[EAST] PAX East Trading Cards 2012 (You can mail your cards again)

zerzhul

Heleor wrote:

Moe Fwacky wrote:

I am still against making this a game, since the object of trading cards is first and foremost for trading.

Trading and collecting shouldn't prevent making the cards actually useful for a game, should it?

I'm guessing part of the issue is how it clouds the planning process to plan for both an aesthetic design *and* a functional design at the same time instead of just one.

Moe Fwacky

Heleor wrote:

Moe Fwacky wrote:

I am still against making this a game, since the object of trading cards is first and foremost for trading.

Trading and collecting shouldn't prevent making the cards actually useful for a game, should it?

PeasantDave wrote:

PS - We will not be trying to create a game for the trading cards this year, mostly because no one has all of the cards until the last hour of PAX anyway.

kropotkin

It's interesting how we have started to shy away from the idea of MtG cards. I actually managed to come up with some rough ideas for some by using this very handy little program:

Magic Set Editor

Click on the links below for my rough PAX East 2012 MtG cards:

Gallery 1

Gallery 2

There was concern over the lack of identifier on the cards, but this is easily solved thanks to the inclusion of a signature at the bottom of the card.

I still believe that this is a good idea, as they can be used in regular MtG decks, they will just have a different back to them!

Moe Fwacky

I think your MtG designs and the trading cards really fall under two separate categories, especially considering your designs aren't for people but more towards events or things.

kropotkin

Moe Fwacky wrote:

I think your MtG designs and the trading cards really fall under two separate categories, especially considering your designs aren't for people but more towards events or things.

Yes there is that. We're just brain storming here after all, but I did enjoy making them

Lokiale

Moe Fwacky wrote:

I am still against making this a game, since the object of trading cards is first and foremost for trading.

I'm pretty good with it being just a collectible thing. That lets people get pretty creative and silly with their cards without worry of it working in a game. And Dave's first post seems to sum up why a game doesn't work pretty well. (as pointed out)

Ghostbusters of NH

I really wanna get in on this!

Temig

My first PAX (despite living within a half an hour of Boston), so this is new to me but here's my contribution to the thread since it sounds like a fun idea to me:
http://www.TORycraft.com/images/PaxMTG.png

kropotkin

Temig wrote:

My first PAX (despite living within a half an hour of Boston), so this is new to me but here's my contribution to the thread since it sounds like a fun idea to me:
http://www.TORycraft.com/images/PaxMTG.png

That is both excellent and yet copyright breakingly painful. I'm sure WotC would come down on us with a ban hammer faster than you can say 'tap'.

On a side note it would appear any kind of gaming element to the cards is being discouraged, which I can see the reasons for. If this is the case, what are we to create?

Lokiale

Not all collectible cards are game based
It looks like last year's model was based on comic trading cards. There's things like baseball cards and all sorts of promo cards that serve no purpose other than for collection and maybe some stat info.
Themiscrya's idea on a dnd miniatures card format is pretty cool and follows the theme of "big ol picture of yourself/persona" on the front and "I'm a cool dude/tte because..." on the back.

MelesMeles

I'd rather it just be a trading card thing rather than a game, but I'm just a badger.

Also, I'm definitely in for three.

browncoatbeth

MelesMeles wrote:

I'd rather it just be a trading card thing rather than a game, but I'm just a badger.

Also, I'm definitely in for three.

I'm with you. also, woot hilarious.

browncoatbeth

KoalaBro2 wrote:

I would also suggest trying to do meet-ups every day so that there's less of a mad scramble at the last minute. They don't have to be long, but just a couple minutes at an appointed time/place seems like it'd be productive.

I so agree with this, if we could manage it. I went to the mad-dash trading in the Westin lobby last year after the closing ceremonies on Sunday and it was crazy!! so many people that there was no time to talk to anyone, just walking around frenetically trading cards. one of the reasons cards are so great is it's an excuse to talk to and get to know people at pax. I always keep my eye out for them walking around the con (and wear mine in my forum badge holder) but it would be great to be able to meet up a few times.

Korvas

I'm sure there are plenty of games out there that use cards only for stats... I actually know of one myself, it's called cosmic encounters... I think it would be a pretty cool looking card to hand out myself... we would just need to establish how to fill it out... check them out, could work nicely, and the cards are for stats only, so it works with keeping away from trying to make it a game..

http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic520215_md.jpg

kropotkin

I was pondering this and there is something we could do to make a game of the trading cards. We simply turn them into trump cards. These are cards that have stats on them about the thing it has a picture of. For example we could have the following stats: Forum handle, Nationality, Age, distance travelled to get to PAX and No. of PAXs attended. You could then use them to play Top Trumps. Just a thought, for more info on Top Trumps, go here: http://www.toptrumps.com/index.asp

Moe Fwacky

To be honest, I'll never use these cards to play anything. They're just a cool thing to collect. Why can't we just keep it a cool thing to collect, like the buttons at Prime?

