The Spotlight Series

by Charles Plaine, Chairman

13th April 2008

This week kicks off one of our most anticipated projects, and what we hope will be one of our biggest events: The 2008 Spotlight Series. This fifteen-week event is designed to highlight the strengths of each affiliation and sub-affiliation, from Bajor to Borg and from The Original Series to Enterprise. We're going to be bringing you content from all corners of the Star Trek universe and asking for your participating as we go along.

This is also our big push, the big chance to recruit new players and introduce them to the game we all love. One of our key features is going to be the public debut of Project Transwarp, which is The Continuing Committee's effort to provide pre-constructed decks for each affiliation and sub-affiliation. These pre-constructed decks are designed to replace starter decks and provide a low cost, simply starting point for new players. We've already been asking TDs and players to help collect cards, and will continue to do so as the Spotlight Series unfolds. We will be looking for your feedback on how the decks work, in isolation and against each other, before we unveil the final versions this summer. In the meantime, make sure to check back every Thursday to see each new deck as they are revealed.

Every Sunday night, as we switch from one theme to another, you can check out our Storyline Summaries for each faction. Find out about each affiliation - not only in game, but in the world of Trek. Learn about favorite episodes, favorite cards, and which series to watch to learn more about the most interesting factions in the game. On Tuesdays, James Hoskin (RedDwarf) brings you his thoughts on the Top 5 Cards of each affiliation and sub-affiliation. After he gives you his opinions, we'll be looking forward to hearing your opinions and discussions.

Each Monday you will find a new contest highlighting the spotlighted affiliation, and you'll have a chance to win one of sixty (60) Tragic Turn foils that we'll be giving away. The contests will test your knowledge of the game, the people, the places and the situations in Star Trek, and we'll give away a foil to the winner and foil to random participant.

On Wednesdays, Lead Designer Brad DeFruiter will bring you an article highlighting the anatomy of an affiliated card. You'll learn what qualities make good verbs or what abilities are perfect for personnel, as well as get more hints and flashes of insights behind the veil of design and development. All the while, as we continue to spoil The Undiscovered Country, you'll find spoilers designed to match the themes of the Spotlight Series.

Johnny Holeva, our Art Director, will be bringing you the Spotlight Series Tournament - a chance for you to decide which affiliation reigns supreme, and influence that affiliation's direction in an upcoming Virtual Expansion. Each week you'll be able to vote on the matchups, until we have a winner. In addition, community member Seth Claybrook has worked hard to create new box toppers for Second Edition, and we'll be presenting these to you, free of charge, every Friday.

We're all excited about this massive event. This is a grand opportunity to introduce new players, or to reintroduce the game (and the latest affiliations and sub-affiliations) to old veterans. This will take us well into summer, and we're looking forward the most to your feedback. Let the Spotlight Series begin!