Star Wars the Trading Card Game - Under The Hood
David reports on Mon Mar 4 2002	Star Wars
I recently had the opportunity to attend a sneak showing of the new Star Wars Trading Card Game at the Wizards of the Coast headquarters in Seattle Washington with some of the best SW: CCG players in the world. What follows is an exclusive under the hood look at the new Star Wars game. First some basic information about the game, the cards come in three affiliations. Light Side, Dark Side and independent and are designated by a blue lightsaber icon, red lightsaber icon, and an independent logo respectively. You can’t play Light cards in the same deck as Dark cards though you could play independent in either deck. To play a game one player plays the Light side while the other the Dark. For tournament players this means you will need both a light and dark side deck to play. In theory you could build a completely independent deck and only need one deck for tournaments, but the designers at WotC all agreed that an all-independent deck would not be competitive to say the least. Card Types: Here are the 5 different card types that will be available for the first release, Attack of the Clones. Space Units: These are the capital starships and star fighters used to mount your space assault. Blue. Ground Units: These are the vehicles, ground weapons, and infantry troops used in the “ground” arena. Green. Character Unit: These are the distinct personality cards used to fight in the character arena. Cards such as Darth Vader, or Luke Skywalker would fall in this category. Purple. Mission: These are cards that can be used during the build step of the command phase each turn. You spend build points on them do what it says on the card and then discard them. Yellow. Battle: These cards are played during the battle phase and typically cost “force”. Spend your force and do what it says on the card and then discard it. Red. The Way You Win: You win in Star Wars the Trading Card Game by controlling two out of three arenas of combat (space, ground, character) at the end of any Battle Phase. If you run out of cards in your draw deck you simply keep playing until you loose in the combat arenas. Beginning the Game: At the start of the game both players draw 7 cards and begin by setting up the battle arenas by alternatively deploying units to the three arenas as follows: The dark side player deploys a unit either to the space, ground or character arena and the build cost of that unit it determined using the build cost stat on the card. The light then deploys any number of units to whichever arenas he or she chooses until the build cost of the units deployed exceeds the Dark Players total build points. Each time you deploy a unit you draw a card. For this reason it is not uncommon to draw 6 to 10 cards in the setup portion of the game. This alternatively progressive unit building continues until both players have spent a total of 30 build points on the units in their 3 arenas. Often times the last unit you bring into play will cost more than the number of build points you have available. If this is the case you show your opponent the unit and then place it upside down with counters indicating the number of build points currently assigned to that unit on the back of the card. This unit is considered “partially built” and will not come into play until you can complete its build cost later in the game. The game begins as soon as the set up is over. Unlike many card games where each player is playing mostly on their own turn in SW: TCG both players have the same ability to play cards and do actions so you are always playing in each turn. Here is a complete breakdown of a turn. Ready Phase: Each ready phase has 3 steps. Both players do each step at the same time. Players can’t play cards or abilities during this phase. Readies: Each player readies all his or her units in battle and retreated units. This involves rotating them back to the normal position, and moving them into the proper arena to indicate that they are ready to fight again. Gain Force: Each player adds 4 Force to his or her total Force. The typical method for keeping track of your force is via counters or dice. Since force is cumulative from turn to turn you might have turns where you have 8 or more force during this phase. Draw: Each player draws a card if possible. When these steps are complete, the command phase starts. Command Phase During the command phase, players build cards, retreat units, and deal with stacks. Each command phase has 5 steps: “Command starts”: Deal with abilities that trigger “when the command phase starts” during this step. Roll for build points: The Light Side player rolls one of the dice. Then players may play cards and abilities that read, “play only after the roll for build points is made.” Each player then gets a number of build points equal to the roll (after applying any changes to it) this turn. Each player gets 1 bonus build point if he or she has at least one unit in each arena. These build points are not cumulative so it is best to use them every turn. Dark Side builds: During this step, the Dark Side player can build and finish building Mission and unit cards. That player may also send retreated units back into battle, rearrange cards in a stack, and play cards and abilities that read, “play only during your build step.” If you are building cards from your hand you may partially build them by placing them face down with a designated number of build points indicated by using dice or counters. These cards do not have to be shown to your opponent. Alternately you can completely build a unit but keep it face down and out of any arena for strategic reasons until you are ready. At any time during this step you may finish building a partially built unit by spending the required number of build points flipping your unit over and moving it into the correct arena. Since build points are not cumulative it is best to spend them each turn even if it means you must partially build cards that you don’t think you will need. Light Side builds: During this step, the Light Side player can build and finish building Mission and unit cards. That player may also send retreated units back into battle, rearrange cards in a stack, and play cards and abilities that read, “play only during your build step.” This step is identical in every way to the dark side players build step. Dark Side retreats: The Dark Side player may retreat any number of readied units. Retreated units can’t attack or be attacked, and their abilities are ignored. To retreat a unit rotate that unit and move it out of a combat arena. Light Side retreats: The Light Side player may retreat any number of readied units. Retreated units can’t attack or be attacked, and their abilities are ignored. To retreat a unit rotate that unit and move it out of a combat arena. When these steps are complete, the battle phase starts. Battle Phase The battle phase contains the space battle, ground battle, and character battle steps. Also, players can play abilities and Battle cards at times during this phase. During the Command Phase each player has the option of retreating his or her readied units from an arena. If you retreat all of your readied units from a specific arena you are conceding that arena for this turn. If a player concedes an arena skip over that arena when you get to it. It is possible for one player to concede one arena and another a different arena thus the Battle phase will then consist of fighting in one arena only, with the winner of that arena deciding the game. Any player that concedes two or more arenas in any given turn automatically looses the game. Here are the steps in the Battle Phase. Space battle: Space units attack the opponent’s Space units during this step. The readied units attack one by one in order of their speed, from highest to lowest. If there’s a speed tie among one player’s units, that player chooses the order in which the units attack. (The Dark Side wins ties between players.) Attacking When you attack you indicate what unit is attacking and what opposing unit is defending, you then role a number of die equal to the attacking units power. For example my tie-fighter attacking a X-wing would role 1 die since tie-fighters though extremely fast only have a power of 1 (editors note: x-wings and tie fighters are not in the first expansion and are referred to here only as an example). A hit is a roll of 4 or higher. For each hit the defending unit takes one unit of damage. When the damage on a unit equals that unit’s health that unit is destroyed and discarded from play. You place counters or dice on the defending unit to keep track of how much damage the unit has. In our example above I roll a 4, which hits the X-wing thus placing 1 counter on the X-wing. Since the X-wing has a health of 2 it remains in play. I then rotate the tie fighter indicating that it has already participated in battle and may not do so again this turn. After each attack you determine what unit will attack next by comparing the speed, the faster units going first. If all your opponents’ ships are slow and yours are fast your ships will most likely attack before your opponent gets a shot. It is more common, however, to exchange turns attacking until the slowest ship has its turn. At any time during this step you can play Battle cards. Many battle cards do things like add power, speed or reduce damage. In addition you must be sure to take advantage of your units abilities. Some example abilities include: Accuracy, adds 1 to the total of each die you roll in that units attack. Armor, subtracts 1 from the total of each die rolled in an attack against it. Critical Hit, add +2 damage for each natural 6 rolled in that units attack. When there are no readied units left in the space arena, the ground battle starts. Ground battle: Ground units attack the opponent’s Ground units during this step. Then readied units attack one by one in order of their speed, from highest to lowest. If there’s a speed tie among one player’s units, that player chooses the order in which the units attack. (The Dark Side wins ties between players.) Attacking Attacking works the same in this arena as in the space, assign your attacking unit to a defending unit, play combat cards, use abilities roll dice and calculate and assign damage. When there are no readied units left in the ground arena, the character battle starts. Character battle: Characters attack the opponent’s Characters during this step. Then readied units attack one by one in order of their speed, from highest to lowest. If there’s a speed tie among one player’s units, that player chooses the order in which the units attack. (The Dark Side wins ties between players.) Attacking Attacking works the same in this arena as in the space and ground, assign your attacking unit to a defending unit, play combat cards, use abilities roll dice and calculate and assign damage. Characters have different abilities than other cards. The Darth Vader pictured is a good example. By using 3 force Vader can evade 3 points of damage, making killing him more difficult. There are rules for stacking multiple copies of unique characters, doing so increases the stats on a card slightly thus making extra copies of unique cards useful for game play purposes. When there are no readied Characters left, the battle phase ends. Note: Remember that you rotate a unit when it attacks. Once the ground battle starts, units in the space battle can’t attack again, even if they become readied somehow. The same is true for ground units once the character battle starts. End of Turn After the battle phase ends, the turn ends. When the turn ends, check to see if a player controls 2 or more arenas. If so, that player wins and the game ends. If not, a new turn starts. Deck Building Rules: No more than 4 of any specific card At least 12 units for each arena You cannot have more than twice the units devoted to one arena as you do another. At least 60 cards Tournament Rules: You must bring both a light side and dark side deck to compete. You begin the game by bidding on who will play the dark side. Starting at 30 build points you take turns bidding on how many build points you are willing to concede in the set up to play the dark side. The player willing to concede the most bid points on the dark side gets to play the dark side. The light side player starts his or her turn with the full 30 bid points and the opponent with the build points they bid. That is all I remember from the games I played without getting into the specifics of the cards and the various sets we tested. Post your questions bellow and I will be sure to answer if possible. edited by David on Tue Mar 5 2002
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Wow, the unoriginality frightens me :P. Well my prediction is PokeJedi will be dead before it hits the shelves. Or shall we roll the dice on this one? (Although I think flipping a coin would give it a better chance, hehe)

http://www.decktech.net/3 Andrew Howard - Mon Mar 4 2002

sounds a lot like Risk, sorta.

edmund gray - Mon Mar 4 2002

this sounds stupid. i like SWCCG because it focuses on the entire movies...you can do anything that ever happened in a movie. in this game, all you can do is fight...its dumb.

Ryan French - Mon Mar 4 2002

okay, that was the 'high school paper' version - no editorializing. Let's hear the editorials - is this game for 12 year olds? Is it another Magic? Let's hear it. Maybe some of those other SWCCG players who attended want to share some thoughts. I've tried to keep an open mind on the WOTC game, but that's not very impressive gameplay. Give up the scoop~ player's want to know~

John Arendt - Mon Mar 4 2002

Aiieee! It's the return of Battletech TCG! With a little Jedi Knights mixed in. And it sucks. Dice? Ooh, innovative. Come back when you have a spiffy mechanic like the force pile or the twilight pool. Or even tapping lands for mana, for Pete's sake! This thing isn't even interesting enough to be called PokeJedi. P.S. Anybody else remember Battletech TCG? Back me up on this one.

