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Messages - Koz

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1
I appreciate the redirect in tone, and I apologize for my initial rant.  I'm sure it came off as a bit too negative.  It's just that I used to LOVE this game, doing everything I could to recruit people to play and get a community going.  Sadly, my efforts ended up wasted, and our community is more or less dead.

It's been very difficult to try and convince people to give it another shot when there's been no new product for a year.  The gaming industry is flooded with constant shiny new toys that keep us obsessive gamers salivating over "what's new".  FFG understands this, hence their rapid release of products.  I'm not suggesting Arcane Wonders try and adopt FFG's approach and spam product monthly, but having only one release in a year that contains something new for your flagship game is unacceptable if your goal is success.  I mean, if you want to make money off of your product...you need to actually be selling some.

The problems I have with the promos is that there have been some that have been out FOREVER and are still not "official".  I've wanted Temple High Guards to be "legal' since I saw them what seems a lifetime ago.  I didn't chase these promos initially because I figured "why do that when they'll eventually be released.  Well...here I am, still waiting.  It's a frustrating experience.

I was hoping Domination would be the flint to relight the spark in our community, which is why I was so disappointed in the small amount of new cards.  I was hoping for a much larger release after so long of a drought.  Who knows though, maybe Domination will shake things up enough to be what people in my area need to give it another go.  Perhaps not.


2
Copying someone's words and replacing everything with "how it should be said" type of a post is very snarky in and of itself. 

He could have simply disagreed without the sarcastic tone.  Then we could have had a discussion and he could have possibly swayed me. I was a HUGE supporter of this game for it's first year, shouting it's glory from the rooftops.  Now I'm struggling to maintain interest and being shouted down by fanboys just makes me want to say "eff it" and walk away for good

Oh well

3
And by the way, it's 116 new cards, not 116 unique spells.  It's probably less than 30 unique new cards when you account for the multiple copies of each card...not exactly a horde of new options after a year of nothing new...except for promos which as you said aren't worth going "crazy for".


4
Holy cats! 116 new cards.  That's awesome.  When this set comes out, Mage Wars will have a new release that isn't an accessory, promo, or reprint.  The product release for this game is a refreshing pace compared to most CCGs and LCGs, which in my opinion are at such a whirlwind pace that I can neither justify the time nor financial commitment to keep up with them.  I personally can't afford to play much more than biweekly, but it's refreshing to see the same plays are viable that have been around forever (e.g. Force Push through Wall of Thorns, Hurl Boulder, blah blah etc) suggesting there hasn't been too much power creep over the years. 

116 cards with many of them being new spells, means this should really change up spell book design.  This is more than just an alternate rule set with some tiles and a handful of cards thrown in.

While I commend the new variant on play, the refreshingly reasonable release of product for this game is great for players like me (e.g. 30+ with young families, mortgage payments, etc).  I mean, there are still a large number of promos that have been out for well over a YEAR that you could go crazy trying to collect, but I'm happy that they aren't needed to play and will be released in sets eventually.  One of the only weird things is we still don't have Frost spells... but you can clearly see Frost damage symbols on some of the Battlegrounds: Domination tiles, so we'll finally have a use for things like that Bearskin armor though!  So awesome...

I think this game is slowing picking up pace, which is great because it's finally getting more popular in my area.  With this and the Academy expansion / play mode, I hope the game will finally get the recognition it deserves. 

Sorry for the rant, I just really love this game, and the evolution in gameplay and new product and play modes has me really excited!

It's posts like this that are helping chase people away.  I have a legitimate complaint that I shared in hopes someone will listen and, sure as sunrise, a rabid fanboy pounces from the shadows to silence any and all critique of his pet game.

If you think the release schedule for this game is "refreshing", good for you, but it's not good for the game.  You putting yourself ahead of the game though is touching.  As long as it's good for you, who cares if it kills the game eh?  And honestly, if one product release in a year is what's right for your pocket book...you may want to consider a new job.

And the game is NOT "picking up pace", as evidenced by the poor turn out at Origins and Gen Con last year.  These things are telling, even for those with their heads in the sand shouting "all is well" into the darkness.

But thanks for stepping in to be snarky.  Just puts yet another bad taste in my mouth for this game.  If your goal was to help chase people away, congrats.


5
Only 116 new cards?  That's it?  By the time this set comes out, Mage Wars will not have had a new release in about a year that wasn't an accessory, promo, or reprint.  The product release for this game is glacial, which in my opinion is leading to a very stagnant environment.  I personally haven't played in like a year, but I walked by several games at Gen Con last year and was very disappointed to see the same plays being made and the same spells being used that have been around forever (e.g. Force Push through Wall of Thorns, Hurl Boulder, blah blah etc). 

116 cards with only some of them being spells, means almost no content that will change the spell book design up much.  So this is basically just an alternate rule set with some tiles and a handful of cards thrown in that are all probably designed around these orbs. 

While I commend the new variant on play, the ridiculously slow release of product for this game is killing it for me.  I mean, there are still a large number of promos that have been out for well over a YEAR with no sign of when they'll actually appear in a full release.  Not to mention the fact that the game has been out for 2 and 1/2 years and we still don't have Frost spells...Thank god we have that Bearskin armor though!  So dumb...

I think this game is slowing dying, which is a shame because it could have been great.  When it's gone, I hope they realize that the snails pace of releases and "samey" spell books were the root cause.  Not that it will matter at that point

Sorry for the rant, I just really loved this game when it first came out, but the lack of evolution in gameplay and trickle of product has killed it for me.

