Fan Draft Revival

[ACExtravaganza]

I have long been an advocate for staying in MTGO, because it was legally available for use. That is no longer true. At this point, I think we should look into moving into Table Top Simulator. I have found several different draft packs, a few ways to generate custom packs, and a large number of full sets.

This would require a one-time investment of 20 dollars into Table Top Simulator (significantly less than we were spending on weekly drafts anyway), and the experience won't be as solid as MTGO, but given the recent changes I think this is our best alternative. Who's in?

[jadamelio]

I vote we go for the entire thing being free.

Cockatrice for play: https://cockatrice.github.io/

TappedOut for drafting: http://tappedout.net/mtg-draft-simulator/

mtgen for sealed: http://mtgen.net/

Why spend money?

[ACExtravaganza]

Have you ever used cockatrice? Its horrible. Incredibly, incredibly, horrible. I would rather fumble with digital cards in TTS than deal with the GUI that made MTGO look like polished gold.

[AdmiralMemo]

I've got TTS on my wishlist. My interest is piqued, but I'm not committing just yet.

[jadamelio]

I have had no negative experiences with cockatrice, as long it has a voice chat along side it. It's very simplistic but no that hard to use IMO.

I would venture exploring the free options because it would allow more people to join with out a buy in. 20$ just to try it is steep, and you are left with TTS which isn't that useful to average solo gamers.

What are the GUI complaints? Just that it doesn't do the work for you? or is it along the lines of drop down menus and the phases

[ACExtravaganza]

Drop-down menues and phases. It goes for a middle ground between doing the work for you and doing it yourself, which is hell to get a handle on. If its all you've ever used digitally, it might seem better to you, but its quite a mess. Like I said, TTS will be a far better experience.

Also, I'm not sure I understand by what you mean regarding spend "20 dollars to try it" bit. Try the fan draft, or try drafting to begin with?

[AdmiralMemo]

I've never used Cockatrice, so I'll check it out when I get some time. Maybe Wednesday.

And I think that if you don't have TTS, and the only thing you're going to use it is for the FanDraft, then... if you don't like it, you're out $20 with nothing to show for it and a useless program.

Granted, $14 for a single draft on MtGO is almost as much...

[ACExtravaganza]

Exactly, memo, the buy-in price isn't too high, especially compared to the 14 dollars a week the fan draft used to have.

[AdmiralMemo]

So, some people sold cards and/or prizes to cover some of their costs... What prizes are we giving out for these then?

[ACExtravaganza]

None, but its a one-time cost. That was mitigating the cost of dozens of drafts by selling what you picked/won, not actually getting any money back. I don't think any of us spent less than 20 dollars one MTGO.

[hascow]

I'm ok with basically whatever as an alternate option.

[DeathNDecay]

Im fine with the 20 dollar buy-in for TTS. I only ask for a hand holding PDF or set of instructions for when we start rolling it out.

That being said, we still haven't figured out how we are going to keep people interested, how are we going to keep from the trail off problem we had with the original fandraft, and when we are drafting.

I am all for an alternative until MTGO gets its **** together, but that may be months to years.

I would also be interested in finding some way to provide prize support, the problem would be how I would support it for those outside the US. Also what would the prize support be? Nothing too amazing, but it feels nice to have something on the line.

[AdmiralMemo]

Part of the waning interest was money, part was just getting tired of formats, and then failing to join when the rotation came, and part was LRL taking the timeslot.

I really think we should put timeslot change back on the table, especially since some people's lives have changed since the initial decision.

[jadamelio]

Can I get some confirmation from other besides OP on whether cockatrice is okay or not? My play group has no issue with it.

[DeathNDecay]

Cockatrice vs Tabletop Simulator

I wanted to try it out before commenting, but I am going to say I still vote for Tabletop Simulator. COckatrice is nice for free, but after spending about 20 minutes of using it vs using Tabletop Simulator, Tabletop simulator is superior. Don't take it personally, I will have to learn any of the new programs we used so this is only from someone blindly stumbling around for 20 minutes in each (TTS and Cockatrice). I just find TTS aesthetically better and more intuitive. I would be fine with either but you seemed insistent on a response.

[RedNightmare]

Ok, dumb question: Aren't there still Swiss Drafts available, just not for the most recent set? I see 6-2-2-2 Swiss Drafts for Dragons and BFZ and am assuming Shadows will fill that slot once Kaladesh rolls around.

Wouldn't it just be easier to use those, or is playing the newest set part of the charm of the fan drafts

(I'll never be able to attend, but wanted to weigh in on that).

[hacofo]

I'd be interested too but with the big caveat that with the time difference I'd likely only be able to play one when I'm on vacation.
As for the client not that my vote should count that much given the time constraints, I have no preference.

[AdmiralMemo]

It's only partly about the set. It's mainly about playing 3 rounds with friends.

But no, those pods are going completely away after Kaladesh rotation: http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-digital/magic-online-leagues-circle-complete-2016-08-24
Only 8-4s will have pods. The rest will be leagues.

We've found out that we can do the draft part together via leagues if we time it right, but we won't be able to play together except by random chance.