This year, PAX brought many gamers an opportunity to get their eager hands on one game or another, but one genre of gameplay I was not expecting was a Trading Card Game (TCG).
If you followed our PAX Prime 2010 coverage for Marvel Super Hero Squad Online, then you know that the upcoming free-to-play MMORPG from The Amazing Society has a sibling card game franchise that will be available to play in-game as a mini-game of sorts. And if you didn’t follow our coverage (shame on you!) you know now. As of press time, not many details are out in the open. In fact, the Wizards co-developed game doesn’t even have a distributor yet.
However, Gazillion Entertainment was promoting the property by giving away tons of decks as part of the PAX SWAG bag, and to those who asked for them. Free lessons were even available to those walking the show floor. iTZKooPA and I needed to rest our dogs so we sat down and learned a new game. After just about five, yes five minutes, he and I were playing like pros joes. Rounds go pretty quick, and the end of the set of matches left us 1-1.
This post is geared to get your familiar with the rules. Hopefully, when the game is released you too can own the board (figuratively).
All that is required to play is something to keep count with for the Power Count, an even amount of cards in the deck among the players, and a coin or die.
The card to the above-right is what every card looks like essentially, minus one key item that I’ll mention in a bit.
There are Five(5) Core things you want to focus on:
The Power Point: This number is required at least by the Power Point Counter. If the number is higher than the current power count, then it cannot be played.
The Max Damage Counter: This number defines the largest amount of damage that card can specifically do, excluding the proc effects and being blocked.
Type of Damage: This is what type of damage the card attacking is using, and the card blocking must be able to block. Some cards can attack with more than one type of damage, or require extra blocking.
Blockable Damage: This determines what type of damage this card can block. Blocking does not need the Power Point to be equal to or less than the current Power Count. Strategy comes into play here. Sometimes the card you could block with is much better than the card it would block, so you may want to risk going to your deck.
Proc Effect: Secondary Effect that the card has when certain measures are met. EX – Specific amount of damage has been dealt, certain cards in your hands. Not all cards have these.
Hit the jump to whet your appetite on SHSO TCG and see Mordil and iTZKooPA duke it out. Continue Reading
We Lore Hounds have been taking the wait-and-see approach toGuild Wars 2. We’ve feared getting over-hyped and have quietly waited for ArenaNet to put money where its mouth is. The company recently responded.
The folks at ArenaNet were kind enough to invite us back to their private booth during PAX Prime 2010 to see said money. And the demo was absolutely awesome. However, some questions remained unanswered, while more still were created.
ArenaNet’s Eric Flannum upgraded the awesome to awesomesauce by agreeing to sit down with iTZKooPA for an interview after he spent a half hour giving a thorough demo. During the grilling, iTZKooPA and Flannum discuss the amount of voiceover work present, how each player’s story is told, the art style, system requirements, how Guild Wars 2 will address the flaws of the original (jumping!) and so much more.
Mordil and Stormkiller must have plotted my untimely demise together. Stormkiller, popularly known as the “Yawning Ferret,” has captured his second contest crown thanks to his witty inclusion of the DS/Wii franchise Trauma Center. The caption was such a complete 180 to the expected jargon that it caught us all by surprise, pulling a unanimous victory.
However, Stormkiller apparently does not want to reap the rewards. In lieu of going to the second place finisher, we’ve decided to let Stormkiller name the award winner, although Stormkiller will go down in the records books as wearing the official crown. Stormkiller’s choice will receive a copy of Fallen Earth, the difficult-to-find Riot Singed skin, a beta key to a Trion Worlds game, a WoW loot card and more.
All you other contestants better start grovelling or bribing Stormkiller.
Want some free SWAG? Good, here’s your chance to earn it. Calm down, this contest isn’t as complicated or challenging as our E3 contest. The reward for winning will still be enticing. It just won’t arrive in a large box as part of a menagerie of items.
The task is simple. That picture, that one up there ^^, is without a caption. Your duty, should you chose to accept it, is to leave a comment with the best caption you can come up with (be sure to use a real e-mail address!). It can be inventive, witty, eyebrow-raising or unusual. Whatever gets the Lore Hounds to react will be deemed the winner.
