[quote from="CatParty »" url="/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-general/791893-wotc-in-talks-with-gamestop-to-host-magic?comment=47"]Basically, the games age is catching up with it. There's going to have to be a reckoning at some point to just make the game work again. I'm playing force of will and while that game has hilariously bad balance issues, it feels good to open a box of Time Spinning Witch simply because the cards are good and the full arts are amazing. I open a few packs of Dominaria and it feels disposable.
While broken cards and unbalanced mechanics may make things interesting or exciting for Force of Will players, I can't imagine the game lasting as long as Magic has. That kind of card design and development would likely repel new players as player who got in early would be dominating the local scene. Wizards went too far in the opposite direction and made the game too safe. This might increase new players, but I don't think those players stay as long.
</blockquote>
Don't think that people like the broken cards. If anything everyone is happy that it's improving. The main problem is that Lapis Cluster is still in new frontiers and green is a bit too powerful. In a lot of ways it's basically what MtG was back when it started going up through Urza's Saga. The MtG most people are familiar with today is extremely polished compared to what it was back then, and having lived through the entire affair I do feel confident in FoW lasting the test of time. The only thing they have to do is figure out their own color pie and how to better manage their resource system. Also, Wanderer, which is the eternal format, has a pretty well maintained ban list and is actually better balanced than frontier is at the moment.
Broken cards may be a problem when it comes to Force of Will TCG but when it comes to counterfeiting in Magic it's gotten to a point now where players are unable to afford the actual cards because they don't want to spend the money. In a perfect world cards would be worth $20 or less regardless of rarity, supply, and demand yet sadly we live in a world where the Secondary Market doesn't care If you're able to afford building a deck for a specific Trading Card Game / Collectible Card Game in said format. The longer a Trading Card Game / Collectible Card Game lasts the less forgiving the Secondary Market for it will become when you also factor in card scarcity due to products being out of print for a very long time.
A lot of Trading Card Games / Collectible Card Games nowadays are struggling to stay relevant in an over-saturated market where nostalgia reigns supreme when it comes to source material in order to sell product. Force of Will TCG became successful not because of the lore but because it was a Magic clone that catered to the otaku crowd of former Yu-Gi-Oh! players. In this current age of instant gratification we've already abandoned the thought of allowing novelty to set in for the things that we enjoy because gameplay mechanics alone aren't good enough to help sell a Trading Card Game / Collectible Card Game anymore. Unless the product is backed by a popular mainstream franchise like Dragon Ball it won't sell regardless of gameplay mechanics.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Don't think that people like the broken cards. If anything everyone is happy that it's improving. The main problem is that Lapis Cluster is still in new frontiers and green is a bit too powerful. In a lot of ways it's basically what MtG was back when it started going up through Urza's Saga. The MtG most people are familiar with today is extremely polished compared to what it was back then, and having lived through the entire affair I do feel confident in FoW lasting the test of time. The only thing they have to do is figure out their own color pie and how to better manage their resource system. Also, Wanderer, which is the eternal format, has a pretty well maintained ban list and is actually better balanced than frontier is at the moment.
I stopped collecting Force of Will TCG after the Grimm Cluster after all the keyword revisioning ("Enter" keyword retirement in favor of "Whenever this card enters the battlefield"). If they were trying to copy MTG mechanics, they were doing a bad job of it in my opinion, and their English localization needed work. From some casual internet searches, it still looks like a mess in some ways. I saw one comment that said the game is better played in "New Frontiers" (Standard) format, because every cluster (block) introduces new mechanics while the old mechanics are retired but not really revised. So, to me, past and future sets don't gel very well. It might stay alive in the U.S., but I can't imagine the game increasing market share any time soon. The local Gamestops near me have put all remaining FoW TCG stock on clearance.
A lot of Trading Card Games / Collectible Card Games nowadays are struggling to stay relevant in an over-saturated market where nostalgia reigns supreme when it comes to source material in order to sell product. Force of Will TCG became successful not because of the lore but because it was a Magic clone that catered to the otaku crowd of former Yu-Gi-Oh! players. In this current age of instant gratification we've already abandoned the thought of allowing novelty to set in for the things that we enjoy because gameplay mechanics alone aren't good enough to help sell a Trading Card Game / Collectible Card Game anymore. Unless the product is backed by a popular mainstream franchise like Dragon Ball it won't sell regardless of gameplay mechanics.
