

There's no "running out", but it's generally true that having more characters gets them through their Personal Quests faster. One thing that addresses that is easier in Digital than Cardboard, which is to have a party of a couple of characters each. You don't necessarily have to take both of them to every scenario, but to take them to those scenarios which progress their goal. The character that wants scenarios in Gloomhaven goes to all scenarios in Gloomhaven, the one that wants to kill bandits goes to all scenarios with bandits, etc, and otherwise take whichever you prefer.