Arcane Wonders Forum
Mage Wars => Spellbook Design and Construction => Topic started by: Koz on September 27, 2012, 02:00:22 PM
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Is there a visual spoiler of the spells online somewhere? Or, better yet, an online spell book builder? I'd love to be able to tinker around with spell book design while I'm away from the actual cards.
If there isn't any resource like this right now (either an "official" one or a fan made one), are there any plans to make one?
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This would be cool! Then I can work on my spell book at work.
:)
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i believe there is something like this in the works. it would be awsome if we could build up a deck then link to it in the forums.
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Even if it is a downloadable file it would work for most people. I do know that this was one of the things that we talked about at Origins and as of Gencon I was told it was something that the MW wanted to do. We have been so busy testing the next set I do not know how or if it is still in the works.
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I hope it is web based so Mac users don't get left in the cold.
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Web based or make it an app... Either way it needs to happen... My calculator ain't cutting it. :)
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It is something we are planning on doing, but I have no idea when.
One of our design team guys actually made an Excel file that could build spellbooks during our playtesting, but it is way out of date.
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Well, I'm sure one will come up sooner rather than later. Even a nice visual spoiler would be cool so that I can look at cards to plan spell books when I'm not at home. Hell, even an all text spoiler would be sufficient :)
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Here are the lists for our sets:
Main Set List (http://http://magewars.com/jsite/forum/spells/983-main-set-card-list)
Core Spell Tome List (http://magewars.com/jsite/forum/spells/982-core-spell-tome-card-list)
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Thank you for replying but I think he was looking for the full card text. I know I have not made one but if somebody has I see no reason why it could not be post since the game is now out. I just want the ok before I spend time making it.
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THIS please (http://www.cardgamedb.com/index.php/GoTDeckbuilder.html)
AW should do it here.
If they can. I have no idea what hoops would have to be jumped through, but that would be awesome. I use it all the time.
Something very similar in functionality would be just as good, I guess. :-P
-nihil
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Someone built an excel spreadsheet and posted it on BGG here (http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/82939/mage-wars-deckbuilder-spreadsheet)
it looks good and functions well, you can select your mage then it will calulate the cost of spells and everything for you.
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Thank you for looking for it. I have been so busy this weekend with RtR and being on call I have not had time to look,
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Yes the one on BGG is a nice start, but with no text it makes it hard to build decks while you're away from your cards. I'd really like something similar to cardgamedb.com's deckbuilders. You get to see the full card and just click to add to your list.
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Hello,
If the Mage War team is agreed to give the whole text and/or images of each card, and if they agree that a Fan create a free application on tablet (iPads/Android).
I will be happy to create it
PS: i think phone version will not be very user friendly...
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Quick Solution:
Simply publish the PDF's that you sent to the printers online. It doesn't need to be wrought with functionality...just PDF's of the cards. It would give people a visual spoiler.
Then you can take your time to really work on a visual online deckbuilder. I'd get in touch with cardgamedb.com and see what steps need to be taken to register and have the deckbuilder through them, as they are:
a) already well-known and recognized in the gaming community
b) already have a very stable platform for the database.
-nihil
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I second that, getting featured on cardgamedb.com will do WONDERS for this game's popularity
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While I would love to have access to the cards in a digital format, I can see that people would be all too tempted to print their own proxies. This can kill the sales of the game itself as people would just make their own cards and would have no need to purchase anything, especially if their friend already has a copy of the full game.
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While I would love to have access to the cards in a digital format, I can see that people would be all too tempted to print their own proxies. This can kill the sales of the game itself as people would just make their own cards and would have no need to purchase anything, especially if their friend already has a copy of the full game.
Utterly untrue. By all record, games that find their way onto cardgamedb show a quantifiable increase in sales.
-nihil
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Agree.. proxies won't hurt this game and they solve problems here at the beginning to fill in gaps. That sort of openness on the part of the publisher will serve to help build the community.
And so will an online database. People want to create spellbooks... they want to play around with ideas and try different builds and without electronic help its kind of a PITA.
People will eventually build fan sites and spellbook calculators and such, but it would be easier with files for the cards and components.
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Proxies are fine just not in league or tourney play. We made a thread about it a while back.
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Hey guys,
Thanks for all the feedback - I'm looking into several options personally right now, hopefully we'll be able to get something to you guys soon!
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Hurray!
-nihil
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Can you guys tell me a bit about cardgamedb.com? I've contacted the guys over there, and they seem really cool - I just wanted to know if this is something you guys would really like or not.
Thanks!
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I will check it out this weekend have never used it before.
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cardgamedb is a resource where you can provide a free, comprehensive, digital representation of your game for people to view.
1) Forums: The forums are where people interact. Many games have a forum subsection. These forums are basically what you have here, but I've found that the conversations held there are usually a step above in terms of discussing deck strategy and deck construction for the various games showcased on the site. What is really cool is that you can use multiple aspects of the site at the same time, as seen below.
2) The deck building engine: Is, bar none, the most functional and elegant online resource I've EVER seen for building decks. The search algorithms and functions are phenomenal. For example: You play Game of Thrones LCG. You're looking to build a new deck. To get a starting point you filter the engine (which has every card ever made for GoT LCG) to only show you cards for the Lannister House, that cost 3 gold or less, that are characters, that have Stealth, that have both the Military and the Intrigue Icons, that are Lords. The engine does its thing and BAM! You have a list of cards that are hardlinked to visual images and notations with erratum. You browse through this list, find a card you want, and "add" it to your virtual deck, which you can save and view later, or edit more, or you can publish that deck into the cardgamedb database for others to view, and then others can comment on your deck directly from where it is stored, which is hard-linked to a forum subsection.
It is, in my opinion, the perfect tool.
Now, all that said:
They very much cater to Fantasy Flight Games, at the moment. They are not actually affiliated with FFG, but they showcase all of FF games. Not being a game publisher, I've never been interested to pursue the steps necessary to see what would be required to get on cardgamedb.
As an aspiring game developer, however, when I finally get one of my games off the ground, that is going to be the first phone call I make (take that for whatever you think it's worth). And, if I couldn't work something out with them, I would go find some college students and say "Check out this site. I will give you money to duplicate this."
It's about accessibility. Right now Magewars is pretty inaccessible to people who aren't sitting with their collection in their lap. People talk about X, Y, Z cards, but unless you have your cards with you, you have no idea what's going on. There's no visual spoiler, so people can't check wordings of things to help chime in in the rules section, there is no visual spoiler, so people can't brainstorm deck concepts to fullest potential. People coming to this forum for the first time have no reference point. Damned be the people without a copy of the game, because they are truly clueless about these conversations.
A lot of gamers like to do research on a game before investing time and money into it. They want to see the cards, tinker with mechanics, etc. This is made much easier with a visual spoiler, a searchable database, an online deckbuilder.
-nihil
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Awesome - thanks for the help Nihil, I'll get you guys an update as soon as we move forward on a few of these things.
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I quote everything that Nihilistiskism said.
I use cardgamedb daily to build and tweak my Android: Netrunner decks and it's Awesome. The database handles all deck building rules, uploads finished decks to a lists where they can be sorted, tagged and evaluated by other players, it directly supports octgn decklists exporting for online play, and for every game featured, there are strategy and deckbuilding articles published weekly. The community quality is also excellent.
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Awesome - thanks for the help Nihil, I'll get you guys an update as soon as we move forward on a few of these things.
Hurray! I'm always happy to help! :-D
-nihil
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Thanks for the kind words guys :blush:
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Thanks for the kind words guys :blush:
Credit where due. Can we hope that you posting here is a sign that there is hope for Mage Wars on cardgamedb?
-nihil
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I'm willing. Just waiting to hear back from Sean to see if it is something they want to go with.
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I certainly hope so!
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I'm willing. Just waiting to hear back from Sean to see if it is something they want to go with.
I'm not usually one for colloquial slang interjection, but...w00t!
-nihil
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I'm willing. Just waiting to hear back from Sean to see if it is something they want to go with.
I hope this works out, I love cardgamedb. It makes it so easy to mess around with Netrunner decks. This would be AWESOME for Mage Wars.
