PS3 Poll Police: How would you play Eye of Judgment?
by Nick Doerr 
{ Oct 28th 2007 at 4:30PM }
The Poll Police are cracking down on an interesting bit of crime this week -- by crime we mean news and by interesting we mean surprising. Sony unleashed the PlayStation Eye this past week, bundled with the Eye of Judgment collectible card game. Much to our surprise, these cards face the music of mass duplication and loss of card-sales. Our poll this week has four parts so all witnesses can testify -- do you have EoJ? Would you copy cards to build a "better" deck? If you don't have the game, how would you play it? Don't worry, you're in no danger from answering this poll, so be honest.
To us, the only downside to this copying conundrum is the idea that profits will decline for Sony and Wizards of the Coast, which will decrease support for expansions and other card games on the PS3 in the future. To CCG players, this is devastating. See, copying the cards means nothing if you've played the game. There are so many limitations on the more "powerful" cards that stacking a deck is pointless. All you could do is build a decent one, which most players who purchased the PS Eye bundle package already have. That's just our two cents. Check out the results of last week's poll to see how many people actually hate games!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
BigD @ Oct 28th 2007 4:41PM
Sony and MS milk the Australasian countries. The game here sells for $170 NZD ($130 USD), and the theme decks are $30 NZD ($23 USD). The booster packs sell for a whopping $10 NZD ($7.50 USD vs $4 in the US).
It's simply not (financially) possible to have even an average set of cards without copying. I've bought five packs of cards already but I'll be copying those so I can play the game with friends. I won't be downloading images of cards I don't already own.
If the cards here could be purchased for the same price as in the US I would definitely NOT be copying the cards as they'd be at a price point where it's not worth bothering - and I'd prefer originals vs crappy printed cardboard.
endzo @ Oct 28th 2007 4:51PM
i would print in a heart beat if i had the cam..why buy em?
ryano @ Oct 28th 2007 5:51PM
wait so what's the point of having tangible cards for a video game? couldn't they have done this game like so many other card based video games?
top.slacker @ Oct 28th 2007 7:33PM
I wouldn't print them.
I'd hate to think that piracy may discourage Sony and others from developing different games.
ndoerr @ Oct 28th 2007 6:07PM
@ ryano -- I'd say it's a gimmick to show off some kind of PlayStation Eye potential. Plus it's pretty cool, regardless. But I've been wrong before.
David Tieman @ Oct 28th 2007 6:27PM
This is disappointing, i am surprised that they let this happen. i just won't play others online that i don't know. I was planning on trying to collect them, but i don't see the point now. Oh well will save me some money.
Mark @ Oct 28th 2007 6:59PM
My hope is that the majority of people who are actually interested in playing a game like this have a sense of honour about it.
Besides, if the online matchmaking is any good, it will pair you with players at a similar level, which means you'll be evenly matched regardless of what's in your deck. I'm playing with the starter and the booster the game came with, and have a 7-2 record so far. The people I lost to didn't have better decks--I just made stupid strategic errors.
And if copying becomes rampant, you can forget about getting continued expansion packs. Wizards of the Coast isn't going to invest their money in developing new cards if people are just going to print them.
Dru @ Oct 28th 2007 8:00PM
EOJ is a blast and I agree that cheating/attempting to stack the deck is a complete waste of time. I've only gone up against the computer, but the games went so quickly that there were few opportunities to even actually use a card above 5 mana. Plus, for those of you on the fence, you can only have so many rare cards in your "deck" at any one time.
Draco @ Oct 28th 2007 8:32PM
isn't 90% of the fun of this game having the actual card in your hand? I doubt very much I would print them... then again I haven't played the game and don't fully understand it.
Consolcwby @ Oct 28th 2007 9:42PM
Okay, first of all - I attempted to buy the game, but not one brick and mortar had the f*ckin thing! =S It really sizzles my drizzle that when I go out I almost trip over all the H3s but EoJ is a no-show around here. Several places told me they aren't going to stock PS3 titles too much anymore. So, it really really makes me MAD! >=[
To answer the question... No. I wouldn't print cards out unless I already had them - then it would only be to play a game using the same deck by myself... Why would I play against my own deck? To learn my own strengths and weaknesses AND to tweak said deck. I also need something my friends can play with, since they already tore-up some of my other ccg cards. They are some freaky sore-f'n-losers.
Tony @ Oct 28th 2007 10:46PM
@ Consolcwby
Go to Wal-mart. Mine had like 15 copies of EoJ.
