Firstly, I'd like to say that I, as well as most everyone else at gencon, was happy about this announcement. I fully agree with his reasons for this. I was talking to Steve the day prior to this, and he said that the game just isn't in the place it needs to be. The majority of people aren't even playing standard anymore, and are mostly playing miniblock as it is, so we'll see how this goes.

There are a few very key reminders though:

You do NOT HAVE TO FOLLOW STANDARD at a local tournament. Your scout can run "4 point shuriken" tournaments if everyone really wants this. Nothing is stopping this. The only thing that this will stop is major tournaments such as regionals and worlds, which, we're done with for a while.

Secondly: There is still legacy for that matter, which was stated was going to see more support at tournaments as well, if i recall correctly.

People were quitting the game because of standard. I was about ready to. It just wasn't fun, that's all there is about it. Worlds was like 60% stall decks, mill mill mill mill mill, good + darkness blade, blah blah. That was what it was. So, we needed this. This is going to do a ton of things; it's going to make it a lot easier for new players to get into the game, it's going to make things cheaper for people attempting to get their cards, and it's going to be fun once again.

I, at the very least, support this decision, because in the end, if you do have a problem your scout can just do inhouse rules on legality of sets.

I'm definitely excited about this, hopefully it can get our dwindling play group back into the game. I'm a fan of the changes.

Eithinis said:

It's not, but you're not penalized anymore for announcing you are running a Legacy tournament.

As a scout, I think its kind of cool that I get to schedule a bunch of new events. Legacy, mini block, standard and Uber highlander just leave room for a lot of creative fun instead of the same old grey war thats been such a pain the past few months. I wasnt happy about the ruling at first, but I think it will end positively for the whole UFS community.

It's the best thing they could have done for the game.

Shaneth said:

QFT

Name any problem card in the game pre-hata and between then and Tekken there have been 3 answers or more. The game wasn't broken, people just like to complain. Mill and stall was still huge in B2, but they didn't ban 3/4ths the cards in the game then.

The game wasn't broken in the sense that cards were too extremely powerful without answers. The game was broken in the way that the top end decks ran between 0-4 attacks and win. Effectlvely turning this game into Universal System of Stall, because fighting definitely didn't happen.

DrUnK3n_PaNdA said:

It doesn't matter if there were answers. What matters is it wasn't FUN. 16 attacks in a deck didn't HAPPEN any more. Worlds was a) mill. b) good wall. c) negation wall usually death. the winner was? zi mei with ONE attack in the deck(four copies). and d) New players attempting to run multiple attacks and getting crushed for playing a fighting game based CCG by trying to fight in it.

This is why Contemplation needs to be re-printed.

I ran.. 18~20 attacks in my deck. It would've been amazing for someone to use that against me.

First off, I must admit that I'm a little surprised that more people aren't even somewhat grumpy about this pre-emptive rotation. If you have no reservations, you're a more mature person than myself, and I tip my hat to you.

If people want to do the *sportsmanlike thing*, and pat FFG on the back for this decision, that's certainly their right, but I personally do not agree with it. If certain cards create an unhealthy environment, it behooves FFG to remedy the situation- preferably by addressing the problem cards, specifically, rather than purging entire sets that players were assuming would remain legal in standard for quite a while longer.

In my opinion, it is tantamount to a person severing a limb because cancer migh t spread. Acquiring powerful cards that may get banned is a calculated risk that many CCG players are willing to accept, but this is so sweeping that it feels like it was done on a whim. Even if it was deliberated upon at great length, the announcement itself smacked of impulsiveness. My apologies to Steve if he periodically takes a beating on the forums, but I don't feel like throwing the baby out with the bath water was a sound decision. This is something a petty dictator in a developing nation would do, and I'm surprised that everyone is not only giving Mr. Horvath a free pass- they're actually applauding.

Will it promote a more accessible game for beginning players? Possibly. But chase rares will still be, by their very nature, cost-prohibitive and hard to acquire. Treating mini-block as a clean slate is an appealing idea, but it may end up being a mirage that alienates more players than it attracts.

Another consideration is that this decision effectively removes the Street Fighter and SNK licenses for god-knows-how-long. UFS launched with Street Fighter, and I consider it to be instrumental in sustaining the game over the years. James personally designed Warrior's Dream, and it saddens me to see it dismissed because FFG is reluctant to take ownership of its mistakes. You may not be able to design your way out of the gray wars, but you should be able to deal with problem cards without resorting to genocide.

