Announcing... The TLHH DC Project

[Thranduil]

I had a random thought recently (as I often do!), and I thought going around designing all these cards and all these sets was all well and good, but at the end of the day when the design process consists of 1 person, it's always going to be flawed.

So I came up with this experiment: The TLHH DC Project.

What is The TLHH DC Project?
We are going to form a design team, then design a DC set. Simple.

What does this entail?
There are a few steps to making a set, basically summarised by: 1) set themes, 2) set mechanics, 3) design skeleton, 4) card design (though naturally all these steps would become intertwined as we go through). As this is an experiment, however, we will not be doing all of the preliminaries (if this goes well, we might be able to do that in future!).

So, I am going to lead design by stating a set title, a set theme, some ideas for set mechanics and produce the skeleton.

What is a design skeleton?
I'm glad you asked! You can read MTG's Mark Rosewater talk about it here. Essentially, it's a way of presenting all the card slots in a set. A short excerpt might look a little like this:

*RC1      RR
*RR1   
DWC1   Companion   
DWC2   Companion   
DWC3   Follower   
DWC4   Possession
DWC5   Condition   Pump
DWU1   Companion   
DWU2   Companion   
DWU3   Condition   Tale
DWU4   Event   
DWR1   Companion   
DWR2   Follower   
DWR3   Condition   
ELC1   Companion

So you can see a code on one side. This tells you which culture, rarity and slot number it is (so "DWC5" means it is the 5th common, ELU2 is the 2nd uncommon etc.). The next column tells you what sort of card that slot needs to be (whether it's a companion, minion, possession etc.). The other columns are for notes about what the card ought to do, which mechanics it should be promoting etc. (eg. you'll notice "*RC1", which means common 1, is designated "RR" which means Ruling Ring, and one of the common events is classed as a pump card, like Their Halls of Stone).

This is the sort of design skeleton that I will produce, and then as a group we will fill it with cards! The skeleton has many advantages - at a glance, you can look and see what the set is missing, noticing that perhaps doesn't have a common possession, or that doesn't quite have enough minions.

In what ways is this different from a DC contest?
It's quite different. In contests, you try to make flashy cards that capture flavour and imagination. Obviously you will be making some of them here, but not all the time. You will also need to produce cards that are simply functional or perform an important job emphasising the set's themes or a culture's strengths. This is a very different skill.

Also, for a DC contest, you generally make 1 card at a time - a self-contained unit. While cards should have identities of their own, no card in a set is entirely self-contained and you have to think in a different way. For example, you may really want to design an awesome rare event that cares about resistance in a set where hardly any Shadow cards care about it, or an amazing new Ranger's Cloak when there are no rangers in the set. Big picture considerations need to be taken.

How is this going to work?
As I said, I'll post the set name, themes, and some mechanics to get us all started.

The first thing we'll do is flesh out the design skeleton. This means filling in as many of the slots with summaries of what it's going to be, whether it's a reprint or a condition, or a possession discarder, and so on.

Once that's done reasonably well, we'll get onto the cards. Cards to be designed for this set will be posted in some communal thread, reviewed, and if liked will be put into the file. The skeleton will be updated, and there'll be a card list somewhere which will be "the file".


So that's all well and good. How do I get involved with The TLHH DC Project?
That's easy: you just post here below or PM me. I don't think we'll have issues of size so I can't see ourselves turning anyone away who wants to be a designer.

If you don't want to be a designer, that's also fine: keep an eye open, review and give your opinions just as you would for a normal DC set that 1 person is designing.

Any suggestions from anyone on how this should run would be greatly appreciated.




So as I said, this is an experiment. I'm going to attach a poll, and please register your opinions. I've seen this done on MTG forums so I don't really see why it wouldn't work here. If there's enough enthusiasm, then I'll get the ball rolling.

[sharkey]

Pretty awesome! I think I may want to contribute.

[Sam, Great Elf Warrior]

Which sets is this supposed to be compatible with?

Similarly, which set of Shadow cultures does it use: Movie ([gollum]) or post-Movie ([gollum][men] with splash )?

[chompers]

Sounds similar to "The Will of the Collective"

The Star Trek PC once a year get the community to design a card. The card they design is released as a v-card.

I think your idea is a good one as the finished DC set will be designed by those that contribute. A high quality set of cards should be produced if you get alot of players input.