It's too bad the TCG market is so saturated. I would love to see Nintendo localize Fire Emblem Cipher. With Intelligent Systems designing the game and Nintendo global localization teams, that game certainly seems like it could play well in the U.S.
It's too bad the TCG market is so saturated. I would love to see Nintendo localize Fire Emblem Cipher. With Intelligent Systems designing the game and Nintendo global localization teams, that game certainly seems like it could play well in the U.S.
I guess the reason why Trading Card Games / Collectible Card Games are less saturated in Japan compared to other countries around the world is because they don't have any tabletop gaming genres to compete against where as in the U.S. they're struggling to stay relevant against Role-Playing Games and Living Card Games with Dungeons & Dragons and Netrunner which was recently re-branded by Fantasy Flight Games.
Fire Emblem doesn't have as big of a cult following like Final Fantasy does in the States and If you didn't start back in the 8-bit or 16-bit era of JRPG's then you were probably one of those people like me who got their head start within the genre playing either Zelda or Pokémon. Square Enix seems to be doing a much better job with Final Fantasy TCG compared to what Intelligent Systems and Wizards of the Coast are doing with Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher) and Magic.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
It's too bad the TCG market is so saturated. I would love to see Nintendo localize Fire Emblem Cipher. With Intelligent Systems designing the game and Nintendo global localization teams, that game certainly seems like it could play well in the U.S.
I guess the reason why Trading Card Games / Collectible Card Games are less saturated in Japan compared to other countries around the world is because they don't have any tabletop gaming genres to compete against where as in the U.S. they're struggling to stay relevant against Role-Playing Games and Living Card Games with Dungeons & Dragons and Netrunner which was recently re-branded by Fantasy Flight Games.
Fire Emblem doesn't have as big of a cult following like Final Fantasy does in the States and If you didn't start back in the 8-bit or 16-bit era of JRPG's then you were probably one of those people like me who got their head start within the genre playing either Zelda or Pokémon. Square Enix seems to be doing a much better job with Final Fantasy TCG compared to what Intelligent Systems and Wizards of the Coast are doing with Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher) and Magic.
Fire Emblem Heroes on mobile devices is making a lot of money worldwide, so I wonder if Fire Emblem Cipher would do well enough if Nintendo put a little marketing behind it. Even if people who buy the cards don't play, they certainly would buy for the waifu/husbando factor that was generated by the mobile app.
I have heard much activity from the Final Fantasy TCG either. I don't think it's selling that well.
Fire Emblem Heroes on mobile devices is making a lot of money worldwide, so I wonder if Fire Emblem Cipher would do well enough if Nintendo put a little marketing behind it. Even if people who buy the cards don't play, they certainly would buy for the waifu/husbando factor that was generated by the mobile app.
I have heard much activity from the Final Fantasy TCG either. I don't think it's selling that well.
Final Fantasy also has a Fire Emblem Heroes clone available on mobile devices for those who missed out on the NES and SNES experience. As for the Trading Card Game I hear it's actually been doing well at one of my local game stores though it's quite a ways a way from where I live across the state line.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
America Bless Christ Jesus
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Don't think that people like the broken cards. If anything everyone is happy that it's improving. The main problem is that Lapis Cluster is still in new frontiers and green is a bit too powerful. In a lot of ways it's basically what MtG was back when it started going up through Urza's Saga. The MtG most people are familiar with today is extremely polished compared to what it was back then, and having lived through the entire affair I do feel confident in FoW lasting the test of time. The only thing they have to do is figure out their own color pie and how to better manage their resource system. Also, Wanderer, which is the eternal format, has a pretty well maintained ban list and is actually better balanced than frontier is at the moment.
I stopped collecting Force of Will TCG after the Grimm Cluster after all the keyword revisioning ("Enter" keyword retirement in favor of "Whenever this card enters the battlefield"). If they were trying to copy MTG mechanics, they were doing a bad job of it in my opinion, and their English localization needed work. From some casual internet searches, it still looks like a mess in some ways. I saw one comment that said the game is better played in "New Frontiers" (Standard) format, because every cluster (block) introduces new mechanics while the old mechanics are retired but not really revised. So, to me, past and future sets don't gel very well. It might stay alive in the U.S., but I can't imagine the game increasing market share any time soon. The local Gamestops near me have put all remaining FoW TCG stock on clearance.
