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Director of First Edition
By MidnightLich (Charlie Plaine)
 - Director of First Edition
 -  
Prophet
#491753
Welcome to today's First Edition Friday Question, where you get a chance to answer questions that will help shape the future of First Edition. If you'd like to catch up on previous entries, here's a list of all of my previous Friday Questions:

20 DEC 2019: Where do you want the game to be in five years?
13 DEC 2019: Which concepts should 1E "import" from other games?
6 DEC 2019: Which couples should get a dual personnel card?
29 NOV 2019: Which old, unused 1E cards deserve some love?
22 NOV 2019: Which upcoming milestones need celebration?
15 NOV 2019: What's your favorite card image?
11 NOV 2019: What was your first 1E experience?
1 NOV 2019 What is your opinion of the "full page" policy?
25 OCT 2019: What do you want to see in a Halloween set?
18 OCT 2019: What is your favorite expansion?
11 OCT 2019: Which TNG main character needs a new card?
4 OCT 2019: Which Star Trek story needs more cards?
27 SEP 2019: How many points should [SPOILER] be worth?
20 SEP 2019: Which rules always confuse you?
13 SEP 2019: What do you think of [SPOILER]?
6 SEP 2019: Which card needs an alternate image (AI)?
30 AUG 2019: Which characteristic needs love?


Here's a fun fact - this will be the final Friday Question of 2019 - of the decade. I've only been doing this about three months, but I've really enjoyed asking questions of you guys and reading your answers. I've got no plans to stop picking your brains as we move forward, so I hope that you're enjoying these threads as much as I've enjoyed making them.

Today's question isn't about the game itself, but about how we (The Continuing Committee) can help you recruit new players. Do you have friends or kids that you want to bring into the game? Are there old friends you'd love to reconnect with and enjoy some 1E? That's what I want to know about today.

What do you want to see from The Continuing Committee to help you recruit new players?

We do have some things in the works, like a new and updated website and an introductory product, but I want to know what more you'd like to see. What resources can we give you to get your friends, family, and co-workers into this beloved game of ours? What barriers can we remove to make the game easier to understand?

I have found that the updated [1E-TNG] starter decks from Coming of Age to be a great and balanced entry point for players. Ultimately, teaching 1E requires a dedicated and patient player to be the instructor. But if you have the willingness, tell us what you'd like to see from us to make recruiting new players easier for you?

If you celebrated (or are celebrating) holidays this week, I hope they've been great. If you got anything Star Trek related as a gift, I'd love to see some pictures! My Secret Santa gave me a pack of Holodeck Adventures and a very cool "Beverly" dream card from "The Big Goodbye."

Thanks for reading. See you next week decade.

-crp
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By SudenKapala (Suden Käpälä)
 - Delta Quadrant
 -  
#491764
Great questions. With lengthy, although prolly not surprising, answers from out of my direction. :lol:

I have not made a secret of how I try to recruit new players. For the people I am in a position to perhaps recruit, the full game is much to complex, and takes too long to explain/experience in a single sitting.
I've had great success in teaching them with a broader, even simpler(?) variant of "Warp Speed", which I called, "Impulse Speed". I've mentioned it where I could around the forum, to create awareness.

I wrote an extensive article on the full Impulse Speed rules, its card pool choices and design background; however on the one hand it's not completely finished yet (but I did send a trial version in, some months ago); and on the other hand, there seems to be a lack of interest in yet another format of the game.
In Impulse Speed's defense, it differs less from the full format than Warp Speed does.
In the CC's defense, I was invited to send it in again recently; but lack of time, my perfectionist tendencies, and a general/public lack of positive response have kept me from doing so. (Which might be fine -- no hard feelings; it might just mean that, aside from our local experience, there is not such a need across the community. It's just that... I can't imagine that to be true; I can only imagine that having more specialized/smaller tools, would bring in more people from "the fringes of CCG-interested masses".)

To reiterate(?) my practical results:
I did get some 20 people to (re)try the game over the past 5 years. I've seen in a handful of cases, that it was very good to be able to fall back to the real beginnings / basics of the game.
What I've seen is that some people whom I actually tried to teach 1e with simple but full-game decks (i.e., pre-Impulse Speed-development), were actually relieved and more excited/receptive to play the game again (i.e., retry learning), with the smaller and even simpler Impulse decks, while they could hardly be coaxed to try the full game again because of its complexity.
These are people who are certainly not unsmart; but have less time, energy and/or patience to start at full steam; which to me raises the question: how many of those people do we let slip through the cracks by not having even simpler decks than the -- certainly ingenious! -- Coming Of Age starters? Even, if only as a secondary option?

