Monthly Archives: September 2014

Digital Playground

Pitfalls and Perils of Being a Cheap Gamer

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Chris and I had our monthly (or semi-monthly or really whenever we can get together around our busy schedules as international men of mystery) nerd night last weekend. It involved the usual rounds of fighting games, attempting to survive round after round of Horde mode in one of the Gears of Wars games, and Magic: the Gathering. Magic featured a control v. control game that warmed the heart of this “Blue blood” player who is on record of saying that Pacifism is my favorite card in the game. There’s a reason that it borders my portrait in the banner.

As we were wrapping up and deciding when to get together again for another nerd night and maybe the opportunity to finally record the pilot show, we somehow got on the topic of unopened/unplayed video games. In addition to being an unabashed noob filthy casual gamer, I have also been a cheap gamer ever since I purchased my first console, a PS1, at full price only to see the price drop literally a year later. I have not paid full price for a console or video game (other than a brief and dark flirtation with Skyrim when it was first released…I was unemployed and needed companionship…don’t judge me!) and often troll the 5 or 10 dollar bins at stores to see what deals I can get.

He talked about getting into Castlevania games and buying a few of them and then not playing them. I recalled that as I was digging through my games to find some two player games for us to break from Magic for a half an hour or so, I found three games that I bought for really cheap and now sit in the plastic in a closet in the living room. I found Mass Effect and Mass Effect 3 at Walmart for 5 dollars each. I bought Fallout: New Vegas for 15 bucks after starting and really enjoying Fallout 3, but not finishing that one, either. That’s not even counting the aforementioned Skyrim that I bought and invested far too much time in initially and now sits in the same closet while my orc archer sits in his home in some village, all of his exploits surely forgotten by now or the dozens of Steam games that I don’t even remember buying because they happened during the euphoric fog of a Summer or Winter sale. I buy these games, play the hell out of them for a time, and then put them off to the side for the next new and shiny (at least to me, by the time I purchase them, they are at least a year old) toy. Sometimes, they don’t even make it out of the wrapper or get installed on the computer.

So, what is a working father of three with a writing habit on the side to do to combat this phenomenon? By the time the kids go to bed and I can play the games, Christine has either co-opted the television (though she’s been watching more upstairs in the bedroom lately) or I’m so tired and brain dead that all I can do is match three in Marvel Puzzle Quest or play Hearthstone with the other noobs at my level in Casual setting. Is there anybody else out there with this problem? How do you carve out the time necessary to enjoy the games that you’ve spent your hard earned money on? I’d like to hear your suggestions.

On the Tabletop

Magic-Stone: A New Format

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Late last year, Shawn brought Blizzard’s new baby, Hearthstone, to my attention. After hearing him talk about it on several occasions, I was intrigued and figured I’d give it a shot. I’ll be honest. I wasn’t a huge fan. I’m still not. Sure it was fun every once in a while but it didn’t really do it for me. Don’t worry this article isn’t another review for the game, it’s about our creation of a new MTG format based on the only redeeming quality (in my humble opinion) of Hearthstone, the mana system.

Those of you who have played Hearthstone know exactly what I’m talking about. At the beginning of every turn you get 1 additional mana crystal which is used to cast minions and spells. You see, In Hearthstone, there is no such thing as mana screw, and anybody who plays MTG has surely felt the pain and frustration of drawing spell after spell while your opponent pounds the snot out of you without mercy with no relief in sight. To us, mana screw casts a shadow over the game..instead of seeing who has the better strategy/deck, it provides players with an inaccurate assessment of their decks. So after a few conversations and some play-testing we came up with a way to adapt the Hearthstone mana system to MTG. So without further ado we present Magic-stone..

  • Players have two decks; a 20 card deck that consists of nothing but land, and a 60 card deck that consists of everything else (the main deck).
  • At the start of a player’s turn, that person firsts draws a card from their land deck, puts it directly into play and then draws a card from their main deck.
  • Mill cards don’t affect the Land deck.
  • Cards that damage a player for drawing do not do damage when drawing from the Land deck.
  • “Discard” creatures (i.e Balustrade Spy) that force you to mill your deck until you draw a land, are banned.
  • Any card that prevents a player from playing land is still legal. Hey buddy, that’s called control not mana screw!

Simple enough, right? During our play-testing we found that this style of Magic made for more interesting and competitive games. Instead of one or both decks being slowed down by lack of mana, both decks are able to fully function. It really shows players the strengths and weaknesses of their decks while also speeding the game up. However with this format, some cards are essentially rendered useless (Into the Wilds and Borborygmos Enraged come to mind), but in my opinion the pros definitely outweigh the cons. So grab a buddy or buddies, try it out and let us know what you think.

