HI ALL!
I would like to nominate myself this year for a spot on the Council, to actually be a Council Member.
I got my roots with MECCG back in 1995 and even earlier with ICE back in 1985. Around 2005, I started getting really heavy into the forums on the net checking in here and there and trying to get enough in me to actually give up Magic the Gathering. Then Around 2013, with the 1st Hobbit Movie, I said I am going to get this collection built, and the 2nd Movie, a 2nd set and the 3rd Movie a 3rd set, for a full player's set.
I have always admired the Council and the Members thinking "That's true dedication and commitment." Something I didn't have back in 2005-2013. I slowly built my collection and really never had anyone to play with, which had really been a bummer, but I kept studiying the rules. I often played solo and felt I wasn't really worthy enough to be a Council Member so I never pursued this.
I told myself unless I can actually make some kind of offering or donation of sorts how could I even consider myself to be a Council Member. So back in 2016 while playing Netrunner I was playing on jinteki.net and I said, "Man this could easily be used as the de-facto platform for MECCG." Then I thought if I was to create a gaming platform using my programming skills and offer this up as a token of dedication and let others like myself who have a hard time finding someone to play with, then I could even go so far as to give running on the council a shot!
I have been going over the rules, over and over since 1995. My playing experience was cut short around the end of MEDM (Dark Minions). As I figured there was no way ICE could even come close to doing something like MELE with Avatars for the NINE. I didn't find out about MELE till around 2000-2001-ish when a friend of mine had a MELE Gold Starter Box, and I was shocked they actually did MELE. I knew my end game was going to be MECCG.
To cut this short I feel my areas of interest would definitely benefit:
Web Based Initiatives
and
Dream Cards (as a Hobby initiative)
I would like to do some Rules Oversight too, but I feel I need to start working on just general ARV submissions, unless the DC guys are just too tight to have me fit in.
I have a Dream Card project I am working on that I want to use and then make the move to Rules.
If I make the council I will continue working on MECCG and make cardnum.net the de-facto platform for the Council of Elrond.
I will also continue to study the rules extensively until I feel like I can transition from Dreamcards to Rules Oversight.
If I can I will also try to promote the game at my local shop.
As far as the RULES and BIAS. Honestly, I have only one BIAS, and I will admit this:
I would love for Ringwraiths to be stronger, and to be able to keep up with a straight Wizard (Hero) deck. But I feel in Standard MECCG, ICE really, really did such a great job, keeping the Ringwraiths slightly underpowered, you might find that depressing but read on.
As I find myself playing and TRYING ever so hard, focusing on RW decks, I am seeing "secrets" in the design of the game, that is KEEPING me here STAYING PUT with the game, I am not going anywhere. Because one of the genius design aesthetics is you have 9 Ringwraiths and the puzzle/challenge is to make a deck for each Ringwraith that is fully capable and at a minimum ON PAR with a Wizard Deck. And it's actually fine that the Wizards are for the most part just enough stronger (Saruman not being a Warrior kinda hurts tho, haha). But Not to mention your playing expertise has to develop to pilot a RW Deck also.
But in closing, I have extensive gaming experience with:
Magic (now retired, from 1993 to 2013, 12 years scattered playing off and on)
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle (1995 to current, only 5-7 solid years playing)
MECCG (2-3 solid years in the beginning,
and then 100% researching from 2005
then w/solo & GCCG play from 2013 to current)
then Android: Netrunner (now retired, from 2013 to 2017)
I don't
veer far from the core and am wanting to retire on these two last platforms. I feel these are structurally the best mathematically FIT game engines out there. And they come from some of the best game designers in the "Role Playing Gaming eras" of the 80s and 90s.
I feel most games WISH they could have a back bone like MECCG and VTES. I mean don't get me wrong sometimes you might look at the MECCG rulebook and go "This is too complicated" but as I was recently telling a friend "Have you ever looked at a Basketball rulebook? or Football rulebook?" You might say these are easy games too, but when it comes to being technical they are pretty complex in earnest.
Finally in summary:
I would like to nominate myself:
Thomas Aldershof II (
rezwits)
from: Las Vegas, NV USA
age: 46
as:
COUNCIL MEMBER
I invite you to check out cardnum.net
and would sincerely appreciate your
VOTE!
Happy New Year!!! and may this year be a blast for gaming in general!!