Let me add my thoughts to the discussion.
I tend to agree that Vic is broke. Yeah, yeah - I know, all the non-Borg races can use him. So what. Most affiliations can't use him effectively, and the Borg cannot use him at all, eliminating some of your main affiliations from competitive play. I also think that some of the mechanics in the Delta Quadrant Races are too strong. Their is a serious problem when you have a rich game with over 10 affiliations, and to be competitive you've got to focus on one or two deck archetypes.
My intent is not to argue my thoughts on imbalance. Not everyone agrees what exactly is not balanced, but a great many of us know there is a serious problem. I think the feedback we're getting from GenCon the last day or so reinforces the point.
What to do? Not much we can do, folks. We are NOT in the center seat here, Decipher is. Best we can do is keep trying to convince the bridge we've got a core breach in progress and try and keep the crew at their posts.
As I see the current situation - good, bad or indifferent, 1E is not going to get any more cards. And the PD folks sure aren't going to waste time working a 1E problem when they've got 2E deadlines breathing down their necks. So odds are, we are probably stuck with the game as it is right now. Broke.
Pity, because I think if Decipher does abandon 1E as it is, it will have a negative carry-over effect on 2E. Why? Because 2E is going to rely hard on the same group of folks who play 1E.
If I'm right - and again, this is just my opinion - 2E will fail to hit Decipher's sales marks due to a disinterested player base and the ST line will die.
Exaggeration? Farfetched? Hey guys, our players are already casting their vote with their feet.
My suggestions to Decipher -
1) Release just enough 1E compatible cards to rough out the current game imbalances. Before you say "But card X is notimbalanced ...", AGAIN I urge to look at all the mail from your ambassadors on the subject. We are trying to tell you something important. Break out of the "there's no problem" paradigm and fix the damn thing.
2) TAKE YOUR TIME with 2E and do it right. I was involved with several of the last expansions as a Playtester, and I can tell you that the PD folks were under a helluva lot of time pressure, and I have no doubt that many of the problems with Holodeck in particular as well as TMP was because those guys were rushed hard. I've heard twice on this list now that PD is being pushed hard to meet production deadlines. So please pass this on to Warren - you hung on long enough to give Trek a second chance - give your folks the time to do it right.
'Nuff said....
Matt Clouser
STCCG Ambassador, Ronara Region
San Angelo, Texas, USA
_________________________________________________________________
and there it is! I agree completely with everything Matt said.
Brian Schrader
ST Ambassador, Bajor Region
Emporia, KS. USA
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I too agree with what Matt said. Do the 2nd Ed right
the first time. Slow it down if you have to, there is
no shame in it. I think we would all rather see an
awesome product hit the shelves, one that we can be
proud to play and demo. Not to mention one that will
sell better if it is distanced from the 1st Ed enough.
Also, I propose a solution to Vic. Let us take a poll
among the Ambassadors and WE WILL FIX IT ourselves.
Just a simple little survey, I am sure someone can
make one to email or even send us a web link so we can
tabulate our votes. Just present the questions:
*In your experience, is Vic Broken?
*If so, how do you best think a change can be made?
This question should be a multiple choice question and
simply provide a few of the answers that we have
offered and everyone picks one.
Then after the survey is completed, by a certain date,
we simply implement the change to our players and on
the message boards.
If the Bridge can't help us fix the core breach, it is
up to us to fix it ourselves.
Thanks,
Christopher Dilloway
Ambassador, Qo'noS_________________________________________________________________
Tristan,
One of the reasons I wrote my last email was to try and highlight the fact that
the 1E game in it's current state is broke - and all indicators to date show
that it was not going to be fixed.
You're quite right - nothing is going to be done about it right now. What
I'm concerned with is that nothing is going to be done about it at all.
Matt
_________________________________________________________________
We don't intend to leave it high and dry. But snap judgements without
careful thought will do more harm than good to 1E right now. And we don't
have time for anything BUT snap judgements until after 2E is off to the
printers.
So, please be patient. Have some faith. I know this is not the immediate
action some of you were hoping for, and I'm sorry. Trouble is, the
presiding US government is against cloning, so there are only so many of
us Trek designers to go around.
_________________________________________________________________
Evan,
Nicely said.
I still am concerned about the rush to hit (or attempt to hit) a December date.
I know I'm one of the voices urging ya'll to get it right vs. get it out.