As a side question, generally how long does it take for you guys to get a game put into your system and available to the public? Obviously it's dependent on how fast you recieve the material, but once you have it, how long does it take you guys to enter everything in and have it running?
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Speaking very generally* and assuming whatever game it was was not extremely different from most CCG type games and that I didn't have to scan any images, then I could get a full spoiler database up and running within 3-5 days. Another 2 days for a stand alone search page.
Online Deckbuilders are a bit more work, usually it would go something like
+1 week to get something basic and workable
+1 week to specialize it to a particular game
+1 week for tweaking and closed beta test
After that point I usually make it available to everyone as a open beta for a week or two with the caveat that if any large bugs are found that I might have to reset saved decks.
More specifically about Mage Wars it does present some unique challenges. The cards have quite a bit of information on them so devising a good way to store that to make it easily searchable could be difficult. Keeping track of point costs and whether they are x1, x2 or x3 is going to take a bit of work. One nice part though is that I think quite a bit of my Netrunner code could work with Mage Wars with slight tweaks.
* all of the above time estimates are real world times and not man hours worked. As such they can vary depending on what is going on with my paid work and what is going on with the family.
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Thanks for fielding these questions, Darksbane.
Just to let you guys know we've been talking for about a week now - just getting comfortable with the cgdb system and process and trying to wrap our heads around it. It's definitely a major decision for us as this will be the first time all the cards have been available in an online format! But, we're taking the feedback that you guys want something seriously and we're figuring out a solution.
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Good to know, Sean. :)
-nihil
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Thanks Sean.
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Alright guys, we're moving forward with CardgameDB. I'll make an official announcement about it once it gets up and running, but I wanted you guys to know that we've heard the feedback and we're going ahead with it. Thanks again for the great idea!
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I am very happy about this, I feel about celebrating! :D
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Awesome! I love cardgamedb! Good choice! Can't wait until I can start building spellbooks :evil:
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ooh, ooh, I call dibs on it being predominantly my idea! :whistle:
j/k
Awesome news. Really glad to hear it.
-nihil
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Great to hear that.
Many thanks for your support oriented to your players.
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Great news, can`t wait! Good job AW some of the "big" companies have to learn from you, especially for fan/clients/players feedback use.
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This will be a good move for AW. I have no doubt that a large number of people that, up to this point, don't know much about Mage Wars will see the logo for the game on the cardgamedb site and want to learn more about it. This will be a great way to get players who are into all of those FFG card games to check this out. I'm sure this move will result in not just a happier community, but a larger community in general.
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Thanks guys! I really appreciate all the support. I'm always up for good ideas, and this one seems pretty awesome.
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Sorry to necrobump, but I'm really curious about any current developments on this front.
-nihil
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Sorry to necrobump, but I'm really curious about any current developments on this front.
-nihil
Its NP the community voted against necro rules for now.
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I actually just got an update from CardgameDB - they are working on it over there and making good progress. Yesterday I heard that they have all the card data inputted, which is awesome news. I got a nice little preview of the card search function last night too.
Also, they are adding in an extra "errata" portion for us so that we can give you notes, etc. on all the cards, etc. So, I'm pretty happy with that.
I'll see if I can find out when certain parts of the feature will be live and get that information over to you.
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cardgamedb made an update on their progress. Seems pretty neat.
Here is a direct link
http://www.cardgamedb.com/forums/index.php?/topic/3811-mage-wars-request/#entry15957
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Thanks for the heads up.
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Hi folks...new to the site here. Had a chance to play this game at PAX, and had a blast and finally had a chance to pick up the game. I noticed you are in collabloration on an online deck builder! Thats awesome!
I was wondering if there is an iphone app in the works for a spell book calculator, where you can select your wizard and just tick off the spells selected, and it will correctly calculate the totals, and possibly have a shot of each card with it as well. :)
Keep up the great work BTW!
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No iPhone app that I am aware of but there is an online tool
http://mw-deck-builder.herokuapp.com
and cardgamedb.com is adding support for Mage Wars to their site.
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Excellent!! Thanks. :)
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cardgamedb updated yesterday:
Darksbane: "Just an update, the database and card search will be opened on Saturday and I hope to have the deckbuilder done and in beta testing not long after that. "
link: http://www.cardgamedb.com/forums/index.php?/topic/3811-mage-wars-request/page__pid__16400#entry16400
So very soon :)
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Can`t wait it will be much more easy!
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Web based or make it an app... Either way it needs to happen... My calculator ain't cutting it. :)
If your only concern is the calculation, I have created and posted an application that handles this on board game geek. It does not have the full spell text though, only enough information to calculate the cost.
http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/85710/mage-wars-deck-cost-calculator
This is a java desktop application, packaged as an executable jar
For most operating systems, you should be able to simply double click on the file
To meet the system requirements, you must have the Java7 runtime environment installed
You can download the java runtime environment at http://www.java.com
Features
Filter spells by type
Filter spells by school
Compute total cost of spellbook with a given mage
Warn if deck has rules violations
Save/Load spellbooks
File format is both human and machine readable
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Still no deck builder at CardGameDB. Don't they realize how much time I'd waste on that thing while at work? Er... come to think of it, maybe it's good they don't have it online! :)
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Looks like there was finally some real progess on the deck builder over on Card Game DB. I found this in their forums. Drew's still tweaking, and you won't find this link at the top of the page under the MW drop down.
Mage Wars Deck Builder On Card Game DB (http://www.cardgamedb.com/index.php/magewars/mage-wars-deck-builder)
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Any updates on when this feature will be rolled out? I have a couple of spellbooks I have entered and stored there. There is no way to provide feedback like if it is missing spells and such.
I really like what they have done there but they are moving very slow. I hate to say that but with the expansion out they are now even furter behind.
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Any updates on when this feature will be rolled out? I have a couple of spellbooks I have entered and stored there. There is no way to provide feedback like if it is missing spells and such.
I really like what they have done there but they are moving very slow. I hate to say that but with the expansion out they are now even furter behind.
Well, I have the feeling this took a back seat to the Star Wars deckbuilder. That's kind of lame though because Star Wars is pretty much the lightest deckbuilding game ever and I don't really understand why anyone NEEDS an online Deckbuilder for that game. It's not like there are lots of choices to make or remember. I play Star Wars and I still laugh when I see people post their decks and I'm always like "oh wow, you made a handful of choices from a teeny-tiny card pool, how amazing, thanks for sharing!"
Sorry for the side-track there, but I have a feeling that Star Wars is exactly the reason the Mage Wars deckbuilder has taken so long (you know, a game that actually NEEDS one). Darksbane has even stopped responding to messages left in the Mage Wars threads on the forums so we don't know where this stands right now as the weeks continue to tick by :(
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I will have something soon
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How is the CardgameDB deckbuilder coming along? I hope they get the support they need. It looked really promising but now all magewars-activity at cardgamedb.com seem to have stopped and it appears like a missed opportunity. The expansion cards really needs to come online soon I think, as well as the full deckbuilder.
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Bump.
Apparently Darksbane over at cardgamedb.com didn't get the scans for the expansion yet. I really wish this tool to be completed. Its such a nice way of trying and sharing deck ideas.
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Yeah, I saw a post from him saying that since Sean left Arcane Wonders he hasn't gotten any responses from them and he has never received the scans for the expansion. We really need SOME sort of online deck builder because counting out books on paper or in your head is a pain in the rear. Big time.
Can someone from Arcane Wonders post here and let us know what's going on? Cardgamedb is a great resource and a nice site and I'd like to see the deckbuilder updated.
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I made a post begging for them to contact cardgamedb...
http://magewars.com/jsite/forum/general-discussion/11603-arcane-wonders-a-messge-from-afan-of-mage-wars#11603
go and sign it please!!
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I asked broood to repost is this thread because we have had multiple threads all on the same topic and I was trying to combine them. Since Broood has not I will do it.
So I have core + the 2 boosters and the 2 new guys... I really like your game.. but what I REALLY want is for you to communicate with another online community called CARDGAMEDB.COM.
