Hello everyone,

As most of you may know, I've been the Vice President of Business Development at Arcane Wonders since March of 2013.  I am posting today to let you know I have resigned that position and am pursuing another opportunity inside the industry.

It is with a heavy heart that I type this note to you all.  I love Mage Wars.  Absolutely LOVE the game.  I came to Arcane Wonders with passion and purpose and I believe we have done great work together.  Yes, it has not always been just Mage Wars work, and the Dice Tower Essential line of games has taken off very well with the success of Sheriff, but at the core, I came to AW to support and grow Mage Wars.

While my new opportunity will be a positive one, and I am departing from AW in a positive fashion, I want everyone to know I still fully believe.  Not just in the game, but in the team as well.  I fully believe Academy will provide existing players new meta while bringing new players into the game.  I fully believe the new expansions I have seen the team work on are going to blow people's minds.  I also fully believe that the DTE line will grow even more, and very soon.

It has been a pleasure meeting so many of you over the last few years.  I have enjoyed getting to interact with everyone in our community, and while I have other options, I look forward to still being part of the community overall. I wish everyone the best and look forward to seeing more from the team soon at AW for all of us to enjoy!

Now... bring me that horizon

Scott "Tox" Morris

Hello everyone,

First, I wanted to give everyone the good news that Academy is online for pre-orders today!

http://store.arcanewonders.com/product.php?productid=17705&cat=254&page=1

We're very excited about this!  Academy will provide both fast game play and deep strategy Mage Wars players have become familiar with, and ultimately, bring new players to our game.

As you may know, I'm a pretty transparent person.  I know that while we're thrilled with this announcement, many of you are saying "November!? Great, where's everything else like PvS and Battlegrounds?" So, I wanted to address the "Elephant in the room" and be forthcoming with everyone.

As we announced recently on our web site, Battlegrounds has been delayed due to manufacturing issues out of our control, and we're targeting October for it's release.  This was unforeseen and unfortunate and while we originally believed it would not, it has impacted our production schedule for other items.  We had plans and goals with Academy to full release at Gen Con, but that is obviously not the case.  Thankfully, those who played Academy at Gen Con can tell you, the game was a big success so the full release should be very popular with many players.

This means that yes, PvS will most likely push to early next year. I can tell you that in addition to finalizing PvS, many of you have heard of some of the follow on products (through interviews and podcasts) that we have planned after it; yes, there are two more expansions in the work, set to release after PvS, for Arena.  In parallel we are planning to release more mages through small expansions for Academy too.  When it comes to Arena, PvS is THE next item in our sights.  We are very confident with where PvS is heading and we think the final product will make many players happy.

For this, I can not apologize enough to you, our community.  You love our game, and it's evident in your passion here on the boards and in public when I meet you at conventions. We love you, and your passion, and while I could use all the phrases you've heard before, I'm not here today to give you a "company line", I'm here to simply say, we have an awesome game in Academy coming out asap, and we're working very hard to get you what you want for both it, and Arena to be supported more.

It's our goal to make great games, not cut corners, and with the best intentions and plans at hand, no matter the outside forces that rear their heads in challenge, we want you to know that we hear you, we're listening, and we're working hard to bring you the best possible product we can.

As always, if you have any questions, let us know.  Aaron and I are here for you, and we're happy to answer anything and everything we can.

I'll see you in the Arena... or at the Academy

Scott

Vice President
Business Development

Hello Mage Wars Fans!

The team is back with another installment of Mage Wars Mondays today (located online here: http://www.arcanewonders.com/arcane-wonders/mage-wars-mondays-the-chosen) and we're excited to not just talk about Domination and Academy, but also offer you a chance to name a card in an upcoming expansion of Academy!

We want you to name the Dawnbreaker's Chosen!  This exciting new Legendary creature is in development at the moment, but will be included in the Priestess expansion for Mage Wars Academy, very soon after the release of the Core Set for Academy.

Do you have what it takes to please Asyra?  Can you come up with the name that will live in infamy throughout the Mage Wars annals? If so, email us at dawnbreakercontest@arcanewonders.com with your suggestions!

You can enter multiple times but the the deadline for entry is July 24th.  Our team will pick a set of top 10 entries, and then from those, we will randomly pick the winner and announce it at Gen Con 2015 during one of our end of day prize events we're planning.  (Don't know what those prize events are?  Take a listen to the latest podcast to find out!)

In addition, the winner will get a copy of the Priestess expansion, when it is released, and a copy of Mage Wars Battlegrounds Domination, for free! (including world wide shipping on us!)

We do ask that the names be appropriate for the subject matter, and Arcane Wonders will retain the rights to the name of the final chosen winner. 

But, who IS the Dawnbreaker's Chosen you ask?  Here's the stats of this Legendary Knight:



As you can see, we're still awaiting the artwork, but know that this Knight is designed to be so pious and blessed that small creatures are of no consequence to this legendary being!

We look forward to hearing all the entries and announcing a winner at Gen Con 2015 in our booth, #741!

Hello everyone!

