Terality: My CCG - an "OpenCCG"

[Walked]

Hello all,

I recently commented in response to a mention of my game in another thread on here. It was mentioned that there would be some interest in a thread about just my game, so here we go.

Terality is, as far as I know, the first true OpenCCG (by my definition of OCCG).

The basic idea behind the publishing method of the game is that it is freely available to all who wish to play the game. It is to be available both for online play, and for self-printing, at absolutely no cost.

Where things get brought into the OpenCCG realm is where the game is taken - the game can be expanded upon by the players. Player created expansions fuel the game (though the Terality team will be releasing the base set of cards, as well as some additional expansions). Players are given the option to create their expansion as unofficial (where the Terality team may acknowledge their expansion, but will not recognize it as legal in any form for tournament play), or an officially sanctioned expansion (where we will make their set supported online, and available for print - and recognized as tournament legal).

That's the basic idea behind the game, you can check out our site at http://www.terality.net.

I will also address the question behind overpowered cards, as I tend to get that a lot:

This is combatted by us, Terality.net will not sanction a set without fully evaluating, and playtesting the submitted set. We reserve the right to ban / limit / remove / alter any cards found to be extremely overpowering at a later date as well. (Though I will say that we're doing all we can to avoid this, and keep the card set balanced from the release of every expansion).

Any questions? I'm happy to answer any that you may have.

[Veritas Games]

I recommend that you make a version of Terality without nothing (no piece of art you don't have rights to and no trademarks) that you don't want licensed, and then license the game under a formal license from Creative Commons.  They have not-for-profit, derivative works, with attribution licenses.


I don't know that I'd classify a game that is currently not released and that has a license only for non-profit use as an "open" license in the sense of the GPL or OGL, for instance, both of which can be used for for-profit releases.  But congrats on opening it up as much as you have to date.

Also, FYI -- Greg Porter has an engine to let players use his rules to layout and print their own cards as well.  By your definition of open, I think his might be the first CCG I've seen that lets players design their own cards.

Good luck with the project.

[Walked]

I understand what youre saying.

Maybe not the first OCCG in that case, however definitely the first where we intend to sanction tournaments, and fully encourage player contributions to the development of the game.

As per being an "open" license, when we claim to be an "OpenCCG" - we're referencing the player openness, not the openness of the engine at this time.

That said, thanks for the input. :)

[btrc]

I'm not sure what cubbyhole Infinite Armies falls into (coincidentally, it is being released next week as well). The programming behind the game is something that I would license out, so that part is "not open". On the other hand, any card you can design with the game engine is legal for play, and as long as it meets the card requirements, even hand-drawn cards can be used. So that's "very open". To further muddy matters, the card builder program has a hidden function that lets you alter the fundamental card parameters, allowing you to design non-Infinite Armies cards, like if you wanted to prototype a completely new card game and didn't want to have to Photoshop each individual card. That's "really open", but if you wanted to customize the army builder code so that other people could design cards for your new game, we get back to the licensing and "not open" part.

Whatever slot Infinite Armies fits in, I think it's the first one there. I'm technically calling it a "non-collectible customizable card game". The iA rules specifically state that you may not sell anything you create with the iArmy builder. You can sell pictures and custom card skins (they're just pdf images that happen to be of a particular size and shape), and give away any card designs you want, but the Infinite Armies code and its output are protected material.

I've looked at the Terality web site and the sample cards. If Terality has or can be given a set of point or case-based rules to design cards, I could make a variation of the iArmy builder that would let end users create their own custom cards for it. Even if a point/case-based system isn't possible, I could still do a template that would allow quick and interactive card design. Walked, if you go to the Infinite Armies site (http://www.btrc.net/html/iarmies.html) and download the demo, you can see how the card builder works. Would be happy to talk about it at GenCon if you're going to be there. I've got no talent to do an online version of Infinite Armies, but your Flash-based online version of Terality has me thinking that it is quite possible.

Greg Porter
BTRC guy

[MisterPoppet]

I have a quick question for all of you...

Doesn't WotC hold a patent for trading card games?

-Mister Poppet-

[Veritas Games]

WotC CLAIMS that their patent extends to all CCG mechanics, but this seems bogus since other people, including Decipher, have been granted mechanical patents on CCGs since WotC filed.  More likely their patent extends to their game mechanics alone.

WotC also had technical filing problems with their patent which leaves us with questions as to whether their patent has any validity at all (they broke some major filing rules).

[MisterPoppet]

I see... Well that works for me!

Good luck on your endeavors!

-MisterPoppet-