Game: Allegiance: War of Factions

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Stas — 2008-11-13T18:13:00+00:00

My deck and it's card coffin

Thread: Re: I am looking at picking up starters/boosters/card lots

Todendron — 2007-09-28T20:44:53+00:00

These are very rare to find as the first printing was so small. I would be surprised to see any shops that still have any. If you would like to order some, you can still get them at the webstore www.allegianceccg.com - they are only sold by the box there. (I think boosters are all gone and only starters are available).

Thread: Re: Dead game?

Todendron — 2007-08-26T09:49:54+00:00

Pretty much dead right now. There are plans to re-release the game in a board game or 3 seperate deck format, but timing is currently unknown. The main game designer is currently working on an online video game and has put the independent project on hold until he is finished.

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BuddhaPhi — 2007-07-15T06:58:48+00:00

Allegiance cards front and back, side-by-side

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BuddhaPhi — 2007-07-15T06:58:05+00:00

Allegiance Starter contents - Real glass beads included

Thread: I am looking at picking up starters/boosters/card lots

molitor4 — 2007-05-08T14:22:02+00:00

I am looking at picking up a few starters/boosters... maybe some card lots for this if someone is looking to sell some stuff cheap. I do not think these are worth much and was just looking to pick stuff up if someone was getting rid of their collection.

Thanks,
-Brett

Thread: Dead game?

Bigguyry — 2007-01-07T16:15:40+00:00

I found out about this CCG on BGG and it looked pretty good. The company website seems pretty out of date and the proposed expansion is over a year late.
I even tried to register for the forums, but it wouldn't accept any username I gave, even obscure ones.
So is the game dead?
Are they planning on releasing the game in pdf style, or doing what ICE did for LoTR and releasing the set as a whole?
If the company ever released some pre-made decks, or a box set in a non-CCG format, I would be tempted to try it out, as I've heard so much good stuff from this relatively unknown game (unknown here in Tokyo).

Thread: Re: Are the publishers planning a non-collectable version?

Todendron — 2006-07-20T04:06:05+00:00

Well as one of the publishers I figured I ought to pipe in with my 2 cents on this topic. Allegiance was never made to be a mainstream game that would make millions. The game is a way for us to show people that even the little guys can make a great game and get it out there.

The game does not really emphasise the collectability aspect (thus no markings on cards, etc.) and was made collectable for those that love the feeling of completing a set etc. I personally purchased 2 starters and have played with those cards ever since the begining. I play competatively and have won a number of tournaments with the cards I have. The game really emphasizes the way you play, and not the cards you have. Granted, if you are highly competative you can build great strategies and decks that can really cause some havok, but if you are playing in a multi-player scenario, sometimes the quiet and seemingly non-threatning deck is the way to go.

As for releasing a non-collectible version, we are still trying to pool up enough funds to get our expansion out and once it is done we plan to release some other products. The expansion is complete and just awaiting the printing etc. (we had a major slowdown with our investor who had some other deals go bad). Plans have been made for a board game based on Allegiance as well as some other non-collectible games based on the world.

To answer Jokers original post, if you are worried about getting burned, just trade me something and I will send you out a box of starters. More than enough cards for 3 players to have a ton of fun. Then its just the cost of mailing something to me in trade and lets me try out something new.

Thread: Re: Are the publishers planning a non-collectable version?

jokersmiley — 2006-06-06T21:58:56+00:00

The reason why the 'starter deck' idea doesn't really work here is that they are trying to serve two goals:
(1) Whet the appetite of the hardcore CCGers who will then get into the game more heavily
(2) Serve as playable self-contained game 'subsets' for more casual players (though there are some CCGs that would not even pretend to do this with their starter decks)

Based on my analysis above, I don't think the two are compatible, i.e. you can't create starter decks that satisfy both markets. Hence you get starters with too few cards, because the publishers don't want to give too much 'value' away that they think they can collect from the hardcore CCGers as they get hooked over time (but this means makes the product too unsatisfying to be bought by the casual players in the first place).

If publishers really want to go after casual players (including 'educated' ('burnt') past CCG players who, by the way, now have much higher disposable income, just much less time to devote to a CCG-like hobby) - and which are a far larger market, just with different buying and product usage behaviours - they need to have a more radically different packaging/ product versioning.

Thread: Re: Are the publishers planning a non-collectable version?

mlvanbie — 2006-06-06T05:18:54+00:00

I think that the best thing to do is make the base sets/starters playable as games (possibly requiring one copy per player). If necessary, have a smaller number of fixed starters with no room for customization (unless they come with boosters to supplement the base sets). That way people can buy it like Blue Moon but will be tempted to get `just a few' starters. A number of games follow this model, but some of them have too few cards in the starter decks.

