Oh ok, so this one?
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@multi-level marketinggames Hi Mike. Is multi-level marketing meant to have a competitive side? Some of the 4th wall effects just donāt seem viable for such play. And are you more focused on the collectability or playability?
We definitely want a competitive scene, and we will have different formats that allow for some of the more exotic 4th wall effects to be ignored.
But I do imagine a somewhat ambitious competitive scene where 4th wall environments are set up where the tournament is being held. A Lava Region, and Island Region, etcā¦ maybe even environments that arenāt revealed until right before the match. A lot of potential.
First though I want to get multi-level marketing in as many LGSs as possible because thatās where the competitive scene grows and becomes sustainable.
How long have you been working on this project and what about your long term plans?
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what did I miss lol this guy seems nice and yāall are straight trollin him. just tryin to live the dream and make his own TCGā¦ you donāt have to like it
(I donāt, lol)
All in all itās been about 5 years, although 2-3 of those years were creating cards in a notebook/s and coming up with cool mechanics late at night when I was supposed to be sleeping haha. Really picked up fall 2018 when I was in my PhD program and had some time to play way more MTG/Pokemon and I started designing and printing out cards. All in all I have a backlog of maybe 1500-2000 cards that Iāve created for the game even though this base set only has 150+.
The rest of the cards I have split across 5 blocks, where each block has 4-5 sets with mini sets in between (think an urban legends set, a lake monster mini set, etcā¦). These are planned although I honestly think they are just the beginning.
Each block will focus on a region of the world. The first one is Cryptid Nation focused on USA cryptids, but then I want to move to Yokai Island (Japanese cryptids/yokai/folklore), Grimmās Land (European mythology), etcā¦ One block Iām really passionate about is one based in South America. I actually grew up in Brazil and they a very colorful folklore that not enough people know about.
Then I have plans for Cryptid World, Sea Monsters, etcā¦ way way more than 2000 cards, but itās roughly 10-20 years that Iāve planned from a story perspective. And there is a story that will be released along with all these blocks.
Thereās so much lore all around the world to explore, and a lot of it is unfortunately fading into obscurity. One thing we are doing with Cryptid Nation is reaching out and forming relationships with the small museums, gift shops, roadside shows, etcā¦ set up around these cryptids. Hopefully we can help sustain some of the US folklore.
But honestly, you can only plan so far without community feedback. I would imagine many cards will change because of community feedback from this first set, as they should.
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Having lived in Nevada over 20 years combined, Iād love to see Area 51 representedā¦or is it? We love the alien mystery out here;)
Oh, and what was your degree in?
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With this first set are you only doing a first edition print run or will there be unlimited as well? Also, rough idea on next block of presale?
Everyone needs to relax their cynicism form 5 minutes and take a chill pill. Thank you @multi-level marketinggames for stepping into the this thread as there is definitely every bit of criticism in the book within it.
How could something that started off as a moderately successful kickstarter only a few months turn into what it is now? Itās for one reason and thatās because itās fun. I opened a box last night on my instagram and had the time of my life. Havenāt really enjoyed something this much in years in terms of TCG collecting. Older Pokemon is great and I have been in the TCG since 2010 and this game took me back to the early days of my collecting career.
Donāt get me wrong I enjoy opening up an old pack from time to time but I also get bored of paying $500+ for a pack of cards where Iāve owned and seen every card dozens of times.
The game will get more affordable later this year once unlimited comes out. For the 100th time itās been mentioned in this thread. How could Mike know that it would take off like this? Itās his money/company on the line and itās really only possible to start small with the 2500 boxes. THE DEMAND IS RECENT
Here is my box opening for all who are interested. Like I said, it was one of the best experiences Iāve had in the TCG in a while!
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Thanks multi-level marketinggames for sharing this information with us today. Iāve seen some of the cards online and in various opening videos. Will you please let us know what you are doing with the 1st Edition cards to help protect them from being counterfeited? Will all rare cards have holo or reverse holo foil treatment and is the lower right hand corner multi-level marketing logo in the QR code part of the protection? Is there a rosette pattern or a green dot or anything else on the cards we can check as we buy/trade the cards in person and online? Thanks in advance for the answers.
We actually have some super passionate members of the community that have helped us determine this. We do a somewhat unique rosette pattern - and we are looking to establish this more firmly with our printer. One thing we want to do better in the next print run is have a separate layer for black text so it āpopsā off the card.
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Thank you for this positivity. Things are certainly not perfect right now. I want to make things better. I want to make the TCG community proud and I think with all the constructive feedback Iām getting that is certainly possible moving forward.
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I wanted to see if we could possibly do something like instead of having a white-labeled unlimited set, we are transparent between each print run with print run size being public and have a symbol thatās like 1st edition, 2nd edition, 3rd edition etcā¦ and have minor differences between each. For instance, the 1st edition boxes will have a boxtopper with a random holo aura! Also lots of errata fixed. I want the game to be available, but I donāt want people who love to collect to feel left out either. Thatās an important part of the tcg hobby.
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Garys new logo with his line of questioning and advocating this new tcg
If only there was a prerelease raichu or something to get gary really fired up
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Imagine if the boarders were blue instead of redā¦
I like this frog
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Here lemme write down my actual thoughts instead of just throwing shit like a monkey
Overall Iām not a fan of the product.
I do like some of the monster designs, unironically I like the frogman lmao. I like how the works are all hand drawn and I like how the artists are sourced organically.
I think the products as a brand are copying existing TCGs too hard instead of trying to make their own brand and image, especially MTG and Pokemon are referenced as inspiration by the creator, and the design influence is obvious. I think that the bright red borders are even more jarring than even yellow border English Pokemon cards, and make the cards look a lot more childish in design. I donāt like the holo pattern. Itās very reminiscent of the galaxy holo used by Pokemon, which I also donāt like (big unpopular opinion here). Itās the main reason I prefer base 2 over base actually. I think that a lot of the card mechanics conceptually are unique, but in practice donāt work at all and make the tcg as a whole very weak (see: physically blowing the cards off the table).
Itās also just my opinion that manufacturers shouldnāt try to directly be a part of the 3rd party market, which multi-level marketing has done repeatedly and blatantly. This is what has really left a bad taste in my mouth with this brand/product and why I think that at itās core thereās a desire to just be a cash grab off of the 2020 TCG hype. I feel like the market (any 3rd party market) should be decided by and controlled by the community, without influence from the manufacturer. We saw a perfect example of how badly this can go when the mfg tries to be a part of the 3rd party with beanie babies, remember their official published aftermarket price guide? I think that the partnership with Beckett as soon as the product launched is shady and shows that multi-level marketing is more concerned about selling their products as investments and flips rather than a playable tcg as advertised. I think that a brand suggesting to the market that consumers should hold sealed product further reinforces the idea that multi-level marketing is trying to sell collectibles, not a tcg. I think that hosting an auction page on the official multi-level marketing website is incredibly sketchy and yet again is another reinforcement in the idea that this is not designed to be a tcg brand, but rather a cash grab and a cheap copy of the existing tcg collectibles market that came to be last year.
I am aware that the auction page is shutting down, which is great, but to me it shows that making money from the 3rd party market was intentional from the start.
tl;dr I donāt like how much design influence is taken from existing successful TCGs, and really I donāt like multi-level marketings involvement and influence in the 3rd party market
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