f13.net

I can't find a well made MTGO alternative.  Pox Nora is the only one I ever found but there is no sealed league or booster event/tournament.  The game is now about how good you can execute one of the 3-4 top decks.  It's boring and defeat the purpose of collectible games. 

It seems so simple to develop compared to a full fledged 3d mmorpg and the potential revenue is definitely there.  So why can't I play a good collectible game from my the comfort of my house?  I hate game store.

Anyone got an explanation?  Why is there so many collectible card/miniature games but none who made it online?

I think Magic is far and away the most popular CCG.

Developing a CCG is hard. You need good rules and an interesting environment. You would think though that someone could take another establish CCG and turn it into an online game.

I've always asked, where is there no Warhammer online? I don't mean a MMORPG, just the exact same as the tabletop game. Or Silent Death or Car Wars or a million others...seems odd.

Maybe because the companies that make these products are so set in the "sell cards/miniatures" mindset.

Nice timing I guess :

Starchamber finally added more polish to their game :

http://starchamber.station.sony.com/download.vm (http://starchamber.station.sony.com/download.vm)

I'll try this out this weekend.

Warhammer and other miniature games have always looked very interesting to me, but the learning and money curves are so impossibly daunting. I would definitely try an online option if there was one.

Most CCGs have a limited lifespan, save for Magic.  You really need a long-thinking R&D staff that will stick around, careful attention to format and rules, etc.  Basically,  you need to commit to making that CG a long term money maker by spending loads of cash.

Most popular modern CCGs have just been one facet of an overall marketing push.  Pokemon and Yugioh both had TV series, computer games, shit tons of merchandise, toys, etc.

Pokemon was far and away the most popular CCG a few years ago.  The play rules and card power were crap, though,  according to friends.  (One guy who works with the developmentally disabled and plays these things with clients,  the other owns a card/collectible store)

Yugioh unseated it,  but again the actual gameplay wasn't great.

Magic was something like the fifth or sixth most popular CCG at the time.

Magic Online might not be ideal,  but they have many of the right things in place.  I can be assured, if I take 8 months off, to come back and my card collection will still be relevant.  It might even have gained value.  The Magic Online format also assures that Wizards isn't cannabalizing thier cardboard business.

Magic is tops right now,  but I'm sure in a year or two there's going to be some mediocre CCG based on a crappy anime or cartoon that will unseat it, for a few years, before burning out.

http://online.decipher.com/

LotR CCG Online and Star Trek CCG Online, though it doesn't look like the Star Trek game has been updated in a while… …tried them both, not my thing, though the LotR CCG is a cross platform deal (I think the client is written in Java and cross-platform), though it didn't run too good back when I played with it, which I think was in beta but my memory is fuzzy. And games patterned after movie franchises (the card art is entirely from the movie, but yes, I know it's from a book, but you wouldn't know that from the card game…)…

Many moons ago, Decipher also had the Star Wars license before they lost it (the license) and that was a decent game, but complex, with lots of nasty rule complexities… …I still am sitting on boxes of cards that are no doubt, worthless, unless a market for nostalgic retro CCG shakes onto the scene…