digibutter.nerr

[Celeste Dimentia]

READ THE FOLLOWING WALL OF TEXT IF YOU'RE SINCERELY INTERESTED IN HELPING ME OUT WITH SOME IDEAS, THOUGHTS, AND OPINIONS. IF YOU WANT TO GET RIGHT TO MY POINT, SKIP DOWN TO THE PART MARKED WITH A GIANT RED ASTERISK (*). THAT IS ALL.

Okay... so I made this card game up a little more than three and a half years ago. And for a little more than two and a half of those years, it was doing quite well - only truly thriving very rarely, yes, but actually active on a relatively daily basis - which I think is something. Now for about a year, it's been unactive, as the site (which I run) is now pretty much dead after a lifespan longer than the card game's - and I forged the game on that site. Dead site, dead game. The site may never recover - I've made attempts to bring it back on its feet - but I'm wondering if the card game has the chance to live on in any way.

First, I'll explain the structure of the game on the forum. It's like this: The GD-VCG (the game) has its own forum category (like 'Gaming', 'Hi-Technicaaal', and 'Role-Play' here on Digibutter), called 'GameDome Virtual Card Game.' Beneath that are five different forums arranged in the following manner (top to bottom - I'll also include the forum descriptions):

The VCG Rulebook
Learn how to play the game! Announcements are also posted in the VCG Bulletin Board subforum.
Subforum: VCG Bulletin Board
All announcements concerning the GameDome Virtual Card Game are posted here by the staff.

Virtual Battle Dome
All official GD-VCG events and tournaments are hosted here by the staff.

Duelist Inventories
All members of the GD-VCG post their card inventories here upon joining to keep track of their collection, their dueling deck, and their current funds (VCG Coins).

GD-VCG Plaza
This is where duelists can purchase VCG cards in the official shops and services run by staff, as well as duelist-made custom shops. Coins spent at custom shops are added to the shop owner's personal funds. You can also sign up for the VCG in this forum.
Subforum: Trading Post
Trade cards and VCG Coins with your fellow duelists!

Duel Coliseum
All standard VCG card battles between members take place in this forum. Earn Coins, and hone your skills to become a master player!

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Now, with the first forum (VCG Rulebook) and subforum (VCG Bulletin Board), only Administrators can post in it. Obviously, the official card game rules are contained in the Rulebook forum.

For those with patience, and really to show another example of how structured and thought-out this was, here are the rules that I wrote for the game. Skip if you wish. I'll just copy and paste the rules right below:

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Rules Written by Chaos Dimentio


First, I will introduce you to the common structure of a turn:

During each one of your turns, you will be allowed to perform -

1 Fighter Action

and

1 Event Action

- one after the other, in any order. If you like, you may skip one or both of these 'Actions' on your turn.

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How, then, do you use these actions? Before I go into that, you need to first know about the different types of playing cards that you'll be using throughout the game. They are -

Fighter Cards - color-coded Green (modern), Yellow (older), and sometimes Black (very old; easily recognizable, however, by the Base HP # on the card).

EXAMPLE!



Event/Power Event Cards - color-coded Gold (modern Events), Red (modern Power Events), and sometimes Black (old; look for the Event/Power Event 'label' on the card).

EXAMPLE!

Event:



Power Event:



Protection Cards - color-coded Purple (modern), and sometimes Black (old; look for the Protection 'label' on the card).

EXAMPLE!



Battlefield Cards - color-coded Blue (modern), and sometimes Black (old; look for the Battlefield 'label' on the card).

EXAMPLE!




I will now go into further detail about each of the card types.


FIGHTER CARDS

Fighters are the bread and butter of your deck. You MUST have 3 Fighter Cards in your deck in order to be able to battle with it; this is the bare minimum requirement for any playable dueling deck. You will use these Fighters to wage combat against your opponent's. To win the duel, simply defeat all 3 of your opponent's Fighters first. You may only have 1 Fighter in play at a time.

Every Fighter has a set amount of Base HP. A Fighter's Base HP is always displayed on the card, usually near the top. A Fighter is 'defeated' and considered discarded (sent to the imaginary 'discard pile') once its HP is depleted to 0.

Fighters accomplish this by attacking and dealing damage to each other...

