[Off-Topic] Community Chat Thread

[Legend]

TSR created the second CCG ever - Spellfire. It was a hot mess that lasted about 6 years. Anyways, I was reminiscing about it and decided to look it up online only to discover that Wizbro let the Spellfire license lap a couple of years go and someone snatched it (and the .com) up and made it an NFT game. I mean, it's still a game. An actual playable game with refined rules and thousands of new (non-Wizbro) playable cards and a substantial community, but it's also an NFT, uh, bank(?). I find that so %$#% weird. (Especially because the art is generic.) It would be wild if MTG went NFT.

https://spellfire.com/story/4

[duducrash]

I can only offer suggestions if you want audio dramas in Mandarin. Probably not gonna work out for what you want but hey, it is a lot cheaper than an audio book in English.

Estoy aprendiendo español com la ayuda de los podcasts ?Por que no chino?

But seriously, consuming media in different languages is great. My english is pretty broken, but I can communicate myself, got to experience internationally with academia and even work in a international position and its mostly thanks to PSX and nintendo video games I played as a kid

[DirkGently]

My GBU article is live! For the record I had it finished the day the set finished spoiling, but a bit of a mixup delayed it getting out there.

edit: btw wtf is going on with the price of Nazgûl? Literally the highest price I can remember seeing on any uncommon printed since I started playing.

Relentless Rats type of cards have always been rather hot. Generally anyone who wants them is looking to get their hands on like 20-40 copies and preorder prices tend to be high. If you are interested in doing something for a card like this your best bet is usually to wait until a lot of the product is opened and initial hype dies down.

I am actually surprised that this one is as high as it is considering you can only run 9 copies.

That's what I'm saying, 9 copies seems too few to really justify a whole deck. I guess if you're playing Sauron, the Dark Lord or Sméagol, Helpful Guide you're running them though.

The league that does limited-like constructed that I've mentioned allows 9 uncommons in a 40 card deck with max 2 of each, but ofc Nazgûl lets me use all 9 slots lmao. But I only got 4 across prereleases and I'm sure not paying $100 NZD for a gimmick deck.

[ISBPathfinder]

And....of those, you should absolutely read Cradle, Imho. it's full on Progression fantasy, no game elements. Progression is basically gamelit without the game mechanics, more magic system world building but the same kinda "I am a character who is trying to be successful instead of lucksacking into cosmic power." Lots more slice of lifey stuff, generally attempts at things being logical, etc.

I am a little over halfway through so far. I guess two gripes so far:

1) This first book is super short. It looks like most of the books are about 9ish hours which to me is unfortunate as the cost to entertainment level is somewhat low. I generally won't buy a book under 10 hours without a strong endorsement for this reason.
2) Its a cultivation setup. I have encountered a few other books using cultivation mechanics my issue is just that it always feels like I can't really quite grasp the system and a lot of things just feel a little hand wavy like ohhhhhh this mystical herb this and that. Cultivation systems just aren't my favorite because it feels a little less graspable as to what the system is and what everything does. I prefer a crunchy stat system just because its a little easier to grasp numerically the progression of the character vs moving up teirs of cultivation where its like.... ok what the hell did that mean kind of a thing. Numerical systems do really suck though when using audio book format though as when the narrator reads off the stats ohhh god but I like the numeric a lot in written form.

My duration issues might also stem from how fast I consume books in general. Its not that unheard of for me to do 4-10 hours of audiobook a day depending on how hooked I get. Short books are just unfortunate lol.

[pokken]

I am a little over halfway through so far. I guess two gripes so far:

1) This first book is super short. It looks like most of the books are about 9ish hours which to me is unfortunate as the cost to entertainment level is somewhat low. I generally won't buy a book under 10 hours without a strong endorsement for this reason.
2) Its a cultivation setup. I have encountered a few other books using cultivation mechanics my issue is just that it always feels like I can't really quite grasp the system and a lot of things just feel a little hand wavy like ohhhhhh this mystical herb this and that. Cultivation systems just aren't my favorite because it feels a little less graspable as to what the system is and what everything does. I prefer a cruncy stat system just because its a little easier to grasp numercally the progression of the character vs moving up teirs of cultivation where its like.... ok what the hell did that mean kind of a thing.

My duration issues might also stem from how fast I consume books in general. Its not that unheard of for me to do 4-10 hours of audiobook a day depending on how hooked I get. Short books are just unfortunate lol.

Damn you do consume books fast I usually read a book a week but that's in e-book form so usually a lot cheaper.

I can understand not preferring cultivation; it's my preference, I think because I find some of the number crunching stuff a little distracting (especially if it winds up being meaningless, which it often does). That said, Cradle gets quite a bit crunchier later on as he moves through tiers and starts to learn about how things work beyond the valley and whatever.