I am not affiliated with them in any way... I am just a user there.
When MW first came out you guys said that they could post the cards on their site so we could have a easy database to look though as well as access to there extremely good deck building software and archive system for rating and publishing decks. (just like the LCGs they support)
This was all well and good until the new expansion came out and we have been waiting and waiting for them to update their site and they keep telling us that you guys are not replying to their mails permitting them to post the card images, like you did last time.
Here is the Deck Builder
http://www.cardgamedb.com/index.php/magewars/mage-wars-deck-builder
We would LOVE you to communicate with these guys so they can go ahead with fishing the Mage Wars section of their site!!
PLEASE.. contact the admin!! Just send a 3 letter email... "go for it" and your done.. this would be like 3 seconds of work!!
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I made a post begging for them to contact cardgamedb...
http://magewars.com/jsite/forum/general-discussion/11603-arcane-wonders-a-messge-from-afan-of-mage-wars#11603
go and sign it please!!
Broood Please keep it all in 1 thread. I do know the community wants this but the AW staff has been so backed up I do not currently know how far along it is. Maybe if some body from AW could let us know it would be nice. :whistle:
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No iPhone app that I am aware of but there is an online tool
http://mw-deck-builder.herokuapp.com
and cardgamedb.com is adding support for Mage Wars to their site.
wow, it´s possible to download this in my computer and work without internet? it´s for my job ;P
I hope soon see warlord and forcemage!!!
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I went to cardgamedb tonight looking for aid in building my deck. I'm sad that the Forcemaster Vs. Warlord and Promo cards from the Game night package aren't in it.
It's a real drag to try and do this in your head on on paper.
Arcane Wonders, please, please, please do something soon to alleviate this problem!
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I support this thread :D
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From the BGG Mage Wars Forum (http://boardgamegeek.com/article/12109736#12109736), think that this would of been posted here first.....
Folks,
We are currently working on an "in-house" solution for the spell database and spellbook builder. In the meantime, we will continue to work closely with third party developers to get you the resources you need.
Sincerely,
Patrick Connor
Communications Director, Arcane Wonders
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I hope soon we´ll see a app, i prefer not online, that supports us to build new spell books, i have few time to play to this fantastic game, and many times i havent time to do a new spellbook and i prefer to play anothers games although i like this, and auto. exe would be fantastic or a program that not need install that i can use in my phone when i go to work in train or bus.
Pleasee!! Help us!!!
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Any word on what kind of timeframe Arcane Wonders is looking at regarding rolling this out? This is a pretty essential tool so forgive us for being a bit rabid about wanting it released :)
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It's true. People are going wild here. Mage Wars deck builder with the expansions... It'll be like getting +3 channelling in real life.
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I know as a national traveler it will be very nice not to have to drag my cards on the road with me. I sure hope as they release promo's they update the builder with them.
Get it right guys, if you need testing let me know, I will be glad to help.
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Just need to add to the weight of request here...
The expansion of Mage Wars in the South Pacific is seriously restrained by the lack of deckbuilder information and availability. Crazy, illegal, ramshackle decks are being flung together and are falling apart due to lack of deckbuilder adhesive and cohesion. Just give us a crumb. Something. A quarter. A year. A platform. Make us believer. Don't turn away. It's cold, here. Really, really cold.
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Hi guys,
I just made a post about my deck builder I made for myself for my iPad. It works great and I was hoping to release it but just got word that it will not happen. It also worked on Android and Windows. Here is more info. Just thought you might be interested while you wait: :)
http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=12332.0
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A decent virtual spell book system would increase the player base and syphon away all my spare time.
Best get on with it!
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I would also like to add my support to this project. The sooner the better for the community.
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Did anyone ask about this at Origins? I was hoping someone would ask Bryan point blank about this and maybe get an update. Anybody have any luck on that?
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The system at OCTGN works rather well as a spell book builder. Fully costed too.
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The one at Octgn is very well done. Easy to use and searchable.
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Not to beat a dead horse, but I'm still trying to find a great MW deckbuilder. I've used the following builder for awhile (and is awesome by the way) but it hasn't been updated since the core and initial two expansions came out. The last two expansions have not been added.
http://mw-deck-builder.herokuapp.com/
The problem with the excel builders IMO are that you can't see the card and the sorting is not great.
Are there others I'm not privy to? And when is the CardgameDB going to be done?
Please Arcane Wonders, make us a damn good deckbuilder so that our dreams will come true...
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Use OCTGN
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Use OCTGN
Yes even if you don't like the concept of online play that it offers, it by far has the best spellbook builder out there. You don't even have to be online to use it :)
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We are working diligently on an OFFICIAL online spellbook builder. In the coming weeks, we will be migrating to a new website and are currently working with developers to bring you the best product available.
If you have ideas or suggestions for features you'd like to see, please email me directly at patrickconnor@arcanewonders.com
Thanks,
Patrick Connor
Communications Director
Arcane Wonders
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Hi Patrick,
I just mailed you. One additional comment would be... Can it work across PC, Mac and iPad?
iPad would be just great.
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I would love to see a droid app for this. Just my 2¢ on the matter
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One additional comment would be... Can it work across PC, Mac and iPad?
It will be a web based application so you should be able to use it on all your devices.
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I would love to see a droid app for this. Just my 2¢ on the matter
The company really doesn't have the resources to do platform specific applications of any type. First out will be a web based app and as long as your device has a modern browser it should be able to use the site.
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One additional comment would be... Can it work across PC, Mac and iPad?
It will be a web based application so you should be able to use it on all your devices.
Lovely. ETA?
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Lovely. ETA?
None at the moment. We have a lot of work going on concurrently so its difficult to say
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Wish AW would also approve the request on the forum then for some one to release their pdf list of the cards with images.
What you're working on is great, but some of us don't have constant internet access, or our mobile data is very expensive. I know that a basic print out of the cards doesn't help with maths of building a deck, but it does fit as a solution for some of our needs that a Web based solution doesn't.
I feel quite frustrated with AW shutting down a lot of the fan based enthusiasm promising to 'do it themselves', but then not being able to meet the diversity or pace of interest. I get all the IP stuff, but I think that there are good examples of allowing community and open source contributions to help support business growth. It doesn't have to be a marshall the wagons the Indians are coming response.
I would love to see a droid app for this. Just my 2¢ on the matter
The company really doesn't have the resources to do platform specific applications of any type. First out will be a web based app and as long as your device has a modern browser it should be able to use the site.
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No offense to the efforts of Pixel Geek, but Card Game DB already had a working system in place. It would have been done. I understand the want to have that traffic here at the AW forums, but still we sit a year later without a decent means to create spell books other than PDF's found in the BGG forums.
I'm a patient guy. I love this game. I'm looking forward to the builder. Here's hoping it's sooner rather than later.
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No offense to the efforts of Pixel Geek, but Card Game DB already had a working system in place.
I'm not aware of what went on with Cardgame DB or what happened to that project.
I have an alpha version of the new JavaScript based deck builder and will be adding images to it and begin testing on Tuesday.
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No offense to the efforts of Pixel Geek, but Card Game DB already had a working system in place.
I'm not aware of what went on with Cardgame DB or what happened to that project.
I have an alpha version of the new JavaScript based deck builder and will be adding images to it and begin testing on Tuesday.
I'd imagine it's a case of wanting that traffic on the AW site so not only are we building but discussing in the same place; and rightly so.
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I'd imagine...
But neither of us actually know so its really just speculation.
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The Deckbuilder and Forums are now gone from CardGameDb :(
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Shouldn't you know Pixelgeek? I would have thought it'dmake more sense to be looking at the whole vision/direction for the wwebsite comms channels together. Intent to capture audiences, and align services would likely work better if it's designed and conceptualised holistically. Feels like it would hinder the work you're doing (the great work) if you're not privileged to the whole picture.
I'm not saying you should tell us or anything, but it was surprising to hear you say you're in the dark too.
I'd imagine...
But neither of us actually know so its really just speculation.
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Shouldn't you know Pixelgeek?
I do web development and I am not privy to the decisions that the company makes or the conversations they have with third parties.
