_____________________________________________
10 February 1995
LETTER FROM WARREN HOLLAND
PRESIDENT OF DECIPHER INC.
(DPresident@aol.com)

MAIN SUBJECT: STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION
CUSTOMIZABLE CARD GAME

NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS, and SCOOPS!

***** Notice *****
The information in this document is copyrighted by 
Decipher Inc. 1995, however, it can be freely 
disseminated online or by traditional publishing means 
as long as it is not altered and this copyright notice is 
attached.

TM, Copyright & Registered 1995 Paramount Pictures. All 
Rights Reserved. STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION is a 
registered trademark of and all characters and related 
marks are trademarks of Paramount Pictures. Decipher 
Inc. Authorized User.

_____________________________________________
SUBJECTS:

** INTRODUCTION
** DISTRIBUTION SOLUTION...
          ...6 MILLION CARD "WARP PACK" GIVEAWAY
** EXPANSIONS COMING
** CARTA MUNDI
** TWO-PLAYER GAME
** STAR WARS UPDATE
** ULTRA-RARE CARDS
** NET REPS AND FAX RESPONSE SYSTEMS
** RUMOR CENTRAL!
** UPCOMING NEWS
** E-MAIL THAT'S READ
** THANK YOU!

_____________________________________________
** INTRODUCTION:
This is my second letter in a series of documents to keep 
you informed on the "inside story" of Decipher's 
customizable card game products. All of us at Decipher 
want you to know that we are listening... and responding 
to your feedback. Please keep it coming.


** DISTRIBUTION SOLUTION...
          ...6 MILLION CARD "WARP PACK" GIVEAWAY
If there is a main criticism of ST:CCG, it is distribution. 
We recognize this. Our random packing method means it 
isn't always easy for newcomers to purchase a few 
Starter Sets and get the basic cards they need to play. 
For example, players have difficulty getting missions and 
outposts to start. Compounding this problem is the quick 
way cards are snapped up by collectors. The two-player 
game (see below) was our intended solution, however, 
since the release date for this product will be later than 
expected, we decided to attack this problem directly and 
reward our players.

The result... we created a 12-card mini-starter set 
called a WARP PACK. A Warp Pack will enable gamers to 
start playing at "warp speed." It will include white-
border cards of seven missions covering all affiliations, 
a new non-aligned outpost which any affiliation can use, 
and a few other new cards for everyone to enjoy 
(whether you are new to the game or an existing player). 
Warp Packs should be available in April. While we could 
have sold this product, the best part is... we decided to 
reward players and retailers for their patience with us 
by GIVING THE PACKS AWAY FREE! That's a million dollars 
in cards at retail.

ALL WARP PACKS CONTAIN THE SAME INDIVIDUAL CARDS. 
We are asking customers to limit themselves to one free 
Warp Pack, so all interested players can get a set. Of 
course, everyone is on their honor to take only one, but 
the cards are common cards and thus will be easy to 
acquire. However, to make the Warp Packs exciting, we 
included five new white-border cards that will be seen 
later in upcoming white-border and black-border 
expansion sets. For collectors, it will always be our 
policy to produce black-border versions of any new cards. 
The new cards are tentatively titled: Non-Aligned 
Outpost, Sensitive Search Mission, Countermanda, Yellow 
Alert, and last but not least... SCOTTY!

On average, retailers will initially be provided with 
about seventy-two Warp Packs to give away to existing 
customers, and any new customers purchasing a 60-card 
starter set. If you don't get a Warp Pack from your 
retailer, don't worry. Decipher will be giving them away 
at trade shows and ANYONE... yes ANYONE... can get a free 
Warp Pack by sending a hand-written, self-addressed 
stamped envelope to: Decipher Inc., "Free Warp Pack 
Offer," 253 Granby Street, Norfolk, VA 23510-1813.

We will continue to manufacture this Warp Pack in the 
future so everybody can get one if they want it. Thanks 
for playing our game. :-)


** EXPANSIONS COMING:
Beginning mid-1995 Decipher will start shipping 
expansion sets for ST:CCG. All expansion sets will be 
sold in an initial (limited edition) black-border version 
which will be followed, in a matter of weeks, by a 
(unlimited) white-border version of the same cards. 
White-border cards will have multiple print runs. This 
way new players will have access to cards no matter 
when they "get into the game." All the cards in the 
expansion sets will play with the existing universe of 
cards, but some cards will add new elements to the 
gameplay. The first three expansion sets will contain a 
universe of approximately 121 cards each, sold in 15-
card expansion packs. There will be common, uncommon 
and rare cards. To get you excited, here's some teaser 
information on our present plans:

* ALTERNATE UNIVERSE *
The first expansion set will be titled Alternate Universe. 
About twenty-five to thirty percent of these cards will 
be people and things which appeared in Next Generation, 
but were... not from this universe... i.e. from time travel, 
other dimensions, fantasies, illusions etc. These cards 
will be marked with a new special icon (similar to the 
way holographic re-creations are marked).

