Will there be an Off-Season for NS Card Game?

[Waterford Crystal]

Most sports irl have an off-season. It gives players and fans a chance to rest and also play other games along with becoming more involved in other aspects of life. It may prevent game burn out as well.

The NS Card game isn't exactly a sport like MLB, but a majority of our nations may benefit from such an off-season. Many NS players are of school age. These player could benefit from an off-season that began close to the time school years begin. This may help them focus on their studies at a crucial time of the school year. Perhaps this off-season could extend into mid-December when a new Season could begin close to Christmas, as did last year's.

I thought I'd throw the idea out for discussion or criticism. So, how about it? What do you think about a card game off-season?

[Borovan entered the region as he]

The fuck is this

We don't need a off season it'll be a long while till season two begins the admins try to keep other players in mind

[The Sherpa Empire]

The card game isn't something that requires constant activity when it's running. There's no need for an offseason since you can just take a break any time and pick up where you left off when you come back.

[Frisbeeteria]

I was going to make a tongue-in-cheek reply but Googled some background. Surprise ... ?

There's no need for an offseason since you can just take a break any time

Some of us might have problems with "gaming addiction". It's actually recognized by World Health Organization. I was surprised by how many of the nine signs below I recognized in my own behavior.

The American Psychiatric Association has identified nine warning signs to watch for when it comes to video game addiction. Although these can be helpful to better understand the severity of your own situation, it’s important to always seek the advice of a professional.

1. Preoccupation with video games. The individual thinks about previous gaming activity or anticipates playing the next game; Gaming becomes the dominant activity in daily life.
   
2. Withdrawal symptoms when gaming is taken away. These symptoms are typically described as irritability, anxiety, boredom, cravings, or sadness.
   
3. Tolerance – the need to spend increasing amounts of time engaged in video games. This may be motivated by a need for completion of increasingly intricate, time-consuming, or difficult goals to achieve satisfaction and/or reduce fears of missing out.
   
4. Unsuccessful attempts to control the participation in video games.
   
5. Loss of interests in previous hobbies and entertainment as a result of, and with the exception of, video games.
   
6. Continued excessive use of games despite knowledge of psychosocial problems. The individual continues to play despite negative impact.
   
7. Has deceived family members, therapists, or others regarding their gaming.
   
8. Use of video games to escape or relieve a negative mood (e.g., feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety).
   
9. Has jeopardized or lost a significant relationship, job, educational, or career opportunity because of participation in video games.

If you meet five (or more) of the following warning signs in a 12-month period, you may have an addiction and should seek the help of a professional immediately.

To be fair, I've 'suffered' from "irritability, anxiety, boredom" long before I played my first online game. But that's just me.

[The Sherpa Empire]

I was going to make a tongue-in-cheek reply but Googled some background. Surprise ... ?

There's no need for an offseason since you can just take a break any time

Some of us might have problems with "gaming addiction". It's actually recognized by World Health Organization. I was surprised by how many of the nine signs below I recognized in my own behavior.

The American Psychiatric Association has identified nine warning signs to watch for when it comes to video game addiction. Although these can be helpful to better understand the severity of your own situation, it’s important to always seek the advice of a professional.

1. Preoccupation with video games. The individual thinks about previous gaming activity or anticipates playing the next game; Gaming becomes the dominant activity in daily life.
   
2. Withdrawal symptoms when gaming is taken away. These symptoms are typically described as irritability, anxiety, boredom, cravings, or sadness.
   
3. Tolerance – the need to spend increasing amounts of time engaged in video games. This may be motivated by a need for completion of increasingly intricate, time-consuming, or difficult goals to achieve satisfaction and/or reduce fears of missing out.
   
4. Unsuccessful attempts to control the participation in video games.
   
5. Loss of interests in previous hobbies and entertainment as a result of, and with the exception of, video games.
   
6. Continued excessive use of games despite knowledge of psychosocial problems. The individual continues to play despite negative impact.
   
7. Has deceived family members, therapists, or others regarding their gaming.
   
8. Use of video games to escape or relieve a negative mood (e.g., feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety).
   
9. Has jeopardized or lost a significant relationship, job, educational, or career opportunity because of participation in video games.