A little background information: We’re hanging with a Trion Worlds booth babe showcasing Rift: Planes of Telara.
Most of the rewards for winning The Finale will be digital, so everyone should enter. If you’re outside of the United States, you’ll forfeit the physical prize(s). Fear not, the major prize does not need shipping. As far as I know, there are no region restrictions on the digital SWAG. Loot includes a highly sought after League of Legends Singed Skin, another entire MMOG, a Rift comic and a WoW loot card.
Your mission starts now. You have four days (October 7) before time runs out.
/me lights fuse, runs.
Unlike the results for the first caption contest, this one wasn’t even close. Our winner took the extra time to discover Mordil and I’s newfound addiction, while managing to make each of us laugh out loud. Sexual innuendo, a motif I expected a lot of given the subject material, was avoided for a more wholesome topic. Well, as long as you consider destruction of private property and theft wholesome.
That’s right, the unanimous winner was Luanmali, with the first entry:
“Can you believe we actually found ‘Brave Firefighters’?”
“Go get some bolt cutters. I want souvenirs.”
There was no tie for second this time, but other contestants brought the lawlz with a reference to Ghost Busters, creative sexual innuendos and randomness.
Luanmail scored a copy of Fallen Earth with 30-days free, some DDO/LotRO points and if located in the United States, some physical SWAG as well.
Keep up the good work, and stay tuned for the third, and final, PAX Prime 2010 caption contest coming on Monday! It’ll have the best SWAG yet, including a highly sought afterLeague of Legends Singed Skin, a chance for more physical goodies in the form of a WoW loot card and another entire game.
Want some free SWAG? Good, here’s your chance to earn it. Calm down, this contest isn’t as complicated or challenging as our E3 contest. The reward for winning will still be enticing. It just won’t arrive in a large box as part of a menagerie of items.
The task is simple. That picture, that one up there ^^, is without a caption. Your duty, should you chose to accept it, is to leave a comment with the best caption you can come up with (be sure to use a real e-mail address!). It can be inventive, witty, eyebrow-raising or unusual. Whatever gets the Lore Hounds to react will be deemed the winner.
A little background information: We’re “playing” a fireman game – bonus points if you figure out the game – from Sega at the Sega party located inside Gameworks (a Dave & Busters type establishment for the east coasters).
The reward is digital, so everyone can enter. As far as I know, there are no region restrictions.
Your mission starts now. You have four days (September 27) before time runs out.
I swear it was just yesterday, in the dawning hours of Lore Hound, that we couldn’t get enough of Update 4. Now we’re already on Update 7?! If there’s one thing you can say about Dungeons and Dragons Online, it’s not that the game is lacking in content. But don’t think that Turbine is just churning all this junk out on an assembly line or something. Quite the opposite. In fact, Update 7 is the largest one they’ve implemented yet since taking over the franchise.
Two new races (or should I say… half-races)? DX11 implementation? New raid and adventure pack (the latter of which happens to be free)? And, knowing how much players love convenience, a massive upgrade to the UI and Auction House.
Reluctant to give an exact date, Turbine does admit that the content patch will be available sometime in October. Until then, check out our preview video…
“Hey Pat?” “Yeah?” “What the hell does this have to do with Super Hero Squad?”
The ballots are in and it was Bush-Gore close. In fact, determining the winner for the first of our PAX Prime 2010 caption contests came down to the final vote. Luckily for James, we actually go by the popular vote, not some wacky electoral college. His caption took the crown thanks to his attention to detail. The genius scored himself a copy of Fallen Earth with 30-days free, some DDO/LotRO points and a weapon code for the downloadable FPS from Zombie Studios Blacklight: Tango Down.
Phanttas and Vayder tied for second, so we’ve decided to send them a runner-up prize. Check your email later tonight for your phat lootz! Stay tuned for the next PAX Prime 2010 caption task and more of our interview coverage.
This year, PAX brought many gamers an opportunity to get their eager hands on one game or another, but one genre of gameplay I was not expecting was a Trading Card Game (TCG).
The Max Damage Counter: This number defines the largest amount of damage that card can specifically do, excluding the proc effects and being blocked.
