The latest A Double Double ‘n Dice podcast has dropped. Which shockingly never mentioned me! That’s two shows in a row now. Maybe for Jocelyn and Kim the novelty of my responses has got old. Or I’m not writing anything interesting. Which is the more likely.

Anyway that’s not the point of this post. This is a response post which they may or may not read. The later being the more likely.

But what am I responding to?

Well the latest episode of their most excellent Dice Masters podcast started a new series called What If…?

I’m assuming by the logo, inspired by the Marvel tv series. But we all know it was a comic book first.

First listen to the podcast below first before going on to read the rest of my words.

Ok here is my response or thoughts on…

Dice Masters is a competitive game. It’s one player verses another player. You take turns until there is an eventual winner.

But that’s not the competitive Jocelyn and Kim mean.

They mean more organised play like store events such as Friday Night Magic (FNM), regionals, and world events.

I think that without a competitive side to Dice Masters the game would not have lasted as long as it has. Maybe!

Let’s look at MtG. It has both a competitive side and a casual side. The competitive side, and I’m going to focus on the FNM and store events here have a very important role to play in a games popularity.

Firstly they help build community. They give a regular time and place (your FLGS) where like minded players can gather and play the game. Friendships are made, cards traded, rivalries made. And dare I suggest casual games take place between rounds or alongside the competitive side of things (often there are games of Commander running alongside FNM).

Secondly a community means the FLGS gets stock in to sell. Which makes it easier for players to get hold of the game. Sales means Wizkids make more sets. You get the idea.

Now casual also has an important role to play in the health of a game. The most popular format for MtG is Commander. Which is a casual format. It wasn’t created by WotC. Although they sure jumped on the bandwagon in the products they release, and cards in new sets.

But it was at competitive events it initially became popular with players between rounds/events.

I would argue there are more casual players than competitive for any of the ccg/lcg/tcg games out there.

But seeing the game played at an FLGS or a regular event being held means that you can easily find some-one to play with. Which means you are more likely to buy in to the game. And the popularity grows as does the community.

The problem with a game just being casual is that of building a community. Finding like minded folks to play with. Especially if none of your friends are interested in playing.

Jocelyn and Kim ask what if there is no competitive Dice Masters going forward?

I think fans of the game would step in to fill the void. Well on a national level. Like they did at UKGE last year running an event. Although my point below on product would heavily influence the long term viability of this.

We’ve been living in a non-FNM Dice Masters world now for years. I would argue that the Dice Masters has gone from being a local thing to a global one. Although the overall numbers are not nearly as large.

But it’s product that we need to keep both player bases going. Without product eventually the game will die. Look at Funkoverse, no competitive side, after an initial flurry no new product. The game has died. Ashes had poor competitive support, and lack of product, and died. The reboot of Ashes has failed to reach critical numbers to take off.

With the silence over the next Dice Masters set are we looking at the end game?

Does the game have enough of a fan base to go the Android Netrunner route after that was no longer a product, with fan created content?

There you go a poorly argued response that makes f all sense.