20 replies to this topic

[Stalephreak]

Whatever happened to the tcg version? I wouldn't mind that. One of my highschool friends had it about a decade ago and that's how I got brought into the BT universe. Wouldn't a relaunch of that be great? (let's face it, if you're a MW fan, you're already old-school)

[Vashts1985]

its been out of print for a while i think. it seems that the CCG is getting rare. i think there's still a few booster boxes floating around out there but some are a bit expensive.

[Amarus Cameron]

I have sooooo many cards it is absurd

[AceTimberwolf]

I can't bring myself to open my Booster Boxes lol

[Amarus Cameron]

Aw man its no fun if you don't know what is in them. I have several decks I prebuilt using what I know of how all the factions fight. I have a Clan Smoke Jaguar deck, a Jade Falcon Deck, a Ghost Bear Deck, then I have a Kurita Deck, and a Steiner Deck.

[MacabreDerek]

My Clan ghost Bear Dasher deck was really hard to beat. So much so that we had to put it away as a 'not until we run into another near unbeatable deck'. Not to say it was unbeatable, but most of the decks that could beat it were so focused on doing so that they would be unable to beat anything else.

The thing was, once I had three dashers on the field (Usually 2nd or 3rd turn depending on draw) I'd just be picking appart resources and in-construction items until I had five or six dashers, then I just start crippling his command while taking pot-shots at their deck. It was just really strong.

The other two decks I had were strong, but not game-breaking like the Dasher deck. They were an IS repair deck focused around Gear Heads, Repair bays, etc, wielding only Stalkers and Banshees supported by alot of resource-speed.

The third deck is what we jokingly call the 'Cudgel', as it is a deck focused around taking the most expensive mechs in the game (If it came out for less than a baseline of 18 resources, it was too small), in which the deck was 1/4 mechs, 5/6 Resources, 1/6 additional deployments and support. It would generally be able to get a Daishi Prime out by turn 4, and it would just bludgeon a player by attacking the deck over and over, forcing him to sacrifice something every turn. Once I had two or three mechs on the field, the game was over, so it quickly turned into 'could you stop the mechs from coming out or burn through my deck before something big and nasty came out' Wasn't a great deck mind you, but it was fun.

[Beazle]

It tanked, just like most of the pencil-and-paper games that tried to hop on the CCG bandwagon.

In a way they were producing a product that competed with their own already established product.

Given a choice between spending their gaming dollars on new books/minis or on a new card game based on a game they already enjoyed, most people went with what they knew.

[AceTimberwolf]

Well I have the first 5 Booster Boxes sealed and some Commander Edition Booster. I Mechwarrior booster Box I have tho only has 32/36 packs = /

[Glendel]

This was an INCREDIBLE game. I awaited the release of the TCG and had boxes and boxes reserved for the day the game was released. Collected sets of every release and still have them. Still have my nationals deck i think laying around someplace. Created an expansion for the game that is still upstairs in my office that has the acceptance memo from WizKids too. Was an Aerospace expansion, full size expansion and it added dropships, airbases, pilots for them all, Aerospace fighters from about every faction. We played it for months around here and up in Seattle during tournament nights. Then WizKids dropped the game, was so bummed Would have been an incredible expansion dangit.

Glendel

[Madekatsu]

I've got boxes full of cards stored away in one of my drawers. I loved playing the CCG as much as the TTG but as difficult as it was to find players for the latter, it was doubly so for the former. I only ever met 2 other players in my state and battletech wasn't nearly as high on their list of gaming priorities as D&D/Starcraft.

[phelan]

MacabreDerek, on 28 June 2012 - 03:03 PM, said:

My Clan ghost Bear Dasher deck was really hard to beat. So much so that we had to put it away as a 'not until we run into another near unbeatable deck'. Not to say it was unbeatable, but most of the decks that could beat it were so focused on doing so that they would be unable to beat anything else.

There's a reason the Dasher (Fire Moth) D was one of about 4-5 cards that were officially banned from sanctioned play!

I still have all my old cards and decks. Close to complete playsets of everything but Crusade. Which is unfortunately since it's the hardest to find nowadays. Haven't had a game in a while, but at this point they aren't going anywhere.

[StoneRhino]

Beazle, on 28 June 2012 - 09:22 PM, said:

It tanked, just like most of the pencil-and-paper games that tried to hop on the CCG bandwagon.

In a way they were producing a product that competed with their own already established product.

Given a choice between spending their gaming dollars on new books/minis or on a new card game based on a game they already enjoyed, most people went with what they knew.

That is ALL wrong.