But I understand that we've got a hook here with Nemesis, and it would be
criminally stupid to not take advantage of it.
Thanks for at least aknowledging that 1E has some problems that need resolving.
I have no problem waiting for a fix, as long as you folks know it needs to
be addressed.
And in case I haven't said it recently - thanks for your hard work in PD. We
appreciate it.
Matt Clouser
STCCG Ambassador, Ronara Region
San Angelo, Texas, USA
_________________________________________________________________
Has anyone else put together that everyone will be too busy to fix this in time for D-Con? Oh, and when should I mention that if time wasn't wasted developing "Project Trek" 2E would be on the shelves and Vic would be properly neutered by now?
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Steve,
You're right - the decks at D-Con will be played like they are now. While
I agree with you this sucks, that's what we've got. At least PD
understands the need to get this 1E stuff fixed. Eventually.
I don't begrudge Decipher the time they took to try "Project Trek" or
2E (well, maybe a little for PT) - we have to bear in mind they could just as
easily given up on Trek, and be justified by the poor sales over the last few
expansions.
So while it is not a good situation, it could be a helluva lot worse.
My 2 cents worth...
Matt Clouser
STCCG Ambassador, Ronara Region
San Angelo, Texas, USA
_________________________________________________________________
Thank-you Matt, very well put :)
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> Has anyone else put together that everyone will be too busy to fix this in
> time for D-Con? Oh, and when should I mention that if time wasn't wasted
> developing "Project Trek" 2E would be on the shelves and Vic
would be properly
> neutered by now?
Oh please. Steve, you have been a long-time champion for Trek "as it
should
be". I recognize that and honor you for that. Despite being
bypassed for
major events, and other repeated issues, you have hung in there. I respect
you.
These latest emails of yours have seemed to be a series of
"low-blows".
Rather than offering constructive helpful advice as a team member, you have
blown up because things are not going your way as quickly as you would like.
All I hear from you lately is threats to drop Trek for our competitor's
games, and snide comments like the above.
You must think that Evan, Brad, myself, Kathy, and others here are all a
bunch of idiots, who are clueless about the game. We obviously don't have
any idea of what is going on out there among the shrinking player base and
broken game system. We spend our time doodling away the hours, thinking up
stupid ideas that will never work, and wasting it rather than fixing the
problems. Come on, man. Wake up! Not only do we understand
quite clearly
what is happening to your particular player base, but we understand the
trends on a world-wide scale, and can add to that understanding a knowledge
of what is possible and what is not possible in attempting to get past these
dilemmas and solve the mission before us.
We are not ignoring you, or anybody else who posts here, or on the
discussion list for that matter. We will probably take time from our #1
priority to get 2E out this year to at least put a band-aid on the problems
with 1E, so the world championships will be a positive event. But stop
your
non-constructive and critical behavior on this list. Be part of the
solution, not part of the problem. Stay helpful as you have been in the
past. We all need to get back to that again.
I apologize for singling out just you here, when this email probably should
have been addressed in part to the list at large. If you were the only one
needing to hear this, I would have emailed you personally. So, please
understand that I am not trying to slam you, but address a problem that is
growing on this list and is getting out of hand. We want constructive
criticism, but only if it is going to be given in a helpful manner.
--
Sean Smallman
Marketing Group, Decipher Inc.
Brand Manager
Star Trek Line
_________________________________________________________________
>You're right - the decks at D-Con will be played like they are now.
While
>I agree with you this sucks, that's what we've got. At least PD
>understands the need to get this 1E stuff fixed. Eventually.
We understand. Thanks for the support. But don't count us out... yet.
>I don't begrudge Decipher the time they took to try "Project Trek"
or 2E
>(well, maybe a little for PT) - we have to bear in mind they could just as
>easily given up on Trek, and be justified by the poor sales over the last
>few expansions.
Thanks. That's a reality very few people have really accepted. That the
"easy" thing to do would be to just give up.
Those who know me know that's just not my nature :-)
>>Has anyone else put together that everyone will be too busy to fix this
in
>>time for D-Con? Oh, and when should I mention that if time wasn't wasted
>>developing "Project Trek" 2E would be on the shelves and Vic
would be
>>properly neutered by now?
hmmmmmm... and after watching all those episodes where the Feds pulled it
out against all odds...
Are you sure you can see the future... :-)
-Tim-