I think Cradle is a bit of a slow burn but I was super hooked by the end of book 1, so if you're not I wouldn't probably keep plugging. I do think it improves substantially over time, but I'm not sure it is enough to change if you don't like cultivation stuff.

It does get quite a bit more refined mechanically though.

[Guardman]

And....of those, you should absolutely read Cradle, Imho. it's full on Progression fantasy, no game elements. Progression is basically gamelit without the game mechanics, more magic system world building but the same kinda "I am a character who is trying to be successful instead of lucksacking into cosmic power." Lots more slice of lifey stuff, generally attempts at things being logical, etc.

I am a little over halfway through so far. I guess two gripes so far:

1) This first book is super short. It looks like most of the books are about 9ish hours which to me is unfortunate as the cost to entertainment level is somewhat low. I generally won't buy a book under 10 hours without a strong endorsement for this reason.
2) Its a cultivation setup. I have encountered a few other books using cultivation mechanics my issue is just that it always feels like I can't really quite grasp the system and a lot of things just feel a little hand wavy like ohhhhhh this mystical herb this and that. Cultivation systems just aren't my favorite because it feels a little less graspable as to what the system is and what everything does. I prefer a crunchy stat system just because its a little easier to grasp numerically the progression of the character vs moving up teirs of cultivation where its like.... ok what the hell did that mean kind of a thing. Numerical systems do really suck though when using audio book format though as when the narrator reads off the stats ohhh god but I like the numeric a lot in written form.

My duration issues might also stem from how fast I consume books in general. Its not that unheard of for me to do 4-10 hours of audiobook a day depending on how hooked I get. Short books are just unfortunate lol.

I've read enough cultivation stories to tell you that the biggest barrier to them are cultural. They are strongly rooted in classical Chinese medicine and mythology (though I've also seen a couple of Korean Manhwa's and Light Novels that use them).

As for cultivation stories themselves, I agree with you. They have what I call a "McGuffin progression system". Training is often somewhat arbitrary and progression comes less from training and more from finding the Black Lightning Seed or Sacred Jade or eating a Pill of Fire and Ice and absorbing its chi. Sure, they technically have to go on quests to find these items and most of the times they have to do some meditation to make sure it is absorbed properly, but for some reason I never find it as satisfying as a character getting stronger due to intense training and overcoming their limits rather than I went on a dangerous quest for magic item A that made me stronger.

Also I've read enough where I can kind of get the whole cultivation progression system, but by god is it one of the most obtuse and flowerily language progression systems I've seen. While video game progression systems aren't perfect, they are very grokable, and even a person who doesn't play video games can come in and understand them with a little effort. Plus, when done correctly, they can even avoid the power level problem since person A might be a higher level, but they are slow and weak to fire. It allows for a good mix of easy to understand progression, while allowing for the overcoming of stronger foes without the whole dragon ball Z problem of your power is 1,000,000, well mine is 4,000,000, you lose, that the whole Namek and Frieza sagas had.

[ISBPathfinder]

I try to work out daily and I listen to audio books. I also bring my daughter to and from daycare during which I listen to audio books. If I am cooking or cleaning I usually listen to audio books. Hell sometimes if a book is good I will just go and lay down and listen to audio books as my entertainment for the night lol. I tend to read books over watching TV. Most of my TV watching is to have a relaxing time with my wife / kid.

When I open my audible library it goes 19 pages deep of books currently displaying 20 books per page. I have me some audio books lol. (that is somewhere in the rough $4,500 of audio books with some rough math but it might be even higher as I don't know what the monthly sub is as its my wife's account and she pays for the monthly I pay for all the extra credits)

[Airi]

I've read enough cultivation stories to tell you that the biggest barrier to them are cultural. They are strongly rooted in classical Chinese medicine and mythology (though I've also seen a couple of Korean Manhwa's and Light Novels that use them).

It also doesn't help that each novel has it's own set up for the levels. Like, some are pretty present (Foundation, Nascent Soul, Core Formation, etc.) but if there's sub levels or sometimes the names of higher levels are all up to the author's discretion. Add translation/localization (for novels not originally in English) in to that and it takes a while to learn it.

A while back I read like 3-4 xianxia novels in a row that all had radically different progression and elemental systems and almost cried trying to untangle it.

[TheGildedGoose]

Arabian Nights is the original Universes Beyond.

Discuss.

[DirkGently]

For me the difference is the lack of cross promotion. I just don't like my hobby being a billboard.

[Hermes_]

Arabian Nights is the original Universes Beyond.

Discuss.

meh imo, just like all the other UB stuff

[TheGildedGoose]

For me the difference is the lack of cross promotion. I just don't like my hobby being a billboard.

