Promo cards

[DeckBuilder]

On ready marker abuse:
One elegant solution is "only 1 ready marker action before and/or after each action".
This would remove HoB's errata (no reprint), the need to make Ballista unique etc.
It is burst action sequence you need to restrict and that's done by a new rule FAQ.

Shad0w gives us a good reason for promos: beta testing.
In that case please can AW print out the details of these promo cards?
It is hard to participate in beta testing if they are shrouded in mystery.
There are so many references to promo cards on forums.
It is frustrating not being able to understand discussions.
I wish I knew what the Imp Familiar being discussed does.

I still think this limited distribution is short-sighted as it feels like a CCG not LCG.
Although whoever has so much access to all promo cards on e-bay will disagree.

[Doma0997]

Deckbuilder, the way you say it will be like a ccg to me just doesn't fit, as the promo cards are only promo exclusive for so long until they are printed in a set for everyone. I've never had trouble finding pictures or information, as board game geek has a lot of them posted on their site, and a quick search of mage wars promos on ebay pulls up pictures enough for me to make a hand written proxy if i want to play with it. The only edge people get is to test it early, and as shadow said, it is like a testing phase for those cards, so even if you get a promo, it might not be that strong when it comes out.

[Shad0w]

Wiz I I am now and I am not an AW employee. Yes I am on several teams but I do this all for the community. One of the things with promos is most of these cards are good to print but a few need to be looked at further. The reason for not allowing them in tourney play is two fold
1 It keeps it more fair because not everybody has access to them
2 It gives the community a peek behind the curtains to see some of the ideas we are thinking abut.

If you look back several month ago I talked about it being ok to proxy cards you do not have for non competitive play. I do this all the time.  I am on of the biggest completest ever. I have bought and sleeved all of Arkham Horror in a day because I could.

The reason I talk about promos is to get feedback from the community about the preview cads in-case something needed to be corrected. I want to know what players and what is being used.

I'm sorry I didn't realize you weren't an employee, although you do seem to act as an official communication channel for AW. Am I wrong on that account as well? I can understand wanting to get feedback from players of the game as sort of a beta testing function. Being able to proxy cards makes a huge difference.

I've been swayed, I think as long as communication on the purpose and etiquette of playing or not playing promos is presented to people when they receive them along with the maybe even some encouragement such as "please feel free to proxy these cards and tell other players that they can too, if more people test these cards we can get a better sense of their balance and interaction with other cards in the game.", that there is no harm in this practice and in fact it can generate more interest in the game and reduce the need for future errata.

If it is however, and AW really does encourage the proxying of promos, I think they should provide printable files on the website for people to do so; similar to the ones that were released for the recently errata'd cards. If they feel the need to they could easily put a large ghosted "PROXY" over the art on the card.

In most cases I am one of the people to talk to but I am not an AW employee. I do have many hats I wear, (I am on the Rules team, Design team, Play test team) but none are that of an AW employee. It "print files for promo proxies" is on the list of things I have asked about.

[Shad0w]

On ready marker abuse:
One elegant solution is "only 1 ready marker action before and/or after each action".
This would remove HoB's errata (no reprint), the need to make Ballista unique etc.
It is burst action sequence you need to restrict and that's done by a new rule FAQ.

Shad0w gives us a good reason for promos: beta testing.
In that case please can AW print out the details of these promo cards?
It is hard to participate in beta testing if they are shrouded in mystery.
There are so many references to promo cards on forums.
It is frustrating not being able to understand discussions.
I wish I knew what the Imp Familiar being discussed does.

I still think this limited distribution is short-sighted as it feels like a CCG not LCG.
Although whoever has so much access to all promo cards on e-bay will disagree.

I can ask Mat the art director if he can put up the files for cards through Gen promos. With the water marks of course.

[Wiz-Pig]

I can ask Mat the art director if he can put up the files for cards through Gen promos. With the water marks of course.

Thanks Shad0w! I really think that would go a long way towards making the practice of proxying promos seem legitimate, and the intention of promos as you described it clear.

[patrickconnor]

Shad0w gives us a good reason for promos: beta testing.

While I appreciate the effort here, Shad0w is incorrect. The PROMO cards are NOT for beta testing. The PROMO cards are finished cards meant to promote events and organized play. EACH and EVERY promo card will be released in a future set, possibly with alternative artwork. We strive to make Mage Wars as customizable as possible without making it collectible and we truly care about ALL of our customers, domestic and foreign. With this in mind, as soon as we add a previous PROMO card to a future set, I will let you know ASAP.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please contact me directly at patrickconnor@arcanewonders.com.

