Playtest Application

alek wrote:

Can we assume that all playtests games will be played via web? If not it'll be impossible to maintain confidentiality as playing in our local groups will automatically reveal the cards to others

My playgroup has previously had a playtesting group. They kept to the letter of the NDA and we knew nothing before the set was published.

Juggernaut1981 wrote:

alek wrote:

Can we assume that all playtests games will be played via web? If not it'll be impossible to maintain confidentiality as playing in our local groups will automatically reveal the cards to others

My playgroup has previously had a playtesting group. They kept to the letter of the NDA and we knew nothing before the set was published.

And that is exactly the way it should be handled for future expansionsn.

Ankha wrote:

HalldirLotharos wrote:

7) Pick any card idea from this forum (that hasn't been picked yet in this thread), include a link to it, and describe why it is or is not balanced. Feel free to compare to existing cards, give examples of a potentially broken combo, etc.

vekn.net/index.php/forum/30-expansion-sets-a-card-ideas/9743-card-idea-month-of-madness

Wow. A second victim of the Month of Madness.
What did I wrote earlier? "The whole joke aspect of the card (where the text itself is a haiku) didn't elude you, did it?"

Hehe. If they pick this card, I don't think they will be picked as playtesters. They should make another attempt maybe. Or maybe this card will be included in the next sett. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Ankha wrote:

HalldirLotharos wrote:

7) Pick any card idea from this forum (that hasn't been picked yet in this thread), include a link to it, and describe why it is or is not balanced. Feel free to compare to existing cards, give examples of a potentially broken combo, etc.

vekn.net/index.php/forum/30-expansion-sets-a-card-ideas/9743-card-idea-month-of-madness

Wow. A second victim of the Month of Madness.
What did I wrote earlier? "The whole joke aspect of the card (where the text itself is a haiku) didn't elude you, did it?"

I hope you guys DO know what happens when the counter reaches 3 ...

1. Stewart MacLeod, stewart h macleod at hotmail dot com, Melbourne Australia.
2. Absolutely, yes.
3. We have casual games in Melbourne every two to three weeks, with 4-6 players of varying skill levels playing 2-3 decks over the day. We also have tournaments 3-4 times a year, with an average turnout of 10-15 players.
4. Averaged out over weeks without a casual game, approximately 3-4 hours per week.
5. Favourite deck designs are Crazy Combo/Trick, Star Minion.
6. Yes, this would not be a problem.
7. www.vekn.net/index.php/forum/30-expansion-sets-a-card-ideas/9713-card-idea-on-the-list
On the List
Cardtype: Master
0 pool
Play this card on a ready minion. If this minion is titled this card costs two additional pool. The minion with this card is considered Red List.
I’m a fan of Trophy decks, but if I look at a card and consider it an auto-inclusion there might be something a little off. As currently designed, Trophy-hunting decks tend to only need to burn a small number of minions as the Trophies are so powerful. By making it much easier to List a minion, we’re thus creating significant change to the Trophy-hunter design space.
If we keep the design intent as a Red Listing master card, the most obvious methods of dampening the card’s effectiveness would be to increase the cost (costs pool), limit the opportunity for it to be played (clan-, title-, sect- or capacity- restriction, on either the target or the user), or limit the benefit (the effect is limited to a single turn, for example).
Where possible, a card's limitations should make some thematic sense; the card should be an equal substitute rather than a complete replacement for existing similar cards.
Additionally, more words tends to create an inelegant card, with too many restrictions or exceptions leading to confused players - something I learnt the hard way from my earliest drafts of Kindred of the East.

On the List v2
Cardtype: Master
1 pool
Requires a Sabbat vampire.
Put this card on a ready non-Sabbat vampire controlled by another Methuselah. The vampire with this card becomes Red List. During your discard phase, burn 1 pool or burn this card. Burn this card if this vampire has a title.