6
Events / Re: Mage Wars Tournament @ Origins Game Fair 2014
« on: June 20, 2014, 08:26:02 AM »
Personally, I prefer product prizes over trophies/plaques/swords/ipads, etc.  But that's me.  I would have taken the roll up mage wars battle mat any day over those other prizes (although I guess I could have sold the Ipad).  But that's neither here nor there.  Arcane Wonders really seemed to sink some money into the prize support, and that's a good thing, but the turnout is troubling.  It makes me wonder if this game's popularity is waning.  I'd hate to see it, because I believe in this game, but I have to be honest, the only way I can get a game in anymore is if I play on Octgon, which I don't particularly enjoy.  No one in my area will play this game anymore.  So I basically don't even play anymore, and haven't in many months.  Sad really.

I think there are a few reasons for this perceived decline, but that's for another thread.  Hopefully it isn't really in decline at all, because I want this game to flourish, but I guess we'll see.  If Gen Con has a low turnout too, that will be a very bad sign, IMO.

7
Events / Re: Mage Wars Tournament @ Origins Game Fair 2014
« on: June 18, 2014, 02:49:47 PM »
Only six players for Origins?  That's a bit surprising honestly.  I had thought this game was pretty popular, but six players is a very low turnout, even for a game of this type. 

Not to detract from anyone's victories, but these tournament results really don't tell us much about the meta either.  Six players with no Wizards, Forcemaster's, or Priest/Priestess's just doesn't tell us much about the relative power levels of the various mages.

Also, an all core book winning is very odd to me too.  It makes it seem as if the expansions haven't changed the meta at all, and we're still sitting at square one.  It seems obvious that the expansions have indeed changed the meta, which is why results of this nature are very, very strange.

I just don't know what to make of these results honestly.

8
Spells / Re: Skeletal Sentry subtype
« on: June 05, 2014, 11:27:07 AM »
So has this been added to a list of errata'd cards somewhere?  I can't seem to find it if so...

9
Ok, thanks for the responses.  It seems that they both have some potential but aren't exactly tearing up the tournament scene just yet (if they ever do).  I had high hopes for the Necro so hopefully he ends up being viable in high-level play, although the jury seems to be out on that one at the moment.

 

10
I've been away for quite awhile and haven't played in many months, so I was wondering if the Druid and Necro had turned out to be any good in a competitive environment at all (I've yet to actually play with either).  I ask because I don't see a lot of threads about winning builds with these two or any reports of strong showings at tournaments with them.  I had a lot of hope for the Necro so I'm hoping it wasn't a big swing and a miss for Arcane Wonders.

I'm not looking for how good these two are in some random playgroup, I'm hoping for some feedback from top players as to the viability of these mages in high level play.  Any such feedback to be had?

Thanks!

11
General Discussion / Spellbook sale over at coolstuffinc
« on: December 27, 2013, 10:51:07 AM »
Coolstuffinc has the Spellbook bundles 2 & 3 on their daily deals today for like $7.99. 

Just a heads up   :)


12
@Koz
Daze pre-empting a multi-target attack is a great insight! I'll try to incorporate in an edit, although one way of defending against full action multi-target attacks is to Push opponent in Early QC, something you want to do anyway to trigger Rajan's. (It's good to see you back on the forum., Koz. You've been quiet. Hope it's nothing I've said...)

No, nothing like that, I've just been very busy and also focused on some other games.  I've been lurking here and there and this thread caught my eye because Swarm builds are something that's always on my radar and I'm always hoping they will become a viable alternative to few-big.  I just wanted to chime in and see if I can help the brainstorming. 

Let us know how your build preforms and evolves so we can see how it's going.  Hopefully I'll get my guys to start playing some Mage Wars again (or I can find time for OCTGN) so I can try a few builds of my own.  If so, I'll share my results.

13
I haven't played swarm in forever so I don't know how well Fortified Position and the Tree help deal with AOE, but I would still be afraid that a Ring of Fire or Electrify would just wreck the whole strategy.  Back when I ran swarm I attempted to counter AOE by using Daze/Stun attacks.  An opponent who is Dazed has a 50% chance of missing any attack, including an entire AOE, which makes it too risky to attempt to cast considering the mana cost of those spells unless they are incredibly desperate.  Things like Pillar of Light and Surging Wave are both cheap and have a good chance to roll an effect (use a Wand to keep it up turn after turn).  The best case scenario is that you correctly predict that your opponent has prepared an AOE spell and you hit them in the Quickcast phase and get the Daze.  They'll probably be too scared to waste the mana to cast it unless they are getting stomped badly and they'll basically be stuck with a dead spell and end up melee attacking instead.  Perhaps the combination of the new cards plus old-school Daze/Stun may be what swarms need to survive.

I would suggest working in some Daze/Stun attacks if you can to help mitigate one of the decks most glaring weaknesses.  Hope that helps and let us know how the build does.  I'm hoping swarm gets a revival with the new stuff that's come out.

14
Strategy and Tactics / Re: Let's talk about the Druid!
« on: December 05, 2013, 11:11:53 AM »
Seems to me that Deathlock should be an auto-play against the Druid.

Yeah, I haven't had any games with the Druid yet, but she seems to have a lot of hard counters by default.  Fire and Deathlock are rough for her to deal with it would seem.  I guess we'll see how the meta develops.

15
Spellbook Builder / Re: New beta November 25th
« on: November 27, 2013, 11:28:18 AM »
Well...I'm not great with this kind of stuff, but is this what you're looking for?

SCRIPT5009: 'FileReader' is undefined
sbb-1.3.2.js, line 11 character 1
SCRIPT5009: 'FileReader' is undefined
sbb-1.3.2.js, line 11 character 1

That's the only thing I could see that looked like an "error" because it had big red "x's" by them.  If that's not what you're looking for let me know specifically where to look in the error console and what to copy.

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