Preview: Magic the Gathering Tactics

[ahrnygoose]

Damn, I got excited until I heard about the booster "spells." Makes sense, though, if they aren't going to charge for subscription. Oh well. I'm interested to see how well this does.

 

[Ohlookit'sMatty]

I'm new to playing Magic myself, picked it up after a gaming convention a few months back,& I've been enjoying it ever since // I can see why there has been such a boom in people playing the game // I also love eBay for been able to to buy loads of cards cheap

-M

 

[Gyrefalcon]

I like the concept and it looks like the delivery may be as good as it appears. Still, I don't care much for online games since I rarely have the time to dedicate without interruption to play online and some of them don't have enough content if you don't. The $4 price tag on the virtual cards is a definite turn off. I might as well go buy some nice physical cards if I'm going to spend that much.

 

[Jodah]

I was sold on the idea until I heard that it's exactly as expensive as buying REAL cards and you're stuck buying booster packs until you can get the cards you want. I'd much rather pay for a game that lets you earn cards inside the game itself rather than a "free" game that is unplayable unless you start funneling your money into it.

Pretty much this. I like Duels of the Planeswalker because I can play a game or two whenever I want without paying to be competitive. DotP has its flaws but it is what I think most people want in a MTG video game, an inexpensive alternative to actual MTG card games. Something you can play when you have ten or fifteen minutes and want a MTG fix but don't have someone nearby to play against.

 

[Telperion]

I was sold on the idea until I heard that it's exactly as expensive as buying REAL cards and you're stuck buying booster packs until you can get the cards you want. I'd much rather pay for a game that lets you earn cards inside the game itself rather than a "free" game that is unplayable unless you start funneling your money into it.

Pretty much this. I like Duels of the Planeswalker because I can play a game or two whenever I want without paying to be competitive. DotP has its flaws but it is what I think most people want in a MTG video game, an inexpensive alternative to actual MTG card games. Something you can play when you have ten or fifteen minutes and want a MTG fix but don't have someone nearby to play against.

+1

I understand the business concept, but in reality that 50 - 60 bucks you are "saving" is just the tip of the ice berg. People shell out incredible amounts of money into these games. If you are guaranteed to get at least one rare card per' booster then for a lowly 400 bucks you are pretty much guaranteed to get a deck that's going to beat every newb senseless. It may sound like the height of madness, but offline card buying / trading has tons of money moving in it. O' and they better have a card trading service built into the game.

 

[MaxFan]

I was sold on the idea until I heard that it's exactly as expensive as buying REAL cards and you're stuck buying booster packs until you can get the cards you want. I'd much rather pay for a game that lets you earn cards inside the game itself rather than a "free" game that is unplayable unless you start funneling your money into it.

Pretty much this. I like Duels of the Planeswalker because I can play a game or two whenever I want without paying to be competitive. DotP has its flaws but it is what I think most people want in a MTG video game, an inexpensive alternative to actual MTG card games. Something you can play when you have ten or fifteen minutes and want a MTG fix but don't have someone nearby to play against.

+1

I understand the business concept, but in reality that 50 - 60 bucks you are "saving" is just the tip of the ice berg. People shell out incredible amounts of money into these games. If you are guaranteed to get at least one rare card per' booster then for a lowly 400 bucks you are pretty much guaranteed to get a deck that's going to beat every newb senseless. It may sound like the height of madness, but offline card buying / trading has tons of money moving in it. O' and they better have a card trading service built into the game.

Magic Online already exists in addition to the paper game. What, another way to spend tons of money on cards? Do not need.

 

[Eric the Orange]

I would rather pay full price (like 60$) for the game and get all the cards, and then have 10-15$ DLC for full expansion sets than the randomness that comes with boosters. I know that's how they plan on making there money but if that's how it's gonna be then it's a no buy for me.

 

[MrPatience]

Sounds pretty cool. Been waiting for a FTP-MTG game for some time.
Pyroclasm is a *****.

 

[Throwitawaynow]

Can you tell us if there is any other way to get new cards other than buying?

 

[Telperion]

Pyroclasm is a *****.

Assuming the spell is included in the game, and assuming it works anything like the original card. The video makes it obvious that we are talking about a pretty heavy remix of the original rules here, after all.

