What does the Lord of the Clog think about this?

If you read some of the threads at the V:EKN forum you can come to the conclusion that these are turbulent times for the game we all love. Things are sometimes furiously discussed with the delicate stubbornness and narrow minds that the wonderful invention called internet brings out of people. I have decided not to take any serious part in the debates at that forum because I am lazy and don’t have the time to disagree with strangers all day long. Still I find the discussions refreshing and mostly good for the community as a whole. I have opinions though and I need to express them somewhere and for me this blog feels like the best place.

So what does the Lord of the Clog think about..

• The new rulings? The change of Villein’s card text is a brilliant move. Villein is still better than Minion Tap in most decks so the ones who have hunted HttB starters or spent half a fortune on single cards won’t feel cheated. Minion Tap is now playable again in several deck types and everyone should be happy. There might even be some new decks playable with Minion Taps combined with cards from KoT, EK and HttB. The only one I can think of now is Ariadne Abactor but I am sure we will see some other examples in the near future. The rule clarifications and changes are good over all and I think that Pascal is the perfect person for his new position. As an extra bonus he completely lacks the ironic attitude sometimes seen from LSJ answering rules questions.
• Banning of cards? All suggestions of banning cards are bad in my opinion with one exception. Giant’s Blood. Playing it requires no skill at all and has a huge impact on the game in favour of the one player drawing it first. It is not ruining the game and I can live with it’s existence but it is definitely a card that shouldn’t have been created in the first place. Most ban suggestions I see on the forums I get a feeling comes from frustration and nothing else. We need to focus on keeping the game going with as few changes as possible if we want it to be picked up by someone in the future. I can let Giant’s Blood stay if it increases that chance but it is still a poorly designed card.
• The upcoming V:EKN card set? I think it is a good idea. I also think it is good that it is a closed process. Sure, there is a risk of the cards being badly designed but I doubt that. I have faith in that the few new cards will probably be the most insightfully designed for this game so far. I understand people’s fears but I was involved in the global community of the miniature game Confrontation while it was still playable and when we were designing the tournament rules it got out of hand more and more the more persons involved and the result was actually quite bad. It might sound elitist or something but really – let a few dedicated souls do their best and we will get the best. Trust me on this one.
• Print your own cards? I don’t like it but it is the way we can do it so no need to argue about it. I would gladly have printed them at a professional print shop if that option would have been legally available but now it is not. The argumentation about forcing people to use sleeves makes me speechless. To not want to sleeve your deck can be seen as nothing but silly. And no, that is not my opinion, that is fact.
• Proxies? No thanks. Allowing proxies for tournament play would definitely ruin every chance there is of getting the game printed again.
• Table time-outs? I still strongly feel that 0.5VP should be removed as a possible result. My opinion is that everyone who has not ousted someone when the game times out should get 0VP, only the ones who already have got one or more Victory Points should get the “bonus” 0.5. This way the non-ousting wall decks is still valid to play but might be encouraged to play aggressively when the game runs to an end instead of clinging to their 0.5, giving their predator a chance.

Feel free to start what can be my own little personal flame war by commenting on this post!