From: owner-the-edge-digest@ (The Edge Digested) To: the-edge-digest@robin-nvh.bvsd.k12.co.us Subject: The Edge Digested V1 #70 Reply-To: the-edge@robin-nvh.bvsd.k12.co.us Sender: owner-the-edge-digest@ Errors-To: owner-the-edge-digest@ Precedence: bulk The Edge Digested Friday, June 26 1998 Volume 01 : Number 070 Today's subjects from The Edge: [The Edge] Theme Deck Re: [The Edge] Decks, Devices, and the Problem with On the Edge Re: [The Edge] First Aid for Dying Games [was: Decks, Devices, etc.] Re: [The Edge] Throckmorton Device Re: [The Edge] [The Edge]Response and a weird Question. Re: [The Edge] First Aid for Dying Games [was: Decks, Devices, etc.] Re: [The Edge] [The Edge]Response and a weird Question. Re: [The Edge] Theme Deck [The Edge] Where is OnTE played? [The Edge] "Death Dance" [The Edge] random replies about OnTE Re: [The Edge] Where is OnTE played? Re: [The Edge] Where is OnTE played? Re: [The Edge] Where is OnTE played? [The Edge] Deck Archetype; Pharaoh [The Edge] Forgotten Traits: Alien [The Edge] building themed decks... Re: [The Edge] building themed decks... Re: [The Edge] building themed decks... Re: [The Edge] building themed decks... Re: [The Edge] building themed decks... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 22:10:47 -0700 From: Rob Lightner Subject: [The Edge] Theme Deck I made this one as psy-ops against a sensitive opponent. Didn't work. Resources Psychic Sensitivity x8 Friends in Great Men Barrio x5 Friends in Science Barrio x2 Hitters Bellow Break-Bones Shreds Thunder Gruen Rod "Scabs" Tar Nickels Blockers Frogbreath Lope Slag Kofi Ogunlala Olimpia Urgeghe Monty Albion Andreij Kawierna Fob Saline Pullers Avan Bloodlord x2 Mihaly Cieznick x2 Nachtmeister x2 Howdah x2 Mr. Tramh LeThuy x2 Anima Nee-Owoo x2 Hanni Shahal x2 Jersey Smith x2 Specialists Reek Rend Raw Steamer x2 Otz Fea Terronez Margarita Yelmo Kate Taylor Ginger Yang Others Astral Mimicry Bad Luck x2 Fury x2 Genetic Prejudice Hostility Channeler Loot Self-Actualizer Sensitivity x2 Unexpected Difficulties Pythagorean Convulsion Rain of Walrus Kwik Klinik Cat's Feet x2 Iron Skin x2 Telekinetic Punch Hint: Look at the cards if you don't get it. This was a lot of fun to play, but always lost. It would no doubt play better if it was tuned up. That's left as an exercise for the student. - - Rob [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 23:51:32 -0700 From: Chris Johnson Subject: Re: [The Edge] Decks, Devices, and the Problem with On the Edge Eric Jome wrote: > > On Tue, 23 Jun 1998, Chris Johnson wrote: > > > Ummm...not to put too fine a point on it, but, OTE is dead. Sure we all > > like it, and it *is* a good game, but it is, in fact, pushing up the > > daisies. > > are you so certain that this has to be true? it doesnt look too dead > to me... there is a tournament at Gencon again this year. and i bet > more people than last year will show up. why does OnTE have to be > Magic to be considered "alive and well"? Yes, I am. For the near future. It doesn't have to be Magic, but it does have to have *some* sales (and be available from distributors). > > I'll continue to play it, and collect it, but OTE's day has clearly > > passed. In a few years, Atlas may finally sell out of their stock on > > hand, but I doubt it. :/ > > why do you collect and play it? is it fun? why cant it be fun for > others? maybe even fun for people who havent played before? Yes, it is fun. It can and will be fun for others. *But*, given the current reality of the distribution system, and the state of the CCG market, OTE is dead. Just try getting some from a distributor. I continue to play, and teach others when I can... > why cant people do their own expansion? i mean cards and all. > if i can get my act together, i plan on handing out boosters for > a new expansion at Gencon. cards you can throw in decks and > play; think Atlas will care? the game doesnt have to die just because > Atlas wont support it... they arent the only people with an interest > in this. i _know_ i have an interest. and i dont see why others > cant develop an interest too. Perhaps I was not as clear as I could have been. OTE is dead commercially. As a game, it is doing just dandy. In our hearts, it will no doubt live on. > > (who'd rather Atlas have a trickle of cashflow from OTE, as opposed to > > none at all, and who doesn't mind $20 boxes of a good game in the > > bargin) > > why not buy some and give them to new people? play Booster League? I do. Chris [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 23:51:29 -0700 From: Chris Johnson Subject: Re: [The Edge] First