If you meet five (or more) of the following warning signs in a 12-month period, you may have an addiction and should seek the help of a professional immediately.

To be fair, I've 'suffered' from "irritability, anxiety, boredom" long before I played my first online game. But that's just me.

I've had some issues with that, but the cards don't trigger it at all for me.

Other things on NS, yeah, but not the cards.

[The Blaatschapen]

I was going to make a tongue-in-cheek reply but Googled some background. Surprise ... ?

There's no need for an offseason since you can just take a break any time

Some of us might have problems with "gaming addiction". It's actually recognized by World Health Organization. I was surprised by how many of the nine signs below I recognized in my own behavior.

The American Psychiatric Association has identified nine warning signs to watch for when it comes to video game addiction. Although these can be helpful to better understand the severity of your own situation, it’s important to always seek the advice of a professional.

1. Preoccupation with video games. The individual thinks about previous gaming activity or anticipates playing the next game; Gaming becomes the dominant activity in daily life.
   
2. Withdrawal symptoms when gaming is taken away. These symptoms are typically described as irritability, anxiety, boredom, cravings, or sadness.
   
3. Tolerance – the need to spend increasing amounts of time engaged in video games. This may be motivated by a need for completion of increasingly intricate, time-consuming, or difficult goals to achieve satisfaction and/or reduce fears of missing out.
   
4. Unsuccessful attempts to control the participation in video games.
   
5. Loss of interests in previous hobbies and entertainment as a result of, and with the exception of, video games.
   
6. Continued excessive use of games despite knowledge of psychosocial problems. The individual continues to play despite negative impact.
   
7. Has deceived family members, therapists, or others regarding their gaming.
   
8. Use of video games to escape or relieve a negative mood (e.g., feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety).
   
9. Has jeopardized or lost a significant relationship, job, educational, or career opportunity because of participation in video games.

If you meet five (or more) of the following warning signs in a 12-month period, you may have an addiction and should seek the help of a professional immediately.

To be fair, I've 'suffered' from "irritability, anxiety, boredom" long before I played my first online game. But that's just me.

Suffering from 1, 2, 3.

No problems with regards to the fifth. Gaming has not replaced my other hobby. Drinking.

Wait

[Scorpio Spikal]

I was going to make a tongue-in-cheek reply but Googled some background. Surprise ... ?

There's no need for an offseason since you can just take a break any time

Some of us might have problems with "gaming addiction". It's actually recognized by World Health Organization. I was surprised by how many of the nine signs below I recognized in my own behavior.

The American Psychiatric Association has identified nine warning signs to watch for when it comes to video game addiction. Although these can be helpful to better understand the severity of your own situation, it’s important to always seek the advice of a professional.

1. Preoccupation with video games. The individual thinks about previous gaming activity or anticipates playing the next game; Gaming becomes the dominant activity in daily life.
   
2. Withdrawal symptoms when gaming is taken away. These symptoms are typically described as irritability, anxiety, boredom, cravings, or sadness.
   
3. Tolerance – the need to spend increasing amounts of time engaged in video games. This may be motivated by a need for completion of increasingly intricate, time-consuming, or difficult goals to achieve satisfaction and/or reduce fears of missing out.
   
4. Unsuccessful attempts to control the participation in video games.
   
5. Loss of interests in previous hobbies and entertainment as a result of, and with the exception of, video games.
   
6. Continued excessive use of games despite knowledge of psychosocial problems. The individual continues to play despite negative impact.
   
7. Has deceived family members, therapists, or others regarding their gaming.
   
8. Use of video games to escape or relieve a negative mood (e.g., feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety).
   
9. Has jeopardized or lost a significant relationship, job, educational, or career opportunity because of participation in video games.

If you meet five (or more) of the following warning signs in a 12-month period, you may have an addiction and should seek the help of a professional immediately.

To be fair, I've 'suffered' from "irritability, anxiety, boredom" long before I played my first online game. But that's just me.

I suffer from the first four.

[The Sherpa Empire]

Has jeopardized or lost a significant relationship, job, educational, or career opportunity because of participation in video games.

