Escapist Tackles the WoW Card Game

I admit it. I played "Magic: The Gathering" way back when. I had the good fortune not to be suckered in to any of the other big popular card games, though I did have friends who fell into the "Pokemon" and "Yu-Gi-Oh" crowds. I'm no stranger to the world of TCGs--Trading Card Games to the unenlightened (or CCGs--Collectable Card Games--if you prefer). I've also been known to dabble in that little game Blizzard makes with the orcs and the humans and the naked elves dancing on mailboxes.

So, as one might imagine, I'm approaching the upcoming "World of Warcraft: The Trading Card Game" with a bit of trepidation and cautiousness.

Those wacky folks at The Escapist have an article this week that looks at the WoW TCG and the team behind it. Head on over and check it out!

The rush of taking down the repugnant Alliance in World of Warcraft is something hard to replicate. Knitting a sweater really doesn't cut it in contrast to discovering a lone Paladin out of mana in Stranglethorn Vale, separated from his group. The joy of unleashing the glorious Frost Shock/Earthbind Totem combo and asking your party, "Where is his god now?" as you laugh about the recently departed; it's almost too much fun. Could you imagine trying to recapture that action and transform it into a completely different medium? How hard would that be?

To find out, I spoke to two men, Brian Kibler and Danny Mandell. They're the Lead Developer and Lead Designer (respectively) of the group responsible for distilling all of WoW into a collectible card game (CCG). The game, called the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game, is being published by Upper Deck and aims to bring the persistent, massively-multiplayer experience of WoW offline, pitting two friends against each other in heated battles. Of course, you don't just sit down one day and say, "Hey, let's make a card game of this really successful MMOG." It requires a lot of work.