Steve Schultz - Mon Mar 4 2002

wow. good job wotc for effectivly killing a ccg. Man to promote magic better than starwars ccg you did a great job. This is excatly like battle tech. The phases and everything are the exact same. *slaps wotc chairman and shouts "thanks dumb@$$ for killing wars for us"

jason wade - Mon Mar 4 2002

The sad thing is, Battletech TCG was pretty darn lame to begin with. WotC is putting the War in Star Wars. Comparing numbers is fun! Certainly it captures the flavor of Star Wars.

Steve Schultz - Mon Mar 4 2002

Sounds a little like Jedi Knights, and we all remember what a huge seller that game was... The sad part is, it will sell. But, so did Young Jedi. So, who's up for a betting pool on when this game "officially" tanks?

Rich Dailey - Mon Mar 4 2002

I think I speak for a lot of people: BWAA-HA-HA! Yeah, I hated being able to Carbon Freeze, Jedi Train, Eat people with Wampas, dodge asteroids, etc. BWAAAHHAHAHHA!!! SW:TCG sucks!

Justin Stratton - Mon Mar 4 2002

I agree with what has been said. It really sounds like a mix of Battletech and Jedi Knights. It doesn't seem to me that this game will last very long. I'm really glad I didn't sell my collection as it looks like it could be sooner than 5 years before Decipher regains their liscence.

Casey Barson - Mon Mar 4 2002

I think I might play just to irritate justin stratton. From what I've heard, it's clearly better than Jedi Knights, I mean, nothing could have been as boring as that.

Neal Razi - Mon Mar 4 2002

Ready... Set... no.

Matt Ward - Mon Mar 4 2002

Oh My God!! This is Battletech all over again. Are they going to break everything down into Clans also?

Clayton Atkin - Mon Mar 4 2002

to Neal: =p

Justin Stratton - Mon Mar 4 2002

Makes me Really glad I Know nothing about Battle Tech I was already in the dumps that a cr@p game like this was the reason a REAL was abandoned by LFL.

Greg Otte - Mon Mar 4 2002

ok, this sucks bad. That is all i have to say

Ryan Obman - Tue Mar 5 2002

Heh, mixture of B-tech, Magic (they finally got Purple!!), YJ, JediKnights, and oh, wait, I don't see any hint of SWCCG except maybe the use of "Force." Count me out. If it was totally original, heck, even just 60% original, I was gonna give it a try, now, I'll spend my money on LOTR, thank you very much.

Charles KerekanichIV - Tue Mar 5 2002

wow, that's amazing... i knew wotc could make a great game like this one! im just happy that everyone knows now how incredibly gay this game will be. maybe it will attract some 8 year olds, wait maybe not even 8 year olds...

Andrew Lyle - Tue Mar 5 2002

Well it sounds like Jedi Knights - a lot - except for one thing - they eliminated the one strategic and most difficult part of playing the game - the card drawing. That imho is why JK was not as good as it could have been. It was so hard to draw cards unless it the drawing ability was actually in a card text (That's No Moon for example). However, beyond that, the game sounds really bad. The win scenario is the same as it was for Young Jedi or Jedi Knights. The color coordination seems in line with Star Wars and Young Jedi. The dice...well the dice will add an interesting random element to it meaning that to make the game good there had better be a way to add or subtract to the rolls. The health thing sounds a lot like a lot of other games - Pokemon, Lord of hte Rings, etc. The biggest downside to the game is going to be the amount of stuff you have to keep around to play it. It really sounds like a build your own board game type thing or a paper version of the new Star Wars PC game. It does not sound that good at the moment. The game is basic, and thanks to the brilliant marketing direction of putting in cards in with the new action figures (which DBZ has already beaten them to the punch with), they will attract a good number of initial consumers as do all CCG games. The game will not be another Pokemon for Wizards. The game (from the rules) is too complex for the audience they are trying to attract. Too many numbers to keep track of. Build points, force, health, dice rolls, tokens...ugh...

Michael Carr - Tue Mar 5 2002

it sounds wayyy too much like battletech. im not saying battletech was horrible, but it was too much like magic. but then again the same creator made the same games. plus it looks like the game mechanics are extremly similar to magic. i mean, i bet you use the same words, like tapping and untapping. "ill tap my 4 force to summon anakin skywalker. he cant attack this turn because he has summoning sickness."

Robert dayton - Tue Mar 5 2002

I don't think WOTC is going for the crowd you think. Say pokemon age. I think from what i've heard it's geared towards the age group between Magic and Pokemon. Kind of like MND

Neal Razi - Tue Mar 5 2002

Neal - that would make a lot more sense mentality wise. Unfortunately, by the time most gamers hit that age, they are trying to split their money between car/girls with the little they get from their minimum wage job. That is where there 5 card packs will be nice IF priced right (still haven't heard an official price range yet). Still, a better market to try to get.

Michael Carr - Tue Mar 5 2002

Mike C., that's a good point. So you think pricing is critical, eh? Well, from what David said of the game, it was fun. He did say that it was kind of hard to manage the dice, but apparently him and PT Feldman were having quite a few yucks playing the game.

Neal Razi - Tue Mar 5 2002

heh heh... Ground UNITS... he said "unit." Okay... I have vested WAY TOO much time & money into SWCCG and refuse to buy a card game that focuses on the Pokemon crowd. In addition, it seems mind-numbingly like Jedi Knights... I couldn't stand that game! I hope the kids enjoy playing with their "units." heh heh... I do have some legit questions: A) how long does a game take to play? B)How long does it take to set up before battle or any actual action starts? C) what are some common strategies? D) Does this game have any similarities to the "real" game? Other popular games? (I haven't play Battletech, but I am curious if it is like Jedi Knights.) E) How long are your units? MAN, I KILL ME!! I REALLY DO! SOMEBODAY STOP ME!

Peter Jacobson - Tue Mar 5 2002

i dunno, somehow building a death star is much more exciting than building a character. but what do i know. this game will be hitting the bargain bin so fast it might be worth playing.

www.nhl.com Al Schaefer - Tue Mar 5 2002

Wow, thist is probably one of the worst games ever! But hey, it's probably way more strategic than SWCCG, hardy har har. EVERYBODY, keep your swccg cards, from the looks of this game, decipher might just get swccg back!

Rob Gosselin - Tue Mar 5 2002

Wow, thist is probably one of the worst games ever! But hey, it's probably way more strategic than SWCCG, hardy har har. EVERYBODY, keep your swccg cards, from the looks of this game, decipher might just get swccg back!

Rob Gosselin - Tue Mar 5 2002

PT Feldman was there? That is not cool.

Ronald Fonck - Tue Mar 5 2002

Man this game rules, how can u not play it im gogin to recruit players and make this the biggest ccg ever.man i give mad props to wizards and lucas for making such a wise decision!!!

Joseph Gagliardi - Tue Mar 5 2002

I know you guys are upset at losing SWCCG, but this kind of senseless trolling really says a lot to discredit anything you say. I think the game looks awesome. I already have about 8 friends that are planning on playing it which is more than you'll find on average in an average American city actively playing SWCCG. SWCCG was/is fun, and you can still play it if you want. But anyone not ready for this new game, step aside and let us have our fun. Or at least say something meaningful as to why you hate SWTCG besides "it sucks" and "all it is is battling and it's just like Battletech". SWCCG wasn't as complex as it is now when it first came out. And it *is* based on a movie called Star WARS, as in wars/battles. Kinda just makes sense. And no, if any of you played Jedi Knights, you would know that this is no more like that game than it is like SWCCG. It is it's own game.

Anakin Desertwalker - Tue Mar 5 2002

This Game Isin't Even Worth Commenting on!

Mason Johnson - Tue Mar 5 2002

I must say, for a game geared toward younger players, the game has a lot going on at once. While the building mechanic is very BattleTech-ish, the fact that you have to keep track of 3 different fields of battle at the same time makes it a little more complex than Battletech, where you only had to worry about producing units and things that produced more "money" to make more units. The game reminds me of Young Jedi with it's 3 arenas of "combat," though it may be more like Jedi Knights, I wouldn't know cuz I never had money I felt like burning on another game that looked like crap. I've played a lot of ccgs and frankly, I see nothing close to innovation here. It seems like Garfield's idea of innovation is to borrow a lot concepts from a bunch of different games. The build-up strategy of Battletech was about as innovative as putting cheese in a hotdog. It sounds like a formula for success, but may or may not appeal to everyone. The multi-arena aspect introduced in YJ was akin to the creation of Jello pudding pops. People like Star Wars like they like fudge and it was a new way to play (ie different from the all-encompassing game that we all love SW:CCG). But guess what folks, frozen cheesedog popcicles are NOT a good idea! Thanks but no thanks WotC.

Erik Cabanero - Tue Mar 5 2002

get serious people. No way any one would play this crap. its like jedi knights and battle tech with number crunching. Frankly i hated jedi knights. Its was no stradegy and the game lasted no more than 30 minutes. ohhh u lose 3 systems and u lose the game. No side stradegy or nothing. I give this game 4 months and its in the top worse games in USA. good luck wotc, u need it

Dunya Ertan - Tue Mar 5 2002

I didnt expect somethig great of Wotc because i´m a very big fan of the REAL game of SWCCG since it came out, but this is worse than i can ever imagine, a complete nigthmare, me and my friends are never gonna play this crap. My hopes of decipher getting swccg back are now bigger than ever.

