Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Feedback on the Elite Trainer Box

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I'd rather see a booster pack + price point reduction than a raise + another pack. The $40 price point in Canada was rather high considering at the time the CAD and USD were at parity.

Sleeves would be phenomenal, and many players would prefer them over the dice if given the option.

The 40 energy cards quickly become redundant after a set or two. Unique energies will be the only way they stay relevant.

When the product was first announced I was expecting something similar to the Japanese product "Master deck build box" That included plenty of the competitive cards. (link below) Perhaps including popular trainer cards would be a nice inclusion over the basic energy, especially if the target audience are your "core players".

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Master_Deck_Build_Box_EX_(TCG)

The collectors box is sturdy and has a very nice art design, however because of the way the box was originally packaged the bottom isn't flush with the top half's edges and fits too loosely, so if I were to grab the box by the top half my cards will end up all over the floor.

Thanks for listening to our input. =)
 
I feel like adding something exclusive that one can't get anywhere else would be the incentive for more advanced players to buy it. I think the dice look amazing and are great for new and old players alike.

I'd really want to see special energy included. By that I mean basic energy with different art. I'm guessing this won't happen because it requires a separate print run, but I gotta say, something along the lines of the HGSS energy would be amazing. Just something simple to change the energy up. That makes almost the entire box relevant to everyone. As it is I'd take the energy and stick them away in my energy box because I use Base Set foil or HGSS energy in my decks. I'd love to see something unique like that in a promo box.
 
More than 5 of an energy would have been smart, especially since Dark and Metal are still kinda tricky to get a hold of. The deckbox was crap and shouldn't have even been bothered with.
 
perhaps for these boxes or prereleases could add 1 non random booster of mostly staple (i.e. trainers) cards. using plasma storm as an example it would have 2 copies of colress, 2 escape rope, 2 ether, 1 hypnotoxic laser, 1 bicycle, 1 plasma energy, and an alt art rare poke
 
Elite players don't need energies, although they love special foil energy. Perhaps instead of swapping out the deck box, swap out the energy for the sleeves.
 
Prime said:
Elite players don't need energies, although they love special foil energy. Perhaps instead of swapping out the deck box, swap out the energy for the sleeves.
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The energy needs to stay.

Do not make the energies holo. Holos warp easy.

Change up the energy background art every year... so

Include 40 energy if ETB's released per set, and change the energy background every 4 ETB's

Include 80 energy if ETB's released every other set and change the energy background every 2 ETB's.

Make this same change for the theme deck energies as well, that is, different looking energies every year.

Oh, do the energy art change related to the modified format set change. So for example, sets with energies, from ETB's or Theme decks, that look the same, will rotate together., but will still be legal in any year and format.
 
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The large poison & burn markers are great, making it easy to recognize a poisoned or burned Pokémon.

Some ideas for improvements
1) More damage dice.
2) Get rid of the annoying symbol that replaces the "one" on dice -- this sometimes confuses newer players and is an eyesore during a match when used as damage.

Keeping the energy cards is the most important thing.
 
Elite players donate their energy to local card shops to keep their energy stores up, so they don't have to open countless numbers of theme decks and deny a new player the chance to buy a theme deck to learn the game.

Energy are more important than sleeves. Not every store sells Pokemon singles. Every store that sells any TCG sells sleeves. I have way more sleeves than I have energy cards.

Anyone will buy a pack of 50 sleeves by itself.

Not a lot of people will buy a pack of 40, fresh of the factory, energy by itself, and it would be more better if it was included with other stuff in a box set, like what the ETB is doing right now.

I am on the fence with different energy arts, and keeping the energies as is.

Different energy arts means more incentive for people who already have energy to buy these types of products

Keeping the energies as is would make anyone's energy in the deck more constant and same, that is, the deck looks nicer if all the energies were the same, and the energy is only there for people who do not have any energy, or live in a place where Pokemon isn't that popular. So, basically, a box that makes an elite trainer out of anyone.
 
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First of all, I haven't bought the product (I was actually half-tempted to buy it, but the flaws of the actual card game, regardless of the way it is marketed and packaged, kept me from buying it). My feedback is based on the product description. For that reason, I obviously can't comment on the quality of each individual piece of equipment. I'll just comment on what features I think are necessary to sell the product to 1) new players and 2) existing players.

