General Design Document - Revision history

Ngoeminne: /* Administration should be easy */

2022-06-26T08:21:59Z

Administration should be easy

Ngoeminne: /* Being a CCG */

2022-06-26T08:21:31Z

Being a CCG

Ngoeminne: /* Expansions */

2022-06-26T08:20:06Z

Expansions

Ngoeminne: /* Challenges */

2022-06-26T08:19:37Z

Challenges

Ngoeminne: /* Digital & Online */

2022-06-26T08:18:17Z

Digital & Online

Ngoeminne: /* Libre: Free as in speech */

2022-06-26T08:17:41Z

Libre: Free as in speech

Ngoeminne: /* Gratis: Free as in beer */

2022-06-26T08:15:35Z

Gratis: Free as in beer

Ngoeminne: /* Justifications & alternatives */

2022-06-26T08:14:44Z

Justifications & alternatives

Ngoeminne: /* Free */

2022-06-26T08:08:24Z

Free

Ngoeminne: /* Summarized */

2022-06-26T08:07:30Z

Summarized

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 ==Administration should be easy==
-Administration in a CCG is done when you do stuff like shuffling, marking cards, scribble with a pen to keep score, throw dice etc. Simply put: Everything you ''must'' do to play  the game except for actually ''playing'' it is a part of the game admin. The WTactics rules and cards should be designed in such a way that the players don't perform lengthy or repetitive actions that are of the administrative type.
+Administration in a CCG is done when you do stuff like shuffling, marking cards, scribble with a pen to keep score, throw dice etc. Simply put: Everything you ''must'' do to play  the game except for actually ''playing'' it is a part of the game admin. The rules and cards should be designed in such a way that the players don't perform lengthy or repetitive actions that are of the administrative type.
 ==High replayability==

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 ==Being a CCG==
-WTactics does not strive to re-invent the CCG ''genre'' or create a new game genre, at least not this first time we're doing all of this. We're not interested in ''re-inventing'' the wheel. Such a mission would be a lot of fun, but it has to wait for us until ''after'' we release a working ''CCG''.
+The project does not strive to re-invent the CCG ''genre'' or create a new game genre, at least not this first time we're doing all of this. We're not interested in ''re-inventing'' the wheel. Such a mission would be a lot of fun, but it has to wait for us until ''after'' we release a working ''CCG''.
 Thus, being as original or strange as possible isn't our goal with this game. One of the absolutely most primary objectives of the project is to create an ''open source'' CCG. We  only want to take the CCG genre's better sides, mold them into a shape of our own, doing away with what we consider is broken, and output a libre product that is still true to the basic concepts of the genre.
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 *Deck building is a part of the game.
 *Future expansions are possible.
 ==Non-steep learning curve==

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 ===Solutions===
 ====Expansions====
-WTactics strives to break away from the conventional ways of releasing CCG expansions. New sets/blocks will most likely not be released in the chunks of 100 or so cards. Instead we'll take a micro-approach. The philosophy is to keep on ''releasing small and often'', making incremental progress, instead of more rarely and big. Something along the lines of 6 to 12 cards per alliance per micro-set seems reasonable.
+We strive to break away from the conventional ways of releasing CCG expansions. New sets/blocks will most likely not be released in the chunks of 100 or so cards. Instead we'll take a micro-approach. The philosophy is to keep on ''releasing small and often'', making incremental progress, instead of more rarely and big. Something along the lines of 6 to 12 cards per alliance per micro-set seems reasonable.
 Reasons for this being an approach well worth investigating are:

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 Furthermore, being open source and lacking a million dollar company backing makes it necessary that we try to construct ''self-sustaining'' community structures in place. We see clear and mutual connections between a vital and active community and the lifespan of a project. The lesser the community of a game, the smaller are the chances the game will survive in the long run.
-For us to survive, build a strong community and be taken as a serious alternative to other games we deem it necessary to make WTactics playable in a competitive manner by those who'd choose to do so.
+For us to survive, build a strong community and be taken as a serious alternative to other games we deem it necessary to make the game playable in a competitive manner by those who'd choose to do so.
 ====Solutions====

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 Those games are not in any way more free than any other computer game where you, for example, are only allowed to play on certain levels, or with some features/abilities/functions disabled. If the companies would want to stop using false marketing they should label their products as "demo versions" - the proper and since long accepted terminology for any game that you are allowed to test for free but will never get in it's entirety unless you pay for it.
-That is also how we at WTactics would define a free game: A free game, in the gratis sense, is a game that you can get in it's ''entirety'' without paying anything. It's either free, or it's not. Releasing ''some parts'' of it doesn't make the product as a whole free, no matter how it's marketers choose to conceal the true nature of the product.
+That is also how we would define a free game: A free game, in the gratis sense, is a game that you can get in it's ''entirety'' without paying anything. It's either free, or it's not. Releasing ''some parts'' of it doesn't make the product as a whole free, no matter how it's marketers choose to conceal the true nature of the product.
-−
 ===Solutions===
 *To remedy the lack of high quality & free table top CCG:s were creating a game that is ''primarily'' being designed to work on the table top. By releasing a high quality open source game we also hope to prove to the world that this is doable, and that it would stimulate  others to do the same. It's said that MtG is the mother of all CCG:s. If so, we'll aim at becoming the father of a new chapter in the genre.

