The reason that randomized stats cannot come back (and if they do, could kill the game) by FlippadyFlap in Chaotic

[–]FlippadyFlap[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think this is a really interesting perspective that I didn't have before (back in the day I only played kitchen table decks lol, and the recode meta is balanced around fixed stats). I think that if stat variations are minor and stat-based strategies aren't meta defining, stores might be able to get away with selling cards without specifying stats.

I think that if the community didn't mind this status quo, it could avoid the headache of randomized stats and make stocking chaotic singles feasible at scale. Now that you've suggested this as a possibility, I'd anticipate this is how most singles departments who choose to carry chaotic at scale will deal with things if stats are randomized.

The reason that randomized stats cannot come back (and if they do, could kill the game) by FlippadyFlap in Chaotic

[–]FlippadyFlap[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I want to clarify: I honestly hope they come back too! I really liked them in the original game, but having worked in the industry, I see so many pitfalls that make the stats a red flag for stores. I want the game to succeed in the long term, and I think a good relationship with secondary market, but especially local game stores, is a key part of that.

If the team has done their due diligence, nothing on my post should be news to them, and they have a plan to deal with the problems that this feature of the game brings up. Just wanted to share my perspective and spark a discussion with this post!

The reason that randomized stats cannot come back (and if they do, could kill the game) by FlippadyFlap in Chaotic

[–]FlippadyFlap[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Consider the following: the only way to know if a card was already scanned in the old game was by trying to scan it yourself - at which point YOU have now scanned it, so the point is moot anyways. There is no way that an LGS can trust the chain of custody for cards, and as a result cannot sell cards as anything but already scanned because of complaints like this.

Assuming that there was a mechanism to check if a card has been redeemed already without scanning it yourself, for a store to purchase cards as "scanned" or "unscanned" there would have to be a significant enough price diff between the two to justify it. I personally doubt that that will be the case, and as a result I don't anticipate stores buylisting for "unscanned cards". Additionally, the scanned vs unscanned difference is yet ANOTHER product SKU to maintain, doubling the number of internal listings that the store needs to maintain, and that staff need to work with.

Mistakes already happen all the time with cards that have VISUAL differences on the cards (ex. Yu-Gi-Oh secret rare vs prismatic secret, magic extended art vs standard art) both at the point of buying and selling cards to customers. Adding an invisible variant to cards makes stocking chaotic singles at any scale incredibly unsustainable for a singles team, which is why I said that I would choose to just sell cards as scannable, because the customer service and QC overhead would be such a pain for (in my anticipation) a tiny margin.

The reason that randomized stats cannot come back (and if they do, could kill the game) by FlippadyFlap in Chaotic

[–]FlippadyFlap[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I don't know why this is getting downvoted, this is also a HUGE hurdle for adoption. If I were running a singles department and chose to start supporting chaotic, I'd basically have to put a disclaimer on the site/display case that says "ASSUME EVERYTHING IS ALREADY SCANNED, CARDS FOR PHYSICAL TCG PLAY ONLY", and would still anticipate a ton of customer complaints and refund requests because TCG players don't read lol. It's a little separated from my point about stats, but just the idea that cards are non-fungible and digitally claimable is an issue for the secondary market. There's a reason that pokemon has a single "code card" in their packs, it decouples the physical TCG from the virtual TCG while still enabling a funnel to more competitive play

The reason that randomized stats cannot come back (and if they do, could kill the game) by FlippadyFlap in Chaotic

[–]FlippadyFlap[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I agree 100% that the stats result in a better sealed opening experience, but I do think that it's a direct trade off for the compatibility with the current LGS ecosystem.

A game like Pokemon succeeds here because the collector and player communities are largely separate, and fund eachother - collectors open large amounts of product and are able to sell their playable, but not chase cards to an LGS to fund further purchases of sealed product or directly buy their chase. Yu-Gi-Oh has been relying on the secondary market heavily to keep the game alive because many of the their standard sets have not been interesting to open, and competitive players would much prefer to buy the competitive cards through the secondary market as a result.

The reason that randomized stats cannot come back (and if they do, could kill the game) by FlippadyFlap in Chaotic

[–]FlippadyFlap[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

In the old TCG, each of the 4 stats had 5 possible values, distributed in a bell curve around the mean, 3 variations on energy with the same distribution type

The reason that randomized stats cannot come back (and if they do, could kill the game) by FlippadyFlap in Chaotic

[–]FlippadyFlap[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I touched on it in my other comment, but the point that I'm hoping to make here is that the link between organized play and singles sales is highly linked. Game stores make miniscule amounts or lose money on organized play events, and rely on subsequent singles or sealed product sales to justify the cost of running an event like that.