Aid for Dying Games [was: Decks, Devices, etc.] Paul J. Lareau wrote: > > Peter Jansen wrote: > > > How do you keep it interesting? Anyone? Just keep building new decks and > > tuning old ones? > > Chris Johnson wrote: > > > Ummm...not to put too fine a point on it, but, OTE is dead. Sure we all > > like it, and it *is* a good game, but it is, in fact, pushing up the > > daisies. > > > > I'll continue to play it, and collect it, but OTE's day has clearly > > passed. In a few years, Atlas may finally sell out of their stock on > > hand, but I doubt it. :/ > > > > Games are a funny product. Great games come and go, whether CCG, Board Games, > or other kinds. Except in the case of technologically obsolete computer > games, or topics that are no longer relevant (like "Kremlin", a great board > game that no longer represents reality), once purchased, well-designed games > have an infinite lifetime unless someone convinces players to spend their time > (and money) on other, newer games. That the hitch! The game industry's > survival depends on getting you to stop spending time on some old game, and > spend that time (and money) on new ones. Some of the game industry does this more than others (WotC, GW, and their ilk). It doesn't have to be like that, but it is certainly more profitable to do it that way. :/ Classic games never go out of style; unfortunately, OTE probably won't make that cut. :/ > The sad thing about the "easy availability of cards" that Chris mentioned is > that there are far too many of them acting as doorstops and dust catchers in > the back rooms of game stores and in Atlas's warehouse! They have to be > distributed to people who are willing to play the game and keep it alive. And > it's up to us to find that next generation of Al Amarjans! Heh...eventually, the cost of storage is going to exceed the cost to dispose of the cards...and then Atlas may well give the cards away for the cost of shipping. Every so often I post an ad on r.g.t-c.m.m, looking for OTE collections. I usually pay 5 or 10 cents on the dollar (depending on what they have), and there are a sizable number of people who have responded wanting to sell fairly large collections. The cards are out there; we just have to create some interest. Chris [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: 26 Jun 1998 13:31:00 +0100 From: st001183@hrzpub.tu-darmstadt.de (Oliver Hertel) Subject: Re: [The Edge] Throckmorton Device Hiho! On 23.06.98 you wrote: > > I'd like to see a nice astral deck. Any Ideas? > you want Astral? well, i only have 1 astral deck laying around > and it definitely is not friendly. so, you will have to wait > until tomorrow for friendly astral... :) > > Or any other nice deck I could throw an eye on? > depends on what you mean by "nice" i guess. :) Er, nice to play? Much fun? Chance to win? ;) Ciao, Oliver - -- http://www.tu-darmstadt.de/~st001183/ IntuiTAG: Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another. - Plato [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 08:36:34 -0600 From: Keith Baker Subject: Re: [The Edge] [The Edge]Response and a weird Question. At 01:52 PM 6/24/98 GMT, you wrote: >A question to everyone, what's the strangest character concept that >you've had a player play? I think the strangest character concept from my campaign would be Ronald McDonald, Secret Agent. The concept was that if McDonald's wanted to move into Al Amarja, they'd want to target the lucrative Cloak market. Around this time, McDonald's was running a serious of TV ads trying to give themselves a more "adult" image, and these ads showed Ronald playing golf, dancing, etc, with lots of unseen observers saying things like "Wow, he's good." The character idea centered around the concept that Ronald had some strange fringe power that made people assume that he was really good at whatever he tried to do... though it didn't actually convey any skill. So if he struck a fancy martial arts pose, people would start saying "Whoa, Ronald, he's one bad dude". His goal was to try to get involved in some sort of high-profile espionage activities, building up a rep in the Cloak community. As it turned out, the character never got played. Strange characters that did get played included five ducks in a battlesuit (the "Quackatron 2000"; needless to say, the suit was well disguised), HP Lovecraft -- Private Eye (Stolen from the movie "Cast a Deadly Spell"), and a brief appearance by a vacationing Santa Claus. [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 10:15:11 -0500 (CDT) From: Eric Jome Subject: Re: [The Edge] First Aid for Dying Games [was: