April Fools! Coming in 2011: Living Witness

by Charlie Plaine, Chairman

1st April 2011

We hope you enjoyed this year's April Fool's Day joke! Don't worry, were not releasing "online only" cards any time soon! Special thanks to SirDan for making all of the motion cards you see below. And before you ask, no, they aren't real - yet!!!

The Continuing Committee has long awaited this day, when we can announce a project that has consumed so many of our resources over the past eighteen (18) months: Living Witness, the first digital expansion for both First Edition and Second Edition.

What is a digital expansion? Much like our virtual expansions are designed to allow players to enhance their gaming experiences with printable cards, our digital expansions are meant to enhance online play. Starting with Living Witness, our plan is to release a new digital, online-only expansion every three months.

What's so special about a digital expansion? Let me show you:

"Digital expansions are going to allow us to bring the cards to life like never before," said James Hoskin, TCC's Director of Organized Play. "It's really an opportunity to make the Star Trek games unique in the world of online card games."

Living Witness is a hybrid product, much like Things Past, featuring cards for both First Edition and Second Edition in a single expansion. Living Witness will feature ninety (90) motion cards: thirty (30) new cards for First Edition, thirty (30) new cards for Second Edition, and thirty (30) alternate image motion promos of existing cards, half for 1E and half for 2E, much like this one:

The work required to build these motion cards has been "exhausting, but amazing," according to Chris Lobban, our Chief Programmer. It's been equally taxing for the Graphic Design Team, headed up by Johnny Holeva. "When Charlie first came to me with the idea, I said, 'You've got to be kidding me!'," said Mr. Holeva. "But once I realized the potential to relive famous Star Trek moments with moving cards, I signed on to the project".

Players will be able to download Living Witness as part of their edition's Lackey plugin, once the expansion is released this summer. The cards in Living Witness will only be available in Lackey games played online, and will never be released in virtual form. The digital expansion will include new dilemmas, events, and even personnel:

"We wanted to find a way to reward online players," said Dan Hamman, our Warehouse Manager. "By offering motion cards in digital format only, we offer something unique to the online player that the physical player can never have."

One of the most exciting design-goals of Living Witness is to animate some of the most famous moments from Star Trek with new and alternate-image motion cards. "I can't wait to play Khan! and see Kirk scream on the card," said First Edition Lead Designer Jason Robinette. "Being able to watch the Enterprise-D explode repeatedly on Cause and Effect," said Second Edition Rules Master Michael Keller, "or to see Data Laughing, will be an amazing in-game experience." Recreating iconic moments is a major benefit of the motion cards in Living Witness, such as this one:

Living Witness is coming, and it will forever change the way we play online. Never forget today, the day that we put our favorite game in motion. Stay tuned as we spoil more cards from this exiting, digital expansion over the next several months. It's time to put the galaxy in motion!