Hello Everyone, We are excited for 2019 and what we have planned for Animation Throwdown! Read below for some highlights from our plans and responses to some of the most frequently mentioned areas of the game. This isn’t a complete list of everything we are working on. Our comments on future plans reflect our current stances and are not a guarantee of what will make it into the game: some items may be adjusted or changed in the future. Please let us know what you think and share your questions in this thread. Thank you all for playing and supporting Animation Throwdown. *** *** ### Completed #### Rumbles We recently added individual rematch prevention in Rumbles, which will take effect in the next upcoming Rumble. This means that you should not face any single player more than once during a Rumble match. We do not currently have additional plans to change MMR or matchmaking but will continue to monitor each event for improvements. #### Clashes & Burger Boss Challenge We plan to release clashes approximately every two weeks, although there is not a hard structure to the timeline right now. Some of these clashes will be repeats of clashes we have already run, while others will be brand new. Burgerboss and Swole Club do not have a definitive schedule since they are more intensive for our design team to create. We will continue to run those events every few months, likely during times when clashes are not active. #### Secret Fight Club >*What changes can we look forward to for SFC?* >*What will be done to address leapfrogging or sandbagging?* To start, we have capped the maximum benefit players can get in clashes from climbing SFC. In order to limit leapfrogging, we are making a change to how your defense deck is selected in SFC. When other players see you in SFC, they will fight the last deck you won a match in SFC with, rather than your currently selected deck. Our intent is for players to reach high ranks of SFC naturally, rather than give the incentive to climb artificially through leapfrogging. Likewise, since clashes benefit from higher SFC, we hope to minimize the incentive of sandbagging. We will continue to monitor SFC for future improvement needs. *** ### Upcoming or Planned ** Features or fixes that will be in an upcoming client or server update, or are planned for later this year.** #### Quality of Life Improvements: * Allow Energy Refills to refill past the Energy Cap * Increase frequency of Siege & Rumble Quests * Display currency caps, where applicable * Add Character and Object to inventory filters #### Loot Odds We are still working on displaying loot odds within the game. Additionally, we are considering releasing the odds early on the forums, since it will take some time for us to prepare the client. *** ### Future **Features or fixes we have discussed implementing but need more time to plan, design, and/or implement.** #### Combo Mastery Updates We are reviewing the Combo Mastery system as a whole. One of the areas to be addressed is the limitations on the accessibility of different Mastery Tokens under the current system. A potential change is to increase the number of available mastery options in the store from 2 to 10; for both Gems and Mastery Stones. Additionally, the new Tier Boxes have opened up more avenues for those seeking Combo Mastery tokens, and we will continue to evaluate their impact on overall Mastery Token availability. We will continue to take player feedback into consideration as we explore additional improvements to the Combo Mastery system. More news will be shared at a later date. #### Buyback System A buyback system would allow players to purchase previously recycled cards with giggitywatts. In turn, we would be able to buff older cards without the recycle regret and influx of support tickets asking for cards to be restored. It will also help players get a faster resolution if a card was accidentally recycled. #### Card Buff Cycles For those of you who play Spellstone, you may be familiar with the concept of [card buffs](https://www.kongregate.com/pages/spellstone-card-updates-january-2019-angels): previously released cards are reviewed and some have their stats permanently increased. Once we release the buyback system, we are able to do card buffs in Throwdown, in order to increase the number of viable cards and strategies. Card Buffs would be announced from time to time and would include both premium and standard cards. This is one potential approach to addressing concerns about the current card pools. Additionally, event boxes in the shop may offer recently buffed cards so that newer players also have access to them. #### Add instant play to Challenges This item is still on our radar, but we do not have more news to share at this time. *** ### Other / FAQ #### Mythic Cards & Mythic Stones >*What are your future plans for adding more mythics and how will they be obtained?* We plan to continue releasing character mythics in the store. For now, the primary source of object mythics will be focused on the clash rewards. >*Will you increase the availability of Mythic Object and Super Mythic stones?* Yes. The new clashes are one method of increasing the number of stones available to players, giving both Super Mythic Stones and Mythic Object Stones. You can expect to see clashes more frequently than other special events, giving experienced players better access to mythics. >*Do you have any plans to replace Mythic Stones with Super Mythic Stones? If no, why not?* Replacing all Mythic Stones with Super Mythic Stones is a double-edged sword. Although this increases the pool of available mythics, it also makes leveling up a single mythic much more difficult, since there is a lower chance of getting more stones for any one mythic. Also, there are many players who still find regular Mythic Stones quite valuable. Rather than simply replacing the stones, we plan to make both Mythic Stones and Super Mythic Stones available through different events. This can already be seen with the second run of Winter Clash that started on January 21. #### Shop >*In the past, you [briefly mentioned](https://www.kongregate.com/forums/727066-general/topics/1653053) we might see some new shop options, such as more ways to spend our Golden Turds. Any news on that? * It remains true that we want to further support deck variety through new events (like [Clashes](https://animationthrowdown.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360020720511-Clash-Events)) and new shop options (like [Tier Boxes](https://www.kongregate.com/forums/727066-general/topics/1785050-official-now-available-tier-boxes)). Additional options for Golden Turds is an idea we are still considering, but we are in the midst of evaluating how Tier Boxes have impacted balance, economy, and the community first. We may not have more news in this area for a couple of months.