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Guess its an organisational philosophy thing. I believe you would be able to contribute more and perform better with a sense of the long term direction/vision.
Shouldn't you know Pixelgeek?
I do web development and I am not privy to the decisions that the company makes or the conversations they have with third parties.
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No offense to the efforts of Pixel Geek, but Card Game DB already had a working system in place. It would have been done. I understand the want to have that traffic here at the AW forums, but still we sit a year later without a decent means to create spell books other than PDF's found in the BGG forums.
I'm a patient guy. I love this game. I'm looking forward to the builder. Here's hoping it's sooner rather than later.
I love the game too, but the fact that we are a year in and the player base has been clamoring for a solution to this the whole time and nothing has happened is a bit of a let down. This should be a priority IMO based on how badly we all want it. It shouldn't have taken as long as it has, but AW is a new company and I'm sure they have a lot on their plate.
Still...we need this to get completed sooner rather than later.
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If anyone would like to use my online spell book builder, you can access it at:
www.gameknight.org/MageWars (http://www.gameknight.org/MageWars)
Please keep in mind that this was my personal spell book building tool and is probably not ideal for everyone. If enough people want to use it, I will add features to save and/or print spell books (possibly other changes, as suggested). I make no promises as to when I will update it, but it is functional at the moment for all of the standard/expansion game sets.
I had personally been using this tool since Gencon last year. I no longer play the game regularly. I originally wrote the program before the game was released, as I had been following them since Origins and Gencon the previous year. I spoke with multiple people at the AW booths last year and this year to offer the code to them for free, including updating to their needs for the initial page. They showed no interest at all, so it continued to be used only by me and a couple of friends.
Sorry if this is too late to do any good for anyone. I do not come to the forums often and did not realize that others may be looking for a similar tool.
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Yours is similar to Sean's on BGG http://www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/85710/mage-wars-deck-cost-calculator.
Looks like nice work.
I've been using Sean's in combination with OCTGN deckbuilder (for the image of the card and description).
It might just be that I'm a bit of a newbie, but I find that I need copies of the cards to build a deck, rather than being able to do it from memory. Hell, sometimes I need to look at a card like 5 times in 5 minutes (is this ring better than that ring, better than this conjuration etc).
So basically it would be nice to have the card image and effects integrated into the book builder; and this does seem like something pixel is working on. Sounds like we're going to see something soonish.
If anyone would like to use my online spell book builder, you can access it at:
www.gameknight.org/MageWars (http://www.gameknight.org/MageWars)
Please keep in mind that this was my personal spell book building tool and is probably not ideal for everyone. If enough people want to use it, I will add features to save and/or print spell books (possibly other changes, as suggested). I make no promises as to when I will update it, but it is functional at the moment for all of the standard/expansion game sets.
I had personally been using this tool since Gencon last year. I no longer play the game regularly. I originally wrote the program before the game was released, as I had been following them since Origins and Gencon the previous year. I spoke with multiple people at the AW booths last year and this year to offer the code to them for free, including updating to their needs for the initial page. They showed no interest at all, so it continued to be used only by me and a couple of friends.
Sorry if this is too late to do any good for anyone. I do not come to the forums often and did not realize that others may be looking for a similar tool.
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So basically it would be nice to have the card image and effects integrated into the book builder; and this does seem like something pixel is working on. Sounds like we're going to see something soonish.
Good suggestion.
Added images for all cards. Click spell name to pop them up.
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Good suggestion.
Added images for all cards. Click spell name to pop them up.
Are you kidding me? Just like that bada bing! Color me impressed! Works on all of my browsers. Man! No one lit a fire under your butt?
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If anyone would like to use my online spell book builder, you can access it at:
www.gameknight.org/MageWars (http://www.gameknight.org/MageWars)
I spoke with multiple people at the AW booths last year and this year to offer the code to them for free, including updating to their needs for the initial page. They showed no interest at all, so it continued to be used only by me and a couple of friends.
Considering AW own tool is basically useless atm, and months after players have been requesting it, I don't understand their lack of interest. Thanks for the resource!
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Considering AW own tool is basically useless atm, and months after players have been requesting it, I don't understand their lack of interest.
Probably because AW is developing a new version of the spellbook builder.
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Considering AW own tool is basically useless atm, and months after players have been requesting it, I don't understand their lack of interest.
Probably because AW is developing a new version of the spellbook builder.
I realize that comment is harsher than I thought. I know you're working on it, I'm just impatient. AW's position is making things perfect before they release them, but I guess it's been a while since I've seen the demand for one is all. :-\
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Wow that's pretty responsive, cheers! :)
Do you have any output options? I haven't played with it much, but I was going to have a look this weekend at whether I can can create a text file to import into the OCTGN deckbuilder.
Any thoughts?
So basically it would be nice to have the card image and effects integrated into the book builder; and this does seem like something pixel is working on. Sounds like we're going to see something soonish.
Good suggestion.
Added images for all cards. Click spell name to pop them up.
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Wow Fyst, it's great! Thank you!
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As an aside:
It's utterly pathetic...cringeworthy, even, that Arcane Wonders has not produced an online spellbook builder in some capacity for their official website.
It's been over a YEAR.
-nihil
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As an aside:
It's utterly pathetic...cringeworthy, even, that Arcane Wonders has not produced an online spellbook builder in some capacity for their official website.
It's been over a YEAR.
-nihil
The online spellbook builder though a useful resource can hardly be considered a top priority for a game that is still in the process of establishing a fan base. I can understand your frustration, in fact I have experienced some myself in regards to this very issue; however, firing off inflammatory rhetoric does nothing to advance your position. You claimed in another thread that you are not aggressive but merely passionate. That may be your honest self-assessment, but you may want to reassess that assessment and take a little more time in the future to consider the impact of your words in a context larger than the raw expression of your emotion.
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As an aside:
It's utterly pathetic...cringeworthy, even, that Arcane Wonders has not produced an online spellbook builder in some capacity for their official website.
It's been over a YEAR.
-nihil
This comment is both needlessly abrasive and wholly unconstructive. It saddens me. Please consider your words more responsibly.
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It's utterly pathetic...cringeworthy, even, that Arcane Wonders has not produced an online spellbook builder in some capacity for their official website.
Absolutely!
Who needs the new expansions, spellbooks, con presence, new rubber mat, promo cards and all that other stuff?!?!
I think the company NEEDS to get their priorities STRaighT and stop producing boardgame related ITEMS until this serious issue of the lack of an online spellbook builder is solved!!
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Come on Pixel, don't you think you're being a little harsh there? ;) It is a hard balance to find though - in many ways (although you were probably taking the P), I agree - I'd rather a focus on the core game and multiplayer aspects, the deck builder etc that the company has been saying they'd get sorted (as opposed to encouraging fan solutions) for ages....
I also know that in the long run, the work AW are doing to build tournament support and a stronger fan base are all to the betterment of the game.
At the same time, I care about some of this other stuff more than new cards... although they're fun too, and in many ways represent getting the full game out, since I get the impression we're playing with like 40% of the game space atm.
anyway, different perspectives and values are all about what a community is about...
It's utterly pathetic...cringeworthy, even, that Arcane Wonders has not produced an online spellbook builder in some capacity for their official website.
Absolutely!
Who needs the new expansions, spellbooks, con presence, new rubber mat, promo cards and all that other stuff?!?!
I think the company NEEDS to get their priorities STRaighT and stop producing boardgame related ITEMS until this serious issue of the lack of an online spellbook builder is solved!!
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although you were probably taking the P
I was indeed
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I finally have a day off of work after 8 days straight (we are short staffed). So I have a few hours to tinker with www.gameknight.org/MageWars (http://www.gameknight.org/MageWars), the Spell Scribe. The notable additions that are coming...
We're adding a library. "Save" your spell books here. Or head to the library to check out the other spell books available there.
Print out your spell book configuration. When you click on "Print", a Master arcane scrivener is put to work for you, producing a card size copy of your consummate creation.