Pretty sure One Thousand and One Nights got some extra play after Ali from Cairo dropped.

[Hermes_]

so,this happened during a game this week i played Spark Rupture and made a PW a creature and then spark was removed and we were confused about what happened to the PW,if it remained a creature or not. Since Spark didn't say otherwise and i couldn't find a ruling we decided that the pw was forever a creature.

[tstorm823]

Arabian Nights is the original Universes Beyond.

Discuss.

Fair.

On top of that, the majority of planes since Mirrodin have been equally derivative from older fiction (Kamigawa, Theros, Strixhaven, Innistrad, Amonkhet, Eldraine), there's an argument to be made that it's more respectable to just use the actual Lord of the Rings characters than it is to effectively parody the IP with the names changed.

The real problem with Universes Beyond is that they started with The Walking Dead.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

so,this happened during a game this week i played Spark Rupture and made a PW a creature and then spark was removed and we were confused about what happened to the PW,if it remained a creature or not. Since Spark didn't say otherwise and i couldn't find a ruling we decided that the pw was forever a creature.

Pretty sure Spark rupture works the same way as Opalescence and March of the Machines. When it leaves, all things revert back to their original card type and lose other cards types gained through their carf effects. @WizardMN, back me up here! I still haven't passed my L1 exam.

[Ruiner]

so,this happened during a game this week i played Spark Rupture and made a PW a creature and then spark was removed and we were confused about what happened to the PW,if it remained a creature or not. Since Spark didn't say otherwise and i couldn't find a ruling we decided that the pw was forever a creature.

The effect of Spark Rupture ceases to apply if it is no longer in play so planeswalkers would revert back to non-creature planeswalkers that have their abilities again. Spark Rupture is just a static effect, much like the effects of March of the Machines, Blood Moon or Glorious Anthem, and the text on it no longer applies when it is destroyed./removed.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

@Ruiner Jynx! You owe me a soda 🤣

[Hermes_]

For me the difference is the lack of cross promotion. I just don't like my hobby being a billboard.

Pretty sure One Thousand and One Nights got some extra play after Ali from Cairo dropped.

But that's okay because it isn't as "in your face" as the other ips have been

EDIT: Also @DirkGently is kind of picky regarding the game lol

[duducrash]

I think optimization is the natural progression of things.

I have this casual playgroup, so casual thay yesterday I played Boromir and one of them was like "wait, like lord of the rings Boromir?". So they mostly play creatures and turn sideways, but every time we play their mana curve is lower and their decks better. Which in turn gets me into a weird spot. Its not a place where I can play some of my decks because they are not there yet, but I cant also play midrange casual stuff. I played my PWs deck but noticed they didnt love wrath after wrath, They didnt love Toshiro Umezawa either. Im thinking if pillowfort is less anoying to play against. Maybe Faramir, Prince of Ithilien (mostly because it won me my pre release and I became a fan of the card)

[Hermes_]

one of the guys in my group posted their decklist on moxified,so this is the type of thing I have to face

https://www.moxfield.com/decks/0SBQeA7T ... HfhR_s4U7s

[DirkGently]

Pretty sure One Thousand and One Nights got some extra play after Ali from Cairo dropped.

This is a joke, right? I think it is but I'm not 100%. That said I'm not even sure what the joke is supposed to mean, is there a movie called One Thousand and One Nights? Because I can't find anything about it. There's a couple foreign-language TV shows but they came out after Arabian.

Anyway, I don't have a problem with using public domain stuff because there aren't any incentives for WotC to promote the other IP. Every set has its inspirations, even if they're not usually as overt as Arabian. Is Theros UB for greek mythology? That's clearly a dumb road to walk down.

[TheGildedGoose]

This is a joke, right?

... yes.

That said I'm not even sure what the joke is supposed to mean, is there a movie called One Thousand and One Nights? Because I can't find anything about it. There's a couple foreign-language TV shows but they came out after Arabian.

what

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Tho ... One_Nights

This is a joke, right?

[DirkGently]

@TheGildedGoose you said "play", I've never heard anyone referring to a book as getting play. How would you play a book? Is it an audiobook? Maybe I'm just not up with the slang.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

one of the guys in my group posted their decklist on moxified,so this is the type of thing I have to face

https://www.moxfield.com/decks/0SBQeA7T ... HfhR_s4U7s

Eh, I wouldn't worry about this deck. Dude literally has 5 pieces of removal in the whole deck. The deck is a question, and the answer is clearly Farewell! Au revoir, enchantment creatures and Anikthea triggers. See you next game.

[DirkGently]

@TheAmericanSpirit I'm thinking Presence of the Master|LEG. Own him with the power of Einstein.