I certainly see the Hellboy collectors edition as a good way to get some players started. I don't remember exactly what was inside those awesome boxes but I do believe rules were included.

Is it really the learning curve of the game that makes it so unavailable to other players? Or is it the starters like you guys say? Starters should certainly have some competition worthy cards, but handing players a competitive deck with one or two purchases isn't exactly a smart business move. Though I don't doubt that the YuGiOh collectors sets turned out to be good in the end, I don't think VS needs something exactly like that.

Adding animes to VS wouldn't be too bad of an idea, and its a great way to cash in on the latest franchise out of Japan. Though I know most comic fans would respond with a resounding NO, I think I'd actually give a thumbs up.

Give it the VS template and mechanics, and do it Yugioh style (small sets and focused, themed starters). Give it its own hobby league/touneys/prizes and when the game runs its course, the kids won't feel cheated, they can just spend a few more bucks and play with the rest of the VS crowd. If VS started with Anime properties instead, I could definately see the game being the same way, just diffrent names.

another problem that noone has addressed directly is the lack of options for events... i live in bfe misourri and i have to drive at least 2 hours to play in any kind of event... i have no store in town(the nearest store other than walmart that even sells VS is over an hour away), i have a comic store that will let us hold tournaments there but, UDE told me that you have to be a PTO(whatever that is) to holda sneak peek event and, they were not looking for anymore PTO's at this time... oh and the day that i could actually go to a sneak peek event(which was sunday because i have a job) the nearest eventt was like over 5 hours away... what am i gonna do get up at 3 in the morning and drive 6 hours to play a card game for 6 hours then drive home... another 6 hours... and get like 4 hours of sleep for the next work day, my wife would love that...

oh and as for the anime thing... they all have their own games out anyways so VS would find it very hard to obtain rights for games based on those shows...

There is a lot of people who are like you, and are credit to the game, those who actually turn up i mean.

Ladies and Gents its not anime its MANGA, clear distinction manga being the literary comic book form of anime, anime is a animated form of the manga. That being said i dont believe that is quite accurate, naruto, one piece etc. have TCG games, however there is plenty of manga flying around, for instance bleach(for those that dont know what it is look it up on google) a excellent manga that would be perfect for Vs system. It has a large character base, it is about fighting, saving the earth from evil, it has an awsome story line and a massive fan base that spans the GLOBE. Now thats in vs system language if anythin was.

Another point i want to make is that UDE is releasing a game with konami with vs system i believe... Konami if they choose to join will bring classics like street fighter and Bomberman etc. These teams would be an awsome addition to the vs world and reap in a lot of players.

So how would you have Street Fighter in BOTH UFS and VS?

Sorri i think i didnt make myself clear, what i was trying to say was that since the Vs system game is being made by konami, why couldn't UDE have taken bomberman(wait confused is it megaman or bomberman?) and street fighter, that would have introduced a whole new legion of vs system players

The VS system game is not made by Konami. Yugi OH! is made by Konami and liscened to UDE for distribution and management in the english speaking world.

VS system is wholly oened and designed by UDE. Konami has nothing to do with it.

I believe he means the Marvel VS system video game coming out for the DS (I believe next year). Not sure if it is Konami behind that game, but I believe it is.

There is a forum on the realms about this:

http://www.vsrealms.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=56

It is a video/computer game using the Marvel side of the Vs. card game being produced by Konami.

It will basically (don't quote me) be like Magic online for Vs. However it will only consist of Marvel properties. Konami doesn't have Megaman or Street Fighter (both are Capcom); they do have the Metal Gear Solid franchise.

In my opinion, I think that the online game will be the best thing for casual players. It provides a laid back location (couch, bed, bathroom, wherever you want). It allows people who live in out-of-the-way locations to play others. It allows people who have stores who don't support the game to have an outlet to buy product. It lets you play however you want to play.

Real life, in-store casual play may well go the way of the dinosaur, if DC properties get picked up. I feel like the competitive environment can overwhelm new players especially in a limited player pool like your local store. With the large "virtual" kitchen table made possible by online play, new players can have an ease into higher level play or just maintain their favorites jank decks to play against others.

You mean UFS,VS, and that 'Epic Battles' from Score (much worse than ufs =/ )?

More players would quit if Street Fighter started showing up than would join. Most people dont even like comic books. Since the start of this game its been doomed in a sense that comic book stores for the most part treated VS like what it was which is NOT Magic and NOT Yugioh. Nobody ever tried to use comics to sell VS which I think it could have. Theres plenty of nutty Wolverine Fans out there, show them the damn Wolverine cards!

Anyways, how to raise excitement?

#1) NO more sets named after properties that dont have movies. No one who doesnt frequent comic shops knows who the hell Galactus is or what exactly an Infinite Crisis is.

#2) Start ONLY printing 1 new team per set, IF that. Reprints should be the name of the game and you better make the old teams good finally. Why in Gods name isnt there an X-men tutor? Professors X gig is finding Mutants with Cerebro, make a plot twist about it for christs sake!

#3) STOP supporting Golden Age. The old VS sets suck ###, get over it. People are going to their stores all over the country every week right now complaining about how broken golden age is. How many people overhear this and write VS off? For every broken combo deck you've heard of there are 3 more you havent I assure you. Golden Age is like Type 1 Magic right now and it needs to die. The formats should be Silver Age and the OLD Modern Systems which were AWESOME.