Looking forward to the early release of loot odds on the forums! It seems if there is an increase in combo masteries offered, there willl need to be a concurrent way to obtain mastery tokens from regular events as rewards. Buy back looks like an interesting option. Card buffs to older cards sounds like the right way to go to address powercreep. Having turds be an alternative currency to use in the shop is a great idea! But I don't get why the link you posted in the quote for the source of the idea, https://www.kongregate.com/pages/spellstone-card-updates-january-2019-angels, points to a different game. Allowing energy refills to go past the cap makes sense. Is the "Increase frequency of Siege & Rumble Quests" mean more events or just a participation incentive? Either is alright, but I would be more excited about greater frequency of siege and rumble.

Really happy with Loot odds, making both Mythic Stones and Super Mythic Stones available through different events and allowing Energy Refills to refill past the Energy Cap. no disappointing news! yaay!! :)

SFC! SFC! Yessss! Thumbs up!

I love it all! Thank you so much!

Thanks you for buback syetem my family was worried why I was sad because I accidentally recycled some of my cards

All sound like great ideas. I just wish we could replace the +5 adventure gas can with +5 arena fills. With most already completing the adventures. I only use the item when there is a bonus coin event.

> *Originally posted by **[oilmanq](/forums/727066/topics/1795373?page=1#13007493)**:* > Looking forward to the early release of loot odds on the forums! > > It seems if there is an increase in combo masteries offered, there willl need to be a concurrent way to obtain mastery tokens from regular events as rewards. Thank you for sharing this feedback! > Buy back looks like an interesting option. Card buffs to older cards sounds like the right way to go to address powercreep. I agree. It's been rather successful in Spellstone, and as F2P in that game I felt like I was getting pretty good value. > Having turds be an alternative currency to use in the shop is a great idea! But I don't get why the link you posted in the quote for the source of the idea, https://www.kongregate.com/pages/spellstone-card-updates-january-2019-angels, points to a different game. Ah, an error. Thank you! Here's the correct link: https://www.kongregate.com/forums/727066-general/topics/1653053 The link you provided was supposed to be the example link of what Spellstone card buffs look like. :) I'll update the OP, too. > Is the "Increase frequency of Siege & Rumble Quests" mean more events or just a participation incentive? Either is alright, but I would be more excited about greater frequency of siege and rumble. There aren't plans to increase the frequency of those events. This small change is meant to give additional small rewards to players, and provide a small bump in incentive to participate.

Can't wait to see these new things into action this year. Will be looking foward to it. I will say I didn't quite understand the Card Buffs section, so if someone can explain it to me I'd appreciate it a lot.

> *Originally posted by **[ModchiKopi](/forums/727066/topics/1795373?page=1#13007552)**:* > > *Originally posted by **[oilmanq](/forums/727066/topics/1795373?page=1#13007493)**:* > > Is the "Increase frequency of Siege & Rumble Quests" mean more events or just a participation incentive? Either is alright, but I would be more excited about greater frequency of siege and rumble. > > There aren't plans to increase the frequency of those events. This small change is meant to give additional small rewards to players, and provide a small bump in incentive to participate. Alright, sounds good. Anything that helps drive participation is a good idea, and also getting some quest award is a welcome idea. I hope they will fix the lack of app notifications that my guildmates have been having, as it is also impacting their ability to know when certain events are taking place, as well as all the timers or exclamation points not being very relevant and therefore being ignored if they give improper guidance, i.e. requiring some user action.

