From News
Sabbat War Sells like ‘Crack Cocaine’
From: Tim Avers <tavers@white-wolf.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2001 18:00:30 -0500
Subject: WW FYI: Sabbat War Reprint Selling Like Crack Cocaine
Guys,
Forgive me for the lack of specific details in this message, but it’s a confidentiality thing.
One of our BIG distributors called us up yesterday to inform us that they had sold out of their initial order of the Sabbat War reprint…
…IN TWO HOURS.
This is very important because it means that retailers are still perceiving the product as “in demand.”
Keep up the awesome job you’ve been doing of promoting this game. Pick up a few extra Sabbat War packs or that deck you missed out on the first time. Encourage new players who will become as excited about this game as we all are.
If we can really sell through this second print run, I think I can say with certainty that White Wolf is back in the trading card business for a good long time.
And that means V:tES is back… for GOOD!
That’s the news. I’m outta here.
Regards,
Tim Avers
White Wolf Marketing Guy</tavers@white-wolf.com>
VTES History: ‘H’ is for Hold
—– Begin Quote —–
H) Vampire: The Eternal StruggleAh, letter H. For VtES fans, “H” might as well stand for “Hold” which is where VtES is in terms of future expansions. There is no chance for a VtES product in 1998, and virtually no chance for new VtES in 1999. We are, however, planning to get some better support for Vampire players in terms of Organized Play at cons this summer, and a better and more responsive internal team for answering rules questions.
As one of the most successful TCGs ever, Vampire has a special place in the hearts of many people here at WotC. While it is not a part of our current design plans, we do respect deeply the people who have invested in the game and continue to find it an enjoyable diversion. After three expansions and a reprint of the basic set (and the conversion of the backs of the cards, a conversion more painful than any other in TCG history…) the game has probably reached the end of its lifecycle here at WotC. However, we continue to monitor the market and to talk about the brand, and if the company makes the decision at some point to reawaken the beast, we’ll ensure that you’re the first people to know.
—– End Quote —–
New promos have arrived!
The promos for our next tournament have arrived. I got several copies of each of these new crypt cards and one copy of each of the reprinted library cards (with new clan symbols).
The Booster Pack Podcast with Shawn Carnes
Shawn Carnes, who helped design VTES during the first three expansions at Wizard of the Coasts, did an interview on the Booster Pack Podcast. Around the 33:00 minute mark is when Shawn goes in-depth about this time working on Jyhad/VTES.
The Booster Pack Podcast with LSJ
L. Scott Johnson (aka LSJ) the man who was in charge of designing V:TES did an interview on the Booster Pack Podcast. LSJ started off as a player and a “yahoo” on the Jyhad/VTES internet forums answering other players’ rules questions. This lead to Wizards of the Coasts making him their official Net.Rep and “Rules monger”. Then later, when White Wolf Publishing took over VTES in 1999 and LSJ (with no prior experience) was put in charge of their first set release (Sabbat War). LSJ would go on helm the game for the next 10 years, before retiring from the game when the game went out of print in 2010.
Black Chantry’s Nosferatu Starter Deck
Below is the deck list for the new Fifth Edition Nosferatu starter deck. Artwork and deck description can be found on Black Chantry’s Web Site.
Crypt: (12 cards)
1 Aunt Linda
1 Baixinho
2 Belinde
1 The Dowager
1 Horace Radcliffe
2 Larissa Moreira
2 Lenny Burkhead
1 Ryan
1 Wauneka
Library: (77 cards)
1 Fame
1 Guardian Angel
1 Haven Uncovered
1 The Labyrinth
1 Rebel
1 Slum Hunting Ground
1 Smiling Jack, the Anarch
1 Warsaw Station
4 Vessel
4 Creeping Sabotage
6 Deep Song
2 Preternatural Strength
2 Underbridge Stray
2 Murder of Crows
2 Raven Spy
4 Lost in Crowds
2 Carrion Crows
4 Immortal Grapple
8 Roundhouse
4 Taste of Vitae
4 Cat’s Guidance
4 Guard Dogs
4 Instinctive Reaction
5 On the Qui Vive
4 Protected District
4 The Warrens
Press Release: V:TES to Cease Production after 10 years back at White Wolf
V:TES to Cease Production after 10 years back at White Wolf
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle® Trading Card Game to Cease Production
Atlanta, GA September 10, 2010 — Vampire: The Eternal Struggle™, the trading card game published since 2000 by White Wolf Publishing Inc., has survived the lifetimes of many Methuselahs, been a terrifying vehicle for their manipulative ways and a true forum for the creation of lifelong friends and bitter enemies since its launch in 1994.
White Wolf has been increasingly unable to continue serving the V:TES community in the way that the game requires. After an exhaustive search for possible alternatives to extend V:TES, one of the oldest collectible card games will be returning to torpor once more. White Wolf sought out many possible licensors to take over the franchise but an accord could not be met. V:TES will finish the year strongly with the North American Championship at The Grand Masquerade in New Orleans and the European Championship in Paris and continue to support tournaments for another year, even in the absence of new expansions or reprints of old sets. The strength of V:TES has always been in its devout following, and White Wolf trusts that while the game may retreat from the light for the foreseeable future, it will never suffer a final death.
Direct Inquiries to:
Oscar Garza, Organized Play Director
White Wolf Publishing
orgplay (/at/) white-wolf (/dot/) com
Ten commandments of VTES demos
Ten commandments of VTES demos
I think the two most frequent demo problems I see are that 1) people often try to teach from the rulebook, and 2) demo-ers get caught up in explaining the details of play for this or that card. The Rulebook is great as a collected reference, but as a such, it isn’t organized to run through the basic concepts of the game quickly (nor should it!)…
The basic principles (the Ten VTES Demo Commandments) I try to teach are (in order)
- Setup
- How to Win
- how to play a master card (introducing concept of pool cost)
- How to influence vampires
- how to take, and resolve, an action (first a simple bleed, later other actions; equip, rush, retainers, etc.)
- how to block
- how to resolve a simple combat (no maneuvers, strikes for hand damage)
- Stealth/intercept concept, which segues nicely into
- action modifiers and reaction concept(s).
The absolute VTES timing rules (ie. there is no ‘interrupting’ another person’s card play)
The above gives a framework that is sufficient to play a game with the demo decks, and is a foundation upon which the player can categorize more detailed card play (equip actions are just like any other action; something your minions do to generate a game effect). The first four are absurdly simple concepts, which take all of three minutes to explain. Items 5, 6 & 7 go hand in hand, and take about ten minutes. 8 & 9 are another five minutes. 10 is a one minute explanation, but is important enough to merit its own Commandment.
From there, I generally focus a little more on “why” you would do, or not do, any of the above in a given situation (ie. why you won’t generally spend yourself down to three pool). As others mentioned, I’d leave off on political actions for the first session, but then roll them in quickly.. Given more time to demo, I’d elaborate on combat phases, and show what you can do there to get various combat outcomes. If it comes up as a result of play, you can address things like political actions, contesting, etc, as needed. Let player questions be the way to raise the niche issues, rather than trying to voluntarily address them all of them yourself.
Regards,
DaveZ (former Prince of Boston and Charlotte)
Atom Weaver
atomweaver // at \\ sbcglobal.net