(Note that the redesign allows you to cycle the card for 1 pool, should your opponents only control titled non-Sabbat vampires. This was a nod toward the master-heavy nature of many Trophy-hunting decks; this design allows you to potentially get rid of the card if you have a hand jammed with the Trophies themselves)

8. Top three things to improve in VTES would be
* echoing Juggernaut 1981, clarity in definitions such as ‘steal’, ‘move’, etc. – I recall Jyhad’s copy of Bum’s Rush had “attack a minion” and I scrambled to the rulebook to work out what special rule ‘Attack’ might be...! I suspect that defining such terms explicitly would benefit the game considerably.
* streamlined combat; between pseudo-phases like ‘before range is determined’, ‘before strikes’, ‘at the end of the round’ etc, newer players can be stumped. Even now, experienced players sometimes hesitate when timing their press versus Taste of Vitae.
* more distinctive sects. Sects seemed very different from one another in the roleplaying game, but the range of Discipline-specific over sect- or title-specific cards means that these differences have become progressively blurrier as the card pool has grown.
9. I think that some of the best answers to this question have already been put up! That said, the first thing that came to mind is “describe your local playgroup”, in that I think we’ll see geographic blocs of playtesters start to form as this thread grows. In Melbourne, for example, we have some of Australia/NZ’s top-rated players (Jason Ryan, Ivor Blockley, Simon Reed) as regular attendees to tournaments. On the other end of the scale, we have newer players who are still learning the joy of simpler combos like Concealed Weapon + SNS + DBR + Graverobbing A health-check of the depth and breadth of experience of a city-based group is thus a good way of understanding the quality of the testing they’ll perform.

cheers
Disco Stu
Prince of Melbourne, Australia

I'd like to join!
1)
Joscha Duell,
Joscha.DuellATgmxDOTde,
Frankfurt am Main, Germany

2)
Yes I do.

3)
I play in casual games every other week and join in 4 to 5 tournaments per year. More often I meet with a buddy to play training games and tune and discuss decks and cards.

4)
I spend appr. 15 hours per week to VtES.

5)
My favourite decks, among many others, are toolbox and Tremere/!Tremere.


6)
I can afford the time to play at least two games per week for 1 month.

7)
I'm refering to the entry "Conditional Combat-cards" to the card "With Benefits".

www.vekn.net/index.php/forum/30-expansion-sets-a-card-ideas/9978-conditional-combat-cards

With Benefits

Only usable in a combat in which this vampire was attempting to bleed. Only usable at close range, before strikes are chosen.
Put this card on the opposing minion. That minion gets -1 intercept against the this minion.
As above, with Strike: combat ends.

This card has the drawback in being usable in one condition: combat after bleed. There is an added only usable at close range which makes it even more conditional. It has no blood cost and its really strong effect comes only with PRE. It is comparable to Unholy Pennance, which gives you the S:CE on pre with a nice +1 bleed on PRE for 1 blood without a condition to play it. So at first glance it is a well balanced card.
Yet I think this card is too good. If played in a weenie to midcap presence-bleeddeck this card would be a monster. You bleed like hell, if you get blocked you can S:CE (given you have PRE) AND have the big advantage that your big bleeds are harder to block next turn. This card can be exploited easily by an already very good decktype. That flawes the design.


8)
Bringing non-Camarilla-vote-decks at par. Although there is not much missing after the invention of Reckless Agitation and the ease of gaining titles as an Anarch. Another good pol. action for non-cams would be great.
The Research- and Bahari-theme need a work-over.
Some more cards for biggies like Into Thin Air.
Apart ot these points I think the game is very fine. One of the most important points for me is how careful its design was developed through the last 17 years. I think LSJ and his team did an extraordinary great job in developing and designing. I hope we can say the same after the next expansion.

9)I think it's tough to judge by a form if someone is a good playtester. So I can't think of any other good question. I think you can better judge someone by the quality of his contribution he makes later and decide then, if you take his entries into consideration.