The first in the new, monthly series of Asylum Packs has launched .

In further news: The Call of Cthulhu League is about to begin; More info on this soon, but from what I've seen it's a fun way to start an epic tale of cosmic horrors and intrigue.

...just in case you missed it

talk about limited card pool..... coreset plus 2 asylum packs. less than 200 cards to pick from. thats less than arkham edition alone.

"The limited card pool ensures league games are accessible and enjoyable for newer players, and challenging established players with a new setting." noticed how it doesnt say it will be enjoyable for 'established players' haha.

don't know why I feel a little bit upset against ancient players ... (not pointing anyone in particular!)

Why being pessimistic about that ? I'm an "not so old" player, despite I have a playset of every card for long ... and I'm really happy to have new challenge, new cards and new opponents to met !

Why don't we use this newly opportunity to make our game bigger and bigger ? Why don't we stop screaming about white boards, reprints and others stuffs ??? It's now time to celebrate the revival of this wonderful game. And some of us might use the energy they have to whine to demonstrate the game to new players.

my two cents ...

I don't think the League is meant to replace the standard tourney events, but more like being an addition to it. It's a nice way to get some new players in, start on equal footing, then punish them later in the real tourneys...

personally i do look forward to the challenge. i mentioned in another thread i cant wait until there are enough cards to make an all white border deck. but i just found the wording funny when it only mentioned this format would be enjoyable for new players.

PearlJamaholic said:

Heh, but to the old players, it's supposed to be a challenge. Challenge is kinda fun, I think...

To Marius: Will there be an official format, where the old (black bordered) cards are allowed? If you know the answer to the question, please share the information with us before I quit.

PRODIGEE said:

Yeah, I as well wonder why you'd be focusing your angst against the old school players?

You mention, "...screaming about white boards, reprints and other stuffs ???" but most of

these grievences have been put aside and aren't even much discussed anymore. When they

are discussed I haven't noticed anyone 'screaming'. I welcome the discourse whether it be

to discuss the positives or negatives. We don't need to whitewash the conversation with

positivity. Let's keep it real. Like you PRODIGEE, I see the new start and limited card pool

as a chance for a fresh start. I think this experience will take me back to the beginning when

all we had was Arkham and those were some really good times! I will be welcoming old hands

and newbies to the game without grudges or favouritism.

I see they are dangling the promise of promo cards in front of us again. I was hoping they'd do away with them.

I'm a little dissapointed with it. I mentioned it to my FLGS owner and my fellow players today, and none of them were impressed either. All prefered how it was done previously. The reason being that it just seems so bland. Also, the prize support without promos, we all felt was not worth it for what you got.

I think I will run the events that have promo's but otherwise I'll stick to running regular events that allow all sets not just the LCG ones.

Bard said:

Nothing against you Marius, but such an announcement, I think should really come from an official FFG source, should it come. Granted, if it were coming, it really should have come a couple months ago. So all I can really do now is hope that it's not coming for CoC.

The new format makes sense. The Old Game announcement has got to be coming. But now is the time to roll out Julia Brown era OP. Funny how players rebuild their decks in 3 white. Some will be doable in white. Shocking T and HDY are back. The gears of Yog are well represented. CT has DOA SacOff and Ravager. So a playa can crash the party.

What's with this promo hate. That's crazy talk. I'd be serving them up with clam dip.

Kennon said:

i have read somewhere that marius gets paid for his articles, so he is a sort of official FFG voice.

this league part of the OP program is exactly the same as for AGOT. looks like COC takes the same route. and in the AGOT OP there are the so-called hedge tourneys including all cards. its in the highlander format (which i dont like) - this does make some sense for AGOT, but i dont think it would happen for COC.