Decks, Devices, etc.] On Thu, 25 Jun 1998, Chris Johnson wrote: > Every so often I post an ad on r.g.t-c.m.m, looking for OTE collections. > I usually pay 5 or 10 cents on the dollar (depending on what they have), > and there are a sizable number of people who have responded wanting to > sell fairly large collections. The cards are out there; we just have to > create some interest. for those who may not know, last year at Gencon, if you played a demo game of OnTE you were given a Burger Box (the display that had a little of every expansion). for free. it was over 900 cards. so, i wouldnt be at all surprised if you run into people on the net who have cards they would be pleased to cash in. :/ and as to Atlas having lots of cards and giving them away; they have been doing this for some time. years actually. this is another indication of their loose-and-fast handling of OnTE... eric [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 11:31:17 -0400 From: "John M. Baker" Subject: Re: [The Edge] [The Edge]Response and a weird Question. At 08:36 AM 6/26/98 -0600, you wrote: >At 01:52 PM 6/24/98 GMT, you wrote: >>A question to everyone, what's the strangest character concept that >>you've had a player play? > Well, I was a player in one game where another player's character could channel Elvis. That wasn't so strange, but we started dimension hopping. We met our doubles in this other world, and his double (whom the player played for a while) channeled Tina Turner instead. We desperately needed help, and so we attended this seance and the double channeled Tina Turner to help. Silence pervaded the room, then, slowly, this presence seemed to manifest in the character (and the player). Then, this primal, deep, scratchy, but feminine scream leaps out of the guy's throat! Tina was truly among us. She adjusted her hair, looked over the body she was inhabiting, and complained about what she was wearing. She demanded fishnets. Luckily, one of the other characters (a spy or a McDonald's executive, trying to branch into the Al Amarja market) happened to have some. She put them on, with a pair of high heels, and looked across the room. So much happened with Tina there that night, but I can't remember it all. It was truly glorious, though. John Baker [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 10:37:46 -0500 (CDT) From: Eric Jome Subject: Re: [The Edge] Theme Deck On Thu, 25 Jun 1998, Rob Lightner wrote: > Hint: Look at the cards if you don't get it. i get it. :) anyone else ever do a 1 artist deck? eric [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 11:46:11 -0400 From: "John M. Baker" Subject: [The Edge] Where is OnTE played? I'm in State College, PA, and I've been looking for OnTE players for years. I haven't found any. It was popular for a small time, but no one around here plays anymore. Where is the game still being played? I know about Minnesota; is it also played anywhere else? John Baker [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 10:53:19 -0500 (CDT) From: Eric Jome Subject: [The Edge] "Death Dance" On 26 Jun 1998, Oliver Hertel wrote: > Er, nice to play? Much fun? Chance to win? ;) well, some people might consider Fringe or Pharaoh or Kergillian the biggest ass whooper in OnTE. maybe someone out there thinks you can go the distance with the Terminal... perhaps someone hears victory in the Sommerites. but nothing can kick it in like Astral. following is the deck i used to help win the World Championships last year. this thing never lost a game. this is certainly _not_ for friendly play... it will hit the ground running and goes off like an atom bomb! so, without further delay; Totentanz... Pullers (8) 2 Monique D'Aubainne (A41) 2 Bast 2 Jersey Smith 2 Anastasia Crowley (A40) Attackers (4) 2 Betty Frenum 2 Mammon Defenders (4) 2 Abanobi Famani 2 Donna Khalifah Specials (4) 2 Carcinogenia 2 Ricardo Martinez Extras (12) 2 Kamikaze 2 Terrors 3 Negative Energy 2 Flooding Nile 2 Atavism: Ninja 1 The Truth About Necromancy Resources (8) 8 Astral Wisdom Kamikaze Betty. Flood your own pullers. Ricardo Martinez. Negative Energy Ninja. Kamikaze your own puller... Kamikaze Ninja. big pull with bonus pull. Everything Astral. notice, no Gear and no Whammies. this was intentionally done to waste some of the classic defense cards the enemy might employ; Gang A-Gley or Reek Rend, frex. comments? :) and i am already aware that this is not nice, thanks. :) eric [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 11:56:27 EDT From: AtlasGames@AOL.COM Subject: [The Edge] random replies about OnTE << quite right. unfortunately