At this current moment I'm a bit burnt. So I'll take it. I'm interested in deck building philosphy and play mentality. THose are good articles to start with. They get people talking on a postive note about the game and not other issues. Heck even my own current frustrations came out of an attmept to help control pieces be played in a diversified mannor and promote aggro and not stall out plink method control. Character write ups are like a flash in the pan. People read them, digest them then move on. I write something serious about once every 3 weeks or so. If I get the bug I'll write a couple more articles. Just write something that teaches people and gives a different perspective. At this stage the new players need some solid advice.

darklogos said:

I don't think this is fair because everyone gives/promotes in their own way.

If you are curious, over 10 players have emailed me privately since I posted my Hilde deck from way back when, all of them have been replied to and back and forth ensued. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean we aren't all helpful, most everyone who likes this game tries their best, we sadly get a few bad apples, usually the have nots, that end up posting misdirected complaints endangering the serenity of the forum.

- dut

Could we stop all these ******* doomsday threads?

Thanks for the props Joe, but I have to say, being positive shouldn't be something to appluad, I'm a cynical jack-ass when I want to be. Even if people think the game dies and it does, its there **** fault. I've broke as all hell and isolated from any UFS groups right now, but didn't stop me from dropping 70 bucks on the holiday sale, and I got 2 Cassy and 2 Padma for my trouble. Scott's building a UFS cube, despite dropping most of collection. Enjoy the game and stfu, when you have a reason to *****, go ahead let it out. Yes prize support could be better, but I really never cared about that if I was having fun. Hell my brother is WAY better than me and doesn't like to play, if I could drag him to worlds and get back my old deck building mojo he'd top 16 e-z. But that shouldn't matter. Drop everything you think should be handed to you on a silver platter: Forget about prize support, don't use "broken" (I use this as LIGHTLY as possible) card, and just sit down and play with who ever's within arm's reach and won't run away. I'll say exactly what I say to people when they are stressed out or pissed off or hell after getting dumped: **** it. Who care's, just for an hour or so, just say **** it and enjoy yourself.

Now, put me on that list Joe, I'd happily write some articles if I was given an idea. If we could bring back something like UFScards.com or something it be great. Fan Sites. I think they are one of the best things for any type of fandom, and gives places for fans to congrigate.

One thing that I can't do well that was brought up was match up articles. I think having the higher ranked cards go against each other or having anti-high meta card going against a high meta card would be awesome write ups.

Halbard100 said:

TeamCanadaOnline.net also spends time being a UFS fansite comeplete with Articles. I've got a few from NJBrock that I've got to getpostted. we're in the middle of moving to a new server, so should be back in full force by the end of the week if all goes as planned.

PS Joe - Thank you! You made my day.

dutpotd said:

ohai

Antigoth said:

HOWEVER, the people who DIDN'T cut AT ALL in Worlds got total dogshit.

That's the way it has always been for people who never cut. They get dogshit. The only time this was not the case was in 2007 when STG ran the best Nationals. Worlds 2007 was awesome if you made top 16. Steve told me point blank at Nats 08 that they gave ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to the people to didn't make top cut, and he was questioning why ppl thought Worlds 2007 was the best event.

It was the meta, Steve. The meta was open and fun. Only two symbols didn't make top 16. Two aggro decks and two control decks in top 4.
Best. Meta. Ever.

2008 was our worst year.

Nationals 08 - none of us cut, we got dogshit

Worlds 08 - We didn't cut Singles, but we made TOP FOUR in Team Worlds. What did we get? A "special playmat" that ended up being the Morrigan playmat they everybody else got for the pre-release, and was delayed to the point where we got it at the same time everyone else did. What else? MONSTER ENERGY DRINKS!!!! Most pathetic prize ever.

That is all we got for top 4 Team Worlds 08.

Steve did apologize to us at Nats 09 when we told him we were furious about it. I'll give him that.

Don't get me wrong, I love UFS as a CCG. It has the best standardization of any CCG out right now.

Putting Hata in charge of card design was the first successful step for a better UFS. I mean, look at everybody now. They love the new "rebirth" of UFS. And it is ind33d a fact that UFS is really fun where it's at right now. While the metagame might not be completely open, we only have 4 sets.

The next step is solving prize support, both local and major. I'm sure a lot of people already know how this should be done. Many think they should add playmats to tournament kits, which would be excellent. Upping the number of promo cards from 12 to around 30 would be fantastic as well.

