scoop: 4e gamma world

[ProfessorCirno]

Nobody is shoving their hand in your pocket and taking your money. The game comes with a deck of cards. If that is as much as you want to spend on the game, *it will work just fine as is*. Read the transcript, it is plain as day. For those that are completists or rabid fans, they are selling the option of having more. It is an **option**!

What is hilarious is your outrage about a board game that won't be released for nine months, and about which we know next to nothing.

Jay

What's hilarious is that you'll defend anything, no matter what it is.

It's a douchebag move to force players to buy randomized decks in order to get supplemental material. Period. When I buy a book, I buy a known quantity. I know what's in it. It's not going to change. If there's things in the book I want, I get it. I don't have that with booster decks. Have fun buying more and more booster decks to get your Plant Body mutation, all while drowning in your ten million Third Arm cards.

There is, once again, nothing that the booster decks add that couldn't have been done with a goddamn little booklet, or hell, a chart. Yeah, remember the original Gamma World that had a chart? You didn't need to pay money to have a chance at maybe being able to use part of the chart.

This is nothing ore then an effort to squeeze out more money for almost no work done. It's an move, and it's hilariously disrespectful to the customers. CCGs and RPGs are kept seperate for a reason.

 

[Turtlejay]

I'm glad you know me so well! I know as much as anyone else here about this stupid board game, which is next to nothing. What I *hate*, is your negativity, and your seemingly insatiable need to knock down what other people build. You hate on topics up and down the General Forum, and this is no different.

You know *nothing* about the nature of the booster packs, all you see is the word 'random', and the froth begins to flow. Why don't you try just letting those of us with something constructive to say post for awhile, you can take a Valium and lie down for awhile.

Jay

 

[M.L. Martin]

I'm generally willing to give game designers the benefit of the doubt on things . . .

But the way these were being promoted on the podcast of the seminar that I listened to last night made it sound like "buy boosters to power up your character!", which I think is just a bad approach all around.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

I'm glad you know me so well! I know as much as anyone else here about this stupid board game, which is next to nothing. What I *hate*, is your negativity, and your seemingly insatiable need to knock down what other people build. You hate on topics up and down the General Forum, and this is no different.

You know *nothing* about the nature of the booster packs, all you see is the word 'random', and the froth begins to flow. Why don't you try just letting those of us with something constructive to say post for awhile, you can take a Valium and lie down for awhile.

Jay

Tsk, just couldn't stay away from the personal judgements, could you?

Lets look at the facts we know.

1) Part of Gamma World is based on cards
(I'm fine with this)
2) These cards effect the players and provide additional randomized options
(I'm fine with this)
3) Cards will be sold
(I'm fine with this)
4) ...In randomized booster packs
(Here's the issue)

How about instead of whinging about me disliking it, you defend it? Tell me how the randomized booster packs add to the game. By all means, show me the good part in "Hey, now I have a chance to not get what I want when I buy a product!"

 

[Knightfall]

I'm generally willing to give game designers the benefit of the doubt on things . . .

But the way these were being promoted on the podcast of the seminar that I listened to last night made it sound like "buy boosters to power up your character!", which I think is just a bad approach all around.

I must agree with you, Matthew.

Plus, there doesn't seem to be an option to play the game without the cards. Sure, you don't have to buy the booster packs but what do you want to bet the best powers are only available in the boosters.

Plus, after reading through the link that Phaezen posted, I'm very disappointed that the game only has 10 levels. That's just lame.

 

[coyote6]

I imagine you'll be able to find the text of all the cards on the Internet soon enough after release. Make up your own charts, and roll rather than draw.

 

[Umbran]

It's an move...

Watch your language.

Really. We have a language filter, but if you invoke it, that means you're over the line. If you are too hot-headed about this to keep a civil tongue, you should not be posting on the subject.

Everyone, I hope this is clear. I don't care how much you hate a particular business or design choice, you will speak in a polite manner on these board.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

I imagine you'll be able to find the text of all the cards on the Internet soon enough after release. Make up your own charts, and roll rather than draw.

And oh, the "Piracy is good/bad" arguments that will bring about

 

[Hussar]

I must agree with you, Matthew.

Plus, there doesn't seem to be an option to play the game without the cards. Sure, you don't have to buy the booster packs but what do you want to be the best powers are only available in the boosters.

Plus, after reading through the link that Phaezen posted, I'm very disappointed that the game only has 10 levels. That's just lame.

I'm not so sure about the idea that the best powers will only be available in the boosters.

After all, unless WOTC takes a radical right turn from their design principles in 4e, the booster abilities will have to be balanced with the ones that come with the core game. Sure, there will be some different stuff, but, it's not like MtG where you have cards that are blatantly better than others. You can't and still have a system balanced on the 4e paradigm.

The ten levels thing means that the game is for Heroic tier only. It does fit rather well with the Gamma World setting, where the PC's aren't meant to become top dogs in the setting. One would hope, though, that they will slow down advancement considerably from 4e. You could be blowing through a campaign in very short order otherwise.

I look at the cards like any other optional doodad they come out with. It's fine, if you want them. If you don't, don't sweat it and move on. It won't likely affect your game all that much.

 

[M.L. Martin]

How about instead of whinging about me disliking it, you defend it? Tell me how the randomized booster packs add to the game. By all means, show me the good part in "Hey, now I have a chance to not get what I want when I buy a product!"

Actually, if done right, I can see this enhancing certain design goals--the wild, unpredictable, 'you never know what you'll get' element of GW mutations and tech. Plus, the randomization allows them to put out cards at a low price point, so DMs can pick up a booster or two as an impulse purchase or when they feel the deck starting to get stale.

Unfortunately, that direction doesn't seem to be the way they're going. From the podcast of Thursday's seminar, starting at about 39:47 to about 40:38

We also have coming up Gamma World booster cards, which is a place where you have an opportunity as a player to invest in making your character better, give yourself better options on the card draws. So things like powered armor, and fusion rifles, and really good, kick-butt mutations like the Gamma Eye and all sorts of fun things like that--a lot of those are in the boosters . . .

Now, if I were in charge of this, I'd also try to put out a full 'factory set' a few months later and make sure people knew it would be coming, so those who want a complete set but don't enjoy the random element can still get it. (This isn't feasible with miniatures, and undercuts the whole competitive side of TCG play, but I believe most other trading card companies do something like this. I know TSR did with the AD&D Trading Cards in the 1990s, and I can't imagine they were trendsetters.)