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Messages - riastradh

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Events / Mage Wars: Academy release day at Blockhouse Games (Mansfield, TX)

« on: January 05, 2016, 09:14:16 PM »

Sunday 24 January 2016, 2pm - 7pm

Blockhouse Games & Comics
2851 Matlock Rd #430
Mansfield, TX 76063

Ambassadors will be on hand to teach and demo Academy to publicly mark the release.

Strategy and Tactics / Re: The problem with minor buddies, and trouble coming up with good spellbook ideas

« on: December 21, 2015, 09:37:55 PM »

Quote from: Halewijn on December 21, 2015, 10:23:42 AM

That's a good thing. This means that it's balanced. If you would feel you needed an extra 30 points it would be bad. If you feel you have enough... What's the challenge?

Agreed.

Strategy and Tactics / Re: The problem with minor buddies, and trouble coming up with good spellbook ideas

« on: December 21, 2015, 09:51:02 AM »

Quote from: Sailor Vulcan on December 20, 2015, 06:54:51 PM

Also, for those who've played a full game of Academy (not just the demo), how does the gameplay compare with Apprentice mode?

I have never felt like I am playing a truncated version of a wizard in Academy. The game rhythm is different, but scaled down spell book points, health, and channeling are the right size to hit the intended mark. I always feel like I want four or five more points to include a couple extra spells to bulk up a book.

For what it's worth, I think minor buddies are viable. I won a game just last week with an enchanted Wytchwood Hound (notably Panther Stealth) doing the bulk of the wizard damage.

Strategy and Tactics / Re: The problem with minor buddies, and trouble coming up with good spellbook ideas

« on: December 20, 2015, 09:19:37 AM »

Quote from: Kelanen on December 20, 2015, 08:43:11 AM

I think you are all expecting waaaay to much - you are looking for an Arena quality building experience from Academy. Horses for courses....

I do not think anyone is expecting this to be the scope of Arena. I simply do not think more than one viable strategy per mage is asking much.

Strategy and Tactics / Re: The problem with minor buddies, and trouble coming up with good spellbook ideas

« on: December 18, 2015, 09:22:36 PM »

Not really. I agree the limited card pool limits the variety of unique book ideas. I don't think that the next release will do much to alleviate this - those will likely also be a smaller selection of cards that are focused towards those mages, not adding a bunch of animal type creatures or arcane spells that will add variety to book building. Perhaps if afterward we see a spell book expansion...

I have not had a lot of inspiration with unique books either, but I have touched some useful combinations that might serve as a jump-off point though they have likely been discussed in other threads.
Satyr Gruff & Genie
Elusive Wytchwood Hounds, and other minor creatures as guards to draw fire. A book also stocked with Rajah's, Tarraki's, and plenty of Panther Stealth might make a good floop book.

Off topic / Re: Has anyone here ever heard of or tried Krosmaster Arena?

« on: November 29, 2015, 07:48:37 PM »

I've seen Krosmaster. It's a fun and competitive game. The short sell is you choose a team of 2-4 fighters and use your team to fight for points by claiming them from spots on the board or eliminating your opponent's fighters.

Customization of your team boils down to using the various characters in combination to suit your strategy as each one fights differently. Each set or expansion comes with a number of fighters and ability cards. There are also variations of the same fighter.

I've not delved much more than that due to the two common issues that arise with games like this - overhead on getting started, and finding a pool of players interested in even trying it. It's surely worth it if you can find a good deal, IMO.

Good gaming!

General Discussion / Re: We need to encourage spellbook sharing more

« on: November 24, 2015, 04:43:02 PM »

So the solution is to circulate more spellbooks that will eventually also become rote. mmkay. Good luck with that - wish you the best.

General Discussion / Re: We need to encourage spellbook sharing more

« on: November 24, 2015, 10:20:00 AM »

That is good perspective from the other side, thank you.

Quote from: Puddnhead on November 24, 2015, 10:11:59 AM

I am probably one of those terrible people that no one wants spying on them, but I am a huge fan of net decking.

Let me explain:

I love thinking and talking about Mage Wars. I also love talking with people to hear how they think and what excites them. Additionally, I am acutely aware that I have a limited ability to play, construct and tweak my own books and dissect and synergize various card combinations--and this is only from MY perspective.

There are many many people who have poured a lot of energy and thought into this game and make some fantastic books with really cool ideas in them. Each player brings a unique contribution of style, preferences and excitement to the game from Charmyna's patient attrition to Sharkbait's kill-it-with-fire or die there are so many books to try and learn from. I would never have valued enchantment transfusion with out gdeikhaus's Guardian Angel book or Heal quite as well without Coshade's Divine Life Priest. Sailor's Force Crush Forcemaster, Borg's use of Force Pull and Echpheron's use of damage over time and Cloak of Shadows upped my awareness of the uses for certain cards and the balance of spells in a book. I have learned so much from reading about these strategies on the forum and seeing the feedback and results and finally getting to test them myself!

Using someone else's book is a window into how they think and what decisions they make as well as what they fear. It also exposes me to a different playstyle and new ways of using (and combating) cards in the books that I build in the future.

Case in point: I learned a great deal about how to play the Adramelech Warlock from playing Ecpheron's book and then Sharkbait's book. I used what lessons I'd learned to play her in the Mage Roars tournament to good effect.

