Considering the anticipation and guessing leading up to the announcement, the silence in the room after the unveling was palpable. Even though they owned three (and were announcing their fourth), SOE isn't known for their Online Trading Card Games. Being a member of press, I had advance notice of the announcement and knew some of the details so I was quite giddy and excited. I couldn't wait for Legends of Norrath: Oathbound to be finally be available so I could start playing. Based upon the interest I saw the day after the announcement, I am going to give the audience the benefit of the doubt and say it was a stunned silence.
With the basics of the game mechanics announced that evening, we had to wait until the next day for a full Q&A session with the developers from Sony Denver as well as the Producers from Everquest and Everquest II to get all of our questions answered. Well, all that could be answered in an hour. Smedley was on hand - he's particularly excited about the game. Apparently, he's a Magic: The Gathering Online fanatic with a 16,000+ card collection and challenged anyone in the room to take him on… No one took him up.
These cards are assigned to your Station Account - not your "EQ/EQII" account. The cards are shared and can be used in either game or in a standalone client. There are currently no game-specific cards. Furthermore, if you should decide to play at a later date and are not an EQ player (I am not), you can play the game through the stand-alone, you simply don't receive the advantage of the free starter deck. You need only have a Station Account. Packs (not single cards) will drop as loot throughout both EQ and EQII. They are an extra drop and do not affect the loot tables except to add to them. Scott Hartsman of Everquest II stated that while "general card drops are common, drops in general are rare enough to be fun". They are similar to chest loot in EQII - green con or higher - and though Clint Worley didn't give the specifics of the drop type for Everquest, both producers made it absolutely clear that the card drops were designed to work with the same mechanic in both games.
One of the larger confusions of the Q&A session regarded the interface. The game interface between players is a UI (user interface) element within the game client. It is no different than an inventory panel or chat channel. It is not a separate window. Because it can be maximized and minimized at will within the game, you can play while healing, spawn-camping or simply hanging out. It is a card game and therefore turn-based. Need to take your turn at the next spawn? Minimize the window and take your turn. Concern was also expressed as to whether Sony Denver had played Magic: The Gathering and taken lessons from the granddaddy TCG game. Their pedigree currently includes Starchamber, Auto Assault TCG Online, Lord of the Rings TCG Online, Star Trek TCG Online, Pirates CCG Online and Stargate TCG Online. One of the lessons they wanted to assure the audience they had learned from their experience was regarding power creep. Successive expansions in any game (MMO or TCG) results in power creep. Continual balance against previous design is very difficult unless you design down and playing with less powerful skills or cards is simply not fun. This is one of the reasons trading cards go into retirement. To help prevent power creep, the designers of Sony Denver work with rarity differently than traditional design. Rather than make rare cards/items more powerful, they make them more specialized. This does give them an advantage but balanced by a cost. A deck of common cards is quite simply easier to use than a deck of rares - and probably more efficient. It's the combination of the two that makes for the best deck. This is where trading comes in. Should you never want to buy a card it is an option. Because they drop as loot you're bound to find one - eventually! But, (barring the aforementioned legal issues with gambling) the cards are tradeable with other players. There is also guild support within the game (although I didn't have enough time to view this when I played.) Worried about card farmers? Smedley made sure that everyone in the room knew that he would have no patience for farming of the cards and secondary market sales. Card sharks beware! After the Q&A the attendees were let loose on 50 PCs for Ѕ hour a piece for four hours. The PCs were never empty. I snuck my way in and played for a while.
Support creatures/characters, items that work with your archetype, weapons for your class, and the four quests…all of these are accounted for in the deck wizard. Play is designed to be familiar to the MMO player. Terms are expressed in what is familiar. "Your avatar is like your characters." "Your deck is like your inventory." This is consistent throughout the tutorial and gives the game a very familiar feel to the TCG-uninitiated. Gameplay is even more familiar. You begin with your avatar vs. another player as you both place a level 2 quest (each of you has chosen a level 2, 4, 5 and 6 quest). There are two win conditions: complete four quests or defeat the opposing avatar. You do not have to complete your own four quests, simply four quests.
I'm a mother of two boys, ages 11 and 13 and live in the chaos that ensues. I've a permanent disability that keeps me homebound, so books, kids, games and books are my constant companions. Oh, and books, too. *grins*
My children both play games so I often play them first, getting to know exactly how something may effect my sensitive and easily stimulated older child vs. my stoic and imperturbable younger.
I like games for games; for the pure enjoyment of them and believe that no game is wholly bad, though some are real stinkers.
I also have the dexterity of a camel in mittens so find playing FPSs difficult (and I also don't like the gore) and RTSs at times can stump me. I just can't seem to move quickly enough to keep up with them. Some of my favorite games are arcade games and I'll spend 3-5 years on the same 5-6 levels because I just never get any better. But, I have fun.
