My Deck Is Huge!

When I was younger, a wee lad of no more than eleven or twelve, I was introduced to a collectable card game called Magic the Gathering (Not to be confused with Highlander the Gathering). It was an amazing thing, never before seen in the gaming world. The concept was simple, as most great ideas are. For a small price, you can buy a pack of cards. In each pack there are a bunch of cards that you will eventually use to build skyscrapers, or keep the condensation from your drink off the table. Then there are few cards that are relatively useful, and having some extra's wouldn't hurt. But at the very back of the pack, was the one card you wanted to see. It would be the card that would destroy friendships, and eventually lead to the creation of a non drug related black market economy at every junior high school across the county... The "rare".

 

These kids are completely unaware there is a female nearby

Now, you'll need to buy a few more packs, to get enough useful cards, and have some rares to trade on the black market. Of course, it would probably be more convenient to just start buying these things by the box full, after all you'll need the whole set. An expansion?!? WTF is that? I need to buy more cards. But I just got a Black Lotus! Do you know how many packs you need to buy to get one of those? The dick down the street has three, and all he needed to do was prostitute himself over at the docks to get the money. Maybe I can edge in on his action. After all who knows how many expansions they'll make.

too many

Once established gaming companies saw the fervor a collectable card game could generate, They all wanted in the mix. Some gave us horrible products, like Spellfire brought to us by TSR, while others were half way decent, like Jyhad (now know as Vampire: the Eternal Struggle) by White Wolf Studios. Then came the silliness. Collectable Card Games (CCGs) came forth in a torrent like the biblical flood that made collecting two of each animals so famous. Speaking of collecting animals.... Pokemon anyone? This a move the gaming industry took right out of the tobacco companies play book. Hook em' while they're young. If you don't think Pokemon is evil, then you've never seen three people nearly crushed to death by eight tons of Pokemon booster boxes. I wish I was making that up... it would be funnier if I were.

Imagine explaining your demise from this to your maker

But every dark cloud has it's silver lining, and out of the gloom would emerge the ccg that had the player at heart. Arise Legend of the Five Rings(L5R), and claim your glorious throne. The twist? Let the players control an ever evolving storyline based on the actions they take in matches they play during a sanctioned tournament. Put evil cards in your deck and win? Chances are your faction will turn into corrupt A-holes that talk at the movies. Sacrifice your eminent victory for the greater good of your Clan? Stories will get written in your honor. And best of all, there will be an end to the story. Yup once we're done telling it, there won't be any more expansions.

Oh how naive we were.  L5R quickly climbed the ladder, becoming the most popular ccg next to Magic the Gathering. It elevated its parent company to new heights, and made it a juicy target for other, larger gaming companies. Custody of L5R would change hand several times, and it would even survive a law suit from the International Olympic Commission. No as long as it remained profitable, The spice would flow. There are currently over 70 unique L5R sets released to date. It was meant to end after eight.

Could be the spice.... or the shoddy Chinese inks are being absorbed through our skin.

I say all this not to demean the culture. Hell, I've probably paid for several people's homes with my purchases alone over the years. I say it to embrace it. Once you let the insanity in, it can't hurt you anymore, right? I recently renewed my love affair (read addiction) with CCGs. While I had maintained a relatively large collection of World of Warcraft cards over the years, they were mostly used for drunken raid deck debauchery, not for your standard competitive play. If that last sentence made sense to you, then we are truly brothers bonded forever by our shared pain. If you are a woman, being bonded with me by our shared pain has an entirely different connotation.... call me (I'm married.. this disclaimer brought to you by my desire to sleep in my own bed).

Me after downing Onyxia in a Wow CCG raid.

No, my true return to the CCG world was with my beloved L5R. It's back in the hands of the original company that created it, in the sense that both actresses that played Marsha Brady are technically Marsha Brady. The old familiar cards I was used to are all gone, and the game itself is fundamentally changed from what I remember. But, if I'm to fork over my hard won disposable income to a harsh demanding mistress, it might as well be one that tells me a story.


P.S., Don't forget to like me on Facebook --->Gamer Reborn