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 ====Libre: Free as in speech====
-By licensing WTactics using the GPL2 and later as well as GPL3 we insure that we give the players maximum liberty to virtually do whatever they want with our game. Although the GPL is legally a copyright license as it regulates copyrights, it's more often described as a ''copyleft'' license to telltale about it's special features.
+By licensing using the GPL2 and later as well as GPL3 we insure that we give the players maximum liberty to virtually do whatever they want with our game. Although the GPL is legally a copyright license as it regulates copyrights, it's more often described as a ''copyleft'' license to telltale about it's special features.
 What this means is that the license first and foremost purpose isn't to empower the people behind the game (us, it's developers). A copyleft license doesn't ''reserve'' all the interesting rights to the privileged few that somehow acquired the legal copyright over the work. A copyleft license turns the whole issue upside down: Instead of primarily just protecting the rights of the work's copyrightholder, it also ''guarantees'' your very liberal rights as a player. It states, among many things, that it is perfectly fine for you to:

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 ===Solutions===
 ====Gratis: Free as in beer====
-WTactics is, in part, a response to some of the issues that have plagued the CCG industry for two decades. By giving away the game for free we contribute to tear down barriers and offer solutions to the monetary and distribution related topics that are tied to the way companies have been chosen to do business within the conventional CCG industry.
+The project is, in part, a response to some of the issues that have plagued the CCG industry for two decades. By giving away the game for free we contribute to tear down barriers and offer solutions to the monetary and distribution related topics that are tied to the way companies have been chosen to do business within the conventional CCG industry.
 When we offer the game that is truly free, get rid of artificial scarcity via made up rarity systems & nonsensical distribution models, and allow everyone to get any card they like we:
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 *Stimulate the competitive aspects as well. Now that far more people can afford to be competitive it makes harder and wider competition, and even emergence of sub-leagues based on skill level, possible.
 *Promote greater quality: As developers we force our self to deliver a game where each card is ''meaningful''. Since all cards are available  without restrictions it makes no sense to have "crap cards" that are never or seldom played. Such cards are just a testimony of bad game design. They are also a waste of our resources. An affect of this is that development actually becomes ''harder''. In that respect it is pushing us to our limits, demanding that we deliver ''card quality'' instead of ''card quantity''.
-**In a similar manner, broken & imbalanced cards won't ever be around for long with the explanation that "only few people have them in their possession": As devs we can't hide behind such a lame excuse when dealing with WTactics.
+**In a similar manner, broken & imbalanced cards won't ever be around for long with the explanation that "only few people have them in their possession": As devs we can't hide behind such a lame excuse.
 **We will also never rotate, ban or phase out cards somehow because of balance issues or to lower the entry level for newcomers. It won't be done since we want to use every resource we have properly and rather ''fix'' the problem instead of circumventing it by a so-called short-cut.

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 One might argue that there is no conspiracy, no scheme and nothing illegal or morally wrong with these kind of models and practices. That in the spirit of liberalism, pluralism, subjectivity, cultural relativism, Laissez faire-capitalism et.c. it is all fine and legit. After all, nobody is ''forcing'' the players to purchase the game! They do so because, apparently, they want to of their own free will. That makes all and every transaction within the model a legit one.
-While every person behind WTactics has his/her own ideologies, world views, agenda, understanding & convictions the project itself that unite us as players and developers would not bother with refuting the claims that above business model is ethically justifiable (and there's of course no doubt that it's very legal). We simply state facts as we perceive them, from our perspective. We also welcome everyone to participate in this discussion and openly invite you to add sections to this page that delves even deeper into the subject from any side. We don't pass ''universal'' moral judgment, nor do we claim that ours would be objective and more valid than anyone else's.
+While every person behind this project has his/her own ideologies, world views, agenda, understanding & convictions the project itself that unite us as players and developers would not bother with refuting the claims that above business model is ethically justifiable (and there's of course no doubt that it's very legal). We simply state facts as we perceive them, from our perspective. We also welcome everyone to participate in this discussion and openly invite you to add sections to this page that delves even deeper into the subject from any side. We don't pass ''universal'' moral judgment, nor do we claim that ours would be objective and more valid than anyone else's.
 To us it doesn't matter what one thinks about the business models of the CCG industry. We want to create ''an alternative'' to those models. We don't care if they exist or if people are happy with them, as they seem to have a right to do so. In the scenarios where a player dislikes the conventional business models it's apparent ''why'' an alternative would be interesting. In the cases where a player has no problems with the models we would still offer that person ''yet another option'' to choose from. For what reason anyone would choose to use another alternative than the conventional CCG configuration would in the end be up to that individual to decide him/herself.

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 ==Free==
-A game can be free to play and acquire, and it can also be free in ways which empower it's user to do things with it beyond playing it, i.e develop it further or build new games based on it. The two totally different meanings of the word ''free'' are [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratis_versus_Libre usually described] as "free as in beer & free as in speech" by the open source movements. One is a matter of price of the product and it being ''gratis'', while the other one is about ''the rights'' you'd have when and in which ways you could use it. WTactics strives to maximize ''both'' types of "frees" and takes great pride in having this as one of the project's primary objectives.
+A game can be free to play and acquire, and it can also be free in ways which empower it's user to do things with it beyond playing it, i.e develop it further or build new games based on it. The two totally different meanings of the word ''free'' are [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratis_versus_Libre usually described] as "free as in beer & free as in speech" by the open source movements. One is a matter of price of the product and it being ''gratis'', while the other one is about ''the rights'' you'd have when and in which ways you could use it. We strive to maximize ''both'' types of "frees" and takes great pride in having this as one of the project's primary objectives.
 ===Problems===

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 =Goals=
 ==Summarized==
-The overall purpose of the WTactics project is to create a customizable card game (CCG) that meets the following goals:
+The overall purpose of the project is to create a customizable card game (CCG) that meets the following goals:
 *Free to play, modify & share.