Enrique Gonzalez - Tue Mar 5 2002

i don't understand what's so bad? have any of you ever played Axis and Allies? this is a lot like it, and Axis and Allies is a really complex game. The only thing not cool about Axis and Allies is, barring some bad luck, the out come is pretty determined and the strategies employed by both sides are generally the same. But a CCG doesn't have this problem. also, since when does originality matter? what matters is if something is good or not. almost everything is copied/improved versions of an of older models. from literature to musci to ccgs.

edmund gray - Tue Mar 5 2002

People are grasping at straws to criticize this game. Unoriginal? What card game is? Even beloved LotR uses tokens and counters, and cards are placed on the table for a cost. Is that a "rip off"? SWCCG could easily be called a rip-off because Magic was first (I'm not saying SWCCG was a rip-off, I'm just pointing out the weakness of the "unoriginal" argument) How can this game be simultaneously like Jedi Knights and Battletech? This is not like Jedi Knights. Other comments: "this sounds stupid" "ok, this sucks bad. That is all i have to say" "Wow, thist is probably one of the worst games ever!" "get serious people. No way any one would play this crap." "This Game Isin't Even Worth Commenting on!" "I didnt expect somethig great of Wotc because i´m a very big fan of the REAL game of SWCCG since it came out, but this is worse than i can ever imagine, a complete nigthmare, me and my friends are never gonna play this crap." "BWAAAHHAHAHHA!!! SW:TCG sucks!" These clearly well thought out arguments (sarcasm) would convince me better if I were still in 1st grade. "This is excatly like battle tech" "Aiieee! It's the return of Battletech TCG!" "The sad thing is, Battletech TCG was pretty darn lame to begin with." Many SW fans have said SWCCG is lame also. And some players liked Battletech. Just because it has some similar elements, it is not the same as exactly like it. This is an exciting and new original game, with some common card game elements that can be found in many games. "The game (from the rules) is too complex for the audience they are trying to attract. Too many numbers to keep track of. Build points, force, health, dice rolls, tokens...ugh..." Many people say the game won't be as complex as SWCCG, then this? Which is it? The audiences they are attracting are both the beginning TCG player and the most seasoned player. It won't be hard to keep track of all the numbers because tokens and counters are used. This game has many good points. Stackable characters that grow throughout the game in strength and skill. Speed/Power/Health all balanced to make a realistic Star Wars Experience. See my post on TF.N (URL below) to see what I mean about the relationship of these three elements. Dice combat with interesting modifications to the rolls that enhance strategy. Managing 3 battlefields at once. Building outside an arena for a surprise attack. Retreating. Game setup with 30 build points right away. I could go on. I think people read this description of the game with their SWCCG colored glasses on and with a determined attitude to hate it. Go read the original or current rules to SWCCG. On paper it doesn't even half as exciting as it really is. The same with this game. You will have to play it before you can say whether you really like it. The people that did play it said it was fun. I know these are people’s opinions, but they are opinions based on emotion, not fact. “Our dice, like our dreams, are a portable treasure”--NetCowboy

http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=5926916&replies=1 Aaron Brogdon - Tue Mar 5 2002

Well...Just in principle yoou have to trash this game, besides the fact that it is already trash. How would you feel if, since you probably play magic..making tha comment, wizards suddently lost the license to magic, and it went to the same people who made (insert junkest card game ever not made by wotc...hard cosidering wotc makes most of the bad games) The whole game is based on radically simplified cards, and everything depended upon flipping a coin. Wouldnt that be great mr. Magic player?

Donovan Lim - Tue Mar 5 2002

I have never even touched a Magic card. I have avidly played all 3 Decipher SW games and liked all 3 to some degree, but not all the same. You might be upset Decipher lost the license but does that mean people should blindly criticize something they don't know? All the arguments against this game are cicular. They bounce around from the Decipher vs Wizards argument, to hating dice, to it's too simple, to it's too hard to keep track of, back to Decipher vs WotC. It's classic switch and bait.

Aaron Brogdon - Tue Mar 5 2002

I think the problem here is that people are not blindly criticizing something they don't know, but they lack the skills to actually put into writing exactly how they feel about this game. The anti-Magic comment(s) are totally uncalled for. I for one, play Magic (and am quite good at it), as well as Lord of the Rings and SW:CCG. All 3 of these games are extremely fun to play as well as challenging. Every game has rules, ergo, every game has its own complexities. My problem with this product is the lack of design/game diversity the mechanics create. The implementation of a dice-based combat can be very good if all the cards that support the mechanic are well-blanced and more interesting than "add 1 to a die roll" or "use the highest value of a die out of two rolls." To anyone that's played Risk or Axis and Allies, how many times have you gotten screwed due to poor rolls? As if it wasn't bad enough that you can get jacked to poor card draws, you can get shafted from bad rolls. Seems like a formula way too luck dependent to me. Even pokemon isn't that luck inolved! I don't see any reason to hate this game because WotC made it. If WotC was such a bad company, they wouldn't still be in business. The guys that made Wyvern made a crappy game and they went out of business. Look at some of those other bad games that came out. If WotC was such a bad company, then they wouldn't have gotten the license. It's not a WotC vs. Decipher gripe, it's a "how could you try to replace a game with the intricacies of SW:CCG with another product lacking the ability to have any sort of control of the game? This game has 5 different card types, and you have devote cards to each of them. Where's the deck-building fun in that? That was an aspect of YJ I couldn't stand, which is why I never seriously played the game. Games like Magic, SW:CCG and LotR allow deck-builders a multitude of play options by being a bit more "loose" on the card-choice availability for deck construction. Perhaps people's aditudes will change once they've actually tried it, but I think it's going to take a better explanation of the rules and whatnot to change most people's minds about the game. my 10 cents

Erik Cabanero - Tue Mar 5 2002

As with anything on DT, opinions must be weighed by quality, not quantity. Generally i value and read ones that are from people i respect (in this case I see Mike Carr and Edmund so far) and intelligently written ones from people I don't know ( Erik Cabanero and Aaron Brogdon ). Anyone can say something stupid here in the hopes of drowning out the intelligent, it's the nature of the internet. You have to be smart and just read the good ones. Plus, we all know Decipher and Kyle Heuer frequently use DT under massive multiple accounted fake names to spread their, uhh, philsopophies. The way I see it so far, after thinking about it and talking to david, is that it is similar to a board game, ala Risk or already mentioned Axis and Allies, mixed with a ccg. That actually *is* fairly original. The setup phase sounds cool to me, I always enjoyed that very much with Risk. I've got a big problem with the critical hit ability so far, that would really irritate me if someone rolled 2 6's on me. But I'd rather just give suggestions calmly than scream bloody murder. They still have time to iron out kinks. I also still think, to be fair for anyone who thinks I'm just always on WOTC side, that WOTC *still* should pick up the old SWCCG. It doesn't look like there'd be much overlap so far between the two games. They could throw out 50% of the rules, throw out all of dagobah, all creatures, and the episode 1 stuff (to avoid conflict with the new game), and reprint the base set, restrict cards to 3 or 4 each, creating a new game from the old. Essentially what the players committee is trying to do. I STRONGLY feel that could be really good. Decipher's got their price like anyone else, then we (the players) could get the best of both worlds - a great game from Decipher and WOTC awesome tournament structure and prize support. Anyhow, that's my idea

Neal Razi - Tue Mar 5 2002

For me, SWCCG was always about the blend of gameplay and story-line. I enjoyed the movies, and it was great to re-create aspects of the Star Wars universe while trying to win. The fact that you had sites, systems, movement, objectives, and verb cards (interrupts and effects based on movie concepts) really gave you that feeling. I loved training Luke on Dabogah while Han zipped around space on the unstoppable (prior to Imperial Command) Falcon. Or sending Boushh to Ralltir, in the hey-day of RallOps, with Leia's Rifle, Sorry About the Mess, and a ton of Sabotages to wreak havoc on the chicken walkers, while trying to avoid getting Trampled. That was big fun. This sounds to me like you're just dropping guys to face off and take potshots each turn by rolling gobs of dice. Characters only battle characters, vehicles vs vehicles, ships vs ships. Roll them dice. In SWCCG, it wasn't just cool to deploy a Blizzard 2 - it was cool to deploy it to the Jundland Wastes - or maybe to the Moisture Farm - and then see cheapie Kenobi come out at the Hut and face off. This sounds kind of dull - just dropping your stuff, scooping a big ole handful of 6'ers, and making your rolls. I know its early and we haven't seen the whole thing, but I was really hoping for something more interested than 'rock 'em, sock 'em robot Star Wars'. That's why I want to hear some reports from some of those SWCCG players who went up there and played it. And for those people who say this game will fail - don't hold your breath. There are far more Star Wars fans than SWCCG players, there are loyal WOTC-ians, and, since everyone says this is a Battle-tech clone, I suppose there will be Battle-techers picking it up. And WOTC has a ton of money to throw at promotions.

John Arendt - Tue Mar 5 2002

that last was not only very intelligent and insightful, but really funny.

Neal Razi - Tue Mar 5 2002

Why is this being put on the SWCCG page Most of us are PI$$ed about this game as it is make a seperate section for this poor excuse for a game. Do not contamitate this the SWCCG section with this CR@P

Greg Otte - Tue Mar 5 2002

the way i see it about dice it that for everytime you get screwed, so will you opponent. for me it's more of an annoyance. i mean we have to lug around 2 decks, tokens, and dice? that's dumb.

edmund gray - Tue Mar 5 2002

the way i see it about dice it that for everytime you get screwed, so will you opponent. for me it's more of an annoyance. i mean we have to lug around 2 decks, tokens, and dice? that's dumb.

edmund gray - Tue Mar 5 2002

SW:CCG died tomake way for this??? Lucas is a dumb @$$ and is getting no moneyt from this crappy game. Give the licence back to D.

joe schlagheck - Tue Mar 5 2002

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm sorry. This is the gayest thing I've ever seen. Roll dice for build points? Then for attack? Why don't we just play war or something!? This is ridiculous. LOTR got simplicity right. This looks like a four year old designed it. I cannot believe that Richard Garfield designed this! He made Magic, one of the best CCG systems ever....then this?! I sincerely hope WotC spent a fortune for this and they take a bath in the losses. I hate them all, and this is one example why.

Kenneth Bradford - Tue Mar 5 2002

The way I see it, this looks very close to a risk type game. Don't get me wrong, I love Risk, but after about, ohhh...one game, it gets real old. Usually the same things happen every time (ex. Player 1 always goes for North America and Asia, Player 2 always has control of Australia, etc.) I think that this will be real boring in the way of playing against your friends. To show how this is, take 2 LOTR TCG (Lord of the Ring Trading Card Game) starters and have two people face off against each other. It gets real old after a couple of games. The exact same things happen every time. I'm afraid that besides the dice rolling (which will be totally random), each game will go the same way. My 2 cents

Dan H - Tue Mar 5 2002

Looks fun to me!

http://www.thisisgood.com/starwars/ Brent Palmer - Tue Mar 5 2002

Visit Star Wars TCG Rebel Base for more rules info that show why this game has more strategy to it than most people are giving it credit for

http://www.thisisgood.com/starwars/ Brent Palmer - Tue Mar 5 2002

SW CCG was the best. This **** is just ridiculous.