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Nice Fyst! :)
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Do you have any output options? I haven't played with it much, but I was going to have a look this weekend at whether I can can create a text file to import into the OCTGN deckbuilder.
Moonglow, do you know what format/info you need? I can add an export option, in fact, I plan to do so. But I am unfamiliar with OCTGN deckbuilder and would need to research it.
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No sorry, it seems to be a proprietary file type, well at least the file extension suggests so. I'll check if it can import other book formats which might help.
Edit seems to only load an .o8d file. According to google, they're just xmls, but I can't get the wiki to open: http://www.wikihost.org/w/octgn/deck_file_format__o8d_
someone has made a converter for magic decks, I'll keep playing.
https://bitbucket.org/FailCone/octgndeckconverter
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I finally have a day off of work after 8 days straight (we are short staffed). So I have a few hours to tinker with www.gameknight.org/MageWars (http://www.gameknight.org/MageWars), the Spell Scribe. The notable additions that are coming...
We're adding a library. "Save" your spell books here. Or head to the library to check out the other spell books available there.
Print out your spell book configuration. When you click on "Print", a Master arcane scrivener is put to work for you, producing a card size copy of your consummate creation.
Amazing work...
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Is there any word regarding the official online spellbook builder? I heard that it went into "beta trials" about a month ago, and I was just wondering how things are going.
Is it still in the works?
I am excited to see the new Druid and Necro spells in the builder.
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Is there any word regarding the official online spellbook builder? I heard that it went into "beta trials" about a month ago, and I was just wondering how things are going.
Is it still in the works?
I am excited to see the new Druid and Necro spells in the builder.
It is being worked on. That is all we are allowed to say
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Is there any word regarding the official online spellbook builder? I heard that it went into "beta trials" about a month ago, and I was just wondering how things are going.
It went into alpha testing a while ago and is getting close to a public test
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Is there any word regarding the official online spellbook builder? I heard that it went into "beta trials" about a month ago, and I was just wondering how things are going.
It went into alpha testing a while ago and is getting close to a public test
Me! Me! Me! Me! :P
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Is the online spell book builder ready yet?
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Is the online spell book builder ready yet?
http://forum.arcanewonders.com/sbb (http://forum.arcanewonders.com/sbb)
This is the URL for the on-line spellbook builder.
Cheers
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Any word on when the online spellbook maker would have the Forged in Fire spell list?
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Zac is currently working on that. It should be ready soon, but I don't know an exact date yet.
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Any word on when the online spellbook maker would have the Forged in Fire spell list?
Still hoping to have it ready by tomorrow but I had some other work for the website that cropped up today.
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Zac is currently working on that. It should be ready soon, but I don't know an exact date yet.
Ok. Thanks guys!
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Could it be possible to add on the online spellbook builder a search field that looks for a word on the description of the card?.
Thanks.
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Would be cool if you could add the option of linking your Arcane Wonders forum account with the spellbook builder. And asoon you're online you can access decks that you've save and make new one or just polish the ones you've.
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So, it's great that Domination cards have been added to the spell book builder... but any chance it can get Domination added to the spell book sets so I can actually include Domination spells in my books?
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Seems like quite a problem! I would recommend in the mean time checking the drop box that says ignore card counts. At least then you can calculate the points out.
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Seems like quite a problem! I would recommend in the mean time checking the drop box that says ignore card counts. At least then you can calculate the points out.
Tried that. Didn't fix the problem. Still gives the same error.
I also noticed that some cards (seemingly at random) won't preview when clicking their names, and can't have their counts changed by clicking +/- once in your book (e.g. so can't be removed from a book). I noticed this happened with Guardian Angel, Wall of Thorns and a couple others, but didn't notice a pattern (e.g. why most worked but a few didn't). *edit* Preview works for those cards when clicked in the lower panel ("card list"), but not in the upper panel ("spellbook").
P.S. Using Internet Explorer 10.0.9200.something.
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P.S. Using Internet Explorer 10.0.9200.something.
It seems that's the problem. I'm currently on Opera 12.17 (released in 2012, I think) and don't have such issues. Also I've added Guard dog and Wall of Force without problems after checking 'ignore card counts'.
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P.S. Using Internet Explorer 10.0.9200.something.
It seems that's the problem. I'm currently on Opera 12.17 (released in 2012, I think) and don't have such issues. Also I've added Guard dog and Wall of Force without problems after checking 'ignore card counts'.
Tried it in Google Chrome version 45.0.2454.101 m. Using +/- and preview of, for instance, Guardian Angel or Wall of Thorns now works, but I still can't add Galaxxus, even with "Ignore card counts," for a new reason:
"You can't add this card as you need to be the following type of Mage: Epic"
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iNano, I'm sorry I didn't catch this sooner. I'll be looking into this problem.
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So... I don't mean to be rude, but I really can't comprehend why fixes/updates to the online card database and spell book builder take so long. It seems like it should just be a matter of adding entries to an existing data base. Seems like an hour or two of work for someone familiar with the code, assuming the data base code itself remains unchanged (just adding more entries).
Domination has been in the wild for about 6 months, and while cards have been added, there are still bugs that prevent some of them from being added to spell books - most notably that you can't select Domination as a product you own (it isn't listed under Spell Books Sets), and even if you click "Ignore Spell Counts" you still can't select some cards (like Galaxxus) using some browsers because they have the property Mage Type = Epic.
Second, Academy has also been available since Gen Con and has been available retail in many countries for at least a month, and Academy cards aren't listed at all yet. I think that should be a high priority given that Academy is getting mostly good reviews and could bring a lot of new players to Mage Wars - but it would be a LOT better if the format was supported in the spell book builder ... not to mention that it would allow Arena/Domination players a convenient way to build spell books with Academy cards without painstakingly adding up spell book points manually. You definitely want to get support for Academy before the "new shiny" appeal of Academy wears off...
Third, some updated card text, art, etc for 4th printing core and expansions (namely FvW) isn't reflected in the builder. For instance, Goblin Builder doesn't have the new text allowing him to repair walls... although I did just notice that Hand of Bim-Shallah, Battle Fury, Temple of Light, etc, have been updated with the new art/text versions; and Skeletal Sentry is now a soldier, Malacoda is now poison immune and deals poison damage, etc.
Fourth, and this is more selfish and a little off topic, but it would be nice if Academy were available in the Ambassador Rewards section of the Arcane Wonders online store. Despite my personal misgivings about Academy (and overall preference for Arena/Domination), it is a great tool for introducing new players to Mage Wars, which is really what the Ambassador Program is all about.
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I understand your frustration because I share it. Anytime I think that some task for the Spellbook Builder or the App should be simple and easy to accomplish, it never seems to happen that way. Now I recognize that part of that is my lack of knowledge on this particular subject.
I'm not going to blame others for why this has not been finished. But I do know that we have tons that goes on behind the scenes that often times grabs our attention. Thank you for your patience and your reminder.
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Just here to post my monthly request for fixes/updates to the online spell book builder:
** Domination expansion set still isn't listed under the "Spellbook Sets" tab (e.g. cards you own)
** Even if you check "Ignore Card Counts", many Domination spells still can't be added to spell books, including Galaxxus, V'tar Suppression, Gravikor, etc, as there is a data entry error that requires the mage type to be "Epic" (which of course doesn't exist). In other words, it seems that the "Epic" keyword was entered in the "Mage Type only" field rather than a field related to how many you can legally include in your spell book.
** Academy cards still aren't listed in the spell book builder, making it difficult/annoying to build Arena/Domination books with Kajarah or Tarraki or Packleader's Cowl or Mana Worm or Rajah or Slavorg or Wychwood Ironvine or Joined Strength or Wolf Fury or... well, many Academy spells. Similarly, no support for building Academy spell books exists... which I'm sure would be appreciated by Academy players. It's tough to get new players hooked when tools they could really use don't exist.
* It would also be nice to have a button to include promos as a Spellbook Set or simply hide them or include them in the list of available spells... but this is a much less urgent/important feature. Fix the broken stuff and add the available cards first.
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My monthly request/rant is posted in this other thread (http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=16689.msg67749#msg67749) this month.
