With Magic: The Gathering - Tactics getting its first expansion, "Secrets of Terisiare" December 13th, we got some time to talk to the game's Executive Producer, Mark Tuttle, who walked us through some of the many changes coming to the Free To Play PC game. We discussed some of the tweaks and ways that the update is intended to enhance the overall experience as well as Sony Online Entertainment's efforts to successfully carry over the experience of the real-life collectible card game counterpart.
The big picture: what's Magic: The Gathering - Tactics all about?
"We kind of wanted to answer the question of 'What would it actually look like if two Planeswalkers were standing on the field of battle and facing off against each other, summoning creatures, and casting spells, and throwing lightning bolts around.'" This is how Mark Tuttle explained the design philosophy behind MtGT early in our chat. The goal was apparently to remove that layer of distance between the player and their figures that's present in the physical, card-based versions of the game, adding that ever-elusive element of immersion that developers are so keen on. "You are a Planeswalker," Tuttle says plainly, and the goal of the experience is to put you right on the battlefield.
The 3D tactical card game allows you to move around that battlefield, while still maintaining the familiarity of the card-based counterpart. The game uses many of the cards available in Wizard of the Coast's enduring card strategy game. Tuttle says that "most are pretty literal translations" of their real-world version, while others received modifications to work within the world of MtGT, adding new mechanics like Movement Speed, Obstacles, Terrain and "the things that physicality adds."
What's the 'Secret of Terisiare?'
Well, apparently that it's doubling the size of the game's content available to player, adding around 165 figures and spells, according the Tuttle. He explains that SOE wanted to increase some of the tactics of the game, allowing players access to more cards, while also increasing the depth of some of the existing strategies from the game's first set of content. "For example," Tuttle explains, rattling off some of the many changes coming to the game, "goblins get a big boost in this, soldiers get a big boost in this, there's a new elf strategy related to the expansion." The expansion brings two new tactical mechanics: "Cloak" and "Charge," the former being an artifact that allows players to remain invisible until they strike and the latter provides an attack on enemies when they're directly in the line of sight.
Likewise, color-related elements have received some tweaks. For instance, the expansion also sees black elements getting a little bit of an overhaul, and having more dead allies on the battlefield could prove advantageous in some fights as you're able to tap into your higher corpse count. Meanwhile, blue elements will allow you to manipulate and counter things placed by your opponents. Actually, the main focus was on beefing up the Enchantment element of the set, and another big change is that "enchantment removal" has been added to a lot of the colors in the game.
The other big change coming with the expansion is "tokens," with nearly every color in the game getting some kind of token generator. So for instance, with "Nature's Protection," a green spell unique to the online game and not available to the card game, every time your Plansewalker takes damage, a 30/30 beast appears in a space next to him or her on the battlefield. This has the effect of making melee combat a bit more perilous in the game.
Capturing the Magic culture
I told Tuttle that I've met quite a few Magic players over the years, and wondered how that gaming culture—demanding, sometime obsessive, and always methodical—could translate to the online incarnation of the game. He says that many of the designers responsible for MtGT are not only veteran paper card game players, but also former card game makers from the back in the 90's.
On bringing that experience to the PC he says:
One of the things we tried to capture was the excitement of the collection, as far as purchasing booster packs, building your digital collection, and then taking the things you have in your collection and constructing your own game. Because really, at the heart, that's what a card-trading game is: taking a handful of components and customizing play the way you want to play it... No two games are ever the same. I'll come to the table with a completely different spell book than you will, and then how we play it, how we draw from our decks is going to be totally random.
Of course, they maintain a regular collaboration with Wizards of the Coast, with every element of the game getting approval from the card makers. The actually worked extensively with the Wizards of the Coast team to develop the rules and features of the game's first set. However, with the second set, SOE has been given a bit more free reign thanks to the confidence Tuttle says they've instilled in Wizards of the Coast up to this point in their handling of the license.
Similarly, they're cognizant of the demands of their audience, making modifications to the game based on player feedback from the passionate users in their forums. Tuttle credits MtGT players with a level of maturity in articulating what they want to see in the game and also identifying points of weakness that can be fixed in the overall experience.
On the evolution of Magic: The Gathering - Tactics since its launch:
Tuttle credits the evolution of the MtGT experience to player feedback, saying that many of the changes came from demands from the audience. Some of those changes include an updated avatar system as well as starter spell books. Magic: The Gathering - Tactics also utilizes single-player puzzle minigames which have been updated over time and getting new additions with set two. But the most important change would have to be the addition of player trading, bringing to MtGT the experience of swapping cards between one another, with the addition of text and voice chat in the one-on-one trade lobby.
Advice from the masters, or "What you need to be an excellent Magic player"
We couldn't finish our chat without getting some tips on what it takes to survive as a Planeswalker.
I think that the best players are the ones [who] go into a game—whether it's against a scenario opponent or against another human opponent—and you just get it handed to you. The good Magic players step back from an experience like that and think, "Okay, what happened to me? What was I not prepared for? Did I not have any fliers? Did I not have enchantment removal? Should I have buffed this character more than I did?" They read, they participate, they talk to other players throwing it at the wall and sooner or later they get over that hump and they start to learn.
The "Secrets of Terisiare" will be available on December 13th for all Magic: The Gathering - Tactics users, and you can find the game at www.magicthegatheringtactics.com. Also, players who log on between now and midnight, December 18th will receive a free, non-tradeable "Secrets of Terisiare" booster pack in-game.
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