D&D 4E [4E] power card displays vs. single decks

Hello, Enworld.

Amazon is listing a "player's handbook power card display" that appears to have eight decks in it. I say 'appears' because that's what the image shows.

Are these displays actually eight copies of the same deck, or eight different decks?

I'm asking because the single class decks are ten bucks, but the display is 56.07, so, you know...it would be cheaper to buy the display unless I always planned to play the same five classes forevar.

This is a link to show what i'm talking about: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Players-Handbook-Power-Card-Display/dp/0786952733/ref=sr_1_34?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229746455&sr=8-34"]Amazon.com: Player's Handbook Power Card Display: A 4th Edition D&D Accessory: Wizards RPG Team: Books[/ame]


On a related note, who's going to buy any 'official' power cards? How many different decks will you buy?

jephlewis said:

On a related note, who's going to buy any 'official' power cards? How many different decks will you buy?

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Well, if they look like the cards created by the official DDI character builder I will buy none. There are too many fan-made cards who are just superior to them.

Mirtek said:

Well, if they look like the cards created by the official DDI character builder I will buy none. There are too many fan-made cards who are just superior to them.

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I don't have the character builder, nor have I seen it in action, but is this what you're talking about?

DDI Character Builder Power Cards (I) at Dev Imperium

If this is what the 'official', printed, sold in packs or a box of eight cards look like, I probably won't buy them either. I totally agree that fan made cards look better than the one shown in the link. Does anyone have any information on what the 'official' printed power cards sold in packs are supposed to look like?

I don't have a functioning printer right now, and the idea of buying some nice, laminated, colorful, easy to read power cards with a box to keep them in appeals to me more than printing them out at the moment.

I'm guessing that based on over a hundred views and only one comment, wotc hasn't really said much about their printed power cards? Nobody's got any information? Nobody's going to buy them? Everybody's going to use fan made cards?

Mirtek said:

Well, if they look like the cards created by the official DDI character builder I will buy none. There are too many fan-made cards who are just superior to them.

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I would be stunned if they were. I think (hope) that the DDI cards are a place-holder. They're ugly!

Impressively, it looks like third parties can create their own card templates for the DDI builder. I look forward to this.

jephlewis said:

Are these displays actually eight copies of the same deck, or eight different decks?

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I'm fairly certain it's just different artwork on otherwise 8 exactly the same decks.

They are also putting out other deck types "Martial Powers" - which tells me that to get variety, you go with the different product lines, not buying more decks of the same line.

Will I be buying? Hell no.

I bought the core rule books and the adventurer's vault.

Hasbro gets no more cash from me than that until they can embrace a third party friendly agreement (think GSL).

If my attitude kills the D&D line then someone else will pick up the slack, I am sure of it.

If on the other hand, they revise their GSL, I have about 300$ worth of supplements saved on Amazon I'd buy. I'd consider getting these too.

What does 3rd party support have to do with the OP's question?

I think the displays are the assorted decks of cards, but I'm not entirely sure on that. Might be worth going onto Wizard's product site and checking a few SKUs out to be sure.

Dracorat said:

I'm fairly certain it's just different artwork on otherwise 8 exactly the same decks.

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See, that's what I was thinking too. I wasn't quite sure because if there's eight classes in PHB 1, and the 'power card display' has eight decks, I figured, "hey, maybe wotc will let me buy one of each deck in a big box or something".
What makes you fairly certain it's eight decks of the same thing?

Dracorat said:

They are also putting out other deck types "Martial Powers" - which tells me that to get variety, you go with the different product lines, not buying more decks of the same line.

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Yep; they've got the PHB 1 power card decks for each class plus the 'power card display' box, then they've got the martial power card decks for each class plus the 'martial power card display box', and they've also got the PHB 2 power card decks for each class plus the 'PHB 2 power card display' box.
It does appear that wotc is trying to sell more game related 'use at the table' stuff. We got dungeon tiles, minis, and now, power cards. I wonder if they'll ever make 'MM 1 monster cards', 'MM 2 monster cards', etc...?

Dracorat said:

Will I be buying? Hell no.
I bought the core rule books and the adventurer's vault.
Hasbro gets no more cash from me than that until they can embrace a third party friendly agreement (think GSL).

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I will agree that i'm not happy with the way the whole 'GSL/open gaming' thing went. I got into 3.x pretty late in it's life cycle [around 2006], and i've been able to pick up a very large amount of third party stuff for very cheap [especially now thanks to the december 31st close date].
I'm with you to a point; by not having the same degree of 'open gaming' that 3.x had, 4E may not be as good in some areas as 3.x was due to the third party publishers.

Dracorat said:

If my attitude kills the D&D line then someone else will pick up the slack, I am sure of it.
If on the other hand, they revise their GSL, I have about 300$ worth of supplements saved on Amazon I'd buy. I'd consider getting these too.

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I don't think your attitude would kill the line unless the vast majority of gamers also held it, however I do applaud you for holding to your principles and 'sticking to your guns' because [I assume] of the GSL.
For everybody's sake, I DO hope that wotc does in fact revise the GSL; third party publishers can make products that add to the game in new and different ways, ways that wotc wouldn't. I'm not holding my breath on this though.

Obryn said:

I would be stunned if they were. I think (hope) that the DDI cards are a place-holder. They're ugly!
Impressively, it looks like third parties can create their own card templates for the DDI builder. I look forward to this.

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I agree that they are ugly as well! Here's to hoping the printed cards are better.

DracoSuave said:

What does 3rd party support have to do with the OP's question?
I think the displays are the assorted decks of cards, but I'm not entirely sure on that. Might be worth going onto Wizard's product site and checking a few SKUs out to be sure.

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How do I check out the SKUs?

DracoSuave said:

What does 3rd party support have to do with the OP's question?

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Everything, since he asked if I'd be buying and that's part of my answer.

jephlewis said:

I don't think your attitude would kill the line unless the vast majority of gamers also held it, however I do applaud you for holding to your principles and 'sticking to your guns' because [I assume] of the GSL.
For everybody's sake, I DO hope that wotc does in fact revise the GSL; third party publishers can make products that add to the game in new and different ways, ways that wotc wouldn't. I'm not holding my breath on this though.

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Latest news on the GSL front from Scott Rouse is that it's coming after January 4 (WotC is closed from Christmas through January 4)
All I want for Christmas is a revised GSL - Wizards Community