Is Mage wars about to fade out?

[fas723]

I know similar topics have been discussed before, but I just need to ask the forum this question again.
When Mage wars was once release I has completely struck by its mechanics and game play. I volunteered for ambassador and started to teach the game to as many people I could. Quite soon expansions were released and the game was at BGGs hotlist.

Today I don’t see that spark any more.
It is not just that it was now ages since (in my mind) a proper expansion has been released. (Promises was made, and redrawn, but still no new release dates for new mages. Battle ground and Academy are far from as good as the base game, and the cards from the last sets have gone in circles.) It more the feeling I get around the whole game and AW.

Look at the forum. It is not nearly as many people or posts in here as it once was.
The most popular topics are "How would you change Mage Wars" & "Is it loosing popularity".
Spolier and news for the new academy card are nowhere to be found.
Mr Scott Morris has left the ship.
Cards like Dawnbreaker’s Chosen and the community card are long forgotten.
What I can read Octagon are missing a decent player pool.
No new videos from the amazing Arcane Duels guys.
The App has not got a single update since it was released.

These are just a few examples. Personally my interest has gone from thrilled to moderate about this game. Most of my gaming bodies will choose 10 games over this today and it has become harder and harder for me to get this to the table. Previously the Mage wars stuff was an instant buy from me, but now I start to think my collection is done.

What is your feeling? Is Mage wars about to fade out?

[SharkBait]

Short answer: No.

Long answer:

Look at the forum. It is not nearly as many people or posts in here as it once was.
The most popular topics are "How would you change Mage Wars" & "Is it loosing popularity".

Most recent =/= most popular. A couple of forum members causing panic isn't a real reason to panic.

I've seen what's coming, more previews will be released soon (there may even be one in the upcoming Mage Cast....). It's going to be a good year for the game.

No new videos from the amazing Arcane Duels guys.

There's a tournament going on being run by AD that is taking up a lot of time 

Everything will be ok. The cake isn't a lie this time
 

[Laddinfance]

I guess that is up to all of you. Everyday I watch these forums closely. What you're feeling now could become a vicious cycle. It could swell and continue feeding upon itself. I totally understand your feelings. The design process over the last couple years, for me has been challenging. As the person working on Mage Wars, I always felt I should do more. It's tough to find a balance when everyday you feel the pressure of expectation. You all deserve an absolutely amazing expansion, and every day that goes only heightens that pressure.

Now, I don't say this to guilt anyone or to say, "my life is so rough". I mention this because I hope you believe me when I say how much I want Mage Wars to succeed, and how much I try to work towards that every day. I'm actually quite excited for next week, as I'll finally be able to show you all some of the things I've been working on.

As for a few of the points brought up...

There are several spoilers out there for Priestess (and a few for Warlock). Arcane Duels previewed several cards. Father Geek has shown off several as well. Also our facebook page has previewed a few cards. I was able to write an article on the website here previewing one of the cards as well. I promise that you will see more. It's something I'm taking a bit personally. Mostly because it was one of the first things I suggested when I started working here. So, this will improve.

Scott becoming the president of Passport Games, had nothing to do with Mage Wars. That is a phenomenal opportunity and Scott is a personal friend, it would have been irresponsible for him to not chase that down.

Aurora, Dawnbreaker's Chosen is in the Priestess set. We're excited to have her printed.

I never forgot the community card. I'm horribly guilty about it, but I've never forgotten it.

Now, I'll get back to proofing. I hope you all have a fantastic day.

[fas723]

Just to clarify myself.
I don't want anything else then the best for Mage Wars. It could still climb up again to my favourite game of all time.
I just feel the spark is fading...

[sIKE]

Not speaking for anyone but myself. You all know I have been a fan of the game since 2012 and have been active here on the forums and help slightly with the maintenance of the MW module on OCTGN. I cant say anything official as I am bound by an NDA, but I can tell you for facts the wheels are turning and you will see stuff start to get churned out here very soon, I won't say Fire hose level we're downing but there will be plenty to keep us all satisfied. I would mark the "lull" as a growing pains and learning experience but much like one of my favorite TV shows likes to say: Winter is coming!

