I don't feel great contributing to the negative attitude on this sub, but I'm surprised with all the things being complained about this one has been relatively unspoken of, though I'd consider it the biggest shortcoming of the game.

In the first few days of the release of Artifact I felt extremely enthusiastic about the game. It felt like a card game I could seriously commit to and spent a decent amount of money on packs to build a basic collection.

After making some interesting decks and running them in constructed for a few days I just felt... done? 20 hours into the game and I didn't really feel like there's anything to aim for. With no real ranking system and no real reliable way to expand my collection without spending money (like quests in Hearthstone) I just felt like I had nothing to keep me wanting to play.

I think that's the big issue with Artifact. Issues like monetary system and balancing are small problems compared to the feeling that playing the game and even winning is pointless. When you win a game there's... nothing. No rank up, no rewards, and therefore no real reward. Without quests, ranks or rewards there's this feeling of lack of purpose in winning games.

I haven't played Artifact in the past few days, and with the amount of people leaving the game after just a week I feel like Artifacts biggest issue is that there's little reason to stick with the game. It just feels aimless and unrewarding, even if gameplay wise it's incredibly interesting.

I think artifact is a fantastic game, it's just not a fantastic experience. The card game is incredible, but everything surrounding it kind of feels like an afterthought.