Dominik Jastrzebski - Tue Mar 5 2002

i liked battletech...at least you didn't roll dices for your resources...this one looks like harry potter goes space...by the way...anybody wanna buy 5000 battletech cards? to get used to it

Andreas Petz - Tue Mar 5 2002

First off, I'm not going to say this game sucks. All told, I've seen about 4 cards and this explanation of the game. Its not just difficult, but impossible, to accurately judge a game on such limited knowledge. That said, I do have reservations about this being the replacement for SWCCG. Here's why: 1) Dice rolling - While this is innovative to any of the CCG games I have played, it does seem too much like a board game for me. While SWCCG had its destiny tracking and such, dice are completely random and play too much of a board game mentality to the game. Many have mentioned Risk comparisons and I agree. We've all had 15 army units get whittled down by some schmoe throwing 2-sixes all the time with his 2 unit defender. I can't see that as being that fun in a TCG. 2) Prolonged building phase: I started out in STCCG so I know all about prolonged setup phases. Its not fun. Yes there is strategy to it and everything, but generally players just want to sit down and game. SWTCG might focus on bringing characters and ship into play during this phase but it still boils down to a setup phase that ends up wasting game playing time. 3) The three arenas - I agree with John Arendt on not being able to mix it up between the three arenas. Granted Luke with his saber aren't going to make a dent in a Star Destroyer. However, he took out an AT-AT and a couple of furballs (one big one) took out an AT-ST. Outside of unrevealed gametext, we won't see any interaction like this. That's just sad. 4) SWCCG loyalty - I'll admit that I'm loathe to jump into another SW card game. I didn't do YJ or JK because SW was the game to play. I'm loyal to it and it is still one of the best CCGs out there mechanic and player wise. I won't be jumping into the SWTCG just because it is Star Wars. So that's what I'm thinking right now. The game isn't too impressive at this point. Yes, we haven't seen too much of it. However what we have seen isn't turning people's heads. With LOTR there was tons of talk about the Twilight Pool, both good and bad. I haven't heard any excitement about the mechanics of SWTCG. Maybe there is something cool waiting out there. They better reveal it quick. So, after all that, my neighbor and I will probably buy 2 starters and see how the dice throwing goes and get a few laughs out of it. That will be about it unless there is something revolutionary and more advanced strategically about it. I'm still partial to actually carbon freezing Ewoks than to playing a Risk version of Star Wars via cards.

Matthew Jensen - Tue Mar 5 2002

i have to say i was open minded going into this new game - and have read this and the SWTCG fan website. i just don't see the gaming aspect. the dice for build points is fine - because it affects both players. i see that as an interesting way to use dice. rolling 8 dice for vader and counting the number of 4+ rolls is just not exciting in my mind. granted, i have not seen the interupt like cards - but that concept is just weak in my mind. no movement - it was the crowning achievement of SWCCG (and what made it so utterly complicated). can you think of something in CCGs that was more life-like than deploying a character to a site, getting on a ship, taking off, going to another planet, landing and getting out. that was just too cool to be able to replicate. how long does this game take?

Evan Fitzgerald - Tue Mar 5 2002

Evan hit the nail on the head with movement. It isn't the Star Wars universe unless the Empire can destroy Alderaan and the Rebels still have a place to run and try again. Single field combat for your cards isn't Star Wars. Luke would have been lost if he would have been stuck on the weather vane and the Falcon couldn't have come to his rescue! SWCCG captured that. SWTCG and even YJ and JK just didn't capture that properly.

Matthew Jensen - Tue Mar 5 2002

About the setup phase. When your first learning this might take about 5 minutes to play, but after you understand it setting up the game will take less time. Also, it seems to me that though you are not fighting in this step, it is the most important and strategic part of the game. You can win or loose in the first few minutes of the game, and this is no exception. In fact some games didn't last past one turn, though I suspect that has more to do with the fact we were playing 30 card demo decks.

David Akers - Wed Mar 6 2002

There is more to this game than reading a description of it. And there will be more to it in future sets as new elements are added, just like SWCCG.

Anakin Desertwalker - Wed Mar 6 2002

Me=PI$$ED, THIS GAME=SH***Y, LUCAS=DUMBA$$, WARREN HOLLAND=YOU ROCK MAN, I'M SORRY LUCAS HAD TO BE SUCH A MORON, AFTER HIS OWN MONEY LUST, WITH NO CARE FOR THOSE WHO GIVE HIM ALL HE HAS. NOW, I AM NOT GIVING THAT SON-OF-BITH A CENT OF MY $$$!!!! DID I MENTION THAT LUCAS IS A MORON AND I AM PI$$ED???

James - Wed Mar 6 2002

as one of the players invited there, here's my opinion of SWTCG the good: -it's fun -there is strategy involved -it's star wars the bad: -"fun" and "there is strategy" can be said of almost any CCG/TCG (good or bad) -dice rolling just isn't elegant (as david akers put it) -the game itself is not challenging or rewarding like SWCCG the nutshell: it's a good game, just not for SWCCGer's

Hayes Hunter - Wed Mar 6 2002

It seems to be a card-game hybrid of sorts... A cross between Pokemon and let's say... Magic: The Gathering. I enjoy M:TG greatly, but what Wizards has done with this Star Wars TCG has turned good concepts(The M:TG half), thrown them into Pokemon's cheap and childish gameplay, into some sort of twisted creature that not even Steven King could comprehend... and for doing this, I scold the Lucasfilm Ltd. corporation for possibly making one of the worst long term investments of the decade... Then again, this is my humble opinion...

http://barkeep_jarrod.tripod.com Jared Oliver - Wed Mar 6 2002

Neal - follow up to posting yesterday - of course pricing is key. Thanks to the struggling US economy (and yes, it is still strugling no matter what the old men say), parting with a dollar means you have to derive more pleasure from the product you are receiving then you are from holding that dollar in hand. Take a look at Marvel Recharge. Simplistic game - you want to talk a game of War, this is it. But you know what? Lack of rares, and price tag make this game incredibly attractive to me. 8 bucks for a starter deck, 2 bucks for a booster? It is like getting a new game at bargain shelf prices. So can this game succeed - as Hayes and Arendt said or implied. However, it will not win over a lot of converts from SWCCGers because they can still get their fix from the Virtua cards. Can you imagine a better bargain for your money? You get new cards, for free, for a game you already have tons of cards for and know how to play. WotC is going to be facing some stiff competition from this alone. Which is why pricing/product promtion is going to be so key for the initial set.

Michael Carr - Wed Mar 6 2002

interseting take. I hadn't heard of Marvel Recharge. Mike, you are an expert in CCG's. What do you expect, then, this game to retail for? Less than $3 a pack? Or $2? That would make it a lot more attractive, obiously, esp to collectors.

Neal Razi - Wed Mar 6 2002

I think anybody who plays this game is out of there mind. I heard alot of stuff and yes you might.....MIGHT get older people to play it and if it appeals enough some of the younger base will play. I also think that people will have to really like SW to play this monstrosity. Its just not organized. You get to go during the other players turn.BAH! what is that. I think the Designer ran out of ideas and mixed Battletech and other games just as everybody else said then added int the luck element. Honestly was there ever luck in swinging a lightsaber. NO you did it on instinct in the thoughts you would hit him...thats crap with dice nobody wants damn dice rolling off the freaking table. And dice hitting wood constantly is very annoying. I think I would rather keep playing the old game then play this. Also neal was right when he said they should but the whole concept of the game. maybe if they did that they would take some devoted designers with them so we could still have our friends doing what is best. Anyways that was more or less a rant but I thought it was appropriate..

www.swwcgrevo.vze.com Darryll Silva - Wed Mar 6 2002

"opinions are like @$$holes... everybody has one..." What I am seeing here is comments from the same type of people who thought rock and roll was "the devil's music" and the girls in Salem were completely truthful. If you are looking for something wrong with this game, it will be easy to find. BUT the same could be said of SWCCG. Just because a horse and buggy got you where you wanted to go, do you still use this form of transportation? NO, because we have cars now! Granted, cars cause pollution and far more deaths than the horse and buggy, but you still crank yours up every morning right? If you are bitter about losing SWCCG, I suggest you wake up and realize that the time for mourning is over and it is time to move on. I was just as big a fan of SWCCG as the next guy (heck I even ran a DPC!) but I know that the time has come to realize the obvious, pack up my tent and head on into the sunset (or at least over to another game). In conclusion, I am just as skeptical about this new game as the rest of you, but I will not bash it just because everyone else is. I guarantee you most of the comments on this post are from people who: 1. Have never played any other CCG besides Star Wars, amd 2. Couldn't think for thenselves if their lives depended on it. This pack mentality is great for getting people convicted of witchcraft, but I would suggest you try something before you follow someone else's lead in destroying it. And besides, maybe this will be the game that fills that lonely hole in your life that you should be filling with real human (read: opposite sex) contact instead of spending your Friday nights holed up in your basements crying cause of "mean ol' WOTC and LFL." WHAAAAA!

Adam Drake - Wed Mar 6 2002

lets face it, this game will likely do just want WoTC and lucas want it to do, and that is: attract the attention of an unjaded, youthful market (particularly off the back of the new SW movie), be a HUGE fad (in the vain of pokemon), make a bazillion dollars and burn itself out in 6-18 months and die (like pokemon). it was never about gaining a loyal and mature following of experienced gamers, we can tell this from the fact that all you need to play the game is: 1.money and 2.the IQ of a chimp. so don't get all rialed up over it. if you don't wanna give lucas more money don't. If you wanna move up from 'Old Maid' be my guest. and to Adam Drake and all the other shery sipping poofters who critisize the ppl who still support SWCCG and preach that swTCG is mana from heaven then :0 -:

jason baretta - Wed Mar 6 2002

adam drake has done more for swccg than you ever have, i'm sure.

edmund gray - Wed Mar 6 2002

There is a huge difference between supporting SWCCG and ripping to shreds WotC SWTCG. You make it sound like you can only be on one side of the fence. There are those of us that have and still do love SWCCG, that are eager to try this new game also. I think it's great the Player's Committee is going to release virtual cards and support SWCCG. I salute that effort which has been doing quite well. But I personally am looking forward to SWTCG as the game for me. There is no need for me to slam down SWCCG to make me feel better about my choice.

Aaron Brogdon - Wed Mar 6 2002

Wow, I'm actually surprised so many people made the Battletech connection... I figured nobody remembered that game. In response to those who defend the new game, I ask you to give an example of one thing in this lenghty synopsis that makes the game seem truly innovative or worthwhile. I don't hate WotC. I enjoyed Magic for many years. If they make a great game, I'll play it. This game looks boring. It looks like something a math professor would create to amuse his kids. And the kids would roll their eyes, say "lay off the math for once, daddy" and go play video games. When I read the rules for Star Wars, Magic, Lord of the Rings, Deadlands, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail CCGs, I was excited. I saw something clever and fun that I wanted to be a part of. Twilight pool, force flow, mana/tapping, poker-based conflict, and singing the Camelot Song to win were those genius little twists on the card game formula that brought a sense of depth and freshness to a game. When I read the description above, I see nothing new. I see 5th grade math. In my opinion, gameplay for SW:TCG appears to be unweildy (rolling multiple dice, and the whole Risk comparison), the design seems lacking in ellegance (in an epic battle between Vader and Luke, we compare... speed? was the Rebellion a race?), and the overall card design is an uninspiring take on the current cartoony, kid-friendly art design that is being applied to Star Wars (like the lame new logo. why does a 12-year-old appear to have stolen the lightsaber from Luke?). In short, SW:CCG is Old Star Wars, when it was a classic, epic trilogy. Playing the card game was like reliving (and sometimes rewriting) history, spending time with characters and events that you love. The new game is New Star Wars: A product. Designed to appeal to the widest consumer base. To make some cash, waste some time, and die away. Not original, not bold, not epic, just mediocre.

