The future of V:TES

Yes, news is absolutely necessary. I'm very unimpressed with the VEKN at this point. Say what you want about PCK, but they have a set already finished playtested and are on their second. I think if anything should result from that debacle, it's the VEKN stepping up and working diligently to prove their initial allegations wrong.

If VEKN can't publish the Danse Macabre set right away, something else needs to take its place. Storylines, themed tournaments, experimental cards, new playtesting, anything to get some blood flowing.

How do board games retain their popularity? I've never heard of people cashing out of board games due to lack of new material for said board games.

ruiza97 wrote:

How do board games retain their popularity? I've never heard of people cashing out of board games due to lack of new material for said board games.

Different expectations.

The reality is that there's infinitely more variety in V:TES with no new cards than in any boardgame I've played. Yet, variety by itself isn't what people are looking for.

I used to lament how slowly V:TES expansions came out because I played other CCGs, which needed new expansions in order to shake up the environment. Few cards actually shake up V:TES's environment, so new sets were never as important. V:TES also lends itself better than two-player CCGs to being played like a boardgame with a vast number of components and ways to use the components. So, again, new cards not as important.

Yet, the expectation is along customizable card game lines. A boardgame is (usually) within the box, hopefully doesn't take much longer than an hour, is easily replaced with a different boardgame after a few plays, is easily house-ruled without a bunch of unintended consequences, requires no investment of time or thought, can usually scale down so that you can have two three player games going instead of one six player V:TES game, etc.

If I had to pinpoint the most important element it would be the difference in investment between the game types. Not talking about money. Talking about thought. CCGs are suited to people who think about their games. Deckbuilding is a non-play activity that respects effort of thought. The "take or leave it" nature of most boardgames means that they are suited to casual play and casual effort. Your corn shipping strategy fails? Who cares? Can't build a functional Abominations with Helicopters deck? Left wanting more cards published.

I actually think quite a few CCGs can work just fine with no individual deckbuilding aspect because they play well enough as boardgames played like that. But, deckbuilding is the driver of CCGs, and CCGs with less than compelling deckbuilding often lose their playerbases. V:TES seems stale to some right now. I think new cards is mostly just an illusion of greater variety at this point, but that illusion (or a different one) is what CCGs need.

ruiza97 wrote:

How do board games retain their popularity? I've never heard of people cashing out of board games due to lack of new material for said board games.

While ICL have good point, the reality of the matter is that they don't retain their popularity.

In order to shake up the enviroment, if no new cards come out, we can start banning effective ones. Now that would bring a change in the metagames . E.g. ban Theft of Vitae, and whole new world of possibilities would open in THA combat strikes selection. Forcibly .

ruiza97 wrote:

How do board games retain their popularity? I've never heard of people cashing out of board games due to lack of new material for said board games.

Even board games get expansions, sometimes several of them. It really depends on the game, but "system games" generally have new expansions or scenarios to keep them fresh and keep players interested. VTES and CCG's are certainly like these games, but with the expectations only magnified.

We know that VTES is a game with several underdeveloped concepts and weaknesses, so if the purpose of the VEKN is to foster interest in the game, expansions are a natural fit. If we can't upload pdf sets, then why not storylines? Themed tournaments? Something to show the player base that the game is still viable.