A trend that I happen to notice in may area's of society and pop culture is the lack of interest in things that may be too "smart" for the general public. A show like Arrested Development that was always highly regarded by critics had itself an early cancellation yet has lived on through dvd and it's hard core fan base. Wilco produced Yankee Foxtrot Hotel changing their very own sound (expanding it) which caused frustration in the band and caused their record label not to release it (it was later released through another label to go on to critical success). I think that VS suffers from the same standard. I've been told too many times by a friend of mine who is probably the best gamer I have ever met something similar. He has played pro in both Magic and VS and plays tons of games. He's told me time and time again that VS is SO much of a better game then all the other card games out there for the simple fact that it's not as easy as a game to play. The game engine isn't set up so that someone that has only played a few games in their life could walk in off the street and beat someone who is a pro. We both played Dreamblade together (another excellent game) that died due mostly to the fact that at it's core it was a very difficult game to master. It was comparable to chess and I've heard of people losing their minds over that game! I mean COME ON! How could a game fail when it was created by the same guys who created Magic, but wanted to "fix" the problems that existed with Magic (talking about VS)? Like I said, people in general will normally take the "dumbed down" version of something over the one that actually challenges them.

Another example is this: Almost all kids now play video games. Hey, I even played video games when I was their age, but the simple fact remains that as fun as video games are they are made to be beaten (this is excluding games that are player vs. player). Not only "just" beaten, but beaten by a general consensus of people all ages. I think this standard has made kids and people in general lazy and they won't play or involve themselves in something that is actually challenging. Just my two cents.

VS is easy to learn, really hard to master. I don't think I'm there yet, and I've been playing since Origins.

It's tough to get people into a game with a log history, and multiple bans/erratas on cards. The easiest way to do so is to build a few cheap decks and demo them at your local store. If people seem to like it, give them the deck.

I don't think it comes down to laziness; hell, if VS players were smart they'd take better care of their health, well-being, and investments; but the # of fat and unemployed VS players show that we have aspects of our life where we are lazy as well. It's time investment, most people want to spend their primary resources taking care of getting / handling marriage (including kids), promoting themselves / getting a job, and doing other things that society recommends. They don't want to spend countless hours trying to figure out the subtle strategies of a difficult game... they want something they can pick up immediatly and understand; and preferably have a chance to beat anyone they play.

Are they lazy? Not really, they've just focused their efforts elsewhere, gaming isn't the hub of their life. And that's the reason that Yugioh, Wii, and the WOW video game are popular: they are easy, non-thinking outlets for this "need for fun".

It's my thyroid : (

I'm not lazy........I just choose to do my 12 ounce curls on the couch.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! Number 1000!

Who wants some ba-du-sy?

Dude, I'd like to see you try and beat Contra without the 99 lives code.

You don't need to rationalize this sort of thing. People like what they like depending on their personality.

Me, I think its because card games without money (like poker) aren't sexy. Seriously, there have been tournaments where I'm amazed participants are wearing people clothes. And the smell, god...

Some people are happy sacrificing sex for games. Some talented people can do both. But for the most part, worrying about maximizing resource points ain't gonna get you laid.

Dude...you ought to try Duel Masters...man...that game...so clever...just...

...man...I mean...it took me months to just read the rules...

UFS is the toughest to learn. I still do not know the specifics, to me it was to hard to learn and not intuitive at all.


Vs on the other hand took some time, but how it plays makes sense.

I think I'm speaking more of the game engine itself rather then the rules.

Also, this thread was not meant to insult anyone. Everyone likes what they like.

TDB is right. It's not laziness. It's a matter of committing resources. In this case, money and time.

A lot of people look at this game and say, I don't want to dedicate that much time to learning the game. For others, it may be a monetary investment or a combination of both.

If the game were thriving, some people may be willing to invest more time or money. With the game in decline, the amount of time or money people are willing to invest is also declining.

Btw, Arrested Development was awesome. Start watching 30 Rock before it gets cancelled too!

Vs. = Chess

MtG = Checkers

The formation step is what makes Vs. harder than every other CCG.

I agree that Vs. is too complicated for the average Bear to master and be great at.

CC

VS is hard, that's why I love it.

And video games do not dumb down their audience, if you look at any unbiased study they tend to show an increase in reading comprehension, learning skills and hand/eye co-ordination. Besides, isn't Mega Man 9 one of the most popular downloadable games on the console market right now? And if you're telling me that was designed to be beaten by the general public, you're crazy.

-Mike

yea that game is soo freakin hard its not even funny.. and this coming from a megaman fanatic.. hence my sn (blues aka protoman's japanese name)i've practically master all the nes games 1-6 but MM9 is just tough. and if that was enough they even have a super super hard mode! now come on! lol

So far I've played Magic, Yugioh, Pokemon, UFS, WoW, and a touch of Game of thrones. Vs is what I love for many reasons. The players are what kept me, first and foremost Vs players are far more friendly and just not.... obnoxious. Where as magic players can be, and very often are. Yugioh players are kids not 6 or 10 they are 16, 17. And at that age we were all punks. That's the definition of being that age. UFS was cool but the engine was lame. WoW was ok but I played in one regionals (me and brian e) and I played what was big at the time but didn't do well. I hear it's a little better now but the game only exists because of the loot cards. I haven't even touched on why Vs is so much better. But the game engine isn't as important to me as the players are. And Vs players are just so much more fun to hang out with. Some of my best Vs Memories are at Denny's the night before a PC play testing with random people.
I gave up on the game once, but i won't do that again. I'm sticking it thru until the end.
-David G