[Commandeur]

I posted this internally a couple of weeks ago and it received a mixed reaction. However, I think it is very important to let everyone know what I am thinking and where I stand.

My intention is NOT to upset or alienate existing players. I just need the experienced players to understand that they are outnumbered by casual players, 2E players and inactive players and that we need to find a way to reach out to those players. I have to find a way to make the experienced players realize that there is a huge pool of "almost" regular players out there that are not adequately served by Open, Ref cards and errata.

Below you will find two posts.
First, the "bad" news that some team members found very upsetting.
Second, the "good" news, an outline of the plan for the next two years.

I'm hoping by sharing this now, it will help inform the discussion about Revised, Standard, Project Transwarp, Virtual Cards and the future. Please read both posts before commenting.

[Commandeur]

The next fifteen years . . .

I need you to pause for a moment and honestly ask yourself a question.


How much do you want to play?


Seriously, think about it for a moment. It is important that you think about it before answering the next question.


What are you willing to "pay" in order to play more 1E than you do now?


I don't mean money, I'm not planning on charging anything.

Would you be willing to give away 30% of your collection if it provided several new people to play with?
Would you be willing to play DS9 property logo only if it meant you could play in a 1E tournament every week, or every other week?
Would you be willing to keep playing if I banned all interrupts in the game for a new no interrupt format?
What if that format took off, brought new players into the game, revived 1E in areas where it was "dead", and sparked interest among 2E players?
Allen has asked a similar question in his recent poll.

I've spent almost a year now listening to active players, inactive players, 1E organizers, 2E players, casual players, new players. I've given a lot of attention to more casual players and inactive players as they far outnumber the more serious competitive players. I've conducted surveys, held in depth phone and in person interviews and sent/received more emails than I can count.

I have talked to people in Sweden, Germany, France, Croatia, Canada, Michigan, New York, Alabama, Louisiana, Missouri, Florida, California, Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and more. If you would like to talk to me, I'm open to listing to what you have to say. PM me and we can arrange a time for me to call you.

Here is what I have learned:
I. The majority of 1E players, active and inactive, are dissatisfied with Open format.

II. The is especially true of inactive and more casual players, and less true for the hard core players that are especially active on this board.

IIl. Most active groups either use alternate house rules or have a gentleman's agreement not to play with the more abusive deck types.

IV. The dependance on Referee cards, the high-level meta laden with counters, and the general abundance of abusive decks have driven away large numbers of players who still love the core values and flavor of the game.

V. 2E players, casual players and inactive 1E players who are disinterested in Open outnumber the hard core players by more than three to one.

VI. Most casual players, 2E players and inactive 1E players are NOT active here on the 1E board. I had to reach out to them.

VII. The majority of people I talk to just want to play. They would play SoCal Highlander, Standard, Balance of Power or sealed deck if it gave them more opportunities to play with more people.

VIII. There are a lot of players out there who don't want to have to stock, use, or see Referee cards. For many, the Referee cards are a reminder of everything that is wrong with the game. For them, every time a Ref card is played, the game has fallen down.

IX. There is a very vocal segment of players who oppose banning cards.

X. There is a small segment of players who oppose new errata and dislike errata in general.



Most of the active members of this board are long time 1E players with a high level of skill and experience. Experience is the key concept here. Right now, it takes too much skill, experience and knowledge for a new player to enter and play 1E at the tournament level. I understand that there are a lot of players out there that want to play only high level Trek, and anything that dumbs down or simplifies the game feels offensive to them. I hear you.

What I need the more experienced players to understand is that the bar for entry for new players, casual players, and 2E players is set too high. You must be 6'7" (or 2 Meters) tall to ride this ride.

I should pause for a second to explain to international players that NFL = National Football League or American Football (NOT what Americans call Soccer). Two-Hand Touch Football works like this. Instead of tackling the opposing player (like in Rugby or the NFL) you instead only have to touch them with both hands. This counts as a tackle.

Most of the really active people here on this board are hard core, high level 1E players. NFL level 1E players. We suit up with our pads (Ref cards), put on our cleats (Kevin, Amanda) and pop in our mouth guard (Borg Nanoprobes) before playing a game. You and I have done this so many times it is second nature. We know instinctively what every Referee card does and what cards they target. We know how to beat Med drain, Science drain, and point drain decks. We know how to play Borg.

