It is 2019 - What do we know?

[wtcannonjr]

In 5 years time, this forum will be gone and the community will be divided into a couple of groups of 5-10 people each spread around North America and Europe. There is no future for Mage Wars.

Well Mage Wars always has a place in my game room. In fact I have an entire bookcase dedicated to it.

I plan to be at the World Boardgaming Championships again this year at the end of July running a tournament for Mage Wars Arena. The open gaming library has a copy of the game and I always find new players learning it at the convention every year.

[ThisIsDeutch]

In 5 years time, this forum will be gone and the community will be divided into a couple of groups of 5-10 people each spread around North America and Europe. There is no future for Mage Wars.

I plan to be at the World Boardgaming Championships again this year at the end of July running a tournament for Mage Wars Arena. The open gaming library has a copy of the game and I always find new players learning it at the convention every year.

The point of the conversation is to think of Mage Wars in the long-run: if only a handful of people learn to play the game at conventions, but don't touch it again in the future, then the idea of attracting new players isn't working. Let's get more people into playing this game for the next years to come, instead of people who play Mage Wars once or twice before forgetting the game even exists.

They also took out the Dice Tower Essential line from this forum- if you look at the stats thread I started before 2019 rolled in, you will notice that there has progressively been less and less activity on this website. This forum is dead, other then the usual 5 people who comment, or the card thread that pops up every couple of weeks; if this forum is a representation of the community at large then Mage Wars has no chance of surviving within 5 years time

[BigNic]

Hello everybody,
Are they any official news about new expansion? Or some statements from the big boss about the future?
I am very happy with the game and all the material we have. For me its fine when the game is finished.
Its just curiosity.

[zot]

nothing official as yet.

[ThisIsDeutch]

nothing official as yet.

I don't mean to be rude, but at some point people in this community are going to have to stop saying this kind of nonsense. 10 years from now we're to get the same question over and over again, if some people don't stand up and admit that Mage Wars development is dead; it needs to be said instead of ignored year after year.

I understand that as someone who holds a yearly tournament, you are quite fond of Mage Wars and want to see the community grow. That's fine, but just because the game is dead doesn't mean the community around it can't grow (even if we're to be honest, this community is never going to be at the level it was 5 years ago).

Are they any official news about new expansion? Or some statements from the big boss about the future?

Mage Wars Arena is finished: there is no expansion to be released in the future. No Lost Grimoire 2, no Alt. Forcemaster vs. Witch, no Archmage for Domination, nothing. Arcane Wonders doesn't want to say it, because they know that the majority of their fanbase plays Mage Wars, and with an announcement of completion most players would move on to greener pastures.

They like to say on their Facebook page: "We are not announcing new content at this time, because we received complaints....", but it's the same repetitive nonsense that they've been saying for the last 3-4 years. Mage Wars Arena is done, and I doubt that Arcane Wonders will ever be saying it. Some people just have to accept it and stop ignoring the fact that the company doesn't care about Mage Wars anymore, pure and simple.

[zot]

or it could be that I may know things I cannot talk about too. not saying this is or is not the case, just that there is nothing official as yet.

[ThisIsDeutch]

or it could be that I may know things I cannot talk about too. not saying this is or is not the case, just that there is nothing official as yet.

So you’re telling me that Mage Wars, a board game turning 8 years old in 2020 and with a fanbase that’s diminishing every year, will somehow be receiving another expansion?

With utmost respect to your position, there are other playtesters like you who have been saying the exact opposite, saying that Arcane Wonders is done with Mage Wars. And considering that they’ve got a Kickstarter coming up in January, I consider Arcane Wonders to be done with Mage Wars and moving on to a more profitable and lucrative part of the bord gaming industry.

[Enti]

So you’re telling me that Mage Wars, a board game turning 8 years old in 2020 and with a fanbase that’s diminishing every year, will somehow be receiving another expansion?

Meh, there are enough examples of games that are "old" and haven't had an expansion in years or even decades that are still played today or even have made a comeback.