In addition to these reasons there are some significantly more practical reasons for me. I'm 35 I have a job and a family and other commitments during the week. If I were still in college with fewer actual responsibilities I would spend most of my time playing and tweaking, but I don't have that luxury any more. If I'm going to be competitive at all I need to learn a lot from my play sessions and make the most of all of the resources I have available to me. If I've been thinking about using a particular card or mage in a book and haven't had time to do the construction I can do a quick sweep of the forums to see if anyone else has had a similar idea. I can then port it in, do a preliminary dissection on its mechanics and give it a test run.

I think I've grown a lot as a player in the past several months and it's thanks to regular playing and feedback that I've gotten from Arcane Duels, Sharkey, the forums and the players on OCTGN. Thanks everyone!

TL:DR I learn a lot more from seeing and piloting other people's constructions and I wouldn't have time to do so on my own.

General Discussion / Re: We need to encourage spellbook sharing more

« on: November 24, 2015, 10:17:25 AM »

I am not assuming anything. I am suggesting that (as bigfatchef stated) a book that works well in one meta with a given player won't necessarily be as useful to someone else. Additionally, building a body of knowledge over collecting someone else's spellbook would increase the variety of unique strategies in circulation rather than providing netdeckers a bigger pool to copy. Sharing books no doubt has it's place, but education is almost always the better way for long term results. No doubt some people would rather netdeck instead of building their own books, but you'll always have that and there is no vaccine.

General Discussion / Re: We need to encourage spellbook sharing more

« on: November 23, 2015, 11:55:33 PM »

As a counterpoint, sharing spellbook card lists may not be the best contribution that can be made. The theory that a well tested spellbook encapsulates is the result of experience, thought, debugging, and a play style unique to the builder. Even with the book list, another player will probably not wield it as well so what benefit is gained?

What may be more productive is looking at things in a more granular fashion. Instead of trying to distill the essence of a spellbook into a forum post that doesn't always capture the finer points, I informally suggest a method used in certain competitive games in Asia to improve the overall body of experience without selling yourself out. Study sessions are gatherings where people share specific situations with varied criteria, state their approach, and open the floor to friendly discussion. This can yield a variety of opinions and theories from different perspectives. Think of it as discussing the best way to build individual tools instead of asking someone to explain their whole toolbox, which, in some corners of the world, is considered rude.

Although it is not a direct analog, this is already kicked about in the Strategy and Tactics channel, but might benefit from a more organized approach. For example, propose a specific situation along with any relevant details of the game state (either from a game you played/witnessed or pure speculation), explain how you might manage it, and then start asking how a warlord might crack this nut; or a wizard, or priestess, or beastmaster. Anyone is free to offer their perspective, though if they expect to be taken seriously they should back up that position with an explanation. Both sides of the conversation can benefit from learning how other classes of mages might respond while giving the mage of example some insight into how to best defend their position. Participating helps evolve the game of everyone involved by making more informed choices when building their own books instead of generic netdecking.

I want to point out that in the context of your suggestion for more open sharing of competitive spellbooks, even you are reluctant to share your best.

Quote from: Sailor Vulcan on November 21, 2015, 04:00:51 PM

I'll be posting some more of my *less-used spellbooks* soon.

(emphasis mine)

Player Feedback and Suggestions / Re: New trait idea: assimilate

« on: September 15, 2015, 11:02:42 AM »

I think this could be a good idea that also includes the swarm concept noted. I perceive this more as a creature trait, separate from conjurations. A modular conjuration effect could be an interesting adaptation as well, but covered by it's own traits.

For creatures, a trait that conveys the sense of the mercurial - the ability to blend and separate at will. Two creatures of the same type that share this trait could stack together, one adding a specific bonus to the other as noted by the OP. Attack, armor, life, status effect, etc. Not it's whole block of stats, just something specifically noted in the creature text box. The creatures would be of the same type, but could be different in name. For example, the Straywood Leafcutter and the Wytchwood Bullet Ant are both of the Ant type, and share this "melding" trait, so could conceivably stack with one being the primary creature and the other being the secondary that adds a bonus. Separately these creatures might be fairly weak, but stacked might be quite powerful, and certainly flexible enough to respond to board conditions.

This could cover creatures like oozes, insects, undead, wisps, elementals, soldier units, etc.

Joining would be a quick action performed by either creature. If it is the secondary creature, then the primary still has an action free to use with it's new upgraded status. If the primary has already acted, then the secondary can join it then wait until next round. Separating would also be a quick action per creature, but they would have to wait until the next round to re-join or join another collective. If the primary creature is killed, all elements stacked with it also die.

Of course one drawback to all of this is the absolute mess it could potentially make of your board, but realistically should be no worse than a creature with a cartload of enchantments.

For conjurations, I see two compatible modules with one being cast onto another increasing the overall effect of the module - say a spawn point to which you can install a source that increases grants or increases channeling, or a life-giving tree with an added essence which increases the regen for friendly creatures.

[/spitball]

Off topic / Re: I need help naming a tournament.

« on: September 10, 2015, 03:33:13 PM »

Mage Wars Rush Day Tournament? Referring "rush week" at universities where chapter houses recruit new members.

Events / Mage Wars Demo day - DFW - Duncanville Bookstore 9/19/2015

« on: September 06, 2015, 01:59:48 PM »

We'll be doing demos of Mage Wars (Academy & Arena) at Duncanville Bookstore on Saturday, September 19 from 10am until 2pm.

Come by and learn, play, and meet others in the area!

101 W Camp Wisdom Rd, Duncanville, TX 75116
(972) 298-7546

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