there is a problem that Atlas built into their OnTE development mindset. they insisted on almost all OnTE cards and certainly all OnTE factions have a direct and tangible counterpart in Over The Edge. >> Whoa, hey, I have to disagree! Many OnTE factions correlate to stuff in OTE ('cause, you know, we based the one on the other) -- but plenty do not. The Guild is an example, or the Atlanteans; indeed some of the factions in Arcana (Nekros, Saou, Magic Circle) have been added to OTE in magazine articles, but don't yet appear in any "official" material of the RPG. We actually made a point of diverging from OTE when we made the card name, from very similar groups with different names (earthlings/tridents) to very different interpretations of key characters (multiple Moniques). << this "vital" link often determined what properties individual cards or groups had and also determined how many and of what form groups would encompass. Portia is the only Agara in OnTE; Atlas has stated that as far as they are concerned, she is the only one that ever will be. something similar would apply to Guild or LeThuy in particular. as these groups in OnTE are direct representation of RPG concepts, there "cannot" be additions. at least not in the mind of Atlas. >> I see no reason why Portia would have to be the only agara in OnTE, except for the fact that we can probably never publish more cards for the game. Plenty more LeThuys could exist; after all, most of those in the CCG are original, not found in the RPG. The Guild is a CCG-only group; I don't see adding any more, but that's because Jonathan saw it as a closed group with just the members he put in Shadows. > On this last suggestion, although I have prototype examples, I have > always hesitated to contact Atlas direct because of the warnings that I > have seen concerning unsolicited ideas being trashed without looking, > due to possible copyright problems. Does Atlas have any clarifications > to this rule? Are unsolicited suggestions welcome? Is there a proper, > legal way to make suggestions to Atlas. There seems to be some confusion on this point. Unsolicited submissions must be accompanied by a release form. You can find it in the writers' guidelines on our website. The release form basically says that you submit to us willingly, knowing that we might not want what you offer or might even have something similar in development. It's true that we are not likely to do anything more with On the Edge. However, it's not impossible. Unfortunately, the game industry is deeply troubled right now, and we simply don't have the money to risk on a product that has already been written off by a majority of distributors and retailers. Distributors who have sold through all their OnTE have flat-out told me that they will not buy more...period...nada...even with our discounted pricing. Essentially, all the game's future sales will be direct to consumers and the occasional store. (Indeed, if we did have some cash to play with, I'd use it to pay off the last of the OnTE printing bills...which we're STILL paying down, after three years, with the income generated by other games.) On the bright side, there may yet be some cool new things coming to the world of Al Amarja...which I can't talk about yet. ;) And, as a personal interest, I'd be delighted to see something new for OTE come out, when the Atlas house is in order. (Alas, just when you think the game industry might be turning the corner, it gets even *worse*.) - -John who does read the list, but is a bit slow on the replies these days [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 11:11:18 -0500 (CDT) From: Eric Jome Subject: Re: [The Edge] Where is OnTE played? On Fri, 26 Jun 1998, John M. Baker wrote: > I'm in State College, PA, and I've been looking for OnTE players for years. > I haven't found any. It was popular for a small time, but no one around here > plays anymore. i hate to say it John, but you are going to have to make your own. dont go all Dr. Frankenstein on us, just train some willing Burger if you can find the time. dont have the cards? mail me... i got the hook up. :) > Where is the game still being played? I know about Minnesota; is it also > played anywhere else? when the game started to disappear from stores, i decided i was tired of having no one to play in Milwaukee. so, i went out on the net and bought my gaming group a box of Standard and half a box of Cut-Ups each for Christmas. cost me $100 even up. but this created a play group in Madison, WI (where my main group lives) of 2 or 3. and there is little ole me (and perhaps 1 or 2 more