FIGHTER ACTION: ATTACKING

So then, this brings us to the first possible Fighter Action that a player can use on their turn: attacking. A Fighter Card can have just one attack, or several. Attacks are displayed as such: the name of the attack, followed by the base damage it inflicts. Some attacks also have extra effects, which will be listed along with the base damage. Remember that using an attack counts as your 1 Fighter Action for the turn; you'll find that you'll be using this Action quite a lot.

Now, once one of your Fighters is defeated, you must choose any one of the remaining Fighters in your deck, and put it into play to do battle with the opponent's current Fighter - basically, taking up where your previous Fighter left off. Of course, you don't always have to go on the offensive to deal with the opponent. Sometimes, different actions must be taken in order to keep your own Fighters alive. Sometimes, you must...

FIGHTER ACTION: DEFENDING

... Sometimes, you might just want to Defend. This is a different type of move, and not all Fighters have it - look on the card to see. A Defend move, like an Attack, is listed as a name, and then followed by the base defense number. The key way to tell the difference between Attack and Defend moves is to look for the word Defend (sometimes abbreviated as Dfd for short) next to the number. When your Fighter uses a Defend move, it counts as your 1 Fighter Action for the turn. Defending works thus: on the opponent's next turn (following yours - the turn in which you used the Defend move), when and if your opponent uses an Attack move on your Fighter, the total damage of the attack is reduced by an amount equal to your Defend move's number. For example:

Player A's 'Mario' uses the Defend move 'Cape' (Dfd 30 dmg), and ends their turn.

Player B's 'Megaman' attacks Player A's Defending 'Mario' with the Attack move 'Buster Cannon'. the base damage for 'Buster Cannon' is 50. Since Mario is Defending for 30 damage (dmg for short), Player B's attack only deals 20 dmg to 'Mario'.

So, as you can see, you need only to find the difference between the two conflicting numbers to solve for the total damage dealt with an attack on a Defending Fighter: the Attack and the Defense number.

Lastly, some moves are used purely for 'Healing' your Fighter. Which leads us to our last, but certainly not least...

FIGHTER ACTION: HEALING

Like Defend moves, only certain Fighter Cards have Healing moves. Like any other move, they are labelled with a name (for example, Red Potion for 'Link'), and followed by a number. The way to set these apart is to look for either: a plus (+) sign, indicating that the number is added, or the word 'Heal' or 'Gain' (insert # here) HP'. Which, by the way, is exactly what a Healing move does - it restores an amount of HP to the Fighter that uses it equal to the move's displayed Heal number. Once again, this move, like any other, uses up your 1 Fighter Action for the turn - in other words, you cannot Heal and then Defend or Attack with your Fighter in the same turn.

So, now you know about the three 'Fighter Actions' that can be used in a duel, and you know the function of Fighter Cards (the only type of card that uses Fighter Actions).


Now, however, we are brought to...

EVENT/POWER EVENT CARDS

Event and/or Power Event Cards are completely optional to have in your deck, though strongly recommended. You can have up to 4 total in your deck (this is counting both normal Events and Power Events COMBINED; you cannot have 4 Events and 4 Power Events in your deck, but choose a total of 4 between the two types). Playing an Event/Power Event Card takes up, you guessed it, your 1 Event Action for the turn. Meaning, basically, that you can only play 1 Event/Power Event Card per turn. 'Playing' means first putting out the card from your deck/hand to the field and using it. Now, there are two types of Events. The first way to use your Event Action is to...

EVENT ACTION: PLAY AN EVENT

Event Cards, when first played, have their effects applied and are then discarded immediately afterward. Sometimes an Event Card's effects will linger for a longer period of time than the turn in which they were used, even after they are discarded; look on the card to see. The player (or players) simply do what the card says, and then it is considered discarded (no longer in the deck or in play). It uses up your 1 Event Action for the turn. You do not have to use an Event Card on your turn if you don't want to.

The other type of Event Card is the Power Event...

EVENT ACTION: PLAY A POWER EVENT

Right then... Power Events. They are similar to normal Events, in that they use your Event Action and have the listed effects applied to the game, but with a key difference: Power Events, once played, are not discarded; they remain in play, and are considered to be on the 'playing field' along with your current Fighter. The effects of the Power Event are continually applied, unless the Power Event is discarded by the effect of another card at some point, or you choose to discard it yourself (only if the card says you're allowed to). This is really the only main difference between the two types of Events; one remains on the field, while the other is discarded immediately after being played (normal Events).