To the guys at Arcane Wonders, please, PLEASE, for the love of Asyra, offer a college student a case of beer to update your card database. If you do, it will probably be up-to-date in 2 days: 1 for the student to drink the beer, plus a morning and afternoon to recover from the hangover, then about 2 hours in the early evening to enter the data. There is neither an excuse nor a conceivable reason why this couldn't have been done upon the release of Mage Wars Academy (and Domination). Oh, and while the student is at it, please get her or him to fix the entry errors from the Domination update (e.g. remove "Epic" from the mage type field for Gravikor, Galaxxus, V'tar Suppression, etc, so we can put it in our saved spell books). It's basically an issue of find & replace / copy & paste. Oh, and add Battlegrounds Domination to the "Spellbook Sets" list so we don't have to check off "Ignore card counts" anymore. So... maybe 2.5 hours total on the evening after drinking the beer.
In other words, support your product so it isn't a pain in the butt for your player base to enjoy your flagship game.
[/rant]
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For those of you who want a spellbook builder that includes the Battlegrounds and Academy expansions, why not just build your spellbook in Octgn and use the Validate Mage Wars Spellbook plugin?
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Well, sometimes i just want to build on a work computer where instaling OCTGN is not that optimal and also, for some users, OCTGN seems too complicated (for them, not for me, i love it) :)
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Tony and I are working on it. Obviously we want this be a good resource.
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Well, sometimes i just want to build on a work computer where instaling OCTGN is not that optimal and also, for some users, OCTGN seems too complicated (for them, not for me, i love it) :)
^^ this.
Something that works in a web browser is far more convenient on a mobile device or a work computer, for instance. And OCTGN's builder isn't terribly user-friendly (although maybe I'm using it wrong). Besides, the vast majority of Mage Wars players (e.g. casual board gamers) are likely unaware of OCTGN's existence, but might check out the Mage Wars web site (since it's mentioned in the rule book) and would probably be surprised to find that the existing official card database (http://forum.arcanewonders.com/sbb/database.php)/spell book builder (http://forum.arcanewonders.com/sbb/index.php) is 6+ months out of date and full of data entry errors from the last time it was updated. Kind of makes it look like the company is no longer supporting Mage Wars and is letting it die [mwcard=MW1E19]a slow death[/mwcard].
Of course, that isn't the only out-of-date info on the Arcane Wonders web site. There's also the organized play section, which hasn't been updated in a couple years and only goes as far as OP Kit #4 (using this link (http://www.arcanewonders.com/organized-play)) or OP KIt #5 (prologue only - and only if you know of this super-secret link (http://www.arcanewonders.com/organized-play/malignant-intentions)). OP Kit #6 exists in physical form ("Menace of Ruination" was released in fall 2014) but never made it to the web site (at least as far as I can tell).
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Kind of makes it look like the company is no longer supporting Mage Wars and is letting it die [mwcard=MW1E19]a slow death[/mwcard].
Of course, that isn't the only out-of-date info on the Arcane Wonders web site. There's also the organized play section, which hasn't been updated in a couple years and only goes as far as OP Kit #4 (using this link (http://www.arcanewonders.com/organized-play)) or OP KIt #5 (prologue only - and only if you know of this super-secret link (http://www.arcanewonders.com/organized-play/malignant-intentions)). OP Kit #6 exists in physical form ("Menace of Ruination" was released in fall 2014) but never made it to the web site (at least as far as I can tell).
And this:
http://www.arcanewonders.com/the-mages-of-etheria
When I just started mage wars I loved reading those pages! (I haven't been there in ages)
But the Forged in Fire mages are still "coming soon" although it has been out for almost 2 years and nothing mentions the academy mages. Today the "coming soon"-part should be the Paladin and Siren. I don't want to be a nitpicker, and frankly I don't even care that much, but it does seem like iNano has a point.
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Kind of makes it look like the company is no longer supporting Mage Wars and is letting it die [mwcard=MW1E19]a slow death[/mwcard].
Of course, that isn't the only out-of-date info on the Arcane Wonders web site. There's also the organized play section, which hasn't been updated in a couple years and only goes as far as OP Kit #4 (using this link (http://www.arcanewonders.com/organized-play)) or OP KIt #5 (prologue only - and only if you know of this super-secret link (http://www.arcanewonders.com/organized-play/malignant-intentions)). OP Kit #6 exists in physical form ("Menace of Ruination" was released in fall 2014) but never made it to the web site (at least as far as I can tell).
And this:
http://www.arcanewonders.com/the-mages-of-etheria
When I just started mage wars I loved reading those pages! (I haven't been there in ages)
But the Forged in Fire mages are still "coming soon" although it has been out for almost 2 years and nothing mentions the academy mages. Today the "coming soon"-part should be the Paladin and Siren. I don't want to be a nitpicker, and frankly I don't even care that much, but it does seem like iNano has a point.
Yes. What happened to pixlgeek? I don't think I've seen him on here in ages!
I'm not even sure I'm remembering his username correctly, it's been that long.
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Just here for my monthly rant. And from what I read earlier this morning (http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=15542.msg68588#msg68588), fingers are crossed that this might be the last... but I won't hold my breath.
To recap, here's a list of known issues and omissions, plus a few "wishlist" requests.
Card database
- Missing all Academy cards (released 8 months ago at Gen Con).
- 4th printing card updates (e.g. errata and updated text and images); some have been done (e.g. [mwcard=MW1I02] Battle Fury[/mwcard] and [mwcard=MW1J08] Hand of Bim-Shalla[/mwcard]), but others are still out of date (e.g. [mwcard=MW1I28] Teleport[/mwcard] and [mwcard=MW1J06]Gate to Hell[/mwcard] and [mwcard=FWC04] Goblin Builder[/mwcard]).
- Would be nice to have promos, but that's an optional "wish list" entry, not a "why the frack wasn't this done like a year ago?!?!" sort of thing.
Spell book builder
- Missing the ability to include Domination on the "Spell Book Sets" list (so it doesn't give you errors regarding not owning copies of those cards unless you check the "Ignore Card Counts").
- None of the cards from Domination with the "Epic" keyword can be added to your book because they were entered incorrectly ("Mage type = Epic" is always unsatisfied).
- Would be nice to be able to choose format: Academy (e.g. only cards legal for Academy) or Arena/Domination (everything legal), with a secondary option of whether or not you can include promos (assuming promos are added to the card database).
Official Rules and Codex Supplement
- Doesn't have latest errata and updates to card text (like Gate to Hell and Goblin Builder).
- Needs and update or analogue for Academy cards (e.g. to state that the Genie's wish token ability is a Quick action, etc).
Web site
- Would be nice if the organized play section included kits 5 and 6 (http://www.arcanewonders.com/organized-play), which were released a couple years ago.
- Would be nice if the "Mages of Etheria" information were updated (http://www.arcanewonders.com/the-mages-of-etheria) to include the Anvil Throne Warlord and Adramelech Warlock (released a couple years ago).
Official App
- Others can speak to this as I don't own a tablet, but I am to understand the app is significantly out-of-date.
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As far as the card database, right now we have the "back end" stuff. It's being reviewed then it just needs to be implemented. Now, will this fix some of the bugs? I don't know, but when I pass this on to be updated, I'll be double checking that.
Just letting you know what is moving at the moment.
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Official Rules and Codex Supplement
- Doesn't have latest errata and updates to card text (like Gate to Hell and Goblin Builder).
- Needs and update or analogue for Academy cards (e.g. to state that the Genie's wish token ability is a Quick action, etc).
I noticed that this document hasn't been updated since the new Core Set rules were printed. It appears that many of the items covered in the Supplement may be able to be removed since they have now been incorporated in the 4th edition rules. Using a Living Rules document is a nice way to manage many of the clarifications in one place rather than continue with separate documents.
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Just dropping by for my monthly rant.
Along with the usual requests (see a couple posts above), here are a couple of other "I can't believe how freaking long this is taking" cries:
- 4th edition printing updates are celebrating 1 year of "coming soon" status for the spell book builder and card database, as mentioned here: http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=15542.msg69803#msg69803 (http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=15542.msg69803#msg69803). It was also mentioned that it would be nice to get a Rules Supplement update for 2014's Forged in Fire before Paladin vs Siren gets released in the second half of 2016...