Frugus

Moe Fwacky wrote:

To be honest, I'll never use these cards to play anything. They're just a cool thing to collect. Why can't we just keep it a cool thing to collect, like the buttons at Prime?

This is just my opinion and nothing more.

Spoiler:

I can't help but agree.

Like I said I love the MTG card idea because I'm a big fan of the game, but I do see a lot of complications with possible copyright issues (printers may have problems going ahead), trying to make them actionable and less space to talk about the PAXer who is handing you the card. It looks to me like the old card, or something of that nature, offers more by devoting all of it's workspace to who the PAXer, what he likes and how he can be reached. I also like the simplicity of it all.

It could be nice to keep the old template for the sake of the others who ended up with extras, but if people like change maybe a new template revolving around the same idea would be nice as well.

This being said, I'm sorry if I sound negative. Truth is I love the basis of this idea and will gladly participate regardless of what will be decided. The designs have always been pro and I'm sure all future ones will be as well.

Moe Fwacky

I'm all down for a fresh new template, but I just think we shouldn't lose focus of the original purpose of these cards in revamping the design.

KoalaBro2

First off, I agree with the statement that these are for collecting, not playing a game. Sure, you could make something up, using the stats on the back (if we do that again) or assigning values to the letters of a person's handle. But PeasantDave, our fearless leader, has already rejected the notion of designing these with a game in mind, so that's really that.

As for recycling cards from last year, even if the design changes I would say that people are welcome to hand out old cards if they want. But obviously people who participated last year probably already have your card from last year.

I do think that we would greatly benefit if we can find someone who can do smaller print runs for us. $40 for a print run last year was kind of pricey. Sure, we got like 300 cards, but I'd much rather have 50 cards for $20, as that's still plenty. Of course, the free silver foil upgrade that I just got emailed to me at Jaxprint is awfully appealing...

LordGimmik

Moe Fwacky wrote:

I still have leftover cards from 2010 because they sent me 300 instead of the 100 I ordered. That was nice and all, but I rather would have paid less for the 100 then get stuck with sooo many extra cards.

I'll take a 2010 vintage "Fwacky" card if you have extras.

LordGimmik

Korvas wrote:

I'm sure there are plenty of games out there that use cards only for stats... I actually know of one myself, it's called cosmic encounters... I think it would be a pretty cool looking card to hand out myself... we would just need to establish how to fill it out... check them out, could work nicely, and the cards are for stats only, so it works with keeping away from trying to make it a game..

http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic520215_md.jpg

I have this game and really like the card layout. Given, it's a 5" x 9" card, so it would have to be shrunk down to CCG size. That might make it less appealing. I'll have to do a test.

Regarding the templates. What format do you all use? I'm actually pretty good at making layered templates in Photoshop for my own projects. For a card like this I would do about 5-6 layers, with maybe a few of them locked so they can't be edited, e.g. a boarder layer we may want fixed, while a stats layer would be editable, and a semi-transparent photo frame layer would clearly be editable. I realize not everyone has Photoshop, but would we all be cool with GIMP format? It's an open-source image editing software suite. I can start mocking up some rough ideas when we get closer to deciding on a theme, or at least give some popular themes a visual component.

Durinthal

If I remember correctly the printing company most people went with required a CMYK .psd file and GIMP doesn't do CMYK, last I checked. The old thread has the template under one of the spoilers.

LordGimmik

Durinthal wrote:

If I remember correctly the printing company most people went with required a CMYK .psd file and GIMP doesn't do CMYK, last I checked. The old thread has the template under one of the spoilers.

So everybody that participated last year needed Photoshop? I think GIMP does do CMYK now - I'll update and play with it in a while.

Durinthal

LordGimmik wrote:

So everybody that participated last year needed Photoshop?

A number of helpful folks volunteered to create the files for anyone that wanted them, but yes, Photoshop was required. I haven't updated GIMP in a while either, so if it works now I'll be happy.

jonxp

Is there any interest in a site for tracking these, similar to Buttoneering.org? I'd be willing to help out (even though I can't make it to East).

Moe Fwacky

If you did do a site for tracking, could we add a unique QR code to each of them for easily adding them to our collections.

Scan with phone in app, adds to collection instantly?

jonxp

Moe Fwacky wrote:

If you did do a site for tracking, could we add a unique QR code to each of them for easily adding them to our collections.

Scan with phone in app, adds to collection instantly?

Yep. That's actually something I'm trying to get for Buttoneering as well, but it's a bit harder since I can't organize with all the various button makers.

LordGimmik

If anybody is interested, this is what a custom Cosmic Encounter trading card might look like. I could make a high-res template for this in a day or two.


Full Size:
http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic1092999.jpg

zerzhul

jonxp wrote:

Moe Fwacky wrote:

If you did do a site for tracking, could we add a unique QR code to each of them for easily adding them to our collections.

