Need Brainpower

had a couple nibbles-- so thanks!

For those who've PMed, I think I'll be running the collaboration on Google Docs, a suggestion by user Jean of mArc...just an FYI.

--'corn

Wow, where do I even begin here?

First, I rather don't know what to make of being called a "parasite" or potential collaborator in a cultural "blight." As I can't speak to these intelligently and maturely, I'll just skip that for now. I will say that I am not the type of poster here at BGDF.com that says "I've a great idea!" then thumbs his nose at those providing realistic and informed criticisms (both constructive and otherwise). That ground rule stated in black and white, let's begin.

As far as the concept of a gaming being "collectable" I honestly couldn't give a toss less that I have a rare first run blah blah blah blah. If the blah blah in question is something like Sorrow's Path or Sirocco from Magic: The Gathering, it's not worth the cardboard and ink used to make it, original black bordered or otherwise. That you would-- knowing NOTHING about this or any other author's game from the posts in this thread-- assume that my aim is to create artificial need and corrupt gamers into becoming "selfish a**holes" is quite a leap in illogic. The term "CCG" here is used ONLY to define what type of game is in the works. If it suits your need better, consider it a "customizable" game versus a "collectable" one. CCG for the purposes of this thread simply means a large release of cards winnowed by a player into a unique 40-50 card deck. End of discussion. The deck's going to work exactly the same whether the cards are foil hologram bull-crap premiums or glossy cardstock.

It is here that I most certainly agree with you: the secondary market for most CCGs is a minefield of feces, inhabited with the rare good apple surrounded by those rotten to the core. I similarly agree that this creates a gamestate in most large-scale tournament-supported games of stagnation and the "Chase Rare"/"power card" culture which keeps most outsiders out of the game. I offer my own experiences with M:TG as an example: while I was able to play in a friendly way with close friends, when none of us gave a crap about our Arena/FNM rankings, and when it was "come and play in my mom's basement" the game was aces. It was a fun escape that allowed me to make new friends and to feel-- in the horrid jungles of adolescence-- a part of something big. However, the second that any of my circle went into tournaments, especially constructed-deck vs. draft tournaments, that changed. We quickly stopped playing our "Legend decks" (the crappiest and most impractical cards possible, done in massive decks for laughs) and started worrying about Mana Curves, getting another copy of Time Warp, or finding someone to screw over for a Mox or Power Nine member. We stopped meeting for movies and Magic at people's houses and started being "That Guy" at the local card shop. In short, when it became "serious" it stopped being fun. At. All. This experience informs and guides EVERY aspect of my own designing, be it for card games, piecepack games, or anything else: how do I make my game about THE GAME, the FUN, and not worry about some greedy shopkeeper wondering how to make people pay him $500 for a single card?

It's here that I feel the need to point out anew that your comment is informed with NONE of the specifics of my particular game. For you to speculate about it having a poor design/need for continued consuming to keep it fresh and playable, and to then further expound on the need for it to have a solid mechanic aspect while continuing to have NO concept of its design is premature and, in a word, idiotic. I admitted in my initial posting that there would be a dearth of detail here as I was simply soliciting those who would like to help me brainstorm, and asked those interested in such a process to PM/email me. This appeal to PM is open to you, bearcat, that you might be able to contribute in a more productive way to the process.

Atop of this sizable mountain of whatever it is you consider a post such as yours to be is a lack of knowledge as to where my design "is" in terms of rules design. Here's the situation: it's VERY early in development, and there are loads of bugs to work out, which I admit FREELY. Again, to leap to the conclusion that I'm going to vomit some half-baked idea into being then insist on some kind of Scientology-like "pay to understand and play" mentality is insulting.

Before you begin labeling a call for help as "evil" or parasitic, get your facts straight. I again invite you to be part of the process here vs. being a part of the problem. For those-- including bearcat-- interested, here's an update:

One of the BDGF folks here that asked for more information about this game pointed to some very stark and glaring issues with "Why do I need to do X?" in the first run of rules I sent him. As such, I've taken some time to process what he said and rethink various aspects of the game. The beauty of a message board such as this one is that I know that once it's time to repost, I can revisit this thread, bumparoo, and again ask for guidance or a critical eye.

That is the state of things. I'll now cease my finger wagging and jaw flapping.