MND and CV Questions

[wyld_rose_25 at yahoo.com]

I'd really like to be able to use CV with my Magi Nation Duel
collection, but I have a couple of problems with it:

CV General:
Why the emphasis on deck building over inventory management? I will
spend *far* more time in inventory, but it's a subsidiary, non-
maximizable screen.

An optional Card Merge in inventory would be quite useful for those
of use who collect by card rather than by set. I count Will of
Orothe as one card, but CV counts it as three (Base, Unlimited, and
Promo Foil).

MND Specific:
Do promo cards really need five separate releases (Tournaments,
League, Grand Magi Council, Foil Promos, Other Promos)? I've always
just lumped all Promo cards together, since they don't get different
set symbols or anything.

Sort by Region doesn't work right. If a card belongs in two regions,
both version gets listed under the first region. For example, when I
sorted by Region->Type->Name, the first two cards were Aerial Flist
(Ardrial) and Aerial Flist (Paradwyn).

I'd really, really prefer using CV to putting together my own
database of 830+ cards (that's a lot of typing o.O), so any
advice/clarification/information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Michelle

[Colen]

At 11:11 PM 11/30/2002 +0000, you wrote:

>Sort by Region doesn't work right. If a card belongs in two regions,
>both version gets listed under the first region. For example, when I
>sorted by Region->Type->Name, the first two cards were Aerial Flist
>(Ardrial) and Aerial Flist (Paradwyn).

You'll need to talk to Ed or Rob about the whys and wherefores of your
other questions, but this is because both the cards have the Arderial and
Paradwyn region tags, so they're equivalent for purposes of sorting by that
tag. If you look at the "Available versions of card" in the inventory, one
will have "Arderial frame" in the art description and the other will have
"Paradwyn frame".

The order in which the tags are added to the card (whether Arderial then
Paradwyn or Parawdyn then Arderial) doesn't matter to the sort by region.


--
Colen McAlister (colen@wolflair.com)
Lone Wolf Development www.wolflair.com

[edward at bolme.com]

> CV General:
> Why the emphasis on deck building over inventory management? I will
> spend *far* more time in inventory, but it's a subsidiary, non-
> maximizable screen.

I believe the concept is that people update their inventory once every few
months when a new set comes out, but build decks all the time. However,
version 1.1 will bring inventory management up in importance. And I could
certainly see that version 2 could let you choose which screen to open into.

> An optional Card Merge in inventory would be quite useful for those
> of use who collect by card rather than by set. I count Will of
> Orothe as one card, but CV counts it as three (Base, Unlimited, and
> Promo Foil).

Noted. Colen: put this in the suggested improvements section.

> MND Specific:
> Do promo cards really need five separate releases (Tournaments,
> League, Grand Magi Council, Foil Promos, Other Promos)? I've always
> just lumped all Promo cards together, since they don't get different
> set symbols or anything.

I'll poll people and see what they think. Certainly, I'd tend to keep the
1st-Ed foil reprint promos as a separate release.

> Sort by Region doesn't work right. If a card belongs in two regions,
> both version gets listed under the first region. For example, when I
> sorted by Region->Type->Name, the first two cards were Aerial Flist
> (Ardrial) and Aerial Flist (Paradwyn).

I'll talk with Colen about sorting by region in the inventory screen sorting
only by first region.

> I'd really, really prefer using CV to putting together my own
> database of 830+ cards (that's a lot of typing o.O), so any
> advice/clarification/information would be greatly appreciated.

Aside from what I've already said, CV exists to support the fans, so fan
input in always appreciated. Playing MND myself, I have built the data files
to suit me. Colen and I have been working some small kinks out, and with
more input from you and others, we can make the MND files even better.

[Colen]

At 06:21 PM 11/30/2002 -0800, you wrote:

> > An optional Card Merge in inventory would be quite useful for those
> > of use who collect by card rather than by set. I count Will of
> > Orothe as one card, but CV counts it as three (Base, Unlimited, and
> > Promo Foil).
>
>Noted. Colen: put this in the suggested improvements section.

This would have to be a change made within Card Vault; it's not something
that could be done specifically within the Magi Nation datafiles. Cards for
different releases of a game often have different text on them, even if
it's only a clarification of the wording, and the release of a card can
make a big difference to its value (or so I understand) to hardcore collectors.

> > Sort by Region doesn't work right. If a card belongs in two regions,
> > both version gets listed under the first region. For example, when I
> > sorted by Region->Type->Name, the first two cards were Aerial Flist
> > (Ardrial) and Aerial Flist (Paradwyn).
>
>I'll talk with Colen about sorting by region in the inventory screen sorting
>only by first region.

Thinking about it, it's definitely do-able (although it might look a little
clumsy - I'd have to add a new 'First region' tag group for it to work).
One for the next release.


--
Colen McAlister (colen@wolflair.com)
Lone Wolf Development www.wolflair.com

[wyld_rose_25 at yahoo.com]

> > Why the emphasis on deck building over inventory
> > management?
>
> I believe the concept is that people update their
> inventory once every few months when a new set
> comes out, but build decks all the time.

Ah sure, if you're one of those lucky buggers who buys
multiple boxes at release and has a full set right off
the bat. :) Most of us, however, purchase our packs a
few at a time, trade, and buy singles. Plus there are
the promos, which are doled out over time.

> > An optional Card Merge in inventory would be
> > quite useful for those of use who collect by card
> > rather than by set.

> This would have to be a change made within Card
> Vault; it's not something that could be done
> specifically within the Magi Nation datafiles.

I'm going to apologize for even bringing this one up.
It seemed really simple when it first occured to me,
but after really *thinking* about it (alternate art
and flavor text, first edition vs unlimited, perfectly
identical except for symbol, etc.), smoke started
coming out of my ears. :P

> > Sort by Region doesn't work right. If a card
> > belongs in two regions,
> > both version gets listed under the first region.

> Thinking about it, it's definitely do-able
> (although it might look a little
> clumsy - I'd have to add a new 'First region' tag
> group for it to work). One for the next release.

Cool. I had assumed there already were two region tags
(primary and secondary) and the filter needed
adjustment, but I can see having a single tag that
accepts multiple entries.

> > Do promo cards really need five separate releases
>
> I'll poll people and see what they think. Certainly,
> I'd tend to keep the
> 1st-Ed foil reprint promos as a separate release.

I can see that. I'm pretty sure I can work around the
promo releases, so I'm not really that worried about
it, but it never hurts to ask. ;)

Thanks for listening. Lonewolf did a lot of things
right with Card Vault (demos are very good) and the
MND files for it (especially the "starting" property;
I was very pleasantly surprised to see that handled
the same way I'd been doing it). I think a trip to my
FLGS is in order this week.

Michelle

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[rob]

At 11:11 PM 11/30/2002 +0000, you wrote:
>CV General:
>Why the emphasis on deck building over inventory management? I will
>spend *far* more time in inventory, but it's a subsidiary, non-
>maximizable screen.

As Ed mentioned, the inventory mechanism will definitely be enhanced within
V1.1, which is due out in early 2003. It will be a free update.

>An optional Card Merge in inventory would be quite useful for those
>of use who collect by card rather than by set. I count Will of
>Orothe as one card, but CV counts it as three (Base, Unlimited, and
>Promo Foil).

As YOU pointed out, this gets very messy. It's something that's on the todo
list, but it's definitely something that will take some serious work to do
cleanly. Something of this scope would be a candidate for a V2.0 release,
but not for a V1.x update. So it won't be added in the near future. :-)

Thanks, Rob

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rob Bowes (rob@wolflair.com) (559) 658-6995
Lone Wolf Development www.wolflair.com