Joes letter part 2: LACK OF TIME/CASUALNESS

[thorondor]

I have split up joes letter in order to get a better overview and make it easier to respond directly to specific topics. There is a lot substantial content in this document, so lets take this opporntunity, exchange our ideas and work for a better future of MECCG.
The original post can be found here: http://www.councilofelrond.org/forum/vi ... .php?t=907
This thread deals with

Problem area 1: Current Players
Why are we losing them? What’s making staying in the game a frustrating experience?

B- LACK OF TIME/CASUALNESS (THE NEED TO MAKE GAME APPEALING ENOUGH TO CASUAL PLAYERS)
Now if you’re really so busy with grand things in life you don’t have a measly two hours free per month for games, there’s nothing we can do for poor you. But if you do have some time, and the thought of taking up that time with MECCG sounds desirable yet overwhelming, that’s the place we players must begin to think about fixing.

We have an unusual game. The players who play MECCG are almost always older than 20 years; compared to other CCGs, even strategy games, that’s a rare fact indeed. What this means is that we will have a higher percentage of players who will have to deal with the routines and demands of REAL LIFE, and thus have less time to give to games. Now these players will still have some time, they will possibly even seek to enlarge that free time as much as possible, they will even gladly give it to games; so what kinds of games will they choose?

They will choose games that can be played casually. They will not choose games that demand a constant upkeep of new card product (like Magic), or new rules. Luckily, our game does not have that. They will also not choose games whose playing structures are so alienating (GCCG) or inhibited so as to reward or encourage only tournament-level, competitive play. Finally, they will be turned away from games where it is harder to find co-players, if only because they must play something after dinner, and friends (because of the issue with “recruitment”) have given up having MECCG explained to them, and are clamoring for the self-contained, easy-to-understand Scrabble board.

[thorondor]

joes suggestions:

Some Solutions for Problem Area 1
So to recap Problem Area 1: Current Players, we have the specific obstacles of:

*Recruitment (I will hold off on Recruitment suggestions until after my analysis of “Problem 2: New Players.”)
*Lack of Time/Community
*Tournament Scene Frustration/Deck Stagnation

I see the issue of lack and time and community, and the tournament scene/deck frustration, as being interwined, so I will throw out a bunch of ideas related to these problems.

Create More Casual Play:
I have already argued that there exists a large coterie of MECCG players who will forever remain casual. In fact casual does not necessarily mean non-competitive; I have some friends that will only show up to one MECCG tournament a year, then they will do their damnedest to beat everybody! In this case “casual” means that we must be able to appeal to player who will only be playing rarely and have a lack of time. In the other case we must appeal to the non-competitive player, though these players may be playing quite often on GCCCG and with nearby friends.

One solution to the desire for casual play, then, is to better develop alternate scenarios that appeal to casual players. We can build-up both strategic and fun non-general opponent-events, create variations of Sealed, etc. Rather than guessing in the dark, thought, let’s take a poll and do some research. Poll Question: Is sealed deck working? How satisfied are you with sealed deck events, or would you prefer some changes to spice it up? If the level of satisfaction is not high, let’s change it’s rules, such as creating altogether different fixed packs of cards that you get, allowing virtual cards in sealed, etc.

The Players Committee that runs the Star Wars game, for example, decided that Sealed Play had become static and dull. The Committee put their heads together and created a list of more than 400 fixed cards that would go into a box that they called “The Cube.” It was from this box that henceforth all sealed decks in tournaments would then be made. Since the list of cards was so finely chosen, it created a much more balanced and interesting play environment than regular sealed… and more players, thusly, began playing sealed format. In addition, as you’ve probably already figured out, this method does not use any existing sealed product, and that product is getting more difficult for even us MECCG players to come by.

The ARDA Shared-deck MECCG Game:
This format reminds me of what I tried to do with my created “ARDA shared deck” game, a game that I played many times in Belgium Worlds to popular success, and this game can also be used as a sealed-deck generator. Finally, I realized this format was so popular for a reason I had completely forgotten about: you don’t even have to make a deck! That’s right, you just draw from a shared pile of cards, and play with what you get. I never realized before just how many players would love to play a game of middle-earth, but don’t have the energy or even hate to make a new deck, and of course they’re sick of the ones they already have. So why not play from a fixed box of cards that promises a totally different game each time? I think this format is very promising for certain types of middle-earth players, and I recommend its use at major tournaments.

More Poll Questions:
Is the Challenge Deck format working? What about Minion sealed? Let’s not fall into the trap of Are being purists, committed to some archaic “let’s play from the pack!” experience? If it’s our game, let’s do what we want with it.

