• TCGMMO - Revolution or a disaster?

    by
    Fisher
    Published on 06-21-2013 12:07 PM
    5 Comments Comments
    It's a fact that we're lacking good MMORPG to play. Almost all of them currently on the market are flawed, inbalanced or simply lacking content. Cryptozoic decided to push the genre even further, and make a TCGMMO called Hex.

    Now, TCGs, which stands for Trading Card Games, are extremely popular. Many players play Yu-Gi-Oh!, some even professionally, and there are tournaments where you can win nice cash prizes.. Buying booster packs and finding those rare cards can yield a nice cash profit too. But, would players switch to a digital version that easy? Cryptozoic seems to think so.

    Cryptozoic had a lot of success in the past. Their very own Chris Woods and Kevin Jordan designed the class system you can find in World of Warcraft. They're also behind the World of Warcraft TCG, which is said to be one of the most successful TCG products out there. According to Cryptozoic, both MMORPG games and TCG have one thing in common - the community. This was recently proven right, as Cryptozoic made a Kickstarter campaign, asking for only $300,000 to complete Hex - but the enthusiasm was apparently so high that the campaign raised $2.5 million, which in turn made it the ninth largest Kickstarter project to date.

    So how does a TCG go full blown MMO? It's not all about the cards. You will have your own character, which you can progress, use to explore the world and dive into lore quests and even dungeons. This makes sense right? There's many games out there, most known being Pokémon, where you run around and once engaged by wildlife, pull out some animals you happen to have in your pocket and fight the enemy, or the famous Heroes III, which is old, but holds the same concept. But there's more! Cryptozoic wants to give you access to guilds, crafting, and other social functions, including auction houses. The only difference is that instead of being in a traditional third-person MMO perspective, it’s all in a TCG format.

    But, why go full digital? Sure, 17765 people, which is the number of Kickstarter backers project had, seem to think it's a good idea, however, there are still those people that like it real. Well, going digital allows Cryptozoic to add some interesting stuff in terms of game design. For one, you’ll be able to get cards that you can socket with crafted gems, and you’ll even be able to create your own cards using the game’s deck editor. The progression mentioned earlier will also tie into how cards work. Having certain talent specs or gear on your chosen champion can alter the way individual cards play.

    HEX is a free-to-play title currently in pre-alpha with beta testing set to start this September. Is TCGMMO a good idea? From where I'm sitting, it's innovative, interesting and offers a lot of options for future development. Do you plan on downloading the game once it's out and diving right in? Let us know in the comment section below!


    BONUS: Hex trailer.
    Comments 5 Comments
    1. Jaerin's Avatar
      Jaerin - 06-21-2013
      With as much as people seem to rage against Pay-2-Win I'm surprised anyone plays these digital CCG's. Its the very definition of pay-2-win.

      No you can't buy specific cards, but that's no different than opening chests until you get the deck you want. Just keep giving them money until you get the cards you want. I'm all for new types of gameplay, but digital TCG's that require you to buy "boosters" are just a stupid concept to me.
    1. Maccer's Avatar
      Maccer - 06-21-2013
      I just love the titles of your articles.
    1. ocnwo's Avatar
      ocnwo - 06-21-2013
      I suspect with a game design of this type, it would be very easy to end up with a muddled, watered-down mixture of both genres, lacking the best aspects of both.

      I'm not sure how to capture the suspense of a difficult dungeon crawl with coordinated multi-class requirements, or the scale of a world-first rai boss kill, and somehow fashion it into a TCG experience.

      Coming the other way, I don't know how to keep the TCG competitive feeling in an MMO. As an example, many M:TG games are "mirror matches" where 2 opponents play identical decks, but somehow the really good players consistent overcome luck with skilled play and their mirror-match record is well over the statistical 50% it should mathematically be.

      I wish them luck.
    1. Fisher's Avatar
      Fisher - 06-21-2013
      Quote Originally Posted by ocnwo View Post
      I suspect with a game design of this type, it would be very easy to end up with a muddled, watered-down mixture of both genres, lacking the best aspects of both.

      I'm not sure how to capture the suspense of a difficult dungeon crawl with coordinated multi-class requirements, or the scale of a world-first rai boss kill, and somehow fashion it into a TCG experience.

      Coming the other way, I don't know how to keep the TCG competitive feeling in an MMO. As an example, many M:TG games are "mirror matches" where 2 opponents play identical decks, but somehow the really good players consistent overcome luck with skilled play and their mirror-match record is well over the statistical 50% it should mathematically be.

      I wish them luck.
      It might not go that bad. Inspect function is easy to implement, and tcg players are really hooked on the achievements, which are an aspect of mmorpgs, so it might actually blend in nicely

      I'm not a TCG fan, nor do I like the people that cursed players with World of Warcraft, but I do want too see this happen. Maybe this opens the eyes of other developers and they realize that MMO genre doesn't have to end with RPG. Let's keep our fingers crossed here and see what an MMORTS might look like.
    1. Focusx's Avatar
      Focusx - 06-22-2013
      It looks okay in my opinion, though it WILL grow old in no time for alot of the players, just like every other game there is time consuming.