( - SOE) - Magic : The Gathering ? Tactics: September Producer?s Letter - 09-26-2011

Hello everyone!

Let me start by addressing the hot issue of our first expansion release.**We had optimistically told you it was coming at the end of Summer, and we’ve been working very hard to make that happen.**Unfortunately, it’s been an incredibly eventful Summer and we’ve missed.***It is coming, and my hope is to nail down the exact date very soon.**Tactics has a SOE live webcast coming up on October 6th*and we’ll spill the details about the set then.**Hang in there, it’ll be worth it!*Without revealing anything from that webcast, I’m happy to tell you about some cool things that are happening this week.



Cool stuff?**It better be…

First of all, players have long noticed the Serra Avenger hanging out in the white spells by clicking “Show Unowned”.*Then last week, she suddenly appeared in the store with a padlock icon on her.**I’m happy to report that she’s going to be available to everyone starting this weekend.**How? Well…

If you’re a fan of Magic, you probably know that the latest expansion, Innistrad, is having a pre-release this weekend.*Randomly inserted in Innistrad packs, you’ll find an ad card for Magic : The Gathering – Tactics.**That card features a code that can be entered on the code dialogue on the Home screen of Tactics.**Enter that code and a copy of the Serra Avenger is finally yours!**Once you’ve done that, the lock on the store icon disappears and you can complete your playset by purchasing in the store.**This is a great promotion for us as we’re introducing Tactics to purchasers of the newest Magic set.**Not only does it help you finally get the Serra Avenger, but it’s a great way to get new people to check out the game.

Well, what else HAVE we been doing??

While our animators and character artists have been working hard on the next set, we’ve been busy reworking some of the game flow.**Starting Tuesday, new players will no longer see three screens indicating Welcome / Color Selection / Avatar Selection.**Now, new players will see just one screen that allows them to select their Planeswalker Avatar, the color of their outfit in some cases, and select their color of magic.**Further, we’ve replaced the three, two-color starter spellbooks associated with the previous selections, with five new mono-color spellbooks.

That’s great for new players, but what about you, our faithful current players??**Well, unlike those pesky cell phone companies that give the best deals only to new customers, we’re thinking about you guys too.**When you click your player profile button to take you to the Talents screen, you’ll see a new button at the top called “Avatars”.**Click that button, and you will be able to go back into the Avatar selection screen,**change your avatar AND pick a new color which will get you a new starter spellbook.**Best of all, you will be able to do this multiple times.**Please note that as you select new colors, the previous starter spellbook will be removed from your collection. * If you already have one of the two-color starters, we’re letting you keep those.**You will not be able to change your name, however.**Sorry, but you’re stuck with “Winger87ROCKS” forever.

What this is setting up, is a new bunch of Planeswalker Avatars that we’ll be adding into the mix.**Some you will get for free, others you can purchase, and some you’ll be able to earn through play.**This is a little bit down the road but we wanted to get the system in place now.

Moving Into Fall

We’ll probably have another couple of patches prior to the release of Set 2 and we’re tackling a couple of systems and features that players have been asking for.**I would get into tons of trouble by promising anything at this point, but we have a lot of things on the whiteboard that we’re slowly knocking out.***If there are things you want to see (besides Set 2, we hear that loud and clear!) this is a great time to tell us.**We’re in the forums every day and are listening to what you’re saying.***Our team is dedicated to making this an awesome gaming experience and your input is invaluable.

So, go play some Magic at your FLGS this weekend, or get your code card when Innistrad launches for your Serra Avenger.**And don’t forget to join us on the 6th!

Mark Tuttle

Executive Producer

Magic : The Gathering – Tactics




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