I feel like this one is sometimes a sign that you need to date nerdier people, rather than an indication of how badly addicted you are. If you lose your job or you're unemployed and not applying for jobs, then yeah, the problem is you. But I've had a few relationships where the guy I was dating was annoyed at how much time I spent on NS and I was equally annoyed at how much time they spent in front of the TV. I mean, I'm sure there are relationships that fail because someone can't be pried away from their XBox, but there are also people that are unreasonable in demanding that people give up their gaming/online time because they don't respect it as a hobby.

There's kind of a double standard where letting video games and the internet take over your life is pathologized, but spending the same amount of time watching TV is much more socially acceptable.

[Waterford Crystal]

The card game isn't something that requires constant activity when it's running. There's no need for an offseason since you can just take a break any time and pick up where you left off when you come back.

Then the term "season" as in "Season One" which is used to categorize the current stock of available cards is not in keeping with the proper usage of the word.

There was sort of an off-season in 2018 after the 3 week debut of the cards. Though it was to retool the game somewhat, which is what one would do during an off-season.

I was going to make a tongue-in-cheek reply but Googled some background. Surprise ... ?

Some of us might have problems with "gaming addiction". It's actually recognized by World Health Organization. I was surprised by how many of the nine signs below I recognized in my own behavior.

The American Psychiatric Association has identified nine warning signs to watch for when it comes to video game addiction. Although these can be helpful to better understand the severity of your own situation, it’s important to always seek the advice of a professional.

1. Preoccupation with video games. The individual thinks about previous gaming activity or anticipates playing the next game; Gaming becomes the dominant activity in daily life.
   
2. Withdrawal symptoms when gaming is taken away. These symptoms are typically described as irritability, anxiety, boredom, cravings, or sadness.
   
3. Tolerance – the need to spend increasing amounts of time engaged in video games. This may be motivated by a need for completion of increasingly intricate, time-consuming, or difficult goals to achieve satisfaction and/or reduce fears of missing out.
   
4. Unsuccessful attempts to control the participation in video games.
   
5. Loss of interests in previous hobbies and entertainment as a result of, and with the exception of, video games.
   
6. Continued excessive use of games despite knowledge of psychosocial problems. The individual continues to play despite negative impact.
   
7. Has deceived family members, therapists, or others regarding their gaming.
   
8. Use of video games to escape or relieve a negative mood (e.g., feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety).
   
9. Has jeopardized or lost a significant relationship, job, educational, or career opportunity because of participation in video games.

If you meet five (or more) of the following warning signs in a 12-month period, you may have an addiction and should seek the help of a professional immediately.

To be fair, I've 'suffered' from "irritability, anxiety, boredom" long before I played my first online game. But that's just me.

I suffer from the first four.

Luckily I'm only dealing with the first two. I have kids dealing with 3 and 4 to boot.

[East Meranopirus]

To what extent, however, does NS count as a game (not including the card game)?

[Tessen]

I wonder if the powers that be could at least give us some insight into what "season" means for them. There are an awful lot of nations who didn't have cards in April 2018 that would love to begin trading and acquiring cards for their nations. We've been actively trading Season 1 for 6 months, plus the three original weeks in April 2018 before the feature was retooled. Season 1 has been a hiccup of a season. Surely we can bring in Season 2 so every nation -- including those from the past 14 months -- can be part of the fun?

[The Sherpa Empire]

I wonder if the powers that be could at least give us some insight into what "season" means for them. There are an awful lot of nations who didn't have cards in April 2018 that would love to begin trading and acquiring cards for their nations. We've been actively trading Season 1 for 6 months, plus the three original weeks in April 2018 before the feature was retooled. Season 1 has been a hiccup of a season. Surely we can bring in Season 2 so every nation -- including those from the past 14 months -- can be part of the fun?

You can still collect and trade cards even if there isn't one for your own nation.

To what extent, however, does NS count as a game (not including the card game)?

Internet addiction is also a thing.

[Tessen]

I wonder if the powers that be could at least give us some insight into what "season" means for them. There are an awful lot of nations who didn't have cards in April 2018 that would love to begin trading and acquiring cards for their nations. We've been actively trading Season 1 for 6 months, plus the three original weeks in April 2018 before the feature was retooled. Season 1 has been a hiccup of a season. Surely we can bring in Season 2 so every nation -- including those from the past 14 months -- can be part of the fun?