> _Originally posted by **[BlueFurious](/forums/726779/topics/1795373?page=1#13007554):**_ > Can't wait to see these new things into action this year. Will be looking foward to it. > I will say I didn't quite understand the Card Buffs section, so if someone can explain it to me I'd appreciate it a lot. That refers to giving older cards improved stats, or more skill pts, or both. They buffed all of the legendary and Mythic cards as well as a few epic cards about 6 months into the game, and haven't touched them since.

> *Originally posted by **[gfore25r](/forums/727066/topics/1795373?page=1#13007526)**:* > Will the change to SFC extend to challenges and other events? Will the player decks that are used be based on the SFC attack decks or something else? I asked the devs to answer these questions and will get back to you. > How long does the buyback period last or does it extend for the entire history of recycles? Details for how it will work in Throwdown haven't been laid out yet. It's possible (but not certain) that Throwdown could use the same method as Spellstone. In Spellstone, I believe the buyback screen for any player contains a _full_ history of that player's recycle activity. That being said, buying back a card in Spellstone costs a bit *more* than what the player received for recycling it. After cards have been buffed, though, there is a special 2-week period wherein those specific cards can be bought back for the *same* amount of currency the player received for recycling it.

Awesome stuff to hear! Looking forward to seeing them in action, especially the buyback system. > > *Originally posted by **[5pace4ce](/forums/727066/topics/1795373?page=1#13007540)**:* > All sound like great ideas. I just wish we could replace the +5 adventure gas can with +5 arena fills. With most already completing the adventures. I only use the item when there is a bonus coin event. This was on my list of things as well. Another solution would be to increase the adventure refill from +5 and +10, to +15 and +30. The adventure islands have been updated along with how the game has progressed, yet the refills have been left behind. Most people find themselves spending between 8-10 energy just for one hit on an island. It's small in comparison to the others, but would be a pleasant change to see.

Any thought of increasing card pool for mythic stones from 5?

> *Originally posted by **[Peejayhutt](/forums/727066/topics/1795373?page=1#13007587)**:* > Any thought of increasing card pool for mythic stones from 5? At this time, no, for reasons similar to why MS are not being replaced with SMS: >Although this increases the pool of available mythics, it also makes leveling up a single mythic much more difficult, since there is a lower chance of getting more stones for any one mythic. > >Rather than simply replacing the stones [or increasing the pool for Mythic stones], we plan to make both Mythic Stones and Super Mythic Stones available through different events.

maybe you wanted to say additional options for Wonderwharf Coins instead of golden turds?

Hello, thank you for taking the time to make this roadmap and respond to questions! I was curious if there was any word about arena refills, I've seen a few people ask about it on the forums, with the increase to the number of items in the ad box i've been receiving fewer refills and am almost completely out, is there any plan to help up the number of refills through a quest etc?

Any chance of updating the stone pools, currently the power stone pool has 12 cards but there are many more than that in the game. At the same time collecting Power Stones is slow. The greater Epic stone pool has a lot more epics but not all so some cards will be more difficult to get 4 copies but I suppose Super Epic Packs have that covered. Legendary stones have now 41 cards and just like the reasoning for not being able to upgrade Mythics if you make Mythic Stones Super Mythic Stones, it is far more difficult to get four copies of a legendary card. There are many ideas all over the forums that have been suggested. While buffing some cards are nice, it doesn’t change the resulting combo but it will help cards like Klaus, Fart School, etc. Each combo is unique and some have better values to become stronger. Wouldn’t it make more sense to go through each combo and balance the skill s in the result. A while back Hoverthrone King had an error where the resulting value for the recover skill was 0. The Dev team was able to fix this. Could you ask the devs if that is also a possibility?

