[monty42]

Ok let's see if we can get this train wreck back on track.
I'd like to get back to this point of mine:

I'd like to see similar cards for other affilations to make use of their strong suits to help them win the game without doing just the standard mission solving.

i.e. just off the top of my head a card that removes from game to let and opponent download and play a card for free for you to overcome 2 dilemmas. Or a mission that lets you return a captive with a cost of 4 or more to your opponent to overcome a dilemma... Stuff that allows you to approach the game differently than you've done for so many years.

Add to this the possibility of Theives trading in valuable stolen goods for overcome dilemmas or give the Ferengi the commerce option they always needed by letting them amass Latinum any buy overcome dilemmas with it.

No, this is not an application for me to get into design. I don't care about that. These are ideas of mine that show that there are ways to play the game differently.

Strategically the game is mostly play people, attempt missions, overcome dilemmas, solve, repeat...
That's why I don't count KCA a as something interesting. They just do what everybody else does.
Delta Pavonis and Terrasphere 8 offer different approaches. That's why I like them.
I want design to come up with new ideas instead of just new cards. I didn't care for the last howevermany sets because they just pumped out cards for the same old "play people, attempt missions, overcome dilemmas, solve, repeat..." routine. That's boring because we've been doing this for 17 years now. Yes there are interaction decks but except for the Delta Pavonis and Terrasphere 8 decks, all of those still need to complete missions the regular way to win. Yes, they're making it a little more difficult for their opponent and themselves to win but basically they're just more of the same.
That for example is why I've always advocated less sets but more quality. Put your minds on ideas instead of deadlines.

[Connor]

That's boring because we've been doing this for 17 years now.

Whu? I'll be 14 on the 24th. I just found out Power Shift is a good card and it's banned by my asshole Dad.

[Caretaker's Guest]

Ben, play 1E. You'll find everything there 2E is currently lacking...

[The Prefect]

…

In my opinion, those are valid critiques, worthy of discussion.

But, given this desire for something new, it puzzles me that you remain one the game's most vocal opponent's of even considering a new affiliation. Yes, there are ways to innovate within existing affiliations or factions, but it seems to me that to offer something fundamentally different would require either a redesign along the lines of Phase II, an alteration of win conditions like 8472, or a new affiliation capable of taking a brand new approach. I suspect some recipe involving multiple approaches is the most sustainable approach over an extended period of time.

I like Delta Pavonis, too. But without a lot more support, it only marginally changes the game and, right now anyway, it's easy to play around.

I'd be curious to get your thoughts. And, please don't leave it at, "I'd quit."

[monty42]

I never said I'm generally opposed to new affilations.
However I'm vehemently opposed to rehashing the terrible DQ affilations that Decipher barfed out in a shameless money grab!

I still maintain there's no need for a new affilation though. Most of the existing ones basically operate in the same way, some of the are scarcely played. You can give a carrot to thieves, Equinox, ES9 and make them innovative and interesting with a lot less effort than implementing a new affilation. Delta Pavonis was just one card and it made a difference, 8472 was 8. I'd reckon a new affilation would take much more than that.

I like Delta Pavonis, too. But without a lot more support, it only marginally changes the game...

Not true. I've completed several games with a two-mission FW without facing a single dilemma and even more games in which I faced only one or two.

...and right now anyway, it's easy to play around.

That's true. But it needs only one more card to make this deck Tier I.

[Fritzinger]

I would love to have more missions like the Cardassian capture one or like Delta Pavonis. Things that bring you closer to winning based on the interactive / flavour stuff you do.

How about a borg megateaming one that gets easier or gains you more points for each personnel beyond 10?

Alternatively, for battle, how about we get willing to create engagement cards that disrupt your opponent AND give you points? Keeping them separate kind of defeats the flavour (if you just gain points) or doesn't really get you anywhere (since the benefits are always so weak).

Missions that are "after you solve you get this benefit to your interaction strategy" seem not so good. It's not great when interactive cards are dead in your hand until after you've solved a mission.

[Connor]

How about a borg megateaming one that gets easier or gains you more points for each personnel beyond 10?

