Too important to languish at the bottom of a spell book design thread...

[wolf88]

Unless you are an employee with privileged information from FFG, I don't see how you could know if FFG benefits or not. I thought they did, too, but they don't.

Excuse me, how do you know that they don't? It's an honest question.

I have no private information, but I simply figured that they have enough resources to shut down OCTGN if they wanted to. Thus if OCTGN still lives it's because its continued existence gives them some sort of gain.

[reddawn]

Unless you are an employee with privileged information from FFG, I don't see how you could know if FFG benefits or not. I thought they did, too, but they don't.

Excuse me, how do you know that they don't? It's an honest question.

I have no private information, but I simply figured that they have enough resources to shut down OCTGN if they wanted to. Thus if OCTGN still lives it's because its continued existence gives them some sort of gain.

I think it has less to do with gains and more to do with the fact that comparatively, fewer people play online board games like Mage Wars than play games like Magic or Yugioh, so losses are probably substantially lower such that companies ignore it.  Best case scenario, there's no point in pressing civil charges against an entity if there's no money in it.

In either case, it's speculation.  The point is that there is a more distinctly positive ways of spreading the game than OCTGN.  I don't think AW really cares or would even know if players host private games with friends on OCTGN, but I think they do care about the primary way in which MW is proliferated and thus its general image.  If they didn't, they wouldn't be traveling around to various parts of the country hosting demos and other more business-related meetings.  I mean, every time I visit the MW facebook page, I see Patrick Connor doing some kind of demo or business venture in different regions.

All I'm saying is that if OCTGN is going to be used, it should be a supplement to organzied, real-life promotion, not the main piece for exposure.  Playing any board/card game is more engaging in the real anyway.

[The Dude]

AW is incredible at giving the players the opportunity to be involved with MW. More than any other OP program I have seen, AW continues to support player interaction more than computer interaction. I mean, Pat would sit and talk with someone for hours just to get them interested in the game. It is this incredible dedication that makes AW so strong as a developing company. They care about you, and they care about their product. Going off of what Reddawn said, I don't think we should be out there promoting online play for a game that just planted it's roots. The biggest part of Mage Wars is the interaction with your opponents, the doublethink, the tactical feel of the dice. You just don't get that with online play, and I think it would turn a lot of new players off. Run demos, talk about the game with people. If we love this game like we say we do, why don't we show it more?

[wolf88]

The biggest part of Mage Wars is the interaction with your opponents, the doublethink, the tactical feel of the dice. You just don't get that with online play, and I think it would turn a lot of new players off.

I do. The first MW game I played was on OCTGN and I loved it. I actually argue that playing online lets me concentrate on the actual game instead of getting distracted by other stuff.

There is a big fragment of potential players that don't go to the cons, don't have access to a gaming store or to opponents and I'm included in this sample. OCTGN is a powerful tool for us to play without all the inconvenience.

[reddawn]

I think what we are saying here is that playing on OCTGN is fine as long as you at least try to spread the game in more conventional ways.  It's probably unrealistic to expect players who do not have access to regular opponents at first to not use the tools they have to play the games they like. 

The problem here is that while concerned players like myself want the game to grow and would like to see players abiding by AW's recommendations on how make that happen, it's counterproductive to shun players who might not have the access to regular people to play with.  No one is going to going to respond well to, "do things this way or don't play." 

When you have the opportunity, just make the effort to bring the game to others.  I doubt AW is going to know one way or the other whether you're playing MW on OCTGN, but if you like the game, it's in your interest to encourage people to check the game out, or offer demo experiences.

[Fentum]

I think what we are saying here is that playing on OCTGN is fine as long as you at least try to spread the game in more conventional ways.  It's probably unrealistic to expect players who do not have access to regular opponents at first to not use the tools they have to play the games they like. 

The problem here is that while concerned players like myself want the game to grow and would like to see players abiding by AW's recommendations on how make that happen, it's counterproductive to shun players who might not have the access to regular people to play with.  No one is going to going to respond well to, "do things this way or don't play." 

When you have the opportunity, just make the effort to bring the game to others.  I doubt AW is going to know one way or the other whether you're playing MW on OCTGN, but if you like the game, it's in your interest to encourage people to check the game out, or offer demo experiences.

Man, that is exactly right.

I am trying to spread the love via teaching my friends the physical game. I am teaching new guys on OCTGN. If I hear that anyone is using OCTGN without owning the game, I suggest to them that they buy it.

But I have very very few opportunities to play face to face, so OCTGN is a blessing.

I feel like I am getting a borderline hard time for trying to get more people into this game 

[wolf88]

When you have the opportunity, just make the effort to bring the game to others.  I doubt AW is going to know one way or the other whether you're playing MW on OCTGN, but if you like the game, it's in your interest to encourage people to check the game out, or offer demo experiences.

It's not exactly an easy feat when the game is not yet avalible in my native language. In a few months the situation should change though.

[reddawn]

When you have the opportunity, just make the effort to bring the game to others.  I doubt AW is going to know one way or the other whether you're playing MW on OCTGN, but if you like the game, it's in your interest to encourage people to check the game out, or offer demo experiences.

It's not exactly an easy feat when the game is not yet avalible in my native language. In a few months the situation should change though.

That's what I'm basically saying; do what can to play and share the game.   Obviously that's harder to do in your situation, so I don't think anyone would discourage you from playing or sharing the game in the ways that are currently available to you. 

[wolf88]

Thankfully Asterion Press is gearing up for an October release.