Honestly, the BEST thing they could do for prize support is do another promo character print run. Remember back after Worlds 2006? They previewed around 30 different characters from all licenses they had and they soon after were released into prize support. Many people were estatic as their favorite character was one of those 30 promo character cards. It opened the meta wide and gave people tons of different decks to build and try out. That would really be the best thing for the game right now.

Shane -

Get over 2008, it was so almost 2 years ago.

Before you decree that people who didn't cut got "Dog ****"

For not cutting in Teams Championships I got:

A pile of new promos some of which still haven't been released to the public. Some where only available in the fight night kit.

A Booster Pack.

Those promos that I got were highly sought after, both at Gencon, and afterwards. What I *could* have traded them / sold them for, would have covered the cost of my Gencon badge & tournament attendance. That was off of a tournament that cost me roughly $2 to enter. And that was with our team scrubbing out pretty hardcore. (our only win came from the bye).

For those that didn't top cut at Worlds 2009, what did they get?

More unreleased promos, 1 or 2 booster packs? and an Art Print?

Again, those unreleased promos were and are sought after.

So... 2008. Steve admitted FFG screwed up.

Live in 2009. Or maybe even 2010 (I hear it's only a few weeks away).

If people have said they've made a mistake, and tried to rectify it, please take the time to recognize that. Please take the time to acknowledge when they've made improvements. If you're going to keep saying that prize support in 2008 & 2009 was identical when it clearly wasn't, pretty soon FFG is going to stop listening because it's pretty clear that it's impossible to please you.

Also, rather then just decrying the support as "dog ****" please suggest what you would find as acceptable prize support.

Keep in mind Steve's stated desire to have people play the game for the "love of the game" and not "because we bribed them to play."

PS - Rather then making 3 similar posts on the same topic. I hear the Edit button is magical.

Well, sir, they gave all of us one penny sleeve with 6 "unreleased" promos in it. And yeah, at the time, they were unreleased. But you gotta think of it this way, sir.

For the 5 or so months that UFS swims through the off-season, those "unreleased" promo cards become released with local prize support.
That said, giving out "unreleased" promos at Gencon only to be officially released a couple months later in the off-season isn't all that great IMO. The promos are a little shoddy too. Heir to the Storm is really the only one that stands out as a tournament card, and was "sought-after" by tournament players.

lol @ 1 booster pack
At Nationals 07, we all paid $0 to sign up for the event and walked away with 6 booster packs and three penny sleeves of playsets of foil commons. That's right buddy, PLAYSETS!!! Not this 1 copy dogshit they've been doing in the past two years.
$0 too.
Can't beat it, sir.

Playing a game "For the Love of the Game" is just an excuse, no matter how you think of it. In today's world, you just can't spend $2k into a hobby and only expect to get $300 back in prizes. If you waste money on that instead of something else, then I will ind33d give you props as you have mad love for the game, and you are much better than I am.

As for FFG making improvements, I'll believe them when I see them.
I'll admit that I was one of the people who tracked Steve down on facebook. I was really worried about the game and wondered if it was even worth feeding a mouth that bites you. Steve did tell me that he was working on solving the prize support issue, along with pre-release only support.
But then again, Steve only tells the truth like... 50% of the time?

Shaneth said:

Steve NEVER lied to my face.

Then again I never spoke to him.

I just wanted to make that joke.

*snipping from a SOTG*

FFGSteve said:

But really, only like... 5 people know why they "delayed" it and who was responsible for it.

Shaneth said:

1) The cards James was playing with was not from the main print run of the set.
It was from the test run. The pre-mass production run that is done to test the consistency of the printing to make sure there are no major snafus before it's printed.

2) By the time the print run for the set was completed, it would not have been possible to get the cards where they needed to be in time.

3) Spending 2K on a game, and expecting a return of greater then 15% on your investment is unrealistic. If you're lucky and talented, then sure. Otherwise, if everyone is to expect that back, do the math on how much would have to be spent on prize suport.

4) You have to realize that your pointed negative postings on the boards does not help the image of the UFS community.
The statements that you portray as the gospel truth, when they are only uninformed opinions do more to damage UFS then to help it.

5) Going forth and saying that "Steve Lies" isn't going to help your case. Posts like this are not an incentive to do a state of the game. There is no incentive for Steve to lie. There is no incentive to tell mis-truths. I mean seriously, if all the players are going to do is say that the SOTG is a lie, why bother making one in the first place? He's got other issues he could be spending his time on.

