I was just curious about this. Does less people constantly posting problems with the game mean that it's becoming a lot less popular? I mean at the height of the game, there were constant threads about banning certain cards to preserve the sanctity of the game. With the newest thread there seems to be a lot of "meh" going on. I'm not sure if it's the fact that anybody who posts anything negative is berated or ignored or if most people don't care anymore but there seems to be a lot less interest in this kind of thing.

For some reason, World's Finest should be one of the most anticipated new sets for me and yet for some reason I find myself caring less and less about it. I love both Superman and Batman and yet there seems to be a lot less excitement for this set than I've seen in a while. These are two of the most iconic superheroes ever created but because of either the new "Release Celebration" format or just general disinterest, a lot less people care about this set.

Like I said, I love Superman and I love Batman but even with the crazy new previews I find myself somewhat separated from the hype and excitement for WF. Again I'm not sure if it's just me or if UDE has really dropped the ball on the new set but I don't feel nearly as excited about WF as I have in the past. You should have seen me when JLA and Crisis came out....I was salivating at every single preview. Now, even though the cards seem cool and fun I'm just left thinking that they could have done a lot more.


Wow, this has covered a lot more issues than I figured it would when I started, especially with the title but it all centers around the same issue I think.

It's a combination of factors. Some people have quieted down for various reasons.

UDE has been reacting relatively quickly to a number of complaints. There doesn't seem to be any card that needs to be banned, especially as the formats rotate quickly, and things are now more casual.

The whole casual thing changes stuff greatly. Only a few events give away cash ... thus 'perfect balance' isn't as crucial to maintain the integrity of events.

All signs point to UDE working towards making 'big names' better, specific characters more important, refeaturing legacy to not increase the number of teams too much, consolidate mechanics to have more consistency between sets.

Vs. has shifted greatly ... and we really haven't seen the full effect of this shift yet. Until that happens, it's hard to come up with things to complain about.

Also, a number of players left with the OP change ... new players aren't necessarily going to come and join up on Vs Realms, nor are they necessarily going to start complaining.

Thugmotive and Backagain have been banned, amongst other people.

It's been a long time since the last set ... a longer cool down period than before.

Also, check out the threads about the LITTLE nuggets that have come out of a couple of magazine articles. VsRealms is a bit more orderly now ... most discussion is kept to a few topics, instead of a TON of threads about the new set.

Not to mention, it often isn't until the articles start getting posted that the REAL excitement starts to build.

They haven't actually done any preview ARTICLES yet ... there's a big difference between the "here they are" way the magazine and the initial ad are released, and the real articles which highlight specific cards and actually explain the mechanics in detail, etc, etc, etc.

My feeling is no its not floundering, but rather recovering from the shock of the OP changes and unfortunately the LSH set(my personal favorite set--but the I am a Legion fanboy from way back)that was poorly received...which roughly coincided timewise. I think MTU and Random Punks, Giant Sized VS, Hellboy, and Alter Ego combined with WF should just about complete its recovery...albeit in a casual and less OP/PC form.

chao

I like my flounder stuffed with almonds and garlic.

It is an amazing leap of faith to think that complaints on these message boards would be any sort of sign of health. "He's not coughing very much anymore, so he must be dying!" What?

If you want it serious, I think you are forgetting what the early days were like. The best sales in the game's life were not full of moaning on the forums. Not at all. The days of constant whine were the periods of the worst sales.

There has been a major shift in culture. It is very pleasant. Without the money prizes to bring out the most competitive types, most of the bad blood and ill will is gone. It's nice.

UDE cannot be held responsible for your personal excitement level. You must work on that yourself. Many of us have never been more excited about Vs. System than we are right now. Random Punks is paradise, and Ruin looks heavenly.

It seems that MTU is selling really well. EA Waffles in the point store prolly sold hundreds of boxes just this week. Hellboy hit a home run. Alter Ego and Random Punks are hot, and when the City Championships were in full swing this message board was flying. We had over 20 seperate threads of outstanding reports. (In case you missed it, it was only two months ago.) The Elite Series is just around the corner and we will see your flounder stand up and tap dance with disco fever. Just watch it.