Personally, I don't really have a problem with this. I can understand the reason behind the change. All the B3 sets, except the last one, really weren't that good. They all had powerful chase rares like every set, but not much else. I mean, outside of maybe....8-10 cards, is there really anything anyones going to miss from king of fighters 2006? There were cards that were too good, and cards that would never see play, and not much else in between. They could have delt with all the problem cards that remained, but I don't think it really made a difference by just rotating. On the other hand, I do also agree that not having a capcom set is risky, and I will miss Warriors Dream and Flames of Fame. However, with the usual lull between Gencon and Rotation, does it really change anything? I thought this was the time people would try to be cool and move to the next block anyway, and I'm sure people can still have B3 rules house tourneys until you get comfy with B4. For me though, I'm looking forward to moving on already. Right now, I just want to play the game with my group and have fun.

The question has to be asked is "Was there a suitible solution to the grey wars to make players play aggressively?" The answer I think we all know is "no." CC Hax and massive foundation tapping and blowing up was/is a problem with that block. Most decks at worlds rain over 80 percent foundations. Sad thing is that many defenders of B3 don't see anything wrong with that. Without requiring that 50 percent of one deck had to be from the last 2 sets there was no way to change the meta to be more healthy.

The only thing this annoucement truly effects is store and city championships. That's it. Once Antigoth made that clear the only thing now is just belly aching over not much. You can play b3 if it will keep your play group alive.

So Darklogos, you're saying the problem was Order. Which I agree with completely. Ban PM and with the Eratta on Boxing, Order becomes managable. Even moreso with the banning of Forethought (Which I agree with. I said since the beginning 'it was hell getting a playset of these, but I would not complain one bit if they got banned). Then they banned Spiral Arrow (oopsies. I think you meant Ira Spinta). Provided they hit the nail on the head Order was back in it's place as a normal symbol.

I like to play on a competitive level, which means playing the same rule-set that higher level competitions take place in. Old characters aren't even a little imbalanced. When it comes down to it, this is all about money. Holding only licenses from Namco is cheaper than holding other companies' licenses as well. This wasn't a balance decision. The game was or could've been with some work fine. The problem was a purely financial one, and/or one of personal bias. Does it not seem strange to anyone else that we're getting Tekken sets now and in the future at the expense of more popular licenses when Tekken is Steve Horvath's self-proclaimed 'favorite game'? Shocking.

Drunken Panda I think you are being too skepitcal about FFG. Did you play back a couple years ago? Packing 4 or less attack was foolish. No ridiculous dmg pumps, life gain, commital, etc. When I play this game i seriously just look at cool techs, combos, abilities I want to pull off and do it. Yes everyone has their favortie character and everyone loves to play them sometimes. At your store you can still play the way the majority of the people their like to play. Wouldnt most of the sets be phased our by the time the next tourney season comes around?

Ok i'm gonna say this and quite frankly I don't give a **** if people don't like it but here it goes:

on a player's note it's great for the game to get back to basics cause the whole "stall you out for 10-12 turns until I get my kill card out the proceed to beat face" was getting me to the point that I was like " **** it i'm done after Tekken if it's gonna be like this" but Steve and James decided to pull a quote on quote "Start Over" was groundbreakin say none tha least now on the other hand it left A WHOLE LOT OF PLAYERS EVEN THOSE THAT DIDN'T GO TO WORLDS LIKE MYSELF like "WTF!!!!!!!!!!! YOUR ****** TELLIN ME THAT MY STUFFS NOW GARBAGE IN THREE WEEKS THATS B/S TOTAL B/S. Now that I have said that part the decision that was made had to be kinda hard on Steve and James cause of all of the backlash but "now listen up cause this is real talk" AT THE END OF THE DAY IT'S BUSINESS FIRST PERSONAL LAST and well **** it it had to be done.

Now on another note this kicks the stores that run tournaments and sells the product ass cause now there like " WTF about all of this dead product that we was selling and your telling us that it's now useless in three weeks cause I know for a fact that FFG's getting calls outta ass on that one hell James personally gettin chewed out on this one cause I think that the NYC stores are callin him up off tha hook.