We thank you for you continued support of Mage Wars!

Sincerely,

Patrick Connor
Communications Director, Arcane Wonders

[Shad0w]

Shad0w gives us a good reason for promos: beta testing.

While I appreciate the effort here, Shad0w is incorrect. The PROMO cards are NOT for beta testing. The PROMO cards are finished cards meant to promote events and organized play. EACH and EVERY promo card will be released in a future set, possibly with alternative artwork. We strive to make Mage Wars as customizable as possible without making it collectible and we truly care about ALL of our customers, domestic and foreign. With this in mind, as soon as we add a previous PROMO card to a future set, I will let you know ASAP.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please contact me directly at patrickconnor@arcanewonders.com.

We thank you for you continued support of Mage Wars!

Sincerely,

Patrick Connor
Communications Director, Arcane Wonders

I never said they were betas just that some are still being reviewed and I like to know what people think.  I like to hear if the community has concerns about some cards.

[Wiz-Pig]

Shad0w gives us a good reason for promos: beta testing.

While I appreciate the effort here, Shad0w is incorrect. The PROMO cards are NOT for beta testing. The PROMO cards are finished cards meant to promote events and organized play. EACH and EVERY promo card will be released in a future set, possibly with alternative artwork. We strive to make Mage Wars as customizable as possible without making it collectible and we truly care about ALL of our customers, domestic and foreign. With this in mind, as soon as we add a previous PROMO card to a future set, I will let you know ASAP.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please contact me directly at patrickconnor@arcanewonders.com.

We thank you for you continued support of Mage Wars!

Sincerely,

Patrick Connor
Communications Director, Arcane Wonders

Oh my.. this is a little frustrating. Are you saying that the Mage Wars team is not open to constructive feedback about these cards? Or that you intend to release all of them exactly as currently printed? I think we all realize that the purpose of the promo cards is to as you put it: "to promote events and organized play."

[Fentum]

Shad0w gives us a good reason for promos: beta testing.

While I appreciate the effort here, Shad0w is incorrect. The PROMO cards are NOT for beta testing. The PROMO cards are finished cards meant to promote events and organized play. EACH and EVERY promo card will be released in a future set, possibly with alternative artwork. We strive to make Mage Wars as customizable as possible without making it collectible and we truly care about ALL of our customers, domestic and foreign. With this in mind, as soon as we add a previous PROMO card to a future set, I will let you know ASAP.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please contact me directly at patrickconnor@arcanewonders.com.

We thank you for you continued support of Mage Wars!

Sincerely,

Patrick Connor
Communications Director, Arcane Wonders

AI AI AI!

I am a bit worried now. I can see a 4x ballistae spam becoming prevalent if the card is released as is.

[Memnaelar]

Keep up the commentary.  Obviously AW is listening.  I imagine if HoBS or Battle Fury had been promo cards prior to release, they'd've been errata'ed before being sent to final print once their shortcomings became known.

[Fentum]

Keep up the commentary.  Obviously AW is listening.  I imagine if HoBS or Battle Fury had been promo cards prior to release, they'd've been errata'ed before being sent to final print once their shortcomings became known.

Quite. My previous comment is a cross post from me from another thread. I am worried that the free action cards may cause problems in the game.

I wonder if the play testers can shed light on how the 4 ballistae build hasn't become prevalent?

[mitkosim]

We just recently had a tournament over here (with a kit) and we reached a conclusion similar to the OP's - the way promos are done for this game is the one remaining issue we have with it. Our reasoning was somewhat different than the OP's, however - in fact, it was the opposite The thing is, you CAN'T use promos in Organized Play and, the consensus among players at our tourney was, if you use them outside, you are playing on an uneven battlefield. The end result? Nobody uses their promos - we just sort of HAVE our prizes and we look at them in our binders because we like to be respectful of everybody playing this wonderful game and give them the courtesy of playing on a level playing field. I would much much rather have the initial promos (minor heal, disenchant, etc) with alternate artwork - that way all your promos are legal and you can show off your achievements as opposed to collect them in a binder until they are released (which, if CoK is any indication, will actually never happen - 1 out of what? 16 promos gets released with this set. At this rate of official sets and promo releases, the promos far outstrip the capacity of the sets to incorporate them). My $0.02 but yeah, I am peeved about the promo system as well :p