Steve Schultz - Wed Mar 6 2002

SSWCCG WILL ALWAYS LIVE ON EVEN IF LUCAS IS BEING A BUTT, THIS NEW CRAP THAT IS COMING OUT WILL DIE OUT BECAUSE OF PEOPLE THINKING IT IS TO EASY AND MAGIC RELATED!!!!!!

chris cutchins - Wed Mar 6 2002

To make up for my earlier emotional post, and to counter ALL CAPS POSTS THAT aren't helping the cause... When I buy into a CCG, I want to have the best decks I possibly can. This usually means a pretty sound investment in that CCG. That means that the new CCG better be offering a new and unique experience/mechanics. I mean, if not, what's the point? So many CCGs have been released, if I want old mechanics I'll buy into one of those old games. Here's where I take faults with the new game: 1. The build mechanic is straight out of Battletech, only with random build points. 2. The 'two of three battlegrounds' smacks heavily of Young Jedi. 3. Damage counters...Battletech concept. 4. Dice rolling? Considering the odds are default 50/50, this is much like flipping a coin. 5. Sure, you can modify your rolls. Just like Battletech and a ton of other dice-based games. 6. Nothing but combat, combat, combat with only hints of subtlety. This was Young Jedi's selling point...and eventual downfall (one can only take so much of a singular gameplay element). 7. Some of the dice and ability elements seem quite a lot like X-Men CCG...which died quickly for a reason. There are those who would argue that there is no originality left, that we're expecting too much from a new game, that all CCGs are a rip-off of Magic. How?! 1. Star Wars. Besides the fact you have a customizable deck of cards and draw from them, there are NO similarities between this and Magic. The Force Pile, movement, even the way you draw cards and how your resources are double-edged swords...revolutionary to say the least! And it doesn't have the "battlefield" limitation that this new game does, which seems to me like a design crutch. In Star Wars, you were free to ignore a theatre (space, ground) if you wanted to, or play any mix you wanted. Elegant. 2. Star Trek. Man, this game is complicated as it could possibly be, but NO one could argue it lifted anything from, well, anything else. VERY unique. 3. Lord of The Rings. Yes, it does borrow damage counters from Battletech, and sometimes the back and forth skirmish actions feel a bit like Jyhad/Vampire. But moving from 1-9, burdens, the twilight pool...very simplistic but very elegant as well. Why do I use these examples? Because there are those who could argue that Richard Garfield is free to ape his past games, being his and all that. Yet Decipher manages to create games that not only do not borrow from other companies' games, but they are even unique from each other! And to add a qualifier so I don't seem biased, I still play Magic, Vampire, Netrunner, and a host of other CCGs. But I wanted to drive home that those of us who are complaining about the lack of originality here have a case to be made.

Kenneth Bradford - Wed Mar 6 2002

I am so glad I dindnt sell my SWCCG cards. After investing about $10,000 in my cards since Special Edition, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if Lucas is a money w h or e decipher will get the game back. The true players of SWCCG can see their dreams come true and decipher will get to finish the 6 movie run. Lets all hope that Lucas really is inspired by "greed" because his "greed" will be what returns this game to its rightful home at Decipher. I'm a realist. I used to be 33 in the world. I didnt touch my SWCCG cards to play until last week and man was it a blast playing again on Cloud City playin' the Dark Deal with destroyer droids and that my friends and WOTC lackies if what SWCCG is all about. Maybe your brains and intellect can never handle a real game but lets all face it: SWTCG will I repeat WILL never last. Their is no emotion in my argument. Ive let SWCCG go. I realise it is struggling right now for players but WOTC has giiven SWCCG player their greatest hope ever....... a truly s h i t t y game. Save your cards men we all may yet see "the Return of the Mack".

Michael crosby - Wed Mar 6 2002

It seems to have the simplicity that YJ had and the ease of play that MTG has. While it doesn't appeal to me I can see a mrket for this...however it will be a small market (at best). CCGs draw a very limited audience due to the cost involved. Realistically I see this getting at least 2 years to draw a crowd and make a splash. After that I see it going away like most new CCGs do. Ahhh I'll still play LotR and Mage Knight...that should keep my addiction sated

Robert Silmser - Wed Mar 6 2002

Ah yes, X-men CCG... I bought two boxes of that game because I thought it would be cool (I've been an avid X-men comic collector for 13+ years and the movie was coming out too... I've learned my lesson and won't repeat it!). The new SWTCG uses the same "4+ to hit rule" X-men uses and after several games of that, the dice mechanic became... boring after a half-hour of play. Now, that too was a Garfield creation and it stank. Now, he's shifted genre and is using Star Wars as a back drop. I think the game will have legs because it is Star Wars and people will collect because the cards are eye-candy... but the game play appears too unweildly... and I for one don't have the resources, patience, and time to learn it because it's Star Wars... like I did with X-men. I am avoiding it.

Peter Jacobson - Wed Mar 6 2002

adam drake. I have played a total of 7 ccg and tcgs. In my opinion as a new starwars tcg it will not even get going. Jedi knights came out and it had some player base to it. But in the end it has pretty much turned into a collecters items. There used to be tournys ever weekend of jk now I don't even see a card around from it. The new tcg starwars will be sold to collecters pretty much. They might as well sell screen shots instead of playing cards. in the end I don't even think it will have a tourny. As for the starwars ccg as long as there is 8 people in my area and I want to play there will be tournaments from now until the day I die.Long live decipher down with lucas.

jason wade - Wed Mar 6 2002

NEAL- to answer your pricing question: though i don't know how expensive the starters will be, i do know they plan on doing 2 different size packs. i think it's 11 (with a garunteed rare in each one, and a foil in about one in six, if my memory serves me correctly) and 5 (odds of a rare per pack is about 1/2, but i think the odds for a foil is 1/3... again not sure on the #s). cost will be around $3 and $1.50, respectively. they are doing this to get the cards into 7-11 and other venues outside of a card store. speaking of starters... when we were in the art department they had some really early artwork for the starter design on display- one of which was amidala wearing this half shirt on and this WICKED THO... we were like "goddamn- make that your packaging and you'll sell cards no matter what!" :O) that aside, for those of you who are being so judgemental of this game: it will succeed, at least initially. it's got the star wars name, garfield's name, and wizards, too... oh yeah there's some movie coming out in like 2 months too :O) you guys ever hear the phrase "the masses are asses"? well it's true. as i said in my previous post this game was not produced for SWCCGer's, it's (as steve schultz said) a product for the masses (though that doesn't mean someone who plays wars won't enjoy it).

Hayes Hunter - Wed Mar 6 2002

Well said Hunter. I play all typs of games. Star Wars, is still the Bestb I will buy and play the new WOTC SWTCG just like I am still buying and playing Deciphers SWCCG. It is just a game. Anything else is just childish.

Scott Manley - Wed Mar 6 2002

Hello, First off, this is my first ever posting to Decktech. I rarely post because I hate to waste my time posting my opinion amid vulgar rants of those who's vocabulary hasn't progressed beyond Jr High. However, I would like to add 2 cents to the mix. I decided to take the time to read each and every comment listed above. I agree with several people that comments like "It sucks" etc.. aren't very constructive at all (and quite frankly, a waste of bandwidth). I also found some of the more detailed comparisons quite interesting. So, who am I and why do you care? I am the only active U.S. "triple" Decipher Product Champion. SWCCG, STCCG, LOTRTCG. I was also a PC for YJCCG and JKTCG. I have never played magic. (although I've seen enough games that if you gave me a deck I prolly could.) So in summary, you can say I'm a fan of Decipher products, and no fan of WoTC. Also, I am quite often called by several of my 'comrades' & friends the 'ubercollector'. This comes by the fact that I usually have multiple sets of everything I collect. (from Trading Cards to Toys and CCGs, etc.. ) I am a Huge fan of Star Wars & Star Trek & other good Sci-fi. I've prolly spent more money on licensed Sci-fi than anyone here has earned in 1 year. So, will I sell my extra SWCCG so I'm down to less than 10 sets of each expansion?? No. So will my Star Wars 'collections' be incomplete without SWTCG? Maybe... Depends. So, what is my opinion on SWTCG? I want to play the game and look at the quality of the cards before I judge it. I agree that it doesn't take a rocket scientist (or an engineer to look at some games and say... that is stupid, or too complex, or too easy... anybody (even an idiot) can jump to a conclusion based on limited information. Even a quick demo doesn't really give the 'full' flavor of a TCG/CCG. What I plan to do, is get a starter or two(preferably for free) and give it a try. How can anyone here really judge this game without having even tried it? I certainly find comments and questions on comparisons and other gameplay issues valid in this forum. however, to summarily pass judgement without even having seen the full game or even tried it?, seems overboard to me. I know that passion about a game is a good thing, most of the time. however, it is only good when you are trying to promote it rather than tear down something else. Then, passion becomes a bad thing. Ask the Tali-ban about their passion about tearing down things they didn't like and where it got them in the end. Be careful what you say and do because more often than not it will come back around and bite you in the derriere. (go check your French dictionary, expand your vocabulary) And if all this doom and gloom that is being predicted here comes true.. cool, I didn't mind buying ST:TOS:TCG boxes for $5 ea. I was able to complete my collections quite inexpensively.

Jim Colson - Wed Mar 6 2002

I'd like add to and qualify my statements a little by stating that pre-2000, I tried almost every CCG that came out. I remember buying a whole bunch of Shadowrun, because it looked cool. Then, my friend and I played one game that lasted 8 hours. It was not fun. While many games turned out to be a great investment (Star Wars, LotR, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Middle Earth), some of them I found to be just plain lame, and a waste of money (Battletech, Shadowrun, Young Jedi). I think what a lot of people (who are being categorized as quick-to-judge and irrational) are expressing here is justified. People loved their SWCCG, and it was killed for love of money. They want this new game to fail, for love of vengeance, but at the same time, they want it to be good, for love of Star Wars. We want to be won over, but we have to be critical. When Middle Earth CCG died, I was very sad. I loved that game. When I heard that Decipher was making a new game, based on the movies, I was skeptical. Almost angry. How could it ever be as complex and beautiful as the old game? As soon as I saw the first LotR card spoiled, and began to read the rules, I was hooked. The game looked amazing! There are two differences in this situation: One, SW:CCG isn't even technically over yet. The announcement was made 3 months ago, and hasn't even taken effect yet. The emotional impact is still there, while with MECCG, it had been a few years. It's like your parents, out of the blue, tell you they're getting a divorce, your mom leaves, and the very next day some new woman is there. The second difference: this game doesn't look all that great. It doesn't strike me as fun OR good-looking. And first impressions are VERY important. In other words, your new Mom is ugly, and makes you do chores. Anyway, before I began to ramble, my point was: let's not be too hard on those (myself included) who feel the need to criticize this game. Obviously, comments with no backup, like "THIS GAME AM SUCKS" or "WOTC CAN BITE MY JIGGLYPUFF" aren't helpful, but I can understand the motivation.