#4) UDE needs to start advertising its ### off to little kids. Put some Vs cards in the Ultimate Avengers Movies. Theres a huge line of Animated Marvel movies coming out, for god sakes put some cards in there and pay Marvel whatever they want to Put a 10 minute demo video in there featuring the animated characters playing the game.

#5) Realize that casual players dont give a rats ### about how much money you give away to the pros. Most casual players hate the pros. Figure out what it takes to make VS seem cool to these people and do it.

It looks to me like WoW will be getting a ton of casual players, maybe Vs is going to be Pro only. In that case do whatever you want. Casuals are the only people that get excited about the game anyway, pro players just get excited by the money.

On a related note ... DC is also doing some animated stuff too. Not just seasons of Justice League and Titans and the various Batman toons [Beyond, Adventures and 'The Batman'] but they are also apparently doing the Judas Contract and a few other stories as animated features.

So, not only would it be good, but both liscenses would be able to do it.

But doesnt Konami pretty much own capcom, im sure they have some sort of partnerhip??

In sydney, vs system tournaments are hardly ever in golden age, in fact there is no golden age tournaments, unless maybe in hobby league. Ude are also looking to implement this in australia, nation wide since we were so late on picking up vs system, and also for similar concerns that you mentioned, so that vs system doesn't become a entirely pro game.

Also where i come from, australia, the players who actually play vs system are into comics, the people who actually even look at the game are into comics, the whole fan base is based on the comic industry over here...

I completely agree with you on the animated movies, actually what surprises me is that, marvel has invested alot of money putting little advertisements in front of spiderman, x-men etc. for toys but not for vs system.

Also my point on prize money is that there should be more to even it our over the smaller tournaments i.e. PCQ's etc.

The prospects of WOW are extremely difficult to predict all we can really do is guess...

Actually, Konami and Capcom are entirely different companies. They are actually competitors.

Konami owns Castlevania, Silent Hill, Metal Gear, Dance Dance Revolution and Gradius.

Capcom owns Street Fighter, Megaman, Resident Evil and Viewtiful Joe.

This isn't to say that Konami doesn't own Yugi-Oh (it does) but that incorporating the outside properties into Vs. is more difficult.

I'm unsure how WoW does on the Southern continent. If it is as popular as it is in the US it will be fine. If it isn't then who knows....

One thing to be sure of is that UDE, Konami, whoever makes games, etc. wants to make money. If you'll buy crap, then they'll sell you crap.

If they want to keep you coming back however, they won't sell you crap. They just won't sell you the best thing they can think of, until they can't think of anything else. After that they try to make that thing better (power creep), each and every time they sell it to you. When that doesn't work they'll change the playing field so only the newest cards are applicable.

And so the cycle continues.....

Wow! I mean that too. There are so many suggestions that where dose one begin? I think that while yes VS. has seen a drop in player participation at PCQ's and local shop's. This dose not by any means that the death of the game is at hand. While true the game is not easy to get into for the novice starting player, the one thing that it dose offer is the ability to learn and grow in a game system. I think that alot of people overlook the fact that if a game is too simple it gets boaring. Lets use Star Wars minitures for example. Great franchise name to start anything with but just using the name to get a game started is not enough. The game has to have a chance to grow, and mature with the players. VS has this ability, you start off getting your but kicked then start to learn and read the vast websites dedicated to the game. All of a sudden you top 8 at a PCQ event. Without room to grow any TCG or CCG will fade as fast as it came into play.

WoW TCG:

Get it while it's hot! Well that seems to be the feeling everyone has for this game. Heck I have even went out and bought extra than what I originaly thought I would. The game looks great and yes it is pretty simple to play. Even with the lack of proper gameplay documentation. The starter manual is.....well for the lack of a better term lacking. There are still alot of cards that people are confused about to say the least. I noticed a flood of VS players trying the game out at the release. The one thing that was hard for them to wrap thier head around is the "Magic" style of player rather than the VS style. While the game is greatly saying the there are over 7 million people world wide that play the MMORGP, I don't see the people that play this MMORGP comming out of thier hovels to play a card game. True enough you may see a few thousand or so and for UDE that is a great deal. Anytime you can get a thousand players instantly invoulved in a game you just have to hope that the rest follow. I think the game has possibilities and it is going to be around just because there are enough people that like it now. It also has room to grow.

VS. System:

I don't think much has to be said here as we have all been following this game for a long time. The players love it and it is marketed to a very large crowd of people ranging in ages. I think that UDE is already on the right track to add more players to this game next year. I will continue to judge events for this game and play as well. I would also say that we still have some staying power here. Well, simply because we are way past begining the system. As far as the newbie player having a hard time getting into the game, I have to question this. I have several friends that are new to it that end up hitting top 8 all the time. Is it that they are smarter ro they are just naturally good? Not at all they took the time to get another seasoned player to sit down and show them the game. So this really drives back to the comunity of people. Are you showing the new guy in the store the game you have a love for or just sitting there and playing with your friends when they ask "what's this game?" So I feel that there is a big part of the competitive curve of people that are the ones that have stepped up and said "Hey let me show ya how to play.", or have they? Like I said it's up to the people playing and not always the people who make the game to help build our comunity. The game is gonna be here for a long time comming and I hope that everyone keeps that in mind.

In closing I hope that everyone here agrees that these games are fun and we have to keep that in mind when people ask about them. Keep it fun, and the game will grow!