i can wrangle) in little ole Milwaukee, WI. eric [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 12:15:05 -0400 (EDT) From: David Freier Subject: Re: [The Edge] Where is OnTE played? Well I'm located in Philadelphia and most of my cell is spread across Delaware and New Jersey. In fact I am presently trying to organize two scheduled tournaments for this falls Garden State Games Faire. A demo for newbies and a built deck tourney for experienced players Friday night and then an Omni or a booster draft tournament on Saturday. I tried a booster draft format last year, but since then my cell has been playing alot of booster draft and we have actually begun to prefer playing that way compared to all else. If John or anyone else lives in the Northeast and is interested in this let me know and maybe we can coordinate a huge OTE tournament. David "Throckmorton" Freier > > I'm in State College, PA, and I've been looking for OnTE players for years. > I haven't found any. It was popular for a small time, but no one around here > plays anymore. > > Where is the game still being played? I know about Minnesota; is it also > played anywhere else? > > John Baker > > > > [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge > [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of > [O] (un)subscribe the-edge > [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 11:52:34 -0500 (CDT) From: Jeremiah Thomas Isaacs Subject: Re: [The Edge] Where is OnTE played? just to mention, we have two players at least in Denton, with up to 3 stragglers that we can harrass into playing at times. Im actually getting to play again soon-ish. Anyone on the list in the north Dallas area? --- jeremiah jti0001@jove.acs.unt.edu people.unt.edu/~jti0001 - --- excuse me but i just have to explode explode this body off me wake-up tomorrow brand new a little tired but brand new bjork [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 13:37:02 -0500 (CDT) From: Eric Jome Subject: [The Edge] Deck Archetype; Pharaoh as if one killer tournament deck wasnt enough for today, i thought i would weigh in with an archetypical Pharaoh deck. the goal here is to make it both tough and thematic. so, onward... Pullers (8) 2 Jagannath Adhi 2 Prem K. Sharma 2 Akorra Encombi 2 Farah Nekhbet Attackers (4) 2 Guglielmo Vigneto 2 Veronica Sellers Defenders (4) 2 Ellen Wu 2 Isa Ifaq Specials (4) 2 Ali Twine 2 Robert Richardson Others (13) 2 Disintegrator Ray 2 Anti-Matter Grenades 2 Weird Radiation 2 Sub-Random Subversion 2 Immunity 2 Gang A-Gley 1 Newtonian Slam Resources (10) 6 Oppenheimer Contacts 2 U.N. Forces 2 Pharaoh's Secret this is the archetypical Pharaoh deck... using the difficult to slow down Pharaohs for pullers. the non-character cards concentrate in only 2 areas, pumping up the numbers on characters and defending characters. this deck has a very strong resources presence and can handle even Idealogical Polarization well. this could easily win a tournament, even if it would be pretty dull to play. but there is a strong variant to this that would be better called a Quisling deck. here, you dump the Pharaohs themselves. personally, i dont much like the Pharaohs as they dont seem to represent their RPG conterparts... i think they would be too powerful for the game if they really were representative. to make a Quisling deck, substitute Cyril Doros for Prem K. Sharma, Vibe Valiant for Farah Nekhbet, and Giurgiu Otinka for Jagannath Adhi. and throw in 2 International Influence. :) sometimes, people switch out the Fringe in the Quisling deck to take advantage of Ur-Master. Ellen Wu and Akorra Encombi are both psychic and if you use Psychic Resources and replace Weird Radiation with 2 Hostility Channeler, you get an interesting deck. finally, for the psychic version, replace Veronica Sellers with a psychic hitter such as Notify Grout (or move Isa to Attacker and put in Blush Quay). Pharaoh and Quisling are thus pretty flexibile and even if you dont have the cards for the exact deck i listed above, you should be able to make suitable substitutions. eric [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 13:53:20 -0500 (CDT) From: Eric Jome Subject: [The Edge] Forgotten Traits: Alien seems to me that a lot of traits take a back seat to something with more of a Resource base. its true that having dedicated Resources, trait specific Unique Resources, a Secret, and sometimes even a "crank to call any" card in your deck can really speed it up, but min/maxing is not the only way to approach deck building. sometimes, you just have to do something different. :) so, here is a list of all