Konrad Klar wrote: ↑Tue Oct 04, 2022 11:30 am
To remove unnecessary inner chain of effects, where a part of main effect is a tapping for another effect.
There is no such thing as an "inner chain of effects" in MECCG. The rules never mention such a thing and there is no reason for it to exist in this game.
Konrad Klar wrote: ↑Tue Oct 04, 2022 11:30 am
Playable on company only at the end of the organization phase; tap a ranger.
The cards of this game aren't written this way and this does not line up with the rules on how cards work. The rules on PLAYING AND DRAWING CARDS state "
a card is playable only if its effect applies to an existing situation." In Ford, the statement "
Playable only at the end of the organization phase" defines the situation in the game when Ford is playable. "tap a ranger" is not a
situation within the game. The statement "tap a ranger" should not be included with the applicable situation. I can't find any other resource events that put "tap _____" in the description of the situation where the card is playable. It might come immediately after, but not with it. And it already comes immediately after in Ford...
There seems to be confusion about the difference between the "main effect" and the "price" of the action. This is related to the discussion on Long Grievous Siege where I explained the difference between the "main effect" and the "price". I'll copy that below.
Here, tapping is an action that uses a character such that they cannot be used again. Tapping is an action that restricts the player from tapping the character again to do all sorts of things that are advance the player towards victory in MECCG. Tapping a ranger can never be considered a main effect of the card because it not only does nothing to advance their position in the game's victory conditions, but it actively restricts the player from invoking actions that would help them achieve victory. The tapping of the ranger is a price to be paid for playing the card. It is called an "active condition" because the player actively invokes the tapping action to satisfy the condition that a ranger be tapped.
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Konrad Klar wrote: ↑Tue Oct 04, 2022 11:30 am
Playable only at the end of the organization phase" is only active condition.
By the way, "
Playable only at the end of the organization phase" is a condition for playing Ford. It defines the situation in the game that Ford applies to. But it is not an "active condition" because the end of the organization phase is not some action that the player actively invoke to satisfy a condition. The player does not invoke the end of the organization phase so that it will be the end of the organization phase (this doesn't even make sense). Instead, the end of the organization phase is just a situation that happens in the game.
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Previous discussion on Main Effect vs Price:
The phrase "
main effect" comes from the "Actions and Active and Passive Conditions" section of the Rules Annotations in the Wizards Companion. The rules annotations describe the "
main effect" of an action as opposed to the "
price" of the action (
the restriction to the player invoking the action). The main effect of a card is different from the price paid to play the card. The term "main" refers to the importance of the effect to the player. The term "price" refers to something expended to endured a condition of achieving a desired objective (the main effect). A restriction to the player invoking the action is the price to be paid for invoking the main effect. These words have meaning that should be recognized.
The player's location deck has a finite number of border-holds in it. Placing a border-hold with Long Grievous Siege expends that border-hold and restricts the player from placing the border-hold for some other purpose. Placing the border-hold is a "price" of playing Long Grievous Siege. Placing the border-hold is not the "main effect" because it is not a desired effect. There is no reason in MECCG why the player would want to have one less border-hold in their location deck.
For Long Grievous Siege, the returning of the faction to its owner's hand, the -5 to influence attempts, and the additional automatic attack are the player's objectives when playing this card. These effects are important ("Main") to the player's victory as they can remove their opponent's marshalling points from play and make it more difficult for the opponent to replay their faction. There are reasons in MECCG why the player wants (desires) these effects.
This is the difference between "main effect" and "price." Long Grievous Siege cannot be played unless the price of placing a border-hold with it is paid. On the other hand, Long Grievous Siege can be played even if there is no faction to remove to their opponent's hand as that is not a price.