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Warcraft Boardgame Planned
Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing out that Fantasy Flight Games have announced a boardgame version of the seminal Warcraft videogames. Fantasy Flight are particularly known for their Lord Of The Rings and Dragonball Z licensed boardgames, as well as the Game Of Thrones CCG and the Legends & Lairs and Dragonstar lines for the d20 System. Gameplay details and artwork aren't yet forthcoming, but the press release claims the boardgame of the classic RTS series, due in time for Xmas 2003, will feature "..innovative designs [that] will portray the real-time strategy element of the computer games and make time itself a resource."
They may be "particularly known" for their other games (Dragon Ball Z, the board game?!), but WarCraft 3 seems like a pretty decent choice for a board game. I just hope they don't make it overly time dependant, being able to walk away from a board game for a little while is a great feature. I probably wouldn't have made it through some nights without being able to pause WarCraft to get some caffeine and a little food.
Twelve fingers or one, its how you play. ~Gattaca (Vincent)
Now if Opencraft makes a board game first, can they sue Blizzard for trademark infringement?
It's not stupid. It's advanced.
hey i've had a better RTS board game for over 40 years now. and i also have the computery version. SO THERE!
beh who needs warcraft.
WTPOUAWYHTTOTWPA
What's the point of using acronyms when you have to type out the whole phrase anyways?
Afterall, my laptop has extra batteries. Although if the power was out for a reaaally long time...
So after a large story about Blizzard canning the Freecraft project, the editors follow-up with an advertisement for Blizzard's fucking board game? What next, stories about how evil the MPAA is followed up with "news" about the LoTR and Matrix releases?
"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." -Voltaire
... or you might get a cease-and-desist in the mail.
Ed R.Zahurak
You know, oblivion keeps looking better every day.
If you are boycotting Blizzard or don't want to wait, you can head on over to Wizards of the Coast and buy some of their Chainmail sets. Really, Chainmail is where it all started. If only Wizards of the Coast had good IP lawyers, they could sue Blizzard for implementing a version of their Chainmail game as a computer game (as the TSR intellectual property holders. TSR: Tactical Studies Rules, TSR was doing wargames before that whole Dungeons and Dragons thing took off.) Unfortunately, then Wizards of the Coast would have to deal with the Tolkein estate...
All the creatures will die, And all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai. (Jubai, 1605)
No one else here seems to be interested, but I think this is outstanding news. Fantasy Flight is an outstanding board game publisher, with great designs at Twilight Imperium, Reiner Knizia's Lord of the Rings cooperative board game, and Tom Jolly's Drakon.
By the way, people on this site may not be familiar with the great innovations that are happening in the board game world recently. Since the mid 90's, the Germans have revolutionized the industry, and there are many more original ideas coming out in board gaming recently compared to the stagnant computer game world. See Keith Amman's "German" Board Game FAQ for more information.