InQuest 12 - 14 - InQuest News - Donruss, NXT Games, The X-Files Mention
Alliances Follow
Magic's Ice Age
The great Ice Age on Dominaria is ending. Alliances are coming.
So are more expansions for Magic and Vampire: The Eternal Struggle
and a new collectible card game
by Richard Garfield.
Due in late May or early June,
Alliances is the first supplement
to Ice Age, the 1995 set that's
playable by itself or with other
Magic: The Gathering cards.
So what's Dominaria like in
the aftermath of Ice Age? "There's
a lot of major weather shifts
going on, a lot of storms, and
there's a lot of chaos happening
on the continent itself too," said
Jim Lin, one of Alliance's four
designers. "There will be things
going on with the Kjeldorans and
the Balduvians. Plus, some of the
elves are trying to kick some of the humans out."
The ninth Magic expansion will include art by 30 artists, including
Anson Maddocks, Peter Venters, Richard Kane-Ferguson, Phil and Kaja
Foglio, Mark Poole and other fan favorites. Comic book star Bill
Sienkiewicz is also represented in the 200 paintings that were created
for the set's 140 cards. Twelve-card packs will cost $2.45. Alliances was
designed by Ice Age creators Lin, Skaff Elias, Chris Page and David Pettey.
Magic's Ice Age
The great Ice Age on Dominaria is ending. Alliances are coming.
So are more expansions for Magic and Vampire: The Eternal Struggle
and a new collectible card game
by Richard Garfield.
Due in late May or early June,
Alliances is the first supplement
to Ice Age, the 1995 set that's
playable by itself or with other
Magic: The Gathering cards.
So what's Dominaria like in
the aftermath of Ice Age? "There's
a lot of major weather shifts
going on, a lot of storms, and
there's a lot of chaos happening
on the continent itself too," said
Jim Lin, one of Alliance's four
designers. "There will be things
going on with the Kjeldorans and
the Balduvians. Plus, some of the
elves are trying to kick some of the humans out."
The ninth Magic expansion will include art by 30 artists, including
Anson Maddocks, Peter Venters, Richard Kane-Ferguson, Phil and Kaja
Foglio, Mark Poole and other fan favorites. Comic book star Bill
Sienkiewicz is also represented in the 200 paintings that were created
for the set's 140 cards. Twelve-card packs will cost $2.45. Alliances was
designed by Ice Age creators Lin, Skaff Elias, Chris Page and David Pettey.
W.o.t.C. also plans another stand-alone Magic line for October, cur-
rently code-named Sosumi. W.o.t.C. has spent three years developing it.
For beginners, W.o.t.C. will release quick-start Magic gift boxes.
These are designed to introduce players to the game with a minimum
of fuss and trouble. Each set contains two preconstructed decks chosen
from a pool of 40 designs. It also includes a larger, less-daunting rule book.
Netrunner will be W.o.t.C.'s next Deckmaster game. Designed
by Magic creator Richard Garfield, it is based on R. Talsorian's Cyber-
punk 2020 roleplaying game. Here, netrunners and corporations face
off for control of valuable information. The basic set will contain
more than 350 cards, with the first expansion scheduled for later
this year. Appropriately enough, W.o.t.C.'s promotions include an
online contest. Netrunner will premier in April.
Ancient Hearts will be the second expansion set for Vampire: The
Eternal Struggle. This-set focuses on the Middle East and Mediter-
ranean and includes 150 new cards, two new clans - Assamites and
the Followers of Set - and appropriate new powers. Ancient Hearts
should appear in May or June.
Players can also expect a Sabbat expansion for V.:T.E.S., although
W.o.t.C. has not announced any further information.
- Matt Forbeck and Rich Warren
rently code-named Sosumi. W.o.t.C. has spent three years developing it.
For beginners, W.o.t.C. will release quick-start Magic gift boxes.
These are designed to introduce players to the game with a minimum
of fuss and trouble. Each set contains two preconstructed decks chosen
from a pool of 40 designs. It also includes a larger, less-daunting rule book.
Netrunner will be W.o.t.C.'s next Deckmaster game. Designed
by Magic creator Richard Garfield, it is based on R. Talsorian's Cyber-
punk 2020 roleplaying game. Here, netrunners and corporations face
off for control of valuable information. The basic set will contain
more than 350 cards, with the first expansion scheduled for later
this year. Appropriately enough, W.o.t.C.'s promotions include an
online contest. Netrunner will premier in April.
