Cactus Game Design Message Boards

If you missed the original announcement about the opportunity to win a chance to create your own Redemption card this year at Nationals -  you can find it here.

A number of questions came up after the announcement, specifically related to Type 2 players being omitted from the opportunity. I want to take a moment to address some of those questions and open up the opportunity for the community to respectfully ask questions and offer feedback.

When evaluating the idea of allowing players to create a card, we knew that offering this prize for all 7 events at Nationals (8 if you include Type A) would be overwhelming for us. Until we've seen how this goes, we had to set a limit. Type 1 - 2 Player is the most played event at most tournaments. Nationals is no exception to that. That's an obvious first choice. Booster draft typically has high participation at Nationals as well. Some years it rivals Type 1 - 2 Player in total participation. Offering one additional card creation prize to booster draft seemed like the next best fit. We've covered the two most popular categories and covered the two main types of play - constructed and limited.

That's an area I've found that not everyone thinks the same. While Cactus categorizes two main types of play, constructed and limited, some players view constructed as two distinct types as well - Type 1 and Type 2. Having played all 5 constructed categories with high levels of success, I find that each of the 5 types (Type 1 - 2 Player, Type 2 - 2 Player, Teams, Type 1 - Multiplayer and Type 2 - Multiplayer) offers it's own very unique approach to both deck construction and game play. I personally don't see how Type 2 is more unique or different than any of the 5 types. Due to my lack of understanding, I didn't realize that we had omitted an important part of our player base, some of which have been around for a long time and contributed a great deal to both the game and our community. The fault for this is mine alone. I apologize to the community, especially the Type 2 players.

The initial community response was not healthy and was removed from the public forums. It's nearly impossible to accurately assess the attitude of an individual over text so I don't claim to know the heart with which people responded. What I do know is that some of the responses contained absolute statements, exaggerations and snide remarks. It gave the appearance of demanding more and conveyed a sense of entitlement. My only point here is that there's a healthy and productive way to have a conversation, and at least in part, that wasn't what was happening. I hope we can all learn and grow from the way this was handled by everyone involved.

I've talked to a number of players, both Type 2 and non-Type 2 players, to gain a better understanding of the communities perspective on this topic. Having given all this a lot of thought and prayer, with the support and encouragement of Mr. Rob Anderson, I'm happy to announce that we will offer three Card Creation prizes at Nationals 2015. One for Type 1 - 2 Player, one for Booster Draft and one for Type 2 - 2 Player.

This is great news, and an excellent summary of the current situation and status.

Thanks to Gabe and Rob for being willing to reevaluate the offer, and for offering this great prize in the first place!

It is my sincere hope that it goes well and can be offered again in the future, I for one am excited to even have this one opportunity.

Thank you guys very much for reevaluating the offer and fixing it so that the most players could be included. We're all human, and errors can be made, so thank you for having the humility and the flexibility to make appropriate changes.

How would the art work be handled? Will it be similar to how MTG somehow puts the creator in the art? Are they required to have a verse for their entry? What if they wanted to quote Josephus?

Those are all good questions. We will work with the winners on a case by case basis. I'll try to give some general answers to your questions.

Redemption uses free public domain art for the most part. Unlike MTG we don't commission artists. Unless there happened to be a free public domain piece that looked like the winner, and the piece was a good fit for the card they create, it's unlikely that anyone's likeness will be represented on the card. Just to clarify, we're not making a card that represents a specific player, but allowing a player to make a card for the game based on a passage in scripture. Also, if the winner is an artist and wants to suggest one of their own art pieces, we might be able to consider that option too.

We will strongly encourage the winners to have a verse from the Bible for their card. Whether they come up with a verse before or after other card attributes is up to the winners. Both are correct paths to card design for this game. As can be seen on a few select cards, we're not opposed to using a reference from Josephus when it's appropriate.

Redemption uses free public domain art for the most part. Unlike MTG we don't commission artists.

How great would it be if Cactus splurged a little for the category winners and had special commissioned art just for those cards?

Totally!

when I win

I like that type of confidence.

OP.