Now me personally it kinda hurts cause i'm tryin to get yugi players into this game and want to become a scout and have a store to play at but been there done that and it ain't workin worth a **** " not in the state of NJ it ain't ask anybody from NJ that knows me and they will give you the rundown about that" I have to be stingy about givin them stuff cause I play harder than most of my crew and I need's what I need's.

Now that's said i'm just gonna sit back and recoop from the anal ****** that the big announcment has done to me and all others.

I understand why it was done but i will have to say i was put out quite a bit at first.
1. i have never realy liked Soul Caliber 4 and ShadoWar as sets and therefore havent bought mucha at all, after the rotation my collection that i spent lots of money on with the idea that it was going to be around for at least another half a year has gone down to 2 boxes and a half filled small folder.
2. We had no warning it was such a sudden descision with no time for us to get used to it, i feel i wouldt have felt so bad about it if i had been told at least a full month beforehand, this would have given me time to get rid of some cards, gain some new ones and prepare for decks later.
3. I found out from a rumour from worlds, there was no proof for ages and it just left us all speculating, something everyone could get hold of at the same time would have seemed more fair to me.

im not saying it was a bad idea or it shouldnt have happend i was just put out at the lack of communication and the way it was done.
im sure im not the only one who thinks these things but i also am sure im part of a minority.
well theres my oppinion.

Theo

Eithinis said:

But they said they were doing this rotation early to get the game back to what FFG wanted it to be. Back to what it used to be when the game first came out. Your comment here means nothing really, the first winner of Nationals ran a Cassie deck with 4 attacks, this is really no different than what the game has always been.

Ender Dragon said:

BUT IF THERE'S NO SF CHARACTERS IT DOESN'T COUNT WAH.

Ender Dragon said:

and that cassie got banned.

Last year at worlds I saw the problem starting to form when everyone was running pretty much the same deck. This year I was at Gen-Con but decided not to play because the format had become so jank. It's what this game really needed, and my playgroup is happy it finally happened. I've even had a few old players who had quit tell me they were interested in playing again. Now all FFG needs to do is keep a steady release of sets (but not as many as in the past) and have hardcore playtesters to weed out retarded jankness as much as they can before a set is released.

this was by FAR the BEST thing that couldve happened for the game. and im not just talking about how everything got rotated after gencon now, but because every year after Gencon its like a full UFS recession til rotation and tourney season started. Besides, most people switch to the next block within a month after gencon anyways cuz theres no point in testing cards that arent gonna be used in any tourneys.

As for Miniblock it is the FUNNEST the game has ever been, like its like back when ppl ran double digit attacks, and the game does last from turn 3-5

PS. this ends the boring BS reign of Dave Freeman/Yaple. Look at Flames of Fame and warriors dream. there was no BS in those sets, or SC4/SW as they were all done or worked on by James.

I'm personally excited about the rotation. All of the issues I had with the game will no longer be present and it'll start off fresh for everyone. It's like a second life for UFS where everyone, new and old, is on the same level card-wise.

The only thing I hope they do is take a slow rotation for the characters, just until a few more sets hit. For instance, once tekken hits rotate out Domination, Cutting Edge, Realm of Midnight, and Deadly Ground Characters. Then at the next release Rotate out Flash of the Blades and KoF 2006 and so on. Just my two cents.

Now I really can't wait until Tekken!

From what I have been told, my playgroup has some mixed reactions about this instarotation. I can see how fun the mini-block will be. I can also see why some of the players I play UFS with are not too happy. Of course you have to understand that the guys I play with used to play a different game before UFS where the restart button was hit, only to see that game die off a few months later. Thus, this is not the first time any game has done this. To some extent, I am hoping that Steve and James observed the games that have done this, but alas what is done is done. I have just built my Ragnar block 4 deck and am ready to see what the big deal is behind mini-block since Shane told me that it was the ****. I have about 20 attacks in it just to see if it will work.

I, just today, played my first round of true miniblock. It was my Good Siegfried Vs. Fire Ragnar. Let me tell you, Ragnar hits HARD. 12 damage first turn, saved myself with a lucky block. I was so happy when I was successfully able to throw out multiple attacks turn after turn and see my opponent blocking and fighting back instead of foundation walling! Truly reminds me of what UFS once was.