The game did not tank. The game sold rather well. I've said it before and I'm sure I'll be saying it a lot more, but Wizards of the Coasts magic developers said that BT CCG was the game that they wish Magic was. It was built upon the magic game, the problem was not the ccg not being good, the game was almost always sold out or damn near sold out in the area as people constantly bought as soon as the shipments got in. The problem was the license. The game died because FASA died.

The idea that they were producing a game that competed against their own flagship product is also off. Back when the game was alive my group had a pattern where one day we would play the CCG, get something to eat, then go to laser tag at night. The next day we would play Battletech all day long. The CCG did not stop us from buying the TT products, nor did the TT products stop us from buying the ccg product. The CCG complimented the board game as it was a means of playing battletech when we did not have the time to play a game of BT. It also allowed us to play BT when we did not have the space for it, such as playing a game at midnight outside of a local olive garden under a parking lot light with the crew from the resturant wondering what the hell we were doing sitting at that stone table a bit away from the resturant.

The idea that the BT CCG was somehow competing against Battletech proper is as sensible as suggesting that mechwarrior games competed against BT. It did not. If anything it allowed for additional means of playing something that ws connected to the BT universe when one could not play the regular game. That of course was from an established battletech fan's perspective. The CCG, as well as MW games allowed for new players that had no idea what in the world Battletech, or even what a tabletop game was to get introduced to such. Over the years I have heard and read people mention how they got into BT, and many of them have been through the MW games, but also the CCG. The idea that the ccg introduced people to Battletech, which led to them trying and buying the battletech game suggests that the CCG did serve two roles, that of an expansion of the game that did not harm the core game, and brought new players into the fold.

If there was ever a problem with additional gaming mediums and Battletech it would be that all of the mechwarrior games have been called such. In addition to that problem they also never failed to forget to tell the player that this game was based upon a tabletop game called battletech and here..here is a link and some pics/vids of how the core game is played and why you should check it out.



The ccg was great. It is hard to beat. I got into L5R a few years ago and while it is a decently fun game, it is in no way a replacement for the fun that was the BT CCG. I miss those days. Of course I don't miss hearing that someone just came in 10 minutes ago and bought up all but 1 pack of x expansion of the ccg. That and seeing guys buying several boxes at a time and handing the shop owner their gold card while not being able to afford to do so myself.

[Glendel]

Ty Stonerhino for hitting the nail on the head. I had a couple friends up at game development and they stated the same thing to me when things were coming to a close. The game sold incredibly well but due to license issues it was going to be shut down. They had plans for 2 more expansions and already looking at a third. It was no place near failing or being a flop, rather the opposite. It was growing and fast. Could hardly ever go into a number of stores to buy cards. The only way I could get cards was pre order (sorry for this Stonerhino) 2 - 4 boxes and pick them up on the day they showed up in the store, after that, good luck.....

Damn I miss that game

[Joe Davion 86]

wait so FASA is gone. Who holds the license to the CCG? if no one does then could it not be resurrected onto the PC like Megamek has been?
EDIT: Merely curious, I was in grade school when the CCG was out, so I have no idea.

Edited by Joe Davion 86, 08 July 2012 - 04:15 AM.

[Temjin]

If I remember correctly, the CCG got shelved either due to lack of interest (from the redesign for Commander's Edition and Crusade) or for rights reasons. Either way it was a dumb reason, because I love the card game. And it was another one of Richard Garfield's designs, and an excellent one at that.

From a forum post at Boardgamegeek:

Quote

The game was produced by Wizards of the Coast, now a subsidiary of Hasbro. I believe they hold the rights to the mechanics, given that it used protected terms like "tap" as part of the mechanics. Richard Garfield might hold some rights as well.

Battletech itself went from being owned by FASA, started by Jordan Weisman, to WizKids, which was also started by Weisman. From there Topps bought out WizKids and then in 2007 Topps was acquired by the firms Madison Dearborn and Tornante (an investment company started by former longtime Disney CEO Michael Eisner).

In any case, I still have a rather large collection that I've acquired from Ebay over the years. One of my crowning achievements was being able to construct both coherent St. Ives and Rasalhague decks (ironically, filled with mercenaries), because there are so few of each of those factions' cards in the CCG. I've also got some pretty good decks for most of the factions and clans, my favorite being my Smoke Jaguar deck. I used to play with my brother all the time, until he graduated from college and moved elsewhere. But unfortunately, I don't have anyone else nearby that is actually interested in playing, so it might all be moot unless I can get some people interested in the area.

Edited by Temjin, 10 July 2012 - 09:13 AM.

[Uccin]

Ahhh the CCG. I still have many, many cards stashed away. It was one of my favorites (along with Netrunner and L5R). Hard to find people that still play these days.

Uccin

[Beazle]

stonerhino, on 07 July 2012 - 07:00 AM, said:

That is ALL wrong.