Steve Schultz - Wed Mar 6 2002

Mmmm, I admit with Hayes that the Amidala artwork in the halfshirt was.... wow. As far as the game was, I think that like LOTR more strategy will appear in the game as time moves on. I think other than the random effect that the dice has, I enjoyed the game. It was a fun and quick game to play...will it be a great game? Who knows...

Scott Lingrell - Wed Mar 6 2002

If anyone on here replies to Jim Colson in anything less than a respecful manner for his above words, I'll ban you for sure. Jim is one of those people, when he talks you should listen. He never shoots off his mouth, he only opens it when he has something to say.

Neal Razi - Wed Mar 6 2002

Tee hee... What is a poofter? Anyone who has to fall back on name calling in a philosophical debate clearly has issues... I think that Steve Schultz makes a very good point. Even though he was a fan of MECCG, and was skeptical of LOTRCCG, he gave it a chance, and like it! The game is simpler than MECCG (believe me, I tried it once...) but it still kept the flavor of the story. I simply ask that you give SWTCG a chance. Try it for free at the WOTC booth at one of the big cons this year. If you don't like it, all you've lost is 15-20 minutes, which you probably would've wasted anyways staring at some spokesmodel you have no chance with. BTW, Neal is right on with his comments about Jim Colson. Listen to the man, he knows what he is talking about. Hey Neal... can I get that same guarantee?

Adam Drake - Wed Mar 6 2002

Adam, obviously I respect the hell out of you, but I know you enjoy a good verbal bout once in awhile, and are more than capable of handling yourself, whereas as Jim is a little more sensitive. I know he mentioned once he felt a little leary about posting here, so I thought I'd get his back. But if anyone crosses the line of disrespectful to any fellow southerners, especially Adam or Jim, they'll eat a ban. Fair enough?

Neal Razi - Wed Mar 6 2002

What is new here? nothing. I will enjoy watching this game die. How, is it supposed to be successful with this low quality strategy, and with THREE variables to remember. Many players will find this very hard, annoying, and complex, while the game itself isnt very complex at all. I think some people may even end up writing on paper. Second I would like to point out the example card of Darth Vader, and the other one of Anakin, in the buzz, if you havent seen it. Adding dice to the game just takes away from strategy. Taking away the sites. Taking away the reserve deck. Making the deck... welll how should I say... a pile that means nothing? Does this game sound like battletech/jediknight/magic. I loved SWCCG for its amazing gameplay, the strategy the mechanics, and the collection. If I was a collector I wouldnt buy this. I mean just look at that picture... it looks like the crapy ones from jedi knight (ugggggg). The lore, one of my favorite parts of the card is taken away. Apparently there is no longer such thing as an attribute. This game, have little to no strategy ALSO is chance. In SWCCG you could put destinies of your choice into your deck. IN this you will have to... whoops... roll a dice! uh oh sorry... but If I had to review this with a dice... I would rather not, I cant even beleive I commented on such junk of a game!!!! Well heres comes the dice roll, I rate this new game 0 out of 6!!! What zero? theres not even one on the dice, well lets put it this way, the dice couldnt bear to give it higher so it just dissipated. lol Once again. THIS GAME WILL SUCK. "I shall enjoy watching it die"

Silviu Pitis - Thu Mar 7 2002

guys, why is this game going to die? i just don't get it. swccg was a very serious game, this isn't. this is about a short little fun game, yeah i suppose the kids like this more. you guys are comparing apples and oranges, it just doesn't work. like hayes said, it's probably a good game, just not for the more serious ccg player.

edmund gray - Thu Mar 7 2002

Silviu Pitis said it best-"I shall enjoy watching it die". Out of respect for Neal and general open argument/debate i'll refrain from 'name-calling' in the future. however edmund gray outta mind his own business.

jason baretta - Thu Mar 7 2002

One of the great things about Decipher's game is that it generated the feel of the movies. It seems to me that this new game (and granted I haven't seen much of it) lacks connection to its theme. It could as easily be a war game with say Army, Navy and Political fields as Star Wars.

Richard Barton - Thu Mar 7 2002

Call me a jackass but I got several SWCCG players in my area to call every card store in town expressly for the purpose of letting them know that we had NO INTEREST in trying out the new game; consequently, I know less orders are being placed to the distributers. It's cheap, but if everyone did likewise the message might get through... the gaming world is a small one.

Dave Boyle - Thu Mar 7 2002

wtf you talking about jason? have you done as much for swccg as adam?

edmund gray - Thu Mar 7 2002

How much does someone have to do for swccg before they deserve to have their opinion(no matter how pointless, stupid, and short sighted we might think it is) heard edmund? Let me know before I voice mine cuz I woudldn't wanna do so without knowing I have done enough for the game to please you.

http://www.decktech.net/3 Andrew Howard - Thu Mar 7 2002

Riddle me this, why are we having these discussions on Decktech and Deicpher's sites? Because SWTCG doesn't even exist on the Wizards web page yet. One thing Decipher did well was put Star Wars first. Wizards will not do that. D&D gets top billing over the SWRPG. Magic, Pokemon, and possibly Harry Potter and Showdown Sports will be billed before SWTCG. I will never forget Nitro. I will never forget X-Men. I will never forget NFL Showdown. Wizards has a proven track record with licensed products, and it proves that they fail, across the board.

Brett Seymour - Thu Mar 7 2002

dude andy, jason said this: "and to Adam Drake and all the other shery sipping poofters who critisize the ppl who still support SWCCG and preach that swTCG is mana from heaven then :0 -:" all i'm saying is adam certainly has done a lot for swccg, and shouldn't be accused of not.

edmund gray - Thu Mar 7 2002

jason, i'm sorry, i kinda misread what you were saying (i've had about 5 hours of sleep for the past 3 days). what i'm trying to say is that i think adam deserves a little respect, and that's why i responded the way i did.

edmund gray - Thu Mar 7 2002

Ok...edmund gray said on tuesday that Axis & Allies is similar to a battle only starwars game. I love Axis & Allies for it's complexity, but what Wizards is doing is akin to reducing the wonderful A&A to "war"...you know..hearts, spades, etc. SWCCG is a great game. I really enjoyed Pokemon too (guilty as charged), but Wizards destroyed Pokemon as soon as it got off the ground. They destroyed collectibility and playability, not considering the player...just the almighty buck. I won't play this Wizards crap...even if it is fun, it's creator will ruin the game just to make money...Pokemon proved that...why do you think Pokemon is worth jack today? Save your time and money and try to screw Lucas ltd for this stupid mistake.

Joel Hendrickson - Thu Mar 7 2002

THIS SUCKS!!!!!! worse than pokemon, magic and battletech. i refuse to buy or play it. give decipher back the game. at least then it was fun

Ben Lee - Thu Mar 7 2002

wow, there are a lot of posts here. And I've read them all. For all you Decipher Activists out there - how can you possibly even imagine D getting the game back after how they immaturely lashed at Lucas? If WotC screws the game up, D has already lost all chances at getting another go. They have shot themselves in the foot. I'm looking forward to the game. I'm not spending a bunch of cash or time on it, but I'll prolly pick up a pair of decks and maybe a booster here and there. I've said it before - I like dice. I like Vampire, AD&D, Risk, Axis & Allies, and the like because of the dice pools. Yeah, it seems to have its problems. First off, that seems to be a lot of stuff on the table at a time. The setup is questionable - if it's like Trek, it will suck. But if it's like the old board game MouseTrap, it could be really cool. And if it truly takes 5 minutes for a beginner (my first Trek took much longer), that sounds positive. Steve Schultz said that "The new game is New Star Wars: A product. Designed to appeal to the widest consumer base. To make some cash, waste some time, and die away. Not original, not bold, not epic, just mediocre." Man, I say the same thing for LotR. What do you see happening to this game 2 years after all the movies are out? Yeah, that's right. It's over. This isn't a bash against you by any means - it is just an observation. Anyway, to those who don't play, that's cool. No one is forcing you to spend your money. But for those who are destroying the new game in hopes that D will get the license back, don't kid yourselves. Bashing Lucas was absolutely the worst business decision Decipher has ever made. The 2nd worst was continuing to do so when Lucas told them not to use the "Reflections Gold" cards (or whatever they were called - I don't remember right now). For those who do decide to play, you might just see me around. And you know that I'll be packing both Wizards and Decipher decks.

Steve Marshall - Thu Mar 7 2002

i don't know about u guys but im not really in the mood to respend all my money on a new game that isn't even as complicated or (so it seems) as fun as SWCCG. The box art may be awesome but i got better things to do than buy this new game. im just gonna play some lotr instead.

Andrew Lyle - Fri Mar 8 2002

O'hara has some good points. Likely, if swtcg does take off for some reason, then wotc will just screw the players in favour of the all mighty buck. And yes, there about 2 chances of D getting SW back after the way they went on. And to edmund gray, "i'm sorry, i kinda misread what you were saying", pretty much says it all doesn't it.

jason baretta - Fri Mar 8 2002

umm, not really, but whatever. the game will die if wotc treats the players like shyte, the game will thrive if they treat swtcg players like their magic players. odds are they will treat them like shyte, but don't you think its cool how the asked top swccg players to play test the game? i don't really see decipher caring that much what top players think, maybe i'm wrong.

edmund gray - Fri Mar 8 2002

To Jason Barreta, your comment: "And to edmund gray, 'i'm sorry, i kinda misread what you were saying', pretty much says it all doesn't it." No even has to call you an a$$, your words speak for you. The guy was admitting he made a mistake, humans do that. To that guy that had people call the card shops and telling them they won't buy the new game, that was a cute trick. Just do me a favor. When the game takes off (and it will, Oh... Yes.. .It will! Sorry!) Tell those same guys that called let the rest of us buy our cards before they realize how premature that was and decide they like the game. To the one that said you don't have to play it to have an opinion, to some degree that is true. But I don't care how much you read about it, you will never fully be able to say the game "sucks" or "doesn't suck" until you actually play it. I don't play a lot of games that don't appeal to me, but I don't say they suck, I just don't want to play them. If I actually played them I might think, "Wow! What have I been missing!" or "WTF is this crap!?" But I can do neither until I actually play it. Before that all I can say is "after reading a basic description of the game, it does not appeal to me, but you guys have go ahead and have fun." Here is what is going to happen. Many hardcore SWCCG players will not play it at first and later a good amount of these will try it and like it. A minority of SWCCG players will NEVER play it either out of sheer stubborness or, after having tried it, not liking it. A lot of new players, SW fans who never liked the old game or ever cared to try it, will play it. A separate, wider, and stronger fan base will form. Some will be young adults, some of these will be kids, but kids tend to grow up and become loyal consumers. It will not die out like Pokemon. Those who refused to try it out of sheer stubborness will either be left in the dust, or will play catch up with expansions after they cool off.