GCCG:
I hate to say it, but GCCG needs serious help. It’s amazing, but it’s also been years; why don’t we have people dedicated to updating the installation rules for all major platforms? I’ve had players tell me that they’ve tried to install, had problems, posted questions in the forms, and got limited or no responses.

Solutions: There are many. Why not design a “How to Play GCCG” Book, with color pictures and everything? Also, in the long run, a Gccg 2, or just a MECCG 2, would be a dream. Can’t we get developers? Wigy has expressed interested in working with developers who are willing to do projects. Just see the current version of the newsletter on what kinds of jobs GCCG needs. If we can’t find developers/programmers with time now, not to worry; they will come, as we advertise and bring in new players. That’s right, new players mean new resources.

Rules and Official Expansions:
If necessary, let’s seek to actively limit the power of cards, including issuing errata, if that’s what it takes to curb the power of certain deck types. Let’s seek to create official expansions to the game, like the Virtual Card effort, especially if these new cards are geared towards “tweaking” the game and raising the power of other decks’ (like other RWs besides Ankhorohil). A Virtual Set #1 has been released, although the cards’ texts are still subject to minor edits at this point; I have met few people who have not found playing with these cards to be highly satisfying, and they’ve observed that they help eliminate creative stagnation and opened up the use of so many previously “dead” cards. In fact, the main objections to the set have come from people who simply don’t want to have to read new cards. I was surprised to hear this, but evidently there are many MECCG players who seem to NOT want any new sets. In their own way, even if they attend tournaments, even if they win Worlds, they have become “casual” at heart. It remains to be measured how many of truly want new expansions and change to happen, and thusly whether new expansions should only form part of an “alternate” tournament format, or whether they should be made legal for all tournaments.

Other Rules Documents: Minion Rules Summary
Let’s make a summary of those complicated minion rules! This isn’t even just for newbies, it’s for veterans too. Make it a nice color glossy summar, standard letter-size document, double-sided, with pretty images throughout to make the rules bullets seem less imposing. Would help during minion sealed events. This goes along with those helpful guides and articles like “Timing Tutorials,” etc. except that I think this one would be even more widely used, and appreciated.

COMMUNITY
Newsletter: I think the newsletter is a good idea, and I’ve received some suggestions for it, like to have it published every month in order to stay in player’s minds more. Every month won’t happen, but every season should now be possible, thanks to certain volunteers responding to my previous call for assistance. In addition, I had some creative ideas of my own, such as a special section that is a “community shout-out” page, where like a newspaper classifieds or “Job Wanted” section I collect short paragraphs about players from all over the world describing where they live and play and what decks or formats they play and who they play with. In this respect, we will see a picture of just how many of us there are, and even hear the voices of those scattered across the globe that are still playing.

COE Site:
This site is a godsend; tons of necessary, collected information that players need and want. But I think it can go further. Let’s totally update the site so that the pages become a sort of “clearinghouse” for new and old players. Explain on the cover page that there is a place in the middle-earth community for every kind of player, casual, thematic, etc., and give immediate links to the sections of the website that talk more about those resources and scenarios. For example, I thought it would be great to have an “Open Letter to the New Player of Middle-earth” where we welcome that player and tell him or her everything necessary to get involved in the game, the types of tourney structures, etc.

Patrons:
Finally, since I am including even dreamy suggestions here, we should keep our eyes open for rich people that might become patrons of the game. Sounds impossible? Not really. Consider this: independent films and independent art theaters might also have tiny audience communities and be making no money, but they survive because one of their fans considers their product to be a work of art, something beautiful that is worthy of keeping alive, and this fan agrees to support the cause—and is RICH. This might be our only hope, in fact, of ever getting the license back from Tolkien enterprises; unless an actual company decides they can make money of the game again. (But how much control will we, the players, lose in that case? Hmm.)