cards with the Alien trait; Dr. Renee Boneau Weegzon Coral Entity Protoplankton Xotok El Zod 7 Betelguesan Spackle Sephira this list certainly looks like the beginning of a deck. Dr. Boneau, Coral Entity, and Sephira are all good pullers. Weegzon is a good defender. Betelguesan is a great hitter or blocker. El Zod 7 is cheap... perfect food for Xotok. Spackle and Protoplankton are both fine cards on defense or attack or as munchies for Xotok. two cards in the group have the Terminal trait and two have the Psychic trait ... both make fine additions. so, anyone wanna take a stab at an Alien/Psychic/Terminal deck? dont forget, El Zod 7 is immune psychic, so he makes a perfect person to hold onto a Psychic Time Bomb. and if Xotok eats a puller, you lose no Influence! perhaps the Coral Entity has sent out a psychic message to aliens everywhere to come to the Terminal... for its birthday party! :) eric [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 15:07:52 -0700 From: "Jay J. Allen" Subject: [The Edge] building themed decks... Hey listers. I've been having a problem with building decks. I look through my cards every now and then, and I get an idea for making a deck on some theme, or just built around a couple traits (say for example, I wanted to make a pharoh/quisling/gladstein deck). Now, when I start trying to build the deck, I want to get my ratios of card types as close as I can to the formula with say 8 pullers, 8 resources, 12 other cards, 4 hitters, 4 blockers, and 4 specialists (this is for a 40 card deck). Now, this might seem like no big deal, but the problem I keep running into is that I don't have the right cards to be able to fill out these numbers without deviating way off of the theme I'm interested in. usually, my problem lies in that I can't scrape together enough pullers and keep the theme consistent. How do you folks who are still into playing handle this? Thanks in advance, // Jay J. Allen WVU AIS - ASAP [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 13:39:41 -0600 From: Trevor Stone Subject: Re: [The Edge] building themed decks... Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, "Jay J. Allen" said: >I've been having a problem with building decks. I look through my cards >every now and then, and I get an idea for making a deck on some theme, or >just built around a couple traits (say for example, I wanted to make a >pharoh/quisling/gladstein deck). Now, when I start trying to build the >deck, I want to get my ratios of card types as close as I can to the >formula with say 8 pullers, 8 resources, 12 other cards, 4 hitters, 4 >blockers, and 4 specialists (this is for a 40 card deck). Now, this might >seem like no big deal, but the problem I keep running into is that I don't >have the right cards to be able to fill out these numbers without deviating >way off of the theme I'm interested in. usually, my problem lies in that I >can't scrape together enough pullers and keep the theme consistent. How do >you folks who are still into playing handle this? > Your problem is trying to force your creativity into a mould. If it's a theme deck, who says it has to have that formula? That's not a required formula, and even quite competative decks can be vastly different. I don't think I've ever had a deck that's exactly 40 cards, and most don't have anywhere near that ratios. If you've got a good idea for a theme, put the cards you want together, then guess how many resources you need, and play with it. If it doesn't work, tinker with it. Only go with a formula like the above if you're really trying to win and your other attempts just don't work out. It makes games more interesting if people have odd ratios. =-=-=-= Trevor Stone =-=-= aka Flwyd =-=-= tstone @ robin . ml . org =-=-=-= Eclectic philosopher, New Vista computer admin, gamer, witster, esotericist http://robin.ml.org/~tstone/ Thou spongy pox-marked rabbit-sucker! Did you know they took gullible out of the dictionary? [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 15:50:58 -0700 From: "Jay J. Allen" Subject: Re: [The Edge] building themed decks... hey, Ok, I see what you're saying here. However, the extent of what I run into is such that it goes beyond just fitting into nice ratios...for instance, in the pharoh/quisling/gladstein deck I mentioned as an example: When I put together the cards I want to use, I end up with say 2 or maybe 3 pullers, 18-20 other characters, and like a zillion other cards (whammies, gear, conditions etc) and usually more resources than I need - while using formulas isn't necessary, I atleast need to get enough pullers (or in some cases I lack the hitters/blockers specialists) to have a reasonable expectation of seeing some of those cards come out in play. with upwards of 40 cards in the deck, the probability becomes very heavily slanted against good playability when I come up so severely lacking in cards that I want to use for one or more purposes. And hey, I could deal with this if I was lacking cards - I have plenty though - just not enough coalation to make some playable themed decks that I come up with ideas for. This really frustrates me to no end. This gets compounded by the cases where I'll have like a zillion cards that fall into the traits/power groups I want to use, and still lack the key cards to make the idea go. At 01:39 PM 6/26/98 -0600, you wrote: >Your problem is trying to force your creativity into a mould. If it's a theme >deck, who says it has to have that formula? That's not a required formula, and >even quite competative decks can be vastly different. I don't think I've ever >had a deck that's exactly 40 cards, and most don't have anywhere near that >ratios. If you've got a good idea for a theme, put the cards you want >together, then guess how many resources you need, and play with it. If it >doesn't work, tinker with it. > >Only go with a formula like the above if you're really trying to win and your >other attempts just don't work out. It makes games more interesting if >people have odd ratios. > >=-=-=-= Trevor Stone =-=-= aka Flwyd =-=-= tstone @ robin . ml . org =-=-=-= >Eclectic philosopher, New Vista computer admin, gamer, witster, esotericist >http://robin.ml.org/~tstone/ Thou spongy pox-marked rabbit-sucker! >Did you know they took gullible out of the dictionary? > >[O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge >[0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of >[O] (un)subscribe the-edge > > // Jay J. Allen WVU AIS - ASAP [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 14:51:44 -0500 (CDT) From: Eric Jome Subject: Re: [The Edge] building themed decks... On Fri, 26 Jun 1998, Jay J. Allen wrote: > I've been having a problem with building decks. I look through my cards > every now and then, and I get an idea for making a deck on some theme, or > just built around a couple traits (say for example, I wanted to make a > pharoh/quisling/gladstein deck). first, i think we need to distinguish building a deck around a theme and building a deck around a trait. building aroudn a trait means picking a trait on the cards and trying to ensure many (if not all) of the cards in the deck have that trait. this is usually done when these cards interact with each other. Some examples of this include Glugs, Conditions that can only be played on Psychics, or cards which can use bonus pull from Oppenheimer Contacts. often, the cards in the deck dont have anything in common but the trait. building for a theme, on the other hand, involves choosing cards often on some criteria _other_ than traits. A theme deck might tell a little story, use cards with art all by the same artist, or cards which all have even collectors numbers, for example. If you can find a trait that matches your theme, great, but often you must sacrifice the benefits of having a central trait to satisfy your theme. > Now, when I start trying to build the > deck, I want to get my ratios of card types as close as I can to the > formula with say 8 pullers, 8 resources, 12 other cards, 4 hitters, 4 > blockers, and 4 specialists (this is for a 40 card deck). well, this isnt likely to be possible with all themes. there may not be any great hitters painted by K.C. Lancaster or perhaps the story of Robert Richardson running from his life from every hitter on the island doesnt involve many people with pull. either you remain loyal to your vision or you trim it to meet the needs of a deck. with traits, this is usually possible by choosing a sufficiently generic trait. try decks based on things like Fringe, Psychic, Astral, or Human. many, many cards have these and you should be able to find the numbers you need. also, remember that a card is a hitter if you use it to hit and a blocker blocks if it stays active in a file ahead of a puller or other card. sometimes that means settling for someone like Break-Bones as a hitter or Slag as a blocker. > Now, this might > seem like no big deal, but the problem I keep running into is that I don't > have the right cards to be able to fill out these numbers without deviating > way off of the theme I'm interested in. usually, my problem lies in that I > can't scrape together enough pullers and keep the theme consistent. How