6) "Awesome Prize support Offering" from the past. - Keep in mind that sales of UFS were also stronger. More sales = bigger prize support budget.
Something that I've seen multiple CCG's struggle with is the cost of prize support. The fact that UFS is continuing to offer free prize support 4 years in, is pretty darn awesome. You played Raw Deal. You experienced the Raw Deal Tournament Kits, and price increase in the Qualifiers. Steve is working to avoid that.

7) How STG did business was not a healthy long term viable model. It was pretty freaking awesome as a player. I'll agree. However there are reasons why STG was sold off. There are reasons why FFG despite their reputation puts out some of the best selling, hotest, most popular games in the industry.

8) One of the challnges that we're running into is that James as developer for UFS has also partly been in charge of assigning prize support. When he was a player, he didn't pay attention to how prize support was done. So he's been changing things, not aware that he's actually changing things. (For example I just educated him after the QFS release that previously there was Scout Packs in the pre-release kits. He was unaware of this.)

Rather then getting up in arms, and crying conspiracy. Reasonable and Rational Conversation goes a long way.

Well its nice to know that you guys have selective reading. The point of this thread was to bring up the complete lack of non public relations communication from the developers. Also that FANTASY FLIGHT GAMES IS SCREWING OVER YOUR LOCAL STORE BY UNDER CUTTING THEM. They have always bent over backward before to promote and support those stores and now when most stores get a boost, FANTASY FLIGHT GAMES IS SENDING A BIG **** YOU to them. Since I didnt want to think that was the new standard for them, the only other option was maybe they were liquidating. I was not saying this was happening i was proposing how it looks that way.

Everyone should play for fun but no one wants to play a game that just devalues its self each month. No one want the average box to cost 100 dollars and only get 50 out of it. The prize support has sucked for a long time, when they were giving out four cards in support usually only one was really playable. This month perfect memory is a bad card for alot of reasons mostly the symbols but its only so so anyway. Characters for the most part should be prerelease cards, boxtoppers, or in sets. Worlds support has sucked lately and will remain that way as long as there isnt rewards just for attending. This game is not massive like magic yugioh or pokemon, it doesnt have the draw like those games do and better prize support would help that. The economy shouldnt affect anything because you can attend worlds for about 200 dollars if you are willing to drive and share rooms. Yes that requires saving and planning but most people can make it happen if they want. If you can not save i dont know how you can afford this game.

Antigoth

Not everyone is as understanding as you i guess. The last two worlds tournament have been a let down and that goes in to how we feel about the game and wether we will attend worlds in the future. Attendance has dropped each year and that is not a good thing. Seeing everyone is great its cool to hang out and chat but none of us want to pay to do all that. I want a large attendance with diverse decks at worlds not the sandbagging that has become the norm and with lower turn out thats whats happening. I guess you like to be **** on one year and wait the next for the piss to wash it away. The casual players arent showing up and without them the game will not support its self. Shane and I have a point with the changes in worlds not being a postiive thing for whatever reason.

They print the cards and send them for prize support for free, so wether they are given out at worlds or you local tournament they are still costing them money and not getting anything back. So that is irrelevant.

All I can say is this.

I want this game to succeed , but unlike some of the people on this thread and in life i can criticize something i like in an effort to try to point out things that can be worked on and ultimately make it better. So honestly Halbard100 you need to quit your bitching and actually try to be part of the conversation instead of a cop out. If you think this game can not be improved in any significant way then you have some sort of low expectations. I am entitled to my opinion like everyone else and will share it at will if i think i can raise a point or express how i feel. You Halbard100 have added nothing to this conversation other than a negative ignorant rant telling people to shut up. I never said this game was dead or dying or FANASY FLIGHT GAMES was dumping everything. I said that from what im seeing which is undercutting your local store (which will decrease thier want to carry the game), lack of communication from the developers when we have always had it, and how nothing has been printed in half a year creates the impression that something bad is happening or possible. I wanted your thoughts on what i brought up.

If steve and james had explained any of this all you had to do was post the links and my concerns would of been resolved all together. So Halbard100 if you can have the links please post them so its not a hollow response. Actually support what you said. Its responses like yours that make the boards a bad enviorment when you cant bother to add anything productive towards the thread. You dont have to agree but you have to be reasonable and not shout like a child on the playground.

Brian,

It's obvious we're never going to come to a mutual conclusion. I am the average competitive player who speaks how they feel about a game that is consistently shafting it's players while you in all purposes are always defending the authorities. It's just not going to work out for both of us to agree on something. I will say this, however. When, and if, they decide to support UFS to the point where it is once again in the top 5 CCGs and gives back what you put into the game (like it used to do), I will take back every negative thing I have said.