[Anvar]

I really like this idea but I think to be truly representative of the community, the community should have an input in the themes, name and balance of the set. Perhaps people who are interested could suggest a theme for the set (either a time period or a mechanic or something similar) and/or a name for it and we could vote from there? Also, particular themes/titles might suggest a shadow or FP heavy set.

Just some thoughts.

[Thranduil]

I really like this idea but I think to be truly representative of the community, the community should have an input in the themes, name and balance of the set. Perhaps people who are interested could suggest a theme for the set (either a time period or a mechanic or something similar) and/or a name for it and we could vote from there? Also, particular themes/titles might suggest a shadow or FP heavy set.

Just some thoughts.

I have no problem with other people suggesting set title, or anything else for that matter. As an experiment, I thought it would be helpful if I got the first one off the ground, but as I said, I'm more than open to any suggestions people have! If this goes well, then definitely we could do this again from scratch.

Which sets is this supposed to be compatible with?

Similarly, which set of Shadow cultures does it use: Movie ([gollum]) or post-Movie ([gollum][men] with splash )?

Again this is an open question. One of my ideas would be to do Shelob's Lair, which was I think the next set planned after Treachery & Deceit. Or perhaps a Reflections style smaller set. But again, completely open to suggestions.

[Witchkingx5]

Count me in, as I try to spare as much time as possible for TLHH.

As for the sets, I'd also suggest "Shelob's Lair" or "The Great Eye" as planned and take the new cultures with some Splashes. Movie Block is good as it is doesn't need to get changed. Standard does, in my eyes.

[Thranduil]

As for the sets, I'd also suggest "Shelob's Lair" or "The Great Eye" as planned and take the new cultures with some Splashes. Movie Block is good as it is doesn't need to get changed. Standard does, in my eyes.

That would be my inclination also, which is why I suggested it, but I'm still open to other suggestions. That's a good way of putting it though.

Having checked the schedule I have printed on my Answer to All Riddles, The Great Eye was in fact the next set planned after T&D, so I would change my main suggestion to that.

Thranduil

[Cw0rk]

It looks like a fun idea, maybe I can try to contribute a bit.

[chompers]

Deciding which format to support is going to be challenging given players have interest in different formats and some players show no interest in some formats of the game.

Maybe this set could support ALL formats. Cards that are intended to work in certain formats could have a compatibility code such as Movie, Standard, FOTR, etc.

Given these are dream cards, why limit the design to certain formats. This might only reduce the interest given different players like different formats.

Just a thought.

[Anvar]

I also vote for creating the Great Eye. I think that sounds promising.

I would suggest that the newer cultures are used barring splashes, although for backwards compatibility we could always print some keywords on a few minions (eg. Southron, Warg-rider etc.) if they seem relevant.

My dream for this set I think would be to reinvent Site Control in a more interesting interactive way. I would also want to represent the influence of the Great Eye across Middle Earth and its corrupting power.

Hmm, sounds like fun.

[Thranduil]

I like all the ideas being talked about here - so please keep giving your thoughts!

About format, I would be worried about having too much openness (often, limiting options breeds creativity) for making the cards for any format. But as in any good design, there should be cards that have their purposes in different formats (casual, tournament, limited, standard, expanded etc.) just as there should be cards for different kinds of players.

[Witchkingx5]

Make it for Standard. We all love Movie Block as it is and nobody wants a change, does anyone?

And btw, I also got the names from my Release Schedule which isn't listed in the database, btw! Mister rabbit, did you miss something or did I?

[Thranduil]

I think there's enough enthusiasm for this to get off the ground.

So I've posted a new poll about format, to concisely see opinions about which format should this set cater for.

Please vote!

Thranduil

[chompers]

I personally like the idea of every format getting a  bit of love. New cards can be created within this sets that are compatible with specified formats. To combat the "I love the way the game is and don't want it to change" every format would have two versions - unmodified and modified. Simply, you can play with new cards or not.

I know this is more complicated when generating the cards as you will have to decide what format each card is intended to work with. The other potential issue is that the set itself will have no underlying purpose other than to expand existing playing formats.

Given this is a DC set, if you create cards that support every format of the game, you are promoting every aspect of the game. More members are likely to show an interest as you are guaranteed to be working with their favourite format, whilst at the same time expsosing them to their less preferred formats.

Just my 2 cents - i am sure there are many who don't agree with me.