This expansion set will introduce a new card called... a 
linking card. Let's see... how do you get alternate 
universe characters from one universe to another 
universe?... the answer... they link to the main game 
through a linking card, in this case via the Doorway to 
the Alternate Universe card (which functions like a 
permanent Event card). You will learn more about this 
concept in the future, but you can start to imagine the 
possibilities for gameplay.

The rest of this expansion set will deepen the ST:CCG 
universe with more missions, events, dilemmas, 
interrupts etc. providing more variety, player interaction 
and balance to the existing card types. It will also 
provide some elements that counter-balance cards 
which, for one reason or another, players presently feel 
are too strong.

* Q-CONTINUUM *
Three to four months later you will see the second 
expansion set titled Q-Continuum. About forty percent of 
these cards will be Q related, with various Events, 
Interrupts and Dilemmas. Some interesting, new 
gameplay elements happen in this set too. We have a 
concept (code named: Farpoint) which will allow players 
to initiate a Q-game to the side of an existing game. This 
concept is now in development so we will see if it makes 
it into this set or if it will appear later in another form...

* HOLODECK ADVENTURES *
Three to four months after that, you will see a third 
expansion set titled Holodeck Adventures. This set will 
also contain some new gameplay elements and a new 
linking card... a Holodeck Door card. Imagine what you can 
do INSIDE a holodeck. The cards will contain new 
holographic re-creations, new ways to use these cards, 
and other exciting things. For now, we will leave the rest 
to your imagination. :-) There are many other ST:CCG 
cards currently in development too, but we have to keep 
some secrets. ;-)


** CARTA MUNDI:
We have been working with Carta Mundi, our card 
manufacturer, and have identified over a dozen quality 
control improvements that are being implemented for our 
products. Some are already in place, most will be in 
place by the time you read this. Your feedback has made 
this possible. Don't hesitate to tell us when you have 
problems with our products. We listen and respond.


** TWO-PLAYER GAME:
Decipher has signed a new strategic alliance agreement 
with Parker Brothers to distribute a Two-Player white-
border ST:CCG game to the mass market. Decipher will 
market the same game in the specialty market. Parker 
Brothers will not be selling 60-card starters sets or 15-
card expansions sets for Star Trek, nor will they be 
selling black-border cards. Since the ST:CCG product sold 
by Parker Brothers will be different, but compatible, 
with Decipher products, we expect to increase the 
number of players and bring new fans to the genre. The 
two-player game is designed to educate players so they 
"discover" what is happening with all retailers. This 
should make ST:CCG larger for everyone's benefit.

Decipher will design all the cards and packaging for this 
product and maintain creative control (with Paramount, 
of course). The game is designed for first-time players 
and will contain two, preassorted 60-card decks... ready 
to play right out-of-the-box... one Federation deck and 
one Klingon deck. The game will retail for about $15-20 
but no uncommon or rare cards will be in the box. As a 
result we have designed about two dozen new common 
cards including twelve new mission cards (all of these 
cards will appear in later expansion sets).

But there is more... And this is really exciting. Each box 
will contain a premium card... designed to be cool, but not 
killer powerful... so if your friend gets one and you don't, 
they won't kill you in your next game... well not for this 
reason anyway. ;-) The premium card will change every 
300,000 games or so (and the boxes will be marked 
accordingly so you can tell what premium card is inside). 
Once an edition is sold, the premium card inside will go 
out of print and another premium card will take its place. 
Decipher will later add these premium cards to black-
border expansion sets for the benefit of collectors.

The first premium card planned will be a Next Generation 
version of SPOCK!


** STAR WARS UPDATE:
The Star Wars Customizable Card Game has now passed 
the first phase of development. The basic structure of 
the game is in place and the long process of playtesting, 
card selection, refinement, graphic design and approval 
has begun. The game is being developed by Decipher using 
the same core team that developed ST:CCG. Decipher will 
control this development and will design all the products 
sold. We will be developing a variety of products to 
protect and enlarge all segments of the marketplace.

As fitting to the Star Wars property, the gameplay is 
significantly different from anything currently on the 
market. Decipher will be the exclusive manufacturer of 
black-border cards in both limited and unlimited 
versions... (which will be differentiated by a special icon 
appearing on the face of the cards). Parker Brothers will 
manufacturer and sell only white-border unlimited cards. 
For both Decipher and Parker Brothers unlimited 
versions, the retail price of each product will be 
approximately the same on a per card basis.