Also, the focus has shifted to include casual play a bit more. However, that could be greatly enhanced. Not everybody wants or needs an official standing, or likes to join tournaments. Still, having people casually play/perpetuate/sponsor/promote the game increases chances that some of those people -- or others -- eventually do join OP.
There were plans to include achievements and/or other benefits for casual play. I've been enthusiastic about that, and may be able to coax some of my players into that system while not outright able to get them into OP. But there has not been a lot of movement on that front, which I personally regret.
On the other hand: yes, I'm very much aware that I might be operating on the fringes of where this community wants to be, myself. So yes, I do understand that precious and voluntary resources are distributed wisely. I just answer the questions, in the hope that it may be for the Greater Good Of The Game. 8)

So -- TL;DR -- my answers are:
- More diverse options and tools, e.g. different formats / deck / spaceline sizes might help teachers to choose more fitting materials.
- Even more rewards / incentives for casual / "kitchen table" gameplay.

In answer to your other question (gifts):
As holiday/seasonal gifts, I got some finacial support for some cards I bought, over the past couple of years. Among them were Barclay UR, Saavik, E'prise-A, Miral, ...
Cards which I may not have bought for myself even when I still could :P but that I loved to have. :D
Last edited by SudenKapala on Sun Dec 29, 2019 6:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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By Ensign Q
 - Delta Quadrant
 -  
#491772
Id like to see a cc channel on youtube where events are streamed and maybe a new player introduction series.

also a "recruit a friend" program cant hurt, where you get promos for every new friend who participates on an event.

promo cards for tournament organizers and players. sth like fnm. tuesdaytrek?

pretty much all the stuff wotc does to promote magic.
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By Mr.Sloan
 - Delta Quadrant
 -  
#491794
Pre-constructed decks sound great.

Youtube channel sounds great.

Also pointing out there is a way to play this game, online for free, worldwide.

Also i think its important to have a dokument to learn rules. The rulebook does not include all, the glossry does include too much.

I did a german rule series, where a new german player was found of:
http://open-cards.com/games/st1e/build/ ... archResult

A set of articles explaining main rule concepts step by step (more then rulebook, less then the entire glossray). articles like:
- Ship combat
- personal battle
- everything about holograms
- everything about not-usable personnel (disabled, must do nothing, stopped, in stasis)
- general rules for dilemma resolution
- actions step 1,2,3,
- play rules (free play, quadrants etc.)
- downloads (SD vs. regular download, override quadrant..)
- Station /sites
- how to play borg?

and of course world wide tv commercials :P
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First Edition Creative Manager
By KazonPADD (Paddy Tye)
 - First Edition Creative Manager
 -  
1E European Continental Runner-Up 2023
1E The Neutral Zone Regional Champion 2023
#491811
Boost and promote TNG Block tournaments. The tournament system doesn’t recognise them as a specific format, different from normal block. Find ways to encourage and reward playing TNG block games. Develop TNG Block further into a TNG only format, incorporating all the old PAQ cards old players remember. Build out the remaining three TNG block factions (Cardassian, Maquis and Borg) and add more fun mechanics to the TNG arsenal.
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European OP Coordinator
 - European OP Coordinator
 -  
#491814
A strange idea came to my mind:

What about preordered-preconstructed-starter-decks?

To explain my idea in more detail:

I find it hard to learn 1E "by doing". I'm also a quite professional board game player. In lots of them you find a "preconstructed map" or something like that in the rulebooks to play the first game in a balanced setting with the opportunity to see almost everything the game can give you.

To convert this into 1E I'll give you the following example:

We create several 2 Player preconstructed decks. The Seed Phase is skipped and the spaceline and which dilemma combo is seeded under which opponent's Mission (you can also add self seeds to that - one [Art] might be fun) is pre-set. Also the other seed cards and the outpost - so the "board" of the game is completely preconstructed and balanced. We would also Need a Tent for all the possible Downloads.

In addition to that all the draw deck cards get numbers from 1 to 30-40-50 and have to be prepared in that way without shuffling, so everyone draws cards in the exact way they should draw them.

