Monday, July 7, 2008

CCG for Warhammer?

Monday, July 07, 2008  Werit   View Comments 3 comments

Recently a new Collectible Card Game (CCG), Champions of the Force, was announced for Star Wars Galaxies (SWG). It is a virtual card game which is played online, both in and outside of the SWG client (much like Legends of Norrath). World of Warcraft also has a CCG. It is a bit different than SOE's offerings in that it is played offline, but has loot cards with codes that can be redeemed for in-game items.

Since this trend seems to be growing, I would like to see Warhammer have a CCG. Not everyone seems to like them though. The SWG forums, which are always a joy, had some interesting negative opinions on the new feature.

  • 'Waste of time, should be working on something else.'
    • The ol 'what I want is obviously the correct path for everyone else'
    • It is a different set of CCG focused developers working on that aspect, so it is not taking time away from the game.
  • 'Isn't this just RMT?'
    • Not really. All accounts get 5 free booster packs per month so there is no extra cost.
    • SOE's implementation does give loot cards which can be redeemed for useful in-game items, which can lead to the perception of RMT. I do not like the idea of combat useful items given through a CCG.
    • Booster packs contain random cards, so if you are buying them for the loot, you are buying a chance. However, you currently do this with your subscription fee since there are random drops within the game.
  • 'They are just copying WoW again...'
    • No, they are copying Legends of Norrath.
    • WoW's CCG is nothing like what they are implementing.
  • 'It's stupid!'
    • It is the SWG boards...
Those are the primary arguments against the CCG, which seem generally weak to me. The benefits outweigh the drawbacks:
  • A Game within a game
    • A completely different style of game that can be played within the game client (or outside of it).
  • More money for the game
    • The more profit, the more that can be spent on the game.
  • More things to do
    • Card collecting can be fun, whether they be baseball cards or Magic.
  • Everyone can play
    • So long as they follow the SOE model of giving free packs to paying customers.
I would really like to see a CCG game in WAR which follows the SOE model. As we know, Warhammer has a rich lore to draw from, so there would be no shortage of possible cards. Being able to play a more strategic/tactical game would be a nice change of pace from the MMO combat sometimes.

As for the ever popular loot cards. A WAR CCG should only give items that have no effect on game mechanics. The cards could give things like: Mounts, Trophies, Dye's, Guild standards, character model changes and Squig/White Lion customization options.

Now if they could combine their Tabletop game with a CCG and an online client... it would be even better.

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3 comments:

That would be pretty spiffy, yessir. Especially if it could tie in with the game somehow, or be playable on cell phones, or whatnot.

I've never seen the draw of the CCGs but that's just me.

However, the "everyone can play" is a sticking point for me. All my mmo friends are North American, so I play on NA servers. There's no garuntee that if they did a free card thing (unless it was digital, and then whats the point) that I'd get them, being in Europe and thus not eligble for freebies in NA.

Rather like how the free CoX comic book was only sent out to NA customers.

Well, the way SOE is doing it... anyone with a subscription gets the free booster packs every month.

They are digital/virtual cards. You use an in-game and out of game client to play other people, so it should be cross-server.

I have never played CCG's much either, as I never knew anyone who did. But now with virtual, I can find some opponents.

The draw for me is that it is =more of a strategy game, where you need to build your deck and choose when to play certain cards and abilities.

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