You can still collect and trade cards even if there isn't one for your own nation.

Oh, I do. Thankfully, this nation was around in April 2018, and I have a well curated collection. I speak, however, for other nations, both my own, and friends that have expressed concern/frustration to me about not having their own nation cards.

We traded for three weeks in April 2018, and then were teased with the featuring coming back for eight months. Then, at the end of December 2018, the feature came back, but the cards were not redistributed for the first season. We're still trading with the same deck that came out over a year ago. I'm just hoping for an update sooner rather than the end of December 2019, so that we have a real season where the deck is full. If season 2 comes out in December (when Season 1 officially "began"), then we'll have been trading the same original card deck for nearly two years.

[Waterford Crystal]

I wonder if the powers that be could at least give us some insight into what "season" means for them. There are an awful lot of nations who didn't have cards in April 2018 that would love to begin trading and acquiring cards for their nations. We've been actively trading Season 1 for 6 months, plus the three original weeks in April 2018 before the feature was retooled. Season 1 has been a hiccup of a season. Surely we can bring in Season 2 so every nation -- including those from the past 14 months -- can be part of the fun?

In that respect it does leave a lot of fresh players out in the cold. Many current players indulge themselves in collecting their own cards. Why shouldn't the newbies finally get a chance? Unless this aspect is part of the original April Fools joke which, lol, would make it the longest ever running April Fools joke. And not funny.

[Bears Armed]

Unless this aspect is part of the original April Fools joke which, lol, would make it the longest ever running April Fools joke.

Apart from the WA...

[Waterford Crystal]

Unless this aspect is part of the original April Fools joke which, lol, would make it the longest ever running April Fools joke.

Apart from the WA...

Ah yes, we mustn't forget that. Wait. Was that originally an April Fools joke?

[Bears Armed]

Apart from the WA...

Ah yes, we mustn't forget that. Wait. Was that originally an April Fools joke?

https://www.nationstates.net/page=news/ ... index.html

[Waterford Crystal]

Ah yes, we mustn't forget that. Wait. Was that originally an April Fools joke?

https://www.nationstates.net/page=news/ ... index.html

That's typical, but IMHO Max correctly assessed the situation. I wonder why he didn't go with "The League of Nations, lol." No patent pending there.

So, back to the question of the off-season for the cards. Is there any disagreement among the Admins and/or Mods over what needs to be left behind for Season 1 to move onward into Season 2? I can imagine some players may be too deeply entrenched in season 1 to give it up. Perhaps rebuilding their base of cards from scratch for a season 2 is an issue or who knows what? Any normal human type stuff like that going on?

[USS Monitor]

https://www.nationstates.net/page=news/ ... index.html

That's typical, but IMHO Max correctly assessed the situation. I wonder why he didn't go with "The League of Nations, lol." No patent pending there.

So, back to the question of the off-season for the cards. Is there any disagreement among the Admins and/or Mods over what needs to be left behind for Season 1 to move onward into Season 2? I can imagine some players may be too deeply entrenched in season 1 to give it up. Perhaps rebuilding their base of cards from scratch for a season 2 is an issue or who knows what? Any normal human type stuff like that going on?

AFAIK, people that have season 1 cards in their deck will be able to keep those cards. It's just that they would no longer draw new season 1 cards because new packs would contain season 2.

As for why season 2 has not come out yet, I think admin just has had limited time to work on NS things, and it's not very urgent.

[Aclion]

I hope that season 1 cards will still spawn occasionally, otherwise it will again be very easy to transfer bank without risk.

[USS Monitor]

I hope that season 1 cards will still spawn occasionally, otherwise it will again be very easy to transfer bank without risk.

It's conceivable that admin would do that, but I don't know.

[9003]

Just like how true ex nation's can be pulled while at auction but not normally

[Waterford Crystal]

That's typical, but IMHO Max correctly assessed the situation. I wonder why he didn't go with "The League of Nations, lol." No patent pending there.

So, back to the question of the off-season for the cards. Is there any disagreement among the Admins and/or Mods over what needs to be left behind for Season 1 to move onward into Season 2? I can imagine some players may be too deeply entrenched in season 1 to give it up. Perhaps rebuilding their base of cards from scratch for a season 2 is an issue or who knows what? Any normal human type stuff like that going on?