EDGE @ Oct 28th 2007 11:18PM
@Consolcwby
Which stores told you they weren't gonna stock PS3 titles too much anymore ? I have never heard anything like that ?
pwnetheus @ Oct 29th 2007 12:25AM
Definitely true. The only way this will ruin the game for is if WOTC stops making new cards because they aren't making any money.
I used to play Magic a long time ago and me and some friends tried out printing cards to play since we got tired of constantly buying new cards. One friend decided to pretty much stack his deck with nothing but the rarest and most powerful cards in that expansion. He usually got his ass handed to him every game.
What I'm saying is that just because there is going to be some asshats who print out all their cards won't ruin the game. Just having rare and powerful cards doesn't give you an instawin! You still have to actually play smart and build a deck with good synergy, and normally decks like that don't require half your deck to be super rare cards.
animekid3515 @ Oct 29th 2007 5:11AM
there will be lots of guys that make a really strong deck out of printed cards, but the prmary use for printed cards is to get rare cards, i might print a couple of cards if i cant find them anywhere. but ill mostly be buying the cards to try and build a strong deck (if i like the game that is)
ShawnShady @ Oct 29th 2007 7:23AM
I also used to play Magic and just because you can get all the rare/ expensive cards does'nt ensure that you will be able to beat your opponent. It took planning and little luck of the draw to win.
My only qualm with the whole "rare trading cards should not be copied" arguement is that it takes some of the strategy out of the game. If I'm Joe gamer who works part time and goes to school then I cant afford to have all the rare cards because I cant buy hundreds of boosters hoping to get the good ones or I cant afford to pay some scalper tons more money because he has one to get it.
Having ALL cards avalible to both players at ALL times is the only way to level the playing field.
Just imagine playing Chess with somebody but only one of you could afford to buy a Queen, the one without would be in a world of hurt before move 5.
Broken Haiku @ Oct 29th 2007 7:44AM
I'm not so concerned about the actual deck prices right now as to the EoJ itself. In Sweden it goes for about 90-99 euro, but a friend in the US picked one up for 28 euro from Amazon.
TCampbell76 @ Oct 29th 2007 8:04AM
They should've just renamed the poll: Are you a douchebag? Because it seems 'yes' is winning.
Kiros Skye @ Oct 29th 2007 9:50AM
It doesnt matter if you own the cards or not. I own them and I have been winning with the normal starter deck that comes out the box. If youre a good player then you dont need to copy.
Spaz @ Oct 29th 2007 3:07PM
Printing cards is not only really lame but sort of pointless for the reasons listed in the article.
I'll get the real ones, thanks.
Larz @ Oct 29th 2007 2:40PM
I'm surprised that people are shocked they're photocopyable. How could they possibly prevent that?
What really surprises me is that people actually want to copy them. That kinda defeats the purpose of CCG's (see: collectible), plus everyone will laugh at you. But, whatever, to each his own. The cards don't make a better player anyways.
That being said, I'm considering copying my own cards to play against friends because I CAN'T FIND ANY FREAKIN DECKS OR BOOSTERS ANYWHERE! It was hard enough finding the game, and the stores that do carry it don't carry cards. Maybe I'll just take a drive down to the WotC store... I hate driving so far just for some cards though, it's about 45 min away (1.5 hours of driving for a few cards, ugh).
Consolcwby @ Oct 30th 2007 1:19AM
@EDGE (and @Tony): A guy at Circuit City and two dudes at Best Buy. (Actually, the guy at CC was shocked it wasn't even listed in the system until Oct. 27th... the dudes at BB never heard of the game, but were restocking the shelves for H3 at the time.) The thing is, both stores are new in my area and are supposed to be an experimental 'model' type run by the store's manager... which is like asking X360fanboy.com to stock PS3 games. Not a good sign for me - almost 250 retailers in my city, and not one of the electronics stores got it in. Not even Toys R' Us. Not even Wal-Mart, Tony... =/ Looks like I'll have to break down and get it online - kinda wish Newegg sold this kind of thing! Just got my new USB hub from them and it was... ON TIME! =D New experience for me! XD
@ShawnShady: You make a good point, except you're wrong about the strateg - even a deck without ANY rares can beat a 'power' deck, as long as the game itself is well structured. That's why I only played sealed deck tourneys. It's more about your ability to PLAY rather than the CARDS. =) Suffice it to say, I haven't played Magic since they took the ante out. Made it less fun to me if you can't play for anything other than kicks.
mrfrieze @ Nov 25th 2007 10:27PM
Ps3fanboy should have never posted this, I for one would never thought about it. Not that I will do it, but others will, and even more so now that it's plastered all over the net.