Should the VEKN officially sanction printed proxies?

What would be the harm of fixing tournament rules to state printed proxy cards are allowed until,game is back in print then they can not be used?

brettscho wrote:

...But negotiations stalled two years ago, and they've shown no signs of being reinvigorated since. I'm honestly of the opinion that waiting for POD will lead to significantly greater damage to our game than abandoning the idea. It's time to cut our losses and move on.

Actually, I'm getting more inclined to think that we should end this problem entirely.

If we sign a bunch of contracts for POD, it is more than likely that they will have sunset clauses. That means later we hit the same problem again. If we don't sign those contracts, then we have the specter of what Hasbro/CCP might do, or what happens if IP changes hands (as it has a number of times in VTES history).


Maybe it is time to push forward the otherwise 'taboo' idea of actually ending VTES and rebuilding the whole game. Rebuilt with a large number of things that functionally feel the same, maybe with stronger streamlining of glitchy bits of the rules and so on.

my two cents:

VTES is dead (at tournament level in my country), like a former NC i would glad to do proxy tournaments, in fact, i have thinking about to do a parallel rank of proxy cards (with the Nationals Tournaments, and Continental Champions) so to allow the newbie players can access to cards (or proxy versions at a cheap cost), for many years players (specialy in my country) bully others players for don't have the "gold cards" like parthenon, I. Highway, etc etc i would like avoid that situation because the worst of vtes it was the believe of some people that are superior to the new ones only because they have the access (a matter of money) to expensives cards.

In fact, some tournaments in some countrys they play with proxy cards, is a well know fact, so why don't break this "masquerade", and allow all the rest world to do the same?

IV Edition it's a great idea also, i hope that this can bring some new players, because play with the old ones is borring because:

1) They play with the same "deck" of 10 years ago.
2) They play to kill the player to they hate more than play to win.
3) The toxic playgroup only do that the new players go to anothers games that have more players (like Magic, Pokemon, etc etc etc)

Well, if the proxy rank is allowed, i would glad try to organize a tournament after 10 years of my last tournament (the First SAC in Chile).

I am a proxy lover, i have some decks with proxy cards and i have more fun than play with a card of USD$100.-

enriquesmw wrote:

the "gold cards" like parthenon, I. Highway, etc etc

Parthenon is $2 USD and Information Highway's $1 and that's buy it now prices. Seems OK. Guess it's just perspective.

You can have a tournament viable deck in VTES for minimal outlay. Yes, once you start to explore more diverse and exotic options prices go up — but it's no where near insanity levels of MTG.

As I mentioned on the BS blog; I think the only card that really needs a VEKN version is Villein — without it large caps decks aren't all that viable and you need need 6+ of them (which is definitely an inhibitor for new players).

In general I believe that once you starting to allow proxies there may be no way back, so I think we should not do that. For tournaments, usually it is possible to borrow rare cards if you want a specific deck. Actually some of the best cards in VTES are still commons and uncommons, and these are easy to get for a decent price, so there is no need to break the bank for a competitive deck.

In France there have been a few experiments with tournaments allowing proxies, these would then be unsanctioned tournaments.
I attended one, it did not seem like the proxies did much to the general power level.
Still it would be the combination of a reasonably good deck combined with a skilled player that would win most.

I think card availability is not really the problem, it is rather the steep learning curve and lack of active play groups that is the barrier for new players to enter competitive play.

The lack of exposure in stores is probably a big issue, and one that will not be addressed by printed proxies.

What will draw new players is active recruitment at gaming clubs, which requires recruiters to hand out or lend out easy-to-play decks, which is something that could be easier if existing players did not have to risk their own cards.

So there are valid arguments for both allowing and disallowing printed proxies.

Speaking from my own perspective, Readily available printable sets of say the 100 most necessary library cards would take me a long way towards not being limited by my cards when improving my game.