Concept: Custom TCG cards from your MMO character

The world of gaming is not only on video games on the PC, consoles and portable devices; it also includes board games, miniatures, card games, Trading Card Games (TCGs), etc.

I would saw that video games and card games are being produced based on each other. For example, Magic: the Gathering (TCG) has expanded into Magic Online (PC game), likewise World of Warcraft (PC game) has expanded into World of Warcraft: Trading Card Game and World of Warcraft: Miniatures Game.

However, Sony Online Entertainment's Free Realms has come out with a MMO (PC game), a Physical TCG and a Digital TCG, all at the same and linked them in a unique way.

"What Is a Digital TCG Card?

The Free Realms Trading Card Game is built right into the Free Realms virtual world! Click the card fan icon on the menu dock, and you'll be taken into the TCG.

What Is a Physical TCG Card?

The Free Realms Trading Card Game is also a physical trading card game manufactured by Topps™ and is available wherever trading card games are sold!

The ... Starter Pack contains ..., exclusive virtual rewards and your first-month Free Realms Membership!"

[Source: freerealms.com]

As you can see they have tightly coupled these two TCGs to their PC game and vice versa; and that's not all. The have come up with a new and innovative way to link them together: they allow players to use their character in the MMO to print out cards for the TCGs.


Step 1: Dress up your character from the MMO.


Step 2: Your TCG personal card stats are based on your MMO character stats.


Step 3: The finished card is ready for printing or use in the digital game.

Step 4: Trade your personal card with friend!

"Sony Online Entertainment has teamed up with trading card company Topps to let players create their own official personalized cards for the Free Realms collectible card game.

The Duelist on Demand Program allows players to turn their Free Realms character into a personalized card for use in the physical version of the tie-in trading card game. Using Topps' print-on-demand technology, players will be able to create and share themselves with friends in a distinctively family-friendly way."

[Source: Kotaku.com]

Wing Commander Saga

The Wing Commander (WC) series was one of the first few that really got me into PC gaming. I would also speculate it was the reason Sound Blaster sound cards became popular too. The first WC came out almost two decades ago in 1990. Sadly, Origin who developed it is no more.


A while back a group of people got together and began work on a project to make a updated WC game, Wing Commander Saga. Using a modified and enhanced version of the Freespace 2 engine’s source code has been released to the public. It will be set in the same time frame as WC3 where humans and Kiralthi are still at war (and not WC4).

Cockpit View


TCS Concordia, the carrier you launch from in WC2.
[Source: WCSaga.com]

Quite an amazing piece of work from an indie team.

By the way, it will be free to play when it is done. And they expect to be done "soon". They already have a demo ("prologue") out.



While on the topic of WC, there is a "work-in-progress" remake of WC Privateer, named WC Privateer Gemini Gold, that is striving for the same missions and look-and-feel as the original.

Cockpit View


In the hangar.
[Source: Priv.SolSector.net]

This is done by another indie team and also available for free.

More user-created content in City of Heroes that developer-created content

User created content in games has been getting more noticed from developers in recent times.

I think it was the Counter-Strike that was the first to make me aware of user created content. This FPS had tons of user created maps, models, weapon skins and mods available for it. The funny thing is, that it itself was a free user created mod of another game, HalfLife.

Valve Software marketing director Doug Lombardi has told GamesIndustry.biz that consoles must embrace user-created content.

"I would argue that it's the biggest component those guys have to get over if they want online to matter," said Lombardi.

"Half-Life 1 was okay as a multiplayer game and Team Fortress Classic was really good, but Counter-Strike kicked both their asses no question. And that came from a kid going to college in Canada and another kid going to high school in New Jersey, who had our code and thought it would be cool to play our game"

[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]

After reading the next article, I hope a lot of people mindset on this will change. This is no longer a just a potential. It is already here and now.

Only one day after NCsoft released their player-created content focused Issue 14: Architect update, and players have already crafted more than 20,000 mission arcs.



In a letter to the community posted on the official City of Heroes website, Matt "Positron" Miller revealed that within the first 24 hours of the new updates' existence, players in both hero and villain factions had created more than 3800 story arcs, each consisting of five missions a piece - more content than the development team had created during the game's entire existence.

Players have been busy trying out missions and critiquing them in the forums as well. Out of the more that 20,000 arcs now available in game, 2,860 of them have been rated 5-stars by players, with only 582 rated at 1-star.

[Source: Kotaku.com]

The sheer amount of content is outstanding; and all done in 24 hours. And with a rating system in place, that helps ensure quality remains.

Games soon may be like Second Life (a virtual world where users create almost all of the content: locations, models, activities and economy). Already games like Little Big Planet (levels), World of Warcraft (user interface), The Sims are heavily using this.

So if you make a game, try to consider this and include some sort of Map Editor.