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E3 2013: Taking another look at HEX
HEX. It's a difficult concept to grasp: a massively multiplayer online trading card game, combining elements of roleplaying goodness and the thrill of building a deck of powerful cards to combat the next evil underlord monster. At this year's E3, Massively sat down with Cory Jones, president of Cryptozoic Studios, to get the skinny on what HEX is all about.
E3 2013: Hands-on with HEX
Before MMOs, I played the Pokemon TCG. I didn't just play it but dominated my local Pokemon league. Had it not been for Asheron's Call, I would have been the first gym leader who wasn't an employee of the local comic and cards shop, but my brother got that honor instead... until he caved in too. Before that, I played Magic: The Gathering and actually would have placed in the top 15 of a new-release tournament if my mother hadn't literally made me go to bed (that's what happens when you're 12 years old and have to get a ride from your mom). So when I was told that I could do a hands on with HEX, I made sure I made time to hit up the demo. For those who are familiar with MMOTCGs, I'm hoping my hands-on will be fitting, but for those who don't know how the stack works or what an untap phase entails, you may want to hit up an earlier hands-on that goes into much more detail on mechanics first.
HEX: The MMO is in the cards
Massively was recently invited to meet with Cory Jones, president and chief creative officer of Cryptozoic, to get some greater insight into HEX, the studio's upcoming MMOTCG -- that is, massively multiplayer trading card game. At first, I had a difficult time associating a "massively multiplayer" aspect with a trading card game. My two-decade-old memories of very briefly playing Magic: The Gathering simply wouldn't let me get past my initial assumption about the head-to-head nature of these types of games. Even the online version of Magic used essentially the same structure as the offline version, with digital representations of Magic cards and an online challenge ladder. So imagine my surprise when a well-established box-and-trading-card-game company like Cryptozoic announced it was producing HEX, an MMOTCG using Kickstarter as a funding vehicle.
Cryptozoic takes over WoW TCG license
According to this press release and Blizzard Licensing Manager Kat Hunter, the World of Warcraft TCG is now in the hands of Cryptozoic. They will be handling all the aspects of the game, from releasing new sets to scheduling tournaments and events surrounding the card game. We don't know a lot about Cryptozoic, and we were initially skeptical until Kat Hunter's tweet. Kat Hunter WoW TCG Moves to Cryptozoic Entertainment. New company started by Blizzard's Cory Jones and Wildstorm's John Nee. http://cryptozoic.com/ -- Follow the new Cryptozoic Entertainment @cryptozoic source Blizzard and UpperDeck recently split ways, which left the TCG's future full of many unanswered questions. And while there are still several today, the game at least has a home and some real potential for success. Update: Nethaera hit the forums to formally announce Cryptozoic carrying the TCG. We'll be seeing the Wrathgate booster in May, and class decks will begin their run in June.