> *Originally posted by **[juanbmera18](/forums/727066/topics/1795373?page=1#13007615)**:* > maybe you wanted to say additional options for Wonderwharf Coins instead of golden turds? We were referencing this [earlier post](https://www.kongregate.com/forums/727066-general/topics/1653053) that specifically talks about Golden Turds, but the answer applies to Wharf Coins and other potential changes to the shop. We are still considering options, but will want to further evaluate Tier Boxes first.

> *Originally posted by **[gfore25r](/forums/727066/topics/1795373?page=1#13007526)**:* > Will the change to SFC extend to challenges and other events? Will the player decks that are used be based on the SFC attack decks or something else? > We are considering extending this to other modes like Challenge, depending on how it goes for SFC. If implemented, it will use whatever deck was last used to attack (and win) in SFC.

> *Originally posted by **[gfore25r](/forums/727066/topics/1795373?page=1#13007526)**:* > Will the change to SFC extend to challenges and other events? Will the player decks that are used be based on the SFC attack decks or something else? > We are considering extending this to other modes like Challenge, depending on how it goes for SFC. If implemented, it will use whatever deck was last used to attack (and win) in SFC. >Arena Refills There isn't any news on this front at the moment, but I have definitely noticed the chat about needing Arena Refills more often after the ad crates were updated. I'll inquire further with the devs and make sure it is noted on the QoL requests list. > *Originally posted by **[El_Chupanibre](/forums/727066/topics/1795373?page=1#13007619)**:* > Any chance of updating the stone pools, currently the power stone pool has 12 cards but there are many more than that in the game. At the same time collecting Power Stones is slow. > > The greater Epic stone pool has a lot more epics but not all so some cards will be more difficult to get 4 copies but I suppose Super Epic Packs have that covered. > > Legendary stones have now 41 cards and just like the reasoning for not being able to upgrade Mythics if you make Mythic Stones Super Mythic Stones, it is far more difficult to get four copies of a legendary card. > > There are many ideas all over the forums that have been suggested. While buffing some cards are nice, it doesn’t change the resulting combo but it will help cards like Klaus, Fart School, etc. > > Each combo is unique and some have better values to become stronger. Wouldn’t it make more sense to go through each combo and balance the skill s in the result. > > A while back Hoverthrone King had an error where the resulting value for the recover skill was 0. The Dev team was able to fix this. Could you ask the devs if that is also a possibility? Currently, card buff cycles are in the earliest planning stages, so I don't have more detail to share yet. You've made a great point about paying attention to combos and skills, I'll note this and bring it up where applicable as we get further along in the development.

Is there a change to the current reward system in clashes planned? If they will happen biweekly, the top 100 will get (more or less the same winners every time) more than 30 mythics per year from the clash rewards alone. But players 1000 onwards get no rewards at all. Surely a more refined reward staggering would be preferable.

> *Originally posted by **[El_Chupanibre](/forums/727066/topics/1795373?page=1#13007619)**:* > Any chance of updating the stone pools, currently the power stone pool has 12 cards but there are many more than that in the game. At the same time collecting Power Stones is slow. > > The greater Epic stone pool has a lot more epics but not all so some cards will be more difficult to get 4 copies but I suppose Super Epic Packs have that covered. > > Legendary stones have now 41 cards and just like the reasoning for not being able to upgrade Mythics if you make Mythic Stones Super Mythic Stones, it is far more difficult to get four copies of a legendary card. > > There are many ideas all over the forums that have been suggested. While buffing some cards are nice, it doesn’t change the resulting combo but it will help cards like Klaus, Fart School, etc. > > Each combo is unique and some have better values to become stronger. Wouldn’t it make more sense to go through each combo and balance the skill s in the result. > > A while back Hoverthrone King had an error where the resulting value for the recover skill was 0. The Dev team was able to fix this. Could you ask the devs if that is also a possibility? Wouldn't a buff of the input card result in improved resultant combos across all the combos that the card can make? Also, they may improve some of the combos by buffing the combo factors, which would result in a buff to all the combos resulting in that combo.

> *Originally posted by **[tam271](/forums/727066/topics/1795373?page=1#13007617)**:* > Hello, thank you for taking the time to make this roadmap and respond to questions! > > I was curious if there was any word about arena refills, I've seen a few people ask about it on the forums, with the increase to the number of items in the ad box i've been receiving fewer refills and am almost completely out, is there any plan to help up the number of refills through a quest etc? +1