Thread: Re: Are the publishers planning a non-collectable version?

jokersmiley — 2006-06-05T12:28:55+00:00

I'm wondering whether any publisher has done serious marketing research to determine whether you can publish both non-collectable and collectable versions of a CCG simultaneously, as you are targeting different market segments, i.e.:
(1) Hardcore CCGers (smaller market with higher per-wallet spend and time to invest in the game); and
(2) More casual board-gamers (larger market with lower per-wallet spend and time to invest).

Of course you need to solve the product cannibalization problem (i.e. ensuring that hardcore CCGers don't buy the non-collectable version, which will cost less, and doesn't provide the publisher a constant income stream/ 'rent' from the gamer). Vortex/Maelstrom did it by waiting until the CCG died. But I think it can be done simultaneously - there's many examples in other industries (ranging from cars to laser printers to airlines etc.) where a company sells a tweaked version of a product to a different market segment, and it is worthwhile to do so because the extra margin it makes from the new segment is greater than the sales it loses from its original segment.

Examples of how to do this with CCG's (and releasing a 'non-collectable' (NCCG) version in parallel to casual boardgamers who are wary of CCGs) might be:
* The NCCG version is visually differentiated from the CCG version (e.g. by different card backs)
* The NCCG version, like Maelstrom or Blue Moon, has all the cards (including rares and uncommons)
* The deck-building component of the NCCG version might have different rules to differentiate it from the more open CCG meta-game (e.g. something like the 'moons' mechanic from Blue Moon)
* The NCCG version might be say 1 year delayed (i.e. if you want all the latest expansion packs and themes, you have to collect and play the CCG version). The NCCG version could have Expansion Packs that are released say once a year (which collect together the last year's CCG version innovations), but they and the base game are all still stand-alone and 'complete'
* Official tournaments etc. are run with only the CCG version
* You could strip an entire feature/ mechanic out of the NCCG version, while still retaining the overall look-and-feel, which might also streamline the gameplay and potentially remove thematically contentious elements (e.g. Black magic from MtG or Religion in Allegiance) - an NCCG player might care more about having a 'complete' game within smaller boundaries (which includes all rare/powerful/interesting cards), than an 'incomplete' game within more open boundaries

It just seems to me that this is an idea worth exploring, as it could make publishers more money, and give gamers a wider selection of interesting games to play ...

Thread: Re: Are the publishers planning a non-collectable version?

Weapon — 2006-06-05T02:23:51+00:00

rootbeer wrote:
Weapon wrote:
CCGs only go non collectable when they die.

And even that's pretty rare, isn't it?

Most assuredly. The only ones in recent memory are Vortex from FFG and.....well, thats it. Some other collector boxes released near the end of certain card games lifetimes, but non collectable versions are extremely rare, and its highly doubtful that you will see them for this game. Long and short there.

Thread: Re: Are the publishers planning a non-collectable version?

rootbeer — 2006-06-05T02:01:15+00:00

Weapon wrote:
CCGs only go non collectable when they die.

And even that's pretty rare, isn't it?

Thread: Re: Are the publishers planning a non-collectable version?

Weapon — 2006-06-05T00:27:21+00:00

jokersmiley wrote:
Does anyone know if the publishers are planning a non-collectable version of Allegiance: War of Factions? (e.g. like how Vortex was repackaged as Maelstrom, or like how Blue Moon is packaged?)

This game looks interesting, but I've been burnt too much by MtG's collectable meta-game in the mid 90's to want to get into all that again ...

It's OK to have expansion sets, but the collectable mechanic is the bugbear, i.e. starting off with an incomplete (albeit playable game) but feeling like you need to buy multiple boosters etc. until you have a 'complete' game ...

CCGs only go non collectable when they die. This one has a new expansion coming out. It won't be getting a non collectable expansion for a while.

Thread: Are the publishers planning a non-collectable version?

jokersmiley — 2006-06-04T23:55:15+00:00

Does anyone know if the publishers are planning a non-collectable version of Allegiance: War of Factions? (e.g. like how Vortex was repackaged as Maelstrom, or like how Blue Moon is packaged?)

This game looks interesting, but I've been burnt too much by MtG's collectable meta-game in the mid 90's to want to get into all that again ...

It's OK to have expansion sets, but the collectable mechanic is the bugbear, i.e. starting off with an incomplete (albeit playable game) but feeling like you need to buy multiple boosters etc. until you have a 'complete' game ...

Thread: Re:First impressions

revtim — 2005-03-15T16:43:51+00:00

nickjost (#453431),

Sorry, I should have posted this. It's in the forums at allegianceccg.com:
http://www.lucidraven.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=422

It's a sticky topic titled "Game-play examples (was: No one to help Teach!)" in the "Allegiance: War of Factions" section of the forums.

