Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Potential for a bigger, more legitimate game? (Part 2 finally done!)

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fizzycat said:
unfortunately every TCG has this problem, even yu-gi-oh which is, let's be honest, also a childrens TCG. demand for product far outstretches the availablility, and if TPCi made those cards readily available, no-one would buy the booster packs anymore. I agree that it's expensive, and can get very ridiculous; however if you take all the cards people actually want and start putting them in theme decks, it will make buying packs worthless and pokemon lose out on more money than issuing the card singally.
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I think there is a way to have a happy medium. It doesn't make business sense that the online card companies are making that much profit that TCPi should/could be getting.

For example: I read that the upcoming Zekrom / Reshiram Battle decks will come with 2 Catchers (although I despise the card and think it's hurting the game) in the Theme Deck. Is it different in Japan that they get theme decks with highly sought after cards as a matter of course and if so why? What makes Pokemon different over there than here? Why will Catcher be pulled if/when those decks are released everywhere else? Is TCPi working in collusion with the online card companies or are they supposed to making the game grow?

Seems to me Pokemon Japan knows that all players having access to all cards (AT SOME POINT) keeps the game on a more level playing field than only having the top in the hands of the highest bidders or those with the most money.

And, just as in Japan, it wouldn't negate Booster Packs, you could still buy them since the cards that turn out to be highly sought after would be timed delayed. It's the same rationale for Pre-Releases as opposed to waiting for the cards to go on sale in store. Many people like to get stuff first so they go to pre-releases, others wait until the packs are available in stores or purchase on line once they see what they want to play.

I don't think selling a 4 card pack of Reshirams a month after they go on sale in Booster packs would hurt TCPi, in fact, it would help keep the profits in house as opposed to in the hands Troll and Toad or whoever. And, the on line companies would still have a month (or so) to charge as much as the market will bear until TCPi releases the 4 card packs. And maybe a different card rises to the top. eBay merchants would still be able to rake folks over the coals for initially hard to find items as well.

Everyone wins: the people who like getting Booster packs could still pull those rare cards before they are generally available, the merchants could still charge out the wahzoo for hard to find cards, and TCPi gets to make more money while insuring the continued growth of the game through "Premiere Card Pack" sales.
 
JWittz: any chance you can fill us in with a link or more information regarding the point-buy DP-on Japanese format in the works?

Prime: I hope for the day where I don't have to suggest ways to buy and combine the best cards from theme decks, just point a theme deck like the Japanese ones, and say, "this is an excellent deck for you to start playing (and winning) the game with."
 
If I'm right, Japan still has these age groups, under 12, 13-17, 18+?

Just for the argument of increasing players in ages groups, not matching maturity levels.

If we went to the same player base scheme, this would increase the amount of people in each age group.

Could possible encourage growth, do to a different dynamic in ages for each group?
 
As a kind of odd note, Mob, Japan measures age differently than us. When you are born you are considered 1 year old. So, for example, a 13 year old in Japan is equal to a 12 year old here in the US. So the age divisions you listed, when translated to the US, would be under 11, 12-16, and 17+, which is really only 1 year greater than our current system rather than 2.
 
Did they ever ban rare candy?

That make people rage quit in a heart beat.

nothing legit about any deck with those in them, and almost every deck had 4 of them in it.
 
Crinus said:
Did they ever ban rare candy?

That make people rage quit in a heart beat.

nothing legit about any deck with those in them, and almost every deck had 4 of them in it.
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Uhhh...
No, we still have it. It has been nerfed, but I do not agree that decks with it are "not legit"
 
Well years ago when it was out before whatever nerf occurred with it, it was near impossible to even the playing field because of how impossible it was to obtain them, especially 4 of them for 1 deck. They changed the outcome of a battle that much if the opponent did not have them in their deck.
 
They've been reprinted 3 million times now, and are easily obtained. It now reads-
"Choose 1 of your Basic Pokémon in play. If you have a Stage 2 card in your hand that evolves from that Pokémon, put that card on the Basic Pokémon. (This counts as evolving that Pokémon.) You can't use this card during your first turn or on a Basic Pokémon that was put into play this turn." So now it can't be used on your first turn, and it can't be used on a Pokémon played this turn.
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This video is incredibly well-done. I'd love to see better communication between us and TPCi and Japan.
 
Prime said:
To at least provide a fair perspective, the theme deck in Japan costs $21 (converted to USD). It's roughly $8 more than the theme decks TPCi releases, so perhaps they can afford to fit in better cards.
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Japanese decks really don't cost that much more than our decks. At retail price it would cost you roughly $21 to purchase a Japanese deck with US Dollars, but only because the exchange rate is so poor. If you lived in Japan and purchased something like a reinforcement deck using yen it wouldn't really feel as if it was more expensive than purchasing a theme deck here with USD.
 
Aint the Exchange rate something like 125 yen = 1 US Dollar?

I know I was looking at prices attached to alot of items and it seems everything there is 4-5 times cheaper.
 
