GENERAL STUFF AND DEMO RESULTS
So we got hit by a BIG game company wanting to hog our place in the queue... So what? We switched quickly to Plan B, which also allowed us to change the card dimensions from 1.625" x 2.5" to 1.625" x 2.25" without adding to the manufacturing cost and thus increasing the price of the game.
What is the other significance besides the obvious "I don't have to pay more for the game"?
Since the total length of a game setup for NetWar is 12 cards long (i.e. 4 levels of game cards + 4 card distance from each other + 4 levels of the opposite game cards) this means that the total length was shortened by 12 x 0.25" = 3". Doesn't sound like much, but it actually allows the game to be played across a standard game/picnic table that is used in most game stores. We thought it was a great addition to the features of this game.
Also the initial rounds of public demos yielded fantastic results: 100% of the demo players wanted to play another game instead of leaving the event, 83% wanted to buy one of the demo decks, and 12% even came up with new tactics / options for the game play after playing for the FIRST time ever.
We pondered upon the multiple suggestions, adopted a few after a democratic vote (with me having a veto -- of course), and settled for now for three [3] changes, as described below.
The main changes to the standard game are as follows (these will be in the v1.0 manual):
1) Limiting Shield Extraction feature to ONE [1] Shield point being extracted remotely using a tunnel through cards (friend or foe) and ONE [1] by physically penetrating the defenses. Briefly: a card with Shield Extraction can inflict a total of TWO [2] Shield points worth of damage in total in one game. The feature can, however, be used as many times as desired to reveal cards on the game table, but these actions cannot harm the opposite player's Shields again.
JUSTIFICATION: We had two games out of four ending by use of this feature alone. While the probabilities are against such occurrence, it did take place. Because of the astronomical probabilities, we had not seen this happen before, but when it did it revealed the lopsided balance factor these cards had.
2) DJ Protocol Game Play Option: instead of not knowing the 10 initial cards, the players draw 10 cards as normal, but are allowed to look at them, without showing them to the opponent, and then place the cards + desired additional feature upgrades to the formation as they see fit before the game starts.
JUSTIFICATION: It was just a fun alternate way to play the game. It allowed a blend of memory game, additional pre-game strategy, and interesting choices for the initial setup. However, this alternate option is not honored in the Tournaments.
3) The manual got a revamp, mainly through separating the example game from the main manual (it'll still be available from the downloads page on the L13G website), adding more bulleted points around different aspects in the game, and adding the corrections to accommodate the other rule changes above.
JUSTIFICATION: A few demo players expressed the need for a quicker way to absorb the rules and get on with playing the game, and also the fact that they had missed key rule nuances plowing through the 27-page rulebook. All valid concerns, and thus we -- hopefully -- alleviated most of them this way.
SKILLZ AND TRIX
Sneak preview of the Skillz and Trix cards that are forthcoming for the NetWar as a near future supplement:
- Skillz and Trix cards are shuffled into the deck just like feature upgrades.
- They obey the same 1/4 rule = 40 standard card deck can have 10 Upgrade, 10 Skillz, and 10 Trix cards in it for a total of 70 cards. If Super-Computer and Legendary Hacker Application cards are used (3 max each in the deck) then the 46 card deck can have 10 Upgrade, 10 Skillz, and 10 Trix cards in it for a total of 76 cards, because neither of them count as standard cards and necessitate more Power Level I cards to be added. Now if the players opt to have the maximum number of standard cards in the deck, they will end up with 111 cards in total, i.e. 30 Power Level II - V cards (3 max each) + 30 Power Level I cards = 60, maximum number of S-C and LHA cards (3 S-C and 3 LHA = 6), 15 Upgrade (60/4 = 15), 15 Skillz, and 15 Trix cards.
- Skillz and Trix cards obey the same rules for obtaining them as Upgrades: the player can have as many of them as they are drawn from the deck before all 10 standard cards are in a formation.
- While Upgrade cards are assigned to standard cards (i.e. Applications) as new features, Skillz and Trix cards are kept in the hand and can be played sometimes even during the opposite player's turn.