--tim

Thread: Re:First impressions

nickjost — 2005-03-14T22:02:09+00:00

jtkauff (#451943),

I was refering to the sample game that Tim mentions not the sample cards. That is, a sample of play; not of materials to play.

Thread: Re:First impressions

Kalidor — 2005-03-14T21:13:12+00:00

revtim (#449489),

very nice article.
I don't get to play anywhere near as much as I would like. This game is quite good. Most of my CCG friends have moved away, oddly, and my current group are much more into just standard boardgames, not CCg's.
A real nice game, I plan to always have it available in the event someone desires to play
I do.

Thread: Re:First impressions

jtkauff — 2005-03-12T19:34:45+00:00

nickjost wrote:
revtim (#449489),

Direct link to the sample?

The demo deck is available on the official website, AllegianceCCG.com:

http://allegianceccg.com/downloads/demodeck.pdf

As is the latest rule book:

http://allegianceccg.com/downloads/rulebook/rulebook_v80.pdf

Thread: Re:First impressions

nickjost — 2005-03-11T18:01:02+00:00

revtim (#449489),

Direct link to the sample?

Thread: First impressions

revtim — 2005-03-10T03:06:52+00:00

I read about this and got interested due to the variances from standard CCGs. There is a lot of player interaction since players can 'wheel and deal' about any action. I just got some starters and haven't played yet, but I've been very encouraged by the PDF rules that were easy to get and a PDF demo deck that let me see a set of real (though marked 'DEMO') cards. This helped me get a feel for the mechanics.

I like the idea of factions fighting over a city and the interpersonal exchanges (which apparently don't kick in very significantly unless it's more than 2 players, the game is supposed to play okay with 2 but is aimed at 3-6.) The forums suggest that the game is more targeted at board gamers and RPGers than CCGers. Lucid Raven really wanted to have a social atmosphere around the game.

Since Allegiance:WoF's card rarity has no relation to power or game desireability, the much-hated (at least by BGG) collectibility aspect is not a factor. The game is designed to be tournament winnable with only a starter and a couple boosters. Rarity is simply for art/uniqueness, not to allow Mr. Suitcase to show up and wallop everyone. The cards are very attractive. A single expansion is already out which adds a criminal faction to the original economic, military and religious ones.

I have to learn the game well enough to find a couple of other players and teach it (before I've actually played it myself ) Luckily, there is a good example game in the forums on the allegianceccg.com website and enough discussion of rule oddities that I feel pretty solid. The rules all fit in smallish print on two sides of a single 11x17 sheet, so while a bit terse, they aren't out of hand.

Since finding other players is always an issue for me, it may be a while before I play, but already my non-gamer wife has expressed an interest due to the theme and social mechanics and I consider that a VERY good sign.

Thread: First Allegiance expansion announced - The Undercity

jtkauff — 2005-01-19T03:41:33+00:00

Lucid Raven announced the first expansion for Allegiance - below is the article from the Lucid Raven webpage:

Lucid Raven Productions is proud to unveil The Undercity, the first expansion set for Allegiance: War of Factions.

For years, they have crept along in the shadows, with whispered voices speaking about them from behind closed doors: thieves, assassins, usurpers... But in the first expansion set for Allegiance: War of Factions, the seething underbelly of city is thrust to the forefront as Guild Darkmoor steps into the public in support of the lords that are vying for the crown.

The Undercity is a 110 card expansion for Allegiance: War of Factions and introduces Guild Darkmoor, a new economic-based faction, into the game. Players can now add the Guild's motley band of miscreants to their decks, taking advantage of five new crime-based skills. However, the rest of the city is not standing by idly; all three of the original factions will receive new personalities, many of which will take advantage of the two new non-crime abilities in the set. The set will also include new structures, items, events, and invocations that lords can add into their play decks.

Lucid Raven Productions will be previewing a card from the expansion set each Monday on www.allegianceccg.com, leading up to its release. Also, every Friday will see another preview from the set, including such things as new fiction, desktops, wallpapers, or art previews.

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jtkauff — 2004-09-17T19:56:28+00:00

1st Edition Starter Deck

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jtkauff — 2004-09-17T19:56:27+00:00

1st Edition Booster Pack

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Monk_LRP — 2004-04-29T10:18:59+00:00

Charin Molair is a member of the Glory of Kalim faction. A religious faction devoted to serving the goddess Kalim.

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Monk_LRP — 2004-04-29T10:18:56+00:00

The siren is one of many dangers lurking outside of the city.

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Monk_LRP — 2004-04-29T10:18:55+00:00

Sometimes the only option left is to run. Retreat offers this for a price...