While the deckbuilding mechanic is no longer my problem with Star Wars: The Card Game, I am glad it was the first issue to be addressed. The tension I've seen here and elsewhere regarding set-based deckbuilding has given me much concern for the game's initial reception. I hope that fans of the saga will at least give it a chance before dismissing it as CCG blasphemy.

MarthWMaster said:

Yeah, this game definitely faces a bit of an uphill battle. Between those who are disappointed that it isn't the co-op game that was first announced, and those that are wary of the deckbuilding, there are going to be a fair number of detractors right out of the gate.

alpha5099 said:

You are assuming way to much about the detractors.  To say the game has an uphill battle because there are some vocal people that refuse to look at the game because it isn't co-op (and such people existed in opposition to the game being co-op originally) or don't like a deck building mechanic they've barely seen is pretty presumptuous.    The vast majority of the people that will buy this game are not going to be posting on the forums about it at all, let alone pre-release

herozeromes said:

Honestly where are you pulling this stuff from?  We understand you are mad at FFG but you are really grasping at straws that are not there.

ScottieATF said:

Perhaps rather than being brief I should have written my case more holistically, knowing that you would pick apart the literal meaning of my message. Indeed, while I've seen the vocal detractors online, as stated in my first message, I've also mentioned the game to CCG players at the LGSes I frequent, and to other friends who play casually, almost all of whom have expressed a neutral-to-negative opinion about the set-based system. I can't speak for other areas, obviously, but at least in my area, there does not seem to be much support for the game, other than the fact that it's Star Wars.

MarthWMaster said:

Marth I was not commenting on your post, yours just got wrapped up in quotes with his.  Though I do not understand why you are being so quick to get defensive.  It's a forum.  People agree and disagree on a forum.  You are viewing it as personal for some reason.

I think the deck building is very innovative and an exciting new take on things. I am glad to see FFG try something new. This game will be fine, not only does it have the Star Wars backing it up, it has an exciting new system behind it. Right now Star Wars is even hotter than usual due to the recent changes with Lucasfilm and the upcoming new films. The last two LCG's have sold better than any others I have seen and this one looks set to do the same.

ScottieATF said:

Except you only disagree. I have yet to read a post of yours that hasn't been a critique of someone else's post. So while I may have sounded like I took it personally, the truth is I was just a little bit bothered. Also, both of our posts were expressing the same opinion on the same issue, so I'm sure you can understand why it was difficult to decide whose argument was being criticized.

 The "negative/neutral" opinion, or for that matter the positive opinion, of the local playerbase is an oddly contagious thing. If one player starts expressing his strong negative to his friends, pretty soon that negativity is echoed back from disparate groups in the area. The same happens when one or two players start expressing very positive opinions. Experiment sometime with starting one of these chains and see what happens :)

Aside from that little musing, I have the opposite experience from my crowd. A lot of them seem to like the deck building concept, they like that the sets are themed and carry a natural "feel" to the deck, they like that there are fewer choices and that it is a lot quicker to build decks.

AshesFall said:

This, especially when very few or no one in the group has had a chance to actually play the game, let alone deckbuild. 

All but one person in my core gaming group has had a chance to demo the game and we all had a good time playing it. Most of us are hard core card gamers and have no problem with the deckbuilding. We have tons of card games where we deckbuild normally, this one seems like a refreshing change of pace.

I love what they're trying to do with the objectives/sets.

To bad i can't feel the same way about everything else surrounding this game.

Bolfa Fluffbelly said:

What dont you like about it? I ask this with all well meaning and out of curiosity, I simply dont really understand what's not to like. :)

The art is Awesome, there will be a lot of opportunity to build thematic and interesting decks. The light side has three ways to win (so far), destroying the death star itself with an action card and attacks, attacking the heart of the empire and destroying it, or damaging the empire through destroying three objectives. 

The gameplay itself seems interesting, your base resources are already in play (objectives), those selfsame objectives give strategic options in themselves. The battle systems seem interesting with three types of "action icons" already on the characters to allow different strategies and tactics, edge battles for uncertainty, strategy and card cycling, other abilities, events, fate effects and so on. 

Game is not even out yet and neither are the rules. It is a bit premature to decide if you like or dislike the game.

AshesFall said:

Yeah, the art is fantastic, i'll give you that. Almost makes me want to buy it only for the Leia card.

Still, i'm not sold about the objectives themself (i love the set/deckbuilding), they feel a bit flat to be honest. The DS dial is also something that bothers me, i would rather the dial be incorporated into the objectives. What i have seen so far i'm not really digging the gameplay with space/land battles and the force, it just feels a bit generic.

And as ******* pointed out, yes ofcourse it's to early to say if the game is good/Bad, it's not out yet. Going by that logic this forum would be pretty silent until release. I also know how hard it would be to make a SW game that would please all Star Wars fans… still, from what i have seen so far this is how i feel about the game in this stage of development.

My biggest concern is the DS-dial to be honest. It's pretty blah.

[ADMIN: Edited for content. Keep the discourse civil.]

Bolfa Fluffbelly said:

I can certainly understand your concern about the DS dial. It's one of the things I was/am a little hesitant about as well, it does feel a little weird with asymetrical victory conditions, where one side can wait out the clock doesnt it? :)

It's growing on me since the deck building preview though. I'm generally for everything that allows more options, theme and strategies in the game. The preview got me thinking about all the fun stuff they can do with the DS dial. Cards to slow it down, cards that stop it's advance with an objective placed on it that the empire must destroy before it can get moving again. The trench run as already seen in the preview. Maybe the empire can get a card they can play on it to give it an enhancement destroying laser attack once the dial rises to a certain number. The possibilities are very large both for added theme and strategy. And I like that a lot :).

I also suspect that with the right decks and feeling you can get a hectic struggle towards the end of the game. The empire is down two objectives with two turns left, can the rebels pull off those last attacks while the empire struggles to dominate the force (weighing the possibility of loosing a powerful character to defend with on the last turn because of the double focus on a comitted character) and marshal his defenses to hasten the end of the game and defend his objective?

These are my thoughts after turning the issue over for a good while in my head. :)