The first game that comes to mind is Age of Empires II ... I played that as a child, then the game's community shrunk from year to year until suddenly (probably in big part to t90) it experienced a renascence and is nowadays more popular than it ever was. Even though there is far far more competition in that gaming-sector than 20 years ago when it was released.

So it might be that the game is stagnating from the publishers viewpoint and they are not changing anything else and are not adding more. You know what? That's how dota2 and lol was made. Fans (!!!) changed and tweaked the game a bit and look how many hundreds of thousands of players play those two games nowadays. And who is responsible for it? A very small group of fans who used mods to change the game.
And guess what, the same is possible with Mage Wars, in theory everyone can invent new cards and we can play with them online. Furthermore, if someone in the community ever develops a better "system" to play it, for example that it works like Magic the Gathering and you can play it over stream.. who is to say that this never happens?

It boils down to:
Don't explain to us how dead the game is and please don't try to kill the fun for the rest of us that still plays the game.


It's totally fine if you lose your interest in the game because you want to play a game that constantly gets new cards. I get it, that certainly has its own appeal and there are enough trading card games which are offering exactly that.
Personally I am happy with the insane amount of cards we already got (far more than any MtG player has access to who plays 'standard' or 'limited') at the moment and I like to play the game even if there will never be a single added card.

Imagine people complaining that chess needs some more figures to make it more varied.

[ThisIsDeutch]

So you’re telling me that Mage Wars, a board game turning 8 years old in 2020 and with a fanbase that’s diminishing every year, will somehow be receiving another expansion?

Meh, there are enough examples of games that are "old" and haven't had an expansion in years or even decades that are still played today or even have made a comeback.

The first game that comes to mind is Age of Empires II ... I played that as a child, then the game's community shrunk from year to year until suddenly (probably in big part to t90) it experienced a renascence and is nowadays more popular than it ever was. Even though there is far far more competition in that gaming-sector than 20 years ago when it was released.

God, the memories of being picked up by my grandparents early on Friday while in elementary school, and playing Age of Empires II on their computer in the basement pulling all-nighters just brings me back. It was such a phenomenal game, and even today stands the test of time as one of the best video games ever made.

But in the end, it's not a good comparison: Age of Empires had a couple thousand players during it's peak, and according to Steam charts, the modern all-time peak is of 26 767 players. However, Mage Wars had a few hundred players at its peak, but the community is now basically small pockets of 5-10 players spread across the United States. And so there may be some who will hold emotions of nostalgia in regards to Mage Wars a decade from now, but it won't be enough to provide the wild comeback that will re-start the brand. Who knows if Arcane Wonders will still be around by then

And guess what, the same is possible with Mage Wars, in theory everyone can invent new cards and we can play with them online. Furthermore, if someone in the community ever develops a better "system" to play it, for example that it works like Magic the Gathering and you can play it over stream.. who is to say that this never happens?

You're right- community management can help revitalize the game and gain the interest of the odd board gamer or two. But considering how there are so little amount of people left in the community, what makes you think that most of the old players would want to come back just because of a few custom made cards?

It boils down to:
Don't explain to us how dead the game is and please don't try to kill the fun for the rest of us that still plays the game.


It's totally fine if you lose your interest in the game because you want to play a game that constantly gets new cards. I get it, that certainly has its own appeal and there are enough trading card games which are offering exactly that.


Imagine people complaining that chess needs some more figures to make it more varied.

First, this forum needs to stop bringing in Magic the Gathering when it comes to threads which talk about criticism of Mage Wars. Not only did I never suggest that I play MtG (I've never even held a MtG card in my hand my entire life), a collectible card game like that doesn't interest me and I've instead been playing games like Nemesis and Heroscape. So no need to assume my gaming habits based on the fact that I've played Mage Wars and am part of this forum.

Second, I don't comment here often, because quite frankly I played Mage Wars once since Paladin Vs. Siren came out, and haven't played since. But I do still lurk (thanks to procrastination stemming from writing CEGEP essays), and whenever someone brings up the question of this game's survival and the inevitable "they haven't announced anything, so we're still in luck !" pops up, I have to remind people that it's not all flowers and butterflies.