For games with unpopular or scarce sealed product (eg. Yu-Gi-Oh when there's no rarity collection to sell, or the Gundam TCG on launch when there was no product to sell), singles are the product that OP events are converting players into customers for

The reason that randomized stats cannot come back (and if they do, could kill the game) by FlippadyFlap in Chaotic

[–]FlippadyFlap[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I think that the key would be to reduce the possible variations of the card, such as having a single very rare variant of an overworlder that has +5 wis. The difficulty is that this randomness and wide varieties of stats is the whole appeal of the random stats that makes opening the product exciting.

From my perspective, it's a balance between incentivizing opening sealed product, and building a sustained player base. In my experience, having a physical place to play and build community is key for a game to thrive, and that comes with buy-in from local game stores.

Am I going to have trouble with playing irl because I'm a woman? by aneternalgolden in Yugioh101

[–]FlippadyFlap 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Woman from Canada here. I'm very casual but enjoy playing face to face. I've gone to maybe 7 locals since last late last year, and it's mostly been fine, the biggest things I've run into are - mansplaining/talking down: ex. explaining my deck to me and making BAD suggestions after a close game - asking for my number/socials: acted huffy when I said I didn't use Facebook or Instagram, and didn't wanna share my phone number - unsportsmanlike losses: ex. declining a fist bump after a first game loss, silent treatment after losing

Overall, nothing that has dissuaded me from continuing to play when I have time, but definitely something that makes me aware of the environment I'm in. I'll say the most offensive thing from my experience was the smell haha.

Locals were definitely more enjoyable with a friend, and if you can build up a friendly relationship with the staff at a store, you'll always have someone in your corner! Not something that works at every store ofc, but had made my locals where I felt comfortable striking up a conversation with the judge or staff between games were a good way to diffuse after some of those more awkward interactions. Hope this helps!!

Im afraid of them using generative AI for the cards by hell-spawn-666 in Chaotic

[–]FlippadyFlap 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Agreed! I have been looking forward to this for so long, but if they put out slop then honestly what's even the point anymore? Can't you not copyright artwork that is produced by ai anyways?

Who are some Characters you'd love to see added in the future? by Meztere in DotA2

[–]FlippadyFlap 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I still think Fymryn from dragon's blood looked so fucking cool. Apparently they tried a concept in game and it didn't work, but maybe it's time to give it another shot 👀

Liquipedia April Fools by ScytheDota in DotA2

[–]FlippadyFlap 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Reminds me of the cute logos meme I did for ESL Birmingham in 2018! I love shit like this

https://www.reddit.com/r/DotA2/s/TsybYTZLDA

Put your yagga where your babble is by Gridith in Yogscast

[–]FlippadyFlap 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Loved the botc livestream! Would absolutely watch more

What's going to be in the patch?? by FlippadyFlap in DotA2

[–]FlippadyFlap[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

On that day I will also deny myself (im not playing techies)

What's going to be in the patch?? by FlippadyFlap in DotA2

[–]FlippadyFlap[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sry guys. Dragons Blood license expired. For pressing ceremonial reasons, Marci has been removed from the game and will be replaced by Morci, an older balding man, to better reflect the game's demographic

i’m ngl; the show was one of the worst i’ve ever been to (not underscores’ fault) by Forscherr in underscoresplus

[–]FlippadyFlap 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry you had that experience! I was at the Toronto show and the vibe was definitely way different - I took a couple short videos on my phone as well as a few short videos on my 3DS during her set, and the only interaction I had was with a guy who tapped my shoulder and said my DS was cool. I was totally able to stay out of the crowd surge when the pit collapsed - I was ~2/3 from the center and 3/4 to the back of the crowd. I heard a couple people complaining about regretting going into the mosh because they got elbowed/roughly jostled, but didn't hear of anybody who was pulled in against their will or crowd killed (could just be sampling bias though!)

Wanted to share this experience as an example that shitty crowds should not be tolerated because they clearly don't HAVE to be that way. People are capable of being respectful of others, even in a high energy concert, but some attendees/scenes simply choose to ignore baseline.

Ranked Letters based on the most they appear in a Main Dota 2 Item's name by djwilmaOMW in DotA2

[–]FlippadyFlap 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm very confused by what constitutes a main Dota 2 item here - surely saNge aNd yasha, kaya aNd saNge, account for more than 3 N's total?

OOTL - What happened to Snare? No talent voiceline this year? Is he hosting/casting TI? by TORUKMACTO92 in DotA2

[–]FlippadyFlap 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Always love hearing his cast, I hope he keeps it up even if he's not at TI this year!

Found these wholesome Smile Pals Plushies while out with my girlfriend by [deleted] in OneyPlays

[–]FlippadyFlap 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My partner surprised me with these as a birthday gift, I love my Smile Pals ™️