That's a promise, sir.
((^quote this; write down the date and everything^))

Otherwise, Scott is right. Being able to purchase 3x boxes from FFG for the price of 1 totally under cuts the shop. I already know a handful of stores who were pissed about that. Lack of communication from staff is also alarming. I miss STG staff when it was actually somewhat a part of their job to post on the boards. We'd hear from Josh or Justin every week, and even Erik from time to time. Tight communication with your players is definitely the plus.

Antigoth said:

That's the best argument I've seen so far and one that needs to be retold in most topics. There is absolutely ZERO reason for FFG to mislead people about UFS. What happens if they do, the game dies, and you have a bunch of people pissed off at the company and the company is still around? Especially a community as close-knit as UFS players?

You start a revolution Lars.

Or rather, you get to piss a ton of people off by telling the true story of how FFG mislead the players. Keep in mind this sentence is written as the conclusion of a scenario where FFG does lie to it's players and misleads them. I'd outright say betrays them here. But right now, I doubt very much that's the case. So far, the company's done nothing bad other than have a few hiccups here and there. Once I started personally handling the business between our scout and FFG stuff started rollin' (which is sad because Target X does a bang-up job of getting the people involved locally at the cost of his health in this time of year (winter tires ahoy) - I just deal with the FFG side of things.)

They have zero reason to lie to us. They want the game to be successful for one reason : Because they want to make money. Are they doing the steps necessary for it to be successful? Only time will tell.

Shaneth said:

Shaneth said:

Thanks shane

why this isnt making more sense to other people is beyond me. Im hoping for the best but it is hard to deny whats happening isnt bad...;

It's all business. Take a business course and you already know what they are doing.

However, I was asked to post something more positive about FFG, since I am so negative. It'll be a new topic soon.

rulemonkey said:

Funny, I still buy stuff from my LGS and do not buy stuff from FFG. Granted, it's a special case on my end as I :
a) choose to support my LGS more often than not.
b) get boned by customs if I order from FFG. Goddamned UPS.

Also, your point was poorly written and badly explained. We read what's there and other than things that have been said before and in a more eloquent manner, what was there?

Also, I'd like to say the following : You're complaining about lack of communication from the developers? Where the hell were you when I was saying the same thing... on the old FFG forums? Or when I re-iterated this simple fact of FFG business at least three to four months back?

You know, if there's one thing I'm tired of saying, it's exactly that. PotM event? Hell, I was bitching that it was going to bone people on the STG forums! I'm pretty **** sure some of you might even remember that ('goth probably will). People called me a loon and I got my perpetually angry reputation from those kind of complaints but I stood undeterred.

And then, months later, what the hell happens? Something happens to someone and they start raising a storm about how they got personally screwed or someone they know gets screwed, yet they weren't protesting alongside me 3 months back - they were amongst those who hated it when I spoke up.

I'd love to bask in schadenfreude but seriously - guys, if you feel THAT goddamn strongly about this - go directly to the company, do not pass go, do not collect 200$. Granted they might not answer you right away due to the busy holiday season (and with the sale they've got going on, they've got good reasons to be busy!), but they'll get to you eventually.

And if they don't, e-mail them again.

And again.

And again.

Until they are forced to answer you.

That's protesting 101 - annoy people until they are forced to acknowledge you, and by annoy, I mean get in their faces politely.

Homme Chapeau said:

Homme Chapeau said:

Homme Chapeau said:

Nice to know you have your high horse with you. Sorry it wasnt explain or written to your satisfaction. It gets the point across and if anyone wants examples of FFG or steve bending backward to support the local stores I will be more than happy to list them. I wasnt on the boards back then but its good that you agree with me, at least i think. Im glad you support you local store and you store is lucky to have you. Most people do not do that and buy whats cheapest.

This wont be up to your standards either but i dont care, because criticizing my typing skills is irrelevant.

Protesting 101.

The golden rule of protesting anything is affect their bottom line. If you are unhappy with a product dont buy it. Why would they care if you email and email and email and their bottom line doesn't go down? Getting in their faces doesn't matter, denying them what they want is. They have no reason to change if the goal of their business isnt being affected. They want money because they are a business. So politely you are wrong. In every way you are wrong.

If you have a retailer who feels that they are being undercut by the Holiday sale, please have them contact FFG.

Something FFG did last year, and I'm not spending the time to find the small print this year - is that retailers can contact FFG so they can arrange to sell the merchandise that they have on hand for the same prices as FFG.