Complaining on the forums is not as popular, that's true. It's a beautiful thing.

I like this topic.

I might be one of the few out there but I'm all about DWF.

My first starter deck for the game was Batman.

My GK deck: 'GK all day everyday 'til the day I die' survives to this day and is updated almost every set.

I could handle the whole 'No more sneak peeks but release events' but then pushing the set back a month is killing me.

Besides that, I think UDE and the RP staff have opened up a whole new aspect of the game. Before you could only look forward to Hobby league (if you had one), Pro-events (PCQ's, PC's, 10k's, etc.), and causal play. The most supported among those being Pro-events. I, and I truly believe, and most of VS players range from casual to semi-pro level. The changes made support that player base fully.

More people happy/satisfied = less complaining.

When there is money on the line, the most degenerate combo's and decks were made seemingly overnight for a one to two day event that effected the metagame for months i.e. Dr Light, Frankie Raye, etc. You almost never see this in local hobby leagues. Sure people net-deck but it's not a cookie-fest with everyone running pretty much the same cookie-cutter deck (Thank God).

That is what happened in other games like YGO, and that's why I stopped playing such games.

With a wide range of strengths complimenting a wide range of decks, you will almost never see the same deck twice.

These reasons I believe keep the game nice and fresh.

Don't believe me?

When LSH came out and there were new 'Discard' effects, how many of your reviewed/dug up 'Discard' cards from older sets? Darkseid? Underworld/Spidey/SS for MTU?

Suddenly that card you always wondered why the hell they made it is a 4x'er in your new deck.

Your verbage tells me we need to get you a woman now that school is out.....and my recognition of it tells me that whoever finds one first needs to hook the other brotha up with one of her friends :)

Your suggestion tells me you haven't met my wife. Move to Miami, and the hook-up is yours.

Doh! - Homer Simpson
Oh Snap - Derek Zoolander
Frick - Elliot Reed
All of the above - Me

No, less complaining doesn't mean less popularity necessarily. The game is dying mentallity isn't the problem we're having it's just that nothing right now is new and fresh card wise and there isn't much to look forward to other than these "fun formats" (not meant to be sarcastic, just can't really bring myself to call them true formats in my book). For the past few months we have been lacking a new set and any new information about it. The new cards we saw earlier this week are nice but they haven't really gotten me all giddy and I suppose it's because I don't think I would enjoy playing with the specific cards thus previewed for us all that much. But that may change once I start seeing card art and get a broader spectrum of what the set will be like, I guarantee I'll be a lot more excited.

The other thing we're running up against is the fact that we haven't played a real tournament format event (golden, silver, modern) in about a month and their hasn't been a high level event with coverage in what feels like decades compared to what we used to have. This means no tried and tested net decks to run around at your tournament scene and no "pros" or "amateurs" truly breaking cards. Sure a good portion of us have hobby league but how much time does anyone invest in making a broken deck for their league night? I know I've made some very good stuff for my hobby league and random punks but nothing horribly broken and even if it was who would be around to complain about it? There hasn't really been a large VS tournament with in depth coverage for everyone to see that using "card x" in conjunction with "card y" makes your opponents curl up in the fetal position in the corner of the room.

The fact that the coming elite series is limited only further compounds this effect I don't think anyone has ever complained (at least for VS, anyone know of any other games that had a broken limited format ever?) that "card x" is so broken in limited. The very notion is just absurd, some cards are good and deemed "bombs" but one card you're not even guaranteed to get does "not a deck make". If there was testing going on for one of the ages perhaps you might hear a bit more talk about how quicksilver is making peoples lives hard or how high voltage winning on turns 3 and 4 is simply too fast, etc. Another thing beyond this I feel is no card is truly dominating any format right now (other than enemy which will never be banned so it's sort of a suck it up and get used to it situation) that is really even broken.

