New Expansion ? Is original MW dead?!

[Sailor Vulcan]

I think the focus on Acedemy and Battlegrounds were business mistakes.

Not really. The idea behind these new game modes was/is solid. Unfortunately, for my taste Academy is too different from Arena to serve as a useful introduction. I still have high hopes for Battlegrounds to replace the standard Arena mode, though.

Simply churning out mage after mage without changing anything about the basic (Arena) rules would have done nothing to grow the player base. Very high, and continously increasing complexity due to a fast growing glossary and game length prevent the game from becoming more popular.

I'm not sure if the situation we're currently in is much better, but it was worth a try.

The problem is that the diversification has lead to resources being spread too thin. Arcane Wonders is too small a company to churn out new products for three (closely-related, but still) different game lines at the same time with the same speed as for a single game line.
And commercially it wouldn't have been a good idea to do so, either. Mage Wars is, and probably always will be too niche.

Yeah. To be honest I wonder if it might have been different if Academy had come out first. Most people who play card games don't want to spend two or three hours in a single game, and there are a lot more card game players than minis players. And Arcane Wonders hasn't done enough to dispel the myth that Academy is just Arena-lite. In fact they've even encouraged that misconception if not outright started it.

So yeah. It's been four years since they first released Arena, and almost a year since the prerelease of Academy. The playerbase for Arena is still pretty small (generally there's only about four players online at any given time) and the Academy playerbase is almost non-existent. I'm very disappointed.

[Bjorne]

I definitely think that it is turning out to be a mistake. The new cards (and game mode) in Battlegrounds and Academy haven't made enough to shake up the meta in my opinion. Also, the fact that neither the spellbook builder, nor the companion app have been updated with the new cards, indicates that the company has too much to work on to keep up. Things like this + more focus on events and tournaments should have been a priority in my opinion.

It is nice with a little diversity, sure, but it definitely feels like it has been at the expense of the core game up until now.

[Brian VanAlstyne]

To me, Battlegrounds/Domination - good as it allows the same basic game with varied winning conditions and different set-ups to allow for more replayability.

Academy - bad as it just splinters the core players for the most BUT I love the cards use in Arena so if there was a way to have incorporated the cards into something similar to Battlegrounds/Domination instead of what is basically an entirely new game.

[iNano78]

Yep, Domination is my personal favourite game mode, and is our go-to format when we have an odd number of players. We've enjoyed discovering the power of Altar of Skulls, Akiro's Hammer, Elusive/Flying creatures, zone-effect spells, and creature swarms - cards and archetypes that aren't as strong in regular Arena.

Arena is still generally our 2-player mode of choice.

If you ignore the intent of the product (eg toss out the rule book) and just look at the cards, Academy is a pretty good expansion for Arena and Domination. I think the next 2 Academy Mage expansions will do a lot to make the Priest/Priestess and Warlocks more competitive in Domination, for instance. Right now they struggle to keep up with the board presence that the (Bloodwave) Warlord, (Straywood) Beastmaster, Druid and Necromancer are able to achieve. The Forcemaster and Wizard are kind of left out of the Donination mode (at least for multiplayer) - but that's OK, as they're certainly competitive in regular Arena.

[farkas1]

I was a little worried too about the decision to make both academy and domination and not offering a solid arena expansion with two new mages prior to their release.   Also the timing of academy being released was not perfect either with the new marvel VS  system and Ashes rise of the Phoenix born both offering dueling card games.  They were released last year too that flooded the market even more with dueling card games.   


However after using the academy cards in arena I'm very impressed with the options of a Wizard and the beast master.   I think academy has some very solid cards that I will include in many of my books.  Especially books revolving around swarms and small creatures.  I look foward to the other acadamey releases as well as any thing Arcane wonders produces.  Mage Wars is such a great game!

[Crow]

The Forcemaster and Wizard are kind of left out of the Donination mode (at least for multiplayer) - but that's OK, as they're certainly competitive in regular Arena.

They are at a bit of a disadvantage in everybody-for-themselves multiplayer (especially the Wizard, IMO), but they actually make "okay" teammates.  As long as your partner can secure the V'tarr, they are decent at disrupting the opposing team.

1-on-1 Domination, I think the Wizard is even worse, but the Forcemaster is pretty good (IMO).

[kniknax]

I think the focus on Acedemy and Battlegrounds were business mistakes. It lost a lot of momentum wrt committed players. More energy and money should have been spent on new mages, and rapidly expanding the player base with events and tournaments.