On the Tabletop

Collector’s Cache: The New Magic Block Structure

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As I scrolled through my Facebook feed a couple of weeks ago, an article caught my attention. The headline mentioned the changing block structure of Magic: the Gathering. At the time, I only perused the article and, as I often do against my better judgment, skipped to the comment section. Therefore, I didn’t really understand the ramifications of the change. I thought (as the comments said) that it was mostly in response to a stale and slow to change competitive format. That doesn’t affect me because I’m just not into the competitive gaming scene.

Chris sent me a message saying that he finally got around to reading about the change and inspired me to consider it as a subject on the podcast. There, we discuss the potential changes to friendly games like the ones that we play where the rules might not always match the book, but at least we always agree.

Researching for the podcast led me to a very informative article by Mark Rosewater (link) so I won’t spend much time on teaching you about the changes, either. That just leaves the first C in CCG and I am very interested in the collecting aspect of the game, so I will concentrate on that in this article. Every time a new set is released, I pick up a box of boosters and a fat pack. I put the cards in order, with the visual checklist preceding the set in a binder representative of the yearly block. I have never finished a set, but I think I’ve figured out a way, with an idea from Chris, to fill in the missing cards.

So, what does this change mean for this style of collecting? Well, the current block is unchanged of course. I will get boxes of cards for Magic 2015, Khans, and then the two sets that follow. I will put them into a binder, probably one that has Garruk on the cover because he’s one of my favorite characters in the Magic multiverse and I’m glad that he’s prominently featured this year.

As far as I can tell, that will continue going forward. Though, instead of there being three sets per block, there will be only two. All that means for my collection is that I will buy two smaller binders instead of one large binder each year. The big change coming is that there will be no more core set after next year.

Initially, I resisted this change. I often think of myself as flexible, but as I get older, change becomes scarier. As Abe Simpson said, “I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I’m with isn’t it, and what’s it seems weird and scary to me. It’ll happen to you…” I considered the change, though, and reflected back to another recent change. When I saw the M15 spoilers online, I thought that there was something different. A conversation with Chris and opening the packs from my Fat Pack confirmed that they changed the design of the cards. As a collector, it was a welcome change. Trying to read the numbers of the old color bordered cards was very difficult on the green and nearly impossible on red. Since the bottom border is now all black, that problem is solved.

I think that doing away with the core set can have a similar positive effect on collections. The article above mentions that the change will help to keep the game fresh through more changes more quickly. Another thing that stood out to me as I opened the M15 packs was the number of reprints. At first, it was (somewhat) nostalgic to see the old cards with the new borders and I reasoned that reprints are inevitable. Certain cards are just staples for their color and useful in nearly any deck. Think Cancel or Pacifism.

However, I found myself becoming less excited and more “Meh” as I opened pack after pack and saw the same cards with the same artwork over and over. Reprints are inevitable and they won’t end with the new block structure, but there is a potential silver lining to the situation. As I sorted through my boxes of cards in the hopes of unloading some of the extras, I was reminded that reprinted cards from expansion sets were often given different artwork that reflected the style of the expansion. I can live with those reprints because they give another interpretation of the card and that is interesting to see.

Overall, while initially scary to hear (no third set! no more core set!) and easy to misinterpret their intentions behind them, the changes are welcome. They promise to keep competitive play fresh through more rapid changes. Any reprints will, hopefully, reflect the style of the expansion in which they appear and not feel quite so stale, either. As always, thanks for reading. What do you think about the changes in competitive, friendly, or collecting?

On the Tabletop

Mono Red Dragons (Legacy)

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Here it is..our first deck list..(wipes tear..). Now as with every deck list we will post on here we can’t promise you that you will win tournaments (are there even Legacy tournaments anymore?), or in general, that you will win every game that you play. What we can promise you is that it’s a fun deck to pilot. When it works the way it should, it’s not so fun to play against, but it’s not without it’s weaknesses which I will cover below.

Strengths: Big creatures, lots of burn removal, can be devastating in the mid to late game.

Weaknesses: Slower deck, struggles against aggro, and god help you if there is a board wipe, because that’s a wrap.

