Warlord CCG

Wow. The holidays passed quickly, way too quickly. I left my family at my parents-in-law after christmas, for some uninterrupted time to do some behind-the-scenes work. At least that was the plan.

Literally as soon as I woke up the first morning all alone, a big cold hit me right in the face. Smack. So instead of doing 12-hour programming/planning days (there are things on my to-do-list like an improved online shop interface, integrating UWODB and the upcoming OP database into the forum, updating all the domain names so it makes more sense (for whom does it make sense to buy Warlord from a shop called “warcraft-shop.de”?), getting the GP redemption program up, and so on) I was more or less “grounded”.

Talking of which (UWODB - the Ultimate Warlord Online Deck Builder, that is), I updated the internal workings of this gem (it’s what I use to build my decks and I love it) while trying to find a way to fully integrate it with cardmasters.de . The latter has not worked out so far, but the former has. All Ordo Phoenicis Ascendentis members now can access (you need to get your password from me, of course - look for specifics in this thread) the Online Deck Builder. My most favorite function is administrating the decks online, and print the proxies from it for quick test runs. The special trait search functions (want to look for all cards the unstun or ready? There is an option for that) are due to be added in a few days, too.

So, back on topic. Instead of working on shiny new code I nursed myself back to health, took some time huddling on the couch and let the four precious days pass by calmly. Matter of factly I came to the conclusion that this little time-out was kind of necessary to recoup some energy.

Now the official closing period is over and it’s back to work. So what’s on the top of the to-do-list?

Winter Campaign, obviously. It’s the first major, TO-organized event series we are doing under 4E and I want people to be excited. This meant getting stuff to places, including medals, promo cards, and now, T-Shirts.

This is what the official Winter Campaign T-Shirts look like, front and back. Theback of course says “Padova” instead of ________ on the Shirt. As far as I know it’s the first blue t-Shirt we have for Warlord and I really look forward to getting mine.

What gets me even more excited is that I will attend and compete in the German Winter Campaign Event inTuttlingen. With all the new cards it’s so much fun to try to anticipate what I am going to go up against, and what Warlord to play. With so many viable choices it’s really hard. More about that tomorrow.

I have been asked multiple times what exactly determines promo legality. Rather than answer each question singly I decided to make a post out of it.

Promo legality is determined mainly by the question “Does a adequate number of players have a chance to get hold of this particular card”? In general it is 30 days after I feel this question can be answered with a yes.

Example #1: Ice Elemental is part of the new OP Kit that is going out to stores and clubs now. It seems reasonable to me, that starting January 1st (or 2nd) people can start holding tournaments with it. Hence it becomes legal on February 1st.

Example #2:  Gethseme also is part of the new OP Kit, but there have been a few preview copies that were given out at KoHIT. Now this doesn’t make for an “adequate number of players”, but in this special case Gethseme has been around before, so every player has a chance (however small) to get a copy of the Tooth & Claw edition of the card and play it in tournaments. Therefore legality is December 7th (30 days after KoHIT).

Example #3: Heat Metal is one of 2nd batch of the exclusive Ordo Phoenicis Ascendentis promo cards. They are coming out every half year - but one month “shifted”. The first ones came out July 31st, this batch officially is distributed January 31st. Add 30 days and you have a legality of March 1st (yeah, I know).

Example #4: Cei is going to be part of the package when you purchase one of the Winter Campaign T-Shirts at those events. While technically it starts being available January 10th (Miami didn’t have T-Shirts), I decided to compromise and make it legal after it the last Winter Campaign Event is over - hence March 1st.

I hope this gives you an idea of how promo legality is determined - taking into account availability on both sides of the pond.

With this I wish you all a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and some restful days. PHOENIX Interactive will officially be closed till January 2nd and I will use the time for family and maybe the odd programming chore.

It was on the way back from Adam Calverley’s ManCon a few years back that the idea of UWODB was born: A visual card spoiler that let you manage your decks online, print card lists and proxies and offered a more advanced search engine than just for card names.

Back then I programmed the database and website myself “on the side”, and for its intended scope was beaten to publication by the now defunct Library of Thun by just a bit. For some reason the LoT caught on, while only a very few players learned to appreciate the much more advanced functions of UWODB.

After the separation from AEG I finally stopped updating UWODB as well.

Now of course things are different. The LoT is dead, it’s owner not playing Warlord anymore. The card spoiler on the Temple of Lore has taken over a bit, but it doesn’t have all the functions that UWODB had. So I decided to offer the membership of UWODB to the members of the Ordo Phoenicis Ascendentis (originally there was a fee for access to the advanced functions). It hasn’t happened yet.

But I am happy to announce that things are progressing and starting today you can access the 1.1 beta version of UWODB. Why such a strange name? Well, we are reexamining and updating all the code . That will still take some time. But modifying the old code was easy and the data entry has been done by some very helpful friends (Thanks, Alexander and Tom!).

So now you have full access to the cards from both 4E and Shattered Empires. Over the next few days I will add all the pics (SE is already in there in full), add the Special traits and the legal promo cards. IMnsHO it’s the most complete search engine for Warlord cards. Duh. By all means use the one on the Temple of Lore as well - I am glad it’s there.

If you have any suggestions on how to make the visual spoiler better, let me know.

www.warlordccg.de/uwodb

Tomorrow (err, today actually) we are going to have a release tournament going on in Münster. Two rounds of Sealed - after that everybody can pimp his chosen (not a capital ‘c’ ;-)) Warlord with all 4E and SE cards available and we’ll continue with three more rounds of Constructed Swiss.

That also means that I will not post, so in the meantime here’s some eye candy for you.

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The guys fetching the packages are already complaining. Fact is: Shattered Empires is moving a lot faster than the 4E base set was. Yay.

We have an UPS account now, which means this week I can get quite favorable shipment prizes for international shipment.

So if you live in Europe (except Germany) or overseas (with the exception of the US and Canada) - check whether your ordered already (and your friends did, too).

If not, do it today. That way you can get your cards before christmas (or at least before year’s end).

They are here - and now we are busy packing!

Remember D-Day? No you wouldn’t (I don’t either, neither have my grandparents been there).

My office feels like the day before - crates of equipment are accumulated for the great day, waiting for the big offensive to go into swing. The Winter Campaign posters have arrived, so have medals, mugs, and promo card packs been assembled.

I am only waiting for the Shattered Empires cards. ‘Dem shiny new cardboard crack packages are due to arrive tomorrow morning and I am just preparing the shipping documents for the big push on California Beach - the big shipment to the US containing all your cards is going to leave the office on the same day (that’s the plan at least).

Certainly I can’t wait to get the new cards into your hands.

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I am busy preparing the many orders to go out correctly next week. While I limited the orders I guarantee to arrive in the US till January 9th (in time for the Bayonne Winter Campaign tournament) to Dec. 12th, you can of course still continue to order and you will get your cards as soon as possible.

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Here’s the full Shattered Empires Card List with the correct numbering (012 Squire Cambrie is falsely printed as 112 - I overlooked that mistake when I spellchecked).

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This is it. Today is the last day for orders from North America (that includes Canada). Tomorrow I’ll start processing them (there are quite a few to handle) to ship them next week. The SE cards should be arriving at your respective houses starting shortly after christmas.

Here are some last previews to sway you ;-).

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