A lot of Trading Card Games / Collectible Card Games nowadays are struggling to stay relevant in an over-saturated market where nostalgia reigns supreme when it comes to source material in order to sell product. Force of Will TCG became successful not because of the lore but because it was a Magic clone that catered to the otaku crowd of former Yu-Gi-Oh! players. In this current age of instant gratification we've already abandoned the thought of allowing novelty to set in for the things that we enjoy because gameplay mechanics alone aren't good enough to help sell a Trading Card Game / Collectible Card Game anymore. Unless the product is backed by a popular mainstream franchise like Dragon Ball it won't sell regardless of gameplay mechanics.
It's too bad the TCG market is so saturated. I would love to see Nintendo localize Fire Emblem Cipher. With Intelligent Systems designing the game and Nintendo global localization teams, that game certainly seems like it could play well in the U.S.
Well, not to derail this too much into Force of Will, but the big problem FoW Co. has is communication with the player base in the US. They hired a US Liason, but then seem to ignore his input on the situation in the states. I mean, we're right on the heels of a misprint disaster in the last set where the rulers got one side being one ruler and the other side being another. Now they are reducing ruler pull rates from one per box to a 70% chance per box, along with making one ruler a buy 3 boxes promo card. It's just a complete disaster of a decision and everyone state side was against it. Not to mention it feels like they didn't learn a thing from the last time they did a no-ruler set.
Right now Magic survives because of nostalgia and the hooks the game has in the older player base. If not for that the game would have been destroyed just from the disaster that happened over the last year. Then there was the toys R Us closure and I'm sure the talks with Gamestop were meant to help shore up the loss of the toy retailer.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
So are they planning on hosting games in the backroom?
Wait, there's a back room? Is the gamestop like the Tardis from Dr. Who?
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Final Fantasy also has a Fire Emblem Heroes clone available on mobile devices for those who missed out on the NES and SNES experience. As for the Trading Card Game I hear it's actually been doing well at one of my local game stores though it's quite a ways a way from where I live across the state line.
Based on what you said, I think Final Fantasy and Force of Will are niche products that are popular in certain regions. They haven't hit mainstream popularity yet. It's not like I can find these boosters at every Gamestop, Walmart, Target, and other big box retailers.
Right now Magic survives because of nostalgia and the hooks the game has in the older player base. If not for that the game would have been destroyed just from the disaster that happened over the last year. Then there was the toys R Us closure and I'm sure the talks with Gamestop were meant to help shore up the loss of the toy retailer.
What disaster over the last year? Losing Toys R Us as a retail outlet for the game is a blow, but it isn't the end for Wizards yet.
As stated by others, if Hasbro is talking to Gamestop, holding tournaments or casual games would probably only be at Gamestop stores that are large enough. That means Gamestop stores in enclosed malls probably are too small to host tournaments or casual games.
So apparently Michael Mauler who recently took the CEO position over at GameStop this past February is stepping down due to "personal reasons". What gets even weirder is that this is taking place immediately as there's no transition period. GameStop Co-founder Daniel De Matteo is going to be taking Michael Mauler's place as intern CEO until they find a permanent replacement for him. Former GameStop CEO Paul Raines also stepped down before Michael Mauler took over due to illness.
Given the recent business shake up at GameStop how do you think it's going to affect Wizards of the Coast's partnership with the company in turning their venues into corporate local game stores to get more players into Magic? Perhaps what they could've done to help the LGS instead of turning it into a potential GameStop cash grab was to continue forward with the Scholarship Series or at least bring Magic to public schools as a way to help advertise the game more. One of Travis Woo's buddies is trying to help promote Standard Pauper for those who aren't able to afford the cost of other Magic formats.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
I think bringing Magic to public schools is not viable. It would become a huge distraction at some schools similar to Fortnite. Parents will likely want schools to be schools. However, that would not preclude a separate tournament where the top prize is a scholarship.
If Wizards would be more committed to reprints and/or putting a bit more value in their set design, Travis Woo's friend would not need to try to make Pauper popular. The cost of tournament cards is mostly Wizards's fault.
One good reason for Wizards to try to court Gamestop to host MTG activities is due to the number of stores they have. There is probably a Gamestop near most people but not necessarily a LGS. The change in executive management at Gamestop may or may not do anything. As it stands, we still don't have official news that discussions are taking place.