I'm one of those players who tried Academy as it was cheap and supposed to be quick to play, loved it, and have now bought Arena, and one of the expansions, and am getting all my friends to try it... So was it a business mistake? Only if by mistake you mean "brought in new customers and acted as a gateway game to our main product line"

[exid]

that's the business strategy:
academy and domination brings new player and gives new sensations to players who needed some, and for the arena junkies it's to late to give up: we'll wait years for a paladin's sock or a syren's fishbone!

[Ravepig]

I'm one of those players who tried Academy as it was cheap and supposed to be quick to play, loved it, and have now bought Arena, and one of the expansions, and am getting all my friends to try it... So was it a business mistake? Only if by mistake you mean "brought in new customers and acted as a gateway game to our main product line"

I posted this in another thread, but you're exactly right. I introduced Academy to three players now, and after a few games, all three basically asked, "So, when are we playing the big version." Academy does exactly what it is intended to do: introduce new players to Arena. Not to mention, it's still a fun, quick version if you don't have enough time to play a full game of Arena.

[Werekingdom]

I think the focus on Acedemy and Battlegrounds were business mistakes. It lost a lot of momentum wrt committed players. More energy and money should have been spent on new mages, and rapidly expanding the player base with events and tournaments.

I have to disagree, especially about Battlegrounds.  It's the main reason the game sees so much play in my group, as we are almost always 3 or 4 players.

I don't know about the Battleground, it is nice for 3 players, but for 4 to 8 players I prefer to have 2 to 3 reg mage wars boards side by side.  And yes, we do play 8 player mage wars.

[Kelanen]

I think the focus on Acedemy and Battlegrounds were business mistakes. It lost a lot of momentum wrt committed players. More energy and money should have been spent on new mages, and rapidly expanding the player base with events and tournaments.

Agreed - utter waste of time.

[Biblofilter]

And yes, we do play 8 player mage wars.

pics? 

[Mystery]

The Forcemaster and Wizard are kind of left out of the Donination mode (at least for multiplayer) - but that's OK, as they're certainly competitive in regular Arena.

They are at a bit of a disadvantage in everybody-for-themselves multiplayer (especially the Wizard, IMO), but they actually make "okay" teammates.  As long as your partner can secure the V'tarr, they are decent at disrupting the opposing team.

1-on-1 Domination, I think the Wizard is even worse, but the Forcemaster is pretty good (IMO).

I thought wizard has cheap teleport spellpoint wise? He has a wizardstower, and his spawnpoint is together with lair the top one. Gremlins have a two position teleport, give them panther stealth and the steal da orbs. For me in domination the mages full action is extremly valuable (and so are things that give or take full actions for a quick action (BM quick summoning), mind control, rise again, sleep, or doublestrikes/sweeping), also positioning is really nice, wizards tower lets you not lose and action.... Its mainly based on 1v1, and as wizard there is hardly a chance for your ,oponent to not give you an orb activation and galaxus turn 2.

[Beldin]

Simply churning out mage after mage without changing anything about the basic (Arena) rules would have done nothing to grow the player base. Very high, and continously increasing complexity due to a fast growing glossary and game length prevent the game from becoming more popular.

I have to disagree with you here. This is not the first "persona" based card game to hit the market. Both Highlander TCG and Raw Deal CCG came before Mage Wars and both used a  a face card and/or abilities card.

These games churned out multiple expansions with multiple persona's coming out in each expansion. This drastically changed the meta game from expansion to expansion with the power balance shifting to different decks. This didnt lead to a more complex game as the person who builds that particular deck/book will only focus on that character and the allowed cards in that book. The game length was the same because the characters were balanced in the existing games and thus the game stayed the same length. As for player base the national squared circle tournaments filled a good sized hall. There were regular tournaments over various venues across and people did not stop playing just because a new expansion came out nor did it discourage them to invite their friends. If anything the addition of types of new play style and mechanics peeked the curiosity of players who would not of tried the game before.

[Kelanen]

Simply churning out mage after mage without changing anything about the basic (Arena) rules would have done nothing to grow the player base. Very high, and continously increasing complexity due to a fast growing glossary and game length prevent the game from becoming more popular.

I disagree, it's precisely and all they needed to do. What has happened has fractured the player-base and probably done irreparable harm. It *might* have helped AW bottomline-wise in the short term, although I doubt it. It's certainly hurt Arena.