Newcomer asking for directions

[Amonchakad]

Hello everyone!

I've recently found out about Lackey, and while I've never been a serious TCG player, they always interested me; playing them online definitely sounds like a good way. I've downloaded the client and started downloading the various plugins, but when I connect to the server I see that there's usually 10-15 people around, and almost all play magic. So, I'd have a couple questions:

-is there a particular day and time when I can find more people, and specifically people that'd like to play games other than Magic?(not that I don't like magic, I just find its 15k+ cards a little...scary at first try). Also, I see that the server connect window asks for an address...there are actually multiple servers that I can connect too?

-Is there a chat, IRC or otherwise, about lackey and/or generic online CCG playing? Someplace where people gather to find players and discuss games:)

-Another small thing: when I type inside the Lackey client, my keyboard is set to US symbols; can I change that somewhere?

Thanks for the answers!
Amon

[jimleko]

Unfortunately I have no real answers for you.  However, I might be able to answer the first point of your first question half-way satisfactorily. 

I don't play Magic, I play WoW TCG.  I've also noticed that most of the people play Magic, so I got some of my friends to play WoW with me, using the client as a go-between for private matches (still on the lackey server) and not meeting up with more people.

If you play WoW, and are interested in setting up some organized play, hit me up, it'd be awesome.

[fistsofthor]

There are several things that may make your introduction to magic easier.  First, there are not 15000 unique cards.  I believe that there are only 11000 or so unique cards.
Next, Magic itself takes care of that problem by making formats.  The most accessible format is Standard.  Standard consists of the last to blocks, and the most recent edition (magic2010 in this case). That is the format that will most likely be played in your magic store, at your local FNM.  There are about 1100 total cards available in standard.

Also, you can find examples of popular decks by searching the internet, so you do not need to make your own.  For example, here:

Lands:
4x Marsh Flats
4x Verdant Catacombs
16x Swamp
Creatures:
3x Bloodghast
4x Gatekeeper of Malakir
3x Malakir Bloodwitch
4x Vampire Hexmage
4x Vampire Nighthawk
4x Vampire Nocturnus
Other Spells:
3xDisfigure
1xEldrazi Monument
4xSign in Blood
4xTendrils of Corruption
2xMind Sludge

is a deck list that can be found at
http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/21135905/Vampires

So, you can find decks already made for you.


After you have done standard a while, you may like to check out extended (extended allows you to draw from a much more extended card pool than standard), and maybe even eternal formats. (eternal formats are ones that allow cards from every set, including those that have been around since the beginning.

Keep in mind that I own cards that I bought in packs that are no longer in extended (because they are to old), and I own at least one card that was in the first for magic the gathering editions.

[mathman1550]

There are several things that may make your introduction to magic easier.

You must be misunderstanding Amonchakad. He is saying that he wants to play other games (meaning anything but Magic), but is having trouble finding opponents for the other games.

[fistsofthor]

he said that the 15000 cards worried him.  I was trying to explain that the number of cards available for standard is less than a tenth of that.

[Tokimo]

There are people with VTES (Vampire the Eternal Struggle), Pokemon, and WoW around semi-frequently. Just grab a plugin and sit down with an open room. Maybe someone else will decide to switch which plugin they're using.

I would offer to teach you Mahoujo but playtest round 3 is waiting until I finish a secret project.

[Amonchakad]

Thanks for the replies

About Magic, I gathered info but had some difficulty with understanding how all the editions and expansion work...if I understood correctly, there's a "main" edition which gets out every once in a while, which is basically a "revised" version of the previous edition, and forms the core of the game cards; then every year there is an expansion, and people generally play with that year's expansion cards + the core edition? Did I get it right?

Also, I've been trying and looking at some of the "lesser" CCGs, and I'd like to bring one that I'm enjoying a lot to the notice of you all: it's Solace of Eternity (http://solaceofeternity.phpbb3now.com/index.php?sid=412f72ec31d93738bceebc8ad6ef00f4 is the forum);
it's a newborn cardgame somewhat magic-style, but with a lot of interesting features, like simultaneous turns and an intricated combat phase; also, it's a sci-fi for once, not the usual elves and wizards It also has few cards for now (around 340), which makes the game easier to get into, and the author is already working on the new expansion. The community is still small, but quite active, so if you want to drop by their IRC chat ( http://webchat.quakenet.org/?channels=soe ) and sai hi, I'll probably be around there, and we can introduce you to the game.

EDIT: also, for Tokimo: well, Majoujo doesn't sound exactly like my kind of game^^ But I'm more than willing to give it a try if you want


Cheers
Amon

[Frizzler]

-is there a particular day and time when I can find more people, and specifically people that'd like to play games other than Magic?
-Another small thing: when I type inside the Lackey client, my keyboard is set to US symbols; can I change that somewhere?

Hi Amon,

if you are interested in a game of Netrunner, you can find me on the LackeyServer right now.
The keyboard problem is a famous bug in Lackey; I would love to see it fixed with the next version.