So we got hit by a BIG game company wanting to hog our place in the queue... So what? We switched quickly to Plan B, which also allowed us to change the card dimensions from 1.625" x 2.5" to 1.625" x 2.25" without adding to the manufacturing cost and thus increasing the price of the game.
What is the other significance besides the obvious "I don't have to pay more for the game"?
Since the total length of a game setup for NetWar is 12 cards long (i.e. 4 levels of game cards + 4 card distance from each other + 4 levels of the opposite game cards) this means that the total length was shortened by 12 x 0.25" = 3". Doesn't sound like much, but it actually allows the game to be played across a standard game/picnic table that is used in most game stores. We thought it was a great addition to the features of this game.
Also the initial rounds of public demos yielded fantastic results: 100% of the demo players wanted to play another game instead of leaving the event, 83% wanted to buy one of the demo decks, and 12% even came up with new tactics / options for the game play after playing for the FIRST time ever.
We pondered upon the multiple suggestions, adopted a few after a democratic vote (with me having a veto -- of course), and settled for now for three [3] changes, as described below.
The main changes to the standard game are as follows (these will be in the v1.0 manual):
1) Limiting Shield Extraction feature to ONE [1] Shield point being extracted remotely using a tunnel through cards (friend or foe) and ONE [1] by physically penetrating the defenses. Briefly: a card with Shield Extraction can inflict a total of TWO [2] Shield points worth of damage in total in one game. The feature can, however, be used as many times as desired to reveal cards on the game table, but these actions cannot harm the opposite player's Shields again.
JUSTIFICATION: We had two games out of four ending by use of this feature alone. While the probabilities are against such occurrence, it did take place. Because of the astronomical probabilities, we had not seen this happen before, but when it did it revealed the lopsided balance factor these cards had.
2) DJ Protocol Game Play Option: instead of not knowing the 10 initial cards, the players draw 10 cards as normal, but are allowed to look at them, without showing them to the opponent, and then place the cards + desired additional feature upgrades to the formation as they see fit before the game starts.
JUSTIFICATION: It was just a fun alternate way to play the game. It allowed a blend of memory game, additional pre-game strategy, and interesting choices for the initial setup. However, this alternate option is not honored in the Tournaments.
3) The manual got a revamp, mainly through separating the example game from the main manual (it'll still be available from the downloads page on the L13G website), adding more bulleted points around different aspects in the game, and adding the corrections to accommodate the other rule changes above.
JUSTIFICATION: A few demo players expressed the need for a quicker way to absorb the rules and get on with playing the game, and also the fact that they had missed key rule nuances plowing through the 27-page rulebook. All valid concerns, and thus we -- hopefully -- alleviated most of them this way.
SKILLZ AND TRIX
Sneak preview of the Skillz and Trix cards that are forthcoming for the NetWar as a near future supplement:
- Skillz and Trix cards are shuffled into the deck just like feature upgrades.
- They obey the same 1/4 rule = 40 standard card deck can have 10 Upgrade, 10 Skillz, and 10 Trix cards in it for a total of 70 cards. If Super-Computer and Legendary Hacker Application cards are used (3 max each in the deck) then the 46 card deck can have 10 Upgrade, 10 Skillz, and 10 Trix cards in it for a total of 76 cards, because neither of them count as standard cards and necessitate more Power Level I cards to be added. Now if the players opt to have the maximum number of standard cards in the deck, they will end up with 111 cards in total, i.e. 30 Power Level II - V cards (3 max each) + 30 Power Level I cards = 60, maximum number of S-C and LHA cards (3 S-C and 3 LHA = 6), 15 Upgrade (60/4 = 15), 15 Skillz, and 15 Trix cards.
- Skillz and Trix cards obey the same rules for obtaining them as Upgrades: the player can have as many of them as they are drawn from the deck before all 10 standard cards are in a formation.
- While Upgrade cards are assigned to standard cards (i.e. Applications) as new features, Skillz and Trix cards are kept in the hand and can be played sometimes even during the opposite player's turn.
RSS Feed