 

[Fearzone]

Looks like a cross between M:TG and Eye of Judgment. Wish they put as much effort into making EoJ work as this, because that was a good core game (which in some ways I liked better than Magic) with fun unit designs and a funky general art style which didn't get the full chance it deserved. Well maybe this explains why the servers were shut down last September.

Speaking of which, $4 sounds very pricey for virtual cards, since what if Sony decides to pull the plug on this one too.

Still it looks hot and I'm looking forward to it, and Sony will probably wiggle at least a few booster pack sales from me.

 

[WopWopWop]

Since when has Prodigal Pyromancer been a classic?

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

They should just do this like every other card video game. Pay 30-40 bucks for the game itself, then earn in-game money from beating missions and multiplayer matches and whatnot, then let us spend the in-game money on cards.

That's the only way I play TCGs.

Seriously, when all my friends were blowing hundreds of dollars on Yu-Gi-Oh cards, I was sitting there with my GBA game.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

Chomping at the bit, eh?

Allow me to refer you to this little piece of advice Mr Tito...


OT: I'm not into the whole card game thing, not since I stopped collecting Pokemon cards when I was at school like 10 years ago! However this sort of card game/video game crossover might encourage me to take a look all the same.

 

[Senaro]

They should just do this like every other card video game. Pay 30-40 bucks for the game itself, then earn in-game money from beating missions and multiplayer matches and whatnot, then let us spend the in-game money on cards.

That's the only way I play TCGs.

Seriously, when all my friends were blowing hundreds of dollars on Yu-Gi-Oh cards, I was sitting there with my GBA game.

That's exactly it. Now instead of introducing a cheaper alternative to buying cards, you're stuck spending just as much money as you were on real cards on digital ones that you can only use in one place.

They might as well go ahead and make a tabletop version of this or something. I'll have to check out the starter decks to see how the gameplay goes, though. It looks good, I'm just sad that it's going to be too expensive to actually seriously.

 

[Ashoten]

I was sold on the idea until I heard that it's exactly as expensive as buying REAL cards...

Ugh, really? This is exactly why I never got into MTG Online back in the day. I'm not going to blow $4 on a "virtual" booster pack.

Lame...

Yeah if you got to spend money on the game to be competitive then its not free to play. That's why I stopped playing MTG. You can never stop buying cards and rich kids win. Also WTF is with the virtual cards costing the same as real cards? they should put codes on real booster packs that you could enter to get the virtual ones.

P.S. someone is going to reply telling me that they can beat anyone with a starter deck. You are lying. I have seen unbeatable decks that require a very specific set of cards that can only be obtained through buying a crap ton of boosters and pre-mades.

 

[MikoSquiz]

This sounded like my idealized fantasy of what a game could be, right up until to the installment-plan cost. I'd pay $60 for the whole game, but buying it in $4 installments is right out. I'm so weak willed that I'd end up shelling out anyway, so I'll just have to give even trying it in the first place a miss. Shame.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

Uhm, no thank you. If I'm going to waste my money on cards, I would rather waste money on real cards. Hate to say it, but I'll just stick to the real cards. The only appeal of this is the small changes and the online multiplayer which stops you from having to have friends in real life (which shouldn't be too hard, considering you play Magic. -zing!- (I play Magic too, it was only a joke)) but that's about it.

 

[mattaui]

Magic's one of those games I try to get back into every few years, and then I realize after spending a few hundred bucks I've barely scratched the surface of what I need to properly compete with the guys down at the local shop building single decks that cost two to three times that. It seems to have gotten much worse with the recent expansions with the introduction of mythic rares, too. And that's assuming I can pay Internet prices rather than considerably more to buy them at retail, which was always the problem I had with MTG Online and now it looks like MTG Tactics is going to cost about the same.

I've always enjoyed the mechanics of the game, but it's an exceedingly expensive hobby if you want to play to win, and this version of it doesn't sound any better, which is a shame.

Of course, I just remembered my Christmas gift from the Escapist here was a Black Lotus badge. Oh, the irony.

 

[Souplex]

S'long as it's turn based it's an actual strategy game. Soupie loves strategy. RTSes aren't strategies, as your strategy is penalized by your ability to deal with the interface and use macros.