Third, you cannot compare chess to Mage Wars. One is nearly an icon of western culture, the other is a game that was popular in a small niche community for about 2 years before it lost relevance and is now a shadow of its former self.

[zot]

wow man. who crapped in your cheerios? some of us like to be positive about life in general. and more so about this game. not sure why you feel you Have to put down any suggestion that something Could happen by those of us here who do want to look at the half full glass and hope for the best.

two products were released for this game this year.

and note that not all playtesters have the same knowledge to work from regarding process and plans.

to repeat: nothing official as yet either way.

[Enti]

But in the end, it's not a good comparison: Age of Empires had a couple thousand players during it's peak, and according to Steam charts, the modern all-time peak is of 26 767 players. However, Mage Wars had a few hundred players at its peak, but the community is now basically small pockets of 5-10 players spread across the United States.

It is a good comparison because it exemplarily shows you that a game that was by all accounts dead made a comeback without the developer doing anything to promote it. On the contrary, Microsoft devoloped Age of Empires 3 and Age of Mythology and other Publishers threw dozens of similar games onto the market, making it that much harder for AoE2 to make a comeback.

And that is after all your exact and only point:
MW is dead and any talk about a possible positive future triggers you into oblivion because according to you there is none.


Your numbers are meaningless anyway because comparing absolute numbers from a board-game with a computer-game has zero significance.

You're right- community management can help revitalize the game and gain the interest of the odd board gamer or two. But considering how there are so little amount of people left in the community, what makes you think that most of the old players would want to come back just because of a few custom made cards?
 

I think an active community is the first and most important step to revitalize a game once its developer isn't investing any more time and money into the game. I agree with you that it's questionable if that really is making a difference, but one enthusiastic fan can make the difference:
Imagine a better platform is available and someone is investing the effort required to streamline MW for easier online access.
At the moment you need to download a program 99,9% of all gamers have never even heard of and then you have to download a map-pack and make an account and then on top many offline-players don't like the handling of OCTGN, they don't have the patience to learn how to chance phases and do stuff properly. And then half the players experience awful lags and sometimes the whole program freezes. In this time and age people are used to ... a better gameplay experience.


As I said before, imagine Mage Wars suddenly becomes available on Steam... I am sure even you agree that this would increase the popularity of the game a hundredfold, a thousandfold, a ten-thousandfold?

My point is, I guess, that I don't like how much satisfaction you get from bashing the (remaining) fans. If they still want to hope who are you to tell them that they "have to accept" anything?

and whenever someone brings up the question of this game's survival and the inevitable "they haven't announced anything, so we're still in luck !" pops up, I have to remind people that it's not all flowers and butterflies.

Ah, you "have the remind people" ... well ... how unfortunate for you that your nature forces you to regularly ruin someone's day. Heavy burden to bear I assume...

Third, you cannot compare chess to Mage Wars. One is nearly an icon of western culture, the other is a game that was popular in a small niche community for about 2 years before it lost relevance and is now a shadow of its former self.

I didn't compare Chess to Mage Wars, I showcased with an example that you don't necessarily need new content for a board-game to thrive. After all you were the one who made the argument that MW is dead because there hasn't be an expansion in a whole year.

[Brian VanAlstyne]

Yes, product was released in 2019...Product that was finished in 2017. Their own website about Mage Wars hasn't been updated in YEARS. Stop with the bs excuse that they made a mistake back in 2015/2016 about talking about all their plans and not coming through on them when they said they would. They got in bed with Dice Tower. Dice Tower games make them more money. It's that damn simple. Mage Wars is dead until I hear it from someone actually working for the company and not their online yes men.

[Enti]

I think I have an easy solution. Instead of saying "MW is dead" that obviously triggers everyone who is still actively playing MW, just re-phrase your statement to "Arcane Wonders currently has no plans to generate additional MW-related content."

[zot]

which may or may be accurate.

[DaveW]

zot, you should have been a lawyer