And now, we move on to...


PROTECTION CARDS

Protection Cards, like both types of Event Cards, are completely optional to use in your deck. Note, however, that you can only have 1 single Protection Card in your deck. Protection Cards come into two different styles, or types: Trigger and Active. Really, it is only a difference in how the Protection Card works. Using a Protection Card in any way NEVER uses up a Fighter or Event Action. So, then, to go into more detail...

TRIGGER PROTECTION

Some Protection Cards have the label 'Trigger' on them. This means that they work thusly: at any time, on any turn, you can announce that you've Triggered your Trigger Protection. Usually, however, you'll have to wait for a specific something to occur (it will be mentioned on the card) before you can actually Trigger the Protection, and use its effects. Once the Protection Card has been Triggered, and its effects applied, it is immediately discarded (like an Event), unless the card says otherwise. You can only Trigger a Protection when it is in your deck, so this usually means that you can only use your Trigger Protection once per duel. Use it wisely.

The second type of Protection is...

ACTIVE PROTECTION

Yes, Active Protection. The effects of this type of Protection Card do not need to be Triggered; they are ALWAYS on, as long as your Active Protection Card is sitting in your deck. If, however, your Active Protection is somehow discarded from your deck by an effect, its abilities will no longer be applied. That's about it, really. Remember, the effects of a Protection Card do not use up any of your Actions on a turn.

And this leaves us with only one more type of card...


BATTLEFIELD CARDS

Once again... completely optional. You do not HAVE to have a Battlefield Card in your deck; it's entirely up to you. Just like with Protection, you can only have 1 Battlefield Card in your deck. Also, a Battlefield Card can only be played on the very first turn of the duel, so whoever goes first is the one who will be able to play their Battlefield Card, if they have one and if they want to. The Battlefield Card, like a Power Event, remains on the field, and continues to have its effects applied to the duel unless it is somehow discarded by a card effect.

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So... we've gone over the different types of cards, and what they can do. But now, I must add this note - and you'd do well to remember it:

Whoever goes first in a duel cannot use an Event or Fighter Action in that same turn. The deciding order of who goes first is determined by the players. Whoever wins gets 5 VCG Coins, and whoever loses gets 2. You will use VCG Coins, for the most part, to buy cards at the GD-VCG Plaza.

Also, please keep track of your Coins in your Profile, Signature, or Duelist Inventory (recommended).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now then, let's go over the Deck Structure one last time.

DECK STRUCTURE

(Maximum Deck Size: 9; Side Deck: 5)

You MUST have:

- 3 Fighter Cards

You MAY ALSO have:

- Up to 4 Events/Power Events

- 1 Protection Card (Trigger or Active)

- 1 Battlefield Card (playable only on the very first turn of a duel)


~ You may only have one card of the same name (look) in your deck. ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE SIDE DECK

This is also optional. You can have a 'Side Deck' of 5 cards (of any type). You MUST have exactly 5 cards in your Side Deck - no more, no less. Some cards have abilities that interact with the Side Deck. Otherwise, your Side Deck is simply off to the side, is not considered part of your regular deck, and cannot affect the duel (cards cannot be played or discarded from it to pay for effects).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Those are the rules, thanks for reading!

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Some of the older cards were of different colors... yeah. It took a while to work out a colored template system. Now I've shown these a while back, but here are some SPM-themed cards for the game:



If you read and unserstand the rules of the game, Nastasia is clearly a Protection Card, and all the rest, Fighter Cards.

Now here's how people actually GOT STARTED on the game. You basically just go to a thread called 'SIGN UP HERE!' in the GD-VCG Plaza, and post there, saying that you wish to become a "duelist." You are then issued 20 Coins - imagined currency that you must keep track of through your profile, sig, or inventory thread - as well as a random Rare card. Yeah... I have assigned every single card in the game different rarities. The categories are: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Super Rare, Ultra Rare.