Not every player can, or wants to, play 1E at the NFL level. There is a vast pool of players players out there who have no desire to play NFL level 1E. They are more interested in playing two-hand-touch or ultimate frisbee. They just want to have fun playing the game without having to put on pads (Ref cards), counter/play hexany, or experience the bone-crunching competition of NFL-level 1E.

If the game is to grow, if we want to see more registered tournaments, higher turn outs, new players, 2E players and the vast pool of casual and inactive players show up more often, the game needs an officially organized two-hand-touch level format. A format where Referee cards are not needed because the abuse they are meant to contain does not exist.

Lets say I want to organize a pick up game this weekend to play american football. How many people do you think would show up if I ran a full contact, pads and cleats game? How many people would show up if I ran a game of two-hand-touch instead?

Since 1997 I have run a 1E tournament at least once every month. I have scorecards and photos to prove this. At this point, I may have played more tournament games of 1E than any other player in the world. I understand the competitive nature of 1E and how to play the game at a high level.

However, if I'm only willing to play at a high level, I'm going to face an ever dwindling number of people who are willing/able to play at that level. After a few years, I will no longer be able to sanction tournaments and I will be reduced to playing over Lackey or at the occasional meet up.

I had 15 people show up for the NorCal Regional this month (not including me). When was the last time you were at a 1E tournament that had 15 players? 1E World's last year didn't have that many people.

Open is not going away. I'm not out to kill Open. Open will continue to be a sanctioned format. If you are a local organizer and running an Open format Regional championship next year would provide the highest turn out, you should run an Open format regional.

I would love to see the North American Continental Championship for 1E next year be an Open format event held in Michigan or Alberta. Give me some advance notice and I'll support that effort with additional prizes, or if the timing is right I'll even fly out to run the event, allowing your local organizer to play.

However, I need everybody to understand that Open has proven for years that it is not going to grow the game. Open is not going to provide more players, more opportunities to play, more tournaments, more active groups and higher turn outs. Referee cards and errata are a great way to improve the game for experienced players, but better pads and cleats are not going bring in more casual players who are more interested in playing two-hand-touch.

Open will continue to exist and experience incremental improvements through Referee cards, errata and improved rulings and rules. I want to publicly thank the Rules Committee for their efforts in these areas. They take this task very seriously and are working very hard to improve the game. Thanks to their efforts we have Tribunal of Q, updated CRD and CRVD documents, and this summer we will have the first truly updated glossary and rule book in almost ten years.

Hopefully, a growing player base will provide more players interested in moving up to NFL level 1E. However, if NFL level 1E is all we have to offer, growth is not going to happen.

Eventually there is going to have to been an entry level alternate format that uses a smaller pool of cards. A pool without the abuse the Referee cards are meant to counter, a pool that is easier to collect and buy into, a pool without a bevy of escalated cards that make older cards (and new virtual cards) obsolete. Revised is the vehicle meant to get us to that point. I expect it will take two years to get there. There will be a lot of new virtual cards, reprints, and 2E conversions between now and then to help build out that pool; to make that pool more accessible and more affordable to all.

How much do you want to play?

To play more often and to play with more people, you need to be willing to make some hard sacrifices and I need your support. Sacrifice, support and teamwork are needed for 1E to grow and move forward. Providing all of us with more opportunities to play the game we love over the next fifteen years.

[Commandeur]

Allow me to try again, the same vision expressed in goal form rather than addressed to existing experienced players.

My long term vision would be this. Lets say its two years in the future.

1. There have been a few new Ref cards issued to address various abuses.

2. Several more cards have errata, fixing a lot of key issues. SSI and In the Zone now work well without negative side effects.

3. Some problematic strategies have new non-Ref counters that mitigate them (say like an Anti-Sherlock card).

4. We have a new updated glossary that is cleaner, easier to read/search and is a great support to the game.

5. We have an updated rulebook in two forms, comprehensive for experienced players and quick start/easy for new players.

6, All/most 2E BC cards have been re-issued on 1E Templates. Making BC cards mostly obsolete and removing the various goofy rules questions and scenarios they cause.

7. Revised has served its purpose an can now be phased out. Revised rules that have proven to be good should be folded into Open. Revised rules that are not good enough for Open should be discarded. Some revised rules will have been replaced by new counter cards or Ref cards.

8. A large number of cards from the first three sets and Holodeck Adventures have been reprinted. Some as exact reprints, some as new alternate versions (new title, not errata) with improved, cleaner, more balanced wording.