For example: both decks will have a ship in their starting hand, a free Play as well, early a Kivas, if a deck has an [Equ] then add a Disruptor Overload to the other one and so on.

Of course this would take some really important things away from this game, but you can show your apprentice all the mechanics the game can give.

Also you could really show it with "learning by doing". Right now, you should explain everything before you can start with the Seed Phase. This would also prevent the "ok, sorry, you can't do anything because you had a bad draw, but the game is really great" phrase I had to use often before. It will Keep the tactical decisions to the new player (like when should I attempt missions, when should I attack) but with the knowledge what cards the apprentice could have in his hands the Trainer could also tell him at the proper timeframe "I know you have another ship in your hand, I'm at a mission "vulnerable", so hey, before you make your card play I'll introduce you to the battle system of 1E".

Opinions?
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By Armus (Brian Sykes)
 - The Center of the Galaxy
 -  
Regent
Community Contributor
#491818
Clerasil ToB wrote:A strange idea came to my mind:

What about preordered-preconstructed-starter-decks?

To explain my idea in more detail:

I find it hard to learn 1E "by doing". I'm also a quite professional board game player. In lots of them you find a "preconstructed map" or something like that in the rulebooks to play the first game in a balanced setting with the opportunity to see almost everything the game can give you.

To convert this into 1E I'll give you the following example:

We create several 2 Player preconstructed decks. The Seed Phase is skipped and the spaceline and which dilemma combo is seeded under which opponent's Mission (you can also add self seeds to that - one [Art] might be fun) is pre-set. Also the other seed cards and the outpost - so the "board" of the game is completely preconstructed and balanced. We would also Need a Tent for all the possible Downloads.

In addition to that all the draw deck cards get numbers from 1 to 30-40-50 and have to be prepared in that way without shuffling, so everyone draws cards in the exact way they should draw them.

For example: both decks will have a ship in their starting hand, a free Play as well, early a Kivas, if a deck has an [Equ] then add a Disruptor Overload to the other one and so on.

Of course this would take some really important things away from this game, but you can show your apprentice all the mechanics the game can give.

Also you could really show it with "learning by doing". Right now, you should explain everything before you can start with the Seed Phase. This would also prevent the "ok, sorry, you can't do anything because you had a bad draw, but the game is really great" phrase I had to use often before. It will Keep the tactical decisions to the new player (like when should I attempt missions, when should I attack) but with the knowledge what cards the apprentice could have in his hands the Trainer could also tell him at the proper timeframe "I know you have another ship in your hand, I'm at a mission "vulnerable", so hey, before you make your card play I'll introduce you to the battle system of 1E".

Opinions?
I thought Zinno or somebody was working on something like this already....
User avatar
First Edition Creative Manager
By KazonPADD (Paddy Tye)
 - First Edition Creative Manager
 -  
1E European Continental Runner-Up 2023
1E The Neutral Zone Regional Champion 2023
#491821
Armus wrote:
Clerasil ToB wrote:A strange idea came to my mind:

What about preordered-preconstructed-starter-decks?

To explain my idea in more detail:

I find it hard to learn 1E "by doing". I'm also a quite professional board game player. In lots of them you find a "preconstructed map" or something like that in the rulebooks to play the first game in a balanced setting with the opportunity to see almost everything the game can give you.

To convert this into 1E I'll give you the following example:

We create several 2 Player preconstructed decks. The Seed Phase is skipped and the spaceline and which dilemma combo is seeded under which opponent's Mission (you can also add self seeds to that - one [Art] might be fun) is pre-set. Also the other seed cards and the outpost - so the "board" of the game is completely preconstructed and balanced. We would also Need a Tent for all the possible Downloads.

In addition to that all the draw deck cards get numbers from 1 to 30-40-50 and have to be prepared in that way without shuffling, so everyone draws cards in the exact way they should draw them.

For example: both decks will have a ship in their starting hand, a free Play as well, early a Kivas, if a deck has an [Equ] then add a Disruptor Overload to the other one and so on.

Of course this would take some really important things away from this game, but you can show your apprentice all the mechanics the game can give.

Also you could really show it with "learning by doing". Right now, you should explain everything before you can start with the Seed Phase. This would also prevent the "ok, sorry, you can't do anything because you had a bad draw, but the game is really great" phrase I had to use often before. It will Keep the tactical decisions to the new player (like when should I attempt missions, when should I attack) but with the knowledge what cards the apprentice could have in his hands the Trainer could also tell him at the proper timeframe "I know you have another ship in your hand, I'm at a mission "vulnerable", so hey, before you make your card play I'll introduce you to the battle system of 1E".