Ok, here we go.

Quote

The game did not tank.The game sold rather well. I've said it before and I'm sure I'll be saying it a lot more, but Wizards of the Coasts magic developers said that BT CCG was the game that they wish Magic was. It was built upon the magic game, the problem was not the ccg not being good, the game was almost always sold out or damn near sold out in the area as people constantly bought as soon as the shipments got in. The problem was the license. The game died because FASA died.

If the game was as good, and sold as well as you said, then SOMEBODY would have picked up the license. Nobody did, ergo, it tanked (as per the definition of "tanked")

Quote

The idea that they were producing a game that competed against their own flagship product is also off. Back when the game was alive my group had a pattern where one day we would play the CCG, get something to eat, then go to laser tag at night. The next day we would play Battletech all day long. The CCG did not stop us from buying the TT products, nor did the TT products stop us from buying the ccg product. The CCG complimented the board game as it was a means of playing battletech when we did not have the time to play a game of BT. It also allowed us to play BT when we did not have the space for it, such as playing a game at midnight outside of a local olive garden under a parking lot light with the crew from the resturant wondering what the hell we were doing sitting at that stone table a bit away from the resturant.

The idea that the BT CCG was somehow competing against Battletech proper is as sensible as suggesting that mechwarrior games competed against BT. It did not. If anything it allowed for additional means of playing something that ws connected to the BT universe when one could not play the regular game. That of course was from an established battletech fan's perspective. The CCG, as well as MW games allowed for new players that had no idea what in the world Battletech, or even what a tabletop game was to get introduced to such. Over the years I have heard and read people mention how they got into BT, and many of them have been through the MW games, but also the CCG. The idea that the ccg introduced people to Battletech, which led to them trying and buying the battletech game suggests that the CCG did serve two roles, that of an expansion of the game that did not harm the core game, and brought new players into the fold.

If there was ever a problem with additional gaming mediums and Battletech it would be that all of the mechwarrior games have been called such. In addition to that problem they also never failed to forget to tell the player that this game was based upon a tabletop game called battletech and here..here is a link and some pics/vids of how the core game is played and why you should check it out.

I think it's great that you had a group of friends with enough expendable income to dump hundreds of dollars into what ever game you felt like. I think if you do a little research however, you'll find that not many people are independetly wealthy, and therefore have to make choices as to what to spend their limited money on. This is one of the pirmary components of the concept of "competition" in a marketplace. Saying that you had enough money for both products does nothing to invalidate my point at all. I could just as easily regale you with stories of me and my friends at a hobby store trying to decide between Mech mini's, or card packs for any one of the DOZENS of TCG's that came out at around the same time and the BT one.

Quote

The ccg was great. It is hard to beat. I got into L5R a few years ago and while it is a decently fun game, it is in no way a replacement for the fun that was the BT CCG. I miss those days. Of course I don't miss hearing that someone just came in 10 minutes ago and bought up all but 1 pack of x expansion of the ccg. That and seeing guys buying several boxes at a time and handing the shop owner their gold card while not being able to afford to do so myself.

I never said it was a bad game. It was, however, just another TCG dumped into a market that was (at that time) over saturated with TCGs. I condsidered getting into the game myself, but after poking around my area, i couldn't find a large enough playerbase to make it worthwhile.

[Glendel]

Wow.... If you ever read a post from someone that SOUNDS textbook bitter, regardless of subject, that was one of them..... The game went away due to the company as well as license issues. If anyone did a 'little research' on the past facts and talk to people that worked in the department and in the company at that final time, they would find the same information. Oh and BT has one of the most convoluted license backgrounds a game could possible inherit so just 'picking' up said license...... yeah go talk to any of the companies that have had the displeasure of being involved with it.

Shrug, was outselling any game in the market that could provide 'competition', hundreds played in this area so that is a moot point to argue as well. Trournaments turned people away in a first 50 to show up got to play rest had to try next time.

Game was cheap to play, dirt cheap. No more than any CCG out there, and needed very small card base to be competative. If you wanted to collect well then it didn't count towards it being expensive to 'play' as you are a collector.

Shrug..... W/E

[Beazle]

Suuuuuurrreeee...

It was out selling all the other CCGs....

That's why FASA went out of business. Because it's product was selling so well.

That must be why Wizards did so well, because it's products didn't sell anywhere near as well right?

It's some sort of inverse business logic, where the more you sell, the less money you make?

[Atlas3060]

FASA's closure was due to the owners wanting to leave while on top instead of trying to sell off their properties when things get to the lowest point. At least that's what I gathered while looking online.

It had some good titles and was recognised, but yeah it did suffer from poor quality in some products.