Yeah and given that the only credible source of information we have on the matter is from Rudy of Alpha Investments that's not saying much I'm afraid...
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
America Bless Christ Jesus
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
There isn't much to court really. GameStop stock has been in steady decline for the past five years. They got a lot going against them. Their used game and console practices are annoying at best, downright shady otherwise. Their new vs used game price points are lopsided. Not to mention growing pressures from the downloadable games and content ensure places like GS will NEVER see those resells. Then there's the growing population of players (like me) that actively avoid GS stores.
Of course they're everywhere but, like Radio Shack, a lot of these locations are high rent. That's not sustainable with the current video game landscape.
Maybe GS is courting WotC/Hasbro. Why not? With the closure of Toys R Us, GS probably saw this as an opportunity to re-invent itself as some sort of hybrid business model like a Game Keeper-esque store with a little KB Toys thrown in.
Probably because Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro doesn't want to be associated with what they perceive as a lack of professionalism at small business local game stores in order to help maintain the kind of "positive image" that would help better their relationship with GameStop. As an end result they don't feel confident enough in these small business owners and staff members to pull out on top especially those who only care about maintaining their status with them in order to get free swag. At that point they're no longer business owners and staff members but addicts working in an opium field.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Probably because Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro doesn't want to be associated with what they perceive as a lack of professionalism at small business local game stores in order to help maintain the kind of "positive image" that would help better their relationship with GameStop. As an end result they don't feel confident enough in these small business owners and staff members to pull out on top especially those who only care about maintaining their status with them in order to get free swag. At that point they're no longer business owners and staff members but addicts working in an opium field.
probably, but that doesn't really support your game. its rather nice to be able to go to almost any town in america, find a hobby store, and sit down for cards.
The problem that Hasbro is likely trying to solve with this is that they want to find a location that the game can be played at that is less likely to go under. They also want to cross promote with MTG Arena and Gamestop likes that kind of thing. Go buy and play magic at gamestop and get 10-15% of point cards for Arena. Oh, and then also did you know they have this Dominaria board game? Plus, we have these great value custom box value bundles at the front!
That last one is the one that just makes me cringe, but nothing is going to stop those repack industry veterans.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Amazing how many people are willing to jump on a rumor bandwagon based on hearsay. I'm not saying Rudy fabricated this out of whole cloth, I'm just saying it's a stretch to think it's a credible story. Like the quoted post is a paragraph of "apparently" backed up by some story from a friend of a friend who "owns a couple of gamestops in Florida," followed by a huge spew of speculation and ranting... like, c'mon, please apply a little more critical thinking than this. Even if there's a kernel of truth to the hearsay, it's probably very disconnected from what is being speculated about (example: wizards might be talking with gamestop about retailer-specific product "betas" like the color packs at walmart, or some kind of promotion).
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On average, Magic players are worse at new card evaluation than almost every other skill, except perhaps sideboarding.
i dont like this idea at all. it will destroy local card shops. theres a card shop next to the gamestop at the mall where im from. i dont want that card shop shut down. i really dislike these corporate fartknockers. i stopped buying games from gamestop like 5 years ago. i think they are vultures
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its good to learn from your mistakes.but i prefer to learn from the mistakes of others.
Final Fantasy also has a Fire Emblem Heroes clone available on mobile devices for those who missed out on the NES and SNES experience. As for the Trading Card Game I hear it's actually been doing well at one of my local game stores though it's quite a ways a way from where I live across the state line.
Based on what you said, I think Final Fantasy and Force of Will are niche products that are popular in certain regions. They haven't hit mainstream popularity yet. It's not like I can find these boosters at every Gamestop, Walmart, Target, and other big box retailers.
Right now Magic survives because of nostalgia and the hooks the game has in the older player base. If not for that the game would have been destroyed just from the disaster that happened over the last year. Then there was the toys R Us closure and I'm sure the talks with Gamestop were meant to help shore up the loss of the toy retailer.
What disaster over the last year? Losing Toys R Us as a retail outlet for the game is a blow, but it isn't the end for Wizards yet.
As stated by others, if Hasbro is talking to Gamestop, holding tournaments or casual games would probably only be at Gamestop stores that are large enough. That means Gamestop stores in enclosed malls probably are too small to host tournaments or casual games.
