Mage Wars > Mage Wars Academy
Common Misconceptions about Mage Wars Academy
iNano78:
--- Quote from: Sailor Vulcan on February 16, 2016, 09:25:18 AM ---
--- Quote from: jhaelen on February 16, 2016, 02:08:11 AM ---Well, issues 2) and 4) are largely irrelevant in the longer term because they'll be easily fixed by releasing more cards.
I definitely agree about 1). Dismissing the lack of a spatial element as a minor difference makes me wonder if anyone making that claim has ever actually played MW:Arena. It's also why I don't consider MW:Academy a good entry point for players interested in MW:Arena.
And regarding issue 3), I've already stated my opinion elsewhere. I agree that MW:Academy likely has more tactical depth than MtG. But that's true for several LCGs out there.
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Yeah. Maybe there's just something about LCGs that make them more likely to be balanced and tactically deep compared to CCGs? I keep hearing people who play CCGs complain about how games like yugioh and mtg are SO broken and unbalanced and expensive to play, especially at the competitive level. People who love a game who are stuck with bad unfair design decisions and prices. But the LCGs that I've seen and heard of sound more balanced, less expensive, and I've heard people say that they're a LOT of fun. LCGs seem like they tend to just be better all around compared to CCGs.
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I don't think CCGs are inherently unbalanced. I think it's just the "blind buy" collectible aspect that's the problem. For instance, if Battle Forge or Wizard's Tower were "rare cards" that you had to open several hundred packs in hopes of cracking one, or buy one on the secondary market from someone who was lucky enough (or had enough buying power) to open one, then they too would go for astronomical prices on eBay based on supply and demand and someone might say Mage Wars was unbalanced/broken/ridiculously expensive to play.
Meanwhile, back in the "Jace, The Mindsculptor" era (Zendikar block / Scars of Mirrodin) of MtG, if I could go buy a $25 expansion that included 4 copies of that card along with dozens of others, I might have played Standard. But instead, the card was "Mythic Rare" with an astronomically low probability of cracking one from a pack, so you generally had to pay $100 each, and your competitive deck might cost you $800 (4 Jaces at $100 each, 8 dual lands at $25 each, and 48 other cards that might average $4 each).
But LCGs don't have a blind buy model, so they're comparatively inexpensive for anyone to play since you know exactly what you're getting in each expansion and the expansions are generally kept in print to allow anyone to buy them. Need a Wizard's Tower? Buy a Kumanjaro expansion. Need a Devouring Jelly or some Acid Balls? Buy a Druid vs Necromancer expansion.
As much as we'd like to say Mage Wars isn't unbalanced, there are certainly cards that are very good/competitive - and others that are not. Of all the cards available in Mage Wars, I'd guess that I've never considered putting about half of them in a spell book because they simply aren't good enough to play (or there's a better use of my sbp's or whatever).
OK, back to Academy...
Ganpot:
--- Quote from: Sailor Vulcan on February 15, 2016, 08:26:26 AM ---1. Mage Wars Academy is just "Arena-lite"
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I agree with your 3rd and 4th points (undecided on #2), but I completely disagree with #1. Pretty much everything, including the design of the game and developer interviews from Arcane Wonders employees, points to Academy actually being Arena-lite. The devs were given feedback from multiple sources (including this forum) that people wanted a shorter, more portable, and possibly more beginner-friendly version of Mage Wars without sacrificing the soul of the game. Academy was the result. This is also why the Academy cards are compatible with Arena, but not vice-versa. The devs are hoping to get a larger playerbase by having people learn Academy first, then transition into Arena. So Academy is pretty clearly Arena-lite, in a certain sense. I'm more confused as to why you seem to consider that a bad thing. The game is well-designed (if a bit light on cards at the moment) and can appeal to players who would never jump straight into Arena.
Sailor Vulcan:
--- Quote from: Ganpot on February 16, 2016, 05:34:49 PM ---
--- Quote from: Sailor Vulcan on February 15, 2016, 08:26:26 AM ---1. Mage Wars Academy is just "Arena-lite"
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I agree with your 3rd and 4th points (undecided on #2), but I completely disagree with #1. Pretty much everything, including the design of the game and developer interviews from Arcane Wonders employees, points to Academy actually being Arena-lite. The devs were given feedback from multiple sources (including this forum) that people wanted a shorter, more portable, and possibly more beginner-friendly version of Mage Wars without sacrificing the soul of the game. Academy was the result. This is also why the Academy cards are compatible with Arena, but not vice-versa. The devs are hoping to get a larger playerbase by having people learn Academy first, then transition into Arena. So Academy is pretty clearly Arena-lite, in a certain sense. I'm more confused as to why you seem to consider that a bad thing. The game is well-designed (if a bit light on cards at the moment) and can appeal to players who would never jump straight into Arena.
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I think we're defining "Arena-lite" differently here. When I hear "Arena-lite" I think "watered-down version of Arena which is not as good". The soul of the original game wasn't sacrificed per se, but it was transformed. The soul of the game isn't quite the same, although there are some significant things they have in common. Like I said earlier, it's too different from Arena to be considered an alternate variant of Arena, but it's too similar to be an entirely different and separate game.
Academy isn't a "teaching mode" for Arena. It's just as much it's own thing as Arena is, it just happens to be simpler and easier to learn first than Arena, and therefore is a better jumping off point for getting into Mage Wars in general, not just Arena. This would probably be the case even if there were ten Mage Wars games rather than just two, if Academy was still the simplest one.
(The Mage Wars cards and mechanics have the potential to be VERY modular. They could probably be used to make more Mage Wars games than just Academy and Arena, in theory.)
I suspect that if Academy had been released first, the situation would be reversed. There would be misconceptions about Arena, such as "Arena is basically just Academy but with movement!" and no one would have believed any of these wrong things people in real life are saying about Academy.
Sailor Vulcan:
This should be moved to Academy section.
kiwipaul:
Must say I enjoy Academy immensely. Have played Arena for about 3 years now and love both. To me they are both very different. A boardgame and a cardgame. An immersive experience of movement, strategy, planning and tactics vs a showdown cardgame. Why worry about the similarities and differences. Enjoy both
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