The Ladder will now give out phantoms as prizes instead of gold.
Phantoms can now be used in Expert Clash and other tournaments.

There are a few reasons for this one of which is to make it less enticing for people to game the ladder system by tanking their ranking.

I like the new change.

Awesome.

The thing that I like best is it gives newbs more of an EC edge.

Jed,
I'm a bit sad about the need to do this, but I think it is probably a good thing. Could you provide further details about how the new prize system will work?
Questions I have:
- If phantoms can be used in ECs and other tournaments, I would say they are basically like any card expect they cannot be traded or sold. Is this correct?
- Will phantoms won in the ladder expire after a set amount of time like phantoms awarded after any normal game or will they be the "permenant phantoms" suggested elsewhere in the forums?
- How will the new ladder prize system work? Will extra random phantom cards be awarded after winning a sim match? Will you now win phantom gold which can be used to buy phantom cards? Will the winners of the ladder get to pick from a choice of cards - with higher placers getting access to more rares and uncertains? Some other scenario I didn't think of?

I think this is a ridiculous idea for all involved.
It will lose the devs money, because if people can use phantoms for everything, there is less incentive to buy gold.It doesn't really help the alt abuse for ladder, because people will want to win the phantoms still. People will be able to make 30+ phantoms (which can now be used in EC!!!) in an hr just going against an alt and winning over and over.Also, it will make high cost default cards, think ivory spire, plummet in price, because everyone starts with one they can use....in EC!!(sorry, still blows my mind). Bottom line, I am for a change in the ladder, I am against this one.

-Noob

Pug dose bring up some good points.

I still think it might need some changes. I see these problem.

Problems:
1: The need for real cards decreases if theyre useable in EC. This ruins the re-sale value of cards and stifles the already decreasing activity in the market.

2: There will be less ECs from decreased market activity.


Possible Solutions (Numbers are coordinated with problems above)

1a: Dont make phantom cards useable in ECs. Remake the minor clash so we have both minor and expert clashes. Minor clash phantom firendly, EC not phantom friendly.

2: Use the gold not being spent on ladder to fund minor clash. The gold from the ladder is able to fund three seven power tournaments a day. Keep tournament prizes as power so people who buy gold can get a small discount on domain, etc. (Although I'm against rares purposely being better than commons to make profit for the creators Im not against the creators making profit. I hope this clears up a lot of my complaints.)

1b: Decrease the life on ladder phantoms to one week. (or some other smaller amount)

2b: Create a program that randomly buys a certain gold amount of cards from the market and sells them back. I really cant even guess what amount.. I cant even think this idea is very likely to happen..

Er, actually EC never was funded from market or from anywhere else. There was someone's bad joke that it is.

What!?

Ahahaha, I was fooled. Thats pretty funny.

Thanks Jed.

edit: No wonder altrens so good, hes from russia. The chess capitol of the universe.

lol?
By someone's bad joke, do you mean jed's bad joke? Because I asked him what was with the decrease in ECs (about a week after they started being every 8 hrs), and he told me it was because there has not been enough gold from market, which is what funds ECs...I guess I didn't catch the joke when he said it. Mah bad.

Damn have no time to think it through (or respond to some other topics id like to as well).
But heres a knee-jerk reaction.

ladder changes.....
HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!

then read about phantoms in EC........
OH NOES!!!!!!

then read Ubers proposition....(minor clash with phantoms and EC without, every 3hours)
WHY OF COURSE GOOD ONE!!!!!


looks at time.....
OMFG!!

Suggestion:
In options, make button 'I don't want to participate in ladder.'
With the way it is now (I like it) lot of more skilled players who already have tons of their own cards won't find ladder appealing. Personally I do not want to get some phantoms, no matter where they can be used. + it would remove me from my place on ladder (Surprisingly I still am there) thus giving more cards to newbies (ignore abusers) which is what we want it to do
I'd definitely use it ..

I also disagree with the EC part, MC and EC sounds better for me.. maybe from MC you could get some phantom gold to buy another phantom cards.. Would, taken by and large, create another system in TFW - one for free, one for real money. Dunno if it's the optimal solution (probably not) .. but the way it is now I think it's not either.