The List:(60 cards)

Creatures

 Spells

Kilnmouth Dragon x2

Bonfire of the Damned x1

Furyborn Hellkite x2

Flame Slash x4

Thundermaw Hellkite x2

Seething Song x2

Moonveil Dragon x2

Lightning Strike x3

Balefire Dragon x1

Lightning Bolt x4

Ogre Battledriver x1

Anger of the Gods x1

Scourge of Valkas x1

Mizzium Mortars x1

Dragonmaster Outcast x1

Awaken the Ancients x2

Hellrider x1

Annihilating Fire x2

Vexing Devil x1

Madcap Skills x2

Utvara Hellkite x1

Artifacts

Dragonspeaker Shaman x 2

Quicksilver Amulet x2

Guttersnipe x2

 Lands

Chandra’s Phoenix x1 

Mountains x 18

 

The Strategy

Use Quicksilver Amulets, Seething Songs and Dragonspeaker Shamans to get Dragons out as soon as possible. Use burn spells with Guttersnipe to keep opponent’s side of the board clean while pinging them for 2 damage for every spell you cast. If you are having trouble getting a Dragon out on the board, use Awaken the Ancients with Madcap Skills to keep your opponent busy.

Digital Playground

Currently Playing…Vol.2

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dq9

 

Dragon Quest IX (DS): I’m a sucker for a good JRPG so I picked this one up a couple of years ago. Being a collector/game hoarder, I didn;t actually start playing this game until about a month ago and immediately kicked myself for not doing so sooner. It’s just really, really well done and is massive to boot. It;s absolutely worth every penny in my opinion. There are tons of side quests to do, hidden dungeons to find, you can use alchemy to create weapons, and the vocational system is really interesting. I’m almost 60 hours in and I made it to the last boss. This is without doing any side quests and only completing one random dungeon. Although, I did spend a good chunk of that 60 hours level-grinding. So realistically, I’m willing to bet that if you did all of the side quests and completed all of the random dungeons, there is probably 100+ hrs of game play. I highly recommend this game to anyone who is A) A fan of JRPGs, B) A fan of getting their money’s worth or C) All of the above. If you do take my advice and pick this gem up here are a couple of helpful tips. Alchemy is not something you should look past. Don’t skip finding the items necessary to cook up the best weapons in the game (there are tons of recipe guides online), because against the last boss, Corvus, you WILL need them. All of my characters’ levels are in the low to mid 40s, and while I didn’t really have much trouble actually getting to Corvus, he absolutely beat the brakes off of me. It was embarrassingly bad. Aaaaand really frustrating as everything was going swimmingly before I fought him. Also if you want a way to do some quick leveling up, go to the 3rd floor of the Bowhole and hunt the Liquid Metal Slimes. These little bastards give you an insane amount of Exp points when you take them out. Use Metal Slash to do the most damage to them as normal attacks miss in most cases and also know that they like to run. A lot.

 

karnov

Karnov (NES): Yup, Friggin’ Karnov. The fat Russian guy who spits fireballs. Yes, that game. You run, you jump and you shoot things (Isn’t that the premise of most Nintendo games?). Simple enough, but strangely still really fun even after all of these years. I picked it up on Ebay a few years ago mainly because it was the first Nintendo game I had ever played. I absolutely loved it back then and I still do now. The only difference being that now I can beat it without the use of a Game Genie. Yes! Ia’m no longer a pansy! Shower me with your applause! (crickets)”ahem” and that brings us to the end of this week’s Currently Playing.

Digital Playground

Dateline Hearthstone: Was Naxxramas worth it?

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(Note: I will put the TL:DR at the beginning because sometimes I can get wordy.)

TL:DR: No.

Let me start with a confession. I have a love/hate relationship with Hearthstone. I love the animations, card emotes, and connection to World of Warcraft, a game that I have spent way too much time playing. Seriously, while my /played isn’t as depressing as some of the people that I’ve met in game, for a married father of three children, I’ve spent a lifetime in that game. I hate the seemingly excessive random nature of many of the cards, the ridiculous amounts of copied decks that make the PvP environment boring, and the complete lack of a PvE environment that forces me to play against those boring net decks.

Blizzard has stated on several occasions (and reinforced that statement with their actions) that they don’t consider the randomness a problem and that they actually consider it to be part of the skill element of the game. Ooooooo-kay, then. However, they have tried to address the latter two complaints with their first “adventure” for the game, The Curse of Naxxramas. I will not argue whether or not they were successful with this post. Hunters are back, though, and “zoo” warlocks still run wild, so in my opinion, the answer to that is “no”, too.

The question that I’ve read and asked myself more is, “Was the expansion worth it?” I purchased the whole thing with gold saved by doing my daily quests, but Blizzard also gave the option of buying the whole thing for $19.99 with the first wing free (Blizzardsoon TM to be $24.99 and no free first wing) to unlock the whole thing or $6.99 for each wing.