I hope this really this helps and am quite sure that everyone will be thrilled for what they have been so patiently waiting for, you will not be disappointed.

[drmambo23]

This is hands down one of my favorite games! Im trying to spread the game locally with my group of friends but our schedules are hard to align. Im also trying to become an ambassador and work with other ambassadors near me to get more going with it. Its not dying.
 

Most recent =/= most popular. It's going to be a good year for the game.
Calm before the storm?

[iNano78]

I'll jump in.  MW is my favourite game of all time.  I've recorded 50+ live plays in the last 14 months or so.  I love Domination, and I'm really looking forward to what's around the corner.  Our group is growing (5 or so regulars, with 1-2 new players from the last few weeks).  I truly hope 2016 is the year that Mage Wars returns to the hotness charts.

Not speaking for anyone but myself. You all know I have been a fan of the game since 2012 and have been active here on the forums and help slightly with the maintenance of the MW module on OCTGN. I cant say anything official as I am bound by an NDA, but I can tell you for facts the wheels are turning and you will see stuff start to get churned out here very soon, I won't say Fire hose level we're downing but there will be plenty to keep us all satisfied. I would mark the "lull" as a growing pains and learning experience but much like one of my favorite TV shows likes to say: Winter is coming!

I hope this really this helps and am quite sure that everyone will be thrilled for what they have been so patiently waiting for, you will not be disappointed.

Frost damage?!?!  Don't be a tease.  Are we finally getting Frost as a damage type? 
(I mean, aside from seeing Frost -X modifiers on a bunch of creatures that doesn't actually do anything for the 4 years the game has existed)

[sIKE]

Frost damage?!?!  Don't be a tease.  Are we finally getting Frost as a damage type?

No not saying that at all! Just that big changes were coming...

[Crow]

I don't understand these threads.

Why does the release schedule tie so tightly to game health in the minds of some?   Is it a CCG/LCG mentality?  Does Mage Wars draw comparison because it is a card game with a similar theme? 

 I don't see them as connected, I play games I've owned as-is for years and years.  Mage Wars is more of a board game than anything ("board" in the sense of traditional tabletop game).  Hell, I played an RPG last week that hasn't released a book in decades, and it was still awesome!

For me, I'll enjoy Mage Wars even if no new products are released.  New stuff is always great, but the absence of the new does not diminish the quality of the extant.  Games that rely on frequent releases to maintain a player base likely have problems with quality of repeat play. 

Note: I don't play online, so I can't speak as to how it relates with releases.

[Sailor Vulcan]

Please try to see this from the perspective of regular players who aren't playtesters. The forums haven't been very active for quite a while, the number of players on OCTGN has been decreasing over time and now it's very very hard to find more than one or two people who will play Mage Wars on there on any given day, and sometimes not even that. And when you live in a huge metropolitan area and no one but you plays Arena, and the only people who play Academy are people who you taught how to play yourself, despite Mage Wars being present at a decently sized gaming convention in that area for several years in a row, it can be very hard to see how the game might not be suffering right now. After the disaster that was the ridiculously low turnout for Origins 2014, there has not been a Mage Wars tournament there ever since. And the global metagame on OCTGN has gotten very stale. Nowadays almost none of the strategies that I see people playing are surprising to me unless the surprise is due to a misplay or suboptimal spellbook construction. I also rarely see solo or rush decks anymore.

And it's still very hard to get people to play Arena. While it's not as difficult to introduce new players to Academy, the core set only metagame of Academy is unbalanced without a quickcast phase or cards like Second Chance, so most competitive gamers end up seeing it as a casual-only game and end up preferring other games. The spellbook builder hasn't been updated in a really long time, and there are other important parts of the website with the same problem, such as the list of mages still saying that the alt warlock and alt warlord are "coming soon". There has still been no more news about what's happening to Mage Wars in France, and it's been a year. The MWM podcast hasn't been updated since October last year.

