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The PalinDrome: Palin's Thoughts for October 25, 2007:
Initial Thoughts on
the Portal
After yesterday's exciting launch of the Chaotic online portal, many fans
are buzzing about the game that could be the next big thing in the TCG genre.
I'd like to take the time now to express my thoughts on the portal, as well as
my impression of one of the cards that I hadn't seen before. I'll begin with the
portal.
The Chaotic online portal is a major selling point for the game, and it
looks very nicely done. Registration was my first order of business, and was
very easy to do; it was no different than registering for any other site. After
that, I decided to upload the "Beyond Rare" cards I got from the two giveaways
held a few months ago. This is where I started to have some difficulty. The code
uploading process itself was easy; there's a link to the code upload page on
every page of the site in the upper right hand corner, and all the codes I
received were valid. However, when I went to check out my virtual cards, only 7
of the 20 were counted as part of my collection (apparently a lot of people are
having this problem, so I imagine it'll be fixed in a matter of days, or maybe
even before this blog entry is posted).
After uploading the cards, I checked out the "Collection" portion of the
portal. The Collection page is like an interactive checklist of all the cards in
the set. When you first access the page, all of the card thumbnail images are
grayed out. As you add cards, though, the thumbnail image becomes full-color,
and a small green circle with the number of copies you have of that card appears
in the upper left corner of the card image. However, what I really like about
the Collection page is the fact that you can click on any thumbnail image
(including the ones for the cards you don't have) and see a full image of the
card. This allows you to see what certain cards do even if you don't own them
yet, which is a great planning tool.
Once I read the ability and flavor text for all 243 cards on the Collection
page, I moved on to the "Learn" page, where you can find the rules and
Frequently Asked Questions for Chaotic. Nothing really new, but still a valuable
resource. Then, I checked out the "Portal to Perim," where you could learn a
little bit more about the story behind Chaotic, set in the world of Perim. It
was an interesting read, and I foresee a few interesting plots for the
television show in upcoming months. Finally, I checked out the
ChaoticGame.com forums. I haven't
taken the opportunity to post yet, but from what I've heard although the posting
is faster due to less moderation, there is a slightly overactive word filter
that ends up filtering out some words that don't need to be removed. However,
the moderators are very responsive to the community, which is wonderful. Also,
this is a Beta release, which means that some kinks have to be worked out. After
time, everything will be working at maximum capacity, but right now we just need
to wait.
Before I sign off for the night, I'd like to give my thoughts on a
particular card that was relatively new to me. I think I'll end each of my
postings with a mini-review of a certain card, until I run out of cards to
review. Tonight's card is "Lucky Shot," an Attack that totally caught me by
surprise. Before the release, many people speculated that people with cards like
Maxxor or Chaor were going to tear up the competition due to their overall
awesome stats and abilities, but this card serves to balance the game
significantly. Lucky Shot is a 4 BP, Ultra Rare, Unique Attack card that states
that if the attacking creature has lower Courage, Power, Wisdom, Speed, and
Energy than the opposing creature, Lucky Shot does 40 (!) damage. In other
words, it provides the wussiest of creatures with a way to stand up to the big
guy! However, my only worry is that it's just as hard to obtain as a card like
Maxxor, Chaor, or Lore. Still, I could see this being used in mixed armies,
which don't usually have the benefit of using beatsticks like the ones mentioned
above. Perhaps also in a Mugician-heavy deck, just in case they wind up
fighting.
That's it for now! I'll post again tomorrow with some more thoughts on the
portal, and if I'm lucky, I might even have some battle experience to talk
about! Until then...
Going forwards and backwards through the world of Chaotic to bring you the
goods!
--Palin (formerly Dangeresque).
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