SET OF RULES FOR MAY, 2021

The following rules become active on May 1, at 12:00 GMT, and will apply throughout May to all ranked sessions that are launched after that point.

ːsteampunkː EUROPE

ːcardsː players: 4
ːscoreː victory condition: 30 points
ːcursecardː Chaos Cards: allowed
ːhealth_powerupː Character Abilities: allowed
ːtelegramː Impending Misfortune: visible
ːcheatdiceː Characters: from random set
ːRatsClockː Timer: normal
ːLocationː Field: Clockwork town (1st)

* Special rules for EU server:

None.

ːsteampunkː ASIA

ːcardsː players: 2
ːscoreː victory condition: 35 points
ːcursecardː Chaos Cards: allowed
ːhealth_powerupː Character Abilities: allowed
ːtelegramː Impending Misfortune: hidden
ːcheatdiceː Characters: random
ːRatsClockː Timer: normal
ːLocationː Field: Clockwork town (1st)

* Special rules for Asia server:

The following cards are removed from the ranked deck on Asian server:

ːcardsː The Accelerator
ːcardsː An Award Ceremony
ːcardsː A Compromising Document
ːcardsː A Fraudulent Transaction
ːcardsː An Honest Exchange

ːsteampunkːːsteampunkːːsteampunkː

In addition to this set of rules, we also make adjustments to quite a few cards including Chaos Cards. These changes are applied in all modes and will be active for at least 1 month to test the balance (please keep in mind that for the next season, we might revert these adjustments or replace them with something else; it all depends on the results of the tests and the feedback we'll receive from the community).

As you can notice, most of the changes have a similar base: money reduction and score reduction. This is, of course, for a reason. Years of development with regular updates that bring not only new features but new cards as well, lead the game to the state that one can call "inflation". There are much more resources (money, votes) that are available in sessions than it was 2-3 years ago and that affects all aspects of gameplay.

We want to take a step back and reduce the impact of some of the cards in order to change that. In almost every case this isn't about nerfing a particular card but about reducing the overall amount of money that circulates in sessions.

The Chaos Cards are changed for a similar reason: due to the increase of resources, it's easier now to play them so we want to make them just a bit less impactful (although in some case we also reduced the value of malice these cards give when they are played).

With this in mind, here is the list of changes for May (and, potentially, for the following months as well). Notice that this time we often don't mention reasons why a card is changed – this is because we already explained it above.

CHAOS CARDS

A Sacrifice

The Agent of Chaos

The Army of Chaos

A Diversion in the Astral Plane

The Allies of Chaos

CARDS

Eternal Mortgage

Toxic Waste

Reason: this is not just because of the reasons we already explained. This card is still one of the most playable cards in the game due to the combination of its effects. So, in this case, yes, it is a nerf of a specific card in order to reduce its effectiveness.

Racketeering!

A Fence

Prize Fund

Reason: 4ːvotesː or -4ːmaliceː is just too good in comparison to $100. It also has a significant impact, especially the malice reduction. So, we decided to nerf this card a bit.

A Bag of Money

Reason: as was noticed in the comments after the previous change of this card – no one cares how many votes it gives because no one plays it for votes. Fair enough. This time, let's make it more balanced in terms of what it gives :)

Corporate Scam

Reason: oh, hey, a buff. With this card, the effect works as intended but it isn't impactful enough. Well, now you can get up to 4 free points out of it while simultaneously punishing those opponents who didn't join you in this scam.

That's all the changes for this month! We are waiting for your comments both theoretical (what do you think about the changes) and practical (how was your experience after playing the game with these changes).

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