Battleforge Receives Strategic Price Reduction

@gravaton:
Great points, agreed on all.

If I'm expected to pay real money for digital cards, there needs to be an in-game auction/trading house where I can sell my unwanted cards to other players for real money.

puffa469

@Arthois: See, that's the whole reason why I almost never buy games until they've been out a month or two. Especially with a system like this, they really should have thought out the pricing better beforehand...

But then it's EA, and they like to sucker people into giving them more money.

Damn it, I bought it full price barely a week ago.

*shrug*

Arthois

hmmm if it happens on Steam too I'll think about it. I played the demo and thought it was fun, although my mom told me to avoid strangers so I didn't play multiplayer, the sandbox alone was pretty fun :P

and apparently if you have enough patience (and probably BARTER skills) you don't need to buy more cards, you can buy them using in-game money you earn from playing, then trading (TRADING CARD GAME!) in with other players.

and you also get some extra points when you buy the game, so you can buy some booster packs with these points.

in the end I don't think it's much more expensive than other C/TCGs out there, and even though EA can shut down the service, it's highly unlikely that someone will steal your cards :P and starting at $29 it's actually a good deal (someone in their forums claimed that you are basically getting paying for the cards and getting the game "backend" for free, which actually makes sense).

salaminizer

@gravaton:

I stopped playing TCG/CCGs in real life, and started just downloading them online. I've been using LackeyCCG, shit is so awesome.

Lucas Hamel

@gravaton: You make a ton of good points, although I'm somewhat alright with online ccgs it is hard to justify the ongoing expense. I recently started playing magic again (used to play in jr high school) and the expense of purchasing cards every time a new set comes out is unbearable. I haven't bought more than a couple boosters from the past two sets. The LCG format you described is wonderfully appealling. Too bad there is no way wizards would use that for magic... If they did, i'd still be buying new cards.

@gravaton: Yup. It's why I stopped playing Yu-Gi-oh.

Still, I would rather have something tangible in my investments >_>

At least the cards are there...whereas the subscription will never be more than a conceptual construct that implies worth/value.

OH...MY...GOD.

@gravaton: Well said. Couldn't agree more.

I'd like to see an online CG with monthly fees. Of course, the trading and hunting aspect should be kept but not by making you pay additional real-world money but in-game money you earn by winning matches, etc.

I'm sure that + a card game with as much depth as Magic would sell like hot potatoes.

BarbeQueQ

@Tizlor: By that time no one will play it online.

BarbeQueQ

Ugh, I just can't rationalize something like this. CCGs just don't make any sense when they're done online.

I get to spend $30 for some cards, and the privilege of later spending more money on additional cards. Fortunately, even in the digital realm, these cards are distributed at random, so I'm going to have to put down a lot of money in order to get anywhere near a complete playset. Without a full playset, or at least the most desirable rare cards, it is likely I will be unable to effectively compete against other players. Then if/when the game eventually shuts down, I'm left with nothing I can use to play and nobody to play against. Awesome.

Not to shamelessly plug, but I'd much rather just play Guild Wars. The skill system is mildly similar to a CCG, only I actually own the whole game right from the get-go. I just can't rationalize the value of buying something that's incomplete, and requires me to spend more money in the HOPE of getting the bits that I want. There's just no excuse for deliberately withholding content with randomized "booster packs," and I can't bring myself to support it.

On the other hand, why not just go to a monthly subscription format? I would be interested in a card-type game that gave me a full playset of cards in exchange for a monthly fee. At least I always have the complete game, for as long as I'm willing to pay for access, and I don't have to worry about all the stupid collecting crap.

One might note that some real-world CCGs (The Game of Thrones CCG and the re-release of Call of Cthulhu) have moved into what they are calling "LCG" format. They've eliminated collection and release a new, fixed-content card pack monthly. So for $10 per month, I get a full playset of that month's common cards, and one each of that month's rares. No hunting or hoping, that's that. If I want additional copies of the rares, that fixed distribution keeps the prices sane...and at worst I can just pay an additional $20 for 2 more card packs.

Why? CCGs are expensive, and that's a big reason why more people don't play them. Who wants to plunk down $200+ per expansion just to get their hands on the interesting cards? And if you come across an interesting game, how will you get your friends in on it? "Hey guys, come play this, you can build a good deck for about $150!" Maybe some people will have no problem with that, but it's a pretty huge hurdle to entry.

In conclusion, I wish I could be interested in games like this, but random distribution + no physical product + continued investment == no go for me

You know... cause the profit margins on cardboard is much higher than plastic.

The game itself is a great concept and was fun to play, i'll buy this when it's 9.99 at EB.

@StocDred: Battle Beasts!! I have a TON of them. Man its been a while, maybe I'll take a trip to the attic tonight and reminisce...

My brother hates this game. For years, his online handle was Battleforge. And now this game came along, and he had to change it lest people confuse him for someone who likes this game.

Zorantor

Sounds like I'd rather pick up Magic: The Gathering online

Oh... I'm tempted.

And - @Leanid: be kind of difficult to pirate this one, methinks, since it's kind of a client like an MMO - you have to log in even to play the single-player.

What? Not blaming piracy for bad sales?

Leanid

@Arthois: If you purchased it retail, do a price adjust or buy it again and return the sealed box on the old receipt.

chronubis

That is SO the Battle Beasts logo. 1980s toy line.

Good news! I've been waiting to pick it up when they lowered the price point to a more reasonable one. For 30 bucks, I'll now jump in on this one!

PR_GMR

@Trygle12 is procrastinating. He should probably get to work...: and the profit margin on bits is even higher than cardboard. The cards are digital-based, purchased in-game.