Seriously, what on earth am I supposed to think? It seems fairly clear, based on the evidence that's available to me, that Mage Wars IS already fading out. I really want to be wrong about that, but what I want isn't what I see. If the playtesters and Arcane Wonders have access to enough evidence pointing the other way to change my mind--evidence that I don't have access to, I cannot verify that unless I become a playtester myself. I didn't have time for it this past semester. And even if I do end up becoming a playtester, not everyone is going to want to do that.

Regardless, I hope you can at least understand why it LOOKS like the game is fading out and that I'm not fear mongering. This is a legitimate concern.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Iudicium86]

I can get where some people might feel this way, as someone who's only been into MW since the start of this year and reading some of the issues raised here and immediately able to relate. But I'm keeping hope and optimism 2016 will be a great year for this game and community.

But one thing I will gripe about, is a lack of local level community. living in a decent sized city, I still can't seem to find other MW players even while being active in the local tabletop gaming groups and meets. Not that it's even a developer's fault (though there may be something to say to marketing once in a while), but just the player base mostly. Lazy, too stuck to MtG, "too long/complex", "Can't afford to get into another money sink card game" (like it's a CCG, not a fixed model). etc. I only have two reliable friends to play, and one is one I taught myself and in fact is out of town and only comes into town for games once in a while. As for even Academy, I haven't seen any copies brought to the gaming groups other than my own, and only one person was willing to try it with me and see.

But oh well. Still gotta do my part and keep trying to bring people into the fold.

[farkas1]

I don't know for sure if it's fading out.  I love this game and hope that it continues to expand and build upon this amazing thematic experience. 

Since it released I thought it would be an awesome game.  I held off for 3 years from trying it.  There are a few reasons behind that tho.  Number one I was a new gamer around 2012 and zero groups to experience a variety of games with.  I also am super busy working 3 jobs and raising two kiddos.  Secondly was the amount of complexity it seemed to have out of the gate with just the base set, and lastly was the supposed game length which scared me away for the longest time. 

In the past year and half my gaming groups have grown and met a variety of different gamers. One of my buddies had the game and we tried it out.  I was hooked by the first play.  I lost a horrible death... but had one of the best gaming experiences ever.  I have bought 2 core sets and almost every expansion (I plan on buying the rest and the new stuff later this month  ). It is my most played game of 2015 and don't Think it's going to change this year either.

by not releasing a new set of mages for Arena in the past couple of years, has hurt the overall excitement level in the community, and it appears others are noticing.
However,  the newness has not wore off on me.  I do hope the releases pick up and everyone buys them.  Academy is a great effort and I think it will help expand the popularity.

[fas723]

I don't understand these threads.

Why does the release schedule tie so tightly to game health in the minds of some?   Is it a CCG/LCG mentality? 

As I wrote in the OP, the release pace isn't my concern at all. It more the steem behind it. It's like the honeymoon is over, now the tough life to survive start and I don't see how the game will manage that at the moment...

I agree so much to what Sailor Vulcan just said: As of today, as a none-play-tester, I don't see any news or updates to calm me down on this.

What fears me is that another expansion might not be enough. Maybe it is the reverse that has to be done. A relaunch. Go back to basics and reduce the card pool to only consist of a manageable amount for new to semi new players. Maybe just new official rules to adjust something (play length, dice, spellpoints, mage abilities, etc). I don't know.

Again, Mage wars is the best game out there. More people must be given the chance to understan that...

[iNano78]

What fears me is that another expansion might not be enough. Maybe it is the reverse that has to be done. A relaunch. Go back to basics and reduce the card pool to only consist of a manageable amount for new to semi new players. Maybe just new official rules to adjust something (play length, dice, spellpoints, mage abilities, etc). I don't know.

So... Mage Wars Academy, then...

[fas723]

One more comment.
We in here are the biggest fan of Mage Wars. If some, or just a few, or even many of us in here think it start to fade, I guess the regular player out there will for sure think that too.