- While this page got an aesthetic upgrade (http://www.arcanewonders.com/resources-and-downloads), I recently noticed that the recommended beginner "Core Set Mage Spellbook Spell Lists (http://www.arcanewonders.com/resources/Pre-built_Core_Set_Spell_Lists.pdf)" could stand to be updated with the Druid vs. Necromancer and Forged in Fire spell books (e.g. from 2013 and 2014, respectively).
Still, there are more important/urgent issues. For instance, I've been holding off posting a few of my latest Arena and Domination spell books because a large fraction of the cards are from Academy - and hence don't exist in the official spell book builder and card database - and I don't want to have to track down card text and user-submitted card images (or upload my own) in order to explain what the cards do, how they interact, and how they work together in my spell book which has been possible to build since Gen Con 2015. Hopefully we can discuss before the anniversary of the product at Gen Con 2016... but of course that will likely start a year of having to wait for the Academy Priestess, Academy Warlock and Lost Grimoire v1 cards to show up on in the card database...
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Hello again, iNano.
The project that was holding me up, recently got finished. So after a brief respite, I can tackle a lot of these issues. I've tried contacting the person who originally programmed our web spellbook builder, and I've gotten no response. Now, I'll be trying to decipher it and get things updated. On the plus side, hopefully I'll be able to understand it all to the point we won't need an external person to service it. The Rules Supplement is also getting updated, ideally to put it current with our releases. As for the Core Set Mage Spellbook Spell Lists, those are for the core set, the expansion mage spellbooks aren't for that document, and all of the rulebooks are online already. Those rulebooks have the spellbooks in them.
I'm really hopefull that I'll be able to chew through a lot of these issues before the next project begins.
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I took a brief hiatus from my monthly rants... But I'm back!
To recap, here's a list of known issues and omissions, plus a few "wishlist" requests.
Card database
- 4th printing card updates (e.g. errata and updated text and images); many have been done (e.g. [mwcard=MW1I02] Battle Fury[/mwcard] and [mwcard=MW1J08] Hand of Bim-Shalla[/mwcard]), but others are still out of date (e.g. [mwcard=MW1I28] Teleport[/mwcard] and [mwcard=MW1J06]Gate to Hell[/mwcard] and [mwcard=FWC04] Goblin Builder[/mwcard]).
- Missing all Academy cards (released over a year ago at Gen Con 2015).
- Missing all Academy Priestess cards. Many of these are relevant to Arena, and many don't show up with a Google search (e.g. have to track them down in an unboxing video on YouTube).
- Missing all Academy Warlock cards. Many of these are relevant to Arena, and many don't show up with a Google search (e.g. have to track them down in an unboxing video on YouTube).
- Ditto for Paladin vs Siren, which has had a limited release at Gen Con 2016. It's more than a little annoying when people who have the set talk about cards and post spell books using them, while the rest of us don't even know what the cards do.
* Would be nice to have promos, but that's an optional "wish list" entry, not a "why the frack wasn't this done like a year ago?!?!" sort of thing.
* Speaking of promos, Lost Grimoire v1 should be available later this year, so if a SBB/database update is coming, it's probably a good idea to get ahead and be ready to update the database with those cards UPON RETAIL RELEASE (rather than several months or years later). This should go without saying, right?
Spell book builder
- Missing the ability to include Domination on the "Spell Book Sets" list (so it doesn't give you errors regarding not owning copies of those cards unless you check the "Ignore Card Counts").
- None of the cards from Domination with the "Epic" keyword can be added to your book because they were entered incorrectly ("Mage type = Epic" is always unsatisfied).
* Would be nice to be able to choose format: Academy (e.g. only cards legal for Academy) or Arena/Domination (everything legal), with a secondary option of whether or not you can include promos (assuming promos are added to the card database).
Official Rules and Codex Supplement
- Doesn't have latest errata and updates to card text (like Gate to Hell and Goblin Builder).
- Needs and update or separate Rules Supplement for Academy cards (e.g. to state that the Genie's wish token ability is a Quick action, etc).
Web site
- Would be nice if the organized play section included kits 5 and 6 (http://www.arcanewonders.com/organized-play), which were released a couple years ago.
- Would be nice if the "Mages of Etheria" information were updated (http://www.arcanewonders.com/the-mages-of-etheria) to include the Anvil Throne Warlord and Adramelech Warlock (released a couple years ago), and Paladin and Siren.
Official App
- Others can speak to this as I don't own a tablet, but I am to understand the app is significantly out-of-date.
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It's premature for my next monthly rant, but I thought I'd crosslink to a BGG post about how lack of SBB/card database is hurting Mage Wars. Yes, some would like a tablet/phablet-compatible builder, but right now there's such a large proportion of cards missing from the online card database that it's become next to useless for spell book building purposes (e.g. a large proportion of a spell book might be comprised of Academy and Siren vs Paladin cards, not to mention trying to build a book for a Siren or Paladin mage).
https://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/1643450/lack-mobile-and-sbb-support-slowly-killing-my-favo (https://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/1643450/lack-mobile-and-sbb-support-slowly-killing-my-favo)
Not only that, looking up a card with Google is getting increasingly difficult, as many aren't pictured (or text typed out) anywhere on the web. Youtube "unboxing" videos are the only known source for some Academy, Academy expansion and PvS cards, but Youtube is data-intensive (e.g. expensive on a mobile network) or might be blocked from work, etc. Even a forum post with scanned card images for recently released sets (well, sets released since Gen Con 2015, if that's still "recent") would be a big improvement right now.
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Can you get me a complete card list by Set?
I can see about putting together an Excel based SpellBook Builder.
I'll try to design it so it can be used as a .csv file for a later database.
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Can you get me a complete card list by Set?
I can see about putting together an Excel based SpellBook Builder.
I'll try to design it so it can be used as a .csv file for a later database.
You can find this on the BGG site for Mage Wars. Sorry link is not handy.
There are also several Excel based SpellBook Builders to check out. However, I believe all of these are now out dated with expansions.
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Can you get me a complete card list by Set?
I can see about putting together an Excel based SpellBook Builder.
I'll try to design it so it can be used as a .csv file for a later database.
You can find this on the BGG site for Mage Wars. Sorry link is not handy.
There are also several Excel based SpellBook Builders to check out. However, I believe all of these are now out dated with expansions.
http://www.arcanewonders.com/resources-and-downloads (http://www.arcanewonders.com/resources-and-downloads)
(Scroll down for spell lists; missing Academy Priestess, Academy Warlock, and Paladin vs Siren)
http://forum.arcanewonders.com/sbb/database.php (http://forum.arcanewonders.com/sbb/database.php)
(Missing all Academy product, Paladin vs Siren, some recent updates/errata from 4th printing, and some Domination cards (namely those with the Epic keyword) can't be added to spell books using the spell book builder)
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What kind of database was used for the 2nd link is it a SQL database or some other architecture?
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I miss iNano's persistence on this thread - I hope he hasn't given up hope on this! :)
Like many people, I would like to have the SBB functionality available while on a work PC - and it is rarely possible to access OCTGN at this time. Plus, I prefer the simplicity of the SpellBookBuilder here.
Would it be possible to open access to the DB to some of the senior members here (or following iNano's suggestion of paying a student in beer ;) )? If it means improvements in our favorite game - then I've no doubt that people will easily give their time for no more than a "thank you" message.
I'm not trying to undermine anyone's efforts on the SBB, but I'd just like to see it function a lot better than it currently does.
The lack of a fully functioning, easily accessible, spellbook builder is a very annoying problem - especially when I try to introduce newer players to building their own decks (ie, saying something like "OK most of the cards in the DB work fine. Take a note of ones that don't work so well yourself. And also consider taking these useful Academy cards that aren't in the DB yet.")
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Hey man!
I know you do not like the octgn sbb for your work, but giving new players a chance on the octgn sbb may solve at least half your problem. Also if they wanted to learn to play online that might also get them more into the game!