9. Standard Format evolves into the Rotation format. This is a lot easier for experienced players to deal with because there are a lot of reprints to mitigate the loss of cards. New players find Standard Format very accessible as they don't have to learn/use/stock most Ref cards, don't have to learn nearly as much errata, can collect fewer sets, and have access to a huge library of virtual cards.

10. Experienced players have Open to meet their needs, new/casual/2E players have Standard/Rotation to meet their needs.

11. Provided both formats are widely used, I can run a championship for each.

12. Every affiliation has a couple of affiliation based draw engines at their disposal. They also have several play engines at their disposal.

13. There is a printable starting point PDF for each affiliation filled with flavor. It may be a fully playable deck, or perhaps just a "half deck" that you finish building yourself.

14. Many elements of the game have been cleaned up. Perhaps with unloaded keywords (Draw Engine, Capture, Battle), perhaps with new wording conventions, perhaps by other means.

15. We have a permanent, re-usable sealed deck format that does not depend on product availability. Like the Star Wars draft cube.

New players can enter the game through the limited format. They have fewer cards to collect, learn and understand. They don't have to deal with referee cards, loads of counters and a heavy meta game. At any time, a new player or more casual player can buy more cards, learn how to use Referee cards and start playing Open as well.

A limited/standard/rotation deck would still work in Open. It may have problems with some abusive decks (as a limited deck does not normally need Referee cards) but it is playable.

[Alphajemmie]

All this sounds good to me.
Getting more players active is the most importand indeed.
Can't wait for some new virtuals though

[admiral-mogh]

I like it, you have my full support!

I am particularly curious on points 8) and 9), could you please elaborate on them?

Open format still has the same name, but Standard format might be changed to Rotation or Limited (or other)?
To avoid confusion I think it is important to "set the foot down" very soon and simply decide on one name for the "new" format and then stick with it.

[Commandeur]

I like it, you have my full support!

I am particularly curious on points and 9), could you please elaborate on them?

Open format still has the same name, but Standard format might be changed to Rotation or Limited (or other)?
To avoid confusion I think it is important to "set the foot down" very soon and simply decide on one name for the "new" format and then stick with it.

It is confusing. My apologies.
Right now we have:
Open
Standard
Revised

Two years from now I hope to have:
Open (with possibly some revised rules becoming Open rules)
Limited (replaces Standard and Revised, only certain sets are used)

The idea is that the names would be easier for a brand new player to understand. Either you are playing with an Open card pool, or a Limited card pool.

[admiral-mogh]

In point 9 you talk about Rotation format, that had me a bit confused.

So Open is set and Limited is set as the future replacement for Revised/Standard? Cool!

Could you please elaborate on point 8 and 9?
Is the idea to use the Standard format X-list and add cards that cannot be "fixed", like for instance those that need cards to counter them?
If you are also thinking to re-release most of the x-listed cards with new errata/fixed virtual versions, then those who play Limited will have almost the same cardpool as in Open (only better, more refined) or am I missing something?

I really, really like the idea of a (near) future format where no cards are needed!

On the other hand, I really dislike the idea of having 4 complete expansions of verb cards banned from my cardpool. However - if most of them have been re-released as virtual "cleaner" versions, then I can certainly live with it!

Oh, by the way. I was a competitive player and tournament director back in the day, ca ´99-´02. I gave up around´03 because the deck building had become too complicated and time consuming and because 2E was boring and so ugly (I simply hate the card design!). I started playing 1E again with some friends about a year ago and now we are in the process of re-growing the Swedish 1E player community, Scox, Smiley and myself. Today I am definetly a casual player!

[Psyjedi]

Great posts Commandeur.

I will play any and all formats!

-PJ

[Spock with a Goatee]

That's absolutely right, Commandeur.

You have my full support for any format that will allow me to find people to play with locally on a regular basis. You have my double full support if the game that I get to play is not maddeningly frustrating (it sounds like you're on the right path for that.)

I'm moderately biased against banning cards and prefer erratas/non-ref counters (like the Sherlock killer you mention), but again I will get behind anything that will grow the player base and repair the game.

[Commandeur]

Could you please elaborate on point 8 and 9?

For the reprints, the idea is to reprint the useful staple or combo cards and leave out the fluff and abusive cards. For example, there is no plans to reprint Data's Medals (fluff) or Rouge Borg Mercenaries (abusive). However, cards like Engage Shuttle Operations, Spacedock, Interrogation already have virtual reprint versions waiting in the wings.

