In the process of thinking about the SOLO expansion scenario, I have re-hashed an old scenario concept I had.
I did not know how I was going to implement, I only knew that it was going to be that one (1) player was a Space Pirate and the opponents are trying to stop the Pirates from winning.
With the SOLO expansion scenario crystallizing, I believe it would be possible to use the expansion cards for two (2) distinct expansion MULTIPLAYER scenarios. The first would be a NEW "Tradewars" scenario where players play using the newly added Planetary cards to the game to score higher trades and obviously earn more credits.
At the same time, I came up with the idea of the Space Pirates scenario (I call it "Privateer"): what if one player can "rip off" (yeah take by force) the earning of the other players... So the goal of the Space Pirate player is to piss the other players off! Love it! :P
Anyhow my take on this is that the WEAPONS stack would be excluded by the scenario and players would ONLY have Trade starships. The Space Pirate cannot win by destroying the other players. Nor can the other players... It's a Trade Race! Sort of a "lightning round" the lab's playtesters wanted...
Anyhow these are just *NEW* ideas for the game's future expansion...!
Comments
Outside Influence
Kris,
This is a time-honored idea in board and card games, especially competitive play varieties, in which the game introduces another element outside of the players' control: pirates, weather, aliens, etc. It should prove interesting.
My only suggestion is to remain focused on the base game for now and 'back burner' expansions for a little while.
Cheers,
Joe
I am *focused*
@Joe: Don't worry about my focus. It's to get "Tradewars - Homeworld" *out there*! I think I will probably need to do a Kickstarter - but at least I will have awesome artwork and people who truly want to play a good game will be the ones ahead in the end.
The reason I am *thinking* about expansion, is because I thought it might be something that might interest you. I don't know HOW a Developer relationship is in terms of benefit to you - I certainly don't want you to waist time on a project that won't benefit you (directly).
So my idea would be to "launch" the Base Edition + an *optional* expansion by say someone like yourself (a developer). This way our goal TOGETHER would be to UP-SELL the base game with it's expansion. Now seriously, who wouldn't want that??? Not only do you get a Base game with four (4) scenarios, you get an Expansion with four (4) MORE scenarios...
All that would be left is for you to think up a LAST scenario. The expansion already has three (3) scenarios (SOLO, 2 MULTI - based on the SOLO)... I think this would be great! And we would need to fine-tune the 2nd MULTI scenario ("Privateer").
I think this would be great for BOTH of us... UP-SELLING would be a way of getting MORE game into gamers hands!
Ideally
@Joe: I would want to find a Publisher that is interesting in Kickstarting the Artwork Budget... If I find such a company that would be AWESOME! Because the odds are most Publisher will not agree to the budget I've allocated and agreed to with my artist. In a way it's a reasonable budget - but I have spoken with a publisher and they have been told the budget should be HALF of what I am looking to get...
It's really nice artwork and "nice" is going to cost... I've already negotiated a pretty good deal (when you think of the investment and time and detail in the artwork...)
Superbly Focused
My friend, you're absolutely focused!
The artwork is truly breathtaking and I defy anyone to find a new designer with better artwork. It's truly stunning.
Expansions always interest me, as it's a games way of not only staying relevant, but evolving. As a long-time player of Arkham Horror, that franchise has proven to be the most lucrative and sustaining for FFG than any other due to its steady creation of expansions. The greatest benefit to me is to see a game I've developed get published. I've had over 50 games for which I've served on the lead play-test group get published, but I'm only now slowly getting projects moving forward as a Game Developer through the publishing process.
Well, Developers don't publish, but I can definitely speak with the companies for whom I provide service as a Game Developer. It would be exciting to see that aspect of the card and board game industry. I think the "up-sell" idea is sound, but in practice, you may have to make it a bit more palatable by reducing the cost associated with each additional set. Thus, if you sold the first set of cards for $100, the second would cost $85-$90, etc.
Anyway, I'm excited to part of the process, as while I'm not a card game player, this one intrigues me as the rules are well-written, the artwork is beautiful, and the hand-management/drafting mechanic is quite elegant. You had me at Tradewars.
Cheers,
Joe
Truly an Artist
The difference between artists can be 'night and day' and as evidenced by this artist's work, he doesn't come cheap...nor should he. He's clearly capable of rendering pieces that 99.99% of the public can't do, and that comes at a premium, which most reasonable gamers are willing to spend. If your average 18-35 year old is willing to spend $50-$60 for a box of Magic: The Gathering Cards with mediocre artistry, then yes, he's absolutely worth every dime.
Cheers,
Joe