do > you folks who are still into playing handle this? if the problem is usually pullers, you can try to find other ways to score influence. they probably wont work well, but at least you stayed true to the theme. now, if you are building a trait based deck, you can wander from the trait. if you only own a couple of dozen cards, you may not be able to build a deck will all one trait. instead, just pick as many pullers as you have that have traits in common and use those. thats the best you'll get with a limited collection. and you could always buy more cards. :) eric [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 15:56:42 -0700 From: "Jay J. Allen" Subject: Re: [The Edge] building themed decks... Hey, just a quick note - as I mentioned before, # of cards isn't the problem - I have plenty... At 02:51 PM 6/26/98 -0500, you wrote: >On Fri, 26 Jun 1998, Jay J. Allen wrote: > >> I've been having a problem with building decks. I look through my cards >> every now and then, and I get an idea for making a deck on some theme, or >> just built around a couple traits (say for example, I wanted to make a >> pharoh/quisling/gladstein deck). > >first, i think we need to distinguish building a deck around a theme >and building a deck around a trait. building aroudn a trait means >picking a trait on the cards and trying to ensure many (if not all) >of the cards in the deck have that trait. this is usually done when >these cards interact with each other. Some examples of this include >Glugs, Conditions that can only be played on Psychics, or cards which can >use bonus pull from Oppenheimer Contacts. often, the cards in the >deck dont have anything in common but the trait. > >building for a theme, on the other hand, involves choosing cards often >on some criteria _other_ than traits. A theme deck might tell a little >story, use cards with art all by the same artist, or cards which all >have even collectors numbers, for example. If you can find a trait that >matches your theme, great, but often you must sacrifice the benefits >of having a central trait to satisfy your theme. > >> Now, when I start trying to build the >> deck, I want to get my ratios of card types as close as I can to the >> formula with say 8 pullers, 8 resources, 12 other cards, 4 hitters, 4 >> blockers, and 4 specialists (this is for a 40 card deck). > >well, this isnt likely to be possible with all themes. there may not >be any great hitters painted by K.C. Lancaster or perhaps the story >of Robert Richardson running from his life from every hitter on the >island doesnt involve many people with pull. either you remain loyal >to your vision or you trim it to meet the needs of a deck. > >with traits, this is usually possible by choosing a sufficiently generic >trait. try decks based on things like Fringe, Psychic, Astral, or Human. >many, many cards have these and you should be able to find the numbers >you need. > >also, remember that a card is a hitter if you use it to hit and a blocker >blocks if it stays active in a file ahead of a puller or other card. >sometimes that means settling for someone like Break-Bones as a hitter >or Slag as a blocker. > >> Now, this might >> seem like no big deal, but the problem I keep running into is that I don't >> have the right cards to be able to fill out these numbers without deviating >> way off of the theme I'm interested in. usually, my problem lies in that I >> can't scrape together enough pullers and keep the theme consistent. How do >> you folks who are still into playing handle this? > >if the problem is usually pullers, you can try to find other ways to >score influence. they probably wont work well, but at least you >stayed true to the theme. > >now, if you are building a trait based deck, you can wander from the >trait. if you only own a couple of dozen cards, you may not be able >to build a deck will all one trait. instead, just pick as many pullers >as you have that have traits in common and use those. thats the best >you'll get with a limited collection. > >and you could always buy more cards. :) > > >eric > > > >[O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge >[0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of >[O] (un)subscribe the-edge > > // Jay J. Allen WVU AIS - ASAP [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ End of The Edge Digested V1 #70 ******************************* [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge-digest [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge-digest To get off digest, subscribe the-edge [O] To post a message, send it to the-edge@robin.ml.org