General Chatcast topics

[Eric Chan]

Sorry about that, Tom. If it helps, you can try downloading the audio-only mp3 recording - I think the volume levels are slightly more even there.

I'm going to be trying a new mic setup for our next cast.

 

[Jason Waddell]

I am excited for this; however, please please get a better mic or do some sort of audio postproduction to level out the volume. I couldn't hear anything you were saying, Eric!

I think you should devote an entire episode to the different ways people sort their gold section.

I kid! I kid!

We'll work on this, but audience feedback also helps. We did a sound-check and nobody told me that Eric was coming through so quietly. Let us know guys!

 

[Rob Dennis]

catching the cast at work today via twitch; the volume imbalance is no worse than a normal podcast in my opinion.

edit: enjoyed your walk down Jason meeting Eric. The first two articles really spoke to me and bothering you on twitter led me to the google group
edit2: eh, I think the MTGO cube being around is a net positive. People see it, and it clicks: "I love limited, constructed-quality cards are sweet, let's try it out"
edit3: blue at the two is sweet for me, since I like 2x looter il-kor; and at the green 3? how about Birthing Pod Mr Waddell

 

[Jason Waddell]

Yeah, Birthing Pod is a pretty solid 3. Did I not mention it? I know I suggested it to Eric at one point in time.

 

[Aoret]

I thought the volume was fine. Would love an RSS feed for this so I can just get it through Podkicker on my phone when I miss the live cast.

Topic wise, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on where the cube community can go as more people sober up from PowerMax. I'm fairly new to the format and it didn't take long at all for me to get sick of winning games with Ancestral. What cool design spaces are out there unexplored for those who want to do interesting things to their format?

Once you set your power level to an arbitrary mark, you can basically play whatever cards you want. How can we balance this with the "fun" of playing with powerful effects versus the potential blandness of traditionally "bad" cards? (Is there a potential cube out there full of only interesting, "bad" cards?) Thoughts on Zendikar-esque tweaking of toughness levels to make certain cards more/less relevant? (If lots of creatures have 1 or 2 toughness, certain spot removal or sweepers get a lot better, etc).

 

[Jason Waddell]

I thought the volume was fine. Would love an RSS feed for this so I can just get it through Podkicker on my phone when I miss the live cast.

Topic wise, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on where the cube community can go as more people sober up from PowerMax. I'm fairly new to the format and it didn't take long at all for me to get sick of winning games with Ancestral. What cool design spaces are out there unexplored for those who want to do interesting things to their format?

Once you set your power level to an arbitrary mark, you can basically play whatever cards you want. How can we balance this with the "fun" of playing with powerful effects versus the potential blandness of traditionally "bad" cards? (Is there a potential cube out there full of only interesting, "bad" cards?) Thoughts on Zendikar-esque tweaking of toughness levels to make certain cards more/less relevant? (If lots of creatures have 1 or 2 toughness, certain spot removal or sweepers get a lot better, etc).

Oh man, great question. Like, really great questions here. I'm excited!

 

[Kyultu]

Once you set your power level to an arbitrary mark, you can basically play whatever cards you want. How can we balance this with the "fun" of playing with powerful effects versus the potential blandness of traditionally "bad" cards? (Is there a potential cube out there full of only interesting, "bad" cards?)

Makes me think of an idea I have on the back burner: The Misfit Cube. The idea is to balance and design around some archetypes that people (read: Johnnys) have tried to pull of and failed or joked about trying. Stuff like Door to Nothingness, Defenders, Mill, under-represented tribes, etc.

The absolute power level of such a thing would be horrendously low. But, there is plenty of design space to create relative power levels and complex interactions. It could and (if done well) should be fun. I actually think the biggest hurdle is audience perception. Would your play group want to play the Misfit Cube? How quickly would drafters adjust to a very strange format? Are they open to the experience.

The topic of designing for your audience is something I'm actually like to put an article together for at some point, so I'd love to hear ya'lls thoughts on it.

I'm new to the forums btw, so I guess a quick intro is in order. I'm Kyle, I'm from Florida and I manage a 450 card Unpowered Cube with a Modern-Frame Only aesthetic requirement. It gives me a fun collection and design restriction (stuff like FTV:20 is amazing for "first in Modern-frame reprints).

 

[Jason Waddell]

Hi Kyle, welcome to the forums and thanks for posting!