I suppose in conclusion I don't feel that there's no complaining because the game is losing popularity. It has so much more to do that UDE has given us nothing to complain about (in both a good and bad way), Marvel Team Up was a very well crafted set so we don't have the same complaint maelstrom we did with Legion being quite possibly the worst set ever made... in terms of popular comic characters (sorry to the legion fanboys) and card mechanics (am I the only one who just thinks the cosmic mechanic just needs to be shelved?.. Darkseid was good though). UDE has done us this service of making a good set and also having fairly healthy constructed formats due to past bannings and counter cards but they have also left us with a constructed format and new set doldrum in which there is no constructed tournament of any level of OP to build and test for and a very long down time in between the release of MTU and World's Finest.

I'll toss a couple of option in to the hat as well.

The reduction in complaints is likely related to the reduction in would be pros that used to frequent the realms a lot more back when. Now, with many of the players who were only in it for the money ( not making any judgments about that one at all; if you were, you were if you weren't you weren't. Period) having gone on to other pursuits following the reduction in money to be won, the boards are more filled with conversations between those of us that were simply passionate about the game before and those of us with a desire to expand our chances to communicate with other like minded persons.

I watched I, Robot last night for the 5th time in my life, and I am still intrigued by it. There is an awesome point where they discuss what life actually IS, and the scientist asks questions about how some robots will opt to stand in the light, or how in the dark, many will choose to stand just a little closer to each other, even though logically there is no true need for any of that behavior from them.

Are we too far removed from that? We can't be near those that think similar thoughts, or have similar questions, so we seek out a way to find each other. We have accomplished that. We can get together on here and usually discuss topics pertinent to our pastime that leaves us either more educated, or at least more mindful of the game and it's condition and tactics and techniques.

I'm super excited about World's Finest, since it marks the refeature of the best DC character to date as I see it. I cannot wait to remake a GK deck, and I cannot wait to update my Team Superman deck. I'm anxious for more information.

We have a higher number of regular readers than any other time in this site's history as far as can tell. We have new players joining us every day. We need World's Finest to be as good as Marvel Team-Up was/is. Many can't wait to see what will happen. How will the new cards interact with the old ones? Will there be new cards that make any old deck better? Will the new cards only be any good in their own specific decks? The game is heading for an amazing time, and I am dying to see what happens next!

Sorry for rambling a bit in there.

The game is not dead, nor gone. Maybe dying a little here and there. But so what, parts of our Human bodies are dying all the time, and in case you didn't know, that frequently makes us stronger for it ;)

Curtis Rocks, as usual. Spectacular post.

As for I, Robot...

Will Smith saves the world with Micro-Sentinels. Good times.

I do miss reading top 8 decklists and going "Wow, I never would've thought of that. How cool?" or rooting for the latest Arkham or X-Men build, like WarMachine's back in the day. That was interesting to talk about. Are there any cool decks from MTU to talk about?

I made a pretty interesting BPRD/ Underworld deck....*shrug*

I have a neat deck using the Savage land people and symbiote concealed spiderman for the first 4 turns. Good times.

How about the Underworld/defenders build that uses Hellstorm on 5 and shenanigans away the opposing 4,5,6 and 7 drops? Heh, totally messed up. lol.

Or what about the Syndicate build that uses Nitro to win the game on 5 by clearing the opposing field outright?

Heck, there's even a build that uses heralds/ underworld or kree underworld, or defenders/ heralds.

MTU offers a ton of amazing options to the game. It inspired me to play a straight Spider-friends build, and even helped out my Team Superman deck. MTU is just a lot of fun, constructed or sealed.

There hasn't been much complaining recently because for the most part UDE is doing things right, which is something of a new experience. It's also because there's no stakes worth complaining about.

Like, Quickfate is still an extremely annoying deck that deforms Silver quite a lot, but for the most part that whole "get your own card" thing managed to mitigate it because everybody knew Quickfate wouldn't get you your own card. If we had Silver 10Ks, there'd be a lot more complaining about a stupid cheesy deck that forces multiple answers and takes little to no skill to master, but hey, we don't. You may consider this good or bad as you wish.