** NET REPS AND FAX RESPONSE SYSTEMS:
We now have a system of "Net Reps" for ST:CCG on AOL, 
Genie, CompuServe, and the Internet. AOL 
and the upcoming decipher.com will continue to be 
Decipher's home base, but you can get information from 
our net reps as well:

Decipher's fax response system is expected to be active 
by April. When the service begins for both retailers and 
customers, the phone number will be (804)N2D-NEWS or 
(804)623-6397. Remember... it's not active until April.


** ULTRA-RARE CARDS:
Nothing has caused more questions or excitement than a 
few simple words in our rule booklet that mentioned 
ultra-rare cards. Everybody wants to know how and 
where to get them... have they missed out... can you get 
them internationally... what the cards will be... etc. The 
truth is, no ultra-rare cards have yet been released. The 
first such card will not appear until late in 1995. But, 
here is some information for you now:

The design team that developed ST:CCG always saw 
ultra-rare cards as a way to create a few special cards 
that were "uniquely cool." We never expected to sell 
these cards for great sums of money (and we still don't, 
although I am sure, given what is happening with resale 
prices, the ultimate owner of an ultra-rare card would be 
able to do so.) It has always been Decipher's desire to 
create excitement and publicity for the game with ultra-
rare cards while making them fair, fun and equally 
available to players and collectors. The key question for 
us has been how to do this in a way that would allow 
anyone in the world the chance to get an ultra-rare card 
without requiring an expenditure of many thousands of 
dollars. In fact, we hope that a 10 year-old in Des Moines 
with a small allowance, or someone in a foreign country 
with limited access, will have just as much of a chance 
to see and own an ultra-rare card as a wealthy collector. 
Since the number of these cards will be limited, 
obviously not everyone will be able to own one.

While we know what the first few ultra-rare cards will 
be (and they are cool!), they will only be announced when 
our plans are finalized and even then, they will only be 
released one design at a time.


** RUMOR CENTRAL!
The following rumors have been heard by players, 
retailers, Decipher employees etc. Here is what the 
rumor mill tossed up this month:

     RUMOR #1 -- The first quarter 1995 shipments of 
white-border cards will have a new copyright notice and 
other changes.
     INSIDE STORY ON RUMOR #1 -- This rumor is not true. 
Our first quarter shipments were committed and began 
manufacturing months ago. There have been a number of 
print runs of the *alpha* white-border cards. However, 
in the near future the print run of the 363 card universe 
of white-border cards will be converted to a *beta* 
version. Please don't ask us when... the ship date has not 
been announced... you will see it when it arrives. ;-)  The 
beta version will have a 1995 copyright date and a few 
minor card corrections, minor being the operative word. 
The beta version will also have multiple printings. When 
the change is implemented, you will be able to spot the 
difference in stores by the 1995 copyright notice on the 
packages (but don't confuse that with the Warp Packs, 
see above, which have a 1995 copyright notice.) Also, at 
some point in the year we plan to update the rule booklet.

     RUMOR #2 -- Decipher is being sued. Take your pick... 
Decipher vs. Paramount, Decipher vs. Viacom, Decipher 
vs. Wizards, Decipher vs. Whoopi Goldberg and on and on...
     INSIDE STORY ON RUMOR #2 -- It makes for great 
drama, but none of these rumors are true. Decipher is not 
presently in any major legal disputes.


** UPCOMING NEWS
In future news we will be announcing details on the 
following items:

Tournament structure... how it will work... what you win.
Cards everyone asks about... such as Guinan, Hail etc.
Internet... WWW, ftp, and Listserv at decipher.com
Strategy guide... release date to be announced.
And more...


** E-MAIL THAT'S READ:
You always have a direct line of communication to me. 
Just keep in mind that I cannot respond to everyone 
personally (or I would be doing nothing but responding to 
e-mail.) Also, I greatly appreciate short as opposed to 
* War and Peace * length e-mail. I assume that most 
people understand. I do however, promise to read every 
piece of e-mail I get. Feel free to "speak out" with 
information "you want Decipher to hear" by sending e-
mail to me at DPresident@aol.com.

Of course, for questions or information that require a 
response, Decipher has some of the best customer 
service in the business. There are many ways to reach us. 
Online, you can visit our internet site, ask questions of 
our net reps, or contact us directly. Please send service-
oriented questions to: DCustServe@aol.com, send rules-
oriented questions to: DAnswerMan@aol.com, send snail 
mail to Decipher Inc., Customer Service, 253 Granby 
Street, Norfolk, VA 25310-1813, fax us at (804)623-
3630 or phone us at (804)623-3600.


** THANK YOU!
We have some of the greatest customers in the world! 
Thank you for supporting Decipher's products. We look 
forward to serving you now, and long into the future. Live 
long and prosper and may the force be with you!

Warmest Regards,

Warren L. Holland
President
Decipher Inc.