If the retailer can unload their product at the same prices, and FFG is helping the retailer unload extra unwanted product - HOW IS FFG SCREWING THE RETAILER?

All the store has to do is call FFG.

Regarding Prize Support "Sucking":

Sure, Perfect memory may not be a fantastic card. But would you rather that or promo fish man? The players complained that prize support wasn't strong enough. They complained that prize support is too strong. In another thread you'll probably be complaining that Paid to Protect is too good. There is no win for FFG. No matter what they do, someone is going to complain.

RE: Worlds "Not being what they were."

2008 FFG was hamstrung, and restricted on the amount of space they had. It wasn't their choice. So they implemented the qualifier system. People were up in arms, and many people boycotted worlds because of that. FFG had no choice, and had to plan based on the previous years experience. They didn't know there was going to be the backlash that there was.

2009 - Steve booked the event, left it open for everyone, and ran it as they did. He wanted to see who would show up to Play UFS. He wanted to see what the true unabashed, non-bribed to come play version of the worlds looked like. He didn't like what he saw any more then you did. What did he do about it? He immediately announced rotation in an effort to try and make the game more accessible. To try and purge the negative environment from the game.

FFG took immediate action, good or bad.
The prize support was significantly improved this year over last year. We've already agreed on that. You still feel it's not good enough. That's cool. Steve has said that they are constantly working on fine tuning the prize support system. They haven't said that "this is the only way it's going to be."

Regarding Me "Always defending the Authorities."

• FFG does not actively participate in the boards. If someone does not post counterpoints, and try to illuminate and clarify the issues, and give both sides, it starts looking rather poor.
  
• Many folks approach me about how negative the boards seem. How they always seem to be "hating" on the game. If someone doesn't defend FFG, the boards continue to devolve. I love this game just like many of you. [i'm not going to try and get into a "who loves it more" debate, because that's completely unproductive.] My posting clarifying information is part of that love for this game.
  
• I have not posted that I agree, or disagree with you that the prize support is sufficient. Please go back and read my comments. No where have I said that prize support fantastic, and is exactly what it should be. I have provided factual statements, clarifying what is given away. Where even you (Shaneth in this instance) said "I am happy that my team got those binders, and in it fact skyrocketed our playgroup. "
  You were in fact happy with the prize support you personally received for 2009 Worlds!
  It's great that you are crusading for everyone. But when you got awesome prize support, and you're pretending you got crappy prize support, that really paints the wrong picture, and reflects on you poorly.
• I don't take my issues with FFG out on the forums. You have ways of contacting Steve and James directly. I have ways of contacting Steve and James directly. I choose to use those contacts selectively, and professionally. Point in case - Can Nats 2009 - There was going to be 0 Prize support there. I worked with FFG to get Prize supported Overnighted to Can Nats. (Paying for it out of my own pocket.) Was it fantastic? No. Was it better then having nothing? Hells yeah.
• FFG Has actively stated they don't want to interact with their fans through the forums. They want to talk to you personally and directly via Email and phone. Many people seem to forget that.
• From time to time I can say what FFG can't / won't. Because I am not an FFG employee, I have some liberties to say things that professionally they can't. I am however privy to certain information either as a Rules Arbiter, or simply through my contacts in the industry. If you'd prefer, I can stop sharing the knowledge that I have.
• At the end of the day, if I have an issue, I work with FFG to get it resolved. Whether it's prize support for my players, product delays getting into the country, or what have you. Because of the respect I extend them, I have no complaints about how they have treated me. (Even from the first moment that they took over UFS, they have been fantastic in providing me information.) In kind, I will defend them, and give them the respect they have given me.

Regarding you "taking back everything you've said"

I don't want you to "take back everything you've said". I want you to be aware of what you're saying. I want you to be aware of your audience. The people reading your message is not FFG. It's new stores, new players, and returning players. If you are one of those three catagories, and you want to "play" UFS, would your actually drive these people to want to get involved with UFS? Would it sour people from even trying UFS?

At the end of the day, how you are choosing to handle the issue, is sabotaging your stated goal of having large player bases. Posting articles. Discussing decks and what works. Growing strategy behind the game - That grows the game. Outside of writing articles, I've gone so far as to pay people out of my own pocket to write articles. What are you doing? Complaining loudly, and massaging the message that you are sending to paint an inaccurate and poor light on FFG and UFS.