Anakin Desertwalker - Fri Mar 8 2002

To Steve Marshall: You said: "Man, I say the same thing for LotR. What do you see happening to this game 2 years after all the movies are out? Yeah, that's right. It's over. This isn't a bash against you by any means - it is just an observation." SWCCG was created 15 years after the original trilogy came out, and it lasted a long time. It would have lasted even longer if the rights hadn't been taken away. LotR is a solid game based on an awesome movie, which will probably become the new great trilogy in the movie world. The movie was NOT a product, like the latest Star Wars. It was a film. It was art. It made a lot of money because it was good. I don't recall any Best Picture or Actor nominations for TPM. There's also a little book based on the movie (or was it the other way around?) that has sold quite a few copies. Lord of the Rings will not die in this decade, unless Decipher completely screws it up. And I have a tremendous amount of faith in them (especially considering the current quality of the game, and it's first expansion). Btw, I think you've unfairly accused them of childishly lashing out against Lucas. When did they do that? All I recall them doing was informing players of the plans they had come up with that Lucasfilm shot down. I'm glad to know that Decipher was working for me. It makes me more confident that LotR will remain at it's current level of quality.

Steve Schultz - Fri Mar 8 2002

I wouldn't pay this game if you payed me. This is a joke and just shows that George Lucas is in it for the money not the fans.

Alan Denny - Fri Mar 8 2002

I won't play coz you know there will be nsync cards. That's obscene. CCG's has given way to everquest...

Dan Christy - Fri Mar 8 2002

W.holland's lashing out at lucas has to be one of the most bizarre business decisions ever. It kills the possibility of sw ever coming back, as well as any other lucas licenses like Indiana Jones. I can only come to the conclusions that Holland WANTED to burn the bridge. They must have had no interest in ever getting the SW license back, and acted that way to insure they would never have it back. It's the only logical conclusion I can draw after pondering it for months now.

Neal Razi - Fri Mar 8 2002

RE:"I won't play coz you know there will be nsync cards." Heh. But that could be fun. Have the N'Sync cards be in a sideboard arena and in between turns, both Dark and Light sides take turns killing them. (That was humor)

Aaron Brogdon - Fri Mar 8 2002

WOW.....Lucas is in it for the money? I did not know he was so short on cash.Its not like Lucasfilm and Hasbro are not worth BILLIONS. And after all cards do grow on trees. If you have not noticed....last year a lot of really good players were quitting the game. Even long time Decipher Squad Members were moveing on to other games. Like a local retailor told me"The cards were not flying off the shelf." Decipher will not get it back. Why would they?The Game ran its course...There are only so many cards you can put in a 60 card deck.

Scott Manley - Fri Mar 8 2002

Of course Decipher isn't going to get the license back (Neal). This WOTC game isn't going to fail. That being said, its so completely different, it'll never replace SWCCG, either. Maybe there's an audience for this - facing characters off and rolling your dice. Me, I'll be thinking about the times IG-88 captured some guy in the cantina, walked out to the Great Pit of Karkoon, threw him into the Sarlacc's mouth... I mean, that was the Star Wars Universe. This WOTC thing might be a good dice game, it doesn't sound like it'll have the story fun.

John Arendt - Fri Mar 8 2002

Neal, First, I have to say, please don't be offended by my 'counter' to your last posting, but I felt I had some 'questions'/issues that went unaddressed. I have to say that your conclusions (as well as many other peoples) about Warren are flawed, it sound to me like you have judged Warren just as many people have judged SW:TCG. Is this a double standard I see?? Have you really sat down with Warren on several occasions and visited about the good, the bad, & the ugly? I have, several times since 1997 WCs. I have yet to play SW:TCG so I cannot judge it, yet, you can judge Warren so harshly?? First of all, how do you conclude that what Warren did was 'lashing out'? Typically someone who 'lashes out' has something very specifially negative or derrogatory to say about the person/company that they are 'lashing out' against. For example; I could 'lash out' at you, and say your are 2-faced for judging Warren without having known him personally as I do, and at the same time, you Condemn those who Judge SW:TCG without having played it. But I won't, because it wouldn't be constructive, plus I don't know ALL the details of your relationship with Warren, So I would end up being the fool for passing judgement on you without knowing all the details. I carefully read all the articles related to the 'starwars announcement' and didn't see any negative comments directed at Lucasfilm (ie: "They suck" or "LucasFilm licensing are idiots"). What I did see was clear and concise explanations of multiple encounters with Lucasfilm during the negotiation process. There was no 'name calling' or any such childishness.. I don't see anything to indicate a 'lashing out'. Posting information about the ideas that were NOT approved and other details only shows how LucasFilm acted badly in the process, not Decipher, and how LucasFilm was 'killing' the game by sabotaging it because of these failed approvals. No wonder why the game was stalling... No new game innovations were being approved, It appeared that Decipher was lucky to even get basic card approvals. Sounds like backstabbing sabotage to me, (so now I am 'namecalling') just to make their position stronger when they didn't renew the license, so they could say.. 'well... Decipher hasn't been performing well.." so they could justify their own actions by setting Decipher up to 'not perform well' by not approving any new ideas. If you want to see Warren 'lash out' you should read his open letter about Paramount Licensing way back when Decipher had problems with Paramount when their Licensing dept got greedy. (it seems like Greed is the root of this problem as well, go figgure) Even that 'lashing out' was still mild, but MUCH Stronger than this disagreement with Lucasfilm. Speaking of Paramount Licensing... Neal, you say that now there is NO WAY for Decipher to ever get this license back ("it kills the possibility of sw ever coming back"). How can you say that? Do you have a new talent for predicting the Future since I last met you??? Do you not know that BOTH Decipher and Paramount had some 'bad blood' between them (much worse that this deal with Lucasfilm) I mean accusations of Blackmail, fraud, etc.. and BOTH had said that they espoused NO interest in continuing to work together. In fact Paramount awarded their ST:TOS:TCG licence to Fleer/Skybox (a profit sharing/co-owned company) just to prove to everyone that it was OVER with Decipher. (Do we see ANY Parallels here???) And MANY, MANY people knew that the Decipher ST:CCG was Dead and that the FINAL expansion (All Good Things; which was never produced) was it, forever. YET... what do we have today??? STCCG Thrived for YEARS and YEARS after all of those gloom & doom sayers predicted the end of ST:CCG. In addition, Paramount/Viacom has awarded an even bigger and larger licence for STCCG to include ALL Trek properties & Movies, and even MORE licenses have been awarded to Decipher than anyone ever envisioned in the beginning. Amazing how those 'Burned bridges' weren't so burnt after all. Nor were they that slowly rebuilt. AND sometimes a little or a lot of struggling/strife, can actually strengthen relationships. Maybe this is one of those times with LucasFilm? Maybe not. I make no predictions. All it took was for faithful, Dedicated fans of ST:CCG to relentlessly let Paramount Licensing & Decipher know how they felt about the loss of the goodwill between the companies, and coupled with the failure of the ST:TOS:TCG and that they REALLY wanted ST:CCG to remain alive. And eventually, Paramount Licensing got together with Decipher and resolved their differences, and we have a wonderful property that is played in virtually every corner of the world, maybe not in your back yard, but most certainly it is played in mine. I will continue to Promote SW:CCG as long as I possibly can, or as long as people want to play. Just like I did with STCCG, even though everyone (well, all those who claimed to know the future anyway) KNEW it was dead. Jim

Jim Colson - Fri Mar 8 2002

yeah, this game looks pretty lame but, it's hard to tell, i'll try it out very tentatively. and please don't compare this game to jedi knights... Jedi Knights was actually a very fun game-- mostly for multiplayer-- something swccg never had. if you think not then I would guess that you never really played the game. and it's not very surprising that all of us who have known and loved swccg for so long would immediately have a strong prejudice against this game. I'll give it a try because I love starwars what can i say?? but i will invest very little unless i decide that I really like it.

Eric Fausett - Fri Mar 8 2002

No problem. I don't have any future reading abilities, it was just an edjicamated guess. Holland's words seemed somewhat insulting to me, but I could be wrong. Maybe they can someday continue SWCCG. That's why I kept all my cards rather than selling them. That and it's probably my all time favorite ccg.

Neal Razi - Sat Mar 9 2002

I have been an active player of M:TG for three years, and Also starwars for 1 year. Basically I have played a card game frome every company(7th seas from AEG,and Tomb Raider from Pretence)So all you WotC slammers here is a big 'ol screw you. I still wish that Decipher gets the licence back. Just leave WotC alone along with Lucas. We all are trying to get money. But the whole nsuck thing that is a differnt story, stupid Lucas' daughter.

Jet Peterson - Sat Mar 9 2002

After reading the review of SW:TCG (TCG stands for The Crap Game) I had a seizure. Then woke up shaking and screaming No! and thinking Wizards Of The Coast would have made more money selling 7 Minute Abs or horsecrap in a cellophane bag. I did get a chuckle at the thought of the "Lord Of The Sith" having the ability to "run away". I have been playing SWCCG since the first and last box hit the comic shop...now thanks to Jizzheads Of The Coast I will spend my money on drugs, booze and women. This is ALL Richard Garfield's fault...he has now replace Jimmy Carter as history's greatest monster.

Bobby Hansen - Sat Mar 9 2002

Jim - Good points about Trek - I haven't been around long enough to know this. I agree that D's words sounded VERY anti-Lucas and had a whining tone to them. Maybe I read it wrong, but I apparently wasn't the only one. John - You are totally right. The new game isn't going to replace old-skool Wars. Hayes said it... this is a new game for a different audience. Steve Schultz - I hear where you're coming from, but by the license agreement I see problems with LotR. They have a contract with New Line, not with Tolkein. As I read that, I see that the game can't progress beyond the movies. It would be like Decipher creating the SW game through 21st Century Fox instead of Lucas. I also read that you're not just trashing me, and I respect that. Thanks. ... and I like the idea of a "kill N'Sync" sideboard.

Steve Marshall - Sat Mar 9 2002

Bobby: This game lets the Lord Of The Sith run away? The old game did that, too. Except instead of running from an army, he ran away from a couple Palace Raiders on his home planet.

Steve Marshall - Sat Mar 9 2002

Eric F- if you liked Jedi Knights then you will like this... note that at this point in time they had NO RULES for multiplayer (i.e. the game was not designed to allow for that option... that's not to say they won't create some by the time it's actually released)

Hayes Hunter - Sun Mar 10 2002

Steve Marshall - I'm definately not trying to trash anyone. I disapprove of such silliness. I realize Decipher has a deal with New Line and not Tolkien, but it is an 11-year contract (or something like that), and I don't think they're going to let it lapse. My point is that they have a built-in audience of Tolkien fans who, for the most part, liked the movie. They have at least 12 hours worth of footage to draw from, probably more, and that's going to last them. Plus, the game is just plain great. And maybe after they finally HAVE run out of ideas, Jackson will go back and do the Silmarillion/Hobbit. And we can have continuity problems with Thorin and Gimli being on the table at the same time.