System J-25, Premature Encounter

[Fritzinger]

System J-25, Premature Encounter

Geez that's been out since Lower Decks? Lol.

[Broshak]

I was just talking about the last card I was excited about and sort of stumbled onto why I don't bother with the game anymore.

The Naprem, Renegade Vessel was probably the last card I saw and was slightly excited about building a deck for. I was just scrolling through the last few sets after my brother said he thought he could ruin some games with a new card that was released, so I thought, oh maybe there's some interesting new stuff to look at. In the sets released since I stopped playing, after A Time to Stand, only 3-4 cards jumped out to me. That alone doesn't excite me enough to start playing again.

While chatting with my brother I realised I'm much more exited about 'possibly' making a cool deck with these 3-4 cards than I could ever be after actually doing it. I think this boils down to three key factors.
1) This deck almost certainly can't be as cool in practice as it is in theory, for a variety of reasons that are probably too vast and deep to include here.
2) If the deck is as cool in practice as it is in theory, it wont stay that way because the errata team will break it removing it as an option.
3) When either of the previous things happens there's nothing left to interest me, 6-7 sets worth of cards has only generated 1 decks worth of interest for me.

So I'm left in a position where I want to build a deck and play the game. But as soon as I do that I won't want to build anymore decks or play anymore games.

[Fritzinger]

So I'm left in a position where I want to build a deck and play the game. But as soon as I do that I won't want to build anymore decks or play anymore games.

I felt that way before phase 2, seemed like a solved and fairly boring meta. Phase 2 was good and then excelsior really hooked me, or the idea did. Potential for all kinds of cool discoveries and playing cards that were suddenly much better in a small card pool. Excelsior 1 had all kinds of frustrating broken links but excelsior act 2 was gold. I'm still trotting out the dominion commodities from that pool at casual nights.

Anyway, since that tanked hard I'm now excited about slipstream and all the different things that can be done when the rules are so different. There are problems but my group is casual and friendly so no biogenic weapons in sight.

[Danny]

Are there any new cards that intrigued you to build a new deck? And if so, why?

I was thinking about this question yesterday. Because (also yesterday), a friend came round with the cards he'd pulled in a Magic booster draft tournament he'd attended earlier in the week ("War of the Spark?").

I looked through the cards, and none of them made me want to build an entirely new deck, but I thought about 75% could easily find their way into my existing decks. I still then got the bug to trade, buy, rebuild decks, and play. I'm the same way about 2E. New cards come out, and I might want to make a new deck, but more often I think they might make an existing deck different (at worst), but better (at best).

I think this says more about me than the state of the game. Is the game stale? Possibly. Am I stale? Equally possible. Do I still want to play? Sure I do.

[SudenKapala]

I think this says more about me than the state of the game. Is the game stale? Possibly. Am I stale? Equally possible. Do I still want to play? Sure I do.

Good points. I mean, "stale" is a "nice" word to blame either the player or the game for not generating fun. And it should be fun -- bit that depends on what you desire. However, I feel exactly like you -- new cards (for me) may even be just nice or fun (not necessarily better or different). And being able to still use 70 or 90% of an old deck means a LOT of fun for me, even.

I have a personal goal of playing with each 1eSTCCG card at least twice. Unattainable? Yes. Bogus? Certainly. Having fun? You bet.

So in that regard, simply having another card that does nearly the same, might already excite me. (Well... almost.)

I miss admit (again) that I'm mostly a collector, so the card themselves have intrinsic value to me. That's different, it seems, for 95% of the people here. Still, that's why the C in some CCGs stands for "collectible".

And as such I do value the Virtual cards, too; but I must admit it IS different. That's why I'm a Dapper Dan Traditional man.

Still -- keep developing!

[Pazuzu]

Star Trek 50 was really cool!

[Atlbravesfn3]

I’m with many above who have stated that the number of affiliations is fine and we should be focusing on helping struggling existing affiliations.

However, one card that Made me excited recently was lethal wound ( https://www.trekcc.org/2e/index.php?mod ... ardID=4214 ) . This type of card has been sorely needed for a long time now and it helps people counter a lot of negative play experience cards.