The future of Mage Wars

[Karadox]

Laddinfance = is a planewalker now!?

Joke aside, he was good for mage wars and is very missed.

[Borg]

If you read the "signs" correctly, MW seems to be on its way out imo.
No Arena expansion this year, meaning the same old books and same old mages to play.
MW suffers from not having enough variety and every mage using the same utility spells.
I quit playing roughly six months ago and haven't missed it for a second.
I hope I can feel the itch to play this game again some time but it looks bleak at this point.

[Sailor Vulcan]

If you read the "signs" correctly, MW seems to be on its way out imo.
No Arena expansion this year, meaning the same old books and same old mages to play.
MW suffers from not having enough variety and every mage using the same utility spells.
I quit playing roughly six months ago and haven't missed it for a second.
I hope I can feel the itch to play this game again some time but it looks bleak at this point.

Did you miss the sudden large resurgence of the online OCTGN Mage Wars community in the past month or so? Mage Wars might not be as popular as it was when it first came out, but it's hardly "on its way out". And Academy sets are still Arena sets too you know, just without new mages. There are still plenty of new spells for you to try which impact the meta significantly.

If anything we are experiencing a high point for the game now, and the only reason some people think otherwise is because they live in areas where the game didn't quite catch on. It does seem to be hit or miss in terms of popularity in different areas. Doesn't mean it's losing popularity on the whole in general.

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[Karadox]

Right, even if we do not get any new mages this year, new strategies will certainly be available for those in existence.

[exid]

I allways say that AW make us wait to long... and that we allways make each expension long till the next one arrives.
But last week my co-player told me he had no new fun ideas for books (we usuely play our books only once, buildig a new one for each game)... if he stops playing, it will have been really to long.

[Obsidian Soul]

How are you going to learn a book only playing it once?  Yes, I can understand dismantling a book that just does not work, but you really should keep and adapt functional books.  The core strategy of my Priestess has not changed in four years, I just change a few cards every time a new expansion comes out to adapt it to new threats.

[exid]

How are you going to learn a book only playing it once?  Yes, I can understand dismantling a book that just does not work, but you really should keep and adapt functional books.  The core strategy of my Priestess has not changed in four years, I just change a few cards every time a new expansion comes out to adapt it to new threats.

If you want to build and play it at best eficiency, you do well. I prefer to test new things, to see other cards, in other combos, and I don't have much time to play...
It's cool to think about new role an old mage could play, it can be efficient or less efficient, but we have fun triyng to surprise each other!

[farkas1]

I'm just going to chime in here and say that gamers come in all different varieties.  Some players will get bored after a few months of no new content others take longer.  That said I am and always will be a gamer who enjoys new content but does not need a steady stream of new stuff for me to enjoy the game. 

I will stress this again it's only been a few months since we have had academy forcemaster and academy Warlord release.  I think some players are very passionate but also sometimes impatient, which i can relate too at times.  But I do agree to some extent to build a fan base or promote a product you need better marketing and promotion. 

I do agree with others that no news or updates does look bad for the company and the brand of Mage wars. 
I do know they are winding down or finishing up a very busy convention season and as others noted the company is small.  I don't want to give them excuses or speak for them but I do believe it would be nice to hear the happenings and inner workings of what the future of Mage wars is.

Again I am all in and will continue to  support and promote the community.  I think it's a fun and a competitive system that I can keep coming back too.  I have literally playedvand tweeked my straywood build for over 40+ games.  I am not bored with it one bit.  We are having winter war here in Champaign IL this weekend.  We have a fairly good size circuit of players in nearby cities.  it just takes people getting out of there comfort zone to try it with some one new. 

[exid]

I'm just going to chime in here and say that gamers come in all different varieties.  Some players will get bored after a few months of no new content others take longer. 

Some players are bored after a few months, others after a year, my friend is bored after 1 year without any new arena (academy doesn't bring really new for an arena player) and seeing nothing coming for the next year, i'll be perhaps bored after 2 years... The longer AW waits, the less usefull the nextc arena expension will be.

Looking at the bright side, it brings life and discussions on this forum!

[Kaarin]

I wonder how it would be if instead of big Arena expansions AW would do supplementary Arena expansions to two Academy expansions. Something between Conquest of Kumanjaro and Lost Grimoire focused on mages from previous two Academy expansions.

[Jock McFistpunch]

Supplements would be cool, like small chunks of cards like Netrunner does. Packs of 60 cards that are like $15.  IMO, unless it's Magic, Pokemon, or Yu-gi-oh, there isn't really a huge base for most card games.  I see Fantasy Flight ones around, but that's because they are located in the city where I live so there is a base for that due to geography. 

And I always step back and try to imagine a company with a game this complex that consists of 3 people, plus they are also publishing other games.  I don't know about you, but it takes me a long time just to build a book, never mind trying to create new designs while promoting the old ones. 

Wait, genius thought, we totally need to make a Mage Wars cartoon (Netflix would totally buy it), create a catchy J-Pop theme song, and come up with some cute mascot that can only say it's own name.  Once we get that going, the game will explode!

[arxiducs]

This is a great thread! with nice story twists and creative ideas.
I would like to share how I am taking this game in the last few years. Just to contribute with my point of view.