AFAIK, people that have season 1 cards in their deck will be able to keep those cards. It's just that they would no longer draw new season 1 cards because new packs would contain season 2.

As for why season 2 has not come out yet, I think admin just has had limited time to work on NS things, and it's not very urgent.

Understood, except whether trading of season 1 cards would continue concurrent with trading of season 2 cards.

In light of the entirety of their duties, of course not urgent. Lord only knows this matter is a trivial pursuit among many others not so trivial.

I hope that season 1 cards will still spawn occasionally, otherwise it will again be very easy to transfer bank without risk.

It's conceivable that admin would do that, but I don't know.

Returning to the original post, the conception of an off-season could be addressed in a positive light. An off-season doesn't have to be months long. Perhaps fashioned more in the form of a bank holiday.

Anticipation of pairing an off-season with the advent of a new school year (for the betterment of students) was also introduced in the OP. My personal thought, this sends an additional signal to pupils, parents, teachers and school administrators as to the strength of NationStates commitment to education.

[Americastrailia]

I think the cards need some changes before season 2:

First, tying the cards to issues implies it is meant for the players who do issues, and thus it needs to be accessible and move slow. Currently it doesn't. It still plays like an April 1st event, and that needs to change. I think this could be half fixed either by extending auctions to 24 hours out, or ending all auctions around the same time(s) each day (such as right before update).

Second, I feel like the current implementation of rarity imposes an artificial value on cards that interferes with the organic value players may place on a card. For one, it often imposes a minimum value of exchange far above a card's market value, and therefore everyone junks it for cash instead of selling it to someone who wants it for its real value. As a result, it creates this weird, backwards economy where there are 100+ copies of Legendary cards and very few copies of Common cards, and people are collecting cards more for the label than their interest, notoriety, or other meaningful reason. I have an idea how I would modify rarity, but I'll explain it below*.

Third, the way the cards system is set up places an enormous amount of focus on just trying to have the most valuable deck, and not a whole lot on creating interesting collections. Admittedly, the market value of the individual cards in a collection will always be a thing, but I feel like making that the only measurable focus has limited what the cards could be. I would personally suggest adding a page specifically to showcase, categorize, and rank player collections. This would work like dispatches - players could look at collections and upvote them, and more upvoted collections would show up near the top. And perhaps you could limit the scope of the collections page to just your region, or just your region and regions it has embassies with.

I would love to see these items addressed by when Season 2 rolls around. Here are some ideas to start out with.

---

* I think a better interpretation of card rarity is that there are overall fewer of those individual cards that can be found, or that they are more scarce. We aren't working with a fixed quantity here, so this would manifest itself in the probabilities. The junk value of all cards should also be normalized, so no matter the rarity of the card, the bank won from junking it is always the same. It doesn't matter a whole lot what the exchange from cards to bank is, the point is to eliminate the artificial disparity in value so that the market value can run its course. Players will certainly always be searching for legendary cards, but there is no good reason for an incentive to exist for players to junk a card that would have still sold for more than most other cards.

[9003]

I think the cards need some changes before season 2:

First, tying the cards to issues implies it is meant for the players who do issues, and thus it needs to be accessible and move slow. Currently it doesn't. It still plays like an April 1st event, and that needs to change. I think this could be half fixed either by extending auctions to 24 hours out, or ending all auctions around the same time(s) each day (such as right before update).

.

All auctions ending at update would allow players to do bank transfers last secound with no risk involved and 24 hour auctions would food the market to the point that our only search function is worthless.

I do agree with your point on card vaule under legendary is spotty at best but I think we are at a point that most cards sell for more than junk (all epics go for atleast .55) and anything lower if they have made a name for themself sell for more than junk. Also setting the junk vaule to .01 on all cards would make it next to impossible for new players to get in the market considering that one ultra rare card is worth 20 commons.

A search function other than my offline list would make cards much nicer too the dbid in the boneyard update helped massively but a full on search function would be much appreciated. And potentially rather than an off season a season 2 spoiler like release a few details or random cards rarity (probably for the mods or whoever) because they are the least likely to CTE . And give us a count down to the start so that we can update our flags and customise the cards a bit before they get created