Opinions?
I thought Zinno or somebody was working on something like this already....
I think it was called Project Keiko and as far as I know it’s still under development. It was meant to be released before Coming of Age but we skipped ahead in the queue as we were tested and ready.
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By SudenKapala (Suden Käpälä)
 - Delta Quadrant
 -  
#491824
MTG did something like this in, I think, 1996. You prolly know about it. It was a package with "Zakk's and Kazz's decks", and a guide book that took players through the whole game in a predetermined order, like TOB describes.
IIRC, WotC did the same thing for their SW TCG.
So there's precedents that can be looked at.

I think the idea is brilliant, and it might work between players who both never played the game. But the way Magic did it, I don't think it's a "fun" experience -- only an "educational" one.
I inherited the set from somebody, and researched it a bit, thinking I'd try it out for fun. But to be frank, I'd never teach anyone MTG with those decks; and not sure if it's possible to create a more fun experience for STCCG. But then, I don't have to use that particular tool for Trek, if it existed -- I can teach myself (as you all can), so we have the freedom to use other tools.

But other interested parties might exist.

Because, as I said -- we could use as many tools as are available/ developable. So it might be great to have such a pre-ordered deck set (for all-new players, w/o teacher) alongside easier, truncated-game starters as I proposed (for a phased learning experience w/teacher) and the CoA starters that already exist (for head-on full learning experience w/teacher).

So... more tools for different student situations, is still my idea here. And TOB's revisiting of those WotC packs fits right in, I'd say.
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By Mr.Sloan
 - Delta Quadrant
 -  
#491852
SudenKapala wrote: So it might be great to have such a pre-ordered deck set (for all-new players, w/o teacher)
+1
I also through in the words "Warp Speed decks"

And please more cards that make different affiliations more unique to play... easy to use powerfull unqiue flavor stuff....
User avatar
 
 - Gamma Quadrant
 -  
Continuing Committee Member - Retired
#491973
1. Actually write a response to a tournament bid so I feel motivated to even care about why I should even have new players.
2. Not make terrible sets so that I feel motivated to actually make decks and play games.
3. Not make me wait 9 years for a particular subset of cards (such as new borg cards) and then make those cards fun and interesting and not thematic fails with uninspired gameplay.
4. Stop nerfing the key cards to my decks so that I feel like playing is actually a worthwhile thing to do and not just a 100+ hours wasting building a deck i'll get to play in 1 major event only to get killed immediately.
5. Actually make online play a priority so that playing with new players can happen more frequently and not just the rare times that we can meet in person.
5A: Quit using that pile of garbage program that is Lackey
6. More affiliation specific how to play articles.
7. Identify a long term limited format (such as my draft cube or warp speed) and codify it as the official tournament format of limited events.
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By Ensign Q
 - Delta Quadrant
 -  
#492001
I feel 5a is a little out of reach of CC
Jebus is coding something new, but he is doing it all by himself

Before we have something better than Lackey, I feel its tough to motivate players to play online.

No one is hindering to play the dojo tournaments right now.
User avatar
 
 - Gamma Quadrant
 -  
Continuing Committee Member - Retired
#492002
Ensign Q wrote:I feel 5a is a little out of reach of CC
Jebus is coding something new, but he is doing it all by himself

Before we have something better than Lackey, I feel its tough to motivate players to play online.

No one is hindering to play the dojo tournaments right now.
1e is available to play on table top simulator.
User avatar
 
By Ensign Q
 - Delta Quadrant
 -  
#492005
TTS isnt freeware and supposedly even worse than lackey for card games.

Could be possible to write a plugin for Cockatrice, but thats beyond my abilities/sparetime/motivation
User avatar
 
 - Gamma Quadrant
 -  
Continuing Committee Member - Retired
#492008
Ensign Q wrote:TTS isnt freeware and supposedly even worse than lackey for card games.

Could be possible to write a plugin for Cockatrice, but thats beyond my abilities/sparetime/motivation

So? You pay money for ink and paper. For card sleeves. For promos. For entry fees. How's this asking too much?

I've used tts a lot. It's vastly superior.
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