Greetings from the V:EKN Design Team!

The mid-round report from the playtesters arrived last week, and we've been taking a look at the feedback and deciding what changes we may want to make in preparation for Round Three. Personally, I take a fatalistic pleasure in watching the playtesters take our beautiful creations and smash them to bits. Partly for that reason, we're having the playtesters test a larger number of cards than the set will include.

Based on playtester feedback, some cards from Round One did not make the cut for Round Two and were sent back to the Design Team for further development. It is entirely possible that similar cuts will be made for Round Three. There are other reasons for testing more cards than will be in the set. Representing the World of Darkness source material well in V:TES is a high priority for us, and we want more than just our own opinions as to whether the cards we've designed reflect that world respectfully. We're also keen to have this set be comprised of the best cards we've designed for the needs they're intended to address. So, in some respects, we're treating the playtesters as having the role of a focus group for the larger V:TES community as well as having their normal playtesting responsibilities. We do have a clear direction and goal in mind, and we're using the feedback from the playtesters to determine which of the options we've created will get us to that goal

Among our additional tasks for Round Two is to determine which cards are certain to make the final cut for the set and are thereby approved for having artwork commissioned for them. Some cards received this approval after Round One, and we look forward to seeing more cards join them after Round Two. We won't be doing official sneak previews until the weeks leading up to the set's release sometime this summer. However, look for concept sketches in the coming Designers' Diary entries.

Regards,
Ben Peal and the V:EKN Design Team

Greetings from the V:EKN Design Team!

We're glad to announce that Round Two of playtest has begun! We're grateful for the effort and feedback that the playtesters gave into Round One, and the information they've provided us has allowed us to further shape, mold, and refine the set. To a large extent, the playtesters have more experience with playtesting V:TES cards than we designers have with designing them. As such, it's imperative that we in the Design Team trust the playtest teams, and as much as we're designing the cards, the playtest teams have a very clear and direct effect on how these cards develop. We very much look forward to their feedback in Round Two!

So, how is the set shaping up? As we mentioned previously, the crypt will be entirely Group 5 Sabbat, filling in and rounding out needs and holes for the standard Sabbat clans. As for the library, we are indeed developing Sabbat-specific political actions. It's a tough challenge to come up with a political action card on the level of Reckless Agitation or (gasp!) Parity Shift that is still interesting and creative in its own way. We're presently testing half a dozen or so political actions, some being pool loss/redistribution schemes, some being something else entirely. As always, we'll see what the playtesters do with them and what feedback they give us, and eventually one or more of these cards will make their way into your hands.

What do we mean by "eventually"? Right now, we're looking at a summer release for this set. We'll have a much clearer picture of a release date as we move into Round Three and as more of the artwork is created. Now that we're a second round into the playtest process, we'll have more frequent Designers' Diary updates for you. We'll do another one at the end of March, so stay tuned!


Regards,
The V:EKN Design Team

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Andreas Nusser
NC Germany
Vampire: Elder Kindred Network

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V:EKN tournament prize support ensured until 2015

Walch & Nusser Game Distributors and David Tatu received the remaining
VTES promo cards from CCP. Thus both will be able to continue and ensure
support to any North Amercian / European Qualifier Championships, National Championships and regular tournaments until 2015.

National Coordinators from Europe, princes and tournament organisers can find tournament support, including Qualifier T-shirts, exclusively at
www.vtes.de/catalog/index.php?cPath=22_24.

OOP boosters and several sought after promo cards such as Lilith's Blessing, Victor Pelletier will be only available in ECQ and NC prize support to encourage players attending national/international events.

We are happy to announce that this year's ECQ winners will also receive a complete Sabbat War Rare card factory set.

Players in North America and the rest of the World (excluding Europe) can find V:TES Products and tournament support at www.sites.google.com/site/rosetatuproductions/home

About Vampire: Elder Kindred Network
Founded in 1997, the Vampire: Elder Kindred Network is the official Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Players' Organization dedicated to the continued health of V:TES. The V:EKN endeavors to help the game grow in popularity through the embracing of new players as well as through the support of the existing fans. www.vekn.net

About Vampire: The Eternal Struggle
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle is a Deckmaster^(TM) trading card game set in White Wolf's popular World of Darkness. Created in 1994 by Richard Garfield as the follow-up to his groundbreaking Magic: The Gathering trading card game, V:TES is one of the most enduring games in the genre with fans and organized play events in countries across the globe.

© Vampire: Elder Kindred Network 2012. All rights reserved.
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-- 
Andreas Nusser

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