Decipher’s perfectly manipulated source images were complimented by rulesets that were complex and full of enough corner cases and nuance to be able to create cards that could truly extract the details of the movies/shows and all their plotlines and characters. Game design has come a long way since then – we stand on the shoulders of giants, of course! – but as we discussed in our recent podcast, as games focus more on clean mechanics and easy to balance rulesets, we do lose something in the form of simulation of the source material. I was really happy to see this comment! While the mid 90s were a true wild west for TCGs, with tons of companies trying to create their own Magic: the Gathering following its huge popularity, Decipher was notably ahead of the curve with their production quality, IP quality, and, yes, their dedication to the themes of their games – perhaps almost to a fault! They were always Wizards of the Coast’s number one competitor, with old gaming mags constantly citing Star Trek and Star Wars CCG within the top 3 games sold as reported by retailers (until Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh came along!). Regardless, how a company builds their game and how they ensure players’ earlier investments age gracefully as the game continues are probably some of the most important factors in how much trust you have in the company, so even if your take on some of the games they’ve mentioned may be more positive, it’s still very easy to see where Ave Dominus Nox’s opinion is coming from! I don’t think many people would argue that many games could benefit from at least just a little more TLC in managing their balance and power creep! I think an interesting point to note here is that LCGs typically follow slower release structures and are less reliant on highly engaged players purchasing quantities of product on hype, so I think they are already a better place to be able to avoid the inevitable power creep that hits most games as they try to continue to make cards that players will get excited over.
While quality of deck building is always going to be subjective to some degree, power creep can more easily be shown through direct comparison of cards.
Netrunner was a beloved game that was ended due to loss of the license in 2018, and surprisingly Wizards of the Coast hasn’t revealed any further uses for the license after the LCG was shut down. While Netrunner is technically a Living Card Game, those games share a ton of DNA with TCGs. They always look for games that have great deck building and can avoid power creeping too far – and their best example was Netrunner (from Fantasy Flight Games, not the original WotC TCG!). Ave Dominus Nox told our discord about their trials with games that haven’t panned out the way they had hoped.
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