The disaster over the last year was the card stock issue, poorly balanced standard, and just poor handling of the community in general. All of that in combination with oversaturating the market and releasing two underwhelming masters sets in a row. I'm just glad in three months we'll be free of this piece of history (hopefully).
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
i dont like this idea at all. it will destroy local card shops. theres a card shop next to the gamestop at the mall where im from. i dont want that card shop shut down. i really dislike these corporate fartknockers. i stopped buying games from gamestop like 5 years ago. i think they are vultures
I seriously doubt it would cause your card shop to shut down, even if this goes through. GameStops just don't have the play space that LGSes do, nor the anemities that many LGSes have.
If this actually becomes a thing, I don't foresee GS spending millions of dollars converting their stores to be more friendly to Magic players, and so the only GS locations that would see much Magic tournament traffic would be the ones without an LGS nearby.
I seriously doubt it would cause your card shop to shut down, even if this goes through. GameStops just don't have the play space that LGSes do, nor the anemities that many LGSes have.
If this actually becomes a thing, I don't foresee GS spending millions of dollars converting their stores to be more friendly to Magic players, and so the only GS locations that would see much Magic tournament traffic would be the ones without an LGS nearby.
Agreed. There are 2 GSs near me and they'd both have a hard time hosting a draft with 8 people, let alone more. Given that our preferred LGS routinely has 30+ people for FNM and even more for prereleases, I don't think GS will be any competition. Apparently barnes and noble hosts prereleases here too, and they get very few people. And they have plenty of space.
I don't get how people are jumping on this as "wotc is trying to murder LGSs because they secretly hate them (despite pulling pro-LGS BS at the expense of the players, like the exclusive BaB promos and FTVs)". They're just trying to get more product out there. It might have a (small) negative impact on LGSs, but it could move a lot more product in areas that currently aren't selling any, for lack of an LGS. Somewhat greedy, sure, but it is a business.
TBH, magic or no, I have a hard time seeing GS surviving as a brick and mortar store in 10 years. I haven't bought a physical game in ages. Only time I'd visit a GS is if I need gaming hardware and didn't want to wait 2 days for amazon shipping.
Also it's all a rumor anyway so I don't know how seriously to take this. Especially given the source...no offense, J.
A lot of Trading Card Games / Collectible Card Games nowadays are struggling to stay relevant in an over-saturated market where nostalgia reigns supreme when it comes to source material in order to sell product. Force of Will TCG became successful not because of the lore but because it was a Magic clone that catered to the otaku crowd of former Yu-Gi-Oh! players. In this current age of instant gratification we've already abandoned the thought of allowing novelty to set in for the things that we enjoy because gameplay mechanics alone aren't good enough to help sell a Trading Card Game / Collectible Card Game anymore. Unless the product is backed by a popular mainstream franchise like Dragon Ball it won't sell regardless of gameplay mechanics.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
I stopped collecting Force of Will TCG after the Grimm Cluster after all the keyword revisioning ("Enter" keyword retirement in favor of "Whenever this card enters the battlefield"). If they were trying to copy MTG mechanics, they were doing a bad job of it in my opinion, and their English localization needed work. From some casual internet searches, it still looks like a mess in some ways. I saw one comment that said the game is better played in "New Frontiers" (Standard) format, because every cluster (block) introduces new mechanics while the old mechanics are retired but not really revised. So, to me, past and future sets don't gel very well. It might stay alive in the U.S., but I can't imagine the game increasing market share any time soon. The local Gamestops near me have put all remaining FoW TCG stock on clearance.
It's too bad the TCG market is so saturated. I would love to see Nintendo localize Fire Emblem Cipher. With Intelligent Systems designing the game and Nintendo global localization teams, that game certainly seems like it could play well in the U.S.
Fire Emblem doesn't have as big of a cult following like Final Fantasy does in the States and If you didn't start back in the 8-bit or 16-bit era of JRPG's then you were probably one of those people like me who got their head start within the genre playing either Zelda or Pokémon. Square Enix seems to be doing a much better job with Final Fantasy TCG compared to what Intelligent Systems and Wizards of the Coast are doing with Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher) and Magic.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Fire Emblem Heroes on mobile devices is making a lot of money worldwide, so I wonder if Fire Emblem Cipher would do well enough if Nintendo put a little marketing behind it. Even if people who buy the cards don't play, they certainly would buy for the waifu/husbando factor that was generated by the mobile app.