So, what do you get for your hard earned cash? You get a four wing “adventure”, with 15 bosses in total, that is basically just a glorified version of their practice mode. You pick a boss to fight, pick a deck, the head boss of the adventure threatens you in the form of a terrible pun, you defeat the boss, and you get two versions of a new card. Defeating the last boss of each wing gets you a legendary card based on that final boss. A class “challenge”, which is a boss fight with a specific theme deck for each class, offers a special class card to collect. Finally, there is a heroic mode for each boss, that takes strategy or skill (or Hearthstone’s version of them-remember the statement above about randomness?) to defeat. Alas, no cards here, but slogging through this frustrations will net a card back to add to the “collection”.

None of the regular bosses take more than one try to defeat and the only class challenge that I found truly challenging was the Paladin one. Being the noob that I am, I net decked to defeat the heroic bosses. All in all, I got about an hour to maybe an hour and a half of new “content” plus the cards.

Admittedly, some of the cards are useful in a variety of decks and it can be fun to see how they affect old cards and decks, but again a majority of the decks being played are the latest flavor of the week and that’s boring for me. That isn’t necessarily Blizzards fault and not pertinent to my argument, but if you stopped playing because of a lack of variety, then there’s no reason to come back now. It may take a while-if it ever happens-for there to be the variety of cards available and playable that are in more established games.

Again, I paid gold that I received over a couple of months from simply playing the game to prove that filthy casuals like me don’t have to fork over the money to get the cards. Hell, I even dropped 2100 gold on packs about a month before release and still got everything without paying a penny. But, let’s face it. If you’re paying, you’re paying for the cards because the content sure as hell isn’t worth it. You get 30 new unique cards, that are all digital and completely the property of Blizzard even after the transaction, and maybe an hour and a half of playtime against brain dead AI. I don’t value money very much, but I can think of many other uses for your $24.99.

Pros: New cards.

Cons: New content is underwhelming, to say the least. Cards are digital and if Blizzard decides to shut down the servers, *poof!* goes your collection.

The Verdict: Be a filthy casual like me and do your dailies. You should be able to get the gold for each wing with a weeks worth of play time.

What do you think? Did you spend the money? Do you have any regrets?

On the Tabletop

Lessons from the Kitchen Table Vol.1: Overkill Kills

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Let me set up the scenario for you: I’m playing a mono red dragon deck, my opponent (Shawn), Izzet. The score is currently 15-4 in my favor. Shawn has been the victim of mana screw for the first few turns so I was able to beat him down for the first half of the game, although for the last couple of turns he has started to get some momentum going. Too little too late. My hand consists of the following: 1x Kilnmouth Dragon, 1x Furyborn Hellkite, 2x Hellkite Tyrants and finally, 1x Moonveil Dragon. On the board, I have Guttersnipe and a Quicksilver Amulet. My opponent has a couple of small creatures in play but nothing with flying. In short, whatever creature I play will most likely end the game. However, as the title would suggest, things didn’t quite turn out the way I wanted. With a smug grin, and a d*ck-ish level of self-satisfaction, I drop the Kilnmouth Dragon, onto the board. I then spread my hand on the table like I’m revealing a royal flush, which I guess in this case it was. My Dragon is now a 17/17 flier and my opponent has no blockers, so unless he is incredibly lucky and draws removal, this game is a wrap. I pass my turn fully expecting Shawn to draw a card and then scoop. He draws, then much to my chagrin, he plays Traitorous Instinct, taking control of the Kilnmouth Dragon, giving it haste and +2/+0 and swings in for 19 damage. I stare across the table, trying to process what the hell happened…I had an 11 point lead…11 friggin’ points…what happened? Well, let’s discuss it..

Okay, so what was my first mistake? That would obviously be playing a huge creature when it wasn’t necessary. Shawn was down to his last gasp at only 4 life, there was no need to drop a creature that big when I knew he had no blockers, AND to boot, one that was larger than my life total. I gambled that he wouldn’t have an answer for it, and I lost that bet. I could have easily played any of the other dragons in my hand, which, when he took control of it, wouldn’t have instantly squashed me. I could have played 2 of the other dragons in my hand the next turn, and most likely have ended the game in the next turn or so. Ok, so other than being a bit on the cocky side, what was my other mistake? Well, that would be not playing defensively. I was playing an Izzet deck..red and blue..that means removal, counters and creature-swipin’. In my opinion, blue has the most options when it comes to turning a game around in a second. Even though I knew his deck was focused on control, I didn’t play like I was aware of this fact. So what’s the big lesson here? Well you can draw your own meaning from this article, but the lesson I learned was this : when you have a size-able lead, you still have to find that balance of going for the kill, so to speak, and not letting your guard down. Always prepare for the worst case scenario and don’t over-commit to a play, leaving yourself wide open. As neat as it is to drop a 17/17, it’s not so neat when that 17/17 suddenly turns into your opponent’s 19/19 and folds you up like a cheap chair.