July 2011 - Posts

• Codes of Conduct.

  I've played three games of Pokemon today online. I'm playing a Level 1 Evolution deck with the usual suspects (Yanmega, Cincinno and Donphan Prime) along with a Reshiram, Ditto and a few other tricks. None of the games were worth recording. The first game started out slow, until I finally got an evolution going and the opponent conceded. The second game the opponent stalled for 15 minutes before conceding. I started fixing dinner while I waited. The third game the opponent disconnected, which leaves me with a five minute wait unless I wanted to concede. Fortunately the rules engine crashed so I wasn't stuck waiting to avoid giving the other player the win. I always check the # of wins and # of cards my opponent has, so I can tell when I'm playing someone with a small selection of cards. The question on my mind is why do they play in the Ranked Games? If you don't have a strong deck, you can play in unranked friendly games. I'm a proponent of never conceding. It only encourages the behavior. I must admit, that I appreciate more now the frustration players have with opponents who stall or play tediously slow in tournaments. Oak Posted Jul 27 2011, 10:17 PM by kendalloak with no comments Filed under: Slow play, conduct, stalling

• Codes Codes Codes

  Pokemon has announced that all Black and White expansions will come with codes for the TCGO in them, including (yay!) Prerelease packs. So what do you plan to do with your codes? I'm buying them at $.50 each if you happen to be at one of my prereleases. I'll also be uploading videos of me opening packs once the TCGO goes live. Posted Jul 26 2011, 09:35 PM by kendalloak with no comments

• Welcome to my blog

  I thought I would chronicle my experiences with the Pokemon TCGO (Trading Card Game Online). I know many people are on the fence about trying it, and I thought it would help if I explained it for others. Code cards will be coming out in all Black and White expansions, so it will definitely be drawing people in. The big question is, is it worth it? I have already decided the answer to that question is yes, and I plan to have digital singles available in the web site. However, I must wait until the beta period is over until I do so, because all data will be reset when they go live. The target date is August 16th. At that time, everyone will loose all of their single cards and will receive fresh booster pack credits with which to buy new packs. You will only receive 1 pack for each code you have entered, bonus packs and tournament packs will be lost. I enjoy playing, but it still has a lot of issues. Right now the biggest problem is scam trades. A player will offer a trade to the public with the title "Free X" Where X is a Magnezone Prime or other valuable card. When someone looks at the trade, there are two panels: Offered and Giving Offered is supposed to mean "Cards offered to you." Giving is supposed to mean, "Cards you are giving away." The Magnezone prime is in the "Giving" panel. The title makes you think the other person is giving you a Magnezone Prime, but in truth, you are giving it to them. Another issue is malicious disconnects. The player who is about to lose refuses to take their turn. When time is close to running out, they disconnect from the game. Which gives them a five minute extension. They can do this repeatedly in the hopes that you will give up and concede. This only works while the game is in beta, because wins and losses don't really mean anything, but when the game goes live, and games matter, people will not concede, but it will still be annoying. Game play is good, and there are many elements to help new players learn the game. I have some recorded videos of game play available for those interested. Follow the "Pokemon TCGO" Logo from the front page to see them. Until Next Time. Professor Oak Posted Jul 26 2011, 04:41 PM by kendalloak with no comments Filed under: Oak, Pokemon, scams, codes, TCGO, introduction