I started in 2012 and have regularly gone away and come back to the game. It is for me a nice way of enjoying the game while not burning it. To be honest, when I get too much into it I start to see "the matrix" and do not quiet like it because takes away the great thematic flavor.
When I became orphan of my initial MW community in Venezuela, I preached the word of MW in the new places where I lived since then (through Ambassador-like demos in gaming clubs in Spain and Kazakhstan) and there were always three to four persons who would buy the game and start playing it with me. It is only about engaging them and enjoying WITH them (coaching them and letting them win more often than not).  But I do not think that these small communities could get any bigger considering the competition of new game releases. I sincerely do not see much of a difference in this prospect if I would for example try to seduce them to engage in other LCGs that are not "the latest".
If I need some competitive MW, I immediately go to OCTGN to take off the rust and increase the learning curve yet again, playing against amazing strategists/tacticians that can be found there. This happens once a year, usually coinciding with Arcane Duels Open or other tourneys like it.

When I look at other (non-collectible) Card Games (i.e. LCGs) I observe that their life is very short (2-3 years). They tend to be seasonal too or just be swallowed by new releases. I saw how NetRunner community got crippled when Game of Thrones came in and later how GoT communities have almost disappeared when Legend of the five Rings took the spotlight. This happening with heavy support from the publishers and sometimes even killed by the very publishers (i.e. by issuing a second edition or publishing more LCGs than the gaming communities can absorb).

I take this game as a "niche" game. When I say "niche" I mean that it is kept alive more by the community rather than the publisher. With few persons that play it at any given time in a given place. When this game was in its prime after its release, a big community could count maximum 16-28 active players (please let me know if you knew bigger communities!).

In 2018 the situation is not looking any better in number of players, but what I enjoy is to have this online community and regular (yearly of biannually) meet ups in OCTGN.
These days I am also enjoying the Academy releases. Easier to find the time, simpler, but still MW in essence. I play it with my son and his friends; and recently in OCTGN, where there are some nice people always available when I need a more challenging foe.

My conclusion: as long as there is a meeting point for real life or virtual playing communities, this game will be enjoyable and alive. Thanks for AW for maintaining this forum and to all of you who are my virtual MW community! 
Excuse me if I disappear for (needed) periods of time. But my returns would not be possible if it wasn't for some of you, Alpha players, who upkeep the community during the "winters". You know who you are...

Mage Warriors, I salute you!

[Borg]

Right, even if we do not get any new mages this year, new strategies will certainly be available for those in existence.

Academy expansions do not produce "strategy changing" cards imho, at best some "minor changes" cards.
The strategies used in MW are old and downtrodden. "New" decks are usually nothing more than slightly varied older decks.
For me personally the thrill of MW deckbuilding is gone. There's only so much you can do with an extremely limited card pool.
If I look at some random current MW spelbook post I can't feel anything but disappointment as it's still all the same cards that make up the books.
There are soooo many more deckbuilding options in Legacy Magic.
I have like 20 decks by now ready to play and they hardly share any cards, unlike MW where every book needs the same Incantations and Enchantments, not to mention Pillar of Righteous Flame.
Imho, MW is not in a healthy state.



@ Sailor : I'm afraid I didn't notice the resurgence on OCTGN as I only occasionally drop by here

[Reddicediaries]

Right, even if we do not get any new mages this year, new strategies will certainly be available for those in existence.

Academy expansions do not produce "strategy changing" cards imho, at best some "minor changes" cards.
The strategies used in MW are old and downtrodden. "New" decks are usually nothing more than slightly varied older decks.
For me personally the thrill of MW deckbuilding is gone. There's only so much you can do with an extremely limited card pool.
If I look at some random current MW spelbook post I can't feel anything but disappointment as it's still all the same cards that make up the books.
There are soooo many more deckbuilding options in Legacy Magic.
I have like 20 decks by now ready to play and they hardly share any cards, unlike MW where every book needs the same Incantations and Enchantments, not to mention Pillar of Righteous Flame.
Imho, MW is not in a healthy state.



@ Sailor : I'm afraid I didn't notice the resurgence on OCTGN as I only occasionally drop by here

I have to totally disagree here.
Ehren, Remove Curse, Mhegeden, Wychwood Ironvine, Leather Pants, almost all the Academy Forcemaster and Warlord cards. I think these are all game changing cards.
A single change in any of my paladin books takes hours to contemplate, deep thought goes into every single advantage/disadvantage that the new card will be bringing and the same for the old.
I have played 95% of my last 200 games with a paladin. And I have not once ever been bored in the slightest.
When I lose, I get motivated to get better and not make the same mistake that most likely lost me the game.
Just flat out discussing strategies and tactics with Sharkey, Puddn, Coshade, Grizz, Biblo, Keejchen, and others is a wonderful experience in itself.
If you think the meta is stale, that's ok. That's your opinion and you have every right to it. Just understand that I have mine.

[Obsidian Soul]

And Mage Wars is much cheaper than Legacy MtG.  I think that a new player would have to dump a maximum of $100 to build two competitive spellbooks in Mage Wars while they would have to dump a minimum of $2000 to build two competitive decks in Legacy MtG.