Encarded wrote:It's a dangerous road though, what they are doing, because even the hardest core fans are going to tire of quick and numerous designs eventually and then all your market power will crash down. It really does seem like a "long term be damned let's grab it while we can" kind of attitude.
I definitely believe there's still both creativity and a will to produce top-level designs within E, though I agree that this many different DM decks with all these color variations isn't pushing any boundaries whatsoever. Question is if they can be great enough to compete with the influx of freelance designers in the game (or if they're willing to go to the outside and find new designers). With guys like Jackson Robinson carving out their own territory in this industry I'd make sure I was on top of my game if I was with one of the companies. Not because Kickstarter will steal all of the customers (not going to happen), but because the new guys are setting new standards. Standards you need to one-up at least now and then or you're falling behind and when customers see
that, that's when you start to lose market shares.
What t11 did successfully was looking to freelance designers that weren't already in the card business. That resulted in the Artisans, the Rebells and the Medallions which are their top three decks in my book. E needs to do this (and I believe they've started that already).
Widdee wrote:
That's what has me miffed, Paul. It wasn't long ago pre-KS at all these companies were competing with each other on a creative playing field, and were putting out very nice decks. These have become fewer and farther between and they seem to be baking bread. What would you throw that away when you have resources tenfold that of a KS designer?
No the same guys anymore though. D&D have lost Si Smith by the looks of it, E has lost its main designers and art director for the "game changers" that I'd say the Arcane etc were. They both need to find their bearings again.
(Now, naturally, if you asked the companies this they'd say they're just fine and dandy and have never been as creative as they are right now.)
This E deck wasn't impressive. It's nice. I like it better than the last few decks whose back designs weren't my cup of tea, but it's nothing that I'll remember. I liked the Pressers deck from the pictures but I haven't had a chance to look at it up close yet.
Yes, I might be the guy you remember from that thing at that place way back when.