Kennon said:

And you'll be right, because:

thorondor said:

...if I got paid, you already would have your money's worth already, and know everything there is to know, even if it was the worst news ever. Alas the comment was more like impying that I was 'bought out' by FFG to screw with your minds or something. Alas, all I can do is trying to find dots, then connect them and give my opinion. And my opinion is that it's too early to say what will happen, good or bad.

thorondor said:

What you say, seems likely to me. Highlander may be 'nessessary' in a large cardpool like that of AGoT, but it won't do justice to CoC at all. And the cardpool isn't so large that it's feasable either, even if 'casual' hedge tournaments become the norm. How can I make a good, casual Mi-Go deck when all I can use is one of every Mi-Go? Highlander would go against everything competative and casual alike.

And I would actually say that in some ways, Highlander does the same in AGOT. It's a fun occaisonal diversion. I don't think it's a format to be built around.

Does anyone else find the Organized Play Program announcement,

'particularly the instructions for player registration', to be confusing?

The seperate responsibilities of player / servitors / store owners are not well

defined. The words 'you' and 'your' are often used where the above terms

would make things clearer. The instructions refer to the procedure to sign up

"your store". Does that mean "your store" as a servitor, player or owner?

As a result of my confusion I may have attempted to sign up the store

where maybe the owner was required to do so?

Also for instance, the players are not responsible

for purchasing League Kits, or are they?

The article refers to league kits costing $15 but later mentions that

"future league kit prize packs will vary". Are these 2 items the same?

If these leagues are as advertised, 6 weeks on and 2 off ,doing the math

over a 6 month/3 league period = 18 weeks on 6 weeks off = $45 for 3 league packs +

$60-$180 for 1-3 of each of the 6 APs + $40-$120 for 1-3 of the Core Set, total =

$145-$405 for 6 months/$290-$810 over a year. We can assume the $45-$90 league pack

costs will be spread between the participants and store owner. It still remains however

a considerable investment.

I've also have not been able to log into the OPP site.

Maybe someone with better interpretive skills can

translate the procedure in a post for the handicapped

forum members like myself. It might just be me!

Yeah, the thing is a bit confusing. I've tried to sign up as a servitor, and thus as a TO. I assume the tool is for players, servitors and shop owners alike. Which makes it a little confusing. After signing up, there are application forms though - well at least a Servitor application form, and sevitors are tied to a store like before.

PearlJamaholic said:

That's not quite accurate. Your deck can only have basic set and 2 APs, but you get to select which AP you are using. In effect, you have the pool of every AP published to that date.

Additionally, more APs are added as the League continues, so the breadth of your deck becomes greater. I'm looking forward to it.

Ankhwearer said:

do they also include asylum packs all the way back to spawn of madness or just white border asylum packs. im under the impression that its all white border..... if it goes that far back then its more than 200.

@hybrid: I registered as a Tournament Organizer/Servitor. On that application, it asks what stores you will be running events at. I listed the complete address and phone numbers, as well as the names of the store owners, so hopefully that was enough to get the store registered. If not, I assume they'll let me know.

@pearljamoholic: I also noticed the ambiguity in listing "Asylum Packs" and assumed they actually meant white-bordered only APs. In my case, it doesn't really matter: I'm starting over with a new group and they are only willing to play white-bordered cards. But FFG might want to clarify that down the road.

PearlJamaholic said:

Wouldn't that be up to the coordinator at each event? Mostly likely, this is just going to be white bordered, since part of the push is to market the new release, I imagine.

i emailed ffg about that cause its kinda important. dreamlands messenger can cripple just about any commit to story effect. not to mention there are some pretty good cards in the black border lot that might be more powerful then where the current game might want.

dreamlands messenger a killer card? I remember people laughing at the old boards and saying that it is a casual card at best. However, against a polar deck... It is very solid. bringer of fire could be the answer, to it, if you play with shub and can shocked bringer into play. Or mentor, for that matter. But with ygolanac around...

then again, I use him always in yog/shub decks (with Ygolanac, ithaqua and Nyarli)

And it has the word dreamlands in it's title ( I love dreamlands so...)

Agree, it is VERY poorly written.

Chick

johnny shoes said:

Because they were a pain in the ass to get unless you lived near a servitor. I became a servitor because the one that was running games near me flaked out, stopped running games, and I missed out on some promos. I had to go to the secondary market to get a few.