I have a list of every card in the game, sorted under their rarities. I use a randomization program to hand out cards through 'Packs' that people purchase with their Coins in, say, 'The Booster Pad' - another thread in the Plaza. There's also a 'Starter's Station' where one may purchase a prerranged set of cards, and a 'VCG Superstore' that's stocked with single cards that you can buy directly. You can also create a custom shop of your own, and if someone buys a card of yours, they take away the Coins you paid and you add them to your inventory, while you take away the card they bought, and they add it to their inventory. Basic exchange.

The Trading Post subforum allows for trading cards-for-cards, basically.

Anyway... the Duelist Inventories forum is where duelists post their Inventory Threads. In your inventory you list your overall collection of cards, your arranged dueling deck(s), and if you'd like, any Wins/Losses/Draws/Coins that you have.

In the Duel Coliseum you can make open challenges or direct challenges. An open challenge is basically where you make a thread challenging anyone who'd like to hop in to a match. Direct is when you've already agreed with someone, say, through a PM beforehand. So you just make the thread and start battling when ready. Example: "Altair vs. Petey."

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*

AND NOW, to get to my point at last! If you've read all of the above, it should be apparent that I've worked very hard on this game, organizing and running it actively for so long. What I'm wondering is if there's any way I can have it make a comeback, this time through a different medium, or on a different stage. If so, how? Where? What do I do?

... Any suggestions?

Thank you, especially to those who actually took the time to read the whole damn post. O_O

[Light Prognosticus]

I never thought I'd be able to read everything without getting bored. Actually this idea is something that deserves a try. Anyways, I think that decks should have more cards. Nine cards is a very small number for a deck. Usually decks have more than 30 cards. Maybe some more Fighter Cards should be included and 3 should be chosen at random. The same with other types of cards. Maybe they should be upside-down and be chosen by the opponent. Some more types of cards should be included.

This is my opinion. Tell me what you think, and if you want it can be added to the To-Do List when I update it (even though you can do it yourself, but you Mods have too much work)

By the way, this forum does not allow sub-forums.

[Zelnor]

Seems good and well-though of.

Won't work, though. Remember when I introduced a sort of Mario-themed D & D to Digibutter ? Never got to play it. Still have my Sprite Box and all, but never got to play it. And only Medikoopa (Bless her) was really interested in it.

But if you get it through, I shall introduce my own cards very soon and go on designing some. I still have those "Magic - The Gathering" Card Templates somewhere...

[Super Scourge]

WHAT THE CRAG

[MALAK]

Well, I think you should recreate the old board. It would be hard to start it on here. Also, the sig idea is complicated, perhaps everyone in it makes an Inventory topic for themselves, and put a link to it in their sigs. I'd also be glad to help with this in any way possible.

Finally; May you pm me a link to the old board? :/

[Celeste Dimentia]

Thank you, everyone, for the feedback - except for ChaosStar's spam, anyway.

Yes, I know Digibutter doesn't allow subforums. And with the amount of cards used each duel, each fully active match still lasts fifteen minutes to half an hour sometimes. I wouldn't want people getting too bored in a REALLY lengthy game, and the battles last long enough already, believe it or not. Also, Mods cannot edit other people's posts, LP. And thanks for the ideas and response.

To both LP and Zelnor, it's not necessarily my intention to try and bring this to Digibutter itself. I could perhaps just start a site entirely dedicated to the game, or something. I dunno...

The forum on which the game is played seems to perhaps slowly be coming back to life as of a week or so ago. The game MIGHT still have a chance over there... even though there's only like, one active duelist in the game last time I checked. And thanks, MALAK. I'll send you a link to the board on which the GD-VCG is played.

[MALAK]

I looked at the site, and it does have some hope. I can attempt to assist you in rebuilding it, if you want.

[Celeste Dimentia]

[Wiz]

Wow! I think this is an excellent idea and would love to participate.

[Vid Inferno]

I can't really come up with ideas, but that is pure genius! That sounds like an awesome card game rivaling anything out now! That is incredibly thought out, and it is a great idea! Very nice idea, and I hope it gets revived!

[Admiral Bobbery]

I like the idea very much Chaos Dimentio, how long did it take to create the game? The game has gone beyond my imagination, in an extreme way. I feel the game is great as it is, but if I have any suggestions, I will private message them to you. I will provide any assistance, if needed.