But my question is what if you live in a major US City (St. Louis) with no Hobby Leagues? :o

Now that we put all the sky is falling people back in there hole for a little while

What kinda stuff do you hope are the exclusive prizes

What do you guys want to see for sale in the UDE points store

I have no idea what kind of prizes there could be

In the UDE store I want to see more VS shirts and Platmats and maybe some cool wallpaper and screen savers

1. It's not that hard to get a Hobby League because you just have to be a UDE account store (which most legitimate ones are since it allows them to order UDE product direct).
2. Any store that is interested in getting people into their place to play games should order a Hobby League kit.
3. If your local store does not hold Hobby League, ask them about it... most owner won't do anything if they don't think anyone is interested.

I find it amusing how certain individuals are screaming for "anything" about 2007 VS events and once someone posts something, they still complain. Simply amazing.

Not only that, but UDE has given a SPECIFIC TIMELINE for releasing more information by the column being advertised as a weekly feature.

That's some chutzpah ... it gives those guys an opportunity to justifiably criticize them ... should a column not go up on Midnight Thursday morning.

However, at the same time, until that happens, they can't really criticize UDE for being uncommunicative.

I told you so. Such is life on the interwebs. We have created a monster.

hey i was a big complainer about the lack of information and this at least is a tidbet until the real information begins, but im also sticking with that there might not be another 10k/50k until at least march.

did upperdeck just go through a period of noticing that the old plan not working so maybe we need to try something new?

I believe it was a problem with something getting stuck in the tubes.

Well, considering they've hired a new person, changed the method of distribution for the Hobby Leagues [since it was obviously not working, in the literal sense, since the cards weren't being sent out], changed the number of PCs, the prize payout for PCs, changed 10Ks to 50Ks, are going to tie the UDE Points stuff into Vs. System as well, etc ... Yeah, they've been trying some new stuff ...

Anyone else notice that another Decipherian has been assimilated by UDE?

We may have to change UDE's name to "Decipher West." :)

-S

On a side note, I am happy to know that those UDE points I've been collecting from WoW can go to VS loot.

I wonder if get can get actualy "loot cards"... oh wait... we talked about this already. Aherm.

Unfortunatly there isn't anything that UDE can do. The onus falls on you. If you like VS and know more people, or can convence people to play, then go to the store and start playing. UDE can offer up a thousand different programs to encourage causal play, but if the player base isn't there, then its unlikely one is going to spontaneously generate (ala Jesus).

Now if your store quit HL cause of the chronic tardiness and mismanagement of the kit delivery system and the poor choice of some of the EAs, then I imagine that if UDE eventually regains their reputation(if they ever had it) your store might consider getting back in. If they don't seem interested, you could offer to personally comp them for the cost of the kit if you can(of course I don't let them charge for the event if you do). Make it as easy for them as possible, and if you start to get people in the store then transition the control back to them if they want it, or you don't anymore.

How is this for an idea...

UDE looks at their records and adds up all the kits which stores have prepaid for but didn't recieve in a timely manner. (BTW, our store 'finally' got a kit a few days ago. The Dr. Minerva one.)

For each late kit UDE should take 20% off the price of a box. So, for instance, if my store didn't recieve four kits they'd get 80% off of a box. Or 40% off of two boxes.

These boxes of cards could only be used for a sanctioned tournament. Either sealed or as a box prize for constructed.

This way the stores could hold an event to make at least some lost money and get people back in the game.

Everyone 'finally' got them. They also sent those stores information about how every 2 weeks they will 'burn off' the rest of the MHG ones, but there will be no DLS ones.

In March, the Marvel Team Up ones will be back on track, including the addition of City Championship prize support as well.

However, they should find some may of 'repaying' stores for missing those kits.

I see what you are saying, I just think it will be really hard to do here. I'll be happy to buy the kits for the store. Money isn't an issue. Hell, I'll put up a cash prize every week if they want. I honestly dont have time to do the promotion part of things though. I have an extremely time intensive occupation, and Im also older than most gamers at 34yo.(Even tho this is the first card game Ive ever played). I wouldnt even know where to begin. Maybe I will talk to one of the store owners and see if I put up some cash if he'll try to promote it again.

Also, UDE's initial incompetence in managing the HL program was in large part responsible for the demise of many HL. They should bear some of the burden for promoting the game again.

I believe a store can only order up to TWO kits maximum. The cost for these kits is not very high and retailers already receive discounts on booster product.

But let's get to the root. If a store quit HL due to lack of kits, poor EAs, late delivery etc... then they really weren't a very good VS venue to begin with. If there are players who play VS, they will play, HL or not. A store can make their own HL prizing. For the price of an HL kit, a store can use 5 to 10 Gallery Packs. That's up to 50 EAs for Hobby League... I can't even think of a store that has enough players to go through all those.

I understand there are problems with HL support but as posted previously, this responsibility also lies on the retailer and the players. If your store owner isn't promoting HL, is that UDE's fault? If you don't have enough players to even get a 4-man draft or mini-tourney set up, is that because they shipped the HL kit late? C'mon... it's so easy to blame the company for lack of casual support but there are many stores that are doing fine without it. Game Zone/Empire here in SoCal gets 8-12 players a week and the store doesn't even order HL kits.

Sure EA Wild Rides may boost attendance for all the gold-diggers but if they don't stick around just to play as a "hobby"... is it really Hobby League?