Each week we ask a question of our staff and featured writers to learn a little bit about them and gain some insight into where they are coming from.
This week’s question is:
What’s your favorite collectible card game?
Allen Varney, “Trading (Web) Cards”
Shadowfist! Every kickass Hong Kong action flick you’ve ever seen, all at the same time! Equal opportunity butt kicking, baby!
Warren Spector, “‘Fun’ is a Four-Letter Word”
I don’t have a favorite collectible card game. In fact, I’m annoyed at the very existence of collectible card games. I was at GenCon the day Magic: The Gathering debuted, waited on the hundreds-of-gamers-long line to buy a couple of first-day decks (later sold for $46 in a startling show of lack of foresight!), and watched as GenCon instantly devolved into the Wizards of the Coast show. My beloved RPG business changed forever (and for the worse) that day.
Later, at Ion Storm, I saw Magic take over our weekly board game sessions – another thing I loved killed by the addictive power of collectible card games.
And, now, at Junction Point, where once we watched movies together and played board games and multiplayer stuff online, there’s a nightly (yes, nightly) Magic game, continuing the cycle of things I love being decimated by the scourge of the game business.
I’ve met Richard Garfield a few times and he’s a really smart, fun guy to hang out with, but did he have to come up with such an addictive, time-consuming, expensive alternative to everything I enjoy?
Argh.
Shannon Drake, “The Idea of Warhammer“
After Magic: The Gathering gathered up $600 on my then-new Discover card, I decided CCGs were not for me.
Russ Pitts, “Steve Jackson: The Escapist Interview,” Associate Editor
Garbage Pail Kids. The rule system was a bit lacking, though. As I understood it, the object was to collect as many cards as possible during the mid-’80s, preserve them in NM condition through the early ’90s, then dump them on eBay as soon as it was invented. I think I blew step 2.
Joe Blancato, Associate Editor
Magic for longevity’s sake, but the game I had the most fun with was Jyhad. (It later became Vampire: The Eternal Struggle because names that remind people of holy wars is a pretty bad idea.) The game had some really cool systems in place and did a great job of miniaturizing the World of Darkness meta-story. Even though I only played it once, I still have a few hundred cards floating around. They always seem to survive the move.
Jon Hayter, Producer
I used to play M:TG, but realized I’m just not the kinda person that can easily justify the money to get a ‘killer deck’. When I was much younger, I gave all my good stuff to a friend for his birthday. All I have now is a bunch of land, and some crappy creatures – yet for some reason, I keep carting around the box whenever I move.
Julianne Greer, Executive Editor
Credit cards. Although, I suck at it; I only have two.
