(no subject)
So, a friend of mine wanted us to try out the new World of Warcraft trading card game. Has anyone here tried it? I bought a couple boosters and a starter deck, but haven't played it yet. I think this is going to be just another trading card also ran. It's going to run for a few years then fizzle.
I like the mechanics. I really do. They address some problems that Magic: The Gathering has has. In Magic you have to use Mana to cast spells. So, if you have a hand that has the wrong kinds of Mana in it you don't get to play, you just lose. Now there's all sorts of tricks and analysis you can do to minimize the amount of times that happens. But every now and again you just get Mana hosed.
In WoW they call Mana "resources". You can place any spell you'd normally use face down to use as a resource instead. So, you'll never get mana hosed. That's really good. I'm all for mechanics that let you play.
What I don't like is how they've built so many profit models into the game. In MtG you have 3 levels of rarity, Common, Uncommon, and Rare. Out of a 15 card booster you get 1 Rare, 3 Uncommon, and 11 Common. In WoW you have FIVE levels of rarity. Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, and Legendary. Out of 4 boosters I got 2 Epic, 10 Uncommon, and 48 Common. So, you'll have to buy a LOT more boosters to build the deck you want to play.
In MtG you have 5 colors, and you can mix those any way you like. In WoW you have to have a "hero" who represents yourself. All cards in your deck have to match the traits your hero has, the most significant of which seems to be his class. There are 9 classes, so effectively there's 9 colors.
Granted the rarity won't matter if you're playing in a Booster Draft format. These trading card companies really like Booster Drafts because it sells a LOT of cards. Basically everyone sits down at a table. Everyone opens a booster, and picks a card. You pass the remaining cards to the next person. You do this several times, then build a deck and play against people. In MtG the usual number of boosters needed per player is 3. Right now from what I've seen in WoW the usual number of boosters needed per player is 4.
Booster Drafts don't encourage casual play. You don't have a booster draft with your buddies over lunch. You might bring one of your decks though. But with 5 levels of rarity and 9 colors WoW is going to be very expensive to build a decent deck for casual play. If people get frustrated with how much money they're spending to just play with their friends for fun why would they go to a booster draft at a card shop?
And I definitely won't be spending the $$$ it would take to make a decent constructed deck for a WoW tournament. Who can afford to? I mean in MtG you have to buy a couple boxes of each set in the block, then buy whatever single cards you're missing for your deck. I can only imagine how many boxes you'd have to buy to be in a similar condition in WoW. I'd wager 4 boxes for each seat? At $85 a box that's a lot of $$$. I'm assuming they probably won't limit the number of sets in a tourney at first. And they're already working on an expansion. So, within a couple months it'll cost you $680 to get a decent card base to work with. I just don't see people paying that.
Has anyone here bought enough boxes to get most of the cards, to the point where they can buy singles if they need to? What do you think, do you think the new mechanics and WoW name will be enough to carry it over, or do you think they're going to price themselves out of the market?
I like the mechanics. I really do. They address some problems that Magic: The Gathering has has. In Magic you have to use Mana to cast spells. So, if you have a hand that has the wrong kinds of Mana in it you don't get to play, you just lose. Now there's all sorts of tricks and analysis you can do to minimize the amount of times that happens. But every now and again you just get Mana hosed.
In WoW they call Mana "resources". You can place any spell you'd normally use face down to use as a resource instead. So, you'll never get mana hosed. That's really good. I'm all for mechanics that let you play.
What I don't like is how they've built so many profit models into the game. In MtG you have 3 levels of rarity, Common, Uncommon, and Rare. Out of a 15 card booster you get 1 Rare, 3 Uncommon, and 11 Common. In WoW you have FIVE levels of rarity. Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, and Legendary. Out of 4 boosters I got 2 Epic, 10 Uncommon, and 48 Common. So, you'll have to buy a LOT more boosters to build the deck you want to play.
In MtG you have 5 colors, and you can mix those any way you like. In WoW you have to have a "hero" who represents yourself. All cards in your deck have to match the traits your hero has, the most significant of which seems to be his class. There are 9 classes, so effectively there's 9 colors.
Granted the rarity won't matter if you're playing in a Booster Draft format. These trading card companies really like Booster Drafts because it sells a LOT of cards. Basically everyone sits down at a table. Everyone opens a booster, and picks a card. You pass the remaining cards to the next person. You do this several times, then build a deck and play against people. In MtG the usual number of boosters needed per player is 3. Right now from what I've seen in WoW the usual number of boosters needed per player is 4.
Booster Drafts don't encourage casual play. You don't have a booster draft with your buddies over lunch. You might bring one of your decks though. But with 5 levels of rarity and 9 colors WoW is going to be very expensive to build a decent deck for casual play. If people get frustrated with how much money they're spending to just play with their friends for fun why would they go to a booster draft at a card shop?
And I definitely won't be spending the $$$ it would take to make a decent constructed deck for a WoW tournament. Who can afford to? I mean in MtG you have to buy a couple boxes of each set in the block, then buy whatever single cards you're missing for your deck. I can only imagine how many boxes you'd have to buy to be in a similar condition in WoW. I'd wager 4 boxes for each seat? At $85 a box that's a lot of $$$. I'm assuming they probably won't limit the number of sets in a tourney at first. And they're already working on an expansion. So, within a couple months it'll cost you $680 to get a decent card base to work with. I just don't see people paying that.
Has anyone here bought enough boxes to get most of the cards, to the point where they can buy singles if they need to? What do you think, do you think the new mechanics and WoW name will be enough to carry it over, or do you think they're going to price themselves out of the market?