[thorondor]

i would like to stress the importance of the COE site.
i could and should be THE portal for everything connected with MECCG.
its on a good way, however there is still a lot of content that could be added like:
general tourney rules
errata and clarifications
rules of all the special tournaments
section for tips a tricks to play MECCG
virtual/dream card section
short articles for:
how to start with MECCG
how to organize a tourney
GCCG guide

[Bruce]

I agree that the CoE website must become the point of reference for everyone who's interested in MECCG. In my opinion the CoE website should be divided in 3 macro-sections, each one taylored on the needs of the 3 main groups in which the MECCG players can be divided:

1) potential new players and newbies
2) occasional players
3) veterans

Each one of these 3 groups has different needs, and the contents of the 3 macrosections should be differentiated accordingly

1) These are the those people who show up now and then on the forums and say "Surfing on the Internet I discovered by chance that there's this CCG about Tolkien's world. Where can I get the cards? How can I get in touch with other players?" and so on. This group also includes people who has a few starters/boosters at home (bought years ago out of curiosity) but never got to play the game because of the lack of anybody to play with. Their section should include:

- A brief summary of MECCG's story, with an overview of the various sets printed. I refer to something pretty much like these pages on Patrick Kaercher's website:
http://www.treebeard.com/Information/WhatIsMECCG.html
http://www.treebeard.com/Information/sets.html
(possibly with scans of some cards: images would be really helpful to make people understand what MECCG is all about)

- A complete card list in .xls format.

- Card spoilers.

- A FAQ section.

- A Links section (websites of national councils, online shops selling MECCG, GCCG website and so on)

- Tutorials on how to play MECCG and how to use GCCG, possibly videos or PowerPoint presentations. Videos could be uploaded on youtube too (a CoE channel on youtube could be an idea)

2) These are the players who can already play MECCG, but only now and then. These people just need clarification on the most obscure aspects of the game rules, and they also need to be updated on the news regarding the MECCG community, and be given the chance to keep in touch with the other players, including newbies in their area: many of them can only play live games at great events (Lure, Worlds, national tourneys...) and would be happy to help somebody new in their area to get into MECCG. These people need mostly:

- Some tutorial on how to teach MECCG (with links to some pre-constructed decklist for HerovsHero casual play)

- A newsletter service (with an online archive)

- Erratas and clarifications

3) These are the most active players, who regularly play, both live and via Internet. They have a deep knowledge of the rules. These are usually the players who are most active into developing new projects like DCs, VCs, scenarios and so on. Their section would include:

- Scenario rules in .pdf format

- Downloadable images of VCs and DCs

- Tutorials and guidelines on how to organize tourneys and bigger events (Worlds, public demos at game conventions...)

There's plenty of stuff that I may have overseen, of course, but I just wanted to give an overview: I didn't mean to make an exhaustive list.

As far as casual play is concerned, I agree that something could be done. In another discussion I had suggested a possible solution: defining WHAT casual play is, and what is not compatible with casual play, in order to see competitive and exciting games played with original decks. Unfortunately the proposal didn't receive much feedback. Of course I'm not saying that it is a good idea for sure, but honestly I expected it to produce a little more interest: should it be deemed as totally wrong, but should the debate lead to some positive innovation, I'd be very happy anyway.

New scenarios would be a good thing as well, but honestly I have never seen many fresh ideas coming out. There are a lot of scenarios in the METW player guide (I guess it's the same in the MELE player guide, but I can't say it for sure because I don't own one), maybe they could be a good source of inspiration. Frankly, I've never read those pages carefully, then I don't know if they can actually be of any use, but I guess they're worth a try.

Optional rules may help to do something against deck stagnation. For example, as far as minion RW are concerned, the main problem is the impossibility to make decent decks with active RWs (except Ako). Just a couple of proposals to get over this problem:

- Minion RW decks get an additional slot in the pool for a mode card which is played as perm event at the beginning of the game and is put on the RW when he comes into play (pretty much like some stage cards like Huntman's Garb, Grey Hat...). An optional rule could prevent the mode card from being discarded if at a darkhaven during orga phase, if deemed necessary.

- Add to the unleashed cards the text "You may bring this card from your sideboard into your play deck and reshuffle during your organization phase." so that they don't clog your hand if the RW doesn't show up in the early turns of a game or he gets duplicated (a player could choose to use up to 3 further sideboard slots for the unleashed cards of the backup RW).

The most suitable events to test any new scenario, DC/VC set, and so on are Worlds and Lure of course. Since every new project needs playtesters and developers, a good way to encourage participation to sucha projects would be reserving nice prizes for those taking part to test-tourneys.

In any case, my opinion is that the whole ICE's legacy should be set in stone and untouchable: every innovation promoted by the CoE should be clearly kept separated from the official MECCG as it is, simply because the players who want to stick to the game in its standard form must be given the chance to do it. Never forget that MECCG is a community of peers, there are just more experienced and more active players, but nobody has an higher authority.

A note on ARDA: I had the chance to play it at the Worlds08 in Antwerpen and I really liked it. I think it's one of the most promising projects at the moment, I suggest putting a lot of effort into promoting it in the future. Congrats to Joe for the idea.