Scan with phone in app, adds to collection instantly?

Yep. That's actually something I'm trying to get for Buttoneering as well, but it's a bit harder since I can't organize with all the various button makers.

That would be thoroughly fantastic.

Moe Fwacky

A reminder to everybody. The maximum allowed filesize for images is 500KB. This limit includes images placed behind spoiler tags, as images behind spoilers still load in the browser. Please refrain from posting large images. If you must post an image over 500KB, use url tags instead of img tags.

LordGimmik

Moe Fwacky wrote:

A reminder to everybody. The maximum allowed filesize for images is 500MB. This limit includes images placed behind spoiler tags, as images behind spoilers still load in the browser. Please refrain from posting large images. If you must post an image over 500MB, use url tags instead of img tags.

ummm.... My image is exactly 2,247,781 bytes, which is just over 2.14 MB. So unless my 1st grade teacher really put a good one over on me - I'm about 498 MB short of hitting the limit. What gives?

Heleor

LordGimmik wrote:

ummm.... My image is exactly 2,247,781 bytes, which is just over 2.14 MB. So unless my 1st grade teacher really put a good one over on me - I'm about 498 MB short of hitting the limit. What gives?

He meant kb.

LordGimmik

Heleor wrote:

LordGimmik wrote:

ummm.... My image is exactly 2,247,781 bytes, which is just over 2.14 MB. So unless my 1st grade teacher really put a good one over on me - I'm about 498 MB short of hitting the limit. What gives?

He meant kb.

"God is in the details..."

Moe Fwacky

Yeah that was supposed to be KB. Sorry about that, but my wife was calling me to dinner at the time I was writing that.

LordGimmik

Moe Fwacky wrote:

Yeah that was supposed to be KB. Sorry about that, but my wife was calling me to dinner at the time I was writing that.

haha - no hard feelings, and I fixed my post.

What time zone are you in Moe?

kropotkin

Very well, we shall go with Soccer album/baseball card format. I can certainly see the benefit of having such a format as it doesn't put pressure on people needing to have many in order for them to have any value.

browncoatbeth

zerzhul wrote:

jonxp wrote:

Moe Fwacky wrote:

If you did do a site for tracking, could we add a unique QR code to each of them for easily adding them to our collections.

Scan with phone in app, adds to collection instantly?

Yep. That's actually something I'm trying to get for Buttoneering as well, but it's a bit harder since I can't organize with all the various button makers.

That would be thoroughly fantastic.

agreed. qr codes on the trading cards would be awesomesauce. I definitely ended up with a dupe or two last year when we didn't realize we had traded already!

gigabrain

browncoatbeth wrote:

zerzhul wrote:

jonxp wrote:

Moe Fwacky wrote:

If you did do a site for tracking, could we add a unique QR code to each of them for easily adding them to our collections.

Scan with phone in app, adds to collection instantly?

Yep. That's actually something I'm trying to get for Buttoneering as well, but it's a bit harder since I can't organize with all the various button makers.

That would be thoroughly fantastic.

agreed. qr codes on the trading cards would be awesomesauce. I definitely ended up with a dupe or two last year when we didn't realize we had traded already!

Perhaps do like the Forums Badge and have another QR code that links here to the forums?

peetsnack

gigabrain wrote:

Spoiler:

browncoatbeth wrote:

zerzhul wrote:

jonxp wrote:

Moe Fwacky wrote:

If you did do a site for tracking, could we add a unique QR code to each of them for easily adding them to our collections.

Scan with phone in app, adds to collection instantly?

Yep. That's actually something I'm trying to get for Buttoneering as well, but it's a bit harder since I can't organize with all the various button makers.

That would be thoroughly fantastic.

agreed. qr codes on the trading cards would be awesomesauce. I definitely ended up with a dupe or two last year when we didn't realize we had traded already!

Perhaps do like the Forums Badge and have another QR code that links here to the forums?

If we are going to have a QR code, then I think a link to your forum profile would be more appropriate.

tvethiopia

peetsnack wrote:

gigabrain wrote:

Spoiler:

browncoatbeth wrote:

zerzhul wrote:

jonxp wrote:

Moe Fwacky wrote:

If you did do a site for tracking, could we add a unique QR code to each of them for easily adding them to our collections.

Scan with phone in app, adds to collection instantly?

Yep. That's actually something I'm trying to get for Buttoneering as well, but it's a bit harder since I can't organize with all the various button makers.

That would be thoroughly fantastic.

agreed. qr codes on the trading cards would be awesomesauce. I definitely ended up with a dupe or two last year when we didn't realize we had traded already!

Perhaps do like the Forums Badge and have another QR code that links here to the forums?

If we are going to have a QR code, then I think a link to your forum profile would be more appropriate.

ooh, I like that idea!