For the Limited format. Exactly what it will look like is to be determined, we have some time to work it out.

[JasonRed3]

I'd like to propose that an alternate name for the format be found.

Limited is typically used for sealed and drafting, and other formats where sealed product are involved.

Perhaps Alternate or New...
Or using Revised or Standard, since neither of those terms will be in use at that point.

(Since this is a format that will be especially new-player friendly, using a term like Standard makes sense, since it'll be their 'first' and 'main' format. A term like Limited makes it sound like it's not really the 'whole shebang' and lacking in some way)

J

[admiral-mogh]

For the reprints, the idea is to reprint the useful staple or combo cards and leave out the fluff and abusive cards. For example, there is no plans to reprint Data's Medals (fluff) or Rouge Borg Mercenaries (abusive). However, cards like Engage Shuttle Operations, Spacedock, Interrogation already have virtual reprint versions waiting in the wings.

Sounds excellent! A great future awaits us.

[geronimo_apache]

I think your stated goals are GREAT! Much clearer than the first written post. Having read both and understanding better what your goals are I can certainly get behind that and support it 100%. It makes any pain of going through and creating revised worth it.

It kinda reminds me of what magic has. They have Type I & II tourneys. Type II can only use the newest sets (I Think 3 blocks or something like that) and a core set. As newer sets are made a new player can keep collecting to keep playing type II but also they can play type I with the older dogs. Commandeur this is a great idea! I am sure it will be different from the way magic does it but great idea.

Commandeur you have my full support on your goal, even if at times I would disagree with how you are doing them. I can still support your efforts because I now know where you are going. If I can help let me know because this really excites me! I think this vision for at least the next 2 years will be great for trek 1e.

Jack B.

[DarkSabre]

I agree with everything.

My problem is that I feel like I got hit by a truck. With a borg at the wheel. With a nausicaan jumping me.

Honestly this whole this for Revised was for what?

I stopped my article for multi-quadrant mainly due to the Revised. It seemed that Revised was going to be the new standard format for all tournaments especially since every high level tourny was required to use the rules. But now its being thrown aside for what?

Honestly this whole looking forward article is nice. It should of been written before the revised rules were given to us. Or that when the Revised Rules were given we should of been told that the Revised Rules are going to go away and we are going to have a rotating and open formats.

I was talking to Spock with a Goatee while we tested revised and had fun. I am glad we had fun because now the whole testing for revised seems pretty pointless from this new vision of 1E Future.

Not to speak about the fact that there are other major issues to deal with:

1) Judge Testing: I have a game store to try and run tournies at. I might be able to increase our playbase in NYC. However I haven't heard from almost a month if I passed the judge test that is based on 2E! If it wasn't for playing with Spock honestly not sure what I would be doing with my Star Trek Cards. Jason has been busy, so we havent ran a tourny in awhile. I just want to feel like I am at least trying to get new players but without the ability to run a tourny how can I? Yeah I have to look up the rules and read them more but I'll be doing that.

2) Rules, 1E V Sets, and the Cube: The Cube will be great once we get it up and running and help get people to play. However how can I get new players to play if the rules will be changing soon? I am supposed to teach NEW people to play and tell them within the year we are going to be using different variant of the rules? Yes the rules are all the same on a basic level and really only conform to deck building but the idea is a little hard to swallow. Virtual Sets, its nice we know one is on the way but still one isn't enough and I hope more come down the pipeline at the same amount of time there is between 2E V Sets.

I am not so involved with the 2E so don't know how information is being given, how playtesting is done, prizes, etc. However that isn't up for issue about how I feel concerning the whole 1E Environment on here with the CC. Information seems to be very restricted, us little guys aren't told about how the playtesting is, we are being led around with very little input (except for lately since it seems to be changing), and we still do not have solutions for judging, prizes, getting new players to play, 'transwarp decks/cube', and virtual sets. We haven't seen anything except for rules changes which apparently aren't as important as they seemed a week ago.

[Spock with a Goatee]

I took Commandeur's post to mean that the Revised rules are an intermediate step. In 1-2 years elements of Revised will become the official rules to the game and will be folded into Open. Other elements of Revised will be phased out as the Limited (Type II) format is introduced. Revised is meant to fix aspects of the game right now, preserve the existing player base, and attract new players while virtual cards (which are necessary for a Type II format) are being designed.

Correct me if I'm wrong in that interpretation, Commandeur.