MegaVelocibot said:
Prime: I hope for the day where I don't have to suggest ways to buy and combine the best cards from theme decks, just point a theme deck like the Japanese ones, and say, "this is an excellent deck for you to start playing (and winning) the game with."
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My point exactly! It shouldn't be such a financial hurdle for players to join the game at a respectable competitive level. That's all I'm saying.

But I don't want to get off topic too much. Josh talked about a lot more in the video than simply making the game more affordable, that's my own observation.

Decreasing the lag time between set releases and increasing the communication would be my 2nd and 3rd most requested items. My 4th would be finding a better way for players of all ages to enter competitive play but my first would have to be have an honest dialogue about Catcher with the hopes of it getting (re)banned from the game.

They need to bring back more skill and "finesse" to the game, less big basics that stomp everything on turn 1 or 2. Honest dialogue with many different levels of players would give them some good insights on how that can be done.
 
It would be nice to see new products coming out that implement strong or highly sought after cards for the current metagame. In Yu gi oh, there are special edition 3-booster pack bundles of a certain set (much like our blister 3-packs) but instead of a promo card which is useless, there are the possibility of 2 cards that you could recieve, one of which (for the most part.) is a useful card

Why not do this in pokemon with more options for the promo card? say 10 options with 3-4 being good rares and 1-2 being super rares, such as primes or full arts.

Replace the oversized cards and figurines with cards that will help players.... play!
 
losjackal said:
As the manufacturer, TPCi just could not get away with that. You know how everyone complains about the price of gasoline, and how the oil companies are accusing of artificially increasing the price?

$45 for Yanmega Prime is dictated by supply and demand by the secondary market, ...

Having TPCi sell in-demand cards just isn't going to happen. They can't simultaneously control the market conditions (rotation, cards in new sets, etc) as well as capitalize upon the market conditions by charging more for in-demand cards. The best they can do for the player base is give away popular cards as league promos (Uxie, Claydol, Azelf, Expert Belt, BTS, DCE). Granted, the current promos aren't of that caliber, but it was certainly a tactic that helped the players.

(Not to mention, TPCi sells through distributors. You think a card shop or distributor is going to pay artificially higher prices for cards that are in-demand today, and then have them lose their value in 3-6 months? TPCi just can't predict the demand, print the cards, get them into the channels, and have the primary market realize those profits and guarantee against any losses to make that market strategy viable.)
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I didn't mean to suggest TCPi should control the cost of the card and your gas analogy is very appropriate.

I don't see TCPi as the "villians" here as it is a secondary market, what I am saying is I think that by reprinting (or repackaging) certain cards that have proven to be popular by looking at which decks are winning would help more players (of all ages / divisions) have more access to being able to play at a more competitive level.

I didn't think about League promos as they did for Claydol and Uxie, that is the best idea I think for tackling the economic disparity and increasing league participation, having player rewards be a a play set of one particular Prime or Trainer / Supporter every season of League is an excellent idea for them to return to or start doing. :thumb:

The distributors don't lose out because they are still free to sell the card at whatever they think the market will bear, and there will always be players who have to financial means or lack the patience to wait and will order directly. But players who attend League wouldn't have to worry about having to sell a kidney to afford a play set of a particular card (s) :smile:

This is just the kind of player wisdom they could get if they would have a meaningful dialogue with players on an on going basis.

losjackal said:
That is simply true, and the larger picture is also just as simple: kids under 15 and under have less control over their lives and typically more activities going on. Your average 10 - 12 year old doesn't have their own money, has homework they have to be encouraged to do (versus playing games all day), probably plays in a couple of sports, can't stay up past 9pm, and fundamentally isn't as strategically intelligent has older kids so they can't compete as well at a game like this.
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I don't think you meant to put down Juniors here. Granted, a young mind is not as developed as an older mind, but Juniors play other Juniors, people roughly in their same physical/mental age. They compete pretty well for their developmental level.


losjackal said:
Conversely, the Video Game has a tremendous amount of potential for growth across all age divisions. Look at the numbers that turned out for the qualifiers last season, and this year they are getting the majority of the second day of Regionals, and will have sanctioned tournaments wherever a TO wants to organize them.
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Agreed, the video game has always been the best value proposition when it comes to Pokemon. Buy the game, everything is included. Go have fun. But it would be even better if it had a TCG mini game along with it for exposure. Honestly, it was playing the video game with my son that made me want to investigate the card game even without a TCG mini game included.

losjackal said:
I'm afraid the Trading Card Game is just a bit antiquated. Not only is the game competing for attention against other activities, but it's competing against more advanced forms of the game. The best TPCi can do is sell the cards, and encourage organized play with leagues and premier tournaments.
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Yup, and having an open dialogue with active players who attend leagues and tournaments as well as some attempts at making it easier for players of all ages to play competitively would be a tremendous step in the right direction for sustainability and growth in the future.
 
I like the idea of trying a 40-card deck format with 4 prizes to speed up tournaments. However, I worry the player base of our game isn't large enough for that to be successful. Alternate formats are never as popular as the standard format because newer players are confused & intimidated by them. If PTCGO grows the game (as we all hope it does), these ideas might be more practical. PTCGO can serve as great testing grounds for new formats, too!
 
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