We all get that you aren't happy with Prize support. You've posted with great frequncy since returning to the game that you are unhappy with the prize support. Every time you post on the forums, you are told the same thing - CONTACT FFG. Instead of contacting FFG you wait a couple of week, and repost the same diatribe, sometimes using harsher language, sometimes not.

I don't need us to agree. I don't need to come to a mutal concensus.

I need you to focus your desire for change, and your desire for UFS's success in the right direction.

I need to get you on the same page as Darklogos, Viewtiful Joe, and even Shinji lately, who have all been posting intelligent discussion about UFS. Trying to grow the game.

The biggest thing that can help casual players - articles on how to deck build. Articles on how to play. *From my Experience* Casual players don't usually look at the prize support because usually I hear them saying "I can't win."

It's great that you miss the days of STG. FFG does not have the time and money to be able to provide that staffing Experience. The personal contact STG had is the single biggest mistake they made. It was not something that could be maintained. The only reason why they were able to provide the number of man hours in contact that they were, was because they were ramping down their product lines as a business. They had nothing else for their employees to do.

We have been asked... almost two years ago now... to let go of "how great the days of STG were."

Lets be realistic, memories embellish the good points. Lets think back to all of the complaints about how poor, inconsistent, yadda, yadda, yadda, the communication from STG was. Lets remember how many threads bitching because Steve was two weeks late with the SotG post. This isn't a new thing to FFG. This happened back at STG.

People bitched back then about how much of a sarcastic ******* Erik was. Sure... it was really great that he posted to the forums every now and then. Even though he generally ruffled peoples feathers and told them what they didn't want to hear.

At the end of the day, you are entitled to your opinions. You may also be surprised to know how I really feel about certain things. However, if you truly care about UFS, then you'll think about the message that you're sending when you post.

You'll think about how it impacts the board. The poison environment it creates that drives new, and existing players and stores from them. That same posion environment existed back in the days of STG. That same posion environment exists now.

Knowing that your posts on this forum about prize support do nothing to correct the issue - are you going to continue to post about it on a regular basis? Are you going to continue to work to create a poison envionment? Or are you going to do something else to help UFS?

rulemonkey said:

I never said I don't believe the game can be improved, anything can be improved and that's a fact. Is it reasonable at all? No. I want improvement as much as the next guy, thats a given, and anyone who says they want to game to stay exactly the same is a fool. Improvement is inherently good . I don't think anyone will disagree with me there, and really if you do, your a fool, and I pity you. However, as to is it reasonable, I don't honestly know. I don't know about you, but I'm bum ass broke right now and essentially spent the last of my free money on getting UFS stuff from the holiday sale. None of this is directly at you but rather the people it applies to. With the developers, no offense, but we honestly have no single right to have a dialog with the them, directly or indirect. Its good natured and benificial yes, but required, not even. That may make more sense with bigger companies with more money coming in than something like the UFS division of FFG, but it still applies. It just shows how really and truly great they are that Steve or James takes the time to talk with us and prep and type up the SOTG, no matter how short or long it is. I am truly soory for your store, I really am, but understand my position, I venture between 2 of what I believe to have been some of the best metas and coolest play groups in UFS, my alma mater to UFS in Tennessee and the fantastic guys of UFS up here in Ohio, and yet the last time I played with any of them was GenCon, and prior to that I can barely remember. Prize support is a gift and reward, one that people have just become to accustomed to, but in all honestly isn't something that has to be given. There will be some people who think I'm on crack from that statement but in reality it is true, it might be a custom to get a cake and presents on your Birthday but truly your parent's shouldn't be disowned just because you didn't get anything. Its a stupid analogy but I can't think of anything better. It speaks to the benifit of the guys to make everyone so up in a fury when they don't get their free gift that with something that they made.

As to the second party, I'm going to assume you didn't have the oportunity to go to GenCon, and thats fine, I got lucky to go for the first time this year. But People got to talk to James and Steve, and despite how busy and crazy it was they took the time to shoot the breeze as best they could, and most if not all I'm almost certain were answered to someone there. And I won't shout at another kid on the play ground for disagreeing with me, but believe me when I say if they attack my friend for theirs I'll sure as hell break them in half.

I love this game, I truly do. Going to GenCon and making new friends from all corners fully reassured me of that and no matter what people would say about my hobbies I've met some of the best people I know doing them. I know I had a blast more fun with the people at UFS than my roommates did with the guys they met playing Warmachine down the hall. I didn't intend to when I packed my bags, but I even sat there and did some demoing in the trading card hall and really tried too. I'll play this game as often as I can until my cards fall apart and can't be replaced.