Steve Schultz - Sun Mar 10 2002

Jeez, the sad thing is, I'll end up playing this thing, and drop like 500 dollars into it because I love trying new games, unfortunately there aren't many good ones, so it poses a problem for me. Young Jedi died, but it was actually quite fun. Jedi Knights on the other hand...well that's a painful memory. Listen to the friggin public for once, give us what we friggin want. I love Magic, but I don't want to play Magic with Darth Vader, introduce something good, and we'll talk. The thing is, who is gonna buy this thing? We are. Who knows what we want? We do. So WOTC, ask us before you lose asll the money you put into this thing...and cause me to waste my money.

Justin Cislo - Sun Mar 10 2002

i can say, i won't play this game, not because i'm against it, or don't want to try it, i just don't need to be spending money on it, plus, if i did play, it doesn't seem anyone else would play. there is hope for SWCCG though, it's not gonna die, i got back into the game this year, even after hearing they were making no more cards. i was out of the game for 3 years, and it was driving me crazy, so i went and bought more cards, so i was up to date and i can't wait for regionals!

Ricky Myers - Sun Mar 10 2002

Ed/g: i'm not trying to keep a feud going here, or something stupid like than, i'm just happy you acknowledged that you were worry and should of kept your mouth shut.

jason baretta - Sun Mar 10 2002

Be Forwarned, I am verbose. The Good: I like the build phase in the beginning of the game. It can be very stratigic. It reminds me of the early days of ST:CCG (haven;t played it lately so I can't compare it now.) The setup of ST didn't bother me. I concidered it a part of the game. I enjoyed the strategy of seeding my dilemas. Much would be the same here. The game is simple to learn. All good CCG's can be learned in a few mimuites though mastering the strategy does take time. WOTC has marketed the new SWTCG well. The Bad: It is simple to play. The three arena and deckbuilding restrictions force me to play one basic strategy. taking away the depth of the game itself. It does not take alot to master these concepts. Good card games SWCCG or even Hearts and spades take a while to master strategies to win the game. Weather it be tracking, knowing to to take all 13 hearts and the queen of spades, or just exactly how much to bid are examples of this. The current rules show that I can't really short any arena and hope to win the other two because I am requited to put so many units into the area in the deckbuilding phase. I haven't seen any mission cards or battle cards (good for marketing hype bad for decision making on weather to play the game or not) I would speculate that if there was a great Mission or Battle card it would have been released so that is not encouraging. There are under 200 cards from the inaugural release. Innovations that greatly shake up the game seem to be limited. My prelimiary feeling is that speed decks will win. Similar to Battletech Yes I have played it (showing my age I guess). If I can hit all your guys before you shoot at me then I win. I think it is similar to Aimed ARchery Decks with A Ranger's Versitility in LOTR. This problem I think will be harder to fix because of the speed mechanich built into the game. but I hope WOTC will fix this. There are two variables that can hurt you now. Dice and a poor draw. It is a bouble whammy with my opponent. The game is not enjoyable if I get a good draw and then roll low. While on the dice topic The Hits is too simple Vader has the same base chance of hitting someone as Greedo does Han base 4 (Greedo Missed Han from point blank range) I am sure that multiple dice rolled is to make up for this but I think it comes up a little short in rationality and playablility. It would be better to put a hit number on a gard and game text to roll two dice instead of one. The Ugly: In comming up with a new game WOTC tergeted a mass public. That is OK, but they forgot to attract those whom were displaced by Deciphers loss of the SWCCG liscense. SW is strong on it;s own but it is the current players that made it sucessful and alive from 93. The game mechanics presented here as mentioned above will not easily attract those who liked the stratigic intracacies (sp?) of the old game. I am confident that if more time was spent on development instead of rushing a product to market in time for the release of Episode II, a game could have been created to appeal to the masses and the displaced SWCCG player. It could have been multi tiered in complexity as WOTC promised Lucasfilm. From reading from multi web sites WOTC fell far short from the goal. The skinny: In the early run I will not play SW:TCG it does not appeal to me. If the early flaws of the game get corrected in a couple of small released expansions, and a TCG game can allow for more than let's duke it our in three arenas (a possible alternate win condition). I might decide to play it after several expansions when there are more cards.

Chad Samuels - Mon Mar 11 2002

You know what LFL should have done with there Hasbro connections? Made a Star Wars version of Risk or Axis & Allies. Those games rock. But they're not SW:CCG. Anyway, if any LFL people read this, MAKE STAR WARS RISK, please.

Anders Bergstrom - Mon Mar 11 2002

Chad S- i never played battle tech so i don't know how similar the two games are, but in SWTCG it was working out sorta like this: the fastest cards did the least damage and have lower hit points. the slowest cards have the most hit point and do the most damage. the medium cards are in the middle for speed, hit points, and damage. basically what this equates to, in terms of dominance, is fast is beaten by slow, slow is beaten by medium, and medium is beaten by fast... in theory at least. about them targeting the game at the masses and 'forgeting' about the SWCCG croud- no they didn't. the SWCCG croud is small and hard to please. there is no reason (financially) for them to their game towards us- to do so would just cause them to fall into the same sinkhole decipher did (in the long run).

Hayes Hunter - Tue Mar 12 2002

SWCCG was the only CCG that I really liked and I tried several. Magic, Pokemon, YJ, Jedi Kinghts, DBZ, MND, Harry Potter and LotR are all games I spent at least 50 bucks on. The thing i liked most about Star Wars was the depth of the play expierience. You could do totally wack stuff like have Yoda train Jar Jar or have Zuckuss (my fav character ever) take down a Jedi Luke one turn, Tatooine Obi the next and finally have your opponent so frustraded that he overdeploys and winds up not having enough characters to cover the rest of the board. The level of interaction in SWCCG incredible and LotR is the only game that comes close at all that I've played. Most of the other games seem to be a simple My Character vs. Your Character and the most powerful one kills/damages the weaker one. Theres no movement from place to place or anything else cool like that. One thing I don't like about rolling dice/flipping coins is that it requires no amount of skill, unlike SWCCG where tracking was one of the most important skills. More to come later (maybe) Seth

Seth Van Winkle - Tue Mar 12 2002

I hope Jackson makes more cool movies. I hope he makes the Hobbit and Silmarillion (in that order, mind you!) in the future. And if it's really an 11-year contract, more power to D. I hope they do well, as long as they stay away from me. And yeah, SW Risk sounds totally awesome! I like the ideas that WotC are trying to implement, according to what Hayes is saying. And I'm glad to see so many people reverting to "The Good, Bad, and Ugly!"

Steve Marshall - Tue Mar 12 2002

Well, I just don't want to lose a game because of dice rolls. I want to lose because I was out played; I want to win because I was clever, not because of good dice.

Derek Snook - Tue Mar 12 2002

First of all, as much effort that Decipher has put into making SW:CCG as good as it is, I would be surprised if Holland wasn't emotional about losing the license, especially when you look at all the things D wanted to do. (Personally, I think SW online would have been kick@$$.) Second, the whole format of SW:TCG seems to me like what a video game company does to a movie license. 99% of the time, the result is an unoriginal game with the graphics and sounds of the movie pasted on. 99% of the time, video games based on movies suck. This is WotC's method of making new games. Just look at the ARC System. It was expressly designed to be a card game that any license could be plastered over. Third, the magic of SW:CCG was that it took into account the environment the movies took place in. It had a system that (I think) accurately represented the battle between the Empire & the Rebellion. The whole point of the movies and the game was that the Light Side couldn't take the Dark Side head on. You had to rely on strategy and skill far more that luck. WotC has changed an epic battle of overwhelming odds into a coin-toss. I may buy this game; I may even play it from time to time. But it will never replace the original SW:CCG.

David Parker - Wed Mar 13 2002

Three battlegrounds, the first one who controls 2 of 3, wins the game... uuh! ooh! Young Jedi Rulez, cool.

Jaime Pancorbo - Thu Mar 14 2002

I say we should all just boycott this game. Lucas must have some sorta clause in the contract that allows him to yank the deal if sales are horrible. With any luck, and a lot of boycott, SWCCG will be back with Decipher soon....Come on everyone

Ryan Austin - Fri Mar 15 2002

As a star wars player I was going to boycott this game. As a retailer I was going to sell it. After reading this I won't even sell it. Check out our site anyway. We won't have this game but we still support the REAL Star Wars game.

www.ccghookup.com John Hawkins - Fri Mar 15 2002

ok...i'll deploy my luke skywalker and play jedi test 1....oh...what do you mean i cant do that? i can battle you? thats it? but i want to play cheese? oh....*gets up...walks away....* *later that same day...* ok...i'll give it one more go...i'll use boba fett to capture luke...and then i'll carbon freeze him later....oh...i cant do that either? i can battle? but i dont want to kill him...i want to capture him and take him to the emperor...oh...i cant do that? i can battle? great...joy....*sigh* ok....i control the space arena...what tactical advantage does that give me on the ground....can i use orbital bombing or form a blockade? oh...i can battle...*gets up...picks up cards...and makes them into something with more options....like toilet paper*

Darren Blaze Dickinson - Sun Mar 24 2002

Wow...these comments are pretty painful. Sad to say, I agree with almost ALL OF THEM!!! DIE WIZARDS! DIE!

Kelly Brown - Tue Mar 26 2002

dice and cards do not mix. decipher's game was dictated by your deck construct, not a random roll of dice. i would hate to lose a game with a superior deck construct to someone who rolls dice well with an inferior deck. will this game succeed? probably not. initially, it may have a decent backing due to the star wars name. i don't think it will be enjoyed by dedicated card players. if you like dice, try Yatzhee. i'll stay with lord of the rings. to al schaefer - get into lord of the rings, and stop playing with hobbits.

Mark Couture - Fri Apr 5 2002

Well, everybody, I think the general concensus is that this game is gonna tank sooner than WotC will want it to. To back this up I got some info from a friend of mine here in my town who works at the local gaming store. It seems that the Dutch ditributor is already creating marketing schemes (refunds at no-sells etc etc) for the retailers! This is incredible for a game that hasn't even been launched yet, they are already worried that the game won't sell. Considering what I read here on this page and the several articles and game descriptions I have read I must concur with this view, this game is going to tank faster than a brick in water. Sure it will sell initially, but the collecting and cuteness drive of Pokemon it will never have and I believe it will never achieve the complexity of SW:CCG. Let's just all hope that Decipher will get the license back or that WotC and Lucasfilm will be clever enough to see that buying the old engine might be the solution for their future problems with this game. I sure as hell ain't gonna spend my money on this tripe, I'm playing Star Trek now. Enough for now. Quin1974 www.ccgplaza.com

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