Valve Changes Language On Artifact Card Following Backlash

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Controversy seems to loom over the upcoming collectible card game from Valve, titled Artifact. Things originally got off to a rough start when the game was first announced, as many gamers felt Valve was trolling or wasting time instead of focusing on Half-Life or a new sequel to Portal or a continuation of the events from Left 4 Dead. Obviously getting angry at Valve for not making the right kind of game didn't seem like something that would hurt them too badly in the long run, however, there was another issue that did seem to affect Artifact in a more substantial way that actually got Valve to sit up and pay attention. Recently the developers showcased some of the new cards that will be featured in the upcoming CCG, and one of the cards had some language describing its content that caused plenty of backlash on social media to get Valve to make a change to the card to remove the charged description.

Polygon is reporting that Valve has changed the name of the card formerly known as "Crack The Whip". It was initially put on display via a post on Twitter on September 26th, 2018 by the official Artifact account. It explained that when you play the card "Crack the Whip" card and you play a certain other card next to the "Crack The Whip" card, it will trigger again, as if being "whipped" into action. While that may not seem all that bad, the card's description is where things got hairy, causing some controversy on social media. The "Crack The Whip" card description states...

Modify a black hero with "After you play a black card, give this hero and its allied neighbors +2 Attack this round."

Directly under the initial tweet there are a number of complaints from users suggesting to Valve to change the name of the card. Some of the users stated that a card named "Crack The Whip" that modifies "black heroes" was "not a good look" and some users began suggesting other names for the card. Polygon stated that the name of the card and the description could be used out of context and give Valve a bad look from those unfamiliar with the way CCGs are played.

Following a multitude of complaints and backlash over the description and the card name, two days later on September 28th, 2018 there was an update from Valve under the initial announcement for the card, with the Artifact account stating that "Crack The Whip" had its named changed to "Coordinated Assault." Like any change that comes about due to controversy, there's some debate about whether or not the new card name is as catchy as the original, while others are just glad that the name has been changed. There doesn't appear to be any feedback on the changes from the artists of the cards, Wisnu Tan from Indonesia, and Jason Kang. The social media profiles for the artists have been quiet on the subject.

Nevertheless, some individuals made it known that they didn't like the name of the card and the description attached to it that Valve originally introduced for Artifact, and unlike most other company endeavors (especially regarding anything to do with Half-Life), Valve was actually quite quick to modify the card ahead of the game's release this November.

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