Good Marketing Idea

Bubba Grizz · Post by **Bubba Grizz** » August 25, 2006, 2:10 pm

WoW: The Trading Card Game Launches in October
pper Deck Entertainment has teamed up with Blizzard to produce the official World of Warcraft trading card game – set to launch in October 2006!

In this new perspective on the World of Warcraft universe, each player will take the role of a hero with its own faction, class, talent spec, race, and professions. Just like in the online game, these traits help determine your play style and how you plan to crush the competition. A number of unique features characterize the card game and tie into the epic nature of the World of Warcraft experience. Mirroring the excitement of raid groups, raid decks allow a number of players to take on powerful, epic monsters like Onyxia the Black Dragon. You can team up with your friends to take down the mighty raid boss, or play the deck yourself and battle as Onyxia!

In addition, World of Warcraft TCG decks include randomly placed “loot cards.” These ultra rare cards have an online code unlocking exclusive cosmetic upgrades to your World of Warcraft online character! Look for an announcement with more specifics regarding loot cards in the near future.

The World of Warcraft TCG features the work of some of the top fantasy artists in the business, including Darrell Sweet, Greg Staples, Greg Hildebrandt, and R.K. Post. Blizzard artists such as Samwise Didier, Glenn Rane, and Justin Thavirat have also contributed to the World of Warcraft TCG, and even a few unique perspectives from creators Todd McFarlane and Gabe from Penny Arcade grace some of the cards. You can check out art pieces and profiles of the artists themselves on the game's official website.

The website also features daily new content, including exclusive art, spoilers for cards, interviews, and articles by the design team, as well as profiles of Upper Deck Entertainment employees and their World of Warcraft online characters.

The World of Warcraft trading card game goes on sale this October, starting with the official debut at the Essen Game Fair in Germany. You can find the game on sale in the U.S. the following week, with an expected street date of Wednesday, October 25.

miir · Post by **miir** » August 25, 2006, 3:10 pm

Weird.. a few weeks back, SOE acquired the online trading card game company, Worlds Apart.

Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE), a global leader in the online games industry, today announced that it has acquired key assets of Worlds Apart Productions, a premier independent developer of online trading card games. Key employees of Worlds Apart will form the core of the new SOE-Denver, integrating into SOE's worldwide group of studios stretching from San Diego to Seattle, Austin to Taiwan. The acquisition will strengthen SOE's position as a leader in the online gaming space by allowing the company to extend the depth of its gaming offerings.

"This is a way to expand SOE's business into a very attractive market that is consistently growing at a fast rate," said John Smedley, president, Sony Online Entertainment. "With this acquisition, we've expanded the range of online games that SOE can offer, as well as offering entirely new play mechanics and activities that could be built into both current and future titles."

"The team here in Denver couldn't be more pleased to become part of the Sony family," said Scott Martins, director of development, SOE-Denver. "We're really looking forward to building on the synergies between our team's technology and design experience and SOE's properties and infrastructure."

Based in Denver, Colorado, Worlds Apart Productions has been building and operating online games for 10 years. Specializing in online digital property games and role-playing games, Worlds Apart has accomplished a history of steady growth and successful, well-designed game titles that offer deep game play and attract strong player communities. Worlds Apart's Star Chamber received the honor of placing 9th in Computer Game Magazines Top 10 Computer Games for 2005 as well as "Best Independent Game" of 2005.

The company's Collect! Trade! Play! (CTP) Platform is a cost-effective infrastructure for the development of online collectible-object based games. It offers a modular, data-driven development and prototyping environment, as well as rapid time-to-market for full commercial releases. Worlds Apart uses CTP as the foundation for the translation of paper trading card games to online form, as well as for the creation of original properties.

SOE-Denver's core technologies have far-reaching potential, such as the ability to integrate board or card games into existing SOE online games, as well as the creation of new games altogether. SOE live game development teams will begin meeting with SOE-Denver to be introduced to their technology and begin exploring ways to integrate this valuable resource into SOE games. The Worlds Apart Productions brand may continue to be utilized by SOE in future releases.

Trading card games never held much interest for me, but both Blizzard and SOE jumping on it makes me wonder if these games might be worth looking into.

masteen · Post by **masteen** » August 25, 2006, 5:08 pm

They're not. I played Magic for years during and after college, and what a collossal waste of fucking money they are.

If you're a rich kid like Winnow, dive right in. If you actually WORK for your bucks, stay the fuck away from them.

cadalano · Post by **cadalano** » August 25, 2006, 5:10 pm

uh maybe you didnt notice but you can get RARE LOOT cards that give your character COSMETIC ITEMS

i've already preordered 100 packs, so prepare to get jealous

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » August 25, 2006, 8:39 pm

cadalano wrote:uh maybe you didnt notice but you can get RARE LOOT cards that give your character COSMETIC ITEMS

i've already preordered 100 packs, so prepare to get jealous

people paid like a grand on ebay for those murloc pet cages. you're being sarcastic, but blizzard and a bunch of ebayers are going to make a fuckload of money off of stupid people with those loot cards.

cadalano · Post by **cadalano** » August 25, 2006, 10:11 pm

oh yeah- there were even hundreds of people asking to just pay the blizzcon entry fee in order to get the pet without actually attending.

Gamei · Post by **Gamei** » August 26, 2006, 4:32 am

I've never played Magic, or any other collectible card game. I've never played Warhammer, or any other collectible game.

I have watched people play Warhammer, and how much they enjoy it. It seems very fun. It's not cheap to get into, much less play seriously. I know jack shit about Magic the card game(I played a real time video game version a year or so ago, though!) but I imagine it can be enjoyable without dumping thousands of dollars into it to have a super deck.

All that aside, some of the artwork I've seen online of those WoW cards is really amazing. You should at least look at the images they've released!

Spang · Post by **Spang** » August 26, 2006, 3:02 pm

i used to play (M:TG) in high school and only stopped playing because i didn't know anyone else that played after i joined the army. i never found anyone else until just recently. of course i never really was looking. but anyways this guy has been playing for years and i still had my cards so i've picked teh game back up again and i found they have premade decks you can buy at card shops or book stores or wal-mart for like 10 bucks. the deck is playable right out of the box.

you don't need to spend thousands unless you want to make a career out of it, imo.

it can become addicting though. buying the packs and boxes of cards more so than playing the game. building your own decks is half the fun.

masteen · Post by **masteen** » August 27, 2006, 10:31 pm

Have you ever actually PLAYED one of those premade pieces of shit? I mean, they're LEGAL, but you won't even beat the decks kids bring to your local card store.

But anyway, penny arcade did a comic back when this thing was announced:

Spang · Post by **Spang** » August 28, 2006, 6:01 am

they don't have local card stores where i live. the bible thumpers ran 'em out of town. they think the game is satanic or something. i did play against a premade deck. it seemed like a decent enough deck to me. i didn't win.