Coming up soon is Dice Tower Con and I wanted to ensure everyone that we will be having a tournament there for Mage Wars Arena!  The new Battlegrounds cards will not be legal for it though, as the game was only pre-released at Origins, not fully released, so if you were able to get one, we hope you understand that these will not be legal for this tournament.

That said, we're looking forward to a lot of fun on Saturday, June 27th, and hosting the tournament there!  Come by our booth to sign up and have a chance to win some sweet prizes!

See you there!

I wanted to take a moment and ensure everyone that yes, we are planning a Gen Con Tournament for Mage Wars Arena!  Gen Con Events kicked our request for a championship tournament back at the last minute with questions, but haven't made clear why the two days of tournament requests were not approved.  We are waiting to hear back from them, but in short, we are planning to have the event still.

Any questions, please let me know.

Hello everyone!

I wanted to share a quick update with you about Origins.  As many of you know, we are not hosting a Mage Wars Tournament at Origins.  We increased the size of our main C-Hall space to a 20 x 20 and 10 x 20 of that will be dedicated to gaming, as such, with the amount of space in that booth, and the costs associated with a secondary booth or room for the tournament, coupled with feedback from several community members, we have chosen to focus Origins gameplay around teaching players Academy at our booth and delving into battlegrounds play, as it will be pre-released at Origins.

So what's on tap?

First up, yes, you'll get a chance to check out Academy!  We will have prototypes there and we will be allowing players to play full games with the new spellbooks and cards for the first time publicly!  Get ready to experience Mage Wars in a whole new way!

Second, as you may have seen in a previous post, we will be having a few special sessions to play against Laddinfance (Aaron) himself at Battlegrounds!  Original Post: http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=15436.0

For this event, please email scottmorris[at]arcanewonders[dot]com with the subject line "Play Aaron at Origins" for a chance to play and win!  We will have one event every day at 11 AM June 4th through June 7th in our booth.  We will be taking primary and secondary sign ups, in case the primary is unable to make their scheduled time.

This will be on a first come, first serve basis, so if you email us and we confirm, and you don't show up within 5 minutes of the start time, the secondary will then have the option of playing.  If both the primary and secondary do not who up, then we will open it up to other sign ups on our "Waiting list" which will be handled again, first come, first serve.  So, in short, please only sign up if you are committed to playing and can be on time.

What can you win?  Well, for all those playing, we will have special promo cards, but for those who can beat Laddinfance at his own game, you can win a full copy of Battlegrounds Domination for yourself! 

Again, to sign up, please email scottmorris[at]arcanewonders[dot]com with the subject line "Play Aaron at Origins" to add your name to the schedule.

Finally, we will be having open Battlegrounds play through the convention!  Come pick up your pre-ordered copy and play immediately in our booth, or, if you prefer, you can come play first, and then buy!  The choice is yours!  You can pre-order Battlegrounds for pick up at Origins through our store, here: http://store.arcanewonders.com/product.php?productid=17693&cat=254&page=1 but we will have additional copies available should you prefer to play it first, which you can!

Come help us celebrate these awesome new ways to play our favorite game, Mage Wars, at one of the best conventions, the Origins Game Fair!

Our good friend, Pegasus, are helping us promote the German Nationals on May 16th!  See all the details here and good luck to those in attendance!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1580463418858500/

Hello fellow Mages of Etheria!

The time for our annual Gen Con tournament has come and we are working on setting up the details with the Gen Con events team.  This year, we will have a 32 seat tournament, with swiss rounds, cutting to the top 4.  As last year, rounds will be 75 minutes long.  The point system will be the same as well:

Outcome   Match Points
Match Win:  4
Modified Win:  3
Draw: 1
Match Loss: 0

Match Win: Opponent mage is dealt lethal damage, i.e. the amount of Damage either equals or exceeds their Life total.
Modified Win: In the event that neither player has attained a Match Win when time is called, the player with the greatest difference between Life total and Damage is awarded the Modified Win. If there is no clear Modified Win, both players will receive a Draw.
Draw: If a Modified Win is awarded, the player with the lower difference between Life total and Damage is awarded a Draw.

Given 5 rounds of 75 minutes, along with time in between rounds, we're expecting the tournament to last roughly 7-8 hours to get to the cut of the top 4.  The top 4 will then play each other in a single elimination style bracket, with the same outcomes listed above and we expect those two matches, and the finals, to take an additional 4 hours total.  The finals will be allotted 2 hours for the final two competitors to play.  This means the tournament is best held over two days.

We plan on hosting the tournament on either Friday, with the top 4 and finals on Saturday, or hosting on Saturday, with the top 4 and finals on Sunday.  What we need from you, as players and fans, is a preference of what two days are better as we want to be cognizant of you time at Gen Con as well. Please leave a comment below and let us know if you prefer Friday/Saturday, or Saturday/Sunday.

Thank you, as always, for your support, and we look forward to seeing you at the best 4 days in gaming this year, Gen Con 2015!

PS - Due to the release of Battlegrounds Domination, the spell cards from it will be tournament legal at the time of Gen Con!