I wish the main sbb was updated too.
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I respect and applaud all the work that has been done to update the OCTGN game and won't take anything away from it.
However, I'm of the same mind as many other posters here who think the lack of a functional, "one-click-away" SBB is hurting the game. I can't speak for others but I know the lack of a SBB is the main reason I'm not as active anymore as before.
Building Spellbooks with a SBB is fast, fun and stimulates creativeness. It allows you to develop and explore an idea in minutes.
Building Spellbooks without a SBB, while sorting through piles of cards, is tedious, boring, time consuming and fun killing imo.
I cannot comprehend how a company that produces such a well designed and intelligent game lacks the understanding of how vital a SBB is or can be to its success.
I cannot put it any other way because if they did realize how important a SBB is they would long since have updated it.
Bottomline : fantastic game but disappointed atm because the lack of a SBB means that an important and very enjoyable part of the game called "SpellBookBuilding" has been turned into a time consuming chore.
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I respect and applaud all the work that has been done to update the OCTGN game and won't take anything away from it.
However, I'm of the same mind as many other posters here who think the lack of a functional, "one-click-away" SBB is hurting the game. I can't speak for others but I know the lack of a SBB is the main reason I'm not as active anymore as before.
Building Spellbooks with a SBB is fast, fun and stimulates creativeness. It allows you to develop and explore an idea in minutes.
Building Spellbooks without a SBB, while sorting through piles of cards, is tedious, boring, time consuming and fun killing imo.
I cannot comprehend how a company that produces such a well designed and intelligent game lacks the understanding of how vital a SBB is or can be to its success.
I cannot put it any other way because if they did realize how important a SBB is they would long since have updated it.
Bottomline : fantastic game but disappointed atm because the lack of a SBB means that an important and very enjoyable part of the game called "SpellBookBuilding" has been turned into a time consuming chore.
^^ this.
And it's not just for building books, either. Sometimes I just want to look up a card, for instance to discuss it in a forum, and right now there are several cards (from Academy, Lost Grimoire and PvS) that I can't find anywhere on the interwebs. For example, I tend to get the ability text of Shallow Sea and Swamp mixed up. Or I want to check the legal targets of Demonic Bloodlust. Or the mana cost of Turghut.
I don't want to admit how long it took me to type out the spells in my Domination Siren book (http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=17656.msg79909#msg79909), which has a total of 11 spells that are in the database/sbb.
The lack of a builder/database is has really stunted my ability to think about Mage Wars when I'm away from my physical cards. It's really sad, especially when we just got so many new cards in 2016, and yet there's little to no evidence of them on the internet - unless you want to sift through Youtube videos by Arcane Duels, which really uses up your data plan in a hurry.
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Yes.. I agree with every letter Rodge, Borg & iNano said. This issue is here for over a year and a half. Ever since domination came out, the spellbookbuilder is out of date. The academy core set was released in october 2015! I really don't understand how updating could even take more time than a couple of hours work.. I mean, Arcane duels updates the OCTGN builder AND the game itself, which is way more work, constantly and these guys do it in their free time.
Less of an issue, but it should also be possible to filter on keywords or text like in OCTGN. + choose a format (academy, arena, domination)
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Absolutely agree with all above!!!
I would add the Companion app here (that I bought and that is just garbage right now) since it was the best sbb for mobile use (or could have advanced to).
For me I completely quit spellbookbuilding in free time. It is only possible at home at my computer with enough time. I would love to think about a book and tweak it, look up cards, calculate openings and search for synergies at a trainstation, while traveling, while waiting for something or simply whenever I have an idea. Nothing of that is possible right now and that is disappointing.
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I always found the sbb in OCTGN WAY better than both the web and app version. (Also compared to back when things were up to date.)
Just saying this to encourage people to try it out until we get an official (updated) product.
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I always found the sbb in OCTGN WAY better than both the web and app version. (Also compared to back when things were up to date.)
Just saying this to encourage people to try it out until we get an official (updated) product.
Absolutely true! Octgn is way more powerful than all others. But it's available just at home and that's the point that's the big issue :(
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I always found the sbb in OCTGN WAY better than both the web and app version. (Also compared to back when things were up to date.)
Just saying this to encourage people to try it out until we get an official (updated) product.
I'd like to try it out ... but this is all such a "jungle"
( setting up octgn, setting up MW, setting up the image packs, setting up the SBB, registering here and there, verification codes and whatnot) .... really, I don't want to spend all day on this.
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We are implementing plans for spellbook builder updates. I wanted to take a minute on here to address a couple of items as there seems to be a lot of misunderstanding concerning the spellbook builder.
- None of the coding is done in-house for our apps or spellbook builders
- There are currently 3 different spellbook builders being worked on (two fan-made that we're seeing how they progress, and one that is starting next week)
- Our major priority as a company is to produce and release new content --our focus is on continuing to release new sets and market said sets to the public to increase the Mage Wars player-base
It takes much more time than a couple hours to update the apps in their current states. We are working on solutions, but they take time.
As I mentioned in the previous BGG thread linked above, I expect there to be progress in 2017. We have a lot of work being done in the background with new products and are looking into ways to provide this tool for our fans.
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Thank you for taking the time to respond to this thread, Tony.
- None of the coding is done in-house for our apps or spellbook builders
Most of the people here are aware of that but I think it's no longer accepted as a legitimate excuse because this situation is now dragging on for over a year.
- There are currently 3 different spellbook builders being worked on (two fan-made that we're seeing how they progress, and one that is starting next week)
The fact that different fans are now taking it upon themselves to create up-to-date spellbookbuilders should be a clear and loud sign to AW that this is something the community is desperately missing and is way over due.
- Our major priority as a company is to produce and release new content --our focus is on continuing to release new sets and market said sets to the public to increase the Mage Wars player-base
Totally agree there but given the lack of action with regard to this public plea for over a year, AW seems to heavily underestimate how important a SBB can be to the development of the game.
A functional SBB and increasing the player base go hand in hand imo, that's why I can't understand why this issue is taking so long.
I would even argue that at this point a SBB is more important than a new set of cards to grow the player base.
It takes much more time than a couple hours to update the apps in their current states. We are working on solutions, but they take time.
I understand the argument but I've read it too many times for it to still be taken seriously.
How can it possibly take more than a year to update a relatively simple and small database ?
Again, thanks for the reply, my criticism is nothing personal, I'd just wish this issue was taken care of sooner rather than later as I'm sure I'm not the only one who's interest and time investment in this game is dwindling due to the lack of a simple online tool.
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I think it's great that you guys provide a SBB at all and for free at that. I work with the dev team
at my company so I know how lengthy and expensive any amount of programming can be, especially when not done in house. It takes alot time, money, resources, planning, and approvals to get seemingly simple changes made. I for one feally appreciate the work the team does for the SBB and don't mind waiting as I think focusing in-house resources on the physical game itself it just a better business decision.
I'm quite surprised so many feel the game isn't interesting or worth playing without a SBB. I get that it's convenient but for me the main draw of the game is getting to manually build your SB. Maybe I'm just old school but I really like the physical aspects of the game and I started with Academy. If I wanted to have instant digital access to game components I would just play a video game. Maybe a thorough fan wiki could help? Having that said I do see the benefits if a SBB and look forward to seeing updates (offical or fan based). In the meantime I'll happily keep playing.
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Bump.
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One of the fan based spellbook builders mentioned above is the one I made and it is available at www.spellbookbuilder.com (http://www.spellbookbuilder.com). To my knowledge it contains all published spells, including Academy and promo spells. I've been talking to AW for almost a year now trying to get them to support me by providing spell images and data, but as these guys sometimes find it hard to answer an email (in a correspondence they initiated) I don't think it is realistic to expect their help in any way. Anyways, you are all invited to use www.spellbookbuilder.com (http://www.spellbookbuilder.com), there is a thread in Spellbook Builder subforum where you can report issues or ask for features.
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Im using the spellbookbuilder a lot. Thanks for this great tool. Does somebody know when the academy druid gets included? That would be awesome.
Thanks a lot!