Ancient Hearts will be the second expansion set for Vampire: The
Eternal Struggle. This-set focuses on the Middle East and Mediter-
ranean and includes 150 new cards, two new clans - Assamites and
the Followers of Set - and appropriate new powers. Ancient Hearts
should appear in May or June.
Players can also expect a Sabbat expansion for V.:T.E.S., although
W.o.t.C. has not announced any further information.
- Matt Forbeck and Rich Warren
Donruss Work in Progress
Football, baseball, hockey, "The X-Files."
All these high-flying objects are part of Donruss and NXT
Games' 1996 game line - and there's even more in the works.
Donruss has already released an expansion for the NXT -
designed Red Zone. In August, the National Football
League-licensed Red Zone '96 will feature revised rules and cards
for coaches, game plans and other factors. All the players will
feature updated statistics from the 1995 season. In December, a
second expansion set of about 90 cards will reflect trades, free-
agent signings and break-out rookies.
In June, Major League Baseball - licensed Top of the Order '96
will also feature revised
rules, updated player statis-
tics and new card types. An
expansion set reflecting
player activity will be
released in autumn.
Donruss and NXT will step
out of the sports arena in July,
when they'll release a col-
lectible card game based on
the popular "X-Files" TV series.
Football, baseball, hockey, "The X-Files."
All these high-flying objects are part of Donruss and NXT
Games' 1996 game line - and there's even more in the works.
Donruss has already released an expansion for the NXT -
designed Red Zone. In August, the National Football
League-licensed Red Zone '96 will feature revised rules and cards
for coaches, game plans and other factors. All the players will
feature updated statistics from the 1995 season. In December, a
second expansion set of about 90 cards will reflect trades, free-
agent signings and break-out rookies.
In June, Major League Baseball - licensed Top of the Order '96
will also feature revised
rules, updated player statis-
tics and new card types. An
expansion set reflecting
player activity will be
released in autumn.
Donruss and NXT will step
out of the sports arena in July,
when they'll release a col-
lectible card game based on
the popular "X-Files" TV series.
And this autumn, National
Hockey League fans should
look for the licensed Fire on
Ice C.C.G.
In addition, the compa-
nies have submitted a design
for a game called 24 Seconds
to the National Basketball
Association, which will con-
sider competing proposals.
NXT Games President
Duncan Macdonell said
they're negotiating for the
publishing rights to "a Leg-
ends of the Game rare set
that will allow you to draft
someone like a '27 Babe
Ruth behind a '96 Ken
Griffey Jr.... We are also
in negotiations with the
Major League Baseball Hall of Fame to include
cards of memorabilia" like Shoeless Joe Jackson's shoes "that will
have dramatic game effects."
"In addition," Macdonell said, "we have a game called The
Fourth Moment that we think will be huge."
- Richard Anderson
Hockey League fans should
look for the licensed Fire on
Ice C.C.G.
In addition, the compa-
nies have submitted a design
for a game called 24 Seconds
to the National Basketball
Association, which will con-
sider competing proposals.
NXT Games President
Duncan Macdonell said
they're negotiating for the
publishing rights to "a Leg-
ends of the Game rare set
that will allow you to draft
someone like a '27 Babe
Ruth behind a '96 Ken
Griffey Jr.... We are also
in negotiations with the
Major League Baseball Hall of Fame to include
cards of memorabilia" like Shoeless Joe Jackson's shoes "that will
have dramatic game effects."
"In addition," Macdonell said, "we have a game called The
Fourth Moment that we think will be huge."
- Richard Anderson
White Wolf Layoffs
In a refreshingly candid interview, Steve Wieck, president of
White Wolf Game Studio, admitted that the person most respon-
sible for his company's layoffs ("White Wolf Reduces Staff,"
"InQuest News," InQuest #11) is Steve Wieck.
"I don't like to talk about it because it's primarily my own
fault," Wieck said. "We grew so fast, as a lot of people in the
industry have, since we began - but especially in 1995.
"The past two years, '94 and '95, were huge years for us;
we were growing, adding on staff, adding on equipment,
adding on everything. It came to the point at the end of '95
that we'd simply added on too many people too fast. I'd let the
momentum get ahead of us a little bit. Even though business
is fine for us, sales are fine, we were getting too much ahead