The way I objectively view this as a product, is that its most significant potential is in helping new players get started. It includes the basic necessities such as Energy cards, condition markers, damage dice and a coin-flip die, and the rulebook. The problem at the moment, however, is inconsistency. This shows in how many people are getting caught up in the word 'Elite'.

That's an issue because this product is the closest to something in your selection that recognizes the current barriers of entry; it's simple and has everything in one package, it's a method for players to get started without being overwhelmed by choice. It gives them a taste of the addictive booster opening-experience and opens doors to entering the actual playing experience, as well as guidelines where to go next regarding both.

For this quality of product to be optimal, the product needs to be an approachable in a way where this purpose is intuitively understandable for a customers that are curious about the game but don't know much about it. The elite-marketing doesn't suit this.

Let's take a play mat with the phases of a turn written in it like is included in theme decks, as an example. It's admittedly very hard to give those the 'premium' quality within the range of reasonable costs and this segment would find it redundant if you want to keep everything elite. However, it could be an essential guide to newcomers. The point of the package is already clear; you don't need to run around getting different types of Energy, they are all there in the same package with everything you need to understand the game. So it's sub-optimal to make other features that would complement this purpose feel out of place. Just redesign the image of the product.

To address this, you need to change the image of this package.

- Give the product a name and marketing strategy where you don't make it a desirable product based on being 'elite', but based on introducing the expansion it is connected to, with extra equipment exclusive to the package.

- In designing the package and marketing it, make sure you stress how anyone who buys it gets everything they need to play using the newest cards, in one package.

- Don't forget the 'high quality, exclusive equipment'-part. Make these very visible, but don't center the product around their exclusive/elite features.

That's a combination of getting started and collector value. But the starter-perspective should be a priority and the product's image shouldn't contradict this purpose. At the same time, it's important to make sure existing players find value in it, and that it's not a kids' lunch from their point of view as far as marketing and packaging go.

The other choice is to ignore all of these issues in regards to ETB and instead make a similar, non-elite 'starter' package, and release them in parallel each expansion. Now, obviously, this is much more expensive than combining the two and therefore very unlikely to be within real of possibilities. But it would distinguish both of them in a way that is beneficial to both of them.


I feel dirty after writing this. It feels like I'm doing a fraud giving feedback on marketing a game I myself don't find recommendable to anyone in its current state :D But it's great you are doing this type of customer feedback project directly with the community, big thanks for that.
 
Ace- said:
non-english sets release 2-3 months later, so it might still happen. (also it depends on the distributor).
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Saddly in my country releases aren't up to the national distributor but to USA will to release. And as far as promotional and non-sets release concerns, it does poorly.
 
Finding a way to put in 65 sleeves or different product all together would be nice. Its a pain buying nice sleeves from japan because they are really expensive. There is a market here for the sleeves, why not sell Pokemon sleeves here.
 
I just want to thank Exo for taking the time to solicit our feedback. This kind of interaction can only make the game and community stronger. I suspect there are differences between the corporate cultures of WOTC and TPCi which dictate that we will never have exactly the kind of relationship that the former has with its MTG player base, but threads like these are a big step in the right direction--just like Mike's dedication to keeping us more updated on PTCGO.

I really, really, really appreciate it. And I know many other people in the community do as well.

So, thanks.
 
One nitpick. Why is the Plasma Shield on the "One" side of the die. I almost always see symbols on the Six, it's almost standard in Pokemon at least. I guess it doesn't have to be there, but it seems to make more sense to have the non-number symbol on the side it would generally show up on any other die.
 
Victory Bell said:
One nitpick. Why is the Plasma Shield on the "One" side of the die. I almost always see symbols on the Six, it's almost standard in Pokemon at least. I guess it doesn't have to be there, but it seems to make more sense to have the non-number symbol on the side it would generally show up on any other die.
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The only custom dice with the symbol on the 6 that I've ever seen are the Professor dice. All the others (States, Regionals, Pokegym, etc.) all have it on the 1.
 
King Piplup said:
The only custom dice with the symbol on the 6 that I've ever seen are the Professor dice. All the others (States, Regionals, Pokegym, etc.) all have it on the 1.
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And having it on the 1 is cheaper to produce, as that's the standard for virtually all dice customization.
 
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