I have heard much activity from the Final Fantasy TCG either. I don't think it's selling that well.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Well, not to derail this too much into Force of Will, but the big problem FoW Co. has is communication with the player base in the US. They hired a US Liason, but then seem to ignore his input on the situation in the states. I mean, we're right on the heels of a misprint disaster in the last set where the rulers got one side being one ruler and the other side being another. Now they are reducing ruler pull rates from one per box to a 70% chance per box, along with making one ruler a buy 3 boxes promo card. It's just a complete disaster of a decision and everyone state side was against it. Not to mention it feels like they didn't learn a thing from the last time they did a no-ruler set.
Right now Magic survives because of nostalgia and the hooks the game has in the older player base. If not for that the game would have been destroyed just from the disaster that happened over the last year. Then there was the toys R Us closure and I'm sure the talks with Gamestop were meant to help shore up the loss of the toy retailer.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Wait, there's a back room? Is the gamestop like the Tardis from Dr. Who?
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
A GameStop that is too small could relocate into a larger space.
Based on what you said, I think Final Fantasy and Force of Will are niche products that are popular in certain regions. They haven't hit mainstream popularity yet. It's not like I can find these boosters at every Gamestop, Walmart, Target, and other big box retailers.
What disaster over the last year? Losing Toys R Us as a retail outlet for the game is a blow, but it isn't the end for Wizards yet.
As stated by others, if Hasbro is talking to Gamestop, holding tournaments or casual games would probably only be at Gamestop stores that are large enough. That means Gamestop stores in enclosed malls probably are too small to host tournaments or casual games.
Given the recent business shake up at GameStop how do you think it's going to affect Wizards of the Coast's partnership with the company in turning their venues into corporate local game stores to get more players into Magic? Perhaps what they could've done to help the LGS instead of turning it into a potential GameStop cash grab was to continue forward with the Scholarship Series or at least bring Magic to public schools as a way to help advertise the game more. One of Travis Woo's buddies is trying to help promote Standard Pauper for those who aren't able to afford the cost of other Magic formats.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
If Wizards would be more committed to reprints and/or putting a bit more value in their set design, Travis Woo's friend would not need to try to make Pauper popular. The cost of tournament cards is mostly Wizards's fault.
One good reason for Wizards to try to court Gamestop to host MTG activities is due to the number of stores they have. There is probably a Gamestop near most people but not necessarily a LGS. The change in executive management at Gamestop may or may not do anything. As it stands, we still don't have official news that discussions are taking place.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Of course they're everywhere but, like Radio Shack, a lot of these locations are high rent. That's not sustainable with the current video game landscape.
Maybe GS is courting WotC/Hasbro. Why not? With the closure of Toys R Us, GS probably saw this as an opportunity to re-invent itself as some sort of hybrid business model like a Game Keeper-esque store with a little KB Toys thrown in.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
probably, but that doesn't really support your game. its rather nice to be able to go to almost any town in america, find a hobby store, and sit down for cards.
That last one is the one that just makes me cringe, but nothing is going to stop those repack industry veterans.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
chandra stole my heart
link to my card list
https://deckstats.net/collection/6022/
The disaster over the last year was the card stock issue, poorly balanced standard, and just poor handling of the community in general. All of that in combination with oversaturating the market and releasing two underwhelming masters sets in a row. I'm just glad in three months we'll be free of this piece of history (hopefully).
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
If this actually becomes a thing, I don't foresee GS spending millions of dollars converting their stores to be more friendly to Magic players, and so the only GS locations that would see much Magic tournament traffic would be the ones without an LGS nearby.
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
I don't get how people are jumping on this as "wotc is trying to murder LGSs because they secretly hate them (despite pulling pro-LGS BS at the expense of the players, like the exclusive BaB promos and FTVs)". They're just trying to get more product out there. It might have a (small) negative impact on LGSs, but it could move a lot more product in areas that currently aren't selling any, for lack of an LGS. Somewhat greedy, sure, but it is a business.
TBH, magic or no, I have a hard time seeing GS surviving as a brick and mortar store in 10 years. I haven't bought a physical game in ages. Only time I'd visit a GS is if I need gaming hardware and didn't want to wait 2 days